A few minutes ago, Qinghe had gritted his teeth and shattered his own cultivation core, struggling through the ragged waves of pain and focusing the energy of the blast on the demonic deity he was holding onto.

Even as he managed to stun Xie Xingye and deal acute damage to him as planned, Qinghe felt himself suddenly weakening, his consciousness turning dimmer as his body slackened on its own.

Thankfully, he felt his father’s hands quickly wresting him away from a stunned Xie Xingye and gently handing him over to be cradled in his Xiang’s careful arms. Trusting that his father would take care of everything from now on, Qinghe decided to settle in comfortably in his beloved’s embrace and rest his miserably tired and wounded body for now.

But rather than regaining his strength, Qinghe could feel his vitality beginning to rapidly drain.

Like withered leaves being carried away by the rushing stream, unable to resist for they had not the strength, he felt his life swiftly slipping away. His weakened body felt laden and numb, and he could perceive the temperature of his body beginning to drop as if all warmth and vigor were being sucked away by the looming shadow of impending death.

Qinghe felt his soul dimming, the final vestiges of light struggling to keep him alive despite the futility.

He realized that he really was dying.

And yet, even as he felt the soft darkness enfolding his mind and taking him away, Qinghe remained calm, his composure unshaken. He knew that this wouldn’t be the end of him.

Sure enough, after what felt like a blissful eternity, Qinghe felt himself awakening again.

His existence felt too weightless to be corporeal, and he could feel nothing supporting his body from below at all.

Curious to see his situation, Qinghe opened his eyes and was greeted with a field of black.

Looking down, Qinghe saw that his body seemed to have become strangely translucent, nothing but a vague projection of his shape. Floating inside his body, right in the middle of his diaphragm, was a glowing orb with the diameter of a completely spread palm. It was clear and beautiful, with silvery wisps swirling inside it mesmerizingly.

Was this his soul?

Qinghe lifted a hand wonderingly and tried to touch his own soul, but his hand stopped right at the border of his transparent self, where his skin should be. Qinghe quickly realized that though he looked transparent, his hand would still be unable to pass through himself.

With a sigh, he diverted his attention to his surroundings.

At a distance under his hovering feet, there were several wide streams of bright glowing dots slowly making their way in one direction. As he surveyed this black space, he saw that these streams of dots seemed to cover the entire area below him, some side-by-side and some layered over each other. But most of these streams never touched at all, and even those that did barely brushed against one another.

As he lifted his head, Qinghe saw soft rays of pulsing light far above him, shifting and flowing in mesmerizing whirls, then blending together to form new colors that he had never seen before.

And this was how he knew for sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

Because a human mind would never be able to imagine new colors on its own, and so Qinghe realized that what he was seeing now had to be real.

“You came to that realization awfully fast. It always helps to have an intelligent person as the host,” spoke a young and clear sounding voice suddenly.

Qinghe snapped his head in the direction of the newly arrived being who had just spoken.

Having appeared out of nowhere and floating in front of him was a peculiar child.

His skin was a creamy white, with reflections of slivery light seeming to constantly dance on the smooth surface. His hair reached his waist and was a pure black that blended with the darkness of this space. Tiny flecks of brilliant stars that gave out sharp radiance glittered in his hair. His eyes were wide and limpid, his irises breathtaking as the colors within them seemed to shift and change with every small movement, never truly remaining the same.

As the child hovered a few paces away from Qinghe, his hands were playfully clasped behind his back while his striking and young face was split in a cheerful grin, his eyes shining with merriment.

Qinghe looked at this child with vigilance, because he sensed neither life nor death from him.

What was he?

But then again, considering what had happened to him just now, there was only one being that would show up in front of him like this. Then could he be…?

Interrupting his speculations, the child began to talk, his voice youthful and lively, “So, tell me, Feng Qinghe. Do you know what all these cute little dots flowing down below us are?”

Qinghe blinked, then voiced his guess, “Are they…souls?”

The little boy laughed happily as he nodded. “Yes! They are souls! Each of those streams of dots is a different world under my jurisdiction, and all those dots are the souls in that world.”

