The Homecoming

“Not good.” Shui Yi’s heart clenched. He could clearly sense the threat emanating from the leather-clad youth before him and the white-robed steward beside him.

Ji Ning and Uncle White had no intention of hiding their murderous intent.

Thus, Shui Yi could feel the palpitations, the threat.

“I am Shui Yi. The two of you stopped me here; you must have known who I was for a long time.” Shui Yi looked at Ji Ning and the other. “I rushed back from the distant Dong tribe, which I suspect you also predicted. My tribe, the Shui tribe, is merely a small tribe with no great ambitions. Just say what the two of you want. If I can do it… I naturally won’t refuse.”

In one brief speech, he used his backing, the ‘Dong tribe,’ as a veiled threat, then lowered his posture. In a typical struggle between powers, this would have opened the door for negotiations.

But this…

This wasn’t a power struggle.

This was revenge!

“I want you…” Ji Ning’s form suddenly flickered as he executed the Windwing Evasion. A streak of sword-light instantly pierced through Shui Yi’s abdomen.

Although Shui Yi tried to dodge, even summoning several flying swords to float before him, it was useless. The gap in their strength was too vast—both in their foundations and in the depth of their Dao comprehension. The difference was so immense that in a single exchange, Shui Yi’s abdomen was run through.

“You… you!” Shui Yi’s eyes flew wide.

The flying swords in the air began to fall.

Several other treasures also appeared in the air around him. His storage bracelet was still on his wrist, but it had become ownerless treasure. His Violet Palace had been completely shattered.

“You destroyed my Violet Palace…” Shui Yi couldn’t believe it.

“Collect.”

Ji Ning waved his hand, gathering all the treasures, then stared at him with icy eyes.

Although his Violet Palace was destroyed, Shui Yi remained floating in mid-air without falling. A vast Water-Fire Lotus bloomed beneath him, and Shui Yi was standing at its very core. The lotus had yet to rotate, so it exerted no grinding force.

“Why did you destroy my Violet Palace? I… I don’t even know you.” Shui Yi was dazed. The sudden, catastrophic disaster was almost unbelievable. “Who are you? Who the hell are you!?!” Shui Yi’s face twisted. With his Violet Palace shattered, his path of cultivation was over. There was no more hope.

“Shui Yi, do you still recognize me?” Uncle White beside him suddenly transformed into a puff of mist, then took the shape of a snow-white hound.

“A Whitewater Hound, a godbeast?”

Shui Yi looked at him. The memories from over twenty years ago instantly resurfaced.

It was during the time when he had been following the young master, ‘Dong Qi.’ Back then, he had committed many atrocities while following Young Master Dong Qi, without any fear. He’d had the young master to shield him after all. Those were truly glorious days.

Back then, he and Yu Tong had been ordered to capture a woman…

And at that time, the woman’s brother and husband had desperately fought back with forbidden techniques, while a snow-white hound had carried the woman away.

“You… you are that Whitewater Hound?” Shui Yi looked at Ji Ning. “And you… you are?”

“The ones you dealt with back then were my uncle, my father, and my mother!” Ji Ning stared at him, the coldness in his gaze making Shui Yi’s heart tremble.

“You are the child that woman was carrying?” Shui Yi’s eyes bulged.

Heavens.

It had only been twenty years.

The child that woman was carrying had become this powerful? Had that woman given birth to a reincarnated Immortal?

“Hmph.” Ji Ning moved his mind, and Yuan power formed a glowing sigil of light before him. It was the Heart-Scorching Art. The glowing sigil immediately shot into Shui Yi’s body.

“Enjoy it.” Ji Ning’s voice was cold.

Shui Yi instantly let out a miserable shriek. His entire body contorted, his skin and bones twisting. His skin flushed bright red as he began to howl in agony.

“Kill me, kill me.” A hoarse roar tore from Shui Yi’s throat.

Ji Ning just watched him silently.

“Kill me!” Shui Yi bellowed. “Give me a clean death!”

“A clean death? If I satisfy your wish, who will satisfy mine? Can you bring my father and mother back to life? Can you bring my uncle back?” Ji Ning stared at him coldly.

Shui Yi’s skin began to char, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

This was hell.

“I curse you! I curse you! You will die a miserable death too, a miserable death!” Shui Yi’s body blazed with utter resentment as he glared at Ji Ning with his dying breath.

Sssss…

Flames erupted from his body, and his entire form was consumed.

An incense burner appeared in Ji Ning’s hand. “Collect!” A single soul was forcibly drawn into the incense burner, where it was eroded and destroyed. Then, Ji Ning waved his hand, collecting the surrounding treasures. His eyes, which had been so brutally cold, suddenly grew calm, yet his gaze was profoundly complicated.

“Two are dead now.” Ji Ning’s voice was soft.

“Ning’er, your father and your mother probably never imagined it would be this fast. Two of the three great enemies from that year have already died by your hands.” Uncle White stood beside him, gently patting Ji Ning’s shoulder. “If they knew, they would surely be deeply gratified.”

“Only one is left… Dong Qi. But he is in Snowdragon Mountain. It’s a sect’s mountain gate. Even a Loose Immortal would need to be cautious to barge in there. Right now, I have no hope at all.” Ji Ning’s voice was quiet. “I’ll wait. I’ll let this Dong Qi live a few more days. When the time comes, I will shatter his soul just the same!”

When taking revenge, one never gave the enemy the slightest chance.

