# Chapter 2059: The Past
[It is highly recommended to revisit Chapter 2024 (Creation God's Memory) before reading this chapter.]
Breaking through in the Mist Sea was a great taboo, but with Hua Qingying present, this "great taboo" naturally ceased to exist.
Hua Qingying's sword formation barrier only lasted a few breaths, then all the sword shadows vanished without a trace.
But Yun Che, who was close by, only needed to shift his body slightly forward to sense a terrifying chill that penetrated deep into his soul.
*What a formless sword formation barrier. These sword practitioners really love their flashy tricks...* Yun Che silently complained in his mind, retaliating for her having flung him away with a palm strike earlier.
Within the sword formation barrier, Hua Caili had already seated herself, her aura gradually stabilizing, the surrounding whirlpools transforming into a massive storm of profound force.
Perhaps it was because Hua Caili's talent in the Profound Path was too high; various dangers that easily arose during a major realm breakthrough showed no signs in her at all.
Hua Qingying's heartstrings gradually relaxed, and only then did she have the leisure to cast a faint glance at Yun Che.
Feeling the sword immortal senior's gaze proactively directed at him, Yun Che immediately straightened his posture and regained his composure, but couldn't hide his excitement as he said, "Caili truly lives up to being the Divine Maiden of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom..."
"You go rest," Hua Qingying didn't want to hear what he had to say at all, directly cutting off his words. "I am here, so rest assured."
After the calamity of the Abyss Qilin God that day, Hua Caili had been protected, cared for, and healed by Yun Che. And Yun Che's injuries were even more severe, yet for Hua Caili's sake, he had never relaxed.
Towards Yun Che, she found it hard to feel joy, and also hard to feel hatred.
Yun Che wasted no words: "Understood. Thank you for your trouble, Senior."
He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.
"You really are too exhausted," Li Suo whispered. "It's good to take a rest like this."
Hua Caili's heart held no worldly dust; when with him, she was utterly carefree and ethereal. But he not only had to suppress his injuries, his heart was filled with countless cautions and calculations every moment. Every word he spoke required deliberation and weighing...
Li Suo's casual remark gave Yun Che a reason to temporarily let down his guard. He let out a long breath, and as his mental defenses were lowered, an increasingly irresistible wave of fatigue swept over him...
---
Mountains and seas pierced through clouds, immortal winds swirled around.
A man in white robes stood with his hands behind his back, treading on clouds to observe the mountains. The heavens and the earth, vast and indistinct, were beneath his feet.
The Elemental Creation God, Ni Xuan.
"Brother Ni Xuan!"
The clouds parted, and another young man, also dressed in white robes, arrived riding the wind.
He had an extraordinarily handsome appearance, but his long hair was disheveled, his face full of indignation. His robe, which shimmered with strange divine patterns, was damaged in many places, making him look extremely disheveled.
"Mm... mm?" Ni Xuan turned his head, then perked up with great interest. "Oh! Who roughed you up like that? Don't tell me after traveling with me you've developed an interest in women and went after one of your old man's concubines? Let me see... sure enough, there's a shoe print on your butt too?"
"Ah? Where? Where? Hiss... Big Brother, you're messing with me again."
He Su sat down unceremoniously beside Ni Xuan, his eyes almost spitting out fury: "On my way here, I encountered a woman of the Demon Clan. I fought with her... and the result... the result was... was..."
He raised his hand to cover his face, ashamed to speak.
"Oh?" Ni Xuan was four parts surprised, six parts intrigued: "Your Heaven-Breaking Ninety-Nine Swords have already reached great mastery. None of your peers in the God Clan can match you, and I imagine the same goes for the Demon Clan. Could it be that you encountered a high-ranking Demon God?"
He Su shook his head, then lowered his head even more: "She... she... that demon woman, her life aura was similar to mine..."
As the Zhu Tian Crown Prince, even losing to a peer from his own God Clan was utterly unacceptable.
Let alone an opponent from the Demon Clan... and a woman at that.
This was arguably the most devastating blow he had ever suffered in his life.
Ni Xuan frowned.
*Same generation... defeated He Su?*
*When did the Demon Clan produce someone like this?*
*Could it be that little girl Xiao Yuan'er mentioned?*
"Do you know who she is?" Ni Xuan patted his shoulder to comfort him.
"No," He Su ground his teeth. "She said... the loser is not worthy of knowing her name."
"That's not entirely unreasonable," Ni Xuan agreed deeply. "What else did she say?"
"She... she also said," He Su's voice began to tremble, "'What crap Zhu Tian Crown Prince, just a useless fool. Go back to your daddy and cry.'"
"Mm..." Ni Xuan glanced at the red and swollen mark on He Su's left cheek that had been pressed down. "There's no need to repeat it in such detail."
