Chapter 540

"Is this Xiao Douzi?" Ye Jie stared in disbelief at the weeping old man again.

Well, don't say, these brows and eyes really do look a bit alike.

If you hadn't said anything, I would have thought Xiao Douzi's old ancestor had come.

Douzi's full name is An Qi Dou, a person from Golden Feather Isle of the Immortal Rainbow Dao Realm, and he is the only disciple I accepted in my previous life.

"It's me! Seven Tribulations Master! I'm Xiao Douzi! Don't you remember me?" The old man wiped his tears, looking aggrieved like a child.

"Alright, alright, you're already a grown man—Douzi, you're now the renowned Tai Shang Shen Zhu."

Liu Qingcheng comforted him, laughing and crying at once, saying she hadn't even cried yet…

"Xiao Douzi, how did you become like this?" Ye Jie patted the old man's shoulder and spoke again, puzzled. He remembered Xiao Douzi being in his youth, about to be full of vigor—how could he have perished…

Right, my fall has been a long, long time ago; Xiao Douzi is old now, and Liu Qingcheng has waited for me a long time…

Ye Jie gazed deeply at Liu Qingcheng's face, the most vivid in his memory, and a thousand thoughts arose.

The atmosphere on site grew silent; Tai Shang Shen Zhu An Qi Dou, seeing the situation was wrong, quickly stopped his lament.

Then he silently stepped back, thinking only the Master and mistress truly loved him, and that his presence was an accident, not to disturb their final reunion.

"Ah Jie, I've waited for you so long," Liu Qingcheng could no longer hold back her emotions, rushed forward and flung herself into Ye Jie's embrace, tears moistening her eye sockets.

"Do you know? After you left, I didn't dare face reality and closed myself off for thirty million years straight; later, Mo Bo divined for me, saying I would still see you in this lifetime, and the omen truly came true!"

"You've suffered, Qingcheng," Ye Jie felt the warmth in his embrace and the soft words spoken beside his ear, feeling quite uneasy inside.

"By the way, where's Mo Bo? Why didn't the old man come?"

Ye Jie was puzzled; the last time he entered the Moon-Reflecting Phantom Realm, he had sought out all his deceased acquaintances, but in that time and space he alone had not seen Mo Bo.

Mo Bo was someone I met while wandering the Nine Heavens Dao Realm; at that time I was only a Celestial Emperor realm cultivator.

At that time, Mo Bo was a well-known diviner in the Nine Heavens Dao Realm, always taking extra care of me.

"Mo Bo, in recent years..." Liu Qingcheng choked out.

Indeed, Ye Jie already had the answer in his heart, he just wasn't willing to admit it.

Years are like a sword that cuts the heaven's pride; time is like a blade that wipes out heroes.

I never imagined that after my fall and rebirth, everything would change—Xiao Douzi changed, and Mo Bo left.

Ah Jie, you've changed too.

Become more restrained, more deep and steady—uh… lacking that aura which, even with a calm mind, an Immortal Emperor would unconsciously emit, that feeling of looking down on all beings.

The eyes are the window of a person's soul; through the eyes you can see through a person, and even if you can't see through, you can still perceive his inner changes.

Cultivating for myriad eons to prove the Dao, in a single morning the Seven Tribulations Sword shakes the Immortal Realm.

No one knows my Seven Tribulations ambition, yet I become an invincible Immortal through the ages.

Ah Jie, these two lines of poetry truly depict you.

Hearing this, Ye Jie laughed and shook his head; he hadn't changed, he had merely come to know his own insignificance.

Even if in my past life I was a peak Immortal Emperor, what of it? I'm not even as worthy as the ancient Dao dragon that pulls the coffin for that sentient being, let alone speak of the inscrutable Sect Master.

I have indeed changed in this regard; now merely a peak Celestial Emperor's cultivation, how does it compare to the peak Immortal Emperor's back then?

That's also true.

After a while of tenderness, Ye Jie finally remembered his cheap disciple: "Xiao Douzi, why are you hiding so far away? No one's chasing you, come over."

"Master, I'm not afraid of disturbing you," the Tai Shang Shen Zhu muttered softly, then excitedly ran forward.

He also wanted to embrace the master like the mistress does, but who would have thought the master would coldly dodge him……

What's with two grown men hugging?

Look at you now—what are you like? Master truly fears you won't make it through tomorrow and will go straight into the ground.

Ye Jie pointed at the old man disdainfully; usually a man of few words, he now wouldn't stop talking: "You say, the things I taught you—have you not cultivated them earnestly? Otherwise, how did you end up with your lifespan exhausted, and still haven't broken through to Immortal Emperor?"

"Master, it's unjust! I have been studying exactly as you taught, not daring to slack off at any moment; moreover, you think too highly of me—breaking through to Immortal Emperor isn't something you can just do."

"You don't know, but aside from that senior who just succeeded in proving the Dao today, in all these long ages no one has managed to prove the Dao."

The master of the Qingyun Immortal Sect broke through to Immortal Emperor in one go—awesome! I'm so envious.

Tai Shang Shen Zhu straightened his stooped back and raised a thumb.

Liu Qingcheng chimed in: "Speaking of Qingyun, Xiao Douzi and I still have two blessed lands in their subordinate Qingyun Heavenly City; when we built them we contributed many resources, taking first and third place in the contribution rankings, just to make later participation in the phantom realm more convenient."

The Qingyun Immortal Sect you mentioned is my sect; the one who broke through to Immortal Emperor is my Sect Master, and I am now the Dao Son of Qingyun.

When Qingyun was mentioned, Ye Jie's face showed a rare pride, leaving Liu Qingcheng and Tai Shang Shen Zhu staring at each other in surprise.

Ah Jie, you've indeed changed too much.

After awakening your memories, why didn't you come to us first, instead joining a strange sect and even becoming its Dao Son?

In his previous life, Ye Jie scorned joining any faction.

His path to Immortal Emperor was forged entirely without the support of any major power, arduously blazed on his own.

"Take a look," Ye Jie said to their doubts, drawing his waist sword, the Seven Tribulations Immortal Sword, a complete Seven Tribulations Sword.

Holy crap! Master! Don't mess around!

…… Ye Jie, forehead black-lined, Xiao Douzi truly is old in body but young at heart; his mischievous nature hasn't changed.

Eh, no, Master, your Seven Tribulations Sword wasn't broken into several pieces in that great calamity? Yet now it has completely fused back together—congratulations, Master!

Ye Jie immediately gave a brief account of his post-rebirth search for the broken sword, having gone to Qingyun to participate in the trials in order to find the broken sword.

Afterward, the Sect Master stripped him of his identity; after the Sect Master spoke, he decisively joined Qingyun, and later passed the Dao Son examination to become a Dao Son.

Ah, I see—so that day your aura spreading from the Yuan Dao Ya was due to the final illusion of the Yi Qian Ceng trial tower; what a miraculous Immortal tower, its illusion can even affect reality!

Yes, that illusion was incredibly real; after I defeated the tribulation lightning and cleared the stage in the illusion, I briefly experienced the sensation of breaking through a few breaths beyond Immortal Emperor—it was so real I almost couldn't tell reality from illusion.

ps: These chapters are just laying the groundwork; the new plot will unfold soon. Once again, I deeply thank everyone who supports me—I love you all.