Long Chen was deeply shocked. He hadn’t thought that his father, who hadn’t even reached the Xiantian realm, would have such a deep understanding of the Heavenly Daos.

His last sentence struck a special cord in Long Chen. He couldn’t walk the same path as his predecessors, or he would never be able to surpass them.

He had always relied on the Pill Sovereign memories, the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, the Dragon Blood Body Tempering Art, the Nirvana Scripture, and his other peerless techniques.

He felt that these techniques were incomparably powerful, and that as long as he could comprehend them, he would be unrivaled.

It was because he relied on them so much that he had never created his own move. Now his father’s words woke him up to this point.

The paths of other people, no matter how far they managed to walk, would always come to an end eventually. What would Long Chen do once he reached the end? Was he supposed to just stop there?

If he walked someone else’s path, wouldn’t their end also be his end?

This was a problem he had never thought about. He had been too dependent on what he possessed. What if one day he couldn’t progress in the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art any longer? Or what if the sixth star never revealed itself?

“Thank you for your teaching. Dad, you really are the wisest,” said Long Chen respectfully.

“Wisdom doesn’t mean anything. The difference between us is our viewpoints. You are looking from within, while I am looking from outside. I’ve escaped the clamor of the secular world. Each day, I go fishing or hunting, and I see Xiaoyu growing. These days have been the happiest days for me and your mother. By leaving the struggles of the world, by distancing yourself from the devils of your heart, you will be able to understand many things that you couldn’t before,” said Long Tianxiao.

“You’re too modest. I’ve seen many people in the Central Plains, but only a few of them can match your intelligence,” said Long Chen.

That was truly the case. Although there were many experts with powerful cultivation bases and great power, in Long Chen’s eyes, they were just a pack of strong fools. In terms of intelligence, the only ones he had ever admired were Sovereign Yun Shang, the High Priest, Li Tianxuan, and now his father.

Long Tianxiao shook his head. “This so-called intelligence is just based on different viewpoints. One single kind of intelligence that can fully explain everything, doesn’t exist. If it did, then that could only be called the Heavenly Daos. The lives of everything in the world, the myriad of Daos, the interchange between life and death, the cycle of karma, heaven and earth…”

“Alright, stop talking about philosophy. Chen-er’s back, and he didn’t come back to hear that. Hurry up and tidy the table. The food’s done.” Mrs. Long came walking out with two plates of piping hot food.

Long Chen hastily stood to put away the tea set. But he was stopped by his mother.

“Chen-er, let your father do it. He only stops talking about philosophy when he’s working. That’s the only way our ears have peace.”

Long Chen’s expression was odd. He looked at Long Tianxiao only to see him shrug and wink. “Sometimes, keeping your mouth shut is true wisdom.”

The table was quickly filled with delicacies. There were four hot and four cool dishes, and they were all Long Chen’s favorites. A large fish dish at the center was emitting an enticing scent.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Long Chen was startled. The first gulping sound was his, but the second wasn’t.

He looked down to see Xiaoyu had run over. Her eyes were shining as she stared at the food.

“The two of you really are the same when it comes to this,” laughed Mrs. Long.

“It’s because we haven’t had this much food in a long time!” protested Xiaoyu.

Long Chen was startled. He looked at Long Tianxiao. Was his family really too poor living here?

“Chen-er, you haven’t experienced this kind of thing. Let me ask you, what is happiness?” asked Long Tianxiao.

“Happiness? I’ve never really thought about it.” Long Chen scratched his head.

Long Tianxiao smiled. “In truth, happiness is just a state of mind, a state where your desires are satisfied. It’s very simple. For example, when a hungry person eats, when a thirsty person drinks, when a cold person is warmed, when a tired person has a place to rest, they will all feel happiness. But happiness doesn’t last forever. It only stays for a short time. Once you are used to that happiness, you won’t be able to feel it any longer. So the majority of the people who feel very unhappy, in truth, have food to eat, water to drink, warm clothes to wear, and a roof over their heads. They feel unhappy because they’ve forgotten what made them unhappy before. So if you want to be happier longer, you have to know what sadness is.”

“I don’t want to hear philosophy! I just know that right now I’m hungry and if I still don’t eat, I’ll starve to death!” cried Xiaoyu finally after being forced to wait for Long Tianxiao to finish speaking.

“Tianxiao, stop prattling. Hurry and eat. In particular, the Golden Mouth Catfish should be eaten while it’s hot,” said Mrs. Long.

“Alright, let’s eat,” said Long Tianxiao.

The Long family’s rules were very strict. They taught Xiaoyu that until the seniors touched their chopsticks, the juniors couldn’t either.

Only then did Xiaoyu move her chopsticks. But what Long Chen didn’t expect was for her to immediately dig out a big piece of fish meat and put it in his bowl.

