As night quietly falls, in the courtyard of the old house Hidden Source Ridge, a mountain breeze caresses the face, and the chirping of insects is faint. The ancient locust tree in front of the courtyard sways in the night, casting dappled shadows. A gentle breeze blows across the green tiles, across the eaves of the porch, and the smoke from the distant mountain cooking fires has long since disappeared, leaving only starlight cascading like a waterfall, adorning the entire deep blue night sky.
Qin Yu and his mother Qin Yu sat side by side on a small wooden chair in front of the old house. Above them was a vast starry sky, and the surroundings were quiet and peaceful. Occasionally, a night bird would fly over the forest, causing a soft rustling of the branches. It seemed as if only the two of them existed in the world.
Qin Yu had changed out of his black robe and was now dressed in plain clothes. His expression was no longer as cold and stern as it had been on the battlefield, but rather showed a rare gentleness. He gazed at the starry sky, and the starlight reflected in his eyes. For a moment, he felt his mind was as calm as still water, as if all the conquests, killings, bloody battles, and roars of the past years had been gently swept away by the mountain night breeze.
He spoke softly, his voice gentle yet choked with emotion. "Mother... all these years in the Source of Epochless, I've spent my time in battle and slaughter. I've Timelessness faced life and death, conspiracies, and the pressure of Heaven's will... Only now do I know what peace truly means... My heart is so weary."
Qin Yu gently took his hand, her eyes filled with pity and determination. She raised her other hand to gently brush a stray strand of hair from his forehead, and said softly, "Yu'er, I've known all along that you're on a path of Bugui, a Fate Soul destined to be intertwined with blood and fire, life and death. You carry not only yourself in your heart, but also the Annihilation Abyss Epoch, and countless people you want to protect."
She paused, gazing at the vast starry sky in the distance, as if she could see in it the Little Qin used to run through the mountains and forests, catching butterflies. Her voice softened even more. "But no matter how great you become, you will always be your mother's child. No matter where you go or what you experience, remember—as long as you look back, home is behind you, and your mother... is there too."
Qin Yu's eyes were slightly moist, and his throat tightened, but he forced himself not to let the tears fall and simply nodded gently.
The two sat quietly under the starlight and in the evening breeze for a long time. Qin Yu held his hand tightly, and Qin Yu's heart had never been so peaceful and serene. At this moment, there was no regard for Epoch Battle, no regard for friend or foe, only mother and son, stars and night, and a silent yet eternal bond.
The next morning, a mountain breeze caressed my face, the morning dew was still wet, and the mountain air was bathed in clear light.
Standing in front of the old house, Qin Yu gazed at the misty direction at the foot of the mountain and said softly, "Mother, let's go down the mountain and see 'Mist Market.' I remember when I was little, you would take me there to buy candied hawthorns and paper lanterns... Back then, I always asked why it was called Mist Market. You said it was because it was always shrouded in spiritual mist, the most mysterious and lively place in the mountains. Now so many years have passed, I wonder what Mist Market is like now."
As Qin Yu carefully locked the old house door with her key, she nodded with a smile, "Alright, it's been a long time since I've been there. You were little back then, and you always pestered me to buy you spirit fruits. Now you've become a well-known figure, I wonder if Mist Market will still recognize you."
Qin Yu smiled gently, then pointed his right hand into the void. Instantly, five-colored light rose up, and a spiritual platform radiating divine light slowly materialized from the void. It was the five-colored spiritual platform he had specially crafted for his mother, as stable as a floating celestial boat, with star spirit crystals inlaid on its edges and spirit patterns flowing around it, like a dream.
"Mother, please come up on stage." Qin Yu gently extended his hand, and Qin Yu smiled and gently took his hand, stepping onto the altar together.
Let's go.
Lingtai suddenly transformed into a streak of rainbow, piercing through the mountain mist and flying from the summit of Hidden Source Ridge all the way down to the foot of the mountain. And the Mist Market ahead finally revealed its true magnificent beauty.
Mist Market.
In the past, it was just a small market built by a spiritual spring on the southern Hidden Source Ridge, and was once known as the "Cloud Mist Spirit Market". Now it is no longer what it used to be.
When Qin Yu and Qin Yu stepped into the sky above the Mist Market, even Qin Yu, who was used to seeing the Source of Epochless Floating City of Ji Wuzhi, couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart.
The entire Mist Market has long since developed into a magnificent spiritual commercial metropolis spanning seven floating islands, nineteen cloud platforms, and thousands of aerial spiritual bridges!
