On a somewhat desolate celestial body, two months after Chun Yangzi and Zhi Bing arrived to lend their aid.

Two men lay side by side in a patch of grass, gazing up at the vast sky filled with countless celestial bodies. Chun Yangzi rarely lay down together with another man like this. It was also one of the few times Wang Sheng had the chance to spend quiet time alone with his sect's forefather.

Chun Yangzi smiled. "What does it feel like, being surrounded by the stars? It should feel pretty good, right?"

"It's alright. Just a bit of pressure," Wang Sheng replied calmly. The strange yet beautiful sight of the stars in the night sky made him smile. "Forefather, these past days must have been quite pleasant for you, too."

"You have thoroughly tormented me." Chun Yangzi sighed faintly. "The idea you gave Zhi Bing has truly made things difficult for me. Still, I should thank you. All these years, I have been searching for a place where my heart could finally rest. Now, I have finally found it."

Wang Sheng didn't know what to say. He had not expected his forefather to behave like this. It was a little frightening but also rather impressive.

"Fei Yu, how are things between you and Wanxuan now?" Chun Yangzi yawned, then turned onto his side, propping his head up with one hand.

His handsome face, carefree bearing, and the natural charm he exuded toward women made it hard to connect him with the old Daoist elder he had pretended to be when they first met.

Chun Yangzi smiled. "I have heard that you and Wanxuan have been inseparable for three hundred years, and that you have used the cultivation technique I left behind to improve your strength quite a bit. Is that true?"

Smiling, Wang Sheng nodded. "Without your cultivation technique, I would not have been able to break into the Golden Immortal Realm."

"You forced your cultivation forward too aggressively. That kind of haste will cost you later. You will have to spend several times the effort to make up for it," Chun Yangzi said. "I know this is all part of Star Deity Wenqu's plan, but it still feels somewhat improper. Cultivation should be like mutual affection between two people. It has to come naturally, like water flowing into place."

"Did you not mention the balance of gain and loss several times in the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra? I have simply followed your teachings, Forefather. There is gain, and there is loss. That is all."

Chun Yangzi laughed quietly and lay back down, continuing to look at the sky.

He raised a hand and pointed toward a gap in the starry sky. Amid the brilliance of countless stars, the pitch-black rift stood out all the more.

"Look there. That is where the path to the Immortal Saint Realm is hidden and where true cultivation is. The endless space is only the outer layer. Be it the Heavenly Court or the forces now opposing it, they are all merely a part of that realm.

"Countless secrets and blessed lands are in there. No one can claim to fully understand it. Fei Yu, that is where you should go."

Wang Sheng stared into the distance for a while before smiling once more. "Forefather, I do not have such lofty ambitions. I only want to protect my home. The sword in my hand exists with the sole purpose of my home planet and the people who live on it. Right now, circumstances force me to step up and draw away threats that could endanger Earth.

"However, I still want to go back there one day. Whether I achieve true immortality and return to live out my days in peace, or become an ordinary man and spend my life with my family and my senior sister, either would be a good ending."

Chun Yangzi smiled faintly. "You will not be able to return. Based on what Hostess Su has uncovered about your origins, from the moment you leaped into the Eighteen Levels of Hell in the Small Nether Realm as a child, your path was already set. You were meant to stand here today, to say these words to me, to scheme against the millions of cultivators on this celestial body, and to turn this place into a river of blood."

Chun Yangzi paused, then turned his head toward Wang Sheng.

"Fate is like a wedge. If it is not pinning you down, then you still have room for change. However, once it locks into place, you will be drawn into the grand design that the Great Dao has already laid out, pushing you forward step by step."

Wang Sheng thought for a moment, then sighed somewhat wearily. "Fate."

"Yes. Fate."

"After getting involved in all this, that sense of freedom disappeared," Wang Sheng said slowly. "Forefather, I don't know how I should proceed once we've reached the end of our plan. Should I take this chance to withdraw and return to the Eastern Sky Region, becoming just another cog in the machine that helps Earth's cultivators move forward?

"Or should I stay with Star Deity Wenqu and the others, continue cultivating, and strive to become a force that can truly make a difference, so I can better protect Earth's cultivation world in the future?"

Chun Yangzi fell silent for a few moments. He wanted to lecture Wang Sheng, but when the words reached his lips, he felt there was no need. There was not much he could teach this disciple of his in terms of how to live.

In the end, he simply said, "Follow your heart. That is what a cultivator should do."

Wang Sheng smiled. He continued gazing at the endless stars above.

The time was almost nigh. Wang Sheng called out to Ling Sheng within his ring, and Ling Sheng appeared beside them.

Seeing both of them lying in the grass, Ling Sheng assumed they were hiding. She immediately lay down beside them as well, looking at Wang Sheng with a serious expression.

Wang Sheng chuckled at the sight and pointed up. "Look. Isn't the sky here beautiful?"

"Mm?" Ling Sheng's small face was filled with confusion.

Chun Yangzi smiled. "I have concealed everything within a hundred zhang using an array. No one will notice us. You can cast your spell here in a moment."

Wang Sheng thought for a bit, then brought out the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree from his Qiankun Ring. Afterward, he turned to Chun Yangzi. "Forefather, there is something I would like to ask of you."

"Oh? What is it?"

In a serious tone, Wang Sheng replied, "This will be my third move. After three or four more, I will use a method of feigning death to escape. To make it convincing enough to fool those great powers, I may end up in some unusual condition.

"This is something I planned together with Star Deity Wenqu, and we have made sufficient preparations. But when the time comes, I would like to ask you to look after Ling Sheng."

