Yao Jun's plan.

Yao Jun's mind blanked, but he quickly regained himself with a slight shake of his head. He swept Wan Yi and the others with a quick gaze, raising one of his eyebrows in disbelief as he spoke up.

"They brought along my daughter? As far as I can recall, I don't have a daughter. I don't think that this is an appropriate time for jokes, I'd prefer it if you were a bit more serious."

He could only believe that they were joking with him, taking this chance to have some fun on his expense. When would he and Guo Luo even have gotten a daughter, with how hectic their lives had always been? But Yang Yuhuan shot him down with a shake of her head.

"We're not joking. Shortly after Sister Luo'er left the hidden realm where the two of you were forced to split up, she exhibited signs of pregnancy, and it didn't take long for her to give birth to a healthy daughter. Here, take a look."

Yang Yuhuan swiped her interspatial ring and took out a circular and flat plate made from milky jade, small runes covering the entire plate. She put some Qi into the runes that covered the plate, causing them to release a light that gathered together into an image that floated above the plate. Yao Jun recognized this plate, as he had seen it used on this planet before. Using the array inscribed on it, one could carve the scenery in front of the plate into it using their Qi, storing it for the future, like a painting.

The image showed four people, but only three that Yao Jun recognized. The three he recognized were his brown-haired and well-built father, Yao He, his black-haired and delicate mother, Yao Xun, as well as the pink-eyed and rainbow-haired Guo Luo. Guo Luo's left eye was lost during a battle in the hidden realm where they were forced to split up, so in the image, she had covered up her left eye with an eyepatch made from emerald-green silk.

Yao Jun's gaze lingered on these three people for a bit, memorizing the small changes to their appearance that the passage of time had left there, but then his gaze was quickly drawn to the fourth person in the image, a young child who looked like she wasn't even 1 year old yet. She was very young, but her features were already very distinct.

She had the same rainbow-colored hair as Guo Luo, with the violet in her hair being a bit more pronounced and distinct than the violet in Guo Luo's hair. But while her hair was bright and eye-catching, her eyes were a ghastly gray in color, the same as Yao Jun's eyes. The features of the girl were rather delicate and smooth, very reminiscent of both his and Guo Luo's features. But looking at her, Yao Jun could also recognize that she had his slightly slanted eyebrows and somewhat sharp eyes.

Looking at her, he knew that Yang Yuhuan and the others hadn't been lying to him, he truly had a daughter. When he heard about the time Guo Luo started showing signs of pregnancy, he also realized just when this pregnancy had started. They were split up right before entering the hidden realm, so it took them quite a bit of time before they finally met up again right at the end. They just wanted some time for themselves back then, so they had locked themselves up in a house and spent a few days together. Realizing all this, Yao Jun let out an involuntary mutter.

"Careless, careless, careless, I was too careless. Fucking careless."

He should have taken greater care while they were intimate after meeting up again, he could have prevented this pregnancy if he had just paid a bit more attention. But he had just been too happy at seeing Guo Luo again, his mind hadn't been fully focused on being careful, leading to the current situation.

Yao Jun's expression didn't change much, remaining as calm as usual. But the air around him was violently distorting, the wooden table in front of him had already been shattered into tiny pieces, the floor beneath him splintering open with large cracks, a sign that he was far from calm right now, to the point that he could barely keep his Qi within his body.

He was overjoyed that Guo Luo and the others were alive, he was even overjoyed that he had gotten an unexpected addition to the family. But there was something that swallowed all that joy, overwhelming fear and worry. He had no idea where they were, no idea what state they were in. What if someone hurt them? What if they were found by Peyton? What if they had an accident?

Yang Yuhuan and the others pulled their chairs back slightly, unwilling to accidentally be caught up in Yao Jun's turmoiling emotions. Yao Jun closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, his mind racing as he was working on bringing his emotions back under control. He opened his eyes again after a few minutes, the distorting air around him vanishing as he fully calmed down again. He turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on his Demonic beasts, who were patiently waiting behind him.

"Just like I promised, I will let you fight for me. I will return to the Ascending Dragon competition on my own, I want all of you to take the flying ship I gave you earlier and leave this planet with the people from the World Tree clan. The original plan was for you to use the information you extracted from Mordred to hunt down the subordinates of Peyton, but that plan will have to be altered slightly. Find Luo'er, find Yantian, find my parents, find my daughter. You can also hunt down Peyton's subordinates while you are at it, but the main priority is to find Luo'er and the others."

He would be forced back to the competition in seven days by the mark that Tang Guanyu had left on him, but Little Gray and the others were different, they could move as they pleased. Ever since Little Gray and the others said that they wanted to properly fight for Yao Jun he had started planning this. There was little they could do during the competition anyway, so he figured he might as well send them out to start tearing down Peyton's subordinates, weakening his total power.

