ETR | Chapter 107

Soon, Shen Guan was taken upstairs.

Both of them were in a daze, Shen Guan holding his hand, as if constantly confirming that the person in front of him was real.

Those hands were still warm, just like before.

"Xueman," Shen Guan called his name as they went upstairs, "Xiao Xueman."

His voice was like a wandering soul.

"I'm here," Xiao Xueman squeezed his friend's hand and sighed inwardly, "Qin Lou and I came back about a month ago. I wanted to contact you and Xiao Wan, but we landed directly on the Seventeenth Heaven. I had some restrictions on me, so I couldn't return immediately."

"Was it you who sent the message from the Sixteenth Heaven?"

"Yeah," Xiao Xueman replied with a smile, "I didn't expect you to come so quickly."

Twice now, it was Shen Guan who found him first. Truly a precious bond.

Qin Lou was in the inn room, having just come out of his daze, and then he saw his wife bringing back a stranger.

He hadn't recalled Shen Guan yet, as he met Shen Guan in the Second Heaven during the later stages of his memory. So, "Shen Guan" was naturally a stranger to him.

He was used to being with Xiao Xueman alone, and had never seen Xiao Xueman be so friendly to someone else.

Holding hands, no less!

Of course, Qin Lou wasn't as insecure as before. He was just a bit jealous, so he immediately stood up from the small couch, pretended to be weak, pulled Xiao Xueman over, leaned on him, and then stared at Shen Guan.

"Xueman, who is this?"

"Don't be silly," Xiao Xueman patted his back, "This is Shen Guan, someone you knew before, a good friend."

Shen Guan suddenly saw Qin Lou, and he looked much younger than before, like a teenager. Shen Guan sensed the spiritual power fluctuations on Qin Lou, which were very weak.

"We've been through a lot. Let me tell you briefly."

Xiao Xueman let Shen Guan sit down and briefly explained what had happened, from breaking through to the Cosmic Tree, and how he and Qin Lou returned.

"Fortunately," he said, "in the end, we can reunite. Xiao Wan, he..."

During this process, Shen Guan gradually adjusted his mindset. The feeling of surviving a disaster made him grateful, and seeing Qin Lou and Xiao Xueman safe brought a smile to his face.

"Xiao Wan is fine. He's grown well," Shen Guan said. "Before I came, I already told him the news."

In these two hundred years, everyone had made progress.

Shen Guan had slowly risen to Spirit God Level Five, and as for Xiao Wan—being a dual-type—his spiritual power improvement was legendary, reaching Spirit God Level Eight, with a trend of breaking through to Level Nine recently.

However, even after all this time, the Spirit Realm Continent still hadn’t invented a spirit instrument capable of cross-realm communication.

Even if Shen Guan met someone, he couldn’t immediately tell Xiao Wan, so he shared Xiao Wan’s experiences with Xiao Xueman.

“After you left, he still adhered to the agreement with the Chamber of Commerce.

Every time the Blue Sea Competition came around, he represented the Chamber. Even though he later became the undisputed young master of Wangtian Immortal Gate, he never broke the contract,” Shen Guan mentioned Xiao Wan, his smile growing more pronounced, as he watched the child grow up.

“He always came first, and whenever he could, he participated in both the two-person and five-person competitions without ever losing.

“The Chamber of Commerce later felt a bit embarrassed, as the things they offered didn’t bring you and Qin Lou back. But you know, Xiao Wan never suffers a loss.

“Many good talents were directly recruited by him to Wangtian Immortal Gate during the Blue Sea Competition. With this fresh blood, Wangtian Immortal Gate is getting better and better. Xiao Wan is very smart, and the sect’s reputation in the First Heaven is quite good recently.”

Xiao Wan didn’t wallow in self-pity after losing Xiao Xueman.

He excelled in every aspect—almost perfectly—and didn’t reject other relationships. He had many friends by his side, and Yun Rong was always with him.

“The last time I saw him, I mentioned you,” Shen Guan said. “He said that if you ever came back and saw him now, you’d surely be satisfied.

“As your son, he hasn’t let you down or embarrassed you.”

Hearing this, Xiao Xueman was naturally very gratified. After returning, he really wanted to see Xiao Wan, but he knew it would take time, so he suppressed it desperately, and now he couldn't hold it back anymore.

Qin Lou listened beside them, not interrupting their conversation, even though he had many questions in his heart.

"...Who is Xiao Wan? What are you talking about?"

He asked Xiao Xueman, feeling that this name gradually overlapped with the vague scenes he had just recalled.

Shen Guan was helpless: "He forgot this too?"

"He forgot everything, only recently remembered a bit. His memory is still stuck in the early parts, and since he can't even remember you, he naturally wouldn't remember Xiao Wan, who appeared in the later stages," Xiao Xueman said helplessly. "I was planning to tell him more about Xiao Wan in the next few days, but plans can't keep up with changes."

