Douluo Federation, Thunder Secret Realm.
Time here seemed to be stretched infinitely, yet it also felt like a mere instant. Yu Yuanchen sat cross-legged upon the Thunder Lotus Platform, the chaotic divine light around his body now retracted. His aura was deep as the sea, fused into one with the entire secret realm and even the laws of the vast world, leaving no distinction between them.
On his chest, that prototype of the God King Rank representing "Yuanchen's Eternal Treasure New Beginning" had shifted from its initial violent fluctuations to a stable rotation. Within it, chaotic currents swirled, and phantom images of the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers flickered in and out of existence, resembling a miniature universe evolving and growing on its own.
Although there was still an extremely long road ahead before it was fully perfected, its foundation was solid, and the God King Rank had already been established.
Slowly, Yu Yuanchen opened his eyes.
There were no earth-shattering phenomena, no divine light piercing the heavens; there was only a calm that returned to simplicity. His eyes were deep, and within his pupils, scenes of chaos at the dawn of time and rotating galaxies seemed to flash by before fading into indifference, like an ancient well without a ripple.
However, beneath this plainness lay a power capable of shaking the universe.
"Ten years..."
A glimmer of realization naturally surfaced in his heart. There is no concept of time in seclusion; he had been completely immersed in condensing his godhood and comprehending the mysteries of the Yuanchen Great Dao, and ten years had quietly slipped away in the outside world.
Ten years is a long time for a mortal; for an existence like him, it was but a flick of a finger. But in these ten years, the Douluo Continent, and the many people and events related to him, must have undergone significant changes.
He rose to his full height, his movements smooth and natural, yet they seemed to trigger a resonance with the surrounding laws of heaven and earth. With one step, his figure vanished silently from the secret realm, and the next moment, he appeared at the highest point of the Governor's Mansion in Purple Blazing Dragon City, standing with his hands behind his back, overlooking the increasingly prosperous and magnificent giant city.
Sunlight spilled down, draping him in a faint golden glow. He did not deliberately restrain his aura, but that majesty belonging to a God King, transcending the mundane, still spread quietly like silent ripples.
The first to sense it was Ye Zhilan, who was closest. She was sitting in meditation in the garden of the inner mansion, her body permeated with a dense life aura and powerful spiritual power fluctuations. She had remarkably succeeded in breaking through to Level 100, and her foundation was incredibly solid; she was making final preparations to survive the Godhood Tribulation and fill in some minor gaps.
She seemed to sense something, suddenly opening her beautiful eyes and looking in the direction of Yu Yuanchen, her eyes instantly erupting with irrepressible surprise and tenderness.
Immediately following, two powerful auras shot into the sky like wolf smoke from different directions outside the city, rushing over with joy and excitement!
"Father!"
Before the sound had faded, two streaks of light—one purple and one cyan—landed on the plaza in front of the mansion. As the light dissipated, it was none other than Yu Yunting and Yu Yunyao!
Ten years had passed, and the siblings had long since shed their youthful awkwardness, their temperaments now steady and spirited.
Yu Yunting was nearly 1.95 meters tall with broad shoulders and a sturdy build. His black hair was draped loosely, his facial features were sharp, and his eyes were as keen as lightning. Purple-gold electric light faintly swirled around him, and his aura was vast; he had reached the realm of a Level 95 Super Douluo! Standing there, he was like a drawn sword, sharp and exposed, yet carrying an inner steadiness.
Yu Yunyao's figure had become increasingly tall and graceful, her face stunningly beautiful, and her temperament ethereal. Her emerald eyes were like the purest jade, and her body was filled with a dense life aura and a mysterious starlight power; her cultivation had also reached Level 95! She seemed to embody the beauty of heaven and earth, standing still like an orchid in a secluded valley, and moving like a fairy walking on waves.