"Big Brother!" He Su suddenly looked up, his face flushed red, his eyes purple: "Never in my life have I suffered such utter humiliation! A mere woman of the Demon Clan, how dare she... how dare..."
"Not only do you look down on the Demon Clan, but you also look down on women. You deserve that fall," Ni Xuan didn't offer a single word of comfort, every word seeming to add fuel to the fire. "I know the shame you feel, but I think it's not a bad thing for you."
After He Su's Heaven-Breaking Sword cultivation reached great perfection, even his father God Mo Er's perpetually stiff face would occasionally soften a little, and the praises from the gods of the God Clan were beyond exaggerated.
This would undoubtedly make him complacent.
"After today's defeat, given your nature, you're definitely unwilling to accept it."
"Of course, I can't accept it." He Su clenched his fists, grinding his teeth. "That damned demon woman even stepped on my head with her foot..."
He took a deep breath and said hatefully, "I've already arranged with her to fight again in the same place five hundred years from now."
"The Great Dao Pagoda Art I created myself will be perfected in at most three hundred years. By then, it will surely take my Desolate God's Power to another level."
His gaze gradually solidified: "The so-called 'perfection' of the Heaven-Breaking Ninety-Nine Swords is actually just the beginning. I feel I've vaguely touched upon the 'No-Formula' realm you mentioned. Anyway... five hundred years is short, but it will definitely be enough to avenge today's shame!"
"Good spirit." Ni Xuan nodded with satisfaction. "A Zhu Tian Crown Prince should be like this."
"Forget about Zhu Tian Crown Prince." He Su waved his hand. "I'd rather be Big Brother Ni Xuan's little brother."
"But," he stood up with a "whoosh," twisting his still-somewhat-painful neck, "I'll have to put our agreement to travel to the lower realm together on hold for today. I can't wait even a moment longer to go back and go into seclusion to cultivate. Big Brother, next time I definitely..."
"Alright, alright," Ni Xuan waved his hand dismissively without a care. "Go do whatever you want. I'll have more fun traveling alone. Every time a woman gets close to you, you act like you've been burned on the ass. People probably think we're... what's it called... 'dragon and yang' lovers."
"'Dragon and yang lovers'? What's that?"
"Get lost, get lost. If you keep yapping, I'll add a footprint to your other cheek too."
---
The same scene, the same sea of clouds and immortal realm, the same two people.
He Su sat on the clouds, his body slanted, his head drooping. In such a posture, no one would believe that this was the son of the First Creation God, the Zhu Tian Crown Prince known throughout the God Clan.
Ni Xuan stepped lightly on a cloud, swaying as he approached. He sized up He Su a few times, thoughtfully: "You, the great Zhu Tian Crown Prince, even if you were ravaged by several hundred sows in a row, you wouldn't be this down in the dumps."
"Big... Brother." He Su looked up, his voice carrying a hint of sorrow.
"Lost again?" Ni Xuan stepped forward and said calmly: "In just five hundred years, your progress has been so great that even I am surprised. But while you were advancing, your opponent wasn't standing still either. Don't take it too hard. Know your shame and then be brave."
"If it were just losing... that would be fine." He Su covered his face with both hands, as if ashamed to show himself.
"Mm?" Ni Xuan's eyes widened a bit, and he carefully sized up the once again battered He Su: "You, you... don't tell me you were actually... by that demon woman... but you're still a virgin!"
"Huh?" He Su was stunned for a moment, then frantically denied: "No, no! Big Brother, where are your thoughts going? It's just... just..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker, his head almost sinking to his knees. After a long while, he said with great difficulty: "When I went to this battle, I brought... Da Huang and Xiao Huang."
"..." Ni Xuan fell silent.
He Su said regretfully: "I thought... the Demon Clan are all insidious and cunning, and they hate the God Clan. When they agreed to the battle, they would definitely set an ambush, so I brought Da Huang and Xiao Huang in case anything happened. But the result... the result..."
Ni Xuan realized: "The result was that she came alone, and you became the insidious and cunning one?"
"Yes..." He Su's entire body was almost curling into a shrimp.
He had never dreamed that one day he would be associated with the words "insidious and cunning."
"And then?" Ni Xuan asked.
He Su said bitterly: "I explained over and over that Da Huang and Xiao Huang were just attendants and would not make a move. As soon as I ordered Da Huang and Xiao Huang to leave, she attacked... I lost, and even Da Huang and Xiao Huang were injured by her."
"Ha? With your progress, plus two Desolate Gods, you still lost to her?" Ni Xuan was genuinely shocked.
"No, it's because I felt guilty. My spirit was three parts weaker before the battle even began, so..."
"A loss is a loss. Stop making excuses." Ni Xuan directly blocked He Su's remaining words: "I imagine that after this battle, her evaluation of you has 'advanced' even further, right?"
