The world was currently a calm and peaceful place, with the Sentinels upholding their fair laws and ensuring public safety while the common people were free to pursue their own happiness, living their lives with contentment and joy.
In this world made mostly of mortals and cultivators, the most dominant powers were undoubtedly the Order of Sentinels, the demonic faction, and the righteous faction. Of the Five Great Sects that oversaw the entire righteous faction, the most prominent was undeniably the Heavenly Peak Sect. As such, the responsibility it handled and the decisions that were made within its halls every day were naturally of monumental importance.
Currently, inside the sect hall of the Heavenly Peak Sect, various sounds could be heard, like that of ink being ground, papers being rustled, brushes sliding across these papers, mixed with the occasional clinks and clatters of unidentified objects being handled.
However, the rest of the open space in the large hall was suffused with the contemplative silence of people very seriously engrossed in their work, their lips pursed and brows lowered in concentration.
On either side of the hall sat two neat rows of Elders, busily bent over their respective desks and perusing various documents or appraising certain strange objects that the disciples had brought back to the sect from their forays outside. Sometimes, when important issues arose, the Elders would discuss among themselves in solemn tones. If the matter was severe, the issue might even get taken to the sect master.
At the innermost end of this long sect hall, on a raised platform directly opposite to the entrance, sat the sect master Zhen YiLan at his desk, looking over documents with a tight frown on his face.
Suddenly, a tall door on the wall adjacent to the sect master's desk opened, revealing two figures burdened with a tall stack of paper each. With due solemnity, the twins Fei Jin and Fei Yin walked up to their master's desk and placed the stacks of paper on either side.
In an exhausted voice, Fei Jin spoke, "Master, please look at these next."
Zhen YiLan's expression crumpled as he looked up pitifully. "Jin-er, your master is already so overworked! Can't these things be left for tomorrow?"
Fei Yin resolutely shook his head while Fei Jin answered uncompromisingly, "Without Senior Brother here, everyone's workload has increased by several-fold these last few years, so please understand that we're overworked as well, Master. It would be good if you could finish these by evening. There are still more papers that need your approval, but we can push them for later in the night. For now, please make haste and finish the ones you have been working on since this morning."
Zhen YiLan wanted to weep at the increasing amounts of this dull yet arduous task. He more than ever wished that his capable and efficient second disciple could have stayed in their sect.
And thinking about him…
Ah, his Qing-er. It had already been three years since he last saw him. And from what he'd heard from the Sentinel Grandmaster, he was still asleep in heaven's Lotus Nectar Pond.
With a sigh, Zhen YiLan thought back to how he'd seen his beloved disciple progress from a small and malnourished little boy who looked at the world with wide eyes full of caution and fear to a confident and upright cultivator who was well-liked and respected throughout the cultivation world.
And yet, Zhen YiLan had been unable to see how harshly that child had been treating himself all this while. Zhen YiLan had to wonder, had he missed those signs of self-abuse because he was a bad master or was it because his disciple was too good at making him see only what he wanted to see?
But more than anything, Zhen YiLan wished he could make amends towards his Qing-er for all the things he had failed him at. He wished he could once again see his disciple's smiling face, his energetic figure buzzing about gracefully as he attended to matters only he knew about, his pampering smile as he spoke with his twin junior brothers, his kind eyes as he advised the other junior disciples of the sect, his adorably respectful expression when he greeted his master…
As Zhen YiLan stared into the distance with a mournful and teary face, the twins sighed. They already knew what their master was thinking about just by seeing that expression alone. But no matter how much he missed his disciple, the twins were sure that they missed their senior brother more! And yet they didn't sit around dazing like this!
Just when the twins were about to respectfully snap at their master to get back to work, Zhen YiLan's absentminded expression suddenly turned into absolute shock, his eyes widening as he stared at the open doorway of the sect hall.
Or more precisely, the person who had just stepped through those doors.
The brush held in Zhen YiLan's hand dropped down from his lax fingers and splattered ink on the papers he'd just been looking at. Seeing this, the twins first showed displeased expressions, then stiffened.
They felt the presence of someone very familiar behind them, they could even smell the calming scent of their most dearest person lightly floating into their noses…
As the twins whipped their heads towards the doorway to take a look at this newly arrived person, the sounds in the entirety of the sect hall had stilled as well.
After all, who wouldn't be shocked at seeing this person walking in here as if it was nothing unusual?
