Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Many places were filled with all sorts of craters and scars.

Many of the Cultivators he had seen before were also gone.

In their place were many new faces.

When he saw Li Chang’an, the expression on Xia Zizhan’s face was clearly complicated.

His figure and appearance hadn’t changed much.

But Li Chang’an could clearly sense that the man’s aura was deeper and more restrained than it had been three years ago. Even his brow carried a hint of a fierce, baleful energy.

The man had clearly been through a war, and likely a very brutal one. Otherwise, a mere three years—little more than the blink of an eye for a Cultivator—should not have changed him so drastically.

Li Chang’an opened his mouth to ask what had happened over the past few years.

But Xia Zizhan just glanced at the people who had come to see Li Chang’an off. He didn’t answer, only beckoning for him to come aboard.

Seeing this, Li Chang’an knew the other man must have his reservations.

So he turned and waved to the group seeing him off.

After bidding them farewell, he turned and prepared to fly toward the Immortal Ship.

The moment he turned, Li Shiran, who was in the group behind him, burst into tears. He sobbed uncontrollably, “Big Brother, will we ever see each other again?”

’Will we meet again? We have to, right?’

’Of course, the more likely answer is that we never will.’

For a moment, Li Chang’an didn’t know how to answer Li Shiran’s question.

To the myriad worlds, Li Chang’an was usually just a passerby, staying for a short time before hurriedly departing.

But for certain people he spent his days and nights with, a single farewell could last a lifetime.

Ever since he started entering Rebirth Worlds, Li Chang’an had experienced his share of partings, of life and death.

But now, hearing Li Shiran’s cries, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of melancholy.

He turned back to look at Li Shiran, forcing a smile as he said, “Cultivate well. As long as you can keep on living, we’ll definitely see each other again someday!”

Hearing this, Li Shiran’s eyes filled with even more tears.

But as he cried, his expression slowly grew determined.

But just as he had comforted him, Li Yuanqing, standing beside them, suddenly had red-rimmed eyes. He grabbed Li Chang’an’s sleeve and said in a low voice, “Brother, wait for me!”

When they were young, Li Yuanqing and Li Shiran were like two little shadows, always following Li Chang’an around, almost inseparable.

Back then, being the youngest, Li Yuanqing often couldn’t keep up with Li Chang’an and Li Shiran. Whenever that happened, he would grab Li Chang’an’s sleeve to make him stop and wait.

「Years passed.」

Li Yuanqing was long since a grown man. Now, he had even inherited the entire Great Zhou that Li Chang’an left behind, becoming the new Emperor of the Great Zhou.

Yet, at this very moment, he was still tugging on Li Chang’an’s sleeve just as he had in his childhood.

Asking Li Chang’an to slow down and wait for him.

At this thought, Li Chang’an’s gaze softened. He reached out and patted Li Yuanqing’s shoulder, saying, “Take care of Shiran, take care of Mom and Dad, take care of Great Zhou, and take care of yourself!”

With that, he turned and walked toward the Immortal Ship.

Lu Shang and Elder Hun watched from a distance. When they saw Li Chang’an enter the Immortal Ship, Elder Hun flicked his hand, sending a faint Blue Halo of Energy silently surging into Li Chang’an’s body.

「…」

The Immortal Ship set sail. Standing inside and looking around, Li Chang’an discovered that the vessel was even more technologically advanced than he had imagined.

From the outside, the Immortal Ship had looked to be merely a dozen or so meters long.

But once he actually stepped into the hull, Li Chang’an found that the interior was like a Storage Bag—a whole different world inside.

Viewed from within, the deck of the Immortal Ship alone was a hundred meters long.

The various weapons were also countless times larger than they had appeared from the outside.

Apparently, when attacking the Great Zhou City Wall, the Immortal Ship had most likely only used its small-caliber weapons.

His face filled with amazement, Li Chang’an walked around the deck, looking here and touching there, and discovered that the Immortal Ship was inscribed with all sorts of complex and strange Array Patterns.

It possessed both the beauty of technology and a touch of classical aesthetics.

’This thing is incredible!’

Although Li Chang’an hadn’t seen the Immortal Ship with all its weapons firing, just a cursory glance at its exterior was enough to make his heart pound.

’If I could master this kind of technology, when I return to the Main World, I’d probably be an entire version ahead of the other Reincarnators!’

He took a deep breath, finally managing to calm himself down.

Li Chang’an turned his gaze to Xia Zizhan, who was standing nearby, and asked, “Brother Xia, can you tell me what’s happened these past few years now? The last time I saw it, the Immortal Ship didn’t look like this!”

Hearing Li Chang’an’s question, Xia Zizhan sighed and gave a bitter laugh. “Heh, what else could it be? A Dark Tide appeared in the sector under the Third Fleet’s jurisdiction. Luckily, thanks to our regular patrols, we caught it in time before it could spread…”

“The Third Fleet paid a heavy price to repel it. We lost over thirty Immortal Ships and more than forty Imperial Battleships just to barely get the job done. The Immortal Ship I’m on was one of the lucky ones, but even we almost didn’t make it back…”

At this, Xia Zizhan’s voice paused. He looked at Li Chang’an and joked, “You’re pretty lucky, too. If I had died in the Dark Tide, it probably would’ve been a long, long time before anyone could come out here to pick you up!”