A few days later, while Jiang Yun was still waiting for trouble to arrive, streaks of light finally descended from the sky. The people from the immortal realm had finally arrived.
Jiang Yun was unsure if this was one group or several mortal factions working together. If it were just one group, they were clearly very wealthy, as sending so many people down must consume a vast amount of resources. This meant the sword that had fallen was valuable enough to warrant such an expensive effort. Alternatively, if they represented several factions, it meant many people in the immortal realm knew about the immortal sword’s descent, which would likely lead to significant trouble.
Although Jiang Yun was not afraid of these people, he found the prospect annoying. If there were multiple factions, he would have to go out of his way to travel to the immortal realm and destroy their various sects. While traveling between realms was not difficult for him, it was still a tedious chore compared to destroying just one sect.
Jiang Yun waited for their arrival. It did not take long for them to find the clues and trace the immortal treasure to the Invincible Cloud Sect.
Once they arrived, Jiang Yun allowed them to enter the sect and stand before him. Upon seeing Jiang Yun, the group demanded, "Where is the immortal treasure?"
Jiang Yun responded rudely, "Why should I tell you? I don’t even know who you people are."
The leader of the group replied, "We are the subordinates of the Fiery Dragon Immortal Emperor, who is at the half-step Beginning Dao realm. Unless you want to bring disaster to the mortal ants of this realm, hand over the treasure, and we will spare you."
Jiang Yun saw the murderous intent they were exuding, which proved they had no intention of letting him go. It made sense; it would be a major embarrassment if word got out that an Immortal Emperor had lost his primary weapon. The group clearly intended to silence anyone who had come into contact with the sword.
Jiang Yun replied, "I don’t care. I found it, so it’s mine now. The only way you’re taking it is if you force me."
The group of immortals grew furious that a "mortal ant" from outside the cultivation world dared to speak to them this way. The leader ordered his men to attack and force a confession from him.
The weakest of the group, wanting to prove his worth, took the lead. He made a casual gesture to grab Jiang Yun and force information out of him. The group consisted of Earth Immortals, and this specific member was the only one at the peak of the Loose Immortal stage, so he wanted to show he could pull his own weight.
Unfortunately, the gesture failed. Jiang Yun was far stronger; he easily dispelled the attack and counter-attacked, directly killing the peak Loose Immortal.
The other immortals were stunned, but they didn’t think too much of it at first. However, Jiang Yun then continued and killed the rest of them, except for the leader. Seeing his allies die, the leader used his trump cards to immediately escape.
Jiang Yun allowed him a few seconds to flee, as he wanted to know if there were other immortals who hadn't yet arrived; he wanted this man to lead the way.
After escaping for a while, the leader finally felt safe and decided to use his realm-breaking talisman to return to the immortal realm early. Even if he hadn't used it, he would have been forced out of the mortal realm within a week anyway, but he didn't believe he could survive that long, so he chose to go back early to report the situation.
Jiang Yun arrived immediately, stopped the man, and killed him. Since the man had not called any other groups for help, it meant that the group that arrived was acting alone and there were no others hiding away. This was good news, as he could easily resolve this once he went to the immortal world. Jiang Yun could simply kill the Fiery Dragon Immortal Emperor and any forces behind him to solve the problem once and for all.
As Jiang Yun was preparing to leave, he saw an ordinary woman living in a wooden house nearby. She was a young adult and seemed to be alone. Normally, Jiang Yun wouldn’t think much of it, but for some reason, she felt familiar. Jiang Yun couldn't understand why, as he was certain he had never seen this woman before.
Curious, Jiang Yun approached the woman to ask if she knew him. Upon greeting her, the woman was startled, as this was a remote area where nobody ever came. She wondered how someone had managed to find her.
Jiang Yun ignored her surprise and asked, "Might I ask if you know who I am? I feel some connection with you."
The woman replied, "No, I don’t know you. I have been alone here living with my adopted mother since I was a baby. We have rarely had visitors, so I know everyone I have met in my life. My mother died a few years ago, so I’m all alone now and there’s nobody I really know anymore."
Hearing this, Jiang Yun felt even more confused and pondered what made her feel so familiar. After a long time of observation, Jiang Yun noticed it was not her appearance, but the feeling of her soul. Jiang Yun felt a strong connection to her soul. This could only mean one thing: in Jiang Yun’s mind, this woman was the reincarnation of someone he used to know.
Jiang Yun wondered who this reincarnation was. Not asking for permission, Jiang Yun used the rules of the world to reawaken her erased memories of reincarnation. He didn't ask because, if this person wanted to continue living the life she was living now, he would erase the memories he had awakened; otherwise, he would leave them intact, as having more knowledge is usually better.
