Young Jiang Minghuang

Among the savage beasts of the mountains, each had its own territory.

To make things safer for little Youwei, who was always running about blindly, Gu Changqing and Mother Leopard began expanding their territory.

Mother Leopard died miserably during that time, and so Gu Changqing gained another little leopard companion.

Overall, those days passed rather smoothly.

Until Gu Changqing encountered someone who stirred ripples in his peaceful life once more.

It was a young boy.

He wore splendid clothes and possessed extraordinary features, like an immortal descended into the mortal world.

Yet when Gu Changqing met him, the boy looked utterly bedraggled.

Surrounded by a pack of wolves, terror filled his face. At the critical moment, a firewood cleaver came tearing through the air and plunged into the ground, bursting forth with boundless Sword Qi that forced the wolves back.

And the owner of that firewood cleaver was none other than the Young Heavenly Emperor.

"Who would have thought that in just a few short months, the Heavenly Emperor's attainments in the sword had already reached such a level?"

"But now, he seems to have entered a bottleneck. His swordsmanship cannot advance even an inch. In the end, he has no one to guide him."

"What a pity. A swordsmanship prodigy without equal through the ages, and his first weapon was actually a firewood cleaver."

Those outside the mirror sighed in emotion.

The sword differed from the ordinary cultivation system.

It required not only tempering, but also guidance. Though clearly a peerless prodigy, he was ruling the mountains with a firewood cleaver in hand. It was truly lamentable.

At this moment, someone seemed to notice something.

"How... does this young man in the scene look somewhat similar to Emperor Jiang around the brows?"

Everyone followed the voice and looked over, only to find that it was indeed so.

They immediately turned their gazes toward Jiang Minghuang.

The latter nodded with a face full of black lines, feeling as though a dark chapter of his history had been exposed in public.

After all, he was now Emperor Jiang, capable of suppressing an entire era with a mere raise of his hand.

"That's not right."

Soon, someone said, "Emperor Jiang was born into an ancient aristocratic family. Even in his youth, he must have already embarked on the path of cultivation. How could a pack of mountain wolves have driven him to such a state?"

Everyone was equally puzzled.

Across the entire Northern Profound Continent, there were only three families worthy of being called ancient aristocratic families. Their foundations were unimaginably vast. Jiang Minghuang was now the Family Head of the Jiang Family—how could he possibly have gone to the mortal world as a child and been driven into such straits by a pack of wolves?

Jiang Minghuang's expression darkened somewhat as he spoke. "My father had only one child, me. I was excessively doted upon in my youth, which made my temperament somewhat weak. I had not even entered cultivation before the age of seven."

"In desperation, my father threw me into the mortal world to experience worldly life."

Everyone came to a sudden realization, thinking, This was hardly experiencing worldly life—it was clearly forcing him to experience the hardships of the mortal world, so that he would develop a desire to cultivate.

In truth, such things were quite common among certain great families.

To temper their children's character, many people sent them into the mortal world to experience suffering.

They simply had not expected even Jiang Minghuang to have suffered such an ordeal. The Jiang Family had only this one descendant—just how spoiled and unruly had Jiang Minghuang been back then for the Family Head of the Jiang Family to be so ruthless?

"Then does that mean Emperor Jiang met the Heavenly Emperor at this time and became his brother?" someone asked.

Jiang Minghuang shook his head expressionlessly. "That time, we merely met once. I officially came to know him about a year later."

As he said this, a trace of bitterness rose in Jiang Minghuang's heart.

He silently added in his heart, Could it be that if we had not met that time, there would have been no you and me afterward?

That year.

He was seven.

He was eight.

Though the two boys were close in age, they looked worlds apart.

Even a descendant of a great family like Emperor Jiang lacked the steadiness in his eyes that the Young Heavenly Emperor possessed. Indeed, compared to the Heavenly Emperor now, Emperor Jiang appeared exceedingly immature.

"My name is Jiang Minghuang. I never like owing others. You saved my life, so I'll give you a cultivation technique."

The life-saving favor did not make this young master of the Jiang Family particularly grateful. He merely tossed the other party a cultivation technique.

"I think your swordsmanship is quite good. If you can join a sect and become a cultivator, you will surely soar to the heavens in a single step. Why remain in these mountains, keeping company with tigers and leopards?"

Perhaps unable to bear seeing a child his own age continue living here, Jiang Minghuang could not help saying this before he left.

"Cultivators? The ones wrapped in black mist?"

Upon hearing the Young Heavenly Emperor ask this, the people outside the mirror immediately grew solemn.

So much time had passed.

Gu Changqing had never mentioned the events of that year from beginning to end.

Everyone had thought that his struggle to survive had made him forget the hatred of his family's annihilation.

Yet they had never expected that this youth had silently kept it buried in his heart all along.

The young Emperor Jiang clearly did not understand Gu Changqing's words.

"Some cultivators carry immortal radiance upon them, while others bear divine splendor. In short, different cultivation arts give rise to different manifestations."

"But that isn't the point. The point is that cultivators are incredibly powerful—burning mountains, boiling seas, capable of anything."

"That cultivation art might be of use to you."

Jiang Minghuang did not continue speaking with this youth, who appeared somewhat dim-witted. Instead, he left the mountain forest without looking back.

"At the time, I had been cast into the mortal world. I only thought I had come to travel and experience it, and I was filled with anticipation for the beauty of the human realm. Naturally, I had no intention of staying in those mountains with him," Jiang Minghuang explained from outside the mirror.

Within the scene.

Gu Changqing watched Jiang Minghuang's departing back, clutching that cultivation art.

For the first time, an unprecedented brilliance burst from his eyes.

After neutralizing Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not rush to counterattack. She merely stood where she was.

Cao Yuwei furrowed his brow slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so keen? After he had forged armor from flames, he still had other means at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had pressed forward with an attack, he was confident he could use that method to restrain her. Yet she did not advance, forcing the ability he had primed and ready to be interrupted.

The war blade slashed out once more, its powerful blade intent several degrees fiercer than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and weapon becoming one as he charged straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle once more, and with an instantaneous shift, she switched positions. As she dissolved her opponent's attack, she also broke his lock-on. In the next instant, she was already on the other side. A flash of golden-red light flickered across Cao Yuwei's body; had she not evaded so swiftly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed determined to fight Cao Yuwei in a contest of endurance.

Yet no one questioned where this ability came from. After all, the Peacock Demon Race's greatest innate gift had always been Stellar Transposition. Her technique bore the same wondrous effect through a different path.

After neutralizing Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not rush to counterattack. She merely stood where she was.

Cao Yuwei furrowed his brow slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so keen? After he had forged armor from flames, he still had other means at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had pressed forward with an attack, he was confident he could use that method to restrain her. Yet she did not advance, forcing the ability he had primed and ready to be interrupted.

The war blade slashed out once more, its powerful blade intent several degrees fiercer than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and weapon becoming one as he charged straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle once more, and with an instantaneous shift, she switched positions. As she dissolved her opponent's attack, she also broke his lock-on. In the next instant, she was already on the other side. A flash of golden-red light flickered across Cao Yuwei's body; had she not evaded so swiftly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed determined to fight Cao Yuwei in a contest of endurance.