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‘But I will,’ Ba Shifang wanted to say. Still, he didn’t. Instead, he observed Meng Tingfeng, trying to find the reason behind the gift. Aside from being a scheme, Ba Shifang couldn’t think of anything else. Why else would a random stranger offer gifts to two people he just met?

“Shifang, Shifang, guess what I discovered inside the spatial rings?”

Upon hearing Hu Landie’s excited words, he couldn’t help pause. Hu Landie always gave off the impression that nothing could affect her icy demeanor. Even if she was chased down by an immortal emperor, she wouldn’t even bat an eye. Although it wasn’t to the point of jumping in shock, the surprise in her tone was akin to another immortal hollering at the world.

Ba Shifang didn’t reach for the spatial ring. After rejecting them, Ba Shifang didn’t want to grab one, especially in front of Meng Tingfeng. “Tell me. What is it that’s gotten you so shocked?”

“I found a whole set of monarch-level artifacts in both rings.”

“What?” Although the Immortal Court has become more prosperous and unlocked some of the accumulation, it was only enough to arm each true immortal with a single immortal artifact. Immortal monarchs and emperors were the same. They could only receive a single artifact of their level.

For it to be considered a whole set, it would have to be an attacking artifact, a defensive artifact, and a soul artifact. Since it was two rings, that meant a total of six monarch-level artifacts! Not even Tianyi would easily gift six whole monarch-level artifacts.

If Tianyi knew, he might feel what it meant to be poor for the first time since his reincarnation.

“Wait, I discovered something more.” Hu Landie’s words made Ba Shifang’s eyes twitch.

“What else can surprise you? Don’t tell me it’s an emperor-level artifact.” His main body, Xi Tianyi, also had three emperor-artifacts bestowed by the Immortal Court—not that he needed them since his body itself was the strongest artifact. However, they were the only emperor-level artifacts he had.

Granted, Ba Shifang didn’t doubt that Tianyi could refine more if he wanted to. He would just need to spend a long time, but the point still stands. So, he didn’t think a mere immortal monarch of the Numinous Sword Sect would have enough wealth to give an immortal artifact.

Hu Landie answered contrary to his logic. “You guessed correctly.”

Ba Shifang stilled. The message between him and Hu Landie happened in an instant. However, the shock from Hu Landie’s last transmission was too shocking, so it caused him to freeze. Now, Meng Tingfeng didn’t even need to guess to know that he discovered the preciousness of the gift.

“It’s a defensive emperor-level artifact,” Hu Landie said.

‘Is the Numinous Sword Sect so rich that it can allow its monarchs to gift emperor-level artifacts?’ Ba Shifang immediately refuted his thoughts. Even if they were, there was no way the Numinous Sword Sect would allow one of their monarchs to gift an enemy force with an emperor-level artifact for free.

The scheme was too obvious. Too obvious to the point that it likely wasn’t a scheme. So, why did Meng Tingfeng give an emperor-level artifact on their first meeting?

Ba Shifang recalled the familiar sensation he found on Meng Tingfeng. Just what was his connection to himself, or rather, Xi Tianyi?

Disregarding Ba Shifang’s current shock, Hu Landie dealt him another blow, but it was a happy one. “If you give me the emperor-level artifact, I can agree to marrying you.”

Ba Shifang snapped his head. He disregarded the commotion he caused and asked, “You serious?”

Hu Landie gently slapped Ba Shifang’s forehead. “Stop making a scene. And yes, consider it a betrothal gift.”

“Okay, okay! I agree!” An emperor-level artifact was useful to Ba Shifang, but he didn’t place much importance on it. After all, he had a backer like Xi Tianyi, so he actually had a trump card he had never revealed. Because Tianyi warned that he would take it back if he revealed for no reason, Ba Shifang had never told anyone, even Hu Landie.

Meng Tingfeng watched Ba Shifang’s interaction with Hu Landie with confusion. He could attain the gist of the unspoken conversation from the clues, but that made him even more confused. Was his son a love struck idiot? Giving an emperor-level artifact just to marry a girl and not even a Dao Companion Ceremony, was he crazy?

He sighed. Meng Tingfeng’s impression of Hu Landie lowered, but he couldn’t show it. Since it seemed that his future daughter-in-law was a gold seeker, he could use this relationship to shorten the distance between himself and Ba Shifang.

‘Oh well, I can only secretly help him. Who told him to be my son?’ Meng Tingfeng thought.

“What a happy event,” Meng Tingfeng said. “Since that’s the case, please accept this congratulatory gift.”

Ba Shifang didn’t immediately take it. Instead, he stared at the spatial ring. As Ba Shifang thought, Meng Tingfeng had placed another immortal-level artifact inside, and it was another defensive artifact. The reason he hadn’t gifted a different type of artifact was so that Ba Shifang had more methods of saving his life instead.

The stare off continued until Hu Landie nudged Ba Shifang. After glancing into each other eyes, Ba Shifang finally reached out and took the spatial ring in Meng Tingfeng’s hands. He nodded in satisfaction. At the very least, Hu Landie knew not to push her luck and ask for the second emperor-level artifact.