"Good! Good! Good!" Yu Yuanchen looked at his son and daughter, his eyes filled with comfort and pride. In ten years, leaping from the peak of the Soul Sage realm to a Super Douluo—such progress was top-tier. It was clear they had not been lazy in the slightest; after all, they had cultivated step-by-step, without any cheats.
"Yunting, Yunyao, you have done well. Father is very pleased." Yu Yuanchen nodded with a smile.
Yu Yunting and Yu Yunyao looked at their father with excitement. They could clearly feel that compared to ten years ago when he went into seclusion, his aura had undergone a world-shaking change.
If their father had been a towering mountain ten years ago that made people look up in awe, then their father now seemed to have transformed into the entire world—vast, boundless, and unfathomable! It was a complete transcendence on the level of life!
Sure enough, the siblings quickly guessed the reason.
"Congratulations to Father for achieving godhood!" the siblings said in unison.
"Hahahaha, it's a small matter, just a small matter." Having initially realized his ambition, Yu Yuanchen showed a casual side in front of his family.
At this moment, Ye Zhilan also walked over quickly, her beautiful eyes filled with affection as she looked at Yu Yuanchen, a thousand words turning into one sentence: "Yuanchen, you have come out of seclusion."
Yu Yuanchen took his wife's hand, feeling the warmth of her palm and her incredibly solid foundation, and said softly: "Zhilan, you have worked hard all these years."
The family was reunited, and warmth filled the air. Yu Yuanchen was in no rush to ask about outside affairs, instead enjoying this rare, quiet time with his wife and children, learning in detail about their cultivation and lives over the past ten years.
From their conversation, Yu Yuanchen learned that the Douluo Federation had developed rapidly over these ten years and had already begun a plan to infiltrate the Douluo Continent, waiting only for his emergence to give the order to unite with the Martial Soul Hall to unify the Douluo Continent and the Sun Moon Continent.
Furthermore, soul tool technology had deeply integrated with the martial way system, with civilian technology benefiting hundreds of millions of people. The overall strength of soul masters had greatly improved, and their territory had expanded steadily.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, under the leadership of Yu Mingfeng and Yu Yuanzhen, had also progressed steadily, and a host of affiliated sects were developing quite well. The entire Douluo Plane presented a scene of prosperity.
The growth of Yu Yunting and Yu Yunyao also met Yu Yuanchen's expectations.
Yu Yunting's contracted partner, the original Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, had long since evolved into a true "Thunder Sacred Dragon" under the nourishment of vast resources and his own Thunder Divine Essence, with its cultivation reaching 70,000 years.
In addition, he had successfully contracted two other powerful dragon-type soul beasts: one was a 80,000-year "Purple Blazing Dragon" possessing the ultimate destruction dragon breath; the other was a 100,000-year "Evil-Breaking Dragon," which was sacred in attribute and had a strong restraining effect on evil forces.
With the blessing of three dragon contracts, his Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul had undergone some benign mutations, no longer following Yu Yuanchen's old path. After the Thunder Sacred Dragon's cultivation increased, he used its power to raise the quality of his first few soul rings, reaching an astonishing configuration of seven black and two red! He was honored by the Federation as the new generation "Dragon Emperor Douluo," and his fame was renowned.
Yu Yunyao's progress was equally astonishing. Her initial contracted partner, the "Star-Eating Vine," had grown to 70,000 years of cultivation and was mysterious and powerful.
Her second contract was an 80,000-year "Star Tree," which could draw upon the power of the stars to assist in cultivation and divination.
The most surprising thing was her third contract—a ninth-tier (equivalent to 100,000 years) "Spirit Dragon."
This Spirit Dragon was something Ye Zhilan had encountered by chance near the Dream Paradise when she went to the Saint Demon Continent several years ago. Its bloodline seemed to have some connection to the Spirit Dragon ancestor near a million spirit power within the Dream Paradise; it was highly intelligent and perfectly matched Yu Yunyao's life and nature attributes.
With the blessing of three contracts, Yu Yunyao's martial soul had also undergone mysterious changes, her control over life and elements reaching its peak. Her soul rings were also seven black and two red, and she was honored as the new generation "Immortal Begonia Douluo."
