Changluo.

Imperial Palace.

The young Emperor is sleeping soundly on the dragon bed.

Outside, the palace maids and eunuchs stood with eyes to the nose and nose to the heart, making not a sound even in their breathing.

The deep night was silent, as always.

A wisp of green air descended, and the Emperor on the bed turned over.

...

"Where… am I?"

The Emperor, in a drowsy state, walked into a courtyard full of peach blossoms and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity gazing at the flourishing peach trees.

Lately, he had become exhausted with state affairs.

The nation had been at peace for a long time, with a thriving population and insufficient farmland, and coupled with insatiable human desires, it was akin to kindling dry wood with fire in a potentially explosive situation.

Adding fuel to the fire were emerging sects everywhere, with various unusual magicians popping up incessantly.

Although it was said to be a rare grand event in the cultivation world for thousands of years, the cultivators disrespected the court, and Jianghu mages often used malevolent spells to harm people, all of which were destabilizing factors.

Yan Han had to establish the 'Forbidden Curse Department', appointing Forbidden Curse Generals and Captains to offices across different counties and command that if any Demon Dao used malevolent spells to harm people, such spells should be directly broken with black dog blood and the perpetrator drowned in a cesspit until death!

Even so, it still couldn't stop the mighty force.

But now, looking at this peach grove, the Emperor suddenly felt much lighter and couldn't help but smile.

"Your Majesty, please drink this cup to the fullest!"

A noble and graceful lady, along with a group of maidservants, suddenly appeared in the peach garden, and a spirited maid presented a cup of sake.

The Emperor wanted to refuse but seemed to be intimidated by their presence and complied involuntarily.

Once the wine flowed down his throat, he started to regret: "What's going on? Have I fallen under a spell? But the Emperor has the dragon's fortune protecting him, and Yan Han has two ancestors guarding the throne; how could a magician harm me?"

However, in the next moment, his expression suddenly changed.

A deeply buried memory emerged in his heart.

"Second Yan Han Empire, I... my little sister?"

At this moment, he looked toward the noble lady and suddenly recognized her: "Qingyuan?"

"It is truly joyous that brother can restore his origins!"

The Queen Mother of the West smiled faintly.

"I... the two ancestors... what is going on?"

Emperor Shenwu exclaimed in shock: "That day, the sun almost fell, nearly apocalyptic... and then?"

"It was my husband who saved us." Qingyuan replied calmly: "Now, the two ancestors of Yan Han are Unity and the Nine-Spirit Dragon Mother, and my Second Yan Han Empire has been grafted into the Yan Han Empire under natural order, allowing brother to be Emperor again."

After delineating the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity, there was the capability of reincarnation within the Earth Realm or Netherworld.

As The Queen Mother of the West, Qingyuan also knew Zhong Shenxiu was continually sending people from the Second Yan Han Empire into reincarnation, reviving them in the Yan Han Empire.

This wasn't because Zhong Shenxiu couldn't directly resurrect them, but rather he didn't want to disturb the world's development.

Otherwise, the sudden appearance of a Second Yan Han Empire would indeed be too horrifying.

"The two ancestors are here, too..."

Emperor Shenwu exhaled a long breath: "Then I feel much more at ease, alas, this world is tricky..."

He sighed, with some regret, why couldn't he have been born during the Ba Xing Governance era?

"Brother coming into the world at this time has some ordained fate."

Although Qingyuan was The Queen Mother of the West, she was still nostalgic this time and said: "He sets the celestial rules, this prosperous time for the Immortal Dao faces the calamity of decline, possibly even absolute separation!"

"Absolute separation?" Emperor Shenwu laughed: "Currently, the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity don't interfere with each other, hasn't absolute separation already occurred?"

"Absolute separation is the end of the Dharma!" The Queen Mother of the West threw a bomb: "After this, it will be difficult for humans to see cultivators again... but before then, the Immortal Dao will have one last outbreak... as an earthly emperor, you must seize this opportunity, perhaps you can ascend to the celestial firmament, become an immortal and a god! If you miss this opportunity, you might eternally succumb to the Netherworld..."

Even Emperor Shenwu, suddenly hearing this secret, couldn't help but tremble inside: "Why... would there be an end to the Dharma?"

"I don't know; he didn't say."

Qingyuan handed a mirror to Emperor Shenwu: "This mirror has divine skills to protect you, I have said enough, I hope to meet in Kunlun someday!"

"Kunlun... you are... The Queen Mother of the West?!"

Emperor Shenwu looked utterly bewildered, suddenly feeling as though he was high above the ground, plummeting down.

"Ah!"

On the dragon bed, Emperor Shenwu jolted up with a start.

"Your Majesty?"

Several eunuchs and palace maids immediately kneeled down.

"I... am fine!"

Emperor Shenwu dismissed everyone and lay down again: "Was that just a dream? No... I am no longer the me I used to be, or, I am still the old me, but with an added memory of a previous life... truly dreamlike. My little sister... how could she become The Queen Mother of the West? Then, is the Prince Consort East King? With one's rise, everything connected flies up too?!"

His palm brushed over something smooth again.

Emperor Shenwu discreetly took it in his hand, discovering it was a bronze mirror, with two faintly visible engraved characters on the back—Kunlun!

"Kunlun Mirror?"

Emperor Shenwu murmured to himself, then suddenly a commotion arose outside the palace.

"What happened?"

He frowned and asked sternly.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there is a celestial phenomenon!" someone outside replied tremblingly.

Emperor Shenwu tucked the Kunlun Mirror into his robe, walked out of the hall, looked up to the sky, and his expression suddenly froze.

The east wind blew a thousand flowers at night, even as stars fell like rain...

Countless meteors streaked across the sky, further accompanied by the descent of five bright moons.

'Is this... the prosperity amidst decline?'

Emperor Shenwu, feeling confident but still speaking solemnly, said: "Summon the Celestial Observation Bureau into the palace immediately!"

"Yes!"

...

"Oh? So Qingyuan has also seen Emperor Shenwu?"

Zhong Shenxiu walked through a rural area, a smile playing on his lips.

He had actively signaled Qingyuan to reveal her identity; after all, even if she didn't, Taiping Guangmiao and the others could have guessed.

If there wasn't some sentiment, how could they have been revived specially?

But that wasn't important.

He looked up at the sky, seeing the Golden Crow rising in the east, realizing it was already dawn and light was breaking.

'Hmm, those five moons have all been successfully reborn.'

Zhong Shenxiu definitely wasn't messing around; although the celestial descent of the moons was grand, after they fell, those moons vanished without a trace, without blatantly getting discovered by cultivators.

The most was perhaps the dreams of the women giving birth, like being embraced by a bright moon.

With a creak.

A wooden door ahead opened, and a man full of joy emerged, holding a swaddled infant: "Grateful to the heavens, I've had a son in one go, and the Jiang family now has a successor."

He looked at Zhong Shenxiu, suddenly calling out: "Young master, please hold on, we have a custom here that the name of the child should be given by the first passerby, you seem well-read, please name my child..."

"Jiang Liu'er!"