Chapter 670: Name

The reason why Tianyi tried to recreate his original body hundreds of thousands of years ago was to conceive a child and fulfill his mother’s wish. Because of various reasons and bottlenecks, it was delayed. By the time he could successfully recreate his body—at the immortal level, in fact, a divine-level flesh-and-blood avatar was not impossible for the current him—his mother no longer responded to him.

Tianyi’s eyes narrowed. Having a child now would be incredibly irresponsible, especially considering his future plan to save his mother. That was not to say there weren’t any benefits.

“Have you thought it through?” Tianyi asked, staring into Daoyi’s eyes.

Caught off guard by Tianyi’s unprecedentedly serious face, Daoyi stilled. Tianyi did not hide his plans from her or the dangers. Compared to him, she was only more logical and could find any fallacy caused by emotions in his plan.

In fact, Daoyi did not approve of Tianyi’s plan. Compared to the benefits, the risks and aftereffects of failure were too disproportionate. True, she received grace from Mengfei, but when the chance of success was too low, she did not think Mengfei would approve of Tianyi’s actions either. Still, she knew what Tianyi’s bottom line was. She listed the cons and myriad dangers but never directly persuaded him to give up.

Daoyi would not reject Tianyi or her mother-in-law’s request for a child. When she decided to marry Tianyi, she had already expected to bear his child. If given a choice, she would rather not have a child because she did not think she could give them love. Since she couldn’t fulfill her duties as a mother, why should she bring such a child into the world—for them to suffer?

Thankfully, Tianyi could make up for what she lacked.

That was Daoyi’s previous thought process. And now, she wanted a child of her own volition. The concerts helped rekindle her long-lost emotions, but they weren’t enough. She needed more stimulation. A part of her mind mocked herself for being so utilitarian. Unfortunately, she hadn’t regained enough of her empathy to develop guilt.

“Yes,” Daoyi said. “It might be a good thing. Although I don’t think I’d be one of those influenced, a child would strengthen your resolve and willpower. It might even make it easier to free Mother.”

It wasn’t her intent to use this to manipulate Tianyi, but her true thoughts. Daoyi knew more than anyone how much her master loved Tianyi. The only reason she was treated so well was not because of the relationship between master and disciple but because of her relationship with Tianyi.

When she married Tianyi, Mengfei had treated her much better. The difference between Tianyi’s junior sister and wife was stark. There might have been some love from master to disciple, but it paled in comparison to the love she received as Tianyi’s wife.

Daoyi didn’t blame Mengfei. Her master didn’t deliberately hide her past from her, and Daoyi knew of her master’s emotionally stunted growth.

Ultimately, Tianyi didn’t find any excuses. The two of them entered the Nine Heavens Palace in his inner universe and got busy. The couple stayed busy for nearly a thousand years.

In the Three Thousand Immortal Realms, even the children of divinities were born mortal. Granted, their divine heritage made it effortless for them to reach the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, and becoming an immortal monarch only took a matter of time. Even if they just coasted along based on their talents, they could easily become immortal sovereigns so long as they did not die young.

Of course, this was only in the Heavenly Immortal Court’s records of the primordial era. Immortals having children was rare, and divinities even rarer, so the records were few and far between. To this end, Tianyi even sought out the Concealed Emperor for confirmation.

Although this was the ironclad law for the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Tianyi could have his child born at a much higher realm if he so wished to. Ultimately, he decided against it.

Tianyi didn’t think it was impossible for divinities to bear children born at the Immortal Realm. Like what Tianyi did, they would need to birth them inside their divine world, which could ignore the influence of the Heavenly Dao, yet none of them did.

Sometimes, being born strong was not always a good thing—especially since it was a stable environment. Tianyi recalled all the innate gods he had encountered in the systems he conquered and visited. They might be strong, but they were lacking in many areas, especially in willpower. Many divine children of the primordial era became divinities of faith because their willpower could not last any longer.

He also wanted to enhance his child’s potential as much as possible. Because of this, Tianyi did further research, and his Law of Life reached the divine level in the process.

When Daoyi successfully conceived, she immediately sensed it, as did Tianyi. It wasn’t that he used his divine sense to scan her body. Doing so, especially against someone at the same level, was like stripping them naked— incredibly rude. Although Daoyi was Tianyi’s wife, he could not just pull her clothes off as he liked.

The reason Tianyi sensed it was because they were inside the Nine Heavens Universe. When a newly gestating soul appeared in Daoyi’s womb, he immediately knew. Had it been outside, he would have needed Daoyi to inform him first.

Call him hypocritical, but Tianyi absolutely did not want a reincarnated soul for a child. Although he wouldn’t abort the child if that was the case, why be worried when he could nip the problem in the bud? That was part of the reason why it took so long for Daoyi to conceive, even though Tianyi willed everything in his favor.

Tianyi found himself incredibly nervous and constantly accompanied Daoyi, practically glued at the hips.

“Tianyi, you don’t have to be so worried. Even if I’m attacked and my stomach is pierced, nothing will happen to our child. I’m, after all, still a divinity,” Daoyi said helplessly. Sometimes, she wondered if having a child lessened her emotions. Otherwise, why was she showing none of Tianyi’s concerns?

“Of course I know that,” Tianyi said. “But you know how my body is. I’m worried that the avatar I used had defects, causing the pregnancy to fail!”

