Chapter 560: Father and Son Talk

The name Li Li Jiye was none other than the name of Li Yi's father.

He had not revealed this information to anyone since arriving in this world, so when Li Yi heard the person before him speak his father's name so casually, he felt shocked and surprised, as he had never once thought this person could be his father.

The aura and appearance were both wrong, though there were indeed traces of the Evolution Method on his body.

Li Li Jiye also noticed Li Yi's change at this moment. He naturally understood that a few words alone would certainly not be enough to make Li Yi believe his identity; after all, when he was forced to cross dimensions, Li Yi was only fourteen, still a child. Now, six years had passed—no, if one calculated carefully, nine years had already passed.

These nine years were enough to completely change a person.

"Xiao Yi, I know you have many questions and doubts in your heart, but you must believe that I am indeed your father. Back in Tianchang City, your mother and I were among the first batch of people to step onto the path of cultivation. We spent every day delving into the mysteries of cultivation, to the point that we neglected many things, including you." Li Li Jiye's memories returned to the past.

Back then, he was so passionate and high-spirited.

It was a pity that good times did not last. At that time, the path of cultivation on Earth was not yet perfect; everyone was groping in the dark, all wanting to be the first to eat the crab, and he and his wife were no exception.

Perhaps it was ignorance and fearlessness, or perhaps it was a refusal to fall behind others.

Until one day, he and his wife suddenly had an out-of-body experience. Although they were very excited and found it novel at the time, they never expected that this was the beginning of a nightmare.

Li Yi stared at him and said, "Keep talking. I want to know the whole process."

Although he somewhat believed the person before him was his father, he still needed more reasonable explanations; otherwise, based on a name alone, he would not so easily believe a stranger.

Li Li Jiye said, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the cabin; Father will give you a reasonable explanation."

Li Yi did not speak, merely turning and entering the cabin.

Li Li Jiye also walked in. He scanned the empty cabin, then signaled for Li Yi to sit down. He found a seat for himself as well, and only then did he slowly say, "Xiao Yi, you should be very clear that after the Heaven-Tilting Incident on Earth, spiritual energy recovered and the path of cultivation reappeared. As the first batch of cultivators, your mother and I, to be honest, did indeed do many reckless things."

"Soul cross-dimensional travel was one of them. At the time, your mother and I did not know the dangers involved. After all, we were newborn calves unafraid of tigers, so after sensing the spatial wormhole, your mother and I discussed it with each other for a month before finally deciding to join forces for the soul cross-dimensional travel."

"The reason we chose to join forces was because your mother and I were both worried about each other; if any accident happened, the two of us could look out for one another."

When Li Li Jiye said this, a look of sorrow appeared in his eyes: "But no one could have expected that your mother and I would be so unlucky on our first cross-dimensional trip, heading to a world that was like hell."

"That is World No. 36," Li Yi said with a calm expression.

"World No. 36? Has that world already been discovered and named? It looks like Earth has indeed changed greatly; I estimate that cross-dimensional travel has already become a common occurrence." Li Li Jiye gave a bitter laugh: "Since you know that world, you should understand its dangers."

"World No. 36 belongs to the world of fierce ghosts," Li Yi said.

Li Li Jiye said, "Fierce ghosts? That is indeed the case. Your mother and I encountered huge danger on our first cross-dimensional trip. At that time, we didn't know they were fierce ghosts; we only knew that those things were evil and terrifying. We couldn't deal with them at all and could only flee in panic. Fortunately, we had left a backup plan in advance, sensing the coordinates left on Earth, and successfully retreated."

"But the terrifying thing happened... that ghost also followed us back to Earth."

Speaking of this, a look of pain appeared on his face: "I watched with my own eyes as your mother was killed by that fierce ghost."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi's gaze sank, and he took a slight breath: "Then why are you still alive? Why did you choose to flee?"

"Xiao Yi, you are wrong. I didn't flee; I wanted to lure that ghost away because you were still at home. I couldn't leave such a dangerous thing at home. Your mother was already dead, and I couldn't lose you too, so I held onto this mindset and crossed dimensions again, intending to lure that terrifying fierce ghost into an unknown world."

Li Li Jiye said this, his gaze revealing a touch of determination: "Even if it meant sacrificing a world, I could not let anything happen to you."

"But fate plays tricks on people. I held onto the determination to die, luring the ghost away in exchange for your safety, but when I arrived in this world, I discovered that the fierce ghost hadn't followed, and because the second cross-dimensional travel was so hurried, I couldn't sense the Earth coordinates anymore, so I had no way to go back."

