I want to tread the heavens

In the center of the mirror-like surface of the Star Source Pool, about three zhang from the shore, a small bubble suddenly rose silently. The bubble burst, and a human hand, with dry skin covered in calluses and scars, yet still vaguely discernible in shape, abruptly emerged from the silvery lake water, its five fingers spread as if trying to grasp something!

Next came the arms, shoulders, head, chest...

A naked figure, with skin covered in old and new wounds, a breath so faint it was almost nonexistent, yet with a slight rise and fall of his chest, slowly and strugglingly rose from the center of the Star Source Pool!

Silvery lake water slid down his thin, bony body, shimmering under the starlight. He kept his head down, his gray, disheveled hair clinging wetly to his forehead, obscuring his face.

But the moment Ling Xiao saw the silhouette, his heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, almost stopping its beating! That figure, those wounds, that aura… though faint, though different, but…

"Uncle Rong...?" Ling Xiao's voice trembled violently, filled with endless disbelief and a faint hope.

The figure seemed to hear the call, and his body trembled slightly. He slowly and with great difficulty raised his head, revealing a face that Ling Xiao knew to the bone, a face weathered and scarred.

It's Yue Rong! It's Uncle Rong!

He didn't die! He actually stood up again from the Star Origin Pool!

However, at this moment, Uncle Rong's eyes were empty and blank, like a newborn baby, feeling unfamiliar and helpless about everything around him. He stared blankly at his own hands, at his surroundings, and finally, his gaze fell on the tearful boy on the shore calling out to him.

His eyes trembled violently. The emptiness was gradually replaced by a vortex of extreme pain, chaos, and countless fragments of memory crashing against him. He clutched his head, letting out a suppressed groan of agony that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. His body swayed, almost falling back into the lake.

"Uncle Rong!" Ling Xiao could no longer care about anything else and was about to jump into the source pool.

However, at that moment, Uncle Rong abruptly stopped all his movements. He lowered his hands from his head and slowly straightened up. Although he was still naked, wounded, and weak, the deep-seated bewilderment and chaos were rapidly fading away. In its place was a calm that had been tempered by countless years, experienced life and death, and seen through the vicissitudes of life, and beneath that calm, a rekindled, unwavering determination as solid as a rock.

The last trace of confusion in his eyes dissipated, and his gaze refocused, becoming clear, sharp, and profound, like an ancient sword tempered by lightning and fire, its impurities washed away. That gaze slowly swept over the surrounding enemies who were eyeing him menacingly but were temporarily uncertain due to this strange scene, and finally landed on Ling Xiao's face.

Eyes facing each other.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Uncle Rong looked at Ling Xiao, at the tear stains still wet on the boy's face, at the deep sorrow and disbelief in his eyes, and at the outline that gradually overlapped with a blurry figure from his memory...

Countless fragmented images, like a flood bursting its banks, broke through layers of seals and oblivion, rushing wildly into his mind—

The burning "Celestial Palace" stands majestically, its purple figure (Ling Zhan) battling amidst lightning and demonic shadows, his gaze turning back carrying a profound sense of entrustment...

A woman, as aloof as the moon yet covered in blood (Su Yingxue), placed the swaddling clothes and jade pendant into his arms, her fingertips icy and resolute...

Amidst the chaotic spatial currents and shattered teleportation beams, he desperately shielded the infant in his arms with his body, enduring the excruciating pain and icy chill as his back was torn apart by the spatial rift…

The wind and sand of the old land, the high walls of the Guo family, that thin figure huddled in the corner of the woodshed, his eyes filled with fear yet stubbornness, grew up day by day, and people called him "Uncle Rong"...

The dawn and dusk in the courtyard, the wiping of the broken knife, the clumsy yet earnest fists and feet, the secretly saved pieces of meat, the gazing at the starry sky under the moonlight...

And just now, the boy pushed him towards a path of survival, but then resolutely turned around and transformed into a crimson blade of light that incinerated everything...

