Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 81
Chapter 81: Ice Spring
While comforting Bai Xingxian, Yin Changli kept his divine sense focused on Xiang Haikui.
Noticing her cup was empty, he freed a hand to conjure another glass of orange juice and sent a voice transmission: “You don’t think I’m teaching Little Bai this way because I harbor resentment toward the Celestial Clan, do you?”
Xiang Haikui finished gnawing on her venison leg and wiped her mouth.
“Not at all. After all, your teaching methods have always been…”
Bizarre.
Having experienced them herself back during the intensive training at Cave of Ten Thousand Bones, she added, “However, there is one thing I don’t quite understand.”
Yin Changli replied, “Speak.”
Xiang Haikui couldn’t figure it out.
“Why didn’t Shuluoye do it himself? Why did he have to father a son and leave the job to him?”
Yin Changli fell silent for a moment before asking, “Are you trying to ask me why he didn’t commit patricide to seize power?”
Xiang Haikui: “…”
“After the former Celestial Emperor died, why didn’t he fight his way back up to the Upper Realm? Wasn’t his Inspiration even stronger than Jing ran’s?”
“By the time the former Emperor passed, Shuluoye was already far inferior to his younger brother.”
Yin Changli did not elaborate in detail, offering only a gentle sigh.
“Besides, back then, Shuluoye didn’t have so many grand ideas. Many of these ‘truths’ were things he slowly came to realize only after being banished to the Underworld—standing at the lowest point of his life and watching the world change through centuries. It didn’t happen overnight.”
“But by that time, because he had continuously used himself for experiments in severing Inspiration, his soul was too severely damaged. He was fated not to live much longer.”
Xiang Haikui nodded, glancing at Little Bai, whose eyes were swollen from crying.
If Little Bai could overcome his nature, then just as Yin Changli said, helping him ascend the throne was indeed the path of least cost to secure comprehensive peace for every race in this world.
However, compared to “world peace,” she cared far more about Bai Xingxian’s future.
Shuluoye was exceptionally formidable—a man of profound vision, foresight, capability, and strategy.
Yet, whether he qualified as a good father was debatable.
Little Bai’s existence felt eerily like a laboratory mouse born precisely to serve a purpose.
Noticing the faint shadow in her eyes, Yin Changli guessed her thoughts and quickly added, “Little Kui, the plan didn’t come first before Little Bai.”
Xiang Haikui raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
Yin Changli explained, “Shuluoye was originally crafting divine artifacts; Little Bai’s birth was an accident. Only then did he halt the artifacts’ creation and devote all his mind to Little Bai. As a result, the artifact was left unfinished, and he dumped both his son and the project onto me.”
Hearing him explain it like this, Xiang Haikui felt much better inside.
Mainly because when he was telling Little Bai about his origins, he hadn’t mentioned Little Bai’s mother once.
Looking at it now, the backstory probably wasn’t a pleasant one, which was why he kept quiet about it.
These big shots focused on grand ambitions usually didn’t have much room for romantic Sentimentality anyway.
Having been through so many storms herself, Xiang Haikui was deeply aware that she was destined to be an ordinary person.
It wasn’t a matter of ability, but a lack of vision—just as Han qi had said, she navigated life purely by “love, hate, likes, and dislikes.”
And she was determined to stick with that to the very end, stubborn and unrepentant.
In fact, even after settling things here, her desire to return to Earth and retire was as strong as ever.
Yin Changli observed her closely, not letting a single subtle expression slip by as he tried to read her mind.
“I’ll figure something out.”
It was a sudden, out-of-the-blue statement. Xiang Haikui looked confused.
“Huh?”
“Regarding your return to your hometown, I’ll figure something out,” Yin Changli promised.
“I brought you here, so I’m responsible for sending you back.”
Xiang Haikui parted her lips slightly and offered a word of thanks.
“Though… you should focus on your proper business first.”
Yin Changli replied without a second’s hesitation, “They are both proper business, equally important.”
Xiang Haikui drew back her gaze, lifted her orange juice, and downed it in one go.
“Senior.”
Yin Changli: “Hmm?”
Xiang Haikui: “Little Bai’s snot is about to run down onto your leg.”
Yin Changli froze.
Looking down, his features immediately bunched up in disgust.
Extending a single finger against Little Bai’s forehead, he shoved him off to the side.
Xiang Haikui let out a laugh.
Just then, aside from the sound of Bai Xingxian’s crying, a foul stench drifted to her nose, so pungent it nearly made her throw up the venison she had just eaten.
She turned to see Lu Xiqiao walking in from the rear hall.
The foul odor was emanating directly from him.
Xiang Haikui gagged, pinching her nose.
“Did you fall into a cesspool or something?”
Lu Xiqiao was already numb to the smell.
“Sister Kui, don’t be disgusted by me. I’m just expelling turbid qi.”
He cast a grateful look toward Yin Changli.
