Chapter 34: Farewell Jiang Minghuang, Greetings Future Master
1,031 words
Outside the mirror.
“So it turned out the Heavenly Emperor and Jiang Minghuang became sworn brothers like this,” someone spoke.
The gathered cultivators were somewhat moved.
They had thought the bond between Jiang Minghuang and the Heavenly Emperor must have been earth-shattering, forged through great trials and life-and-death ordeals.
After all, after the Heavenly Emperor rose to power, Jiang Minghuang became his most loyal supporter.
He followed the Heavenly Emperor to wage war across the myriad worlds, standing side by side as they swept away powerful enemies—he held an exceptionally sincere loyalty to the Heavenly Emperor, never abandoning him.
But no one expected that the two had actually met and swore brotherhood in such a plain, simple way.
Plain it was, yet people didn’t find it jarring.
In fact, upon reflection.
As teenagers, their sense of loyalty was boundless. They supported each other surviving in the Lower Realm, and over time naturally formed an extremely pure friendship.
Such an emotion was almost impossible to find among cultivators.
Cultivators often mixed in interests and might deliberately befriend someone because of Jiang Minghuang’s background, but the brotherhood between these two was pure to the extreme.
Jiang Minghuang looked dazed.
Old promises echoed in his ears, causing a stabbing pain deep in his heart.
The dark haze of hatred was briefly soothed, and scene after scene of the past reverberated in his mind.
“If only you could forever be that big brother, how wonderful that would be.”
He sighed softly, yet his heart was desolate, like being cut by knives, chilled to the bone.
“But later you changed! You changed!”
“Gu Changqing, why did you change!”
Time flew, and five years passed.
Gu Changqing and Jiang Minghuang wandered the mortal world for five years penniless, and they forged an extremely pure friendship.
The boys were now twelve and thirteen.
The five years had ended.
That day, golden lotuses bloomed in the sky, rays of rosy light scattered in countless blooms.
A group of elaborately dressed immortals descended to the mortal world in great numbers, falling like rain upon the dust of the world.
The cultivators clustered around a splendid agarwood palanquin.
From the heavens they cried out in unison, “We welcome the young master home.”
Jiang Minghuang spread his arms, bathed in endless radiance. A woman of fairylike beauty personally dressed him in another splendid brocade robe.
Jiang Minghuang slowly rose into the air, like a favored son of heaven, attracting everyone’s gaze.
At that moment, how many mortal women regretted their rejection of him, how many female cultivators stomped their feet in annoyance.
So he truly was the scion of a top noble family of the Upper Realm. And the woman of fairylike beauty was really only a maid by his side.
Jiang Minghuang hovered midair, looking back at the mortal world. On that desolate land, the boy who looked like a beggar stood still and smiled.
“Big brother, at this moment you should finally believe I truly am the scion of a top noble family of the Upper Realm, right?”
Jiang Minghuang spoke, only to be surprised to find that this guy, even at this moment, showed not an ounce of the astonishment one would expect on his face.
“I never once said I didn’t believe you,” Gu Changqing said with a soft laugh.
Jiang Minghuang was taken aback, his expression complex—after so many years together in the mortal world, this guy’s gaze couldn’t be faked.
He had truly never once doubted.
“Big brother, come with me to the Upper Realm. Our hard days as brothers end today,” Jiang Minghuang invited earnestly.
He was now done wandering the mortal world and couldn’t bear to see Gu Changqing suffer the hardships of the mortal realm any longer.
However, Gu Changqing lightly waved his hand. “You and I each have our own paths to walk.”
“My dao foundation is shattered, so I have no chance to cultivate further in this life. It makes no difference where I am—wealth in the Upper Realm means less to me than the freedom of this mortal world.”
Jiang Minghuang’s expression was complicated.
He knew Gu Changqing’s stubbornness well.
He himself might just care a bit about face, but this guy would rather die than bow.
How could he be willing to just settle down in Jiang Minghuang’s household to enjoy wealth and honor?
Jiang Minghuang knew he couldn’t persuade him, and yet parting now inevitably caused sadness.
Gu Changqing smiled sadly and loudly said, “Jiang Minghuang, if one day I die, don’t you dare forget me.”
Jiang Minghuang got emotional and cried out, “Gu Changqing, if you dare die, I’ll definitely forget you—forget you completely!”
Gu Changqing laughed toward the sky, turned his back, and waved his hand.
In the setting sun, the boy in tattered clothes carrying an axe walked farther and farther away.
Jiang Minghuang stood there for a long time and couldn’t help murmuring, “I’m just saying—how could I truly forget you? You must live well…Otherwise, even if I become a peerless Great Emperor, what meaning would that have?”
With that, Jiang Minghuang departed.
Gu Changqing drifted alone in the mortal world.
His heart remained full of confusion.
He wanted to avenge his blood kin but was left helpless—the only remaining relative he had was far away in the Immortal Realm.
If not for having Jiang Minghuang as a brother, Gu Changqing would have found the mortal world utterly dull.
He harbored a death wish, yet he was clear-headed.
He wasn’t entitled to die now.
The blood feud wasn’t avenged, he still had to wait for his sister to return, and now that he had Jiang Minghuang as a brother, he absolutely could not die.
Perhaps even Heaven had mercy on him…
He continued to wander the mortal world.
Not long after, one fine day.
Gu Changqing suddenly encountered an affable old man with the bearing and aura of an immortal.
The old man pressed a finger to his forehead, his face joyful as he said, “You are a once-in-an-eternity child with an innate talent for sword cultivation. Would you be willing to take me as your master and follow me into the sword dao?”