CHAPTER 234: CHAPTER 234 QIN XIAOZHU BEING LIFTED

Purple Cloud Academy.

A large group of disciples surrounded Qin Zi, many displaying worried expressions and sighing continually.

"Ah, Senior Brother Qin, you really shouldn’t have agreed to Lu Qian’s three-year promise!"

"Yes, he’s already an Eighth Heavenly Layer Saint. If he doesn’t become an Emperor, he’ll likely be a Ninth Heavenly Layer Saint in three years, while by that time, you’ll be at most a Sixth, how can you fight him?"

"That’s assuming he doesn’t become an Emperor. If he chooses to become an Emperor at the Eighth Heavenly Layer, he’ll be an Emperor in three years!"

"It was impulsive, truly impulsive..."

The crowd sighed and lamented.

But at the same time, they also looked at Qin Zi with admiration.

After all, Senior Brother Qin Zi agreed to this absurd three-year promise for the reputation of Purple Cloud Academy.

If it were them, facing Lu Qian’s challenge of "Do you dare to fight?" they might not even dare to speak.

"There’s no need for everyone to worry; we’ll respond to soldiers with a general, and to water with an earth dam!"

Qin Zi looked around at the crowd, speaking calmly and composedly:

"I’ve risen all the way here, never fearing any challenge. As long as someone challenges me, I will take it up and then... defeat them!"

A fierce fighting spirit soared from him into the sky, steady and weighty, making it hard to view him directly.

Many disciples fell silent upon witnessing this.

For some reason, they felt a sour feeling in their hearts.

In these months, Senior Brother Qin Zi had become much more composed, but this composure came at the cost of great pain.

They often saw Senior Brother Qin Zi at dusk, sitting alone at the mountain peak, blankly staring into the distance.

However, in the direction he gazed, there was only the fiery red sunset sky, not the one he was waiting for...

"You all can leave now, I need some time alone."

Eventually, Qin Zi spoke softly.

"Alright."

"Then we’re leaving, Senior Brother Qin, don’t feel any pressure, we believe in you... Hmm, you can definitely do it."

"No, you will definitely do it!"

The crowd offered Qin Zi encouragement, perhaps not entirely sincere, before gradually departing.

Qin Zi watched as they walked into the distance.

Then he once again soared into the air, ascending the nearby mountain peak, where he took a seat.

He gazed towards the horizon.

Like a monkey viewing the sea, watching the clouds change.

His voice was somewhat low, even choked, "Dad, are you still alive? If you don’t come back soon, we might never see each other again."

"This time with the three-year promise, I really have no confidence... Without you, I can’t find that courage to conquer everything anymore."

"And... I also don’t care anymore."

"Without you by my side, what joy is there in life, what sorrow is there in death? Besides you, I have no family left."

"As for mom... haha, to be honest, I never cared what she looks like!"

"To be unfilial, she is no different than a stranger to me, truly no different... The only reason I vowed to find her is because... you think about her."

At this moment, golden light shone from inside him, and a beautiful, ethereal figure appeared beside him.

It was the golden-haired woman.

Seeing her disciple so sorrowful, she felt an ache in her heart, yet she had no idea how to comfort him.

Because she too was filled with sadness.

So she gently arranged her skirt, slowly squatted down, and reached out to embrace the despondent Qin Zi within her arms.

From afar, it seemed as if a sister was holding her brother, or a mother holding her child...

"Dad! Are you still alive!"

"Qin Chuan, if you’re alive, get out here quickly! I, the future unparalleled powerhouse, command you—get out here—"

After a long time, Qin Zi suddenly pushed his mentor away, stood up, and shouted towards the skies!

"Booming!"

This roar shook the mountains and valleys, even causing the sprawling clouds to churn like boiling gold liquid!

The sky roiled with winds and clouds, with strands of sunset light darting through the air like serpents, dazzlingly beautiful.

A roar shakes the heavens!