Then the open amusement on his face turning into something much sharper, the child suddenly asked, “They all look really tiny and insignificant from up here, don’t they?”

Retaining his cautiousness, Qinghe replied noncommittally, “I suppose they do.”

The child’s smile spread impossibly wider. “So tell me, do you not want to own them and make all these vulnerable souls yours? You can control them and use their lives however you want. Does it not excite you?”

But Qinghe only frowned as he refuted, “It’s impossible.”

The young boy’s eyes deepened as he asked curiously, “What’s impossible?”

“In the large scheme of things, nothing can ever belong to anyone. So it would be impossible for me to own these souls as you proposed,” Qinghe explained simply.

With wide and surprised eyes, the child looked at him uncomprehendingly.

Qinghe tried to find the words to explain. “Even if I pick up something as insignificant as a grain of sand from the ground and claim it for myself, even if I hide it on me so that it can never be lost, when I eventually die, it will still return to the world. I might claim it, but as my time comes, I will turn to dust just like all things ultimately do, and then that grain of sand will cease to be mine. Just like that, no matter what I claim for myself right now, be it this body or these souls, none of them will ever truly belong to me.”

Though he wasn’t sure if he got his point across with his words, Qinghe still maintained his unwavering expression.

After hearing all this, the child narrowed his eyes and asked, “Oh? Since you say that nothing can ever belong to anyone, what about that dear lover of yours? Does he not belong to you as well?”

But Qinghe answered simply, “Wei Xiang is not mine, he is a part of me.”

After all, their souls had already very firmly bonded, and their minds had melded numerous times too as they shared their consciousness with each other every time they dual cultivated. They had exchanged parts of each other and had firmly entrenched their existence into their lover. To say that they were now two parts of a whole would not be an exaggeration, for neither of them could live their life entirely apart from the other anymore.

But even if all this weren't the case, Qinghe still wouldn't claim his Xiang as if he were one of his belongings. He and his lover might occasionally say that the other person was theirs, but it was not in the sense of them being a possession, but rather as someone they felt responsible towards, a beloved person to take care of and who would take care of them in return. For them, their lover was not theirs to possess, but theirs to cherish.

Even without the soul bond, they would still share their time, their bodies, and their entire lives with one another. In that sense, it was truly as if they were a part of each other.

As all these thoughts flashed in Qinghe’s mind, the sharpness abruptly left the strange young boy’s face, turning to delight.

Childish laughter rang out loudly as he exclaimed, “Good, very good!”

Seeing this, Qinghe’s expression turned complicated. Just what was he getting so happy about? What was his objective? Was this child really what he thought he was?

And as the young boy’s sounds of mirth finally faded, Qinghe decided to directly ask this question out loud, “Who are you?”

Though he had a guess, he still wanted to confirm it.

Wiping away tears of laughter from the corner of his eyes, the child turned to Qinghe and spoke, “Me? In this realm, I am called the Throne of Heaven. I am the Throne whose roots dig deep into the essence of existence itself.”

And then, though a wide smile still stretched his lips, the child asked in a weighty tone full of meaning, “The question is, Feng Qinghe, who will you be? Who do you want to become?”

The entirety of the black space suddenly seemed to freeze as if waiting for the answer to be spoken into it. The flow of the souls within the various streams grew still, the little dots floating in place as if afraid to move and risk missing the reply.

Qinghe merely tilted his head. “I will always be me. I wish to be nothing else.”

The Throne of Heaven with the form of a child chuckled, the sound much more mature than his appearance warranted. “Then that is enough. For me…that is enough.”

Floating nearer to a cautious Qinghe, the child wrapped his thin arms around his abdomen and looked up, his half-lidded eyes glinting with anticipation. “Feng Qinghe, if it’s you, then I don’t mind giving myself up. Will you take control of me then?”

Qinghe felt goosebumps rising all over his incorporeal body as he heard these huskily whispered words.

What type of intentionally misleading tone was this Throne using with the body of a child?!