“It’s a cultivation technique Senior Yin taught me. He said purging this turbid qi works far better than using pure qi to suppress it.”
Senior Yin is so approachable—he isn’t strict at all like Sister Kui and Little Bai made him out to be.
He isn’t even worried that my smell will stink up his temporary palace.
Yin Changli opened his fluff fan and began fanning himself gently, his lips slightly pursed.
“You’re welcome.”
“Stop right there!”
Xiang Haikui held up a palm to signal Lu Xiqiao to keep his distance.
“Just stand over there.”
If he came any closer, she was truly going to vomit.
Supporting herself against the tabletop, she stood up.
“I’m going back to my room to cultivate in seclusion.”
As she turned around, her gaze swept across Bai Xingxian and Lu Xiqiao, and she let out a conflicted sigh.
Look at the three of them.
Lu Xiqiao was struggling between “pure virtue” and “foul wickedness.”
Little Bai was about to face the struggle between “instinct” and “humanity.”
And as for herself, her Tian Kuang was fully maxed out, but her personal level couldn’t keep up, leaving her on the verge of madness at any given moment.
They truly qualified as the most miserable trio of the year.
Yin Changli watched her retreating back.
“Once your physical injuries have healed a bit, I will take you all to a certain place.”
…
At the end of the day, all three of them were at a critical stage of mind-cultivation.
Once their state of mind settled down, their cultivation levels would make rapid progress.
Yin Changli knew of a secret ice spring location that would be beneficial to all three of them.
Xiang Haikui spent a month recuperating most of her physical injuries.
After Yin Changli finished settling affairs in Bian City, they set off for the ice spring.
As usual, Little Bai pulled the carriage.
The little black ball ran for a solid day or two before finally reaching their destination.
“We’re here, Uncle.”
Xiang Haikui heard Little Bai sneeze several times in a row and couldn’t help wrapping her heavy cloak tighter around herself.
“Is it this cold outside?”
Yin Changli opened the palace doors.
“We are currently outside the Ice Spring Mountain; it isn’t that cold yet.”
“He’s only cold because he doesn’t have fur,” Lu Xiqiao chimed in upon hearing Yin Changli’s assessment, stepping out of the palace without fear.
The moment he stepped outside, he let out a sharp “Ah!”
Xiang Haikui’s heart tensed.
“What’s wrong?”
Lu Xiqiao: “Oh, nothing. Just got punched by a gust of wind. Good thing Little Bai grabbed hold of me, or I might’ve been punched straight into the sky.”
Xiang Haikui drew in a sharp breath, causing Yin Changli to frown as well—likely because as a cold-blooded species himself, his perception of cold was different.
“Wait.”
Yin Changli reached out and produced a small brazier, handing it over to her.
“This is a Wind-Stilling Stove.”
Xiang Haikui hurriedly took it into her hands; now was not the time for pleasantries.
Clutching the Wind-Stilling Stove, Xiang Haikui stepped out of the palace.
Standing at the foot of the mountain, she could already feel the terrifying chill of this realm.
“If it’s already like this outside the mountain, wouldn’t people be frozen into popsicles inside?”
“Which is why I cannot accompany you inside.”
Yin Changli was wrapped up even thicker than she was.
Having just awakened from his hibernation period, getting close to the ice spring might cause him to fall back into a deep sleep.
“But don’t be afraid. I’ve summoned a trustworthy clan member to protect you… all.”
“That shouldn’t be necessary,” Xiang Haikui felt it wasn’t needed.
With the three of them together, unless Dugu He, the Celestial Emperor, or Han qi came charging at them, nobody else stood a chance.
Yin Changli looked at her intently.
“Just to be safe. After all… neither of those two is particularly bright, and you lack experience…”
Thinking about it, Xiang Haikui realized he had a point. Still: “You’re calling one of your clansmen?”
How much stronger could they be than the three of us?
Yin Changli smiled.
“The men of the Fox Clan are exceptionally clever. When I am not with the clan, they are the ones responsible for taking care of our people.”
The Shanhai Fox Clan.
Xiang Haikui’s eyes instantly lit up.
“He’s here.”
Yin Changli looked toward a certain direction.
Xiang Haikui followed his gaze, only to see a black-robed man with a square face, tiny eyes, and a look that couldn’t even be called average.
“Fox Clan?”
“Yes, the Rock Fox Clan. Exceptionally clever.”
The corner of Xiang Haikui’s mouth twitched.
This Rock Fox Clan definitely carried lineage from the Tibetan fox—the species with the absolute lowest aesthetic appeal in the fox realm.
“Are Nine-Tailed Foxes not clever?”
“They are,” Yin Changli nodded.
To this moment, she still couldn’t smell any scent on him, so he decided to stop beating around the bush.
“But how could I possibly let a handsome, clever Nine-Tailed Fox accompany you during your secluded cultivation? This one right here is the absolute ugliest—without exception—out of three thousand Rock Foxes I handpicked myself.”
