Within Inception Palace.
The noncommittal little fox suddenly popped back into her true form and bounced up and down.
“What to do, what do I do?? My son is here my son is here my son is here!!”
Ying Luo and the others stared at her wordlessly.
……
A figure of faint purple stood behind Zhuo Bufan, looking like a young man of seventeen years old and bearing handsome features. He did indeed look quite similar to Lu Yun, and a noble air wrapped around his every movement.
The Purple King!
He who caused the Hongmeng to tremble and shake at his name!
When the mythological realm perished and almost all of its beings died, he’d survived and entered the third realm. After he became a king and received the title of the Purple King, he fought his way back to the chaos from the Hongmeng by himself and took up residence in the chaos sea. What seemed a straightforward conclusion had been a process fraught with blood, gore, and involved even the death of a king.
After the dust settled, the Purple King was taboo personnel in the Hongmeng. Beings like Zhuo Bufan and the lizard-dragon grew up listening to stories of his feats. Now that the mythical being of their legends was in front of him, having broken free of three peak kings to come to the six palaces, Zhuo Bufan froze on the spot. He didn’t dare twitch a single muscle.
On the other hand, bafflement spread across the Purple King’s face, a perplexity that gave way to a wry smile.
“Why is my mother’s true form like this too?” he asked of Lu Yun with a rueful chuckle.
“Whether it’s her replica or her true form, your mother is your mother. Can there be anyone else?” Lu Yun pursed his lips.
“Father.” The Purple King struck a grave look and threw Zhuo Bufan away. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed crisply three times. “It’s been a very long time.”
With that, Zhuo Bufan and the lizard-dragon in the abyss sagged weakly to their feet.
It was real!
The Purple King really was Lu Yun’s son!
Zhuo Bufan, in particular, looked as white as a sheet. He clearly remembered what he’d once said to Lu Yun—but how was this possible?!
The Purple King was a being from the mythological realm. That realm was inordinately old and hailed from a legendary era even when discussed in the Hongmeng. Lu Yun was… around two hundred years old if converted to the age of the current worlds.
“Indeed, long time no see.” Lu Yun stretched out his hand and gently tousled Lu Qing’s hair.
The Purple King remained on his knees, unmoving, permitting his father to muss his hair in whichever way.
“These years have asked a lot out of you,” Lu Yun sighed softly.
Lu Qing still remained motionlessly in front of Lu Yun. Everything around them seemed to have stopped. Countless eons standing guard, countless eons of waiting… It all seemed worth it in this moment.
By now, the six monarchs, Wahuang, and Fuxi had returned. They all knew Lu Qing and what kind of person he was. The scene in front of them sent their worlds spinning.
A king of the third realm, protector of the chaos sea, was kneeling in front of Lu Yun like a docile son??
“Alright now, you should get up.” Lu Yun waved a hand.
“Okay.” Lu Qing stood up, not intending to follow his father to the sacred palaces.
“What of your mother’s replica?” asked Lu Yun.
“Dead,” Lu Qing answered in a muffled voice. “I was able to survive only because she laid her life down to protect me. She wrestled a chance at life for me.”
“Do you blame me?” Lu Yun fell silent and continued slowly, “I was just a fake person in that era. I didn’t really exist.”
His past self had only been a dao fruit; the ultimate purpose for his existence was to become something useful for his current life. Anything he did in that period was unfair to those of that time.
This was vastly different from when he’d traveled back in time to the great wilderness. That had been his true self, an entirely different case from a replica sent back to become something else. Everything he’d done in that era could’ve had karmic repercussions, which would later affect his dao fruit.
If Lu Qing hadn’t been the son of Lu Yun and the little fox, but of Lu Yun and a mythological realm being… then Lu Qing would likely be seeking revenge on Lu Yun now.
“You are my father and she is my mother. There is no me without you two.” Lu Qing shook his head gently. “Why would I blame you? This is everything I’ve experienced these years and everything that’s happened after you left.”
Something like a crystal ball appeared in his hand and he handed it to his father.
Lu Yun nodded, carefully putting away the crystal ball after taking possession of it. There was certainly more than just several lifetimes’ worth of experiences in here—everything that the little fox’s wisp of soul force had encountered was undoubtedly in there as well.
If she refined this crystal ball, she would recover everything she’d been in the mythological realm, including her cultivation realm beyond the chaos.
Hope shone in Lu Qing’s eyes. How he wished for his mother to come back to herself, to the one who’d loved him so completely and utterly in the mythological realm.
“You two over there, listen up!” Cutting energy suddenly flared from Lu Qing’s body and hauled over the limp Zhuo Bufan on the ground and lizard-dragon cowering in the abyss.
“This is my father,” he said seriously to Zhuo Bufan.
“Uh huh uh huh!” Zhuo Bufan and the lizard-dragon agreed like their lives depended on it. Their entire worldview was being snapped into tiny pieces for Lu Yun and Lu Qing to grind into the ground.
“My father is still a kid,” continued Lu Qing.
Lu Yun: ……
The lizard-dragon and Zhuo Bufan: ……
The six monarchs: ……
Fuxi and Wahuang: ……
……
Lu Yun blushed a painful crimson and wanted to find a hole in the chaos to climb into.
“Turbulent times are upon us in the Hongmeng and chaos. You will stay by my father’s side and keep him safe, do you hear me?!” Lu Qing snapped.
“Yes, yes!” Zhuo Bufan bobbed his head rapidly. “If anyone from the Hongmeng dares come down, I’ll execute them with this command token!”
Lu Qing’s face sank slightly and he reached out a hand, sending a purple restriction into Zhuo Bufan’s true spirit. The enforcer shuddered with dread.
“Venerated Purple King, there is something you might not be aware of,” the lizard-dragon quickly offered when Lu Qing looked at him. “The young lord—ah, your illustrious father is also a king! He also possesses hundreds of thousands of kings under his banner!”
“Eh?” Lu Qing blinked. “Hundreds of thousands of kings?”
“Yes yes yes!” The lizard-dragon couldn’t nod any faster. “Hundreds of thousands of kings, or maybe even millions of kings! I’m as weak as a baby chick in front of them.”
Lu Qing shot a bewildered look at his father, who looked back with an expression of utmost mystery.