Raising a finger, Qinghe flicked the clinging little boy on the forehead with enough force that he flew back a couple of paces. With his palms covering the stinging area, the child looked at Qinghe with blank eyes widened in shock, a trace of bewilderment in his expression.

In a disgruntled tone, Qinghe complained, “What’s with those words? I’m not sick enough to be interested in children that way and I already have a lover.”

The little boy’s gaze turned complex, then realizing something, he burst out laughing again. “Feng Qinghe, did you just tease me?”

In a fit of childishness, Qinghe stuck out his tongue at him before saying, “After all the ways you twisted my life and all the things you put me through, did you really think I would agree to your whims so easily?”

Because Qinghe was sure that by that weird declaration just now, when the child asked him if he would take control of him, the Throne was actually conveying something very important to him.

He was telling him that he wanted Qinghe to be the one to claim and guide him. The Throne was asking Qinghe to be his Heavenly Emperor.

But as much as Qinghe had been tormented by Heaven’s Throne, how could he just agree to it so easily without enacting some petty payback from it?

The young boy heatedly defended himself, “But all that was necessary! Some things, you had to experience yourself to understand. And though I admit that I did manipulate certain situations a teeny tiny bit to go the way they did, I still didn’t control your actions. In the end, all the decisions have always been yours.”

In its heart, the Throne couldn’t help but feel aggrieved. Weren’t these tactics the same as what this fellow before him used to ‘educate’ his juniors and fellow cultivators? How come he was being accused like this just because he’d used it to a slightly more extreme degree?

Though Qinghe had also of course noticed this similarity, he decisively pushed it aside and maintained his righteous attitude and continued to look at the child with a disapproving expression.

Sighing, the young boy smiled somewhat helplessly. “Alright, then what do you want me to do so that you accept becoming my host in the future.”

“By ‘host’, do you mean the Heavenly Emperor?”

The Throne of Heaven nodded. “I am the Throne, so I need an Emperor to claim me, only then can I be of use. So, Feng Qinghe, I have already decided to choose you. Will you be the Heavenly Emperor in the future?”

However, with the air of a senior speaking to his junior, Qinghe replied, “It depends on your behavior from now on. I don’t think there’s a rush, so I will take my time to assess your performance and then make my decision. If you behave well, then maybe I’ll consider becoming the Heavenly Emperor.”

“…”

The young boy’s eyebrow twitched in disbelief, not just at this casual attitude towards something as monumental as becoming the Heavenly Emperor, but also at the way this young man barely three and a half decades of age was treating him, the Throne of Heaven that has existed since the beginning of time, as if he were a child!

Turning his face away, he muttered bitterly under his breath, “…This bastard… Shouldn’t have chosen a child form to greet someone like him…and here I thought being cute would put down his guard…should have known he had a heart harder than a chunk of frozen stone…”

Qinghe kept smiling pleasantly as he asked, “What did you say?”

The child pressed his lips together, then quickly replied, “Nothing!”

Then rolling his eyes, the young boy gave in with a sigh, “Fine. Have it your way then. Take your time to decide if you want to do this. You have until the end of the term of the current Heavenly Emperor.”

Qinghe easily nodded. Truthfully, he didn’t think he’d need that long to decide, but rather than saying it out loud, he chose to keep it to himself and mess with this child for a while more.

Thus decided, Qinghe had just begun considering asking the Throne to send him back now before he remembered something. “Say, Xiao Tian, what does it mean to have a heavenly soul?”

Since this was a point that had been brought up a few times before, Qinghe wanted to know just what exactly it meant.

The child felt his lips twitch in incredulity at the strange name, but he still replied, “I suppose no one’s told you this yet. Fine, I’ll be generous and explain it to you since I’m a good Throne who’s on his best behavior.”

Qinghe simply raised an eyebrow as if asking him to get on with it.

The Throne of Heaven, who had now been named Xiao Tian by his future host, sighed and grumbled in his heart, but quickly got to the point.

“Heaven consists of three parts, and these three existences make it a whole. First is the insentient realm itself, along with its various elements and all its inherent energy. The second is me, the one who takes care of and supports this realm along with the smaller realms under it. And the third is the Heavenly Emperor, who is my host and takes care of the various beings in all these realms.”

