Farewell Day and a Family with Two Patriarchs

There are seven major realms across all universes, each governed by a Five Paths Great Emperor, and these are among the elite of the Five Paths Great Emperors, ranking only below the Three Supreme Beings.

The Lord of the Divine Realm, the Master of Nine Mountains, and the Supreme Realm's Supreme Being - they have comprehended the highest level of Dao and reached the pinnacle of cultivation, which is why they stand at the apex of all realms.

Other Five Paths Great Emperors are a tier below them, simply because their Dao isn't as profound. However, Five Paths Great Emperors are extremely rare across all realms. As long as one becomes a Five Paths cultivator, regardless of whether their five paths are of flowers, grass, trees, birds, or metal, wood, water, fire, and earth - they would be among the top fifteen Great Emperors across all realms.

Of course, these fifteen don't include the Three Supreme Beings. Although the Supreme Beings are Six Paths Great Emperors, they've transcended the title of Great Emperor and are exclusively referred to as Supreme Beings.

Chen Xia, as a Four-Dao Quasi-Emperor, along with his heart demon that could wrestle with Four-Dao Great Emperors, roughly equated to a Five Paths Great Emperor.

At least, that's what he had always believed until he was severely beaten by Daoist Suppressing Heaven's puppet. Only then did he truly understand the gap between himself and a Five Paths Great Emperor. To put it nicely, he was completely defenseless; to put it bluntly, he was treated like a mere dog.

This gave Chen Xia a long-forgotten sense of crisis. According to Daoist Suppressing Heaven, chaos would come, and during such times, he could only remain safe by staying within East Jia State, and he shouldn't leave until he became a Great Emperor.

This was frightening. Currently, as a Four-Dao Quasi-Emperor, Chen Xia could handle ordinary Three-Dao Great Emperors and wrestle with top-tier ones. If he became a Four-Dao Great Emperor, his combat power should at least reach the threshold of a Five Paths Great Emperor.

If he needed such power just to leave East Jia State, it wasn't just about the coming chaos - it meant there were Five Paths Great Emperors specifically watching him, and only within East Jia State, where his destiny and luck were at their peak, could he barely contend with these Five Paths Great Emperors.

This was probably what Daoist Suppressing Heaven truly wanted to tell him.

But who could it be?

Chen Xia was puzzled. He scratched his head, rubbed his nose, displaying rich body language. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly sighed and asked Huang Qingyue, who was meditating behind him.

"Qingyue, the Master of Nine Mountains is very powerful, right?"

Huang Qingyue opened her bright eyes, and although confused by Chen Xia's sudden question, she nodded and replied.

"Yes, the elders have said that the Master of Nine Mountains is the founder of the nine mountains in the immortal realm, has lived for countless years, and is the backbone and ultimate trump card of the immortal realm."

"Then why hasn't this ultimate trump card made a move yet?" Chen Xia asked curiously. Logically, when the Lord of the Divine Realm took action, the Master of Nine Mountains, being of equal status, should have acted too. Even if restricted or outmaneuvered, they shouldn't have remained silent until now.

"Perhaps the final moment hasn't arrived yet?" Huang Qingyue wondered too.

Chen Xia looked up at the vast sky, pale and cloudless, appearing so empty that his eyes gazing at it became vacant as well.

"Qingyue, let's visit the Ninth Mountain," Chen Xia suddenly said.

"Yes, yes!" Huang Qingyue immediately smiled, as she had always wanted to bring Chen Xia back to her home, to gain the approval of the Ninth Mountain's elders and cultivators.

She broke into a sweet smile, tilted her little head, and asked.

"Brother Chen, when shall we go?"

There was no immediate answer.

Chen Xia lowered his gaze from the sky, seemingly looking at the ground, yet looking at nothing, and softly said.

"After we arrive at the Ninth Mountain, you'll stay there until I come for you, okay?"

