Chapter 0001: Return from the Immortal Realm

Tianyuan Dynasty, Tianyu City.

The autumn breeze added a touch of comfort to Tianyu City.

At this moment, a young man in a red robe was walking on the bustling street.

He looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, not particularly handsome, but his face was very clean and refined, like a spotless piece of white jade. He exuded an aura of沧桑 (cāngsāng, meaning "weathered" or "worldly"), which was not typical for someone his age, more like that of an elderly person who had endured much hardship. His gaze was profound, like the stars at night, as if it could see through everything in the world.

On his back, he carried an empty scabbard, which was engraved with mysterious patterns, giving it an air of mystery.

"Life between heaven and earth is like a white horse passing through a crevice."

"Perhaps the only comfort is that the flow of time in the Immortal Realm is different from that in the mortal world, a thousand times slower. Three thousand years in the Immortal Realm is only three years on Tianxing Continent." Looking at the familiar streets that now lay before him, Yun Qingyan sighed inwardly.

"Father, Mother, Sister, I have endured for three thousand years in the Immortal Realm. How have you been these past three years?"

The thought of soon seeing his family made Yun Qingyan's heart race. For his family, it had only been three years, but for Yun Qingyan, it had been three thousand years.

No one knew how he had endured those three thousand years. Countless nights, he had woken up in shock from dreams of his parents and sister.

Tears wet his face.

Three years ago on Tianxing Continent, Yun Qingyan went to the wilderness for training and encountered a spatial storm that might only occur once in a billion years. When he woke up from his unconsciousness, he had already left Tianxing Continent and arrived in the legendary Immortal Realm.

The Immortal Realm was a completely different world from Tianxing Continent.

According to legend, only when the martial artists of Tianxing Continent reached the pinnacle of their cultivation could they break through the spatial barrier and ascend to the Immortal Realm.

In the legends of Tianxing Continent, the Immortal Realm was a paradise, a heaven for martial artists. But Yun Qingyan knew that the Immortal Realm was not a heaven; in many ways, it was even more cruel than hell.

The Immortal Realm had no law, only the rule of strength, where the strong preyed on the weak. As long as one's cultivation was powerful enough, they could act as they pleased, committing murder, arson, and all sorts of atrocities, embodying the principle of survival of the fittest to the extreme.

Some immortals would kill people out of frustration just because they were in a bad mood.

Alchemical families would capture weak individuals to serve as alchemical slaves, using them as guinea pigs for various elixirs.

Most miners in the immortal mines were captured to work, receiving no pay and not even a guaranteed meal a day.

Yun Qingyan had even seen an evil immortal slaughter an entire city of millions to create a magical artifact.

In the Immortal Realm, life was the cheapest thing of all.

To return to Tianxing Continent one day and to survive in the harsh Immortal Realm, Yun Qingyan began his relentless cultivation.

This process was fraught with thorns and obstacles, and a single misstep could lead to eternal doom. But Yun Qingyan grew stronger!

After countless life-and-death struggles, he became one of the ten Immortal Emperors who dominated the Immortal Realm.

An Immortal Emperor was at the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm, a figure whose power could shake the realm with a single step, and whose words could determine the fate of billions.

Despite his immense cultivation and overwhelming power, Yun Qingyan could never truly integrate into the Immortal Realm.

He could not forget his homeland, and in his heart, Tianxing Continent was his true home, where the people he cared about the most still resided.

After becoming an Immortal Emperor, Yun Qingyan began to search for a way back to Tianxing Continent.

He mobilized all his resources and finally found the spatial divine sword Zhan Tian, a relic from the ancient Immortal Era.

The spatial fabric of the Immortal Realm was extremely stable, and even a full-force attack from an Immortal Emperor could not shake it. But with the Zhan Tian divine sword, Yun Qingyan finally managed to tear open a rift in the Immortal Realm's space.

Entering the spatial rift, Yun Qingyan began to use the Zhan Tian divine sword to create a passage back to Tianxing Continent.

The process was fraught with danger. While opening the spatial passage, he had to constantly guard against external attacks. He encountered at least a hundred devouring beasts and even some ancient chaos beasts that had long disappeared from the Immortal Realm.

By the time Yun Qingyan successfully returned to Tianxing Continent, his cultivation was nearly depleted, and he had lost the Zhan Tian divine sword, leaving only the empty scabbard.

"Depleted cultivation can be restored over time, and the Zhan Tian divine sword can be found again, but the storage ring..." Thinking of the storage ring, Yun Qingyan felt a pang of pain.

The storage ring contained all his possessions, including cultivation techniques, elixirs, magical artifacts, and mountains of spirit stones!

It's worth noting that spirit stones were the common currency in the Immortal Realm.

Although the Zhan Tian divine sword was lost, the scabbard remained. Once Yun Qingyan's cultivation recovered to a certain level, he could use the scabbard to find the divine sword.

But the storage ring was likely lost forever!

"Fortunately, the time flow in the Immortal Realm is a thousand times slower than on Tianxing Continent. Although I spent three thousand years in the Immortal Realm, my parents and sister are still alive on Tianxing Continent."

Thinking of his family, Yun Qingyan's mood brightened.

"I wonder if Father has advanced to the Moon Realm? If not, I'll guide him to become the top expert on Tianxing Continent within ten years!"

"Mother has no desires, her only wish is for the family to be safe and sound. Now that I'm back, no one can bully us!"

