The Crazy Son-In-Law

As Ada invoked the mysteries of heaven and earth, thousands of miles away in Meadow Ridge within the Hidden Families, an elder meditating suddenly opened his eyes.

A faint silver gleam flickered in his eyes as he gazed over the continuous mountains towards a place thousands of miles distant.

In the elder’s view, a vortex akin to a black hole appeared, and the boundless malevolent energy of the universe was converging towards it.

“Heh heh, the sect leader’s return is imminent!”

Meanwhile.

Whispering Phoenix Mountain: the Harmony Sect.

“‘Serpentine Curse’?”

A woman, as beautiful as a fairy from the legends, stood upright at the edge of a precipice, looking towards the east and murmuring to herself.

Stormbird Cliffs: Ebon Shadow Pavilion.

Within a dense black fog, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly pierced through the darkness, casting two demonic red glimmers towards the east.

“Heh heh, Little Toad, you really aren’t dead yet!”

Moonshadow Academy: Moonshadow Sect.

A middle-aged man with a kind face, standing with his hands behind his back, looked up at the bright moon and pondered, “‘Serpentine Curse’ has appeared; heading to Kunlun now, it seems we will face another formidable foe!”

Heaven’s Edge Cliff: Unsurpassed Blade Pavilion.

On a hillside filled with treasured swords, an elderly man with white hair and furrowed brows mused, “It seems we must call upon the ‘Xuanhuang Gangjian’ this time!”

Heaven’s Edge Cliff and the Unsurpassed Blade Pavilion.

“Little Toad, silent for over five hundred years, is now reemerging. The old fellows of the ‘Gu Clan’ are going to be thrilled, a perfect chance to hone my ‘Warrior Blade’ on this old timer. As for those effeminate fools at the Blade Pavilion, they can wait, ha ha…”

Amidst hearty laughter, a burly man with a twisted beard swung his giant blade.

Then, a white light streaked across the dark night sky, transforming into a radiant slash aimed at the opposite mountain peak.

“Boom!”

A loud explosion followed, and the peak was neatly cleaved, leaving a gaping notch. Yet, the blade’s momentum did not wane, shooting straight into the heavens with a defiant pride, as if it intended to slice a hole through the firmament itself!

At the same moment, this supreme strike also severed the filthy black qi rapidly flowing eastward.

The burly man with the twisted beard snorted coldly, “Hmph, within my sect’s gates, even the foul air is property of the ‘Warrior Sect’. Little Toad, you shall not lay your hands on it!”

Mount Tai: Palace of Supreme Clarity.

“Elder, the ‘Qiankun Compass’ is acting strangely; this is a sign of great chaos!”

A young acolyte stood before an old Taoist, his expression filled with urgency.

At that moment, the robed elder slightly lifted his eyelids, revealing a pair of wise and clear eyes, and slowly said.

“You have been cultivating in our palace for over two hundred years. Although it’s been a long time, you are unaware of the chaos from five hundred years ago. As we approach ‘that day’, it is a time of rampant chaos. As they say, calamity is intertwined with fortune. If we can seize that slim chance, we naturally might find a period of transcendence.”

The acolyte, who had been with the sect for over two hundred years, furrowed his brow, “Elder, what is this period of transcendence?”

“Heh heh, although your cultivation has increased significantly within the Hidden Families, your mind remains as naive as the day you arrived. This is our curse in the Hidden Families!”

With that, the old Taoist shook his head helplessly, “To think of the mundane world, even though it is filled with distractions, it is indeed a splendid place for cultivating our hearts. Yet, we have been living a monastic life beside lamp and cushion for over five hundred years-such loneliness!”

Dragon’s Rest Mountain and the Palace of Shifting Mists.

In a beautifully scenic pavilion by the water, a veiled lady respectfully approached a figure playing the guqin, “Fairy, shall we go and investigate?”

The silhouette hidden behind the thin veil was graceful and slender.

Though one couldn’t see the lady’s face, just her silhouette alone was captivating. If one were to see her face, what celestial beauty would that be!

Suddenly, the sound of the guqin ceased. In the pavilion, the lady lifted her arms gently, and under the hazy moonlight, her skin appeared to emit a misty radiance, as delicate as that of a baby’s.

“Little Toad disappeared for over five hundred years. The grudge from the year he plotted against my senior sister, I shall certainly seek from him!”

The woman’s voice was melodious like a stream, clear and tranquil.

It resembled a breeze brushing over the hills, fresh and lingering.

It was said of the ancients, “The sound lingers on the beams for three days,” such celestial music must indeed be rare in this world.

Kunlun Mountains: Hongmeng.

Inside the Academy of Inquiry, an old man and a young man sat on the ground.

The young man exuded an aura of overwhelming righteousness, truly remarkable in stature.

As for the elder, merely sitting cross-legged, he seemed merged with heaven and earth, with a mist of celestial aura circulating within him, embodying a sense of detachment from the mundane.

This was a manifestation of natural Daoist magic!

Such extraordinary cultivation was rare, even if one were to search the entire mortal realm, they would find but a handful.

Suddenly, the righteous young man slowly withdrew his gaze from the east, looking at the elder before him with deep respect.

“Master, it seems Little Toad might be making a comeback. In the past, Damian Southcastle kept him in check, but now that the foremost of the Hidden Families is no longer with us, I fear our journey might be fraught with danger!”

The elder shook his head, “No matter, all is predestined!”

“Predestined?” The young man was momentarily puzzled, then quickly asked, “Does it include ‘Half Saint,’ and can one deduce from it?”

“The way of heaven is vast and obscure, transcendent yet also immanent. The cycle of cause and effect in the world all stems from destiny. Although irresistible, it follows a pattern.”

The young man furrowed his brow: “I am dull-witted, please enlighten me, Master!”

“‘That day’ is both the beginning and the end of everything, depending on what people seek in their hearts.”

“We Daoists, naturally indifferent to fame and wealth, even though we possess vast cultivation, it too is derived from the way of heaven.”

“Having gained the sympathy of the heavenly way, then we should simply comply with it!”

With that, the elder stroked his beard and chuckled lightly.

“Are you saying that in this instance, we merely need to be observers?” the young man pondered, looking thoughtfully at the elder.

The elder shook his head, “The operation of the heavenly way is the norm; all fortunes and misfortunes are divinely ordained. We are inherently observers, why abandon the essentials for the trivial!”

Their conversation, if overheard by outsiders, would surely provoke curses.

But such is the way Daoists speak, expressing only a part and leaving the rest to insight.

The young man’s insight was exceptional; even though the elder spoke cryptically, he discerned the underlying meaning in his words.

“Master, are you suggesting that we should act according to circumstances?”

“Heh heh…”

The elder’s smile grew more profound and inscrutable, but his eyes held appreciation as he gazed at the young man, seemingly very pleased with the response.

Meanwhile, in the city of Shenghai, atop a certain mountain.

A gray robe fluttered in the mountain wind.

The man sat on the edge of a precipice, holding a purple-green jar with a red paper stuck to it, the first two characters read “Drunken Spring,” while the last was indistinguishable.

“Heh, this Drunken Spring breeze is still as fierce as ever, a sip seems to take me back to those passionate years!”

With these words, the man in the gray robe, reluctant to part, tossed the empty jar down the cliff, raising his head to gaze at the bright moon, his tone first filled with profound sadness, then shifting to boundless indignation.

“Father, separated by death for over five hundred years, the villain who plotted against you at ‘Kunlun’ is about to appear again. Hao, now greatly advanced in immortal cultivation, will surely take his life and restore the grand reputation of our ‘Southern Pole Immortal Palace’ from the past!”