Since the question was already asked, it was better to explain now.

"Xiao Wan is our son, our biological son," Xiao Xueman turned to patiently explain to Qin Lou, "A child who looks a lot like me, very well-behaved. Can you remember?"

"Even if you can't remember, it's okay," Xiao Xueman sighed, "He'll come to see us soon."

Qin Lou: "!!!"

Oh my, he and Xiao Xueman have a son!

"Did... you give birth to him?" He instinctively touched Xiao Xueman's waist and abdomen, his words stumbling, "How, how... we..."

"Don't let your imagination run wild," Xiao Xueman knocked on his head, "Forget it, I'll take you to see him, then you'll know."

Xiao Wan and Qin Lou didn't have a good relationship before, so if this could be an opportunity to start over, it would be good.

They didn't plan to wait here, so Shen Guan took the two of them directly back to the First Heaven.

When they rushed back to Wangtian Immortal Gate to find Xiao Wan, who had been taken away, it was Xiao Xueman and Qin Lou who set up the protective shield to protect the slightly weaker Shen Guan.

Now it was Shen Guan’s turn to do this.

Over at Wangtian Immortal Gate, the Fox Clan had already sent the message.

Coincidentally, Xiao Wan was temporarily held up by urgent sect affairs, requiring him as the sect master to handle it, so he couldn’t leave immediately.

Of course, he didn’t miss the message either.

He first asked Yin Ying to go down and take a look.

To be honest, the message wasn’t certain, and verifying it wasn’t something Xiao Wan had to do personally.

Once he finished dealing with sect matters, he would immediately go down to see for himself.

But because of this, when Xiao Xueman and Qin Lou were brought into Wangtian Immortal Gate by Shen Guan, Xiao Wan was still unaware.

The reason he had to stay was that there were some issues with the sect’s trial ground.

It was a joint effort by several pavilions, and after investigating, they found that the equipment inside had aged due to long-term use.

The people responsible had been careless, leading to a series of chain reactions.

The situation was quite serious, requiring urgent repairs, and many people in the sect were injured.

As the sect master, he had to provide comfort and appropriate compensation, and those who needed to be punished had to be punished.

Apart from Xiao Wan, the sect master, all the pavilion masters were present, busy handling the aftermath.

Yun Rong knew he was anxious because of the news from the Fox Clan about Xiao Xueman.

Over the past two hundred years, there had been many false messages. Each time, they approached with hope, but when there was no result, it was just another disappointment.

“All the people responsible for the trial ground have been sent to the Punishment Division, and the Pill Pavilion has sent medicine. Everyone injured has been checked, and there’s no danger to their lives. They’ve all been settled,” Yun Rong finished saying, then hesitated to add, “Uncle Xiao’s side…”

“I know, thank you,” Xiao Wan said.

There were some things he only shared with Yun Rong. After Xiao Xueman left, Yun Rong was the closest to him.

“Recently, I’ve been feeling uneasy, and in the past few days, it’s gotten worse, even affecting my spiritual power.

“Going to the Lower Realm requires suppressing spiritual power, and I’m not stable myself, so I’m a bit apprehensive.”

He was a bit scared.

When he heard those previous messages about his daddy, he was excited, but he had never felt fear.

It seemed he held an unprecedented hope for today’s message, afraid it would shatter like before.

Yun Rong didn't know how to comfort him, and at that moment, Shen Guan arrived with the others.

"Xiao Wan?"

At the moment when Xiao Wan's heart was most unsettled, he heard a familiar, long-lost voice from behind him.

"I'm back."

Shen Guan had a good relationship with Wangtian Immortal Gate, so he could bring people directly in, to any place. Today's trial ground incident was quite big, and a little inquiry revealed where Xiao Wan was.

Hearing this voice, Xiao Wan didn't dare to turn around, fearing it was an illusion. So he stiffened his neck, his eyes turning red.

In the end, it was Xiao Xueman who went up to hug him.

Xiao Wan had grown taller than him. When he left, Xiao Wan was just a sixteen-year-old boy. Now he was Spirit God Level Eight, wearing a black and gray robe, the formal sect master attire, making him look imposing and serious, with an aura of authority.

"You've grown up. See, I said I'd come back, and I didn't lie to you," Xiao Xueman patted his back, his voice choked with emotion, "I missed Xiao Wan so much. Did Xiao Wan miss me?"

The grown-up sect master hugged his daddy, tears falling like broken beads.

"Daddy, you're finally back," he said. "I missed you so much, really missed you."

He thought about him every moment, and when chasing down one false lead after another, he felt despondent. In the lonely nights, he tossed and turned, unable to share the pain of losing his father with anyone.

But now that this person was back, everything he went through didn't matter. Every wait was worth it.