“Big brother, thank you for the ball. I like it a lot. I don’t have anything good to give you, so you can eat this fish first!” Xiaoyu stared at Long Chen very solemnly.

“Ah, thank you!” Long Chen smiled. He liked his sister very much, and he also helped her pick out some food with his chopsticks.

“Long Chen, have some wine- ah, you should have some good wine yourself, right?” Long Tianxiao was just about to open a jar of wine when he stopped himself.

“With your realm, wouldn’t drinking anything be the same. Good wine is fine, bad wine is whatever. The important point is the drinker’s heart. Wasn’t that what you said?” laughed Long Chen. This was exactly what Long Tianxiao had said about drinking tea. It seemed Long Tianxiao still found it difficult to resist good wine.

“Stop talking nonsense with me and bring out the wine!” said a vexed Long Tianxiao.

Long Chen laughed and took out two jugs of wine. They were from the Wine God Palace but weren’t very powerful. They were made by a woman and instead of fiery heat, they contained a rich mellowness.

If he brought out the wine made by the male disciples, Long Tianxiao might collapse after one taste.

This wine in particular was called the Hundred Flower Wine. It was not true wine in the strictest sense and was not intoxicating, making it suitable for Mrs. Long and Xiaoyu to drink with them.

The sky gradually turned dark, and birdsong surrounded them. This place was peaceful and warm.

The grass hut only had two beds. One was for Long Tianxiao, while the other was for Mrs. Long and Xiaoyu. Long Chen directly made his bed on the floor.

Long Tianxiao tried to switch with him, but Long Chen refused no matter what. With his current body, even if he were to lie in ice water, he wouldn’t get cold.

This night, Long Chen slept particularly soundly. He didn’t remember the last time he had felt such a sense of true peace. Furthermore, through Long Tianxiao’s instructions, he had a feeling like his heart was growing clearer.

He had to continue his path, but he had to maintain a hopeful heart. If he couldn’t find hope, then he still needed to find opportunities to relax. Even if he could only relax for a single breath, it was better than nothing.

He couldn't let his heart feel exhausted like that. Making sure a blade was sharpened to its best state was half the battle. Only by maintaining that relaxed state of mind could he focus his best and face the oncoming challenges. This would increase his odds of victory invisibly.

He slept late into the day. Long Tianxiao went out as soon as the sun rose, saying he wanted to catch some different kinds of wild game and fruit for Long Chen to try. Mrs. Long accompanied Xiaoyu, playing outside, not letting her disturb Long Chen.

No one knew a son better than his mother. Although she didn’t know what he had experienced during these years, she could see his weariness. She couldn’t give him anything except a good sleep.

Long Chen woke refreshed. He walked out of the grass hut and felt the warm sunlight strike him. He stretched, feeling full of energy.

“Big brother, play with me!” Seeing Long Chen come out, Xiaoyu immediately ran over to him. After a day, she was much friendlier with Long Chen.

“Let’s go play on a boat.” Long Chen didn’t have any good things on him for children to play with.

“What’s so fun about a boat? Are we catching fish?” asked Xiaoyu.

Long Chen waved his hand, summoning the flying boat. When the huge flying boat appeared in the sky, Mrs. Long jumped in shock.

Xiaoyu also jumped, but then she cried out in excitement, immediately crying out to go on top of the flying boat.

Long Chen had the flying boat descend onto the hillside. He opened the door and lowered the staircase, bringing his mother and sister up onto the flying boat.

The two of them had never seen a flying boat before, and only once they got on did they realize the interior was dozens of times greater than how it appeared on the outside.

Xiaoyu was incomparably excited and refused to get off. When it was noon, Long Tianxiao returned, and they ate lunch on the flying boat.

Long Chen spent each day playing with Xiaoyu. When she was tired, she would crawl into his lap and sleep. Long Chen held her as he chatted with his parents. But he didn’t bring up anything about the cultivation world.

Time passed by quickly. A week went by before Long Chen brought up his true purpose in coming here. He wanted his parents to switch to a new environment.

What ashamed him was that his parents didn’t even ask for a reason before agreeing. They said switching environments was good for a change of pace, but he knew they were just comforting him.

His parents were both sentimental people. Back then, they had left the Phoenix Cry Empire for him, and now he was sending them to another foreign place. He was truly making things hard on them.

He wanted to send them to the Huayun Sect. With the Huayun Sect’s protection, no one would dare to touch them. Furthermore, Xiaoyu couldn’t be isolated from the rest of the world. That wasn’t good for her development.

If they didn’t like the secular world, then he could send them to the Spirit World later. But that would be bad for Xiaoyu.

Long Chen couldn’t help being infuriated. He had gone out himself, but he had ended up implicating the normal lives of his father and mother. He couldn’t even give them an ordinary life.

On the eighth day, while he was accompanying Xiaoyu, the sky suddenly rumbled and a terrifying pressure descended. Another flying boat appeared.