Qinghe showed a thoughtful expression as he nodded in understanding. So there was the heavenly realm itself, the one who took care of all the realms, and the one who took care of all the living beings in these realms.

Xiao Tian continued, “Except for me, the other two parts of Heaven will always end up changing. For example, the Heavenly Emperor is not a post held by one person for eternity. Similarly, the topography and energy distribution of the realm itself changes, albeit at a glacially slow pace. Another thing that changes is the soul of the heavenly realm.”

Blinking in surprise, Qinghe asked, “The realm has a soul?”

Nodding, Xiao Tian explained, “Yes, the heavenly realm might be insentient, but it is very much a living being and has a clear, mighty, and magnificent soul. Occasionally, the pieces of its soul detach from it to become whole souls of their own, entering the cycle of reincarnation. These souls are the purest fragments of the heavenly realm’s soul, and they are very, very rare.”

Qinghe’s eyes narrowed as he realized where this was going.

Seeing this, Xiao Tian grinned and nodded. “Yep, it’s as you guessed. The souls formed directly from the heavenly realm’s soul itself are called heavenly souls. They are strange, powerful, and mysterious—even I don’t know everything about them. But every heavenly soul that ever entered the cycle of reincarnation and gained sentience serves at least once as the Heavenly Emperor. It is not a strict rule, but because of their excellence, I can’t help but choose them for this position. They are all too suitable for ruling, though each have their own quirks while they do so. There is even a legend that states that every time a heavenly soul reigns on the Throne, all of Heaven and its realms will enter a long era of flourishing and prosperity.”

With his brows furrowed, Qinghe considered all this silently.

It seemed that almost every major event in his life that had a hand in shaping him into who he was, had been because of his heavenly soul.

Without it, would he have caught the Heavenly Throne’s eyes? Would Xiao Tian have then separated him from his parents and set him into the clutches of the orphanage’s wardens? Would he have had the fortune of being rescued from there right on time by the sect master of the most prominent sect in this world so coincidentally? Would he have had a chance to become Zhen YiLan’s disciple and be given access to almost unlimited resources to better his cultivation and gain so much knowledge and training? And then there were all the little incidents that had contributed to him becoming the Feng Qinghe he was now.

Without his heavenly soul, would he have become someone else?

But no matter what he’d had to go through, Qinghe very much liked himself as he was. Even if he’d had to bear so much torment, he still did not regret it if it meant he would be the person he was now.

After pondering all this for a while, Qinghe finally looked up again and said simply, “Alright, I understand. And now that we’ve discussed everything we need to, send me back.”

Xiao Tian once again felt incredulous. Was that all his future host had to say after learning such an important thing about his own soul?!

But in the end, he could only acquiesce, “Tch. Alright, alright, I know you don’t want to worry your people.”

Qinghe nodded in agreement. After all, he didn’t know how long his body had stayed dead in his world. Though he was confident that Xiao Tian would make sure that it didn’t have any extra problems when he sent his soul back, Qinghe still felt worried at how his lover and others would feel at having to see him dead like that for that much time.

Not wanting to dally, the Throne immediately waved a hand to send him off.

As Qinghe felt his soul being pulled towards the direction of a particular stream of glowing dots, he suddenly turned to the child and said, “Xiao Tian, even if I do choose to become your host in the future, let me confirm one thing―you will not belong to me. I will not impose my will on you. If we have to work together, then so be it, but you will still retain your autonomy.”

Xiao Tian showed a shocked expression at this sudden statement.

But by then, Qinghe had already let his soul fly away to his world.

As his consciousness faded again, he heard the Heavenly Throne murmuring lovingly in his ear, “Ah, it seems that I was right to choose you after all. Feng Qinghe, you please me greatly.”

And then Qinghe felt his soul being shoved back into his body with force, his senses jarred and confused as they abruptly awakened.

The first thing Qinghe perceived after finally returning to his body was the pair of firm arms enfolding him, along with the comfortably familiar scent of warm metal and woodsmoke filling his nose.

Opening his lips, Qinghe spoke, “Xiang, I’m here.”