Seven years! A full seven years! Forgotten loyalty, blurred past, buried identity and vows... At this moment, under the purest power of creation in the Star Source Pool, and in the boy's mournful cry of "Uncle Rong," they shine brightly again like a pearl wiped of dust!

He is Yue Rong! He is the commander of the personal guards under the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Ling Zhan! He is a loyal servant entrusted with the lives of his lord and mistress, vowing to protect the continuation of their bloodline! He is a family member who watched Ling Xiao struggle to grow up from an infant in this cannibalistic land and treated him as his own son!

"Thump!"

Uncle Rong's legs buckled, and he collapsed heavily into the waist-deep Star Source Pool, splashing up large swaths of silver water. He looked up at the slowly rotating star field projection on the dome, then down at his outstretched, trembling hands, and finally, his gaze returned to Ling Xiao on the shore.

Tears, without warning, streamed down the face of this tough man like beads from a broken string. They were not tears of sadness, nor tears of pain, but rather an overwhelming sense of shock, guilt, and relief—a profound emotion that surged forth, almost drowning him—a feeling of loss and redemption that transcended life, death, and oblivion.

"Young...Young Master..." His lips trembled violently. After several attempts, he finally managed to squeeze out these two words, which seemed as heavy as a thousand pounds yet as light as a sigh, from his dry throat. His voice was hoarse and broken, yet it carried the trembling and relief of someone who had finally found their way home after seven years.

"My lord... my lady... this subordinate... this subordinate finally... remembers..." He choked back tears, kowtowing heavily, again and again, towards the void and towards Ling Xiao, his forehead touching the warm pool water. "This subordinate is incompetent... I have caused the young master to suffer... this subordinate... is too late..."

Each kowtow splashed up glistening water droplets, mingling with his scalding tears.

Ling Xiao stood blankly on the shore, looking at the naked man kneeling in the pool, sobbing uncontrollably, seemingly aging ten years in an instant, yet also seemingly reborn. He looked into the familiar yet seemingly burdened with countless sorrows and vicissitudes of concern and loyalty in the man's eyes, and listened to the repeated calls of "Young Master" and the blood-soaked confessions...

All the grief, anger, and despair were replaced at this moment by an even more turbulent, complex emotion that almost overwhelmed his soul. It was the confirmation of blood ties, a reunion across life and death, the shock of the revelation of the truth behind seven years of living in anonymity and relying on each other, and even more so... an indescribable bittersweet feeling of finally finding his "roots."

"Uncle Rong..." he murmured, unable to hold back any longer, tears welling up in his eyes again. He staggered into the knee-deep Star Source Pool, the icy water soaking his trouser legs, but he was oblivious, and walked toward the figure kneeling in the pool, as if he wanted to kowtow and make up for the seven years of debt.

Fa Cai also jumped into the pool, following Ling Xiao's side, looking at Uncle Rong, and making a low "woo-woo" sound in his throat, which seemed to be both comforting and joyful.

Ling Xiao walked up to Uncle Rong and stopped. He reached out, his hand trembling, and gently placed it on Uncle Rong's wet shoulder, which was trembling slightly with excitement.

Feeling that real, warm touch, feeling the faint yet stable life force within Uncle Rong's body, no longer like a candle flickering in the wind that could be extinguished at any moment, and feeling the pure power that originated from the same source as the Star Source Pool, gently nourishing and repairing his riddled body...

Ling Xiao's tears flowed even more fiercely, but he tried to force a smile, which looked even worse than crying.

"Uncle Rong..." His voice choked with emotion, thick with a nasal tone, yet he spoke each word clearly and distinctly:

Welcome back.

"And... thank you for being alive."

Uncle Rong trembled violently, abruptly raising his head. Through teary eyes, he looked at the boy before him, who had shed his childishness, his brows now bearing the marks of determination and hardship, yet his eyes remained as clear as ever. He saw the boy's face, a mixture of tears and relief, as he tried to smile, and heard those two simple yet incredibly heavy sentences…

All the guilt, self-blame, and the emptiness brought about by seven years of forbearance and forgetting seemed to be filled and soothed by the gentle starlight in the pool and the boy's sincere gaze at this moment.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that he couldn't make a sound. In the end, he just nodded hard and heavily, turning all his emotions into even more torrents of tears, and those calloused hands that had become steady and strong again, tightly gripping Ling Xiao's arm.

