Not for Immortality [Monthly Ticket Request, Investment]

Jiang Ming had actually guessed this day would come long ago. He just hadn't expected it to arrive so suddenly. Brilliant rosy clouds shrouded the bamboo hut where Nannan slept, and one ray of light transformed into a passageway.

Xiao Nannan's tiny figure was enveloped in immortal light, as though she were ascending to immortality amid rosy clouds in broad daylight.

At that moment, every inch of her tiny body glowed. Her clothes reverted within the rosy light to their original ragged state, covered in patches, even revealing her little toes.

She still wore those two delicate horn-like braids. Her little face, which Jiang Ming had scrubbed clean, became dirty again. Her eyes were shut tight as she slept soundly, hiding those bright, watery eyes.

This was what the Ruthless Empress had looked like as a child. This was her obsession. Within the soaring radiance, Xiao Nannan gleamed like seven-colored glass, flawless and immaculate. Every inch of her skin carried a sacred aura, immortal energy spreading all around her. One glance made it feel as if one's soul had been cleansed and one's body purified.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, the rosy light withdrew. Xiao Nannan vanished into the spatial passageway, and all the heavenly phenomena disappeared as well.

Everything happened in an instant.

Many people did not see it. Those who did were stunned, unable to understand what had happened.

Hua Yunfei and Ji Haoyue stared blankly at Jiang Ming, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Amitabha Buddha. Fate begins and fate ends; fate gathers and fate scatters. Everything in this world has its cause and effect. Everything is the best arrangement, and everything has its destined course.

"Last night's dawn breeze was faintly cool, like an old friend returning. Not for immortality, only to wait for your return amid the mortal world."

Jiang Ming let out a long, distant sigh and said nothing more. He quietly closed his eyes. Two streams of bloody tears flowed from them, and blood also trickled from between his brows.

There was no need to doubt it—he had done this deliberately.

Some things were destined to remain impossible to explain clearly.

"Brother Yunfei, do you know where that little girl came from?" Ji Haoyue asked curiously.

"I heard from Brother Sanzang that he seemed to have encountered her twice while traveling. Feeling that they were fated, he brought her along. I never expected her to be so extraordinary, like a little fairy."

Hua Yunfei could not help but marvel.

"What happened, Yunfei?"

"Someone said they saw a little girl ascend amid rosy clouds."

Before long, several old men and old women who had left earlier hurried back and began asking questions.

Naturally, Jiang Ming kept his eyes closed and refused to speak.

Hua Yunfei could only recount what had just happened, repeating what he had told Ji Haoyue, as well as Jiang Ming's earlier words.

"This is truly extraordinary. Could she be the Dao Fruit of some great figure, walking the world after dreaming for a hundred years and undergoing tribulations?" Ji Hong spoke up. As an old antique of a Desolate Ancient Family, he had deep family foundations and had read many ancient texts, so his words carried the most weight.

"Judging by this young friend's condition, could he have tried to use a Buddhist School divine ability to peer into something, only to suffer backlash?" Ji Hong continued.

Sure enough, Jiang Ming had been right not to explain.

If he said nothing, there would always be know-it-alls to fill in the gaps. See? Everything had been neatly explained.

How good, how good!

The Western Desert needed talents like this.

After that, Jiang Ming sat motionless atop the cliff for three months.

Ji Haoyue had bid farewell and left shortly after Xiao Nannan departed. He planned to return to seclusion and declared that he would charge into the Fourth-Level Secret Realm, refusing to emerge until he broke through the Four Extremes.

Hua Yunfei had long prepared the cultivation resources needed for his breakthrough and was also about to enter seclusion.

As for Jiang Ming, he remained seated at the cliff's edge. Another three months passed before Dao fire blazed around him, and his entire body instantly turned into a wisp of green smoke.

In truth, Jiang Ming had left long ago. He had departed together with Ji Haoyue.

The figure sitting there had merely been one of his hairs. His true body had already used the Seventy-Two Transformations to leave Taixuan Sect.

The matters here had been settled. A person as ill-fated as him should not stay in one place for too long.

Xiao Nannan had left, and Jiang Ming could not help thinking of his own daughter again.

