Chapter 399: Striking Toward Supreme, Coming Out of Seclusion Early

That face of the blue-robed man was all too familiar to Kamikawa Mitsu — it looked exactly like the virtual character Cangjie he had created, as if carved from the same mold.

At this moment.

Kamikawa Mitsu was taken aback.

His face was full of astonishment.

Could it really be that acting it out made it come true?

Or what was going on — had Chie said something auspicious today?

Before, he had only felt that the Immortal resembled the virtual character Cangjie he had made, and at first thought it was a coincidence.

After all, the Immortal's facial contours were similar to the Cangjie he had shaped, not identical.

But now it was different — he had seen the virtual character Cangjie he had shaped; although it wasn't a real meeting, he had still seen Cangjie through the memories of the Immortal's corpse.

These were the residual memory fragments of the Immortal's corpse, obtained through the Sacrificial Lord's ability — there was no possibility of forgery.

At this moment.

Kamikawa Mitsu and the blue-robed man were standing less than two meters apart, face to face.

An indescribable shock welled up inside him.

The virtual character he had shaped had appeared before him as a real existence rather than a system-script form, alive and present. Kamikawa Mitsu stared, his deep eyes sweeping back and forth over the blue-robed man.

Apart from the difference in attire, he really was identical to the Cangjie he had shaped.

Especially those double-pupil eyes — the double-pupil charm flowing within them — there was no difference at all.

Kamikawa Mitsu could not help wondering whether he had met the real Cangjie before, and only then had he shaped Cangjie.

At this moment.

Even Kamikawa Mitsu had to wonder whether in a past life he had some karmic tie with Cangjie.

The "past life" here did not mean the previous life, but a far more distant past life — perhaps two lives ago, perhaps three.

In short, it was the era in which Cangjie lived, as now presented in the Immortal corpse's memory.

He had had an unforgettable karmic tie with Cangjie in that era; even after cycling through reincarnation for millions of years, passing through the Six Paths again and again, drinking Meng Po's broth, crossing the Bridge of Helplessness, he still would not forget.

That bond had already been branded into his bones, into his soul, into the deepest layer of reincarnation.

The blue-robed man spoke, and the double-pupil child froze as if struck by lightning, his footsteps halting. He awkwardly scratched his head, and the instant he turned around, surprise flashed across his face.

"Oh, Daddy, why are you here?"

Then the double-pupil child leapt forward and threw himself into the blue-robed man's arms.

"Just now I was wondering when Daddy would come out of seclusion. I was about to go to the great hall to see if you were there — I didn't expect you to be here."

A smile hung on his face, innocent and pure.

He casually made up an excuse to cover why he had turned to leave.

The blue-robed man ruffled the double-pupil child's hair, looking at him with a half-smile that made the child's hair stand on end.

Such a ridiculous excuse — no matter how you looked at it, the blue-robed man wouldn't believe it.

But the blue-robed man did not call him out on it.

The double-pupil child seized the chance to ask: "Daddy, does your coming out of seclusion mean you've taken that step? Congratulations, Daddy, on becoming Supreme…"

Before the words had finished.

The blue-robed man shook his head:

"No, I'm still one step away from Supreme. I came out of seclusion early."

"Ah… came out early? Didn't you say before that you were going into a life-and-death seclusion, Daddy?"

The double-pupil child was puzzled.

Don't be fooled by his young age — as the offspring of at least an Immortal, even if he didn't understand the outside world, at least he understood cultivation.

An Immortal's attempt to break through to Supreme was of utmost importance; not the slightest carelessness could be allowed.

Yet the blue-robed man had simply come out of seclusion just like that — there must have been something going on.

The blue-robed man clearly did not want to bring this up. He smiled and ruffled the double-pupil child's hair, then spoke bluntly:

"You ask about that — shouldn't you be answering first about why you were made to stand as punishment by the old Mr. today?"

The double-pupil child was left speechless, chuckling dryly as he scratched his head.

He looked exactly like a child who had failed a test and didn't dare show his parents the report card.

Kamikawa Mitsu sighed with feeling.

The Immortal corpse was actually the son of the blue-robed man.

And the blue-robed man might be Cangjie.

He himself seemed to have a karmic tie with Cangjie, and now he had obtained his son's corpse.

Could this be what the legends say: there is a fixed destiny woven into the unseen.

Kamikawa Mitsu looked at the blue-robed man.

Though he and the double-pupil child exchanged only a few words, they contained a great deal of information.

The blue-robed man at that time was a revered Immortal, capable of attempting to break through to Supreme, but for some reason he had come out of seclusion early.

The double-pupil child hadn't noticed the look on the blue-robed man's face when he asked why he had come out early — or perhaps he had noticed but didn't understand what his eyes meant.

But Kamikawa Mitsu understood.

At the mention of coming out early, the blue-robed man's gaze grew Solemn.

It could be confirmed that the blue-robed man must have encountered something — perhaps a person, perhaps an event, perhaps an object — in any case, it was important, important enough that even breaking through to Supreme had to be set aside.

Supreme — a realm dreamed of by countless beings.

Even Immortals would go mad for it, pursuing it with relentless determination.

Yet the blue-robed man had, for a time, set aside his attempt to break through to Supreme and come out of seclusion early.

Wang Zun could not think of anything that would make the green-robed man do this.

As he pondered, the green-robed man walked out of the pebble path with the child with dual pupils, both laughing and chatting.

Whenever the green-robed man urged the child with dual pupils to cultivate or study, the child would frown, unwilling to cultivate, and only mutter obedient assent.

Because the green-robed man's expression turned stern whenever he mentioned cultivation or study, the child with dual pupils dared not retort.

Wang Zun saw it all.

The green-robed man sternly demanded the child with dual pupils to cultivate, occasionally testing his progress; his face remained serious, yet his eyes held gentleness and helplessness.

"Father, why must I cultivate? Our life is already good enough—protected by you, Mother, and Uncle, I have nothing to fear."

Out of curiosity, the child with dual pupils mustered the courage to ask.

The response was a fleeting, complex look from the green-robed man.

He knelt down, bringing his gaze level with the child's, and gently tidied the child's clothes and his tousled hair, speaking softly.

"Child, cultivation is not about becoming strong enough to avoid being bullied—your mother and I will never let you be bullied."

"Then why cultivate?"

The child with dual pupils was confused. Cultivation was meant to grow strong—to protect oneself, protect one's family, and avoid being victimized due to weakness. That's what his teacher taught him. Why did his father say otherwise?

The green-robed man understood the child's thoughts and said gently:

"The old master did not err—he spoke truly. One day, you will understand—why you must cultivate."

Then,

The vision ended abruptly.

Bai Mang faded, and Wang Zun returned once more to his consciousness space.

"Pity I didn't learn his name."

Wang Zun sighed.

This time's gain was greater than last time's, though he still did not learn the green-robed man's name.

But he was satisfied.

He now knew the identity of the immortal corpse: it was the offspring of the green-robed man, identical to the virtual figure Cangjie he had created—likely Cangjie's son.

…