Chapter 560: Father and Son Talk

The name Li Jiye was precisely the name of Li Yi's father.

Since arriving in this world, he had not revealed this information to anyone. Thus, when Li Yi heard the person before him speak his father's name so casually, he felt shocked and astonished, for he had never believed this person could be his father.

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

Li Jiye noticed Li Yi's change in expression 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 passed.

Nine years was 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 then in Tianchang City, your mother and I were among the first 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 Jiye's memories returned to the past.

At that time, how passionate and high-spirited he had been.

It was a pity that good times did not last. Back then, the path of cultivation on Earth was not yet perfected. 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 that the person before him was his father, he still needed more reasonable explanations. Otherwise, based on a name alone, he would not so easily trust a stranger.

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

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

Li Jiye followed him in. He glanced at the empty cabin, then gestured for Li Yi to sit. 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 Event on Earth, spiritual energy recovered and the path of cultivation reappeared. As the first batch of cultivators, to be honest, your mother and I did indeed do many reckless things."

"Soul cross-dimensional travel was one of them. At the time, your mother and I didn't know the dangers involved. After all, newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. So, after sensing the spatial wormhole, your mother and I discussed it for a month before finally deciding to join forces to cross dimensions with our souls."

"The reason we chose to join forces was that 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 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 was World No. 36," Li Yi said with a calm expression.

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

"World No. 36 belongs to the world of Malevolent Ghosts," Li Yi said.

Li Jiye said, "Malevolent Ghosts? Indeed. Your mother and I encountered huge dangers on our first trip. At that time, we didn't know they were Malevolent Ghosts; we only knew that the thing was evil and terrifying. We couldn't deal with it at all and could only flee in a panic. Fortunately, we had left a contingency plan in advance, sensing the coordinates left on Earth, and successfully retreated."

"But the terrifying thing happened... That ghost 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 Malevolent Ghost."

Hearing this, Li Yi's gaze sank, and he took a slight breath. "Then why are you still alive? Why did you choose to run away?"

"Xiao Yi, you're wrong. I didn't run away. 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, holding onto that mindset, I crossed dimensions again, intending to lure that terrifying Malevolent Ghost into an unknown world."

Li Jiye's gaze revealed a touch of determination. "Even if it meant sacrificing a world, I couldn't 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 ghost hadn't followed. And because the second cross-dimensional trip 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? There was only you left at home, along with that Malevolent Ghost, while I was trapped here, unable to do anything."

When he reached this point, his emotions were very agitated. He clenched his fists, and 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 about this from Yang Wei before, but Yang Wei had told him the truth from the perspective of a bystander. Now, hearing his father recount it himself, he could finally understand how complex the situation was at the time, not as he had imagined—that his father had abandoned everything, fled across dimensions, and never returned. "In that situation 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 Evolvers were no match for it, let alone you, who were just a child then," 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 an Imperial Prince and lived again?" Li Yi examined this new body of his.

Li Jiye said, "It wasn't possession, but rather that the soul of this body had been hooked away at the time, and I 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 history. Fortunately, I 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 I want to play this role well, I naturally have to accept them, but they are just tools for me to use. Over these nine years, although I have taken concubines, established an Empress, and conferred the title of Crown Prince, those were just expedient measures to stabilize the court. Only you, Xiao Yi, are my true son."

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 a decade with deep affection. These others were just randomly gifted with this body, and there was simply no affection.

He didn't even want to have children again.

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

This was a betrayal of the family.

【Author's note: Read the content in one go!】

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 only 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 Son of Heaven very well.

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

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

"During those turbulent times, you must have lived very hard."

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

Inside the medical pod lay a man in his early thirties. Although he was sleeping with his eyes closed, 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 Jiye was shaken to his core, looking at the person in the medical pod in astonishment.

This person was none other than himself.

It was his body on Earth. After crossing dimensions, his body had been left in the medical pod, maintained by nutrient solution. He never expected that nine years later, his body would still be there.

"Xiao Yi, you..."

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 remained intact, without the slightest change.

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

"After you and Mom left, I kept working hard 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 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 had no thought of returning to Earth. If I had known this, I should have given up everything and continued to cross dimensions until I returned. I didn't know you were still waiting for me at home."

He felt incredibly guilty in his heart, feeling that he was simply a bastard.

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