Chapter 2484: Ascetic Xiao Fan

In the years that followed, Xiao Fan continued to grope forward, growing stronger and stronger, and also increasingly doubting whether this world possessed any extraordinary strata.

After turning eighteen, he obtained Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang's consent and left home for a long journey.

Rather than calling it a trip, it was more like going to cultivate.

His small appearance, like that of a lost child, brought many inconveniences; riding vehicles and staying at inns would arouse suspicion that he was underage.

Later he simply stopped taking vehicles or staying at inns, trekking over mountains and across rivers to seek the places where immortals cultivated as recorded in ancient texts, enduring wind and dew, like an ascetic monk.

When he was with his parents, although he was not a pampered young lord who had clothes brought to him and food fed to him, he could still be considered well‑provided for, basically never having suffered hardship.

But on his first long journey he slept under the sky and ate dry rations and mountain spring water, and he could adapt to that.

Xiao Feng and his wife's Divine Sense continually watched over their son, seeing him practice austerities in the mortal world, seeking traces of the ancient transcendent cultivators' training.

This planet was fabricated by Xiao Feng out of nothing, and it differs essentially from other planets of the same plane.

In other worlds, not long ago had passed since the 'mass ascension,' and many cultivators' notes, secret manuals, teaching videos, and the like still circulated.

As for this 'Earth,' it has never produced any extraordinary life; it only mentions some tales of cultivating immortals and seeking the Dao in the 'background,' just like the ancient culture of the Dragon Kingdom that Xiao Feng encountered in his youth.

Xiao Fan's journey was destined to find nothing, for his world fundamentally lacks any immortal cultivator inheritance.

But Xiao Feng is almost certain that after this trip returns, his son will surely undergo a transformation!

The predecessors left nothing behind, and he had never created a path of cultivation for this world.

Path.

But the environment is there, the cosmic laws are there; with his son's wisdom not inferior to that of the ancient Fu Xi, he will surely find the answer himself!

The road is originally made by people walking it; the first person who opens a road may be covered in thorns, but his direction is not constrained by predecessors, and this too is a rare freedom.

Xiao Fan's journey lasted four years.

During those four years, he occasionally called home to report his safety, sharing with his parents the scenery and interesting things he saw.

However, most of the time his phone had no signal or was out of power.

At the end of the fourth year, when Xiao Fan was twenty‑two, he had an epiphany.

Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang's Divine Sense saw their son, his clothes worn and tattered, sitting alone atop the snow mountain in the center of the vast grassland, letting the cold invade him without moving a bit.

Beside him, a vulture pecked at the corpse of a sky‑burial, yet he seemed oblivious, gazing into the distant earth with a serene expression.

"The primal spirit leaves the body, the divine wanders a thousand steps; the flesh transcends the mortal, water and fire cannot invade. This must be the mortal‑immortal level spoken of in the books…"

He had already reached the intermediate form of the transcendent realm; he became transcendent at fourteen, reached the middle stage of transcendent at twenty‑two, the energy in his bloodline had gradually been aroused, and together with the nurturing of cosmic energy, he grew ever more distinct.

Xiao Fan reached out, clenched his palm.

Bang~

The explosive force condensed at a point made the air emit a sonic boom, and the space structure faintly felt as if it might sway and collapse.

"I feel as if I could ascend to another world at any moment," he murmured.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan took out his phone.

However, the phone had already frozen and broken, unable to be opened.

"Forget it, I'll go home. I'll ask Mom and Dad why they deceived me."

Xiao Fan rose and muttered to himself,

as if he had already decided something.

These years of cultivation outside, he had come into contact with many people and clearly understood how he differed from ordinary folk.

This time returning, he must find out clearly!

He leapt down from the snow mountain, but instead of tumbling and falling, he glided low to the ground like a wild goose, kicking up only a few snowflakes.

After descending the mountain, in each leap he did not tread on the grass; his figure flickered, as if teleporting, swiftly crossing the vast prairie toward home.

At home, Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang knew their son's intention to return, and exchanged a glance.

"Shall we just die now?" Xiao Feng proposed.

Xun Shuang thought, then nodded: "Alright… then… should we leave something for Xiao Fan?"

Xiao Feng shook his head: "No, a sudden accident—we were burned to death in a fire seven days ago."

In his domain, time is controllable; saying we died seven days ago means we really died seven days ago.

With a wave of firelight spreading, the whole residence burned to a charred black, and the flames quickly died out, leaving only old traces.

Partial temporal repetition triggered a butterfly effect; neighboring households were also affected, the three‑day course was corrected anew, and this city underwent a slight change.

Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang each fabricated a charred corpse; after the accident they were taken for a second cremation, complete with procedures and photos, so even if the son wanted to investigate he would find no loophole.

Then the two vanished into hiding, continuing to monitor their son's subsequent development.

Four days later, Xiao Fan returned home, saw the residence after the accident had been dealt with, and stood frozen in place.

At first he didn't quite believe it; after asking the neighbors and clarifying the situation, his mind began to fluctuate, upon learning that his parents had departed

from the world, and all ten pets were also burned to death; his tranquil state of mind could not be maintained, and for a moment he was overwhelmed with grief.

But……

Not long after, he began again to reflect on the truth of this matter.

He had long suspected whether his parents were really ordinary people; so after emerging from his emotional low, he quickly calmed down and reversed‑engineered another possibility.

Unfortunately, no matter how he reasoned and investigated, he could find not a trace; his parents truly were just ordinary citizens, with nothing amiss.

Over time, Xiao Fan also gradually gave up.

He still felt a bit unable to let go in his heart, yet could do nothing about it, so he could only look forward.

More than a year after the accident, Xiao Fan grew weary of this world, shattered the void, and ascended to the spirit realm.

Over twenty‑three years, the traces he left in this world were minuscule, as if he were merely a passerby, leaving nothing for people to remember.

Originally, a master‑level cultivator like him ought to have founded a sect and passed down myriad extraordinary things to posterity.

But he, all the way until his departure, did nothing special; he merely hand‑wrote a thin booklet, briefly describing his own transformation process, signing it 《Life Code》, and left it in the old family home in the countryside.

Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang followed their son to the Immortal Spirit Realm, continuing to secretly observe his life's journey.

After ascending from Di Qiu, Xiao Fan's life underwent a tremendous change.

Because the Immortal Spirit Realm has a cultivation system, he is no longer a lone cultivator, having met many fellow cultivators and many enemies.

Xiao Feng and his wife watched their son interact with others, understood the existing cultivation system, weighed the pros and cons of study versus self-enlightenment, and continually adjusted the path forward.

He made friends, encountered strong foes, obtained treasures, also lost some things; some female cultivators liked him, and some people wanted to kill him over those female cultivators.

Many experiences could be made into a book; Xiao Feng and Xun Shuang watched silently, without intervening.