The Star Source Pool, shimmering with light, reflects the starry sky above, and also reflects the two people and one wolf standing silently in the pool, tears streaming down their faces.

Time seemed to slow down and become gentle at this moment.

until--

"Hmph! How touching!" Guo Dahai's cold, mocking voice pierced the brief silence like a poisoned needle. "Master and servant recognizing each other? Resurrected from the dead? What a good show! Too bad, none of you will leave here alive today!"

He and Guo Yan, along with the remaining enemies who had recovered from their shock and whose eyes had regained their ferocity and greed, slowly surrounded the pool, blocking all paths leading to it. Although they were surprised and puzzled by Uncle Rong's "resurrection" and his rise from the pool, they were more stimulated by the immense power of the Star Source Pool and the greater secret that the "reunion of master and servant" might signify. Greed completely overwhelmed their unease.

Uncle Rong slowly released Ling Xiao's hand, braced himself against the bottom of the pool, and slowly stood up. The tear stains on his face were still wet, but his eyes had completely regained their calmness, a clarity and determination born from having experienced life and death, seeing through illusions, and no longer being confused. He glanced at the surrounding enemies, his gaze lingering for a moment on Guo Dahai and Guo Yan, his eyes cold, as if looking at dead men.

"Xiao'er," he no longer addressed him as "Young Master," but instead reverted to the title he had used for seven years, a title etched into his very bones. His voice was still hoarse, yet carried an undeniable composure, "Stand behind me. Fa Cai, protect him."

He bent down and picked up the broken, cracked sword that was stuck diagonally in the bottom of the pool. As he held the blade, he felt an unprecedented, warm, and intimate sensation, as if this old companion who had accompanied him through seven years of battles, falls, and protection had also been given a new lease on life under the nourishment of the Star Source Pool.

He held his sword across his chest. Although he was still naked, wounded, and far from recovered, his unwavering will to protect others was stronger and purer than ever before!

Ling Xiao wiped away his tears, his eyes sharpening once more. He sensed that the decaying death aura within Uncle Rong's body had dissipated. Although his cultivation hadn't fully recovered and his serious injuries hadn't healed, the collapse of his Dao foundation had ceased, and under the nourishment of the Star Origin Pool's power, it was beginning to show signs of slow repair! This was nothing short of a miracle! It was the miraculous effect produced by the Star Origin Pool, this land of creation, combined with Uncle Rong's restored memories and the unblocking of his obsessions!

As long as there is life, there is hope! As long as the foundation of one's cultivation can be repaired, one's cultivation can be restored!

"Uncle Rong, let's go together." Ling Xiao stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Uncle Rong, gripping the broken sword (his own) tightly in his hand. The newly acquired power of the meteorite surged within his body. Although the burst of the star's origin had consumed a great deal of energy, he recovered extremely quickly by the source pool.

Fa Cai stepped forward, forming a triangle with the two, letting out a low, battle-ready roar, and his eyes flashed with silver light again.

Guo Dahai's eyes flashed with a fierce light: "Stubborn fools! Attack! Kill them, and the power in the Source Pool will be divided equally among us!"

The final battle erupted on the shores of the Star Source Pool, in this sacred place that has witnessed oblivion and reunion, death and rebirth!

However, this time, the situation is different.

Uncle Rong regained his memories, his inner turmoil dissipated, his injuries stabilized, and his fighting spirit reignited. Ling Xiao broke through in cultivation, obtaining a legitimate inheritance; standing beside the Source Pool, his power flowed inexhaustibly. Fa Cai's injuries rapidly healed under the aura of the Source Pool, his bloodline stirring restlessly.

More importantly, their deep-seated belief in "protection" and "returning home" is clearer and more steadfast than ever before!

Under the starlight, the glint of swords gleams once more.

This time, it's for survival, for each other, and for... taking the first step on that seemingly endless road home.