"Look at the sea?"
The gathered leaders turned their eyes to the waves in confusion.
One glance—and all of them went pale.
The sea churned, waves surging high.
And within that vast ocean, a lone figure walked.
"That's… a man?"
"Crossing the sea on foot? Impossible—it must be an illusion."
"One man may be mistaken, but all of us? How could we all be wrong?"
Everyone was utterly shaken.
The sea was a place of deadly danger, a true domain of sea demons.
Even fishing boats only dared to skim near the coast.
Yet here was someone not using a boat at all, striding across the surface of the waves.
His pace looked slow, yet each step spanned countless zhang.
In moments, the figure descended before them on the beach.
All held their breath as they saw him clearly—a young man.
His robes were crisp and dry, not touched by seawater in the slightest.
"You are… Young Master Chu Chen?"
Even Fang Muxian sucked in a cold breath, awe written on his face.
"Chu Chen… why does that name sound familiar?"
"I remember now! Not long ago, a prodigy of the Azure Jade Realm challenged the Crown Prince Yang Cheng to a duel. His name was 'Chu Chen.'"
Hearts skipped.
Recalling Fang Muxian's earlier words and manner, they knew instantly—this was no coincidence.
The young man before them was none other than Chu Chen of the Azure Jade Realm.
Chu Chen swept his gaze across the crowd, his voice displeased: "Where is the Southern Guardian Prince? He knew I was coming, yet he did not come in person to receive me?"
Fang Muxian quickly forced a bitter smile. "Young Master Chu, it isn't that the Southern Guardian Prince refused to come—he cannot."
"Cannot?" Chu Chen's eyes chilled.
"Because the Southern Guardian Prince's manor has already been destroyed by the Crown Prince Yang Cheng. The prince himself was slain by Yang Cheng."
Chu Chen frowned. "As I recall, the Southern Guardian Prince was a Martial Sovereign. Yang Cheng could kill a Martial Sovereign?"
"You misunderstand." Fang Muxian explained, "The one who truly crippled the prince was Great Zhou's Marquis Champion, himself a Martial Sovereign. After the Marquis Champion broke him, Yang Cheng only carried out the execution."
Chu Chen relaxed.
He remembered the Crown Prince was but a 10-year-old child. How could one so young possibly possess such power?
Even if some ancient monster had reincarnated, to reach such terror at 10 years old was impossible.
"There's no need to dwell on this Yang Cheng," Chu Chen waved his hand. "I came to this Wasteland Realm for two reasons: first, to seek the Azure Emperor's Tomb; second, to prepare my Chu clan's entry into this realm. Killing Yang Cheng will just be a matter of convenience."
He's 20 and already a Martial Saint. How could he take some local brat of 10 years seriously? If not for his useless younger brother being killed by a native, he wouldn't even care about Yang Cheng at all.
"The Chu clan wants to intervene in the Wasteland Realm?" Fang Muxian was stunned.
Chu Chen said lightly: "For these past 9 years, the heavenly will of the Wasteland Realm has been in extreme disorder. Because of this, the realm's guardian's strength has rapidly waned."
"Many great powers of the Azure Jade Realm have calculated that soon, the guardian will no longer withstand the pressure of the myriad heavens and will be forced to open the Heaven Gate of the Wasteland Realm."
"When that time comes, not only my Chu clan, but other powers of the Azure Jade Realm—and even forces from other worlds—will flood into the Wasteland Realm."
These words left the local cultivators trembling in shock.
"For now, find me a place to rest," Chu Chen ordered. "I must recover my energy and prepare with full strength to open the Azure Emperor's Tomb."
"Yes." Fang Muxian bowed respectfully.
Heavenly Heart Island.
The Jiang clan.
The night sky hung dark.
Inside the study of the Jiang clan's third branch, a man in his thirties sat.
Jiang Zhenghong, the third master of the clan, stood humbly before him.
But the man's eyes were not on him. They lingered instead on the alluring woman at his side.
"Mulan, these past 10+ years I have been absent from your side. You have suffered greatly."
The man's voice was gentle. "But now that I am here, I will not let you suffer again."
Shen Mulan's heart quivered. With a trace of sorrow, she whispered, "Now I live well enough with my husband. Why must you come again only to torment me?"
"I am not tormenting you." The man sighed. "The Li clan has assigned me to the Wasteland Realm. Within a few years, they will likely intervene here, and I am to prepare the foundation ahead of time."
"This time, I will not vanish without a word."
"As for Brother Jiang, for these 10+ years he has cared for you and my daughter—I am deeply grateful. I will never wrong him in the future."
Jiang Zhenghong dared not show the faintest displeasure. He forced a smile: "To care for Brother Bingjun's Mulan and daughter Hengwu is an honor for me, Jiang Zhenghong."
Yes.
Jiang Hengwu was not his daughter.
Years ago, Shen Mulan had been with the man before him, and from that union Hengwu was conceived.
This man's name was Jiang Bingjun. He had no relation to the Jiang clan of Heavenly Heart Island.
He was no native of the Wasteland Realm, but a cultivator of the Azure Jade Realm.
When Shen Mulan was pregnant, his clan recalled him. He left in haste, returning to the Azure Jade Realm.
Before departing, he entrusted Shen Mulan to Jiang Zhenghong's care.
Otherwise, how could Jiang Zhenghong have taken a courtesan as his proper wife?
By marrying a courtesan as his main wife, he had already forfeited his chance at inheriting the Jiang clan's leadership.
It was for this reason that the current head of the Jiang clan was his fourth brother.
