Father Returns

Woof! Woof!

At the same time, the Little Spirit Hound came racing out of its kennel, letting out two wary low growls as it stared at the door, looking fiercely adorable.

He opened the door.

Zhou Changwang's pupils contracted, disbelief spreading across his face.

Standing at the entrance was a middle-aged to elderly man dressed in tattered clothes, scarcely a whole patch left on them. His beard was unkempt, and several dark abrasions marked his face.

If not for the sharp light in his eyes, the long sword in his hand, and the beast-hide pack on his back, anyone might have taken him for a beggar.

Awoo...

The Little Spirit Hound growled low, crouching down as though it were about to pounce.

Zhou Changwang gave the Little Spirit Hound a kick and sent it aside. Then he looked at the figure outside and asked in startled disbelief, "Dad? You're back?"

He was truly both surprised and overjoyed.

The person standing at the door was none other than his father, Zhou Qiankun, who had vanished for nearly a month and had been deemed impossible to survive.

"Huh? You broke through? Qi Refining, Third Layer? And this spirit hound—did you raise it too?"

Zhou Qiankun was equally startled as he looked at Zhou Changwang.

When he first heard the barking, he had been puzzled. But upon seeing the scene before him, he immediately guessed what had happened.

He could not help muttering to himself, I was only gone for a month. How did my son change so much?

His cultivation had broken through, and he had even raised a spirit beast. Neither of those came cheap.

Seeing Zhou Changwang nod, Zhou Qiankun was surprised, but he still smiled. "Good, good, good... That puts me even more at ease."

Seeing Zhou Changwang's excited expression, as though he had countless questions to ask, Zhou Qiankun hurriedly said, "Let's go inside first. We'll talk inside."

Zhou Changwang nodded and stepped aside. Seeing how bedraggled Zhou Qiankun looked, he promptly cast a Cleansing Art.

In an instant, specks of spiritual light scattered over Zhou Qiankun's body. It was as if he had been scrubbed over and over, and before long, he became clean from head to toe.

Though his clothes were still ragged and his hair remained unkempt, some of his former vigor had returned.

Once they entered the living room and Zhou Qiankun set down his sword and pack, Zhou Changwang could barely wait to ask, "Dad, what exactly happened when you entered the mountain this time? I asked around and learned that you went into Twin Abyss Mountain, then encountered an Icefire Two-Headed Wolf on the way back..."

"That's right.

This time, Zhao Heng and the others and I went deep into Twin Abyss Mountain to gather a spirit herb called Void Spirit Grass.

We had made ample preparations beforehand, so everything went smoothly.

It was only on the return journey that we encountered the Icefire Two-Headed Wolf."

Hearing this, Zhou Qiankun nodded in gratification. Clearly, his son had worried about his safety and had specifically sought out information. Only then did he say, "It seems someone from our team returned safely before I did."

"That's right.

Four of you came back—three cultivators and one Innate Realm martial artist.

They returned ten days ago."

Zhou Changwang quickly said.

"With Old Zhao's abilities, once the Icefire Two-Headed Wolf was no longer blocking their path, it was only natural that they could return safely."

At that point, Zhou Qiankun suddenly dropped a bombshell. "Actually, I was the one who lured that Icefire Two-Headed Wolf over."

"What?"

Zhou Changwang froze and stared at him in shock.

"Now that you've grown up, and reached the third layer of Qi Refining, if you've mastered one or two spells, your strength is already not much weaker than mine.

There are some things I can tell you now."

A trace of complexity appeared in Zhou Qiankun's eyes as he said, "I think I mentioned your mother before."

"Your mother only agreed to be with me after she was injured and lost all hope of cultivating immortality."

As he said this, a rare gentleness appeared in his eyes.

For an immortal cultivator to marry a mortal was an exceedingly rare occurrence in the cultivation world.

Especially for a mortal martial artist like him, with no background and struggling through the cultivation world alone, it was all but impossible.

Yet he had accomplished it, drawing the envy of countless people back then.

Then he continued, "Her talent back then was actually quite good. She possessed a Water-Fire-Earth Three-Element Spirit Root and had planned to head to the Cloudwater Immortal Sect to take its entrance trial. A disciple of the Cloudwater Immortal Sect had even promised that if she passed the preliminary test, he would recommend her for admission.

Her future had been bright indeed; she might even have had hopes of Foundation Establishment someday.

Unfortunately, one night, she was ambushed by a rogue cultivator. Her dantian was damaged, and she could never cultivate again.

As luck would have it, the place where she was ambushed was not far from where I lived. Since I had met her during a demon hunt before, I took the risk and saved her..."

"After giving birth to you, her health worsened with each passing day. Within two years, she passed away.

While raising you, I also carefully investigated that rogue cultivator's whereabouts, hoping to avenge your mother.

Finally, three years ago, I happened to discover the magical artifact that had injured your mother in the hands of a Rogue Cultivator.

And that Rogue Cultivator was a member of a demon-hunting team."

"More than ten years ago, that Rogue Cultivator was only at the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Now, he has reached the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

With my strength, I was no match for him at all, much less capable of taking revenge."

At this point, Zhou Qiankun's emotions visibly grew agitated.

"So you secretly joined that demon-hunting team and waited for a chance?"

Zhou Changwang was not foolish. Putting together everything his father had said, how could he not realize that the person who had attacked his mother was one of the members of Zhao Heng's team, which his father had followed for three years?

He simply could not yet determine who it was.

There were three people in Zhao Heng's team whose cultivation had reached the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm. One was Zhao Heng himself, who possessed a high-grade magical artifact and was extremely powerful. Another was Ma Zhen, a beast tamer who kept an Umbral Wolf; he was so troublesome that he was even harder to deal with than Zhao Heng. The last was Zhang Fenghua, who was said to be skilled not only at hunting demons but also at talismans. Before joining Zhao Heng's team, he had already been a somewhat renowned talisman maker.

"That's right.

Over these three years, I actually had several opportunities.

After all, there were many demon beasts in the wilderness. Though there was a certain risk of failure, I had long cast life and death beyond the clouds.

At worst, I would die.

But I could not abandon you.

So I kept hesitating.

Until some time ago, when I heard that he intended to leave Phoenix-Cry Cove Market, I finally made up my mind to act.

And this mission to Twin Abyss Mountain was my final opportunity.

So, taking advantage of the time they sent me ahead to scout the way, I secretly entered the Icefire Two-Headed Wolf's den, strangled its two cubs to death, and left one of Zhang Fenghua's personal belongings inside its lair..."

As Zhou Qiankun spoke, a look of relief appeared on his face.