Little Gray and the others immediately started bubbling with excitement. Not only was Yao Jun relying on them, but they could also move and act freely. Yao Jun seemed to remember something, so he stood up and walked over to Sirius and the others, poking each of their foreheads as he spoke.

"This is a technique I was taught long ago. It's very taxing on the body, but it shouldn't be a problem for any of you. With this, you'll have another trump card. Also, don't forget to return to the gate if you should ever encounter any mortal danger."

The poke on the forehead was in fact him transmitting a very special technique to them, Crumbling The Nine Heavens. He hadn't transmitted it to them earlier as they were always together so he saw no need to do it, but now that they were splitting up he found it best to give them any advantage possible. Receiving this technique only served to further increase the excitement that the Demonic beasts felt, such a technique, which required a very strong body, was perfect for them. After transmitting the technique to his Demonic beasts, Yao Jun turned to Wan Yi and the others.

"What about you? I can't take you with me to the place I'm going, but you can follow these guys if you want to experience the greater universe."

Yang Yuhuan was the one among them that had the highest cultivation, but she had only reached the 7th Xiantian Heaven. They didn't have the slightest chance of survival if they joined him to the competition. There was also the fact that people would start wondering where they came from and how they had managed to join the competition.

He didn't really want them to leave this planet, as the universe was a very dangerous place, but he could not disregard their wishes. If they wanted to leave this planet, he would help them, even if he didn't really want to. Wan Yi and the others locked gazes and started chatting amongst each other, Yang Yuhuan speaking up after a few minutes.

"Siter Yi has to stay here to finish her ambition, Long has to stay here to finish rebuilding the Yang clan, and Brother Ren has no desire to see the greater universe. But I'll join them, I want to find Tian'er and make sure that he hasn't been an idiot that got himself into trouble."

Back when Yun Yantian left the planet with Guo Luo, there was still a lot that Yan Yuhuan had to do when it came to rebuilding the Yang clan. But two years had passed since then, the path to rebuilding the Yang clan was now far smoother, Yang Long alone would be able to handle it. Yao Jun nodded his head, casting a quick glance at Little Thunder.

"She'll be joining you, make sure you protect her."

Little Thunder nodded his head and slapped his own chest, assuring Yao Jun that he would protect her. Yao Jun could understand the others not wanting to leave, everyone had different ambitions that they strove for, not everyone had a desire to see the greater universe and experience new things, some just wanted to own a small home and tend to their garden.

Yao Jun spoke a bit longer with Wan Yi and the others, learning a bit about the various things they had done while he was gone. But he was rather anxious to let Zhuanxu and the others start searching for Guo Luo and the others, so after two hours he finished up the last preparations for them and sent them on their way.

Yang Yuhuan joined his Demonic beasts and boarded the metallic snake that was the Shadow Chaser ship. They met up with Mardon and Mariam and left the planet, starting their search for Guo Luo and the others. And with them leaving, Yao Jun returned to his own tasks.

He stepped through space and left the Grand Quan continent, arriving on the Guanyu continent. He arrived in front of his goal, the tower that was the tomb of Sword Empyrean Heng Jiang. The moment Yao Jun arrived in front of the tower, the token that Heng Jiang had given him all those years ago started to vibrate slightly, resonating with the tower. He had been given this token and was told that as long as he had this token he could take whatever he needed, and that was just what he was here to do.

He touched the token with his Qi, causing it to connect with the tower and transport him into it with a flash of white light. When the light vanished, he was standing in a familiar forest filled with dark green leaves, small drops of dew running down the leaves. This forest was where he received Sirius so it was somewhat special to him.

Yao Jun started to walk deeper into the forest, casting sweeping glances at his surroundings as he walked. Back then he and Yun Yantian had to be very careful while they were here, hiding and luring out one Demonic beast at a time. But now as he walked through the forest, the Demonic beasts in his vicinity didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

It didn't take long for Yao Jun to reach a massive clearing that held a large lake, the blue water completely still. Yao Jun stopped at the shore of the lake, peering deep into it as he quietly waited. Before long, the water started to move, three large heads appearing from within it. The heads were covered in deep blue scales and were rather draconic in appearance, with a row of spikes running down the middle of each head and following the long necks into the water. Each head had two amber eyes and a massive maw filled with teeth, and all six eyes were currently looking at Yao Jun, a rumbling voice sounding out.

"You're... that kid from back then?"

The beast, the Hydra, somewhat remembered Yao Jun from the last time he was here. Back then, the Hydra was strong enough to nearly instantly kill Yao Jun, but now their roles had been reversed. There was nothing in this tower for someone as strong as Yao Jun, so the Hydra couldn't quite understand why he would return. Yao Jun looked at the hydra, his lips curling up slightly.

"Say, how do you feel about getting out of here and following me? I'll show you heights greater than you could ever imagine while locked up in this small well."