On the taxi ride home.

Ruan Tang looked at Xu Lai, concern in her voice. "Xu Lai, you drank so much. Are you okay?"

"It wasn't that much," Xu Lai said with a smile.

"At least two and a half liters of liquor, and that's not much?" Ruan Tang raised an eyebrow.

"It'd take another hundred liters to get me drunk."

"Oh."

Ruan Tang simply responded and then stared out the window, lost in thought.

The taxi driver sighed. "Young man, you're still too young."

"Hmm?" Xu Lai raised an eyebrow.

"Based on my years of experience, the girl beside you was probably steeling herself to let you rest your head on her lap if you got drunk."

"You missed a golden opportunity," the driver remarked with a sigh.

Xu Lai was silent.

Ruan Tang was silent.

The driver, sensing the atmosphere was a bit off, stopped talking. The taxi continued toward Mount Haitang in an awkward silence.

Halfway there, Xu Lai suddenly clutched his head, exclaiming, "Ah, I'm suddenly so dizzy! Honey, I can't take it anymore, I need a lap pillow!"

"Get lost."

"Driver, why isn't she following your script?"

"I already spelled it out. Of course she's too shy to agree now," the driver said with a tone of exasperation. "Besides, you're already calling her 'wife.' What's with the high school crush act?"

Xu Lai looked at Ruan Tang, who seemed to feel his intense gaze and turned to look back.

Xu Lai said seriously, "Can we pretend we didn't hear him and I ask one more time?"

"You're not drunk."

Ruan Tang pressed a hand to her forehead. How can this man be so shameless!

"I am drunk, very drunk," Xu Lai quickly insisted.

"And I am cool, very cool," the driver couldn't help but chime in, only to feel a chill run down his spine.

Sensing a murderous gaze sweep over him, the driver quickly shut his mouth. "You two chat, I promise I won't butt in again..."

Ruan Tang asked, "Are you really drunk?"

"Really."

"Oh."

Ruan Tang answered calmly, with no follow-up.

Just when Xu Lai thought his act had failed, a soft hand gently pressed down on his head.

Xu Lai's body tilted, and he found himself resting on Ruan Tang's lap, a light, pleasant fragrance enveloping him.

He froze for a moment, then smiled and closed his eyes.

The lights of East Sea City, veiled by the night, shone through the car window and onto Ruan Tang's face, obscuring her expression.

Beautiful moments are always fleeting.

Xu Lai felt as though he had only closed his eyes for a moment before they arrived at the foot of Mount Haitang.

"Just drop us off here, you can't drive any further up," Xu Lai said.

The taxi driver chuckled. "Are you two coming to see the Haitang flowers this late at night? It's past nine, the gates should be locked."

"We live here."

Under the driver's bewildered gaze, Xu Lai and Ruan Tang began to walk up the mountain.

There was only one house on the mountain—the Haitang Court, valued at five billion!

The driver couldn't help but gasp.

...

...

The door opened.

Xu Lai immediately saw Xu Yiyi standing sullenly by the door. Seeing her parents return, the little girl opened her arms and rushed toward them.

"Daddy!"

"Mommy!"

Ruan Tang quickly picked up Yiyi, kissed her on the cheek, and said gently, "It's so late. Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Xu Yiyi didn't speak. Her big eyes were fixed on Xu Lai and Ruan Tang, blinking again and again in silence.

Ruan Lan stood not far away, her expression one of utter despair. "You're finally back," she said wearily. "I was almost worked to death today. Your daughter refused to sleep, insisting on waiting for you. Yiyi's all yours now. I'm going to bed!"

After Ruan Lan left, Xu Yiyi whispered softly, "I thought Daddy and Mommy didn't want Yiyi anymore."

That single sentence stunned Xu Lai and Ruan Tang.

Xu Lai pulled them both into his arms, enveloping his wife and daughter in a hug. He said gently, "I could give up the Immortal Domain. I could give up my Boundary. I could forsake everything else in this world. But you, Yiyi, are the one thing I could never let go of."

"What about Mommy?" Xu Yiyi asked, her eyes sparkling.

"But isn't Daddy holding both of you right now?"

Yiyi giggled, then planted a resounding smooch on Xu Lai's cheek. "Daddy, Mommy, it's so wonderful to be your daughter," she said happily.

Ruan Tang felt an inexplicable sting in her nose and couldn't help but hold her daughter tighter.

This time, she wouldn't let anyone take Yiyi away from her again, even if it cost her her life.

...

...

「At the seaside.」

Tan Chang stood in a pavilion, letting the sea breeze wash over him. In that moment, his mind was crystal clear as he entered the rare state of the Unity of Heaven and Man Boundary. This was also known as "entering the Way," or enlightenment. A Martial Artist might only experience such a state once or twice in their entire lifetime; it was a condition countless warriors dreamed of.

But Tan Chang didn't use this opportunity for cultivation. Instead, he was frowning in deep thought.

Lately, Tan Chang had gradually come to realize that his meeting with Xu Lai was far too coincidental. It was too deliberate.

Gazing at the dark sea under a sky of scattered stars and listening to the wind, Tan Chang's expression suddenly changed.

Flower Fairy arranged for her own granddaughter to be "kidnapped" by the Ye Family. The blindly ambitious Ye Family grew rapidly, which in turn gave Ye Wanqing the opportunity to make contact with the Jiang Family of Yanjing. Then, Xu Lai wiped out the Ye Family. The Jiang Family retaliated, and as an elite Shadow, I was likely chosen for the mission. Afterwards, my Void Thorn couldn't harm Xu Lai because Flower Fairy intervened in secret. In the end, she helped me reach Seventh Grade, all to bind me to her service for ten years... This was a scheme laid out over five years. Flower Fairy had actually started watching me five years ago!

It was a plan built step by step, link by link. Seamless and without a single flaw.

Tan Chang sighed softly. It had taken his unparalleled intellect this long to figure it out, which only proved how meticulous and terrifying Flower Fairy's mind was. An ordinary person would likely never have even sensed her existence.

"But even the wise have their oversights. This perfect plan has a flaw," Tan Chang muttered, a confident smile curling his lips as he flicked his sleeve. "Putting Flower Fairy's power aside for a moment, how could Xu Lai, a Seventh Grade Martial Ancestor, allow his daughter to be kidnapped?"

"Flower Fairy, for all your thousands of calculations, you never expected to give yourself away with such a simple detail."

As soon as he said it, his expression changed again. No, Flower Fairy left that flaw intentionally. She was testing me! But what do I have besides my intellect? What could she possibly want from me?

Tan Chang fell back into deep thought. He felt as if a pair of great, invisible hands were pushing events along, watching everything unfold with cold indifference. Every time he thought he understood, a new question would appear.

In moments, Tan Chang cycled through countless possibilities, constantly rejecting them only to begin his pondering anew.

Moonlight spilled down, blanketing him. The Spiritual Energy in the air swirled madly around him, yet he didn't absorb a single trace of it.

Just as his meditative state was about to end, Tan Chang's expression changed dramatically. A certain possibility struck him, and he took a sharp, cold breath.

"So that's how it is... that's how it is!" he laughed heartily. "I understand now!"

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