Wayfarer

Chapter 698: Adopting the Demon Child

Xiao Nanfeng and the Divine Emperor walked up to the side of the barrier of black fog. The Divine Emperor waved an arm and dispelled the barrier, revealing a giant green lotus within.

"Demon Child, are you alright?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

With a hum, the petals of the green lotus wilted away in a cloud of green smoke, revealing a figure seated atop a lotus platform—a boy in green robes cross-legged in meditation.

As all the petals faded away, the boy's eyes opened, gleaming like a sword. A boulder not far away shattered into powder.

"I'm fine now! It doesn't hurt anymore. Xiao Nanfeng, I feel like I'm filled with energy!" The Demon Child stood up and inspected his body with amazement.

The lotus platform at his feet dissipated into dust.

Beside him, the Divine Emperor nodded approvingly. "The body was forged well. Come on, let's go test your strength."

The Demon Child looked toward Xiao Nanfeng inquiringly.

"She's my wife. Listen to her as you would me," Xiao Nanfeng said.

The Demon Child nodded.

Xiao Nanfeng didn't explain the Divine Emperor's name and status to the Demon Child not because he was unwilling, but because it wasn't yet appropriate to do so. They would have to return to the Yuqing holy land, and he was worried that someone would try to trick information out of the Demon Child then. He could explain things to the Demon Child once they were done with the visit.

The three cultivators shot into the air and toward the sea in the distance. Before long, they were above a secluded stretch of the sea.

"Try to attack me," the Divine Emperor said.

"Really?" The Demon Child seemed worried. "I feel really strong right now. I wouldn't want to hurt you badly."

"It's fine. Do it," Xiao Nanfeng said, smiling. He retreated into the distance.

The Demon Child ultimately nodded. As he punched forward, the void itself trembled and rippled. His fist technique descended like a meteor, flaring with sparks.

The Divine Emperor concentrated and sent a probing palm forward.

The two techniques clashed in an explosion of energy.

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"Ah, you can block it! Then I'll keep going." The Demon Child struck again.

A flurry of fists shot toward the Divine Emperor like a meteor shower. The sight of the technique alone was staggering.

The Divine Emperor stood where she was, retaliating with palm after palm. The resulting shockwaves devastated the sea.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded in satisfaction. He too could sense that the Demon Child's strength was comparable to the dragon of water from before.

"Alright, let's stop here," the Divine Emperor called out.

A huge palm descended with tremendous force, sending the Demon Child flying out for thousands of meters.

The Demon Child gaped in amazement. He flew toward Xiao Nanfeng. "Xiao Nanfeng, I can't believe how strong your wife is. She sent me flying with just a palm! But if I use a relic, I'm sure I can block her attack."

Xiao Nanfeng gave the Demon Child a strange look. His golden hoop could hardly compete with the Divine Emperor's bell.

"Demon Child, I'd like to invite you to be a general of my empire. What do you think?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"My word's as good as steel! I promised my mother I'd listen to you until I'm twenty." The Demon Child patted himself on the chest, then continued, "But I want all the snacks and food you gave me back on the island, too."

"Of course. You'll have a dedicated chef and puppeteer," Xiao Nanfeng replied, laughing.

"Great!" The Demon Child smiled as well.

Xiao Nanfeng turned toward the Divine Emperor. "How's the Demon Child?"

"He has the strength of an early-stage Boundless Immortal, but he's still slightly weaker than a true one."

"Hm?"

"At the realm of a Boundless Immortal, you can manipulate natural law, exerting great force with relatively little energy. The Demon Child can't do that just yet. He doesn't know how to manipulate natural law, and is fighting only based on brute force. He'll be able to maintain an early-stage Boundless Immortal's strength for a short period of time, but his stamina will quickly run out."

"Natural law?" Xiao Nanfeng asked. "I remember seeing the seventh-grade lotus release incredible bursts of sword energy before. The Demon Child's eyes radiated with that energy when I first saw him just now as well. Why didn't you use it, Demon Child?"

The Demon Child shook his head in exasperation. "I can sense the energy in my body, but I can't seem to control it. I don't know how I made my eyes light up, either."

The Divine Emperor replied, "Those sword manifestations are part of the natural law now imbued in his body. His demonic corpse aura is another."

"Oh?" The two cultivators turned toward the Divine Emperor.

"The Demon Child is different from other cultivators. Other cultivators will have to slowly develop and intuit their own manifestation of natural law. It's an arduous process, and there are plenty of people who don't succeed in their entire lifetimes. The Demon Child's body is inherently imbued with natural law, so his starting point as a cultivator is a Boundless Immortal. He just can't properly use that strength just yet."

"How can he learn?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"He'll have to discover that on his own. Considering that he's intimately attuned to the natural laws governed by both the seventh-grade lotus and the demonic corpse aura, he'll be fearsome once he discovers how to take advantage of them."