Standing outside Clearwind Town, he gazed from afar at that small figure. For a moment, it felt as though his feet had taken root. He could not bear to leave, and he had the urge to throw everything aside and hug her.

She was his own daughter.

She wore a little white outfit and had two horn-like braids as well, the most common hairstyle for young girls. She was adorable, with rosy cheeks, and her father, Jiang Tang, had taken good care of her.

"Grandpa, why haven't Daddy and Mommy come back yet? Tingting has been very good. I haven't been naughty. Tingting listens and eats and sleeps on time."

The three-year-old girl was a clever little thing, but the more sensible a child was, the more adults' hearts ached for them.

"Tingting, be good. Your parents must be in seclusion. They are immortal cultivators who can fly. Once they emerge from seclusion, they will come see you."

Old Jiang already had a bad feeling. He had sent people to inquire at the Li Family, but the Li Family refused to say anything.

However, some Li Family servants knew something and let a few details slip. They said that his son Jiang Ming and daughter-in-law Lingzhi had both died, torn to pieces by a Lightning Bird.

The white clothes Tingting wore were mourning garments!

Sorrow welled up in his heart. The old man secretly turned away, tears already streaming down his aged face. Fearing that Tingting would see, he quickly wiped them away with a wave of his hand.

The family's restaurant was still under the control of Jiang Ming's father, Jiang Tang. The Li Family had not acted rashly and remained remarkably patient.

Especially since someone had recently seen the mad-looking Jiang Ming. The Li Family secretly sent people to investigate, yet found nothing.

The Li Family was now trapped in an impossible situation and utterly panicked. They feared the truth would be exposed—that they had killed a fellow disciple—and that Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven would purge their family and execute them all.

They feared Jiang Ming would regain his senses and settle scores afterward.

They did not dare act against Jiang Tang and Jiang Tingting, fearing that Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven would discover it and infer that the matter involving Jiang Ming and Lingzhi was connected to the Li Family.

Moreover, on the surface, Jiang Ming and the Li Family's Seventh Young Master had both been discovered in Clearwind Town by an elder of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven to possess talent for immortal cultivation, and they had been brought to Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven together. Publicly, they were fellow townsmen with a rather good relationship.

If the Li Family acted against Old Jiang and three-year-old Tingting, it would be heartless and would displease the elders of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven, only twenty li away. It would affect the Seventh Young Master's reputation and immortal path.

Besides, the Li Family's Seventh Young Master's cultivation talent was ordinary. He was not yet qualified to roam freely and had been cultivating in seclusion at Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven the entire time.

In the original plot, the Li Family did not dare make a move. They kept delaying until two years later, when Ye Fan came to Clearwind Town and first encountered Tingting and Old Jiang. The Li Family's Seventh Young Master returned home to visit relatives, but only came to bully Old Jiang and Tingting.

The Li Family's Seventh Young Master had always coveted the beauty of Smoke Glow Fairy Lingzhi. Jiang Ming guessed that he harbored malicious intentions, planning to wait until little Tingting grew up before taking her as a servant or maid.

To Jiang Ming, the few cultivators the Li Family possessed were all Sea of Bitterness cultivators. He could crush them to death with a single finger.

However, Jiang Ming believed that the karmic bond between Tingting and Ye Fan was still necessary. After all, Ye Fan was a loyal and righteous fellow. In the original plot, he had even given Tingting a piece of Extreme Dao Treasure Material, Phoenix Blood Scarlet Gold.

There was also the Supreme Yin Scripture of the Supreme Yin Holy Emperor.

He had already failed miserably as a father. Could he really alter the plot and change the blessings that Lingzhi, protecting her daughter from the heavens, had brought her?

In the end, Jiang Ming transformed into Bai Ze and spent six painstaking months refining two jade talismans containing the light of blessings. He secretly implanted them into Tingting and his father, Jiang Tang.

At the center of each jade talisman was his sword intent. If they encountered mortal danger, it would activate and could kill Dao Palace Realm cultivators.

Six months passed.

Jiang Ming was already a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

If not for how mysterious this body was, along with the immense changes brought by his cultivation that made him vastly different from his previous lifetime, he would not have been so focused on tempering himself at every realm.

He would have reached Foundation Establishment Stage Completion long ago.