East Sea City

Dawn had just broken.

"Little Fish, come on. I'll take you into the city to buy some clothes," Jiang Ming said.

Little Fish hopped and skipped, overjoyed.

The old man smiled as he watched the two leave. Puffing on his pipe, he prepared to head out to sea to fish again.

Fishing Village was far too remote, still some distance from East Sea City.

"Little Fish, big brother will take you flying!" Jiang Ming scooped Little Fish up. Like a sharp sword, he pierced the sky. Fortunately, spiritual power shielded them, and they could not feel the wind at all.

Ever since Little Fish had eaten the Golden Core, her skin had grown fairer and more delicate. Her light, skin-and-bones body had also put on weight, making her even cuter than before.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!" Little Fish started crying out the moment they rose into the sky.

"Little Fish can fly! Hahaha!"

Though the journey was long, Jiang Ming flew quickly enough that they reached East Sea City in just half an incense stick's time.

East Sea City was in the midst of its morning market. The streets were bustling beyond measure, vendors stretching from one end to the other. Fortunately, East Sea City was large enough and its streets wide enough that it did not feel crowded, only extraordinarily lively.

People flowed back and forth along the streets. It was Little Fish's first time seeing such a scene, and she was somewhat frightened. She stayed close to Jiang Ming, her little hand clutching the hem of his robe.

Jiang Ming wrapped his large hand around Little Fish's and simply took her by the hand.

"Here." Jiang Ming handed Little Fish a candied hawthorn skewer.

"Thank you, big brother!" Little Fish took it and bit down, the sweetness making her squint her eyes.

Before long, Jiang Ming arrived at a clothing shop called Moon-Gathering House. He did not know much about such things, so he had Little Fish measured, ordered more than ten outfits, and left.

"Move aside! Move aside!"

A demonic beast charged straight at Jiang Ming, with a young man sitting atop it.

Jiang Ming turned and lightly kicked out. The enormous demonic beast instantly exploded into a mist of blood, and the young man was flung from the air as well.

He rubbed his backside, got to his feet, and pointed at Jiang Ming. "You, you, you..."

Jiang Ming fixed his gaze on him. The young man could not speak for a long while. By the time he came back to his senses, Jiang Ming had already gone far away.

"Find out who that man is!" the young man ordered his subordinates.

"Did that scare you?" Jiang Ming asked.

"N-No," Little Fish said, even her words stumbling.

Such a huge demonic beast had been kicked apart with a single kick!

"Big brother is amazing," Little Fish whispered.

Jiang Ming smiled and patted Little Fish on the head. "Little Fish can be amazing too."

"Really? Can Little Fish be as amazing as big brother?" Little Fish asked, blinking her large eyes.

"Of course!"

Little Fish's cultivation talent was ordinary, but that was no problem. Within the Imperial Clan, even a cripple could be carried all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Jiang Ming took Little Fish around East Sea City for an entire day. They saw everything they should and should not have seen, and bought everything they needed.

"It's almost dark. Let's go back," Jiang Ming said.

"Mm-hmm!" Little Fish nodded, holding all kinds of snacks and toys in her hands.

Jiang Ming once again took Little Fish straight into the clouds.

Fishing Village.

"Why isn't Grandpa back yet?" Little Fish said. Normally, the old man would already be lying in the rattan chair by the door.

"Stay here for now. I'll go look for him," Jiang Ming said.

"Big brother, you have to find Grandpa!" Little Fish said with tearful eyes.

"Don't worry." Jiang Ming rubbed Little Fish's head.

Myriad-Mile Tracking! Jiang Ming silently invoked it. This divine ability was a heaven-tier divine ability, a high-level pursuit technique. So long as there was a trace of aura, it could track someone across tens of millions of miles.

Fortunately, the old man's aura was abundant in Fishing Village.

Following the guidance of Myriad-Mile Tracking, Jiang Ming made his way to the deep sea. He closed his eyes and sensed the old man's aura within the depths. Understanding dawned on him—perhaps the old man faced more danger than hope.

He plunged fiercely into the sea, diving toward the seabed like a sharp sword. The deeper he went, the less light there was, until all became darker and darker.

Jiang Ming's Golden Eyes erupted with dazzling light, laying everything in the sea bare before him.

In the end, Jiang Ming followed the aura to the side of an enormous shark.

Purple-Gold King Shark, a third-tier demonic beast. It was born immense, reaching a hundred zhang in length.

Jiang Ming did not know whether the Purple-Gold King Shark had entered the coastal waters or the old man had mistakenly ventured into the deep sea. Under normal circumstances, the two would never have met.

The Purple-Gold King Shark sensed danger upon seeing Jiang Ming and did not dare move rashly. Without another word, Jiang Ming charged into its enormous jaws.

Just as expected, Jiang Ming discovered the old man's corpse. It was tattered all over, its skin ruined beyond recognition. One could only barely make out that it was the old man.

Jiang Ming stood there in silence for a long while. When ordinary people died, their consciousness dissipated immediately, unless one used a method at that very instant to preserve it. Clearly, it was already too late.

He did not know how he was supposed to face Little Fish. With a wave of his hand, Jiang Ming swept the old man's corpse into the Imperial Heir Ring.

"You shall serve as the old man's funeral offering," Jiang Ming said coldly.

Then his body temperature surged sharply. The Purple-Gold King Shark felt as though a small sun had appeared inside it and, in terror, thrashed wildly about.

Yet it was useless. Jiang Ming's entire body transformed into flames. The temperature had become impossible to measure. The Purple-Gold King Shark was burned alive in the water, and the surrounding seawater was likewise incinerated completely.

After finishing all this, Jiang Ming returned to Fishing Village.

Night fell.

"Big brother, you're back! You didn't find Grandpa, did you? Hehe, Grandpa is already back!" Little Fish said with a cheerful grin.

"What? The old man is back?" Jiang Ming froze. That was impossible!

"I'll go take a look at the old man. Play here for a while," Jiang Ming said.

Yet Jiang Ming truly did see the old man. His Golden Eyes looked left and right, up and down, but could find nothing wrong.

Jiang Ming's brows drew tight. How was this possible? What was going on?

The old man had clearly died. How could he appear again?

What on earth had happened?

"You've been staring at me for ages. What exactly do you want?" the old man's voice came. He was still that same old man, yet Jiang Ming always felt that something was off.

"Are you... really the old man?" Jiang Ming finally asked.

"If I'm not, are you?" The old man smiled, but his smile was somewhat unnatural.

"I found your corpse in the sea," Jiang Ming said.

"You're so certain it was mine?" the old man asked.

Jiang Ming took out the dripping-wet corpse.

The old man fell silent, took out his dry pipe, and drew hard on it.

Perhaps he was too anxious and choked on the smoke, coughing without stop.

"Jiang Ming, all of us underestimated you," the old man said with a sigh.

"All of you? Who are all of you?" Jiang Ming asked.

"My surname is Hai—the Hai of Sea King City," the old man said.

Jiang Ming looked utterly bewildered. What was that supposed to mean? He had never heard of it.

Seeing that Jiang Ming did not understand, the old man said helplessly, "That is me, and I am also me!" He pointed at the corpse on the ground.

Jiang Ming's brain nearly smoked from overload. Even though he considered himself a genius, he could never have imagined such a situation.

"You mean both of these bodies are yours?"

"That's more or less what I mean."