"As for Sister Cai'er, if there's no accident, her so-called cold illness is not a disease but a congenital spirit body, the Nine Yin Cold Meridian. Once her spirit body awakens, her cultivation will progress rapidly!"

"I can't wait to see them again! I wonder if Father's stern face will shed tears of joy when he sees me?" Yun Qingyan's face showed a hint of mischief.

Since childhood, Yun Qingyan's father had been a strict father, always serious and cold, like a thousand-year-old iceberg.

Of course, strict as he was, Yun Qingyan knew that his father's love for him was no less than his mother's.

Half an hour later.

Yun Qingyan's figure stopped at the entrance of a large family estate.

"The decorations are the same as three years ago, but the guards have changed," Yun Qingyan muttered to himself, looking at the entrance of the estate.

"Clan Leader!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man in his forties, with a commanding presence, walked out from inside the gate. The ten guards with swords quickly bowed in respect.

"Isn't that Uncle? When did he become the clan leader?" Yun Qingyan was surprised. The clan leader of the Yun family had always been his father since he was born.

"Are you... Qingyan?" The middle-aged man quickly noticed Yun Qingyan.

The next moment, the middle-aged man rushed over, tightly embracing Yun Qingyan, and said excitedly, "Qingyan, you're finally back! We almost thought you were gone after three years of disappearance."

Uncle Yun Han's voice choked with emotion. He was overwhelmed with joy, as Yun Qingyan had grown up under his watchful eye, and he considered Yun Qingyan almost like his own child.

"Sorry, Uncle, for making you worry!" Yun Qingyan's nose tingled, feeling the deep concern from Uncle.

"Don't worry, don't worry. The fact that you're alive and back is the greatest comfort to me!" Uncle Yun Han said, habitually touching Yun Qingyan's forehead.

Fortunately, this scene was not seen by anyone from the Immortal Realm, or they would have been terrified. Who would dare to touch the forehead of the Immortal Emperor Yun Qingyan!

"If only your parents were still here, they would be so happy to know you're back!" Uncle Yun Han sighed.

"Uncle, what happened to my parents?" Yun Qingyan's face changed, thinking of the change in the clan leadership, he subconsciously feared the worst.

"Cough, cough, Qingyan, it's not what you think!" Uncle quickly coughed, somewhat apologetically, "This is a long story. Let me give you a brief overview."

"Two years ago, Cai'er's cold illness suddenly healed, and her cultivation talent became incredibly powerful overnight. In just one year, she advanced from the first stage of the Star Realm to the third stage of the Moon Realm, becoming the top expert in Tianyu City. This caused a sensation not only in Tianyu City but also throughout the entire Tianyuan Dynasty."

"But a year ago, Cai'er, along with your parents, also disappeared under similar circumstances. However, unlike you, they left behind a mysterious token before they vanished." Uncle said, taking out a token from his pocket.

Yun Qingyan immediately recognized that the token was made of subterranean meteorite iron, a material from the depths of the earth. In the Immortal Realm, subterranean meteorite iron was often used to make pendants and bracelets. It had a calming effect and could reduce the risk of cultivation mishaps.

"Heaven? Sword?" Yun Qingyan took the token and saw the characters "Heaven" and "Sword" on both sides.

"Could it be the Heaven Sword Sect?" Yun Qingyan immediately thought of a certain sect.

"Qingyan, you also thought of the Heaven Sword Sect?" Uncle Yun Han was surprised, "When I showed the token to the Grand Elder, he also thought of the Heaven Sword Sect."

"Given the publicity of Cai'er's case, the Heaven Sword Sect likely took her in as a disciple. Your parents were probably taken to the Heaven Sword Sect to take care of Cai'er's daily life."

"Of course, this is just a guess. Only I and the Grand Elder know about this."

The Heaven Sword Sect was a renowned cultivation sect on Tianxing Continent, ruling over dozens of human kingdoms.

Tianyu City, where the Tianyuan Dynasty was located, was one of the kingdoms under the rule of the Heaven Sword Sect.

A hint of disappointment flashed in Yun Qingyan's eyes.

What he most wanted to see were his parents and Cai'er, but they had all gone to the Heaven Sword Sect.

Yes, Yun Qingyan was certain they had gone to the Heaven Sword Sect. The token from the Immortal Realm's Heaven Sword Sect was identical to this one, except for the higher-quality material.

"Uncle, how far is it from Tianyu City to the Heaven Sword Sect? If we ride a blood mane horse that can travel five thousand miles a day, how many days would it take to get there?" Yun Qingyan had decided to go to the Heaven Sword Sect.

"Qingyan, you might be disappointed. The location of the Heaven Sword Sect is known only to its disciples. Otherwise, I would have gone to the Heaven Sword Sect to confirm their whereabouts long ago," Uncle said with a bitter smile.

This was not because the Heaven Sword Sect was being mysterious, but because too many people wanted to join the sect. If the entrance was not hidden, it would have been overrun.

After all, the Heaven Sword Sect was a righteous sect and could not easily act against ordinary people.

Hearing this, Yun Qingyan felt even more disheartened.

His cultivation was nearly depleted, and his divine sense was reduced to a fraction of its former strength. He could no longer use his divine sense to locate people, or he could have covered the entire Tianxing Continent with a single thought.

"For now, I can only restore my cultivation and then reunite with my parents and Cai'er!"