Daoyi sighed. She pulled Tianyi, and he disappeared while she remained. Tianyi hadn’t really disappeared but entered Daoyi’s divine world. Normally, most divinities would not even bring their closest partner into their divine worlds, not to mention their partners might not be willing because their ability to save themselves would dramatically fall inside another divine world.

However, Daoyi knew Tianyi’s strength. Even inside her divine world, she had no doubt she would be in trouble if Tianyi wanted to deal with her. Knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses was a trait Daoyi prided herself on. Since she knew she was powerless in front of Tianyi, why not lower all defenses and strengthen their sense of trust?

Tianyi didn’t mind either because his Nine Heavens Universe was his divine world, and even if a peak divinity appeared, he had the confidence to slay them. Well, as long as they did not make trouble in the core solar system. And the one that entered Daoyi’s Life-and-Death Divine World was just one of his many conduits. If it was lost, so be it.

He appeared at the core of Daoyi’s divine world. Although faint, a sphere glowed. Its fluctuations sent ripples of light into the surroundings. This was a direct manifestation of Daoyi’s pregnancy. With Tianyi’s keen senses, he could see the growing radiance of the sphere.

Still, Tianyi was worried, so Daoyi generously allowed his conduit to stay and monitor the pregnancy for any accident.

While Daoyi stayed on Ninth Heaven inside the Nine Heavens Universe, it didn’t mean her mind was confined to it.

Tianyi had not forgotten the dangers of the Heavenly Dao. Since it could possess his mother, what about his unborn child? Granted, Tianyi knew that a large part of the possession relied on the Heaven Seal, but what if? He wanted to guard against any accidents.

So until his child was born, Tianyi did not plan on letting Daoyi return to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. That didn’t mean she couldn’t access it. He created a puppet she could manipulate from within the Nine Heavens Universe using his conduit as a link.

And right now, he was entertaining a relative-like figure he had known since the early days of his second life.

“It was just like yesterday when I brought you to see my good friend in the Northern Region on my mount. In the blink of an eye, you’re already preparing to have your own child.” The speaker was a mature man with dense black hair, an upright posture, and a medicinal scent. Anyone who saw him would mistake the man for an alchemist.

However, Tianyi knew the man was not an alchemist but a pill that had gained spirituality and taken human form. He was none other than Elder Shan, the seemingly aged cultivator Tianyi had known in his youth.

The reason for his appearance was because he had advanced his cultivation. Because he was not human, Elder Shan’s lifespan was not limited in the same way. Thanks to the Heavenly Immortal Court’s reign over the entire system and his connection to Tianyi, Elder Shan gained access to many rare and wondrous resources. Those resources were the reason he could advance.

Elder Shan’s original form was an immortal-rank pill. Given enough time, he could reach the Pathfinding Immortal Realm, but advancing beyond that would be difficult. The easiest way would be to raise his body—the pill’s rank. However, that would take many materials, but the one thing Tianyi had more than anything was energy. The second thing he had an abundance of was raw materials.

Once Elder Shan’s pill rank advanced, it was as if he experienced nirvana and rebirth. So, his current, more youthful form was a result of this process.

Hanging around Elder Shan’s neck was a black-scaled and furred scarf. The only strange thing about it was the sharp horn on the skinned animal’s head that had not been removed. Suddenly, the scarf opened its eyes, revealing that it was not really a skinned animal scarf but a living animal.

Tianyi stared at the Pill Qilin. After entering the Immortal Realm, Dandan stayed mostly in his inner universe. It was only after it could not absorb any essence of chaos that it left and hung around Elder Shan. Unlike the latter, he had absorbed Tianyi’s blood, and because of this, he could use Tianyi’s energy as a resource to upgrade himself. Compared to Elder Shan, it was much less difficult.

Thinking back, Tianyi felt that Dandan only took from him and didn’t help him much on his road. He looked away. Well, it wasn’t that important. At least it didn’t turn into a spider like Daoyi’s spiritual beast. Now, it was the divine beast of her Life-and-Death World. Shuijing shared prosperity and longevity with the divine world. In other words, it was a failsafe against any accidents.

“Elder Shan, that was over a hundred thousand years ago. In my opinion, it’s already considered very late to have a child now,” Tianyi said.

Elder Shan nodded. “Considering what I’ve seen, you’re not wrong. I was inconsiderate, considering only my own circumstances. Humans have a much more troublesome process of procreation.”

Tianyi’s lips twitched, which he felt hadn’t happened in a long time. Did going up the ranks make Elder Shan crank up his humor skills? He glanced at Dandan, who had swiftly gone back to pretending to be a scarf.

He sighed. It was joined by Elder Shan. “Unfortunately, Grand Elder Meng has devoted herself to the Dao. Her only worry was you, but since you’ve grown up, she must have no more worries.”

Tianyi clenched his hands. He couldn’t exactly disprove Elder Shan’s words. Thinking back, his words contained some truth. Even so, Tianyi felt that he could have done something. Or perhaps if Confucius and Bao Ling had revealed the truth to him earlier…

He felt a hand covering his and looked up to see Daoyi looking at him. Noticing that he had been emanating a terrifying aura, he reined it in and apologized for his sudden shift.

Although a bit airheaded nowadays, Elder Shan noticed something off, so he shifted the topic. “Have you two decided on a name?”

Tianyi and Daoyi shared a look. Finally, it was Tianyi who answered. “Yes. His name will be Yinian.”