"This child possesses divine blessings. I have planted a seed of immortal gold within him. If the seed takes root and sprouts before he turns fifty thousand years old, I will descend to the mortal realm and take him as my disciple."
"But before that, he must not leave Qingqiu. If he leaves Qingqiu, his spiritual power will be sealed. This is to protect the Immortal Golden Seed and to save his life."
As soon as the Immortal Lord finished speaking, Father stepped forward and bowed, his voice deep and filled with worry, "My Lord, if my son descends the mountain in the future and the seal is damaged, will it destroy his foundation?"
Upon hearing this, the immortal lord was not offended by the other party's offense. After a moment of silence, he said, "This golden seed originated from my own Dao Fruit. Since it is not the originator of the Dao, it cannot damage the seal in the slightest, and therefore its foundation will not be harmed."
The immortal lord paused, as if considering something, then continued, "If he truly encounters someone capable of breaking the seal in the future, then this child's fate... will not lie with me, and I will take back the cash seed myself..."
The mother was getting anxious, and her words became tactless, her tone filled with worry, "What do you mean by that, Immortal Lord? Is there something unforeseen about my son's future?"
The immortal lord, however, didn't seem to mind, and his temper was surprisingly good. He simply smiled at his mother and the baby, then looked up at the sky in the distance and said to her, "If that truly comes to that, then there will be a joyous occasion in the Nine Heavens..."
Father and Mother, for reasons unknown, widened their eyes in surprise. The little baby, sucking on his fingers in her arms, was oblivious to everything... Then, Shang Shujue woke up...
"Huh? Where am I?" Shang Shujue opened her eyes, paused for a moment at the unfamiliar sea of flowers before standing up. "Wasn't I in front of Father and Mother's graves?"
Just as he was wondering, a cry came from not far away. He looked over reflexively and saw a celestial lord in a purple jade robe riding a phoenix hovering in mid-air. After seeing him, the celestial lord came down on a lotus.
"Little one, I didn't expect that we still don't have a master-disciple relationship. I've come here today to retrieve the Immortal Golden Seed, which you should have seen in your dream."
The immortal lord's face was unclear in the dream, but now it was clear. He was very handsome, exuding a pure and gentle temperament, like a graceful and elegant tree, bringing joy to every inch of the world.
Shang Shujue got up from the ground. He was in human form at the moment. He first respectfully bowed to the Immortal Lord, and then seemed to remember something in a daze.
"Immortal Lord, I don't quite understand. Why can't I become your disciple after meeting that person?"
The Immortal Lord seemed to have anticipated his question, but he did not answer it for him. He simply smiled slightly, then raised his hand and took out the Immortal Gold Seed from his body. The seed was still the same as when it was planted, without any change.
"Our paths are not aligned. If we were destined to be master and disciple, the Immortal Golden Seed would have taken root and sprouted the moment you planted it. But now, thirty-five thousand years have passed, and it looks exactly the same as when it was planted..."
The Immortal Lord looked at Shang Shujue, shook his head with some regret, and then gently patted his head. "As for the answer you want to know, you'll have to explore it yourself."
"But the Immortal Lord clearly knew, why didn't he tell you... Alas! Immortal Lord! You have no martial ethics!"
Before Shang Shujue could finish speaking, he was pushed down by the Immortal Lord. He didn't fall into the sea of flowers, but instead plummeted. In his haste, he could only curse the other party for lacking martial ethics. Then he opened his eyes again, this time appearing in front of his parents' graves.
Everything that had just happened felt like a beautiful dream, but he couldn't remember what the immortal lord looked like in the dream at all; he only remembered that the immortal lord had taken the immortal golden seed.
He shook his head, stood up from the ground, and stared at his parents' tombstones for a long while before he came to his senses. "Father, Mother, now I finally understand why you didn't want me to come down the mountain when you were alive. But now, I'm free!"
Shang Shujue ran off excitedly, completely unaware that not long after he left, a man and a woman appeared out of nowhere. They looked at the fruits, flowers, and plants in front of the tombstone, their eyes revealing a mixture of doting and helplessness.
"It seems that the Dao Venerable's minor Dao Fruit has indeed encountered the Emperor's minor Dao Fruit."
"This match made in heaven can't be ended so easily. Let's hurry back and prepare for the Emperor and the Daoist's wedding. Those two are destined to be together, and I'm afraid they can't escape it."
The two people vanished together, and the items placed in front of the tombstone disappeared with them. The man and woman from just now were none other than Shang Shujue's father and mother...
Shang Shujue knew nothing about what was happening in the heavens, nor did he care. Now that he was no longer bound by the spiritual power seal, he ran up to the clan leader and grabbed his arm, acting coquettishly.
"Grandpa Chief, please let A-Jue go down the mountain. A-Jue will definitely behave and not cause trouble, and my spiritual power won't be sealed anymore, okay? Okay? Okay?"
The clan chief was driven to his wits' end by the Little Fox. The fish that had just taken the bait were all chased away by its howling. The veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he finally lost his temper.
"I went to find Xuan Ling, got the clan token, and went down the mountain. You naughty boy, you scared away all of Grandpa's fish."
"Yay! Thank you, Grandpa Chieftain! I'm off!"
Shang Shujue excitedly transformed into Little Fox and ran off in a flash, using her spiritual power as she ran, as if afraid that if she was a step too slow, all the clan tokens would be gone.
Watching his joyful retreating figure, the clan chief couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, "Oh dear, a great fox like him can't stay in Qingqiu!"
Shang Shujue descended the mountain very smoothly this time. Not only did he not immediately transform into Fox, but he could even switch between a nine-tailed fox and a human instantly. He changed his form three times for every step he took, which gave Xuan Ling and Ling Yu a headache.
" Xiao Jue, stop fooling around. If you keep doing this, we'll both get dizzy. Sit down quietly, and I'll explain the rules of J City to you..."
Ling'er, who had been sitting silently, spoke up, and Shang Shujue dared not cause any more trouble. Ling'er was Tuantuan's mother, and he and Tuantuan were good friends; he couldn't disobey Tuantuan's mother.
Yi Shuang sat beside Ling'er, listening to Ling'er explain the rules to Shang Shujue, yawning incessantly. After Ling'er finished, he continued, "By the way, Tuantuan is a big boss in J City, you know."
"Yes, yes, yes, Xiao Jue can pay for whatever he wants to eat or play with from Tuantuan's account. He'll be so happy. Last time you got lost, he was so worried he didn't sleep for three days and three nights."
When Ling'er heard Yi Shuang mention her son, she was instantly overjoyed. She took Shang Shujue's hand and told him not to be polite to her son, while also mentioning how the other party felt and was in a good mood when he heard that he was missing. It was obvious that she was trying to bring them together.
Xuan Ling, Ling Yu, Yi Shuang overheard this but remained silent. If Shang Shujue were to find a partner in the future, Tuantuan would undoubtedly be the best choice.
Although Tuantuan is a half-fox, he is quite capable. If it weren't for his swift and decisive methods, which allowed him to build a large company and establish himself in J City, he would have been very successful.
They, the Fox of Qingqiu, don't know when they'll be able to find a place to live in the human world. Tuantuan is a very good person.
"Huh? It can't be that exaggerated, Sister Ling'er. I called Tuantuan the day I came back. He was relieved when he found out I was back, and he even introduced me to his girlfriend."
Ling'er: "!!!"
Xuan Ling, Ling Yu, and Yi Shuang: "???"