At these words, He Su, whose head was already at his knees, almost wished he could stuff it into his shoe.
"She... she said... 'What crap Zhu Tian Crown Prince, not only a useless fool, but also someone who breaks his word, despicable and shameless, and of low character... No, she cursed too filthily, I can't say it.'
"She also said, 'If even the Zhu Tian Crown Prince is like this, then the entire God Clan must be a bunch of petty scoundrels.'"
"Hey, hey, that's going too far." Ni Xuan said with righteous indignation: "How can one person's fault implicate the entire God Clan?"
"Yes, it's really going too far." He Su lifted his head a little.
"I mean you're the one going too far."
The head that had just lifted shrank back again.
"Hahahaha!" Ni Xuan finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. He walked over and pulled the crouching He Su up: "Inherent perceptions are things that are hard to change. You've been raised under the knees of that old stick-in-the-mud Mo Er your whole life. Your perception of the Demon Clan as 'utterly evil,' 'base,' and 'intolerable' is naturally heavier than others'. It's not surprising you acted the way you did today."
"Is it really just... inherent perception?" There was confusion in He Su's eyes.
"It doesn't matter what I say, or what anyone says." Ni Xuan smiled. "Go out and see more. Don't learn from that old stick-in-the-mud, forever holed up in his shabby divine temple like a weathered, smelly rock."
He Su took a few deep breaths, then faced Ni Xuan with a serious expression: "I understand. Big Brother, rest assured. I've arranged with her to fight again in five hundred years. Next time... no matter what, I will wash away this shame."
"Mm?" Ni Xuan showed surprise: "She agreed?"
"At first, she didn't." He Su's eyes darted.
"Of course, if it were me, I wouldn't agree either." Ni Xuan grinned, then suddenly thought of something, his expression turning strange: "You didn't... beg her, did you?"
"..." He Su's throat made a heavy "gulp," then he raised his voice, putting on a brave front: "Anyway... I've already lost all face today. A real man can bend and stretch. As long as she'll fight me again and I can wash away today's shame, begging is no problem."
"Mm... mm hm." Ni Xuan nodded, and then...
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Unrestrained laughter carried for thousands of miles, causing the mountains at their feet to tremble.
He Su's composure finally shattered, his face turning red and then purple in just a few breaths: "Big Brother, stop laughing. If I didn't beg her, what if... what if she spreads what happened today? It's fine if I lose face myself, but if it involves the entire God Clan, then... then..."
He couldn't even finish his own sentence.
After his laughter, when Ni Xuan turned back, his face actually showed some relief: "A man who can bend and stretch. Very good, very good. You and your father God are finally becoming less and less alike. It's not in vain that I've spent these years... hehehe."
"Uh... Big Brother, are you... praising me?" He Su asked weakly.
"Don't think too much." Ni Xuan put his arm around his shoulder. "Come, I recently discovered a great place. I guarantee you'll feel much better once you get there."
"Alright. Big Brother, believe me, in five hundred years, I definitely, definitely, definitely will..."
"Believe, believe. Let's go!"
---
"Big Brother, I lost again... but this battle was thrilling. I used all my divine powers. I'm not satisfied, but I have no regrets."
"This time, she was the one who asked for another battle in five hundred years."
---
"Damnit... just a little more, but I still lost."
"However, during this battle, I suddenly realized a place where the Great Dao Pagoda Art can be perfected... I plan to try it out on Da Huang and Xiao Huang first."
"Three hundred years from now, I'll fight again. Third time's the... well, fourth time. I definitely won't lose again."
---
"Hahahaha, exhilarating! These three hundred years of bitter cultivation were absolutely worth it! Suddenly, I think having such an opponent is actually a blessing."
"This time, we agreed to fight again in two hundred years!"
---
"Fifteen days of fierce battle, no winner. Hmph, that woman doesn't dare mock me anymore. Her progress is clearly slower than mine. Next time, she's bound to lose!"
"I directly asked for a battle in a hundred years... I still can't let Father God know about this. Once I defeat that demon woman, I'll go show off to him."
---
"...A hundred years from now!"
---
"...Fifty years from now!"
---
"...Ten years from now!"
---
"...She and I have agreed, from now on, we will fight once every year!"
---
Throughout the God Clan, it was known that the Zhu Tian Crown Prince He Su had undergone a great change in temperament. He cultivated bitterly day and night, making endless progress. The Great Dao Pagoda Art he created himself gave birth to the immensely physically powerful Desolate God Clan, and his Heaven-Breaking Ninety-Nine Swords had reached a state of perfection, even spontaneously generating swords beyond swords.
The entire God Clan, from top to bottom, was amazed and praised.
The Zhu Tian God Emperor Mo Er was also immensely gratified.
...