"Do you know how desperate I was at the time? Only you were left at home, along with that fierce ghost, while I was trapped here, unable to do anything."

He said this with great agitation, clenching his fists so tightly that a trace of power leaked out, causing the surrounding cabin to instantly crack and teeter on the verge of collapse.

Li Yi was silent at this moment.

He had heard Yang Wei talk about this matter before, but Yang Wei had told him the truth from the perspective of a bystander. Now, hearing his father recount it personally, he could finally understand how complex the situation was at the time, not at all as he had imagined—that his father had abandoned everything, crossed dimensions to flee, and had not returned to this day. "Under those circumstances at the time, I don't think you could have survived at home, because I had seen with my own eyes how terrifying that ghost was. Even evolutionists were no match for it, let alone you, who were just a child at the time," Li Li Jiye said: "Even if I were angry and sorrowful in this world, I could do nothing but accept this cruel fact."

"So you possessed a prince and lived again?" Li Yi examined his new body.

Li Li Jiye said, "It wasn't possession, but rather that the soul of this body had been hooked away at that time, and I just logically borrowed this body to live again. You probably aren't very interested in what happened afterward; it was nothing more than replacing the original, fighting for power, and the struggle for the throne—these are very common things in historical stories. Fortunately, Father survived and successfully ascended the throne as Emperor."

"So that Prince Xin is my brother by a different father and mother?" Li Yi said.

"Prince Xin, Zhao Rui, is indeed the child born to this body. If Father wants to play this role well, I naturally have to accept them, but they are just tools for Father to use. Over these nine years, although Father has taken concubines, established an Empress, and appointed a Crown Prince, those were merely expedient measures to stabilize the court. Only you, Xiao Yi, are Father's true son."

Li Li Jiye said earnestly.

These words came from his heart, because Li Yi was the child he and his wife had on Earth, having lived together for over ten years with deep affection, while these others were just randomly gifted with this body, and there was no affection at all.

He didn't even want to have children again.

Because Li Li Jiye didn't know whether the children he had now, wearing someone else's flesh and blood with other women, counted as his own or Zhao Zhao Chenggan's. Furthermore, if he had children, what would become of the wife and Xiao Yi he had caused to die back then?

This was a betrayal of the family.

【Author's Note: Read every word carefully!】

It was precisely because he couldn't get past that hurdle in his heart that he could never integrate into this world. Thus, he was merely a high and mighty Son of Heaven, not a father, and had no feelings for anyone else.

But it was also because of this that he played the role of this Son of Heaven very well.

Li Yi's mood was complex at this moment. He didn't know what to say. Should he blame his father? He didn't seem to be at fault; he had done everything he could. It was just that when facing a fierce ghost from World No. 36, his father, who was only at the Soul Realm at the time, truly had no way to deal with it.

"Xiao Yi, do you know how shocked and incredulous Father was when I received that letter of yours?" Li Li Jiye stood up slowly again, tears appearing in his eyes: "I never dared to believe in my life that you were still alive, and living alone in Tianchang City like that."

"During those turbulent times, I'm sure you must have lived very hard."

Li Yi did not speak, merely taking out the latest model of a medical pod from his Five Elements Bracelet.

Lying inside the medical pod was a man in his early thirties. Although he was sleeping with his eyes closed, after being nourished by this top-tier medical pod, this body was very healthy, and even his face was rosy, as if he were just sleeping.

"This is..." Li Li Jiye's whole body shook, and he looked at the person in the medical pod in astonishment.

This person was none other than himself.

It was his body from Earth. After crossing dimensions back then, his body had been left in the medical pod, relying on nutrient solution to maintain his physical state. He never expected that nine years had passed, and his body was still there.

"Xiao Yi, you..."

Li Li Jiye then looked fiercely at Li Yi.

He couldn't believe that his son had actually preserved his body after he left, and even now, it was still intact, without the slightest change.

For a child who was only in his teens at the time, how much effort must have been required to accomplish this.

"After you and Mom left, I kept trying to maintain the operation of the nutrient pod and the supply of nutrient solution, until now," Li Yi said calmly.

But just this one sentence caused Li Li Jiye, the current Son of Heaven, to shed tears uncontrollably.

"I should have gone back, should have gone back sooner... I'm sorry, I'm sorry to you. I thought you and your mother had long since died, which is why I stayed in this world and never had the thought of returning to Earth. If I had known this earlier, I should have abandoned everything and continued soul cross-dimensional travel until I returned. I didn't know you were still waiting for me at home."

He felt incomparably guilty in his heart at this moment, feeling that he was simply a bastard.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 561 =====