Listening to his children's accounts, Yu Yuanchen nodded frequently, his heart full of pride. However, when his gaze inadvertently swept over his son, his keen perception as a God King allowed him to catch a trace of an ultimate icy aura that had a causal connection to himself.
This is... the aura of the Snow Empress? How could she be involved with Yunting, and furthermore... Yu Yuanchen frowned slightly.
Yu Yuanchen raised an eyebrow and looked at his son, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible strangeness: "Yunting, have you... encountered any special opportunities? Or have you met someone?"
Upon hearing this, a rare flash of embarrassment and a blush appeared on Yu Yunting's resolute face, and his eyes flickered. Yu Yunyao covered her mouth and giggled on the side, and Ye Zhilan also showed a wry smile.
The feeling of something being wrong in Yu Yuanchen's heart grew stronger.
Yu Yunting took a deep breath, seemingly having made up his mind, scratched his head, and said somewhat embarrassedly: "Dad... that... your son... has indeed met someone. She... she is extremely good to me and has helped me a great deal. We... we have already promised ourselves to each other."
"Oh?" Yu Yuanchen suddenly had a strange premonition.
For someone who could make his proud and cultivation-obsessed son act this way, it certainly wasn't an ordinary woman. Plus, with this aura of the Snow Empress, could it be...
But he still said with his mouth: "This is a good thing! When will you bring her for your father to see? Which family is the young lady from? Is she a disciple of a sect, or a talent of the Federation?"
Just then, a powerful and familiar extreme chill rapidly approached from outside the residence. That chill was not filled with hostility, but carried a pure, ethereal majesty that seemed capable of freezing the soul.
It was a woman, dressed in white as snow, her appearance cold and peerless, like a fairy of the snow who did not eat the food of mortals. She stood quietly by the side of Yu Yunting, her temperament ethereal, yet her eyes held a trace of imperceptible confusion and purity, as if she were a newborn infant.
Her cultivation level was not high, appearing to have just reached the Soul Sage level, but her body contained an extremely pure, near-origin extreme ice attribute power! This power was sealed or hidden in a peculiar way; if not for the God King Level Divine Sense that Yu Yuanchen now possessed, it would have been almost impossible to detect its source.
The moment he saw this figure, the smile on Yu Yuanchen's face instantly froze, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly.
Although he had already anticipated it, after seeing this scene, even with his God King state of mind, he felt somewhat speechless.
It really was the Snow Empress.
The person who had arrived was none other than the ruler of the Extreme North, ranked third among the ten Fierce Beasts, the Heavenly Snow Woman who possessed nearly seven hundred thousand years of cultivation—the Snow Empress!
Yu Yuanchen never expected that the person his son spoke of as having "pledged their lives to each other" would actually be her! One must know, the age of the Snow Empress... was more than enough to be the great-great-grandmother of Yu Yunting's grandmother! Moreover, one was a heaven-and-earth spirit of extreme ice, and the other was a human with the Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul; these attributes... didn't seem to match very well, did they?
Besides, the state of the Snow Empress was wrong; how did she transform, and why did she seem to be in such an odd state?
Yu Yunting bit the bullet, pulled the somewhat embarrassed Snow Empress forward, a flash of imperceptible redness crossing his face, and hurriedly turned to introduce her: "Father, this is Miss Xue'er. She is... she is someone I met during a training session in the Extreme North. She was injured at the time and had lost most of her memories, remembering only that her name contained the character 'Snow', so I brought her back. Xue'er, this is my father."
The woman named "Xue'er" looked at Yu Yuanchen timidly, feeling only that the person before her had a gentle aura, yet it felt like the vast starry sky, making her instinctively feel awe and peace. Following Yu Yunting's instruction, she bowed slightly in greeting, her voice cold and pleasant: "Xue'er... greets you, Uncle."