These enemies were all cultivators with powerful souls. Even if they died and went to the Netherworld Kingdom, they would generally become ‘ghost soldiers,’ and could even cultivate and become ghost immortals.

Ji Ning would never allow that to happen.

“Let’s go. Your junior apprentice-brother has been waiting for a while.” Uncle White spoke.

Ji Ning turned his head and saw Mu Northson and Qingqing in the distance, hovering in mid-air. They clearly hadn’t wanted to disturb Ji Ning while he was taking his revenge, so they just watched from afar.

“Right. Time to go back.”

Afterwards, Ji Ning released the tribesmen of the Shui tribe he had captured. They had no enmity with him, and Ji Ning’s proud nature disdained wanton slaughter. With Shui Yi’s death, the Shui tribe was destined to decline from now on.

Within the Crimson Dragon Mountains, a branch of the Yinglong Guard stationed near Anchan City.

Ji Ning and Mu Northson had both turned in their respective missions.

“I’ve earned ten Contribution Points. At least I can be at ease for a hundred years.” Mu Northson looked at Ji Ning. “Senior apprentice-brother, where are you planning to go?”

“I want to go back to my hometown,” said Ji Ning. “I should be living long-term in Winged Serpent Lake in the Yan Mountains. I’ll go out for adventures from time to time, but most of the time, I’ll be living there.”

That was his homeland.

That was where the people he knew were.

That was where the estate that was so beneficial to his cultivation was located.

And also… it had been a very, very long time since he had drifted on Winged Serpent Lake in a small boat. The feeling of being in his parents’ embrace had been so warm. He longed for that feeling.

“Back to Winged Serpent Lake?” Mu Northson pondered for a moment. “Senior apprentice-brother, then I’ll part ways with you for now. I still want to study the way of the golem. I’m planning to go back to the College. My master is incredibly knowledgeable in the field of golems; being with her helps me a lot. Also, her lifespan is nearing its end… I want to spend some good time with her.”

Ji Ning could feel the deep attachment his junior apprentice-brother had to Immortal Qionghua.

It was rather like the bond between mother and child.

After all, his junior apprentice-brother’s mother had passed away long ago.

“Alright.” Ji Ning nodded. “Let’s part ways for now. If you have nothing to do later, you can come to Yan Mountain, to Winged Serpent Lake.”

“Mm, I’ll definitely come see you, senior apprentice-brother.” Mu Northson nodded.

With that, Mu Northson boarded his dragon-head warship, which shot straight into the sky, flying towards Anchan City.

Ji Ning watched his junior apprentice-brother leave.

“Let’s go.” Ji Ning led Qingqing and Uncle White towards the teleportation array within the Crimson Dragon Mountains. The journey here was indeed rather far from Yan Mountain; taking a teleportation array was faster.

The Yan Mountains. The same mountains, the same waters.

High in the sky, a boat sped forward. On the boat were a leather-clad youth and a snow-white hound; there was also a little green snake coiled about, one more companion than when they had first left Yan Mountain.

“I’m back.” Ji Ning looked at the scenery of his homeland, a hint of a smile on his face. “When I left back then, it was the depths of winter, with snow all around. And now that I’m back, it’s still the depths of winter.”

It had been summer when he had first left the Black-White College to join the Yinglong Guard.

But after the Mount Yujue Wasteland, the pursuit of criminals in the outside world, the killing of Yu Tong and Shui Yi… it was indeed now the dead of winter. Looking down from above, the ground was blanketed in snow. The Yan Mountains were a bitterly cold region; in winter, nearly everything was covered in snow. When Ji Ning was born, it had also been a heavy snowfall.

“Winged Serpent Lake.” The Whitewater Hound suddenly spoke.

“Here we are.”

Ji Ning could also see the vast and expansive Winged Serpent Lake. Although the banks were covered in snow, the boundless lake, stretching almost as far as the eye could see, was still shimmering with rippling waves. Such a massive lake could hardly freeze over completely even in the bitter cold.

“Winged Serpent Lake.” Seeing this lake made Ji Ning feel a sense of warmth.

His mother’s ashes and his father’s ashes had both been scattered into this very lake.

The boat descended from the sky and landed on the surface of the lake.

“Father, Mother.” Ji Ning looked at the lake, a smile spreading across his face. “I’m back. Of the three enemies, my strength isn’t enough yet, so I’ve only killed two for now. As for the last one, I will slay him too, when the day comes.”

“Uncle White, I’m going to sleep for a bit.” Ji Ning spoke.

Uncle White nodded.

Ji Ning then lay down on the boat, infinitely comfortable and at ease, drifting on the lake’s surface. It felt incredibly good, even better than sleeping on a bed. Especially when the boat rocked with a very gentle, rhythmic motion on the water, like when he was a baby sleeping, his mother gently rocking him…

The boat drifted, a snow-white hound lying beside him and a little green snake coiled around his arm, snuggling obediently against him.

Slowly, the boat drifted towards Myriad Splendor Island in the center of the lake.

When dusk fell, the boat finally coasted ashore on Myriad Splendor Island. Ji Ning could sense the auras of many people on the island, and he naturally stood up. As soon as he rose from the boat, he saw, amidst the snow-covered ground in the distance, a woman in white standing gracefully, looking at him, her eyes holding tears she could not conceal.

“Autumn Leaf!” Ji Ning smiled as well. “I’m back.”