I was born a god, the son of the Demon Lord.

Xu Yuan withdrew his finger and stared blankly at the gold mark on his daughter's forehead for a long time.

No wonder she only threw Lin Qingyue out in the Endless Demon Realm last time, instead of killing her.

Given her personality, no one who dared to trespass on her territory ever left alive, but that time, she inexplicably held back.

It wasn't that she was soft-hearted; it was that something remained beneath that altered memory, holding her back.

"As expected of my precious Yiyi."

Xu Yuan bent down and pressed his lips to his daughter's forehead.

The next second, the wind passed without a trace.

Xu Nanyi was the only one left on the recliner, blinking and staring into the air.

Where is her mother?

-

Shen Jiuyuan's room.

Steam filled the air, and the water murmured softly.

Shen Jiuyuan, enjoying a rare moment of leisure, soaked in the bathtub with his eyes closed, his wet hair draped over his shoulders, until the air was filled with the scent of another person.

His eyes snapped open.

Xu Yuan stood by the bathtub, looking down at him.

Shen Jiuyuan grabbed his outer robe from the rack and covered his chest with it. He then submerged himself in the water, leaving only his head above water, his expression a mixture of shock and anger.

"Making a wish! What—what are you doing?!"

Xu Yuan didn't give him a chance to talk nonsense. He pressed down on his shoulder with one hand and pushed him back into the water. He gathered demonic power in his sword finger and pointed it straight at his brow.

"Stop talking nonsense."

The moment his fingertips touched his sea of ​​consciousness, Shen Jiuyuan's pupils shrank. He tried to struggle, but Xu Yuan's cultivation was a whole major realm higher than his.

The gate to his sea of ​​consciousness was forcibly broken open.

The divine thought of making a wish traveled straight in, sweeping across the layers of memory fragments in Shen Jiuyuan's sea of ​​consciousness.

Those scenes that belonged to him, to them, and to their centuries-long entanglement flashed past on both sides, but she ignored them all.

She was looking for something else.

Same technique, same traces.

If someone altered her memories, what about Shen Jiuyuan?

Her movements in searching through his mind were swift and ruthless, turning those neatly arranged memories upside down like demolishing a house.

Shen Jiuyuan clenched his teeth in the bathtub, veins bulging on his forehead, water splashing everywhere.

"Are you crazy?... At least tell me what you're trying to do!"

I wish I would ignore him.

found it.

Deep within Shen Jiuyuan's sea of ​​consciousness, in the same location and with the same method—a completely cleaned, blank area. Covered upon it was an extremely intricately crafted restriction, the patterns of which Xu Yuan recognized.

She had seen it in the Immortal Forest.

The difference lies in the fact that the restriction in Shen Jiuyuan's sea of ​​consciousness is more complex and deeper, like tree roots that have taken root in the soil of his memories, intertwined and integrated with his own cognition.

It can be dismantled, not that it can't be dismantled.

But it could very well damage his soul.

Xu Yuan withdrew his divine sense and removed his finger from between his eyebrows.

Shen Jiuyuan felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He collapsed in the bathtub, panting heavily, his wet hair plastered to his cheeks, looking extremely disheveled.

"...What exactly are you looking for?" His voice was hoarse, weak from the forced invasion of his consciousness.

Xu Yuan did not answer immediately.

She stood there, looking down at her fingers. For a moment, when she touched that barrier, she sensed the lingering presence of the caster.

After making a wish, she clenched her teeth, and her temples began to throb again. The iron curtain pressed down on her again the moment she tried to think deeply, heavy, fierce, and leaving no room for compromise.

She was forced to stop thinking.

"Shen Jiuyuan".

"...What?" Shen Jiuyuan was weak and listless, he didn't even have the energy to argue with her.

"Your consciousness has been tampered with, just like mine. Have you been to the Immortal Forest?"

Shen Jiuyuan was stunned for a moment.

The moment those three words entered my ears, a strong sense of irritation surged up from my chest, as if I really didn't want to know or remember this place.

He paused.

Because Xu Yuan was staring at him, and that look in his eyes seemed to say: Your reaction now is exactly the same as mine before.

Shen Jiuyuan was a smart man. He figured it out in just two seconds.

"...Did someone alter my memories?"

Xu Yuan neither nodded nor shook his head.

She turned and walked out, but stopped at the door.

"Put your clothes on. Come down to the yard later, I have something to say."

The door closed behind him, and Shen Jiuyuan grabbed his outer robe and haphazardly put it on. He snapped his fingers, and the water on his hair and clothes instantly disappeared.

In the courtyard, Xu Yuan had already sat back down in the recliner, holding the yucca in her hand again, its withered petals tinged with dark red in the twilight.

Dusk had completely fallen. The sound of the waves crashing in from afar came in waves.

A voice made a wish, faint and almost a soliloquy, coming from the darkness: "I want to remove the restrictions in my sea of ​​consciousness."

Shen Jiuyuan's expression changed. "Are you crazy? Forcibly demolishing a house will damage your soul—"

Xu Yuan turned her head to look at him, her eyes reflecting the last ray of daylight.

"Then tell me, is there any other way? I want to know the truth."

The sea breeze blew into the yard, causing the withered yucca to tremble slightly between her fingers.

"There's no rush, it won't happen on this day."

"You are a half-immortal, and your soul is a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary person, but that restriction is no ordinary method. You yourself have felt it—it has grown together with the foundation of your sea of ​​consciousness."

Xu Yuan didn't say anything.

Shen Jiuyuan continued, "Forced demolition isn't out of the question, but you need to leave yourself a way out. Prepare at least three sets of eighth-grade Soul-Replenishing Pills, or other divine soul treasures of the same level. That way, you'll have room to maneuver if something goes wrong."

Xu Yuan turned her head to look at him.

She couldn't see his expression clearly in the twilight, but she could tell from his tone—it wasn't persuasion, but rather a bottom line after giving in.

"Okay." Xu Yuan tucked the withered yucca back into her hair. "Find something first, then we'll take it apart."

Shen Jiuyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

……

The day before the Menglan Battle Tournament.

The largest merchant guild in Fantasy Sea City, "Canglan Pavilion," announced that the annual auction hosted by the Sea Emperor Clan has begun.

When the news reached the courtyard, Xu Yuan was drawing a diagram of the formation's movement on the ground with a twig.

"Perfect." She gathered up the branch. "Let's go take a look."

Shen Jiuyuan leaned against a pillar, arms crossed: "Your cultivation level is too high for me, and the age and realm restrictions for the dueling tournament are too strict, so you can't participate. These younger ones need to have a suitable natal weapon."

His gaze swept over the people in the courtyard—Xu Nanyi's fighting style still relied too much on her talent and bloodline, and she didn't have a weapon that truly suited her; Wu Qiyue and Xiao Shitou were even less suited.

Xu Nanyi's eyes lit up as soon as she heard the words "auction".

Today she wore a crimson outfit, a practical and stylish look, as she had been practicing combat techniques these past few days. Her high ponytail was tied up with a golden feather crown, embroidered with layers of phoenix feathers, and a string of small bells adorned her waist, jingling crisply as she walked.

Shen Xizhou has recently become enamored with the sea air and has simply stayed in its original form all day long... Right now, it's perched on its sister's shoulder, its tail tip swaying idly.