He unexpectedly got the girl pregnant before marrying her... look if I don't give this boy a good beating after the wedding ceremony, Song Shuhang thought to himself.

After heaving a sigh, he entered the church with his wife, getting ready to attend his son's wedding.

But just as he took a step forward, his position shifted, and he found himself beside the 'bride'.

What happened? Why did I suddenly appear beside the bride? Shouldn't the father of the bride be standing here?

Song Shuhang shot a look at the bride and saw a grown-up version of his daughter, Little Miao. At this time, he was supporting her by the arm, and they were both walking on the red carpet with smiles plastered all over their faces.

Then, the door of the church opened, and a handsome man came in while passionately looking at his daughter, Little Miao.

F~~~~~~~~ck!

In a mere instant, we went from my son getting married to my daughter getting married!

Dammit, who is this dirty pig eying my cute daughter Little Miao?! Boy, come here. I promise I won't kill you!

❄️❄️❄️

In the evening of the same day, Song Shuhang and his wife Nine Lanterns snuggled against each other inside a sleeping bag and cried copiously.

Song Shuhang was rather confused and couldn't understand why he was crying inside a sleeping bag...

When did I become so attached to this strange world? After all, haven't I only gone through a bunch of time skips?

However, he had no way to control his tears that kept flowing copiously. He felt as though he had really spent more than twenty years with these children of his before seeing them getting married.

This feeling was really strange.

❄️❄️❄️

"Buzz…"

Song Shuhang suddenly felt his head become heavier and his body trembled all over.

In the next instant, when he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was still squatting down in the corner of the temple. He was holding a buddhist scripture in his hands, and on top of this scripture were water marks left behind by tears...

Just what happened?

Song Shuhang quickly wiped his tears. The scene of a grown man squatting down in a corner and crying was just too disgraceful.

Was it a dream? But can a dream be so realistic and weird? Moreover, why did I dream about getting married to Nine Lanterns?

This was simply unscientific! Whether it was Soft Feather, Sixteen, or even his classmate Lu Fei, they were all more suitable than Nine Lanterns to become his brides!

Was it a strange a phenomena caused by the string of karma attached to Lady Onion's body?

Song Shuhang quietly shot a glance toward Nine Lanterns, but she wasn't in the room at this time.

'Did she leave while I was dreaming?' Song Shuhang closed the book and sat on the ground, leaning against the wall and resting.

Why do I feel so tired? And why is my body aching?

Even after he rested for a while, Nine Lanterns didn't return. Song Shuhang was a little confused at the moment.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to look for Nine Lanterns in the back of the temple.

❄️❄️❄️

Inside a small room in the back of the temple.

Nine Lanterns stretched her hand and used it to cut her hair… the pitch-black hair that had grown till reaching her calf gently fell to the ground, sprinkling all over the floor.

Strands of hair fell one by one, and soon, she returned to being the bald buddhist nun Nine Lanterns.

After all her hair fell to the ground, she joined her palms together and chanted a scripture, "All phenomena are like an illusion, dew, and lightning…"

When she started to read the scripture aloud, a red hand appeared in front of her out of nowhere.

This red hand was holding an exquisite crystal ball.

On the crystal ball, something that resembled the river of time could be faintly seen… it seemed as though time and space were all within the grasp of this hand!

Many scenes were appearing one after another on the crystal ball—it was precisely the contents of Song Shuhang's dream!

His marriage, having a son and a daughter, aging with his wife, seeing his children getting married...

All these scenes... were they nothing but an illusion?

No, that wasn't the case.

Just from the fact that Nine Lanterns' hair had grown till reaching her calf, one could understand that it wasn't merely an illusion.

Song Shuhang's tired and aching body could also confirm that it wasn't an illusion.

In that case, was it real? That wasn't the case either. After all, his son, Song Ren, and his daughter, Song Miao, weren't real entities.

Then, what had exactly happened?

Was it reality, or was it illusion?

What was certain was that this experience was vastly different from the 'illusory reality' unleashed by Seventh Stage Venerables, to the point that they were almost opposite concepts.

One could perhaps call this experience… a 'real illusion'?

Even Nine Lanterns, who had experienced it first-hand, couldn't properly explain what had happened. Her realm wasn't high enough.

"Your wishes from back then are completed. Do you understand now?" The dignified voice of a man echoed in Nine Lanterns' ear.

Nine Lanterns slightly lowered her eyes and said calmly, "Although I have completed those wishes, my understanding of things hasn't become clearer. On the other hand, I feel even more confused."

The man with a dignified voice heartily laughed and said, "Nine Lanterns, what a strange answer. Do you even know what I was referring to?"

Nine Lanterns replied with a smile, "I don't know for sure, but there is still something I was able to understand from his experience!"

After she said this much, the gray robe she was wearing fluctuated.

In the next instant, it disappeared and got replaced by a white dress. Her straw sandals also caught fire and were reduced to ashes.

Nine Lanterns stepped into the air barefooted and golden lotuses appeared beneath her jade-white feet at each step, allowing her to walk in the air as though she was walking on earth.

