Supreme Swordsman of the Nine Heavens

Return

Third Heaven’s human race ushered in a period of rebirth after Perfect World exterminated the remaining foreign invaders, marking the end of a dark period for their generation and world. The image of Mu Yu vanquishing the foreign invaders and Bai Jie, banishing the darkness and ushering in hope, was burned into memory, though they did learn what Sword Shadow Dust Gale did for them. For them, it was a long night they could not sleep owing to the celebration.

Meanwhile at Moyun Mountains, they continued with their peaceful lives, oblivious to the danger the world beyond faced. Likewise, Mount Dustfallen was as at peace.

Upon returning to Mount Dustfallen, they saw Feng Haochen leisurely working in the garden.

“Shifu,” Mu Yu called.

Feng Haochen set down the hoe in his hand and, wearing a smile on his lips, dusted himself as he looked up at his shaking, red-eyed disciples. “Hungry? I’ll go cook. Who wants to help me with the fire?”

Cheng Yan replied, “Shifu, we d-”

“Save it for after we eat.” Feng Haochen stepped out of the vegetable garden. “I thought you’d help me take care of the garden, but it’s a mess.”

The brothers were guilt-ridden for they recalled they all flew off in a hurry, forgetting about the garden completely once they grew up. The corners of Tian Ran’s lips lifted involuntarily as she looked at her father in silence.

A-Dai jogged over, white pearls on display in all their glory. “Master, A-Dai missed you.”

“A-Dai, have you reflected on your mistake?” Feng Haochen winked.

A-Dai, mishearing “reflect” for “die”, scratched his head. “A-Dai didn’t die. A-Dai is alive and well.”

Everyone could not help cracking a smile at A-Dai’s response.

Feng Haochen chuckled. “You have to learn to control your temper from now on, okay?”

“A-Dai will be a good boy!” A-Dai nodded profusely.

“A-Dai, let’s go play with the beehives; we have plenty on the mountain. Want to come with me?” Xiaoshuai suggested, already playing around with Kongkong as well as Miaomiao.

“Sure.” A-Dai ran over to join the trio, forgetting his promise to be a good kid.

Feng Haochen instructed, “Mu Yu, go fetch some vegetables and carrots. Lie Shang, help me with the fire. Xiang Nan, go catch some game. Tian Ran, Ling’er, go wash the chopsticks and bowls. Cheng Yan, An Ping, you two go clean.”

After Mu Yu washed the vegetables he brought back, he went to fetch a basin of water to join the cleaning team. All of them had the option of cleaning the entire place in a flash using their spirit energy, yet they all toiled laboriously.

“Old White Beard, what about my roast duck? I want two,” Xiaoshuai entered the kitchen to demand.

“Hahaha, I roasted ten. They even caught a wild boar, but I told them to go catch another two because I know you and A-Dai have big appetites.”

“You the best.” Xiaoshuai gave an impromptu dance, then ran out to continue playing.

Everyone sat in their usual seats when the food was served up – minus A-Dai, who sat on a big chair, and Xiaoshuai, who sat on the table and dug in without a woe to speak of. The others, to the contrary, did not pick up their chopsticks.

“This is unlike you. Don’t you always start fighting for food whenever we sit down to eat?” Feng Haochen asked.

Mu Yu picked up his chopsticks and glanced to Xiang Nan. “You and me?”

Xiang Nan took a moment to catch on. “You and me.”

Cheng Yan picked up his chopsticks, reading what was to come. As he went for a piece of meat, Mu Yu knocked his chopsticks away, only for Tian Ran to knock Mu Yu’s away. Of course, they all suppressed their cultivation down to Foundation Establishment Realm so that they would not snap chopsticks or break the table.

“You’re supposed to help me!” Mu Yu exclaimed.

“Two on one is unfair,” argued Tian Ran

The four kept going at it, while Lie Shang coolly grabbed food for Lan Ling’er.

“They’re taking everything. We don’t get anything!” Kongkong and Miaomiao protested.

Mu Yu glared at Kongkong. “What’s that full bowl I just gave you?”

With an empty plate, Xiaoshuai cried, “Leave my roast duck alone! I’ll stare whoever steals my roast duck to death!”

Chomping on a roast duck thigh, A-Dai inquired, “Xiaoshuaishuai, can I have the butt?”

Uncle An stoically dined as usual, while Lan Ling’er poured everyone a cup of water and pointed out, “All that competing, yet you two have hardly anything to show for it.”

By the time the dust settled, everyone besides the four in competition with each other had an abundance of food in their bowls because they were nost snatching food for themselves but others. Thanks to their game, though, the atmosphere felt closer to the home they knew. The big crisis behind them no longer mattered. What mattered was that they were alive and had returned home to the family they knew.

While everyone was cleaning up after the meal, the troublemaking trio made Mu Yu clean up after them when their plan to pull out the roots turned to pulling everything out.

There were no complaints about their rooms when they visited them once the sun bowed out – credit to Mu Yu and Xiang Nan for using their skills for constructions purposes. Mu Yu went out of his way to build A-Dai a particularly big room, bed and whatnot since the latter preferred to be in his large form. Just like the last ten years they spent trying to grow stronger as fast as possible, they all kept themselves busy.

Feng Haochen approached Tian Ran, who was watching Mu Yu and Xiang Nan work. “I thought you’d bring your mother along.”

Tian Ran dropped her head. “Brother Xiang Nan told me she’s fine. We just want to know if you r-”

“You don’t want to acknowledge me as your father?”

Tian Ran looked up with her teeth clenched. In a timid voice, she queried, “Can I?”

“Of course you can.” Feng Haochen patted his daughter’s head. “If anything, I’ve been worried that you resent me.”

Tian Ran’s chin trembled as she tightly embraced her father, who smiled as he reciprocated the hug.

When the darkness came out to burn away the drabness of the day, Feng Haochen, with Tian Ran accompanying him, and Uncle An, fanning himself, sat in their chairs on Dustfallen Precipice. The troublemaking trio played on their exclusive swing, while A-Dai played on his own swing that Mu Yu made specifically for the big guy. Xiang Nan kicked back on the stone slab he always lied on to stargaze. Mu Yu dangled his legs off a tree, while Cheng Yan dangled his off the cliff. Lie Shang and Lan Ling’er sat side by side. There were questions to be answered. Nevertheless, they could wait as they all wanted to enjoy the peaceful respite they cherished growing up.

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