The girl felt dizzy from the influx of information, but after a while, she calmed down. A new look appeared in her eyes—that of a woman who had lived a life with many experiences. The girl finally looked up at Jiang Yun, suddenly showing a look of surprise as she recognized his face.
The first words that came out of her mouth surprised Jiang Yun greatly, as he had never been called this before in his memories. The girl said, "Son, you have found me! How have you been all these years? You’ve grown so big."
Jiang Yun could not understand why this woman was calling him "son." In his life, he had never met his mother nor his father; he had grown up mostly alone. Jiang Yun asked, "Why are you calling me son? I don’t even know you."
The woman then said, "I was called Zhuang Min in my last life, and I was your mother. I know you don’t remember me, as I left you at a monastery as a baby. Unfortunately, at the time, I had no choice. Back then, your father’s business failed and we were chased due to being crushed by loans. I couldn't take care of you on the run and with no money, so I left you at a monastery, hoping you could survive. Things turned for the worse after leaving you at the monastery, as your father and I were both caught and beaten to death for being unable to pay back our debts. Fortunately, I could recognize you—you look just like your father, not to mention you still carry the same characteristics you had as a baby."
Jiang Yun was surprised by his origin, as he had never thought about where his parents came from. After initially living in the monastery for a few years, it was attacked by bandits, and Jiang Yun had to escape. After that, Jiang Yun lived alone and had to scrape by just to survive. If it weren’t for some kind people who helped him along the way until he became old enough to join a sect, he would have long since died.
Jiang Yun never felt resentment for his parents, as he had never even met them. Not to mention, orphans were commonplace in the cultivation world; they existed everywhere in abundance. It made sense, as the world was cruel and killings happened every day, with no law and order to keep people from doing so.
After hearing the story, Jiang Yun didn’t have a bad impression of his mother. It wouldn’t hurt to connect with her somewhat, as he didn't know what maternal love felt like.
Jiang Yun asked, "What are your plans now? Do you want to continue to stay here, or do you want to come with me?"
Zhuang Min said, "I will come with you. I have spent two lifetimes without you; now that I see you again, how could I possibly not go with you? Wait a while I pack up my stuff; after I finish, we can leave."
Jiang Yun said, "No need. I can just take everything here with us."
Jiang Yun then directly lifted the land, as well as her garden, straight up into the sky, ripping it from the ground and leaving a giant hole where it used to be. Zhuang Min was shocked; she had never seen something so magical before, as she had lived both her lives as a mortal with no cultivation.
Jiang Yun asked, "Is there anything else you would like to take with you?"
Zhuang Min shook her head and said, "I have lived here all my life and have very few belongings; what you just took is everything I have. I can go with you now."
Hearing her confirmation, Jiang Yun then lifted Zhuang Min and headed back to the Invincible Cloud Sect. Along the way, he wondered what happened to his father. Though Jiang Yun was invincible, using world rules to search for a man he had never seen before would be extremely time-consuming. If he had at least met his father before, he could use that impression to find clues, but he had no idea who his father even was. Jiang Yun then put the thought aside, deciding to leave it up to fate to see if he would meet the reincarnation of his father.
Arriving back at the sect, Jiang Yun dug a giant hole right inside an open space in the sect and placed his mother's house and garden into the hole. Now, his mother would have a place to stay in the sect and could live there without worry.
As it had probably been quite a day for Zhuang Min and she looked tired, Jiang Yun decided to let her rest. He told her they could talk another day and that she just needed to go to the main hall of the sect—located in the middle of the sect—to find him.
Jiang Yun then left, deciding to finish the business he had before meeting his mother: killing the Fiery Dragon Immortal Emperor in the immortal realm.
Jiang Yun directly tore open the space to the immortal realm and went in. Soon, he arrived. Jiang Yun asked around to find where the Fiery Dragon Immortal Emperor was. This was necessary because, in the mortal realm, the eastern region was tiny compared to the immortal realm, and finding a sect there didn't take much time. However, the immortal world was so big that trying to find a single person he had never met before would be too time-consuming, and asking about an Immortal Emperor should be relatively easy.
Soon, Jiang Yun got his answer and appeared at a gigantic sect the size of an entire region. Scanning around, Jiang Yun soon sensed the energy of an Immortal Emperor whose power was infinitely close to that of a Beginning Dao realm expert.
Jiang Yun then flew towards the direction of that energy, ready to confront the Fiery Dragon Immortal Emperor who had offended him.