Huang Qingyue's joyful expression froze, her bright eyes gradually widening in disbelief. She quickly suppressed her doubts and confusion, placing her hands anxiously against her chest, forcing a smile worse than crying, and asked with a sobbing voice.

"O-okay... but Brother Chen, you have to... you have to tell me why you want me to stay at the Ninth Mountain?"

"There are many reasons, but mainly because the Ninth Mountain should be safer, with the legendary Master of Nine Mountains there. However, as a precaution, I'll leave a portion of my divine soul with you. If you're in danger, I'll immediately transfer my consciousness there."

Chen Xia finished, then raised two fingers and continued.

"So there will only be two situations where I'll come to the Ninth Mountain for you: either when I'm invincible enough, or when you're in danger."

"Isn't there a third possibility?" Huang Qingyue's bright eyes were full of tears, her lips turned downward, looking extremely aggrieved.

"Yes, the third possibility is that the danger disappears, everyone is happy, and I come to find you. There's even a fourth possibility - if I die, I can come find you while residing in a small box," Chen Xia added.

Huang Qingyue's face instantly tensed with anxiety. She hurriedly stepped forward to cover Chen Xia's mouth and scolded him.

"Nonsense! Don't say such unlucky things, don't say them!"

After scolding him, she spoke with concern: "Brother Chen, we are cultivators, and powerful ones at that. The words of great cultivators are like spilled water - they attract karma and fate, and cannot be taken back. So please promise me you won't say such things, even if..."

Her voice began to tremble, and she closed her watery eyes, saying painfully:

"Even if we can never meet again, I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Brother Chen."

"It won't happen. Nothing will happen to me," Chen Xia offered words of comfort.

With the future unknown, these were merely words of consolation.

Daoist Suppressing Heaven had said that chaos would arrive soon, so Chen Xia didn't let Huang Qingyue stay long. Half a year later, he took her back to the Ninth Mountain.

Today, the Heaven Pill Gate's ferry wasn't running, so they returned to the Ninth Mountain using the Time Dao to avoid detection.

There were no words of greeting exchanged. Chen Xia didn't even enter the Ninth Mountain, as he didn't want to become too entangled with it.

So he only escorted Huang Qingyue to the entrance.

"Go on," Chen Xia said with a gentle smile.

Huang Qingyue's eyes were red with tears. She had many words in her heart she wanted to say but didn't know where to begin. Finally, she condensed them into one sentence:

"Stay safe, Brother Chen, you must stay safe."

"I will." Chen Xia's eyes flickered, with gray and white colors floating in his pupils as the Time Dao activated. He was about to return the way he came.

Huang Qingyue's pretty face tensed with urgency as she quickly stepped forward and asked:

"How long until we meet again?"

Chen Xia didn't know how to answer. His blue robes fluttered as half his body had already entered the river of time. His eyes grew solemn as he pondered for a long while before finally answering:

"After... the flowers bloom."

Which flowers?

Chen Xia didn't specify - it wouldn't be any particular flower. These were just words of comfort, just like that day in the Imperial City.

Huang Qingyue understood this too. Her bright eyes could no longer hold back the tears that streamed down her cheeks and fell to the ground. She kept wiping them with her sleeves, but they wouldn't stop.

"Qingyue?" An elder, hearing the commotion, walked out and was delighted to see Huang Qingyue, but asked in surprise:

"Qingyue, what's wrong? Who bullied you? Why is a Quasi-Emperor crying here?"

There was no answer, just gradually quieting sobs.

"It's nothing," Huang Qingyue said softly.

Life has many encounters, and naturally many partings as well.

Chen Xia only remembered that during this parting, the sky was very gloomy, and the clouds hung low.

It perfectly matched his mood.

Another half year later, the Heaven Pill Gate issued an order to close their sect. They continued selling pills, but the Medicine Ancestor went into seclusion, no longer concerning himself with worldly affairs. All matters were handed over to another patriarch of the Heaven Pill Gate.

And this new patriarch was called - the Demon Ancestor.

Two patriarchs in one gate, making their brilliant debut.