Chapter 1507: Conversation

“Father, I left Three Saint Island when you were gone and wandered the Tian Yuan Continent, Beast God Continent, the Wasteland Continent, and the sea realm. All my wounds have come from the battles I experienced along the way.” Shangguan Aojian gave an explanation when he saw that Jian Chen had noticed his scars. He spoke with pride.

“I did not initially plan on leaving these scars behind. I can erase all of them through the recovery of my Chaotic Body, but mother made me leave these three behind.”

Jian Chen glanced at the Heavenly Enchantress, whose back was facing him while she gazed at the vast ocean. He obviously knew that she had gotten her son to keep these three scars just to show them to him.

In other words, she had left the three scars to tell Jian Chen that when Xiao Bao had gone out adventuring and faced many dangers, even arriving at the brink of death several times, he had not accompanied his son as a father.

“Xiao Bao, I’ve vanished for over a decade, and in that time, I haven’t helped you even once even when you faced life-threatening danger. Do you blame me?” Jian Chen asked with a gentle voice. He was filled with self-blame and shame.

Shangguan Aojian shook his head. Instead of becoming angry, he instead revealed pride. He said, “Father, I spent some time on the Tian Yuan Continent and heard rumors from the people around me. I’ve already learned about some of your past, and I also understand just how heavy your burden is. I can only feel honored to have a father like you.”

Jian Chen smiled and also let out a breath of relief inside. What he feared the most was that Xiao Bao would blame him and find him to be a disappoint. Now, his uneasy feelings had finally settled down because of what Shangguan Aojian had said.

Even though he was the greatest human expert in the eyes of others and even though he was a cold and merciless god of death in the eyes of his enemies, he was only a father to Xiao Bao, a kind father.

“And I also came across an unfathomably powerful senior in the sea realm. I couldn’t see the senior’s appearance, but the senior knew you extremely well. I learned much of your past from the senior, and she let me understand just what price you had to pay to reach your current level of cultivation in just a few decades,” said Shangguan Aojian. He gazed at Jian Chen with admiration.

“Oh yeah, the senior from the sea realm also gave me a jade pendant. This pendant saved my life when I faced fatal danger.” Shangguan Aojian pulled out a palm-sized pendant. The jade carving on it was exquisite and was covered with simple patterns. In the center of the patterning was a trident that seemed sharp enough to pierce through space. A pressure seemed to emanate from the weapon, powerful to cause a Saint Emperor to shiver.

Jian Chen looked at the jade pendant. He could sense the power of an Origin realm expert hidden within it, and it was extremely familiar. He knew exactly who the senior from the sea realm Shangguan Aojian had mentioned was.

“Xiao Bao, you have to hang onto this jade pendant. It can help you block many full-powered attacks from Saint Emperors. You don’t even need to worry about Saint Emperors with it,” said Jian Chen. Not only was great strength required to produce such a pendant, but a corresponding amount of skill was also required. Jian Chen did not know how to make a pendant like this, so he was unable to produce a defensive treasure that could block attacks from Saint Emperors.

Shangguan Aojian was surprised. He carefully put the pendant away before glancing at Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress. He smiled, “Father, mother, you keep talking. I’ll go out and catch some fish. It’s rare for the three of us to eat together, so we need to properly celebrate like the fishermen on the island today.” With that, Xiao Bao left the island. Only Jian Chen and the Heavenly Enchantress were left on the peak of Three Saint Mountain after his departure.

Jian Chen looked at the Heavenly Enchantress. His emotions were mixed. He walked over and slowly approached her side. He gently sighed, “Mu’er, it’s been so many years already. Even Xiao Bao’s grown up. Are you still unable to get over what happened in the past?”

“Call me the Heavenly Enchantress,” the Heavenly Enchantress coldly and emotionlessly replied, but complicated feelings flashed through her enchanting eyes.

“The Heavenly Enchantress is only a name given to you by the people of the Tian Yuan Continent. Shangguan Mu’er is your real name,” said Jian Chen.

When the Heavenly Enchantress heard her own name, she immediately trembled. She gently bit her lip and revealed a sliver of sorrow deep in her eyes.

“If you continue to disown your name, then having Xiao Bao’s surname as Shangguan will be pointless,” continued Jian Chen.

The Heavenly Enchantress remained silent. She slowly sat down and placed her zither on her legs. Using her hands to touch the strings, she played a pleasant melody. Each note seemed to be filled with a mysterious charm that penetrated the soul and reverberated in the mind. The notes could also affect one’s emotions and thoughts.

The music was pleasant, but it lost its usual springiness. Instead, it became rather heavy.

Jian Chen also sat down beside the Heavenly Enchantress. He gazed at her face and said, “I know you resent me. A portion of this resentment comes from Xiao Bao. Through all those years he grew, I did not fulfil my responsibilities as a father. I was not around to protect him either when he was in danger. However, you also know that I was left without a choice. I may have vanished for over ten years, but I’ve always spent that time trying to strengthen, only hoping to gain an even greater power to fend off the next invasion of the foreign so that I can protect our world. I’ve come closer to death than I’ve ever had in the past. I was just an inch away from death, and my soul had almost dispersed. I did survive in the end, fortunately enough, but the price I paid was my entire body.

“I will make it up to Xiao Bao. I will make up everything to him tenfold.”

The Heavenly Enchantress was not wavered by his words at all. She behaved as if she had not heard Jian Chen at all. She focused on her zither, concentrating on playing it. She did not pay attention to anything else.

Jian Chen fell silent for a while before continuing, “Three days from now, I will be holding a wedding with Yue’er and Luan’er. I will take you with me to make up for the lack of a wedding. At the same time, I will let the entire world know that Shangguan Aojian is my son.”

“I won’t go and neither will Xiao Bao.” This time, the Heavenly Enchantress said something. Her voice was cold and firm.

Jian Chen sighed. He looked at the Heavenly Enchantress, feeling quite the headache, and said, “Mu’er, there are some things that are set in stone by fate. No matter how much you dislike them, they are unchangeable.”

“Tell me this once you’ve truly fulfilled your responsibilities as a father, and weddings are completely pointless. Only mortals hold things like that.” The Heavenly Enchantress coldly replied. She continued to play her zither, except the music sounded even heavier.

Jian Chen secretly rejoiced. He could tell that most of her resentment had disappeared. The main reason why she was displeased with him was because of Xiao Bao.

Jian Chen’s mind suddenly cleared up due to what the Heavenly Enchantress said. Marriage to mortals was a significant matter, a ceremony that was almost crucial. It was indeed nothing to fighters with lengthy lives. Some of them did not even follow the tradition of getting married. As long as the two people involved agreed, there was no need for a ceremony at all. They just needed to become a couple.. There was not even a need to tell their parents or the seniors of their clans.

The reason why many people still maintained the traditions of mortals was because all fighters had started out as one. Even though a few of them were powerful, they still followed tradition since it was difficult to disregard the traditions of mortals.

Jian Chen no longer placed so much focus on the wedding after reaching this understanding. Holding a wedding was something that had slowly developed among mortals. It did not signify anything. In reality, he and the Heavenly Enchantress, as well as Huan Luang, had already become couples. Even without marriage, nothing was able to change that fact.

“The last matter I want to talk about is your father. I hope you can visit your father and the ancestor of the Zaar family, Zaar Caiyun. Her soul is damaged and she’s in a coma. She cannot recover with just heavenly resources, but I do believe that you possess the power to awaken her.” Jian Chen mentioned his final reason for visiting, and he also looked at the Heavenly Enchantress with some gentleness as well.