In a luxurious room.
Qin Zi knelt on the ground, his hands placed neatly on his knees, his head lowered in submission. From time to time, he snuck a glance upward.
"Dad, I was wrong, I really was. I shouldn't have called you by name, and I definitely shouldn't have spoken so recklessly..."
He had a sincere attitude in admitting his mistakes.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan, who was sitting in a chair, no longer made things difficult for him. He gently set down his teacup and said, "Get up."
"Okay!"
Qin Zi smiled brightly and quickly jumped to his feet. He hurried over to his father's chair, eagerly massaging his shoulders and back.
He was being quite fawning.
If the disciples of Ziyun Academy saw this, they'd be utterly shocked. Was this really the same tough, unyielding Senior Brother Qin Zi?
"So, tell me what's been happening lately, and what's going on with the Lu family?"
Qin Chuan asked calmly.
Qin Zi nodded and began to speak excitedly:
"While you were away, I spent most of my time in seclusion. I trained diligently and have already broken through to the Fourth Heaven of the Saint realm!"
Then, his tone darkened as he continued:
"But it seems the Lu family holds a grudge against me. They've been plotting against me and have sent people to provoke me multiple times."
"At a recent gathering, they challenged me again. I couldn't take it anymore, so I fought back... This time, not only did I fall out with the Lu family, but I also offended the Luo family, one of the ten great families of the Ziyun region."
"Dad, the Luo family is pretty detestable too!"
"At the Tianjiao gathering at Beimang Mountain's Bilian Lake, there was a young lady from the Luo family. She acted all high and mighty, pretending to be neutral while clearly siding with the Lu family's young master. It's the classic case of wanting to be both a whore and earn a chastity memorial!"
"I used to think it was just her, but later I realized that the whole Luo family is like that. Their family is full of arrogant, hypocritical people."
"Take this recent incident, for example."
"The Lu family provoked me first. After I subdued several of their younger members, someone from the Luo family had the audacity to stand up and accuse me of being too harsh. They claimed that the Lu family's members were just kids…"
"I was furious!"
Qin Zi snorted, as if reliving the moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "Kids? Aren't we all kids?!"
"I thought about how you, Dad, might be in danger somewhere, while these people flaunted their family backgrounds in front of me. It made me even angrier, so I subdued a genius from the Luo family as well and publicly declared, 'Whether you're a kid or not, tell your father to come find me if he has the guts! Qin Zi is always ready!'"
At this point, Qin Zi puffed out his chest, his eyebrows sharp and his aura fierce.
But the next moment, his imposing aura deflated, his shoulders slumped, and he became downcast.
With a sigh, he awkwardly admitted:
"Ahem, honestly, I was just blowing off steam in the moment. I didn't think anyone would take my words seriously, but…"
"But the Lu family did!"
"A Lu family Sovereign, no less, stepped forward immediately. He was fast, and the aura he released... definitely late-stage Sovereign at least!"
"I practically sprained my back right then."
"I was terrified, wanting to retreat, but after making such bold statements, backing out would be like slapping my own face."
"And then the young master of the Lu family stepped in. He said it would be unfair for a Sovereign to fight me, as it would damage the Lu family's reputation. But because of my reckless words, there had to be a consequence. So, he proposed a three-year challenge."
"That was just taking advantage of the situation!"
"But given the circumstances, if I refused after he backed down, I'd lose all face…"
"So, I agreed to the three-year challenge."
"After cooling down and thinking about it, I realized that the Lu family Sovereign was just posturing. As a direct disciple of the academy, there's no way he'd actually dare to attack me. I lost my cool and fell right into their trap."
"Sigh!"
At the end, Qin Zi sighed with regret.
He had been outmaneuvered!
After listening to the whole story, Qin Chuan couldn't help but chuckle. "So, the lesson here is that you should think before you speak. Don't make impulsive decisions. But... where did you learn the term 'blowing off steam'?"
"Huh?"
Qin Zi blinked, confused about what he had said.
He couldn't remember.
So, with an awkward cough, he mumbled, "Ahem, don't mind the details."
Qin Chuan didn't press the issue.
After all, it wasn't unusual for languages to overlap between two completely different worlds with identical human anatomy.
"So, what's your plan now?"
Qin Chuan asked.
"Well… I was planning to leave it to fate. But now that you're back, of course, you get to decide."
Qin Zi continued to massage his father's back, grinning obsequiously.
He rubbed his hands together and eagerly asked, "Dad, did you bring me back any good stuff this time?"
Qin Chuan glanced at his son, a hint of helplessness on his face, and sighed:
"I did… originally."
He suddenly remembered the bright red flower he had found on the small volcano, which he had ended up feeding to Nightingale.
"So, now there's nothing?"
Qin Zi's shoulders slumped, disappointed.
What's worse than having nothing? Knowing you could have had something but ended up with nothing.
"There is something."
Qin Chuan said calmly.
"What?!"
Qin Zi's eyes widened, excitement flaring within him like a fire rekindled from the brink of extinction.
"But it's not with me. It's hidden in a cave dwelling, and you'll have to retrieve it yourself."
Qin Chuan added.
Qin Zi licked his lips and eagerly asked, "Could it be the dwelling of some powerful figure?"
"Well, I wouldn't call them that powerful. Just a mere Sovereign."
Qin Chuan said nonchalantly.
"Pfft!"
Qin Zi almost choked on his own spit.
What do you mean just a Sovereign?
Do Sovereigns have no status anymore? Dad, we're still in the Nine Heavens Realm, how about showing some respect for the customs here?
"Dad, when are you going to take me to this cave dwelling?"
Qin Zi asked expectantly.
"In a few days. I've just finished healing from a Dao injury, so I'll need a few more days to rest."
Qin Chuan replied calmly.
The truth was, the cave dwelling hadn't been built yet!
There was no cave dwelling—if more people built them, then there would be.
...
For the next few days.
Qin Chuan pretended to be in seclusion.
In reality, he traveled to the neighboring Qingxuan Domain beside Ziyun, found a hidden abyss, and started creating the fake cave dwelling.
Using his powerful control over the Earth Elemental Law, he easily altered the landscape, crafting an ancient-looking cave dwelling from scratch.
He then used the Wood Elemental Law to accelerate the growth of some plants.
Finally, he used the Red Lotus of Forbidden Seals from the Tianxu Palace to set up numerous illusion arrays, killing formations, and defensive arrays.
In this way, a Sovereign's cave dwelling was perfectly forged, indistinguishable from the real thing.
He then placed the spiritual herbs he had obtained from the Immortal Grass Secret Realm, along with the Tenfold Earth Scripture from Kun Emperor, deep within the cave dwelling. This allowed Qin Zi to perfectly inherit the karma that Qin Chuan had accrued in the Immortal Grass Secret Realm.
Of course, this wasn't about framing anyone—it was simply a father's hope that his son would grow strong.
Most people wouldn't get such treasures in a lifetime!
In addition to this...
Qin Chuan also used a drop of the precious Water of All Things, diluting it to create an extraordinary body-refining spiritual pool.
Beneath the pool, he discreetly set up a teleportation array using the Red Lotus of Forbidden Seals—a cross-domain teleportation array, no less.
In other words…
Qin Xiaozhu's future path had been perfectly arranged.