In response, he immediately heard Wei Xiang’s heart thudding faster inside his lover’s chest against which his face was currently pressed.

“Q-Qinghe?” Wei Xing finally got out.

Hearing the trembling and uncertainty in his beloved’s voice, Qinghe eased open his eyes worriedly, only to be greeted with a dense mass of teary, grief-wrought faces whose expressions quickly morphed into stunned amazement.

“…” What was wrong with all these people? Were the casualties for the battle this time really so high that all these prominent personages had all been reduced to this state?

Before Qinghe could understand what was happening, two pair of arms suddenly and enthusiastically wrapped around him tightly while the voices of the twins wailed loudly in his ears, “S-Senior Brother! You’re alive! W-We thought you l-left us all alone!”

The others snapped out of their daze and suddenly pounced onto the newly revived Qinghe, not giving him a chance to recover before bombarding him with hugs and pats and a chaotic stream of words.

“Feng Qinghe! You better never pull such a trick again!” yelled a teary Jing Shui who’d just arrived from the outside after taking down the Water Prison.

“Xiao Feng, this is why I told you to take care of yourself better!” Wu Xiao added from the side.

“Junior Brother, you are not allowed to do something this risky ever again!” Chen Xiande almost snarled in warning, his eyes swollen red due to his tears before.

“Ah, Qing-er! Your Master thought I failed you again! I’m so happy!” Zhen YiLan spoke in a quavering voice, his face crinkled as if he would begin crying at any moment.

“Xiao He! It’s good that you didn’t die!” Liu Xue unrestrainedly shouted.

“At least I won’t have to do something illegal now,” Hei NingYu lightly remarked, his voice somewhat thick.

“Hmm, your pulse is strong. Good, good,” Fu Cangyun repeatedly nodded to himself, his hand holding Qinghe’s wrist.

“Bastard, you almost made me lose my elegant dignity in front of everyone,” Lu Feiyu complained half-heartedly from the side.

Suddenly being drowned under the weight of so many bodies pressing down on him as their voices rang out one after another, Qinghe felt dizzy and disoriented.

Just then, the dormant pain in his abdomen flared to life, feeling as if a host of vicious knives had just exploded inside his dantian. Qinghe sucked in a sharp breath. It seemed that Xiao Tian had decided to grant him yet another 'important experience' by not healing his shattered core when he returned his soul to this body. Tch, that child was so uncute and petty!

Meanwhile, attuned as he was to his little lover's every move, Wei Xiang immediately heard his sound of distress.

"Enough, you're hurting him!" he snapped at the others.

Everyone suddenly retreated, afraid that they’d kill Qinghe with their enthusiasm after he’d just managed to come alive again.

Qinghe weakly waved a hand, “I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s just my core. It hurts a bit, that’s all.”

Hearing this, Feng Huixin finally spoke up in a quiet voice, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice hoarse, “Qinghe, I think it's time we finally fixed it once and for all.”

As he said this, Feng Huixin carefully tucked away the rush of relief and happiness that had been thundering through him at seeing his son alive and awake. Though he had guessed that Heaven wouldn’t abandon Qinghe, the shock of seeing his son lifeless and pale had still shaken him too much.

But he was fine now, his son was fine, and to make sure that he remained that way, he had to quickly take him to the heavenly realm and fix his shattered core.

Understanding his father’s thoughts, Qinghe silently nodded.

Seeing this exchange, Wei Xiang’s eyes grew deep with several layers of indescribable emotions, colliding and churning together frantically. But he knew what he had to do. No matter how unwilling he was to part from his most precious beloved, he would still do so if it meant guaranteeing that his little lover could be free of pain and healthy again.

And so, Wei Xiang bent his head and placed a light kiss on Qinghe’s forehead in farewell.

Feeling the warmth of his beloved’s skin under lips and seeing life in his face again…this would have to be enough.

Meanwhile, Qinghe’s solemn gaze was fixed on his lover, hungrily etching every detail into his memory. Who knew when he’d see him again?

“Xiang,” Qinghe called softly when he’d finally had his fill.