"The Demon Child's demonic corpse aura contains the wills of countless Taiqing ancestors, as well as their intuition and individual experience about aspects of cultivation. His intuition is, therefore, unparalleled. He's simply too young as yet. I'm certain that he'll be incredible once he seriously dedicates himself to cultivation," Xiao Nanfeng slyly added.

The Demon Child gasped at the effusive praise. He murmured to himself, "Xiao Nanfeng really does know me best. Once I get serious, I'll be the strongest of them all! I should have met Xiao Nanfeng sooner."

"Just you wait," he said out loud. "I'll quickly grow ten times as strong as I am now!"

Xiao Nanfeng laughed. Children really were easy to encourage.

"I believe you will grow stronger, but we have more important business at hand right now."

"What business?"

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved a crystal coffin with a woman lying within.

"Mother?" The Demon Child's eyes turned red as he rushed over.

"Before your mother saved you, she left her physical body in my care.Now that you're out of secluded cultivation, I'm sure she has no further regrets. I'll leave her corpse with you for the moment. Say your final farewells to her."

"Mother!" The Demon Child's face screwed up in misery. "If only you were alive—Mother!"

Xiao Nanfeng and the Divine Emperor flew some distance away and allowed the Demon Child some privacy with his mother's corpse. He seemed to have much to say to her. He cried and talked as he flew.

After what felt like forever, Xiao Nanfeng and the Divine Emperor flew back to the Demon Child's side. Even then, there were tears and snot all around his face.

"Alright, alright. Don't cry anymore. Your mother wouldn't want that, either." Xiao Nanfeng wiped the tears off the Demon Child's face with a towel.

"I don't want to cry either, but I can't help it!"

"Why don't I tell you about how I encountered your mother?" Xiao Nanfeng suggested.

The Demon Child nodded fervently.

Xiao Nanfeng explained what he had found while trapped within the Taiqing burial pagoda, including every word that the Demon Child's mother had told him.

"Li Qianjun, that bastard!" the Demon Child cried out when Xiao Nanfeng was done. "He's the reason for my mother's miscarriages. I'll kill him!"

Black aura surged around him, and demonic flames sprung out of nowhere. Though he was young, that didn't mean he was a fool. The truth of Xiao Nanfeng's words was self-evident. His mother had been bullied her entire life. A beast called Li Qianjun had played around with her, then bullied her and caused her multiple miscarriages.

Who would be able to bear learning about such an odious truth? He would happily strip Li Qianjun's tendons from his body, eat his flesh, and drink his blood!

"Our goals are aligned, you see. Li Qianjun isn't alone. He's backed by the divine empire of Hongyue. You've seen what happens if you try to rush forward recklessly. Not only will you be unable to exact your revenge, you'll even end up being caught yourself. We need to strike strategically. Don't worry. I'll bring you to seek revenge on him," Xiao Nanfeng said.

The Demon Child wiped his tears away and nodded. "I'll listen to you. I'll do anything if it means being able to avenge my mother!"

"We'll need a plan for that first. The most important thing right now, however, is to allow your mother to rest in peace."

"My mother's soul has already dissipated. What's there to lay to rest?" The Demon Child scrunched up his face again.

"Her soul might have dissipated, but who knows whether or not it might persist in another world? Could your mother's truesoul have been sent to another world?"

"What? Do you mean there's a chance that my mother's still alive?" the Demon Child exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "Who knows? The world is mysterious. Can anyone really claim to understand it all? Your mother told you that she would watch over you from the heavens. What if she really were able to do that? That's why you need to make sure that you live properly, that you live well. She might just be watching over you from another world."

The Demon Child wiped his tears away and nodded fervently. "You're right. I need to live well to make sure my mother's at ease."

"That's right. Now, let's find somewhere to bury her. It's a custom passed down since antiquity, and it really might help her truesoul ascend. Let's send her along; then, you can embark on a new life."

"My mother once said that she wanted to remain in Taixu forever to watch me grow up and get married," the Demon Child said.

"Then let's bury her in the vicinity."

The Demon Child nodded fervently.

The three cultivators again flew back to Taixu.

It was still a pile of ruins, but there were already plenty of cultivators poking around.

Rather than enter Taixu proper, Xiao Nanfeng's group headed toward a secluded valley some distance away from the city. According to the Demon Child, his mother frequently brought them there, where she would teach him about cultivation. This was where they had had many fond memories together.

With Xiao Nanfeng's help, they buried the Demon Child's mother.

The Demon Child knelt in front of his mother's grave for a day and a night, smiling one moment and crying the next. Even the Divine Emperor, leaning against Xiao Nanfeng, couldn't help but sigh.

Another day later, Xiao Nanfeng stepped forward and headed to the Demon Child's side. "Alright. Your mother shall lie in peace from now on. I'll have guards stationed here to protect this valley. If you have time, come back and visit your mother. We'll have to set off on business now."

"What business?" The Demon Child wiped at his tears.

"We'll be returning to the Yuqing holy land to reclaim everything that belongs to you," Xiao Nanfeng said.