From afar, his figure appeared tall and slender, and as he roared, his long hair flew wildly, seeming to have a golden fringe under the evening glow, like a mighty lion lamenting to the sky, so tragically heroic!

Yet, in the next moment.

A hand appeared silently behind him, grabbing his collar and effortlessly lifting him up.

Gah???

Qin Zi’s tragic expression froze instantly, as if he were a cat being lifted by the scruff, he stopped moving.

His limbs hung naturally, head drooping, with his collar pulled up higher than his head, resembling a hunchback.

At the same time.

A playful voice sounded:

"Hey, not seen for a few months, your wings have hardened, dare to speak to your dad like this?"

Qin Zi’s body trembled violently.

He slowly turned his head to see a familiar face come into view.

"Dad!!"

A light of joy burst from his eyes, and tears welled up, his demeanor changed from dejected to vibrant in an instant, as if his entire world had come alive!

He instinctively wanted to turn and hug his father, but after a few twists, found he couldn’t manage it.

"Dad, hurry and let me down!"

So he kicked his legs a few times in the air, attempting to flip like a cat being held upright, struggling like an orange tabby in a hand’s grasp.

Qin Chuan found it quite amusing.

So he continued holding, letting his mischievous son struggle for a while, then placed him on the ground.

After landing, Qin Zi intended to rush into his father’s embrace but found after the emotional swell, he suddenly... felt shy.

He lowered his head, toe of his right foot tapping the left, expression awkward, sheepish and an apologetic attempt at politeness:

"Uh... Dad, that was a misunderstanding, I respect you so much, how could I speak to you like that?"

His face was filled with a compensatory smile, almost fawning.

Yet the genuine joy inside him was something he couldn’t hide, like the sunshine in spring revitalizing the earth.

The old Qin Xiaozhu has returned.

"Really?"

Qin Chuan squinted at him.

"Of course, it’s true!"

Qin Zi stood upright, assuredly declared.

Qin Chuan looked at his brazen son and scolded with a smile: "First get home; I’ll deal with you once we’re back."

"Got it!"

Qin Zi responded cheerfully, then waved his right hand, the golden Light of Law extended into a long slide, with one end connected to the mountain’s peak, the other to the Purple Cloud Academy below.

Then his body curled into a ball, rolling down the slide like a tumbling, playful child.

He rolled quite smoothly.

"Well..."

Qin Chuan was briefly taken aback, then burst into laughter.

"Brother Qin, you’re finally back."

At this moment, the golden-haired woman beside him spoke softly.

She pinched the corner of her skirt, lightly biting her red lips, with joy in her golden eyes, yet also glistening with faint tears.

A yearning, a longing, a tale of sorrow and lament.

Boss Qin looked at his son’s tutor, noticing she had become much more beautiful, and increasingly alluring.

Her light garments composed of thin veils outlined a graceful silhouette.

Maturity mixed with gentleness.

If he weren’t heartbroken by women in his past life and had a history of nearly jumping off a building, he might have lost control of himself at this moment.

He took a deep breath, withdrew his ’appreciative’ gaze, and said in feigned seriousness: "All this time... you’ve had a tough time."

"Compared to the pain you’ve borne alone, what little hardship I’ve endured is nothing."

Ye Lingshuang bit her lip and looked up, her eyes already misty with tears, her shoulders shaking slightly.

She seemed to imagine this man, like a lone wolf, howling mournfully in distant corners.

This stubborn man.

He would rather endure all the pain alone than let those who care about him see his vulnerable side.

This man... has suffered too much.

Qin Chuan, observing the woman before him, immediately knew this imaginative lady must have misunderstood something once more.

Because he himself didn’t know what world-moving things he had done out there to move a woman so deeply.

Could it be...

His arduous efforts to pave the way for his son manifested such a strong sense of responsibility?

To this, he remained puzzled.

One could only say, a woman’s heart is like a needle in the sea, impossible to fathom, impossible to grasp!