Chapter 3: Qu Hanxin

Qu Yi and the others had been cultivating inside the Cunjie Ball for ten years. On Tianhua Star, Qing Wugui finally completed his external trials and headed to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains.

By now, Qing Wugui had progressed from the early stage of leaving the body to slaying all the experts at the cultivation sects in the western part of the Tianhua Continent. He had now reached the later stage of this phase.

In this later stage, Qing Wugui was filled with an unrelenting killing intent, having reached a profound level of mastery. A single strike from him could tear hearts apart and shatter souls, ending their reincarnation.

Now, Qing Wugui returned to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains with Mu Han. Even those over twenty demon beasts in the Divided Mind stage dared not look directly at him, as if just glancing at him would cause their souls to fragment.

At this moment, the three leaders of the Heavenly Punishment Mountains—Tianyin Bug, Bingxue Ant, and Three-Tailed Dragon—stood respectfully before Qing Wugui.

After years of killing, Qing Wugui exuded a killing aura. He glanced coldly at the three beast leaders and asked, “Wuqu hasn’t returned after such a long time?”

It turned out that after his trials on Tianhua Continent, Qing Wugui found no opponents left, so he thought of Qu Yi and wanted to reunite with him. Since Qu Yi hadn’t sent any messages via the communication token, worried something might be wrong, Qing Wugui came to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains to inquire.

“Fellow Qing Wu, our master indeed hasn’t given us any news,” said Three-Tailed Dragon anxiously. “But we’re sure the soul shackles in our souls haven’t disappeared, so our master must be safe.”

Hearing this, Qing Wugui felt somewhat relieved. If the soul shackles remained, it meant the spirit instrument hadn’t died, and thus Qu Yi must also be alive.

“It seems Qu Yi is in some special place,” Qing Wugui thought.

Seeing Qing Wugui deep in thought, Tianyin Bug whispered, “Fellow Qing Wu, why don’t you stay in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains? If our master returns, we’ll inform you right away.”

Qing Wugui gave a stern look and forced a smile. “No need. Since Wuqu isn’t dead, I’m relieved. Here, leave one of Wuqu’s communication tokens with Three-Tailed Dragon. Three-Tailed Dragon, leave your spiritual imprint in my token. If Wuqu returns to Tianhua Star, inform me immediately.”

Qu Yi had controlled many people and crafted numerous communication tokens. Each planet had at least one subordinate with one of these tokens, allowing him to monitor situations from afar.

Three-Tailed Dragon immediately left his spiritual imprint in Qing Wugui’s communication token.

“Alright, Tianhua Star is now in your hands. I’m going to other planets to continue my training.” Qing Wu Gui put away his communication device, immediately pulled Mu Han along, and flew away.
The Three-Tailed Dragon, seeing Qing Wu Gui leave, said with some admiration, “This Qing Wu Gui has advanced so quickly! From the early stage of leaving the body to the later stage—it’s only taken a few years. Judging from his aura, he’s likely about to reach the early stage of Divine Dissipation.”
Tianyin Bug and Bingxue Ant nodded in agreement.
…
At that time, Qu Yi was still inside the Dimensional Sphere, sitting quietly by the lake, fully focused on scanning the Dual Path.
Twenty years had passed since the Instrument God taught him the Dual Path. Qu Yi had been sitting by the lake, using all his spiritual energy to scan the formation.
The others in the Dimensional Sphere also did the same as Qu Yi—finding their own spots and entering seclusion to cultivate.
The only major incident was when Bai Man, after being pregnant for ten years, was finally about to give birth.
While others carried a pregnancy for ten months, Bai Man, a cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage, took ten years to give birth.
Wuyuan, Golden Qilin, Illusory Dance Butterfly, Li Heng, Liang Qu, Shuo Bai, Silver-Faced Howling Dog, and Blue Dragon all woke up from their seclusion and gathered at Tingfeng Residence. Of course, only Illusory Dance Butterfly was allowed inside Bai Man’s room.
Throughout the entire delivery process, no one thought to inform Qu Yi.
After Bai Man let out a cry of pain, she remained in labor, and everyone anxiously gathered outside Tingfeng Residence, worried about her condition. Strangely, none of them thought to inform Qu Yi.
After Bai Man gave birth to a boy, they realized they should have informed Qu Yi during her labor. But now that the baby was born, none of them dared to tell him, fearing his anger.
Bai Man was also very sad and angry that Qu Yi hadn’t shown up during her labor, so she didn’t tell him that she had given birth to a child.
Thus, for over a decade, Qu Yi had no idea he had become a father.
Suddenly, Qu Yi, who had been sitting quietly by the lake, opened his eyes and exclaimed in ecstasy, “Instrument God, Dual Path! I’ve scanned 30% of it. My soul realm has reached the early stage of Divine Dissipation!”
As soon as he spoke, the Instrument God appeared by the lake.
“Qu Yi, very good, really good,” the Instrument God said with a strange cackling laugh.
Immediately afterward, Wuyuan, Golden Qilin, Illusory Dance Butterfly, Li Heng, Liang Qu, Shuo Bai, Silver-Faced Howling Dog, and Blue Dragon all came out, each with a mocking smile on their face.
Qu Yi was stunned. What was wrong with them? They all looked like they were enjoying his misfortune.

