"Me?" Xu Lai asked, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

It's not that easy; that's a Quasi-Emperor, after all. If one intentionally hides the location of their tomb, it would take me a considerable amount of time to find it. Moreover, Chong Yang, who has reached the peak of the Immortal Venerable Realm, has already given up the search. Now that I'm in the Emperor Realm, I have even less inclination to waste my time on it. I'd rather spend more time pondering how to make my wife and daughter happier.

"Let's leave it to someone with a strong enough destiny," Xu Lai said casually. "Or perhaps Yiyi can search for it in the future. It would be a good trial to temper her."

Chong Yang nodded in agreement. That was true.

She scratched her head and said, "Brother, why do I always feel that Earth isn't as simple as it seems? Beneath the Haitang, I sensed a trace of the Ancient Demon Clan's aura, and even the Heavenly Dao... it's strange."

"Indeed," Xu Lai agreed.

Setting aside the Mozhan for now, the very nature of Earth's newly born Heavenly Dao is bizarre. It's far too self-aware. A normal Heavenly Dao is selfless and impartial, completely devoid of personal feelings. The moment it detects a Cultivator whose Boundary exceeds the planet's tolerance, it will either forbid them entry or directly eradicate them. Even if it can't win, it will make the opponent pay a terrible price, even if the Heavenly Dao itself must collapse and perish in the process. But Earth's Heavenly Dao... it couldn't be bothered to inspect Foreign Cultivators. Only when they deliberately reveal their Boundary does the Heavenly Dao emerge to perform its 'impartial' duty, just to save face. And the moment it realizes it can't win... it retracts its Divine Sense and pretends not to see. A complete coward.

Thinking of this, Xu Lai spoke slowly, "Is the Heavenly Dao present?"

Chong Yang looked over with curiosity. Even for someone as esteemed as The Supreme Emperor, the Heavenly Dao surely wouldn't respond to a mere question, would it?

As expected, the surroundings remained silent.

Xu Lai said coolly, "I'll give you three seconds. If you don't appear by then, I will obliterate you."

"Three."

"Two..."

Before he could reach one, a sullen voice echoed from the sky. "The Heavenly Dao is not here."

Chong Yang was speechless. The Heavenly Dao had actually responded! But why did its voice sound so... peculiar?

"Come out. Let's talk," Xu Lai said. He sat down in the wicker chair in the courtyard and pointed to the beach chairs on either side, gesturing for Chong Yang and the Heavenly Dao to take a seat.

A voice from above spoke again. "I know you. You are The Supreme Emperor Xu Lai. I may not be able to defeat you, but as the Heavenly Dao of Earth, I will not—"

"One more word of nonsense, and you're obliterated."

The voice fell silent.

SWOOSH!

A ball of light shot down from the sky, landing squarely on a beach chair. It looked like a glowing lightbulb, but its light was soft and not the least bit blinding.

Chong Yang, a master at the peak of the Immortal Venerable Realm, widened her eyes. Inside the sphere of light, there was... a child of about three or four years old! He was dressed in a red bellyband and had his hair in pretty braids. In his hand, he held a stick of candied hawthorns, but only three remained; the rest had clearly been eaten.

The child glared at Xu Lai, his expression clearly saying, 'I didn't come down because I'm afraid of you.'

"The Heavenly Dao... it's personified," Chong Yang said, sucking in a sharp breath. The Heavenly Dao was supposed to be without consciousness, a mere executor of the universe's laws. But this little child completely shattered her understanding. Even the Heavenly Dao of the Four Immortal Domains showed no signs of personification. How on Earth had this one managed it?

Xu Lai curiously examined the little child before him. "So, it's a little girl..."

The Heavenly Dao placed his hands on his hips. Standing only as high as Xu Lai's knee, he had to crane his neck to look up, protesting, "I'm a boy!"

"Are you, now?"

Xu Lai reached out. The Heavenly Dao tried to run, but where could it possibly go? Xu Lai grabbed its ankle and lifted it upside down. Under the pull of gravity, the red bellyband flopped down, covering the Heavenly Dao's face and revealing...

"Pfft."

Chong Yang couldn't help but stifle a laugh after a quick glance. Hmm. He was definitely a boy, and developing quite normally.

But to the Heavenly Dao's ears, her laughter was incredibly grating. He flailed his little fists, shouting angrily, "Let go of me! Let go of me right now! I'm already giving you a lot of face by not kicking you off Earth! Don't push me, I can be very scary!"

"Oh?" Xu Lai raised his arm, bringing the inverted Heavenly Dao's gaze level with his own. "Show me just how scary you can be."

The Heavenly Dao fell silent. I've seen countless members of the Human Race, but Xu Lai is by far the most infuriating. I've already made my threats. I even turned a blind eye to everything you've done on Earth in the past. Can't you just give me a way to back down gracefully? Why are you so clueless about social etiquette!

"...There's a lady present, big brother. Give your little brother some face. Besides, the wind is a bit chilly," the Heavenly Dao whispered.

"Fine."

Xu Lai chuckled, amused. This Heavenly Dao is pretty street-smart.

He set the Heavenly Dao down. The little boy jumped onto the beach chair and carefully smoothed out his bellyband, his heart filled with indignation. If I knew I could beat Xu Lai, I would've fought him long ago! If I knew I could escape, I would've fled already! It's one thing for my true form to be seen by a member of the Human Race and one from the Demon Race, but to be completely exposed like that... how will I ever show my face again?

He said angrily, "I don't want word of what happened today getting out, or else—"

Xu Lai raised his hand.

The Heavenly Dao instantly cowered, dropping to its knees on the ground. "Big brother, I was wrong!" it choked out.

Xu Lai was speechless.

Chong Yang was speechless.

This is probably the most shameless and undignified Heavenly Dao in the entire universe.

Hearing no response and mistakenly thinking Xu Lai was still angry and about to punish him, the Heavenly Dao reluctantly held out the stick of candied hawthorns. "Big brother, have a hawthorn."

"...No, thank you." Seeing a string of what looked like saliva dangling from the fruit, Xu Lai couldn't help but massage his forehead. "Just tell me, what exactly is your deal?"

"It's a long story. It begins in the Western Zhou dynasty, back in 989 B.C., on a snowy night. Back then, there weren't as many skyscrapers as there are now, nor was there so much delicious food." As he was reminiscing, the Heavenly Dao suddenly asked, "By the way, you know about the Western Zhou, right? If not, I can give you a history lesson, starting from..."

Xu Lai's expression darkened as he cut him off. "Give me the short version. Twenty words or less. Otherwise—"

BOOM!

Xu Lai clenched his fist, making the very air tremble.

The Heavenly Dao shuddered in fear and quickly blurted out, "Three thousand years ago, I suddenly became conscious. I don't know the exact reason why, though."

After speaking, he held up his tender fingers and began to count. His little face fell. "Oh no, that's twenty-one words!" He proceeded to count on his fingers again several times, just to be sure. After confirming his miscalculation, he looked pitifully at Xu Lai. "Lord Supreme Emperor, is twenty-one words okay? If not, I can take out a word and say it again..."

Chong Yang pressed her hand to her forehead. Is this really the Heavenly Dao? He seems a bit dim-witted.

With a dark expression, Xu Lai waved his hand dismissively. Realizing the Heavenly Dao was a clueless chatterbox, he instantly lost all interest in talking to it.

The little boy was overjoyed and got up to run, but he hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, "By the way, Supreme Emperor, regarding the war between Earth and the Exotic Realm... will you... intervene?"

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