Drifting for Three Years

By now, Zhao Xiaotian was already far away from Spirit City. He had exhausted all of his Soul Power, channeling it into his legs to increase his speed.

He still held a longsword taken from an Angel Legion soldier. There had been two large, strange things on its hilt, which he had smashed with a stone when leaving Spirit City.

Zhao Xiaotian was now within the Heaven Dou Empire, north of Spirit City. He had slipped into Nuoding City in Fasno Province of the Heaven Dou Empire.

He did not know how long he had walked. He only knew that his head was spinning—not the dizziness of illness, but the dizziness of utter exhaustion.

When Zhao Xiaotian reached the sign at the entrance of a village, his vision went black and he collapsed. An old man from the village, driving an ox cart to Nuoding City to buy vegetables, happened to pass by and find him.

Moved by kindness, the old man placed six-year-old Zhao Xiaotian on his ox cart and brought him back to the village. After taking Zhao Xiaotian home, he had his wife look after him carefully.

The skies over Spirit City had changed. Zhao Xiaotian's disappearance caused the Worship Hall and the Papal Palace to form an alliance, swearing to bring him back. One was Zhao Xiaotian's adoptive mother, while the other was his grandfather in name.

Qian Daoliu gave the order for all Spirit Hall Soul Masters stationed at branch halls across the continent to search for Zhao Xiaotian's whereabouts. It was a death order: they had to bring back either the living man or the corpse. Anyone who returned without good news would be executed on the spot.

A day later, Zhao Xiaotian awoke from his coma and saw a dilapidated house. He immediately sat up, warily scanning everything around him.

At that moment, the old man who had saved him yesterday pushed open the door and entered. Seeing that Zhao Xiaotian had awakened, he immediately smiled. "Child, how did you end up fainting at the entrance of our village?"

Zhao Xiaotian relaxed his guard slightly and said, "How would I know?"

"Don't be nervous, child. I'm just an ordinary person. I won't hurt you. I only brought you home to care for you because I saw you fainted outside the village."

Hearing that, Zhao Xiaotian said frankly, "Mm! So that's how it is. Looks like I misunderstood."

Then the old man asked, "Child, are you going somewhere?"

Zhao Xiaotian shook his head. "I don't know where I'm going. I just ran away from home."

"I see. How about staying in the village for a while?"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea!"

And so, Zhao Xiaotian settled down in the village. Since he was unwilling to live with any of the villagers, he built a wooden house himself.

While building the house, Zhao Xiaotian continued staying at the old man's home until it was finished. The interior was fairly decent, with two bedrooms and a living room, while the kitchen was built outside.

One year later...

Inside Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu raged, "A year! My grandson has been wandering outside for a whole year, yet none of you have managed to find even a trace of him! What use are any of you!"

"Big Brother, calm down. Perhaps Xue'er found Xiaotian and has kept him by her side."

Golden Crocodile's casual remark struck Qian Daoliu. He secretly wrote a letter and sent someone to deliver it to Qian Renxue, who was far away in the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, posing as Xue Qinghe, to ask about the matter.

It would have been better if he had not asked. The moment he did, Qian Renxue was devastated. The younger brother she had personally rescued from the ruins had actually fled Spirit City, and her grandfather had waited an entire year to tell her.

Qian Renxue did not write back to her grandfather. Instead, she mobilized the Heaven Dou Empire's forces to search extensively for a child named Zhao Xiaotian.

During her time posing as Xue Qinghe, Qian Renxue had already killed many of Xue Ye's sons and seized most of the authority. Meanwhile, the only remaining fourth prince, Xue Beng, had abandoned himself to pleasure, spending every day in brothels listening to music.

This naturally allowed the Xue Qinghe played by Qian Renxue to become the crown prince. As a result, Qian Renxue could mobilize most of the Heaven Dou Empire's forces to search for Zhao Xiaotian.

Zhao Xiaotian had now removed the character "Zhao" from his name and adopted the alias Xiaotian. This year, he was seven years old and fully capable of handling all matters of daily life by himself.

Moreover, he had yet to obtain a Soul Ring. Before he fled Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu had already selected the soul beasts for all nine of his Soul Rings.

But he had fled Spirit City, leaving behind the place where he had lived for two years. Then, one day arrived that completely shattered his life of wandering outside.

Three years after leaving Spirit City...

Zhao Xiaotian was carrying firewood home as usual. The moment he entered the village, he saw several luxurious carriages outside it.

They bore the emblem of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family. Zhao Xiaotian frowned at the carriages and stood motionless where he was.

Inside one carriage, a young girl and a gentle, refined man quietly watched through the window. Only the man sitting beside them, dressed in formal royal robes, was filled with excitement.

They were Qian Renxue posing as Xue Qinghe, along with Ning Fengzhi and the young Ning Rongrong, who had just awakened her martial soul. After calming herself, Xue Qinghe stepped down from the carriage, shutting Ning Fengzhi inside when he tried to get out as well.

After getting down, Xue Qinghe walked straight toward Zhao Xiaotian. Inside the carriage, Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong had their sight and hearing sealed by an inexplicable force.

Since the guards and soldiers Qian Renxue had brought were all secretly cultivated by Spirit Hall, she had no concerns. Xue Qinghe walked up to Zhao Xiaotian, shed her disguise, and transformed into the appearance of a slender woman.

At the sight of her, Zhao Xiaotian could not help murmuring coldly, "Sister Xue."

"Good. You still remember me."

Hearing that, Zhao Xiaotian took a step back, making as if to flee. Yet the instant his leg moved, Qian Renxue pressed down on his shoulder, leaving him unable to move even an inch.

Qian Renxue said sternly and angrily, "You dared to leave Spirit City! Do you know how dangerous it is out here?!"

Zhao Xiaotian remained as cold as ever. "Dangerous or not, it was still the path I chose!"

Qian Renxue frowned, displeased. She wanted to lose her temper, but then she saw a small wound between Zhao Xiaotian's brows. Her heart ached involuntarily. She knew why her younger brother had become so cold.

When she had learned about it back then, it felt as though the sky had fallen. Qian Renxue grabbed Zhao Xiaotian by the back of his collar and said to the black-robed man behind her, "Snake Lance! Take him back to Spirit City. Have Grandfather use every possible method to restore Xiaotian's Emotion Root!"

"Understood, Young Master!"

With that, Snake Lance knocked Zhao Xiaotian unconscious, picked him up, and flew rapidly toward Spirit City. Qian Renxue transformed back into Xue Qinghe and returned to the carriage.

Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong's sight and hearing quietly returned. The father and daughter acted as though they had forgotten what had just happened.

Ning Fengzhi asked, "Qinghe, we still have a long way to go before reaching the Sylvus Kingdom. Why don't you and Rongrong get some rest first?"

Xue Qinghe nodded. "All right!"