Wei Xiang looked at his beloved face with a warm smile, his eyes hiding a sense of loss. “What is it, love?”

All the noise around them grew hushed as the pair of lovers stared into each other’s eyes as if drinking in the thoughts and emotions swirling in the other’s gaze.

Opening his mouth, Qinghe spoke, “I’m sorry that I made you worried, but I’m alright now. Even if we part, it’s only temporary. We’ve already talked about this, remember? No matter what, we’ll always find our way to each other, so don’t be sad, okay?”

Lifting a hand, Qinghe placed it lightly on Wei Xiang’s cheek, the weight of his palm warm and comforting.

Wei Xiang buried his head into the crook of his little lover’s shoulder as he let his face twist with abject unwillingness and anguish in the hidden safety of this familiar place. He filled his lungs with the scent of his beloved, letting it sink into him and soothe his nerves. After a moment, Wei Xiang lifted his head again, his face devoid of any sorrow and only showing a steady determination.

“Love, you should also stop worrying about me. You’re the injured one here. You go with Master and get your treatment. I’ll take care of the aftermath here. When I see you again, you better be whole and hearty, or we’ll never be able to celebrate our reunion properly in bed.”

Qinghe's eyes immediately brightened. Yes, if he got well, then his Xiang could be more unrestrained without fearing hurting his cultivation-deprived body, and they could have so much more fun together!

Seeing all this written plain as day on his lover’s face, Wei Xiang couldn’t help but smile softly.

Extending out his arms—and by extension, the Qinghe held in them—Wei Xiang looked at Feng Huixin. “Master, I’ll leave him in your care now.”

Feng Huixin nodded seriously as he accepted the weight of his son. “I’ll take good care of him, don’t worry. And Xiang-er, I’ll leave the Sentinels to your charge from now on.”

Wei Xiang swallowed thickly, then nodded. He hadn’t thought that the time for him to assume leadership of the Order of Sentinels would come so soon or under such circumstances, but he still accepted the responsibility with due solemnity.

While resting in his father's arms, Qinghe looked at the others’ worried faces as they still crowded around him in a circle and smiled teasingly. “Don’t think you all are rid of me so easily. I’ll definitely get well soon and come back.”

Hearing what Qinghe and Wei Xiang had been saying till now, the others were also able to more or less guess that Qinghe was going to ascend to the heavenly realm along with his father to heal his core. But hearing his playful reassurance, they all nodded with helpless smiles.

Now that everything that had to be said was said, it was finally time for Qinghe and Feng Huixin to set off.

Not willing to keep being a burden, Qinghe spoke, “Father, I can stand on my own now. You can set me down.”

Feng Huixin looked at him for a moment, then reluctantly set his son down. As much as he wanted to hold him close and pamper him, Feng Huixin still chose to respect his son’s wishes.

Then retrieving a delicately wrought square formation made out of gleaming metal, Feng Huixin lightly threw it down to the black floor.

“May the gates of Heaven open and grant us entrance.”

The metal formation glowed in response, then spun slowly even as it expanded and melted into the dark floor, forming a large formation glowing with a strong white. Rays of light rose up from the lines of the formation, extending upwards until it reached the far above ceiling.

Feng Huixin picked up the sealed and unconscious Xie Xingye and brought him to the formation, while the black dragon Zheng Xuan also cautiously descended the staircase and headed towards them. But though he attracted the attention of the other cultivators who gaped at his sudden and seemingly non-threatening appearance, Zheng Xuan easily ignored them, his dark gaze fixed solely on Xie Xingye and filled with worry as he joined Feng Huixin, barely fitting into the formation’s confines. Carefully stepping into the formation after him, Qinghe was the last to enter.

Now that all who needed to had taken their place beside him, Feng Huixin fully activated the formation, and the glowing lines flashed brightly, blinding everyone and forcing them to close their eyes.

When the watching cultivators were finally able to open them again, the group of four had already vanished along with the formation, transported to their destination without issues.

Left behind, Wei Xiang kept his eyes locked on the dissipating formation, wishing more than anything that he could go along with his master and little lover.