Oh, by the way, why hasn’t senior sister come?
As this thought crossed Qu Yi’s mind, Bai Man appeared, accompanied by a tall, handsome young man.
Bai Man and the young man said nothing.
“Senior sister, you’re so beautiful,” Qu Yi said tentatively, noticing Bai Man’s uneasy expression.
“Han Xin, say hello to your father,” Bai Man replied without even glancing at Qu Yi, turning instead to the boy beside her.
Father? Qu Yi was stunned!
“Father!” the boy said calmly, showing no signs of excitement, as if Qu Yi were a stranger.
Qu Yi remained in shock.
“Alright, Han Xin, we’ve said hello. Let’s return to Tingfeng Residence to continue practicing,” Bai Man said, taking the boy’s hand and flying away immediately.
It was then that Qu Yi realized he had been practicing all this time—twenty years had passed. Bai Man, with her large belly, must have given birth during that period. So this young man was his own child.
Ah!
Qu Yi let out a loud cry of anguish.
His wife gave birth without him by her side, and the child grew up without his care—he had failed completely in his role as a father.
Han Xin?
Qu Yi suddenly remembered Bai Man calling the child by that name. Didn’t that clearly reveal her feelings? Had she already grown cold toward him?
With these thoughts, Qu Yi finally realized the seriousness of the situation. Looking at the dozen or so people around him who were smiling maliciously, he had no time to retaliate and immediately flew toward Tingfeng Residence.
Inside Tingfeng Residence, Bai Man was guiding Qu Han Xin in his training.
By now, Qu Han Xin had reached the early stage of the Golden Dan realm. This could only be attributed to his excellent physical attributes—he was after all a being created from Qu Yi’s essence and Bai Man’s vital energy after they had transcended their physical forms. With such natural talent, his progress in cultivation was fast.
Moreover, Qu Han Xin’s physique was unique—he possessed five Golden Dans in his dantian, corresponding to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This was different from Qu Yi’s Golden Dans, which were located within his five internal organs, but it still showed his exceptional aptitude for practicing all five elemental cultivation methods.
“Han Xin, launch all five swords at once!” Bai Man commanded coldly.
Qu Han Xin pointed, and five streams of true energy emerged ahead—five swords of golden, green, blue, red, and yellow colors, all shooting forward together.

Qu Yi had already arrived at Tingfengju, but he didn’t fly down yet. He examined his son carefully, growing more and more fond of him. The son had been raised solely by Bai Man and seemed very steady, as well as diligent in his cultivation.

“Senior sister, I’m here,” Qu Yi suddenly landed beside Bai Man, smiling.

Seeing that this father was as young as herself in appearance but had a perpetually cheerful, unstable personality, Qu Hanxin felt extremely uncomfortable and immediately flew away.

Bai Man also wanted to fly away, but Qu Yi held her back.

Seeing his son fly away, Qu Yi thought it wasn’t urgent to build a bond with him. The priority now was to win back Bai Man’s heart.

“Senior sister, did it hurt when you gave birth?” Qu Yi asked, smiling at Bai Man.

“It didn’t hurt physically, but it hurt emotionally!” Bai Man’s face turned icy.

Qu Yi immediately fell silent. He circled Bai Man several times, making her feel extremely uncomfortable, before sighing heavily.

“Senior sister, I truly regret it, but what’s the use? The son is already here. To show my remorse, I decide to sit by the lake and meditate for a hundred years, hoping for your forgiveness,” Qu Yi said, shaking his head in frustration.

Then, he bent down as if to fly away.

Bai Man became anxious immediately. She grabbed Qu Yi and cried, “You always bully me! You weren’t there when I gave birth to Hanxin. Am I not allowed to be angry? I was just waiting for you to sincerely apologize and comfort me. Now you want to go cultivate again? Do you want to drive me mad?”

Qu Yi hugged Bai Man tightly and rushed into the room. The two lay in bed, still dressed, hugging each other closely.

“It’s okay, senior sister. Tell me everything that’s wronged you over these past years. You can scold me however you want—just as long as you’re happy,” Qu Yi said softly.

Held by Qu Yi, Bai Man smelled his masculine scent again, which made her intoxicated. Half of her anger dissipated. But she remained silent, lost in thought. When anger surged again, she punched Qu Yi’s chest a few times, releasing all her resentment.

“Senior sister, let me discuss something with you. The son’s name is Hanxin. I don’t think it’s good. Can we change it?” Qu Yi suddenly said, seeing Bai Man lying peacefully in his arms.

“No. I’ve forgiven you, but I want to leave you a lasting memory so you can never ignore me again,” Bai Man shouted reflexively.

Qu Yi was speechless; it seemed he would have to do a lot in the future to restore his image in Bai Man’s eyes.