The mist still lingered, but now the Mist Market seemed to have refined the mist into Spiritual Qi, forming layers of light and mist bands that wrapped around it, making the entire market look like a floating dreamlike temple, illuminating the heavens and the earth.
Spirit boats shuttled back and forth in the air, and spirit platforms of escaping light came and went in an endless stream. Countless cultivators, merchants, divine consciousness avatars, and even divine beast mounts traveled among them, bustling about, yet maintaining good order.
The stupa is towering and its precious light shines forth.
The streets were lined with colorful spirit stones, and even the stone bricks in the center of the street were engraved with eternal array patterns. Various ancient artifacts, divine pills, relics, and spirit beasts were displayed on high platforms, accompanied by array spirit illusions that projected the power of the treasures, drawing gasps of amazement from passersby.
High in the center of the sky, a large screen of spiritual light continuously scrolled. "The 17th Mist Market Treasure Gathering is about to begin! Rumor has it that even the 'Fifth Heaven Alchemy Grandmaster' from the Divine Tower Realm will make an appearance!"
"Is this the Mist Market I visited when I was a child?" Qin Yu was slightly taken aback.
"Yes..." Qin Yu chuckled softly, "Back then, we were walking on muddy roads, and you were chasing after a Fragrant Chestnut Beast, refusing to turn back. Now, this place has become one of the most prosperous spirit markets in the entire Taiyan Heaven."
The mother and son landed side by side on the main street of the Mist Market, their clothes fluttering slightly as spiritual light spread across the ground.
Children chased and played among the crowd, spiritual practitioners chatted and traded, and beast-drawn carts roared by, creating a scene of shimmering light and shadow, like a living, dreamlike celestial painting.
At this moment, amidst all the changes that have taken place, the mother and son seem to still be walking in that cobblestone alley from ten years ago, stepping through the mist, entering into their most tender memories.
Qin Yu turned around and looked at Qin Yu beside him, then chuckled softly.
--This journey is not for war, nor for the path, but only for my mother, to rediscover the tenderness of the past.
The five-colored spiritual platform descended slowly, as light as a feather, and Qin Yu and his mother Qin Yu stepped onto the main street in the center of Mist Market.
This area is no longer the muddy road and stone slabs of the past, but is paved with a single piece of floating Xingyun jade, containing starlight, and each step creates faint ripples. The street is thirty feet wide, with hundreds of spirit shops extending to the left and right. Floating spirit pavilions and spirit boats also surround the main street and hang high above it, forming a floating market structure with more than three layers, layered like a dream, with colorful light, as if stepping into a heavenly palace.
All that could be heard were the sounds of hawkers' cries, telepathic communication, the roars of spirit beasts, and the interplay of precious light from both sides of the street.
"Come and see! Come and see! Grade 5 'Meridian Restoration Pill', which can reshape depleted meridians and unlock blocked meridians, is only 300 Soul Crystals per pill! Don't miss it!"
"Our secret recipe 'Eight Trigrams Spirit Pastry' is limited to 100 portions per day. One bite, and your True Soul will be sweetened to the eighth level of your consciousness!"
"Ancestral 'Soul Stew in a Stone Cauldron' passed down for ten thousand years! It doesn't stew meat, but the very essence of bones and bones! It's specially formulated to cure meridian ailments, simmered for three days and three nights using only stellar spring water!"
"Fellow Daoist, take a look at this 'Radiant Soul Divine Needle'! Forged with Heavenly Fire, it's the perfect weapon for breaking through counterfeit pill shells!"
There were also mobile stalls displaying colorful fruit skewers and crystal-clear "Flaming Glazed Candy," with phantom foxes waving flames in the air to attract customers; and several Xiao Ling beasts with lapis lazuli horns sat cross-legged beside the stalls, their round eyes watching passersby, occasionally letting out childish cries to attract attention.
Nearby, several spiritual chefs were brewing medicinal cuisine using the "Soul Fire True Pot." The aroma of herbs mixed with the fragrance of spiritual plants filled the pot, and rising steam attracted cultivators to stop and watch, with the queue stretching all the way to the end of the street.
"This 'Cremation Insect Pill' is so spicy it made my very soul tremble! But it can actually help me break through my Sea of Qi Palace!" A young cultivator coughed, his eyes shining.
"Mother, the changes here are truly... beyond my imagination." Qin Yu said as he helped Qin Yu walk slowly, his eyes sometimes filled with curiosity and sometimes with fascination.
