📖 Chapter 1220 - Say That Again?

16 Jan, 2024

Listening to Little Missy’s hushed voice, Wang Baole grinned. He remembered the good old days when he teased her often, and he also recalled his time in the Federation, way back when he was just starting on the path of cultivation.

For example, the time he ate chicken drumsticks on the airship to Ethereal Dao College, and the way he kicked people’s crotches after becoming a prefect.

He also remembered his childhood dreams.

He had dreamed of losing weight, of returning home in triumph, of… becoming Federation President.

He could still remember his days of hard toil in pursuit of this dream, as well as the high officials’ autobiographies that he’d read.

The past flew by in a flash, life was like a fleeting dream… Inadvertent reminiscence gave rise to deep melancholy. Just like leaves that gradually changed color with the passing of the four seasons…

“Without realizing it, I have also changed…” Wang Baole murmured.

“I’ve grown up.”

Wang Baole sighed with emotion.

Unknowingly, he had entered the world of cultivation for two hundred years. At least, that was what it felt like. In terms of specifics, even Wang Baole himself wasn’t clear.

This wasn’t due to the passage of time. Normally speaking, it was already a miracle for someone to reach Wang Baole’s realm in a mere two hundred years.

But for Wang Baole, such a miracle instead seemed only logical. After all, as he learned more and more about the truths of this world, Wang Baole realized deeply that he and the lifeforms of this universe were fundamentally different.

The key to the vagueness of his memories and the changes in his personality was the fact that he experienced far too much in this limited timespan. In particular, the past life trial on Planet Heaven’s Mandate had an unprecedented impact on his mentality.

Thus, Wang Baole often felt that he had become old. It wasn’t his body or soul that had aged, but rather his heart.

There were many things now that were no longer mysteries to him. But because of this, the passion of his youth had also faded.

“The price of seeing clearly.” Wang Baole looked at the starry sky in the distance and smiled foolishly. On a whim, he took out the wishing bottle and made a wish.

“Senior, I wish… for my mentality to return to the days when I was young and passionate.”

The wishing bottle was silent. In fact, it even autonomously broke free from Wang Baole’s grasp and returned to the storage pouch with a whoosh, as if it was disgusted.

Seeing this, Wang Baole let out a rare laugh.

Even if the color of the leaf changed, it was still a leaf. He was still himself, and the boy of the past was still alive in his heart.

“That’s good…” Wang Baole gently waved his right hand, causing ripples to appear all around him. As the ripples spread in all directions… the space beneath him once again became a calm water surface, and Wang Baole himself once again became a falling droplet of water. A nine-ringed ripple spread out across the water surface.

Nine hundred years ago, he hadn’t been born yet, but that didn’t matter. It could be said that even throughout the entire Never-Ending Dao Domain, there were few people more suited for Reflected Time than Wang Baole.

That was because his original form, the black wooden board, had seen the entire history of the stele world. From beginning until now, he… had always been there.

Thus, as he pointed his hand toward the water surface, the whole world seemed to change. In an instant, he appeared… in the same place, but nine hundred years ago.

It was an empty void.

With another wave of his finger, more ripples appeared in the water, and he repeated the process again… Just like that, despite staying in the same place, the scenery around Wang Baole changed again and again as he calmly traveled through the river of time. Eventually, he arrived at the beginning of this epoch, and then… at the epoch of the godlings.

Soon, he passed the zombie epoch, then the epoch where he was a devil blade, and the epoch he spent as a hateful cultivator… Wang Baole’s eyes were perfectly serene as he watched all of this pass by. At some point, Little Missy exited the mask and sat down by his side, silently watching the changing scenery in the rippling water surface.

After an unknown amount of time passed, the changing of the images in the water… stopped. At the current moment, there was a little white deer walking through the starry sky, and a little girl sitting on its back. In front of them was… a tall and straight white-haired figure, with a sense of age that couldn’t be hidden.

As soon as she saw this figure, Little Missy trembled. The white-haired figure in the image suddenly paused.

At the same time, Wang Baole lifted his right hand and pointed at the water surface. The world around him changed again, and his surroundings were replaced by the scene in the water. Standing in front of him was the tall white-haired figure whose back seemed full of the vicissitudes of life. At this moment, the little white deer closed its eyes and dozed off, as did the little girl. It was as if there was a natural law preventing past lives from meeting their present selves.

“Dad…” Looking at the back of the white-haired figure, Little Missy trembled.

“Senior.” Wang Baole cupped his fists and bowed with a lowered head.

The white-haired figure slowly turned around, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. He was handsome and elegant at the same time, and his gaze was gentle like an elder surveying their juniors.

He was the Paragon from the outside world who had appeared at the end of Sun De’s final life. Wang Baole knew that this person’s surname was Wang, but he didn’t bother asking for his given name.

Names weren’t important. The important thing was that they had met again here, across the river of time.

“You’ve gotten big.” The white-haired middle-aged man looked at Wang Baole and Wang Yiyi with a gratified smile on his face.

“Dad!” Little Missy couldn’t hold back any longer. Tears streaming down her face, she ran over and threw herself into her father’s arms, sobbing like a child.

Wang Baole didn’t interrupt them. He took a few steps back and turned to look at the sleeping little white deer, giving Little Missy and her father some space while simultaneously observing this past self of his.

When he was on Planet Heaven’s Mandate, he had experienced the life of this little white deer through its own eyes. This was his first time seeing himself from this perspective.

“I look quite happy.” Wang Baole smiled. He could sense that the little white deer was happy from the bottom of its heart. Obviously, accompanying the young Wang Yiyi made it completely content.

Time passed, and Wang Baole didn’t listen in on the conversation between Wang Yiyi and her father. If Wang Yiyi’s father didn’t want him to hear anything, Wang Baole would be incapable of doing so no matter how hard he tried. Thus, he simply sealed off his senses and waited.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Wang Baole heard a voice.

“Little friend.”

The kind and gentle voice caused Wang Baole to immediately turn around. Looking at Wang Yiyi’s father in front of him, he bowed respectfully.

“Father-in-law, you can just call me Baole.” Wang Baole blinked. He had already thought things through. There was a chance that as soon as he called the other party “father-in-law”, he would be kicked out and sent directly back to the present time. But if he didn’t take this chance to say it, he felt like he wouldn’t have another opportunity.

Thus, he tried saying it…

‘Maybe he’ll tacitly agree… after all, I’m pretty exceptional, right? I… I’m not afraid. Nope, not scared at all.’

Wang Baole lowered his head, heart pounding. As he hurriedly comforted himself, he heard Wang Yiyi’s father, whose tone of voice had obviously changed.

“Say that again?”

Wang Baole blinked…