Chun Yangzi smiled and gave him a look of understanding. "Ling Sheng cultivates by relying on death aura. Would it not be more suitable to entrust her to Emperor Qinghua?"

"That's exactly why I can't. If he gives her even a bit of guidance, I'm afraid she would end up becoming something like the daughter of death."

"Hahahaha!" After his fit of laughter, Chun Yangzi nodded. "Do not worry. I will take good care of them for you. I will also stay by your side the whole time, so there is no need to entrust them to me this early."

Wang Sheng gave his forefather a hesitant look. He lowered his voice. "Forefather, Ling Sheng was originally a Ghost Heart Vine that cultivated into her current form."

Chun Yangzi nodded again. "Mm, I know."

Still staring at his forefather, Wang Sheng added, "Ling Sheng is actually quite simple-minded. She does not really understand complicated ideas of right and wrong."

Chun Yangzi gave him another casual acknowledgement, but then finally realized what Wang Sheng was implying. He kicked him without warning, sending Wang Sheng flying half a zhang into the air. Wang Sheng spun twice before crashing back down into the grass.

Laughing, Chun Yangzi scolded, "What do you take me, your forefather, for? Seriously! "You're going to completely ruin my reputation!"

Wang Sheng shrugged, sat back down, and resumed looking at the distant starry sky.

The planet they were on was rather unusual. Its rotation was slow, and it remained suspended in space instead of orbiting a sun. Hence, the view of the stars here gave off a different kind of brilliance.

This celestial body was used to hide troops. Right now, an army of millions from the Immortal Saint Realm had gathered here to oppose the Heavenly Court. Among them were dozens of experts and several great powers.

Chun Yangzi had brought Wang Sheng here in secret to wait. Once Wang Shan sealed off this region, they would strike from both inside and outside at the same time.

The idea to bring Ling Sheng into play had actually come from Chun Yangzi. Xu Zhongliang had been somewhat reluctant at first. However, far too many troops were stationed here. Since Wang Shan and Xu Zhongliang had not called in more immortals from the Heavenly Court, taking this place by force would likely come with heavy losses.

Under those circumstances, they had no choice but to use every means necessary.

Wang Sheng also felt that Ling Sheng had grown into something akin to a strategic weapon. Revealing her now would only deepen the enemy's sense of unease.

"Judging by the timing, His Imperial Majesty and Second Master should have already started attacking that celestial body," Wang Sheng said.

Chun Yangzi rested both hands behind his head. "With those two making a move, there is really nothing for a rogue immortal like me to do."

"Forefather, how does your strength compare to that of His Imperial Majesty?"

"I am far inferior," Chun Yangzi replied seriously. "The Great Dao of Pure Yang was born from the Great Dao of Fire and the Great Dao of Yin and Yang. It is not a primordial Great Dao.

"The power of death is one of the most authentic yin-aligned primordial Great Daos. In the future, he may even stand on the same level as the Three Pure Ones. That is only a possibility, though, and not a high one at that."

Wang Sheng thought for a moment. "Then is the Great Dao of the Stars a primordial Great Dao?"

Chun Yangzi narrowed his eyes. "What, are you thinking of switching Daos now? Asking your forefather about that does not seem very appropriate."

Wang Sheng smiled. "Forefather, what are you saying? How could I possibly switch Daos? I am only learning from multiple sources of Dao."

"Hmph!" Chun Yangzi snorted, though his face showed clear satisfaction.

Their choice of words reflected how close they had grown. Chun Yangzi now used a more casual tone, showing that he wanted to become closer to Wang Sheng.

"The Great Dao of the Stars is not really a primordial path, but its power does not fall short of one. It was born from dozens of primordial Great Daos and formed through their fusion," Chun Yangzi said as he looked at the sky. "Back then, Emperor Ziwei was second only to the Immortal Emperor."

Wang Sheng nodded slowly, though a question lingered in his mind that he did not voice. He thought of Feng Jiu.

Seemingly out of the blue, Chun Yangzi asked, "Speaking of, do you think it is possible that His Immortal Majesty is not actually dead?"

Wang Sheng paused for a moment, then nodded slowly. "No one can say for sure."

"No, I believe he's still alive."

A bronze box appeared in Chun Yangzi's hand, which he casually tossed up and down. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

After watching it for a while, Wang Sheng asked, "Forefather, the thing inside... That piece..."

"The severed finger?"

"Mm. Is that something the one you loved left behind?"

"Hahaha! The one I loved? How did you even come up with that? I am not so strange as to carry around a severed finger from someone I love."

Wang Sheng couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Amid his laughter, Chun Yangzi suddenly sent him a voice transmission."The finger in this box has an extraordinary origin. When His Immortal Majesty fell, I managed to grab it the instant he exploded."

His Immortal Majesty? It's Immortal Emperor Haotian's finger?

Wang Sheng froze. Looking at the bronze box, a chill ran through him. His eyebrows knit as he turned to Chun Yangzi, his eyes filled with confusion.

Was that not a slender, delicate finger of a woman? What is going on here?

"You are the second person to know this secret," Chun Yangzi glanced toward the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree and Ling Sheng. "Those two do not count."

"The Immortal Emperor is a woman?"

"Of course not."

"Then why did it become..."

"That is the strange part. This change happened about six hundred years before Emperor Ziwei led us in our counterattack. In terms of time outside, that would be around... one hundred and eighty thousand years ago."

Chun Yangzi's eyes glimmered faintly. The light then quietly faded away.