Yu Yuanchen's gaze was like lightning; although he did not deliberately exert pressure, the presence of a God King naturally contained the True Meaning of Law. He looked at "Xue'er" carefully, becoming increasingly certain that her origin was indeed the Snow Empress.
He just didn't know what kind of disaster she had encountered to not only transform but also lose her memories, and even her earth-shattering cultivation seemed temporarily unusable, leaving only the power of a Soul Sage and a pure Ice Spirit Body.
The Snow Empress of the Extreme North, to have fallen into such a state... and with this kid Yunting... Thoughts raced through Yu Yuanchen's mind, but his expression remained calm, and he still smiled gently: "Miss Xue'er, there is no need for such formalities. Since you are his friend, feel free to stay here with peace of mind. As for the memory loss, perhaps there is another opportunity for it to return; do not worry too much."
He did not expose the identity of the Snow Empress. For one, the Snow Empress was in a special state, and exposing her might not be a good thing; for another, he also needed to figure out what had happened in the Extreme North over these ten years, and what exactly was going on between his son and this Empress of Ice and Snow.
"Thank you, Father (Uncle)!" Yu Yunting and Xue'er said at the same time. Seeing that his father did not probe further and instead maintained a gentle attitude, a heavy stone in Yu Yunting's heart fell, and his smile became even brighter.
Yu Yunyao also crowded over, chirping about the interesting things that had happened on the continent over the past ten years, the development of the Federation, and the training experiences of her and her brother. The courtyard was filled with the warm atmosphere of a family reunion.
After a long while, the conversation paused. Yu Yuanchen said to Yu Yunting: "Yunting, your father has just come out of seclusion and still needs to adapt, and I also need to go pay my respects to your grandfather. You accompany Miss Xue'er and get some good rest." He then looked at Yu Yunyao, "Yunyao, come with me; your father wants to see if you have been lazy in your cultivation these years."
After sending Yu Yunting and Xue'er away, Yu Yuanchen took Yu Yunyao into a quiet room. After setting up a soundproof barrier, he asked with a slightly serious expression: "Yunyao, what exactly is going on with your big brother and that Miss Xue'er? Tell me everything you know in detail."
Seeing her father ask, Yu Yunyao did not dare to hide anything and told him everything she knew, point by point.
About four years ago, Yu Yunting went to the Extreme North alone for training, wanting to use the bitter cold to hone his Thunder Power.
During a blizzard, he accidentally discovered weak energy fluctuations within a Glacier Canyon. Following the trail, he found Xue'er, who was in a coma inside an Ice Cave, her aura faint.
At that time, Xue'er was thinly clad, with faint ice crystals surrounding her body, as if she had merged with the ice and snow. Yu Yunting rescued her and found that she had no memory at all, reacting only to the character "Snow".
Yu Yunting treated her wounds, and in the process of their interaction, the two developed feelings for each other... As for Xue'er's true identity, Yu Yunting had also investigated it, but found nothing. Plus, for some reason, the soul beasts of the Extreme North were in a state of unrest, so he retreated, simply regarding her as a human Soul Master with a peculiar ice-attribute martial soul.
"Father, Big Brother truly likes Sister Xue'er. Although Sister Xue'er is a bit cold, she is kind-hearted and very good to Big Brother," Yu Yunyao added, her tone carrying a sense of protection for her brother.
Yu Yuanchen listened and pondered for a moment. It seemed that only the Snow Empress herself knew about her transformation and memory loss.
"Your father understands," Yu Yuanchen waved his hand. "I have my own sense of how to handle this matter; you need not worry, and do not speak of it to outsiders. Especially regarding Miss Xue'er's identity, do not probe further."
"Yes, Father," Yu Yunyao obediently agreed.
After letting his daughter leave, Yu Yuanchen sat alone in silence, his gaze deep.
Coming out of seclusion after ten years, things had changed. His children had grown up, and he even had a future daughter-in-law, who happened to be the former Overlord of the Extreme North... This world was truly wondrous.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan