“Do you see it?”
“I see it.”
Nodding, the Heavenly Dao was feeling gratified when it suddenly locked eyes with a pair of dark, large eyes sparkling with the light of wisdom.
(Wait, I almost forgot that the ‘variable’ I brought in to execute this mission currently has the IQ of a three-year-old.)
Between the little girl’s eyebrows was a small red mole. Her watery, soulful eyes were fixed on him, and her hair was tied into two flower-bud buns that made her small face look even more well-behaved. Dressed in green, she looked like a soft, squishy green rice dumpling.
The Heavenly Dao: …
As for why she had turned out like this, it all started an hour ago. Having endured the Dragon-Phoenix Cataclysm, the Witch-Demon Calamity, and the Investiture of the Gods Cataclysm, the Heavenly Dao had originally begun its secluded cultivation in peace. This was especially true after the Investiture of the Gods Cataclysm, when the Sages were locked Beyond the Ninety-Nine Heavens and confined to the Primordial Chaos.
The Heavenly Dao: Thank you, everyone. I can finally lie flat and slack off.
After all, everyone knew that whenever a Great Power stirred up trouble, it would only bring further destruction to the already shattered Primordial World. Whether it was the so-called Investiture War or the Witch-Demon War, they all caused more Spiritual Energy to leak from the already crumbling world.
The Heavenly Dao had finally waited until the Sages were locked away, the various Immortals had taken their places in the Celestial Court, and the Human Race had entered the Dharma-Ending Age. There were no longer any Great Powers left in the world to stir up the winds and waves.
As it turned out, the Sect Leader refused to accept this.
Yes, this very Tongtian Jiaozhu—who had suffered a crushing defeat in the Investiture of the Gods and whose Doctrinal Lineage was nearly severed—had been dragged away by Ancestor Hongjun for several Kalpas of confinement. Not only did he fail to reflect on his actions during the Investiture, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
The Heavenly Dao: …
When I locked him up, I never expected this kind of reaction!
However, no matter how angry Tongtian Jiaozhu was, he was still pinned down in the Zixiao Palace by Hongjun. The Heavenly Dao was simply waiting for the Founding Patriarch to properly grind down the Sect Leader’s temperament.
But never in its wildest dreams did it expect a “variable” to appear among the Human Race. Someone, having encountered an insurmountable bottleneck in their cultivation, actually attempted to reverse time. They planned to return to the Investiture of the Gods Cataclysm to seize the Magical Treasures of the Creation of Heaven and Earth and intercept the Fortune of the Human Race to help themselves Attain the Dao.
This resulted in the confined Tongtian Jiaozhu also gaining a chance to return to the past. So now, there was a Tongtian Jiaozhu who had returned to the past, a man hell-bent on intercepting the Fortune of the Three Teachings in advance, and a “passerby A” the Heavenly Dao had grabbed to fill a role at the last minute.
Furthermore, because of Defying Heavenly Fate, this passerby had been struck by Tribulation Lightning an hour ago and turned into a three-year-old—a little simpleton who might remain three years old for a long time.
The Heavenly Dao: I really want to cry.
“Dear… do you still remember Tongtian Jiaozhu?”
The three-year-old child looked at him blankly.
Then, she fished a line of text out of her chaotic mind. “…Voldemort?” That Black Mountain Old Demon PLUS version.
The Heavenly Dao: …
(Please don’t use movies to insult our Sect Leader, thank you.)
Sigh, it was so hopeless. It had been happily slacking off in the Dharma-Ending Age; why on earth did it have to encounter something like this? And as for that Tribulation Lightning—we’re the good guys! Why did you have to blast us into this state?
I don’t want to work this shift for even one more day.
Despite its mental breakdown, the Heavenly Dao patiently said to the child, “When you see Tongtian Jiaozhu in a moment, just say: ‘Fellow Daoist, please stay.'”
“I see that you, Fellow Daoist, possess extraordinary ability and an air of righteousness. I hope you will take me as your disciple.”
Currently, they had returned to a time before the Witch-Demon War. Combining its years of experience reading Primordial World novels, the Heavenly Dao knew that if it wanted to create a Karmic Connection with Tongtian Jiaozhu and ensure that the Investiture and other cataclysms proceeded as planned, it had to stick with Tongtian. To this end, the Heavenly Dao had worked hard to deliver the little girl to Tongtian, counting on her to become his disciple so they could find the guy who caused all these anomalies.
Seeing a Daoist about to appear in the distance, the Heavenly Dao became incredibly nervous. Just the thought that the person before it was the Tongtian Jiaozhu with memories of the future made it too scared to speak.
This big shot was a man who had been put in Confinement by the Ancestor of the Dao but absolutely refused to reflect. It had even seen him Sharpening his Sword while in Confinement.
It remembered Ancestor Hongjun once telling it that taking a step back would reveal a wider world.
The Sect Leader: I won’t. The more I think about taking a step back, the angrier I get.
The Heavenly Dao: Bitter smile.
“Kid, I’m about to disappear. You have to be successful! Find the guy who triggered the disaster as soon as possible.” Whether the Primordial World could follow its fixed plot in the future all depended on her.
The Heavenly Dao looked back and saw the child’s large eyes filled with question marks, feeling even more despair.
Why did the lightning strike her like this? It would have been better to strike me.
As for the kid… well, as a corporate drudge who had been snatched away to work, only a second ago she had learned something like: What? I’m actually the beautiful colleague the male lead could never have? But I’ve never even spoken to that colleague named Lin Fan. The next second, she had been struck by Tribulation Lightning and turned into a three-year-old.
Right now, the only thing she remembered was the classic line of a worker: “Copy that.”
The Heavenly Dao: That answer should mean she can do it, right?
It didn’t know that for a future corporate drudge, the core principle of working was to fool the boss; even if they couldn’t do it, they would still say “Copy that.”
Although Tongtian had not yet become a Sage, staying near the little girl for too long would still lead to him discovering the Heavenly Dao. To avoid the impact of its own presence, it could only tearfully leave the first contact with Tongtian entirely to the child.
It only hoped the kid would be successful and manage to become Tongtian Jiaozhu’s disciple in one go. That way, they could observe up close what Tongtian Jiaozhu planned to do now that he knew everything.
It looked back with anticipation, only to see the little green dumpling already chasing a butterfly and sucking on her hand.
The Heavenly Dao: Aaah! Don’t do that! Don’t suck your hand!
The Heavenly Dao was still very skeptical, blaming only the fact that it had struck too hard earlier. “Did you really understand?”
Forget it, there was no more time to teach the child. It was all because this child was a normal human in her past life. Usually, an Innate Transformation would result in an adult form; even if they were struck, they would only be reverted to their Original Form, and their intelligence wouldn’t be affected much. But now she had such a short-limbed stature that the Heavenly Dao worried she might just perish before even meeting the Sect Leader.
Furthermore, the Sect Leader was very difficult to talk to. Although Tongtian Jiaozhu upheld the principle of Teaching Without Discrimination and had many Immortals under his gate, that only meant he didn’t care about one’s background; it didn’t mean he had no requirements for his disciples.
Fortunately, it could still cheat a little. As long as she shouted what it had taught her, they would have a Master-Disciple Fate for one lifetime.
Don’t ask how; it was just the Heavenly Dao’s Inspiration.
The Heavenly Dao gritted its teeth and looked back. As long as she shouted it out, there was no better way. The Heavenly Dao said, “Kid, it’s all up to you!”
The next second, the Heavenly Dao pushed the child forward and instantly vanished.
…
At the same time, Tongtian—who carried memories of the future—was indeed somewhat restless. He should have been on the island discussing the Dao with his senior brothers, but now that he possessed memories of the future, all he saw when he closed his eyes were scenes of Laozi and Yuanshi joining forces with the Western Sages.
His expression grew increasingly cold. Tongtian couldn’t help but think of how his eldest disciple, Duobao Daoren, had directly left the Intercepting Sect after its crushing defeat and entered Western Buddhism. The attendant Immortals had become Mounts for the Western Cultivators, while the other disciples who didn’t go to the Western Teachings became tools enslaved by the Celestial Court.
Any who did not follow the Celestial Court’s decrees would have their Soul Scattered and Spirit Dispersed.
The destruction of his Doctrinal Lineage, the scattering of his disciples, and the humiliation he suffered weighed heavily on his heart. Even as a former Sage, he couldn’t let go of his older brothers’ betrayal.
After Severing the Corpse to Become a Sage, he should have been emotionless toward all things, but whenever he thought of the Investiture of the Gods, it felt like a lump in his throat.
Tongtian slowly closed his eyes. More than the loss of his lineage, he felt chilled by the actions of his brothers. Now that he had returned to the past and had to face them again, it was hard to say what he was feeling. Unable to face them, he chose to leave Kunlun Mountain to travel.
This happened to be before the Witch-Demon War, and Tongtian had not yet directly become a Sage like in the future. Thus, in his restless state, he wandered to the Shore of the Eastern Sea.
He still hadn’t decided how to deal with his two brothers. Was he really going to follow the Heavenly Dao’s design and walk the path of the Investiture of the Gods again?
Just as he was feeling troubled, he suddenly saw a little thing dressed in green not far away. In the current Primordial World, it was an era where Golden Immortals were as common as dogs and Great Powers walked everywhere. Even though Tongtian would later become a Sage with almost no rivals, right now his cultivation was merely more profound than some other Great Powers.
Before, at this time, he would have been contemplating the mysteries of Pangu with his two brothers. Now that he was out alone in a Primordial World filled with people Killing and Plundering, he ought to be on his guard.
“This Fellow Daoist…”
He had just opened his mouth when, in the next second, he saw a green dumpling rush straight in front of him. Tongtian’s expression changed instantly. He pinched his fingers to calculate, yet he couldn’t calculate this person’s origins.
This child looked like a child of the Human Race created by Nüwa, yet Nüwa had not even obtained the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil yet. How could a human appear here?!
What exactly was going on?
Just as his expression turned stern and he intended to investigate further, he saw the green dumpling lunging forward. Her hands were held high above her head as she prostrated herself flat on the ground before him.
She gave a crisp, loud shout: “Papa!”
Tongtian Jiaozhu: …
The green dumpling continued to shout: “Daddy, please stay!”
Tongtian Jiaozhu: …
The Heavenly Dao: …
Huh? Is that what I taught her?
Tongtian Jiaozhu changed his form of address: “This little friend…”
The little dumpling looked up and seriously shouted again, “Dad!”
The next second, before he could finish speaking, a surge of Purple Mist appeared on the horizon. At this moment, countless rays of Red Light fell from the sky like a Sword Rain. The majesty of the Heavenly Dao was once again revealed—the Heavenly Dao had responded!
Tongtian Jiaozhu was momentarily dazed.
And just like that, Tongtian Jiaozhu became a father.