But Jiang Zhenghong didn't regret it.
He knew well that the Jiang clan's power was too small. Relying on the clan alone, even if he controlled it, he could never rise in status within this lifetime.
If he wanted to change his fate, he had to cling to a powerful figure.
And Jiang Bingjun was exactly that figure in his eyes.
Back then, he had gambled everything.
For years he had lived in fear, worrying Jiang Bingjun would never return.
Luckily, he had bet right.
Jiang Bingjun had come back to the Wasteland Realm.
That meant the more than 10 years he spent caring for Shen Mulan and Jiang Hengwu was now an undeniable merit.
Her husband's words made Shen Mulan's heart tremble. She also understood she no longer had any choice.
Right after, Jiang Bingjun pulled Shen Mulan into his arms in front of Jiang Zhenghong.
"Mulan, you still smell as sweet as back then."
He buried his nose in her neck and took a deep breath.
If Shen Mulan's beauty had faded, he would have turned and walked away without hesitation.
But when he returned this time, he found her even more alluring than before. In that instant, he decided he would take this beauty back.
Jiang Zhenghong very tactfully stepped out and even closed the door for them.
What Jiang Bingjun didn't know was this:
All these years, Jiang Zhenghong had been afraid Shen Mulan would lose her looks, that when Jiang Bingjun returned, he would no longer want her.
So he never let Shen Mulan do housework and made sure she took beauty-nourishing pills constantly.
That was why, after more than 10 years, Shen Mulan was even more beautiful than in her youth.
A quarter of an hour later.
Jiang Bingjun's voice sounded again: "Mulan, where's our daughter?"
"She went to Great Zhou," Shen Mulan said.
"Great Zhou?"
Jiang Bingjun chuckled. "Perfect. I was planning to head to Great Zhou anyway. I'll find our daughter while I'm there."
Since Shen Mulan was so stunning, he believed their daughter must be the same.
Such a daughter would be a priceless asset—she could be married off in alliance, or used to curry favor with someone even greater.
So of course, he had to reclaim her.
Three days later.
Jiang Bingjun brought Shen Mulan to Chanzhou.
"He's my real father?"
Jiang Hengwu felt it was absurd.
The man she had regarded as her father for years, Jiang Zhenghong, wasn't her real father.
Her true father was this stranger standing before her.
"Correct."
Jiang Bingjun spoke proudly: "I was born in the Jiang clan of the Azure Jade Realm, a true great family. Not something like the low-born Jiang clan of Heavenly Heart Island."
"You are my daughter. That makes you a noblewoman of true high birth…"
He was very satisfied with Jiang Hengwu.
As he expected, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
Such beauty was rare even in the Azure Jade Realm.
But before he finished speaking, Jiang Bingjun frowned.
Beside Jiang Hengwu lay a painting. The ink was still fresh—it was clearly one she had just painted.
What made him frown was that it was a portrait of a young man.
"Who is this?" Jiang Bingjun asked.
"This… this is…" Jiang Hengwu stammered.
Sensing something, Jiang Bingjun only smiled mildly. "If you don't want to say, then don't."
Jiang Hengwu breathed a sigh of relief.
"You two, mother and daughter, talk for now."
Jiang Bingjun left the room to them.
Outside, a middle-aged man was already waiting respectfully.
"Zhou Xiong, my daughter is in Chanzhou. Has she been involved with some young man?" Jiang Bingjun asked.
This Zhou Xiong was none other than Zhou Chong's father.
Back when Jiang Bingjun had been in the Wasteland Realm, Zhou Xiong had volunteered to serve as his retainer. Now, he still did.
Zhou Xiong froze for a moment before replying: "Miss Jiang is very disciplined. She rarely interacts with men. But… she does seem rather close to the Crown Prince of Great Zhou."
"The Crown Prince of Great Zhou?"
Jiang Bingjun's tone was dismissive. "The Wasteland Realm is a mayfly world. Even a crown prince of this realm is nothing worth mentioning in the Azure Jade Realm."
"This…"
Zhou Xiong wanted to argue—that the Crown Prince of Great Zhou was anything but ordinary, in fact quite extraordinary.
But to avoid angering Jiang Bingjun, he swallowed the words.
The next day.
Yang Cheng was in the former manor of the Southern Guardian Prince.
It had been converted into his temporary palace.
"Your Highness, there's a man outside claiming to be Jiang Hengwu's father. He requests to see you," a guard reported.
"Hengwu's father? Don't—wait."
Yang Cheng was puzzled at first and almost refused.
But then he recalled that Jiang Hengwu had, in memory, two fathers.
Her adoptive father Jiang Zhenghong was a coward with no guts to seek him out.
That meant the visitor was most likely her other father—Jiang Bingjun of the Azure Jade Realm.
This man was known for being utterly pragmatic and snobbish.
In his memory, Yang Cheng and Jiang Hengwu had once been truly in love.
But later, Jiang Bingjun broke them apart, forcing Jiang Hengwu to marry Zuo Qiuming instead.
And Jiang Hengwu herself admired strength. In the end, she followed Zuo Qiuming.
Yet according to memory, Jiang Bingjun was only supposed to enter the Wasteland Realm a century later. Why was he here now?
That struck Yang Cheng as very wrong.
"Let him in," Yang Cheng ordered.
Soon, Jiang Bingjun appeared before him.
He was in his early forties, far younger and less seasoned than the man from memory.
He looked at Yang Cheng and said coolly, "Crown Prince of Great Zhou, do you know what it means to be a frog at the bottom of the well?"