Using this chance, Meng Tingfeng sat together with the future married couple, ignoring the division between the two forces. He asked a few questions in order to understand Ba Shifang’s situation. Of course, the question did not probe into the Buzhou Immortal Court’s secrets, or else all the goodwill he built up using two emperor-level artifacts would immediately vanish.

“Oh, it seems you have quite the exalted status in the Buzhou Immortal Court,” Meng Tingfeng said an hour into the conversation. “However, what is your relationship to Sovereign Xi and the Nine Heavens Emperor?”

Ba Shifang made a noticeable pause, as if deliberating something. Finally, he said two words. “It’s complicated.”

‘Sure enough,’ Meng Tingfeng thought. ‘Ba Shifang must be my and Xi Mengfei’s son. However, because he was born out of an accident, she didn’t like him and he has to live under Xi Tianyi, the legitimate son.’

Meng Tingfeng wanted nothing more than to recognize the blood relationship between the two, but he knew it would only cause Ba Shifang trouble. According to his conjectures, Ba Shifang should not be liked by many of the Buzhou Immortal Court and it was only after he showed enough talent that he was above to carve out a legend for himself.

He made a decision to lure Ba Shifang to his side. It would have to be a delicate process. Meng Tingfeng didn’t want his son to bear the name of a traitor, so he could only offer him asylum after the victory of the Numinous Sword Sect and destruction of the Buzhou Immortal Court. This led him to another problem. How to interact with Xi Mengfei.

Even if his current self possessed the power of an immortal emperor as an immortal monarch, his status was still far too weak in front of Xi Mengfei’s current cultivation base. Recalling their experience together, Meng Tingfeng still found it shocking that he had somehow managed to bed Xi Mengfei. Granted, she was an immortal emperor at the time, but what kind of situation had to happen to lead her to become injured to that point?

Meng Tingfeng had complicated emotions toward Sovereign Xi. On one hand, he disliked how she treated their son and refused to give him legitimate status. On the other hand, he wasn’t the type of person to not understand her point of view.

He had seen it many times before in his long life. When a woman loved a man, she would involuntarily hate any child they had with another woman. Incidents like premature or unfortunate death happened many times in the inner courtyard of powerful families when a man had a wife and several concubines. Granted, this situation was different.

Meng Tingfeng rationalized that since Ba Shifang was an unplanned child born from intercourse with a complete stranger, Xi Mengfei held no love toward him. It wouldn’t be the point of hate, but neglect was unavoidable. Just look at the names. Tianyi was named as Heaven’s Will while Shifang was just Four Directions. Talk about a terrible naming sense. At the very least, she didn’t bury Ba Shifang’s talent.

In Meng Tingfeng’s opinion, his son’s talent was no worse than Xi Tianyi’s talent. If they had the same resources and attention, Ba Shifang would equal Xi Tianyi’s achievement if not surpassed them. Speaking of Xi Tianyi, Meng Tingfeng couldn’t help but question who his father was.

Unlike Ba Shifang, Xi Tianyi only inherited Xi Mengfei’s eyes. Every other feature must have been inherited from the mysterious father. “Shifang, I have long heard of the Nine Heavens Emperor’s fame, but I have a question. Do you know who his mysterious father is?”

Ba Shifang grunted and just glanced at him. “How many times do I have to tell you not to address me by my given name? Forget it. Even though you look young, it seems like your memory is going like an old man’s.”

Meng Tingfeng only smiled. He knew that Ba Shifang didn’t like him calling him by his name, but Meng Tingfeng wanted to acclimate Ba Shifang. After all, what kind of father would he be if he couldn’t even call his son by his name?

“Sorry, but calling you anything else but your name is unnatural to me.”

Ba Shifang snorted. “You want to know about Main Bo—Tianyi’s father? Sorry, you’re going to have no luck. Even he doesn’t know who his sperm donor is.”

Meng Tingfeng blinked. He expected his son not to know, but not even Xi Tianyi knows? And judging by the tone, he could tell that Ba Shifang must harbor resentment against the legitimate son. Why else would he call Xi Tianyi’s father a sperm donor?

“What about you? Do you know who your father is?” Meng Tingfeng asked.

Ba Shifang made a strange face, causing Meng Tingfeng to backtrack. “I’m sorry, it must be very hard.”

“Anyway, the two are seriously using everything against each other, aren’t they?” Meng Tingfeng asked, directing the conversation toward the duel within the barrier. The first duel had already ended, and the result was Rainsword prevailing over Riptide by the slimmest of margins. The second duel ended in the victory of the Buzhou Immortal Court. And this was the third duel.

Although Meng Tingfeng seemed to be focusing on the duel and conversing with his son and his future daughter-in-law, he focused most of his attention on Xi Mengfei. Aside from Ba Shifang, she was the person he wanted to talk to the most.

He wanted to ask her if that night meant anything to her. Why did she not look for him after giving birth to Ba Shifang? Meng Tingfeng wanted to ask all those questions and so much more.

But not now.

He didn’t have the right or status to appear before her as he liked. Once he became an immortal sovereign, he would confront her.

Meng Tingfeng stilled when he noticed Xi Mengfei looking at him. His heart rate sped up and just as he was preparing himself for the many questions she would ask, she looked away.

He stared at her in a daze, ignoring Ba Shifang’s question. ‘Did she not recognize me?’