"Yes." Qin Yu smiled, dressed in a simple robe, yet she stood out like a pure lotus in the dazzling, bustling market, her every step Anran. "When you were little, you chased the Fragrant Chestnut Beast all over the street; now you're holding your mother's hand, walking through the most magnificent Spirit Market in the entire Taiyan. The world changes, but the bond between us, mother and son, has never changed."
As the words fell, on a floating stage in the distance, several Illusory Spirits dancers gracefully danced to the accompaniment of three zither melodies. Their white robes fluttered like moonlight and snow, while the long zithers behind them trembled, producing sounds like celestial music and surging clouds.
At that moment, the noise of the street had not yet subsided, but the mother and son seemed to exist in their own world amidst the cacophony.
Qin Yu smiled gently, "Mother, shall we go buy some of your favorite Guiling cake?"
Qin Yu nodded. "Okay."
--
In this dazzling and bustling Mist Market, time passes silently, but the steps of a mother and child walking side by side are more powerful than the passing of countless stars.
Just as Qin Yu and Qin Yu walked out of the spirit treasure stall and strolled through the crowd, an old woman with a full head of silver hair but a rosy complexion was leading a chubby little boy who looked about three or four years old. The little boy was holding a string of [spiritual light fruit] that he had just bought, and he was eating it with his mouth full of saliva, and he kept jumping and running forward.
Suddenly, the old woman looked up, her eyes lit up, she paused for a moment, then exclaimed in delight:
"Oh my! Isn't this Qin Yu?!"
Qin Yu was startled by the sound and turned around. The familiar wrinkles and slightly hunched figure instantly stirred up too many long-forgotten memories.
"Auntie Zhang... you're still living here?" Her eyes shone with excitement as she quickly went to greet her.
Auntie Zhang let go of her grandson's hand and patted Qin Yu's arm with deep emotion. "My dear sister, it's been ten years since we last met! After you moved to the White Cloud Sect, I always heard that your son went to the Great Realm, and I've always missed you! I'm so glad to finally see you... Oh my, you've gotten younger and younger! I almost didn't recognize you!"
Qin Yu also held Auntie Zhang's hand tightly. "You old lady, you still have such a sweet tongue. It's not as exaggerated as you say. But you, your grandson is already so big, time flies by in the blink of an eye..."
Auntie Zhang laughed heartily, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "Oh, look at this child—" She looked down at the chubby little boy clinging to her leg, eating candy. "This is my grandson, Zhang Jingrui. Isn't it a coincidence? I didn't plan to come to the market today, but this kid insisted on buying candy, and then we ran into you!"
Suddenly, she looked at Qin Yu, sized him up, and her eyes lit up. "Oh my... is this handsome young man your son? Looks, demeanor, oh my god, he's like he stepped out of a painting, such a talented man! Ten years ago he was just a little boy, now he's practically an immortal!"
Qin Yu nodded with a light laugh, "Yes, this is my Yu'er. He can finally find some time to come back and see me now."
Qin Yu then politely stepped forward and gave Auntie Zhang a slight bow. "Greetings, Auntie Zhang. I remember eating your sesame flower cakes when I was little, and I still remember the taste."
Upon hearing this, Auntie Zhang's face lit up with joy, and she patted Qin Yu's arm repeatedly. "Oh my goodness, you still remember? You were the naughtiest child, chasing my granddaughter around playing marbles every day. Back then, your mother even told me, 'My Yu'er will definitely grow up to be a great hero,' and look, he's really become one!"
The mother and son listened to these heartwarming words with gentle smiles on their faces.
Little chubby boy "Zhang Jingrui" looked up at Qin Yu curiously, and suddenly asked in a childish voice, "Are you an immortal uncle? Can you fly?"
Qin Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud, squatted down and patted his head. "Of course you can, but Uncle Immortal can't fly around freely today, we're mainly here to go shopping."
"Can you turn into candy?" the little guy asked, looking at him earnestly.
"Turning into candy... Well," Qin Yu casually flicked his sleeve, and a crystal-clear "Spirit Moon Candy," as clear as moonlight glass, appeared at his fingertips, twirling in front of the chubby boy.
"Wow!" The chubby boy excitedly accepted it with both hands, his face beaming with surprise. "Thank you, Uncle Fairy!"
Auntie Zhang thanked her repeatedly, then turned to Qin Yu to continue their old conversation. The two long-separated friends seemed to have returned to the gentle days of chatting at the village gate in the evening.
At this moment, the market is no longer just a bustling trading place, but a haven of memories for long-awaited reunions, as if the warmth sealed away for ten years has been transformed into a street full of fireworks and smiles all at once.