Not a single speck of dust could dirty her feet!

Her strength had increased exponentially, and as long as she wanted, she could transform the Golden Core inside her body into a Spirit Lake, and after crossing the heavenly tribulation, she would finally break through the Sixth Stage True Monarch Realm!

However, Nine Lanterns wasn't in a hurry to break through.

She gently waved her hand and the long hair scattered on the ground suddenly caught fire, instantly changing into ashes.

At the same time, the red hand that had appeared in front of her also disappeared.

Then, she smiled and turned her head around.

And just as she turned around, Song Shuhang appeared at the entrance of the small room.

"Miss Nine Lanterns, I've finally found you. Eh…?" Song Shuhang looked at Nine Lanterns and blinked a few times.

He saw the picture of a fairy maiden in a white dress floating into the air, with her bare feet stepping on golden lotuses. Her overbearing stature created a sharp contrast with the golden lotuses and the white dress, making her appear pure and holy.

Unfortunately, it was a bald fairy maiden...

After seeing Nine Lanterns wearing this white dress… Song Shuhang unconsciously thought of the Nine Lanterns in the dream who was wearing a white wedding dress.

At this time, he wondered if he still dreaming and had yet to wake up…

"Do you find it attractive?" Nine Lanterns looked at Song Shuhang and narrowed her eyes, smiling brightly.

Song Shuhang gave her the thumbs up. "It's very pretty. You almost look like a different person with this white dress on. It's so dazzling that I almost got blinded."

"Ahahaha!" Nine Lanterns laughed loudly. "The term 'dazzling' seems very appropriate, I like it!"

Song Shuhang didn't say anything this time. He was somewhat used to Nine Lanterns' frequent brain convulsions by now...

❄️❄️❄️

"You have stayed on the Heavenly Island for quite some time," Nine Lanterns said. "At first, I was thinking to let you stay here for many days and act as a host, but now… my realm has advanced and I'm about to break through. I can't tend to a guest anymore."

"Miss Nine Lanterns, it doesn't matter. You've already helped me a lot, and I really don't know how to thank you for that! Since you're about to break through, I won't keep bothering you. I hope you can lead me to that mysterious place where I can seal my memories and leave." Song Shuhang didn't dare to use pleasantries to try to convince Nine Lanterns otherwise.

What if she really decided to let him stay here for a few more days...?

"Don't be in a hurry." Nine Lanterns faintly smiled. Then, she snapped her fingers and said, "Before you leave the island, I'll offer you a present provided by someone else. Take Lady Onion out of your pocket. 300 years ago, she stole a volume of the 'Buddhist Roaring Lion's Technique' from my hands, and now that your Mouth Aperture is about to open, this technique will come in handy. Lady Onion, hand over the technique so that I can teach it to Song Shuhang. At the same time, I can also give you one or two pointers."

Song Shuhang took Lady Onion out of his pocket.

Lady Onion was trembling all over as she produced a volume out of nowhere, handing it over to Nine Lanterns.

Song Shuhang silently gazed at the volume. This volume contained the Roaring Lion's Technique... a buddhist technique! Song Shuhang felt that the number of buddhist techniques in his possession kept increasing steadily!

But for the sake of opening his Mouth Aperture, he had to endure!

At worst, after reaching the Second Stage Realm, he would cleanse his soul by practicing daoist and scholarly techniques!

❄️❄️❄️

In the East China Sea, a huge whale was slowly moving on the surface of the sea.

"The formation is pointing southwest, huh? Song Shuhang must be in that direction!" Venerable White received the formation and pointed his finger southwest, saying, "Let'go in that direction!"

The huge whale spurted out some steam and headed southwest, as though it had understood the meaning of Senior White's words.

"If I keep going in this direction, even if I don't find the mysterious island, I should be able to find Shuhang who is on the island," Venerable White muttered to himself.

Of course, if he could find the mysterious island itself, it would be even better. After all, he was very interested in that place!

❄️❄️❄️

At the time, on a lone island in the East China Sea.

A black-haired girl wearing a black dress was dashing forward at high speed. Her body was very agile, and she was jumping around in the forest of the island like a small cat.

In the rear, a bull-like stocky man was chasing after her. "Chu Chu, this island is so small and you have nowhere to run. Why don't you just surrender? After all, we three brothers are tenderhearted toward beautiful women, we might give you a way out of this predicament."

On the left side of this stocky man was another person with very long arms. This man somewhat resembled a monkey, and his speed in the forest was very quick, even faster than the nimble black-haired girl in the front.

On the right side was instead a wolf-like man that was running on the ground with his four limbs. He had a cold look on his face as he said in a grave tone, "Bull Two, enough with this nonsense! Let's separate and surround her; we can't let her escape and return to the Chu Family!"

If you pay someone, you can have them do the dirty work for you.

These three brothers had similarly received a payment and were now trying to stop this talented girl of the Chu Family from returning to her clan and participating in the competition on the 'Grievance Settling Platform'.