"Heh heh, Mirror Water Moon was nothing but a pipe dream. Child, don't bear a grudge against her anymore. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth — she has already received the judgment of the Heavenly Dao." Heavenly Emperor Taiyuan sighed.
"I've long forgotten her. Father, but you — for these hundreds of thousands of years, you've suffered greatly."
"Heh heh, in truth, you suffered too — you just didn't realize it. Think about it: for hundreds of thousands of years, you wandered the path of reincarnation, until you were reborn in the
"But on the path of reincarnation, I didn't know any of it, so it didn't feel like hardship at all." Jiang Chen laughed heartily.
Father and son, reunited at last — the warmth between them was extraordinary.
At that moment, the four great True Spirits and the Gold-Munching King Mouse clan all stepped forward as well.
Jiang Chen introduced them one by one. Before the Heavenly Emperor, these creatures were quite deferential — and all the more so since the Heavenly Emperor was Jiang Chen's father.
"Excellent, Chen'er. You've accomplished what even your father could not. You've brought the four Divine Beast True Spirit bloodlines to coexist in harmony, and you've secured the loyalty of the Gold-Munching King Mouse lineage. That is something countless Heavenly Emperors across the cosmos have never managed to pull off. On this single point alone, you stand tall above innumerable Heavenly Emperors."
The God Kings and feudal lords of the Taiyuan Grand World had already formed ranks to welcome them.
When Jiang Chen and his father returned, they received the grandest of welcomes and the longest rounds of applause.
"Welcome back, Your Majesties, to the Taiyuan Grand World!"
Among the God Kings and lords, Crimson Water God King and Ling Han God King stood at the forefront. One had been the one to discover Jiang Chen; the other had been instrumental in rescuing Heavenly Emperor Taiyuan.
But Jiang Chen spotted a familiar figure in the crowd, standing behind Ling Han God King.
Jiang Chen smiled leisurely. "Sect Master Han, I told you we'd meet again."
"Ha ha, this young lady — even I remember her. Chen'er, she was one of the great heroes who helped rescue your father." Heavenly Emperor Taiyuan laughed as well.
Jiang Chen nodded, then walked over to Crimson Water God King. "Crimson Water God King, at the God Kings' Assembly, thank you for being the first to stand up and push the tide of events forward. I told you then — when the tide of history turns, all it takes is for someone to step forward, and the fate of the Taiyuan Grand World will inevitably find its turning point. Thank you — all of you."
The ones Jiang Chen thanked included not only Crimson Water God King, but also Haoran God King and several others.
The five of them flushed with a mix of pride and trepidation at Jiang Chen's gratitude. After all, back in the day, they had entertained notions of having Jiang Chen succeed Crimson Water God King as a feudal lord. Looking back now, they couldn't help but feel a little sheepish.
He was a Heavenly Emperor, for heaven's sake — and they had wanted him to be the successor to a mere God King? If that wasn't humiliating, what was?
Fortunately, ignorance was no crime.
The Taiyuan Grand World had endured hundreds of thousands of years of turmoil, and it was finally set to get back on track, restored to its former glory. Reconstruction would undoubtedly take a great deal of time, but at least the situation had shifted — at the very least, the state of affairs in the Taiyuan Grand World had hit rock bottom and was on the rebound.
The mastermind behind it all, Mirror God King, had already been executed.