Being the first to break out of his stupor, Zhen YiLan spoke out weakly, "Q-Qing-er, why are you back? Didn't you already ascend?"
Still wide-eyed with disbelief, Zhen YiLan couldn't help but wonder, had his work been so boring that he'd dozed off and was now having a pleasant dream?
Casually walking towards his master's desk while in his sect's white robes, Qinghe tilted his head with an amused smile curving his lips. "Oh, am I not supposed to have returned then? Master, I wasn't aware that you had excommunicated me because of my ascension."
Zhen YiLan spluttered and refuted quickly, "T-That wasn't what I meant! Qing-er, you are a deity now. You don't need to cultivate in a sect anymore, do you? And…aren't your parents still in Heaven?"
Qinghe's smile grew wider as his eyes warmed. "So what? Master, I may have family in the heavenly realm, but I have family here too. We just happen to not be related by blood. How can I just leave you all to fend for yourself? This place is also my home."
Hearing this, Zhen YiLan sat stunned for a moment. Then as his eyes began to tear up, he stood up from his desk and dashed towards his beloved second disciple, wrapping him in a hug.
Receiving this enthusiastic welcome, Qinghe felt wry affection fill him as he patted his master's back soothingly.
It was only after Zhen YiLan had composed himself and stepped away that Qinghe turned to the twins still standing by the desk.
Fei Jin and Fei Yin were both clutching at each other, looking at Qinghe with wide eyes just like the first day they had met him. But rather than apprehension and distrust, what filled their gazes was a raw, inexpressible hope.
Smiling, Qinghe held out his arms and asked teasingly, "Still not coming to greet your senior brother?"
Fei Jin and Fei Yin's expressions cracked as tears began streaming down their faces. With a wail, they sped forward and threw themselves at their senior brother.
Bracing himself, Qinghe caught his junior brothers stably and patted their backs in consolation.
With their faces washed with tears and filled with a wronged expression, the twins raised their heads from they were resting on his shoulders and complained as one, "Senior Brother, you were gone so long! You are not allowed to abandon us again!"
Qinghe could only show a helpless expression as he comforted, "There, there, I came back, didn't I? And it wasn't that I didn't want to return sooner, but I only awoke recently and found that three years had already passed. But now that I'm here, I won't leave you completely alone like that ever again."
Reluctantly convinced, the twins nodded with pouts, then buried their heads back into their senior brother's embrace.
Looking up, Qinghe met Zhen YiLan's gaze and spoke softly, "I'm sorry for worrying you all this time, Master. But I've healed everything that needed to be healed, and now I'm back."
Zhen YiLan felt choked up with emotion, only able to get out a "Q-Qing-er…"
The Elders at the sides all felt their eyes misting, but unlike their sect master, they still strived to hold on to their dignity as they watched the scene of this warm reunion. It couldn't be helped that they had missed this little disciple of their sect too.
Once Zhen YiLan felt that he was able to talk once more, with his face still looking as if he would begin crying at any second, he asked hopefully, "Qing-er…does this mean that you'll take over my paperwork again?"
Seeing his master's expectant and beseeching eyes, Qinghe felt his lips twitch.
In the end, his master's biggest worry was this, wasn't it?!
But ultimately, Qinghe did end up helping his master with his paperwork, greatly lessening the burden of everyone in the sect. This finally gave the twins enough time to cultivate as they focused entirely on raising their level, aiming to catch up to their senior brother and ascend so that they could accompany him no matter which realm he traveled to.
To help the twins and his friends cultivate more smoothly, Qinghe even brought them some of the pure spiritual water flowing in the Feng household's forest, collecting it from near the source so that it would be the most potent.
However, as expected, rather than spending his time purely with the sect, Qinghe stayed at and worked in the heavenly realm as well, accompanying his parents and helping them however he could, learning about their work in the process.
Though having to run around like this kept him busy, Qinghe always managed his schedule well so that he would get to spend time with his friends and family without overworking himself.
Meanwhile, Wei Xiang distributed his authority among his lieutenants equally so that they could take care of the Order of Sentinels in his absence.
Of course, he did occasionally pop by to complete the most important tasks reserved for him, but because of the way he and his lieutenants had been taking care of the entire Order mostly on their own till now anyway, there weren't many issues with this new arrangement. The process of the distribution of power was smooth and the four lieutenants were able to keep the Order running without urgently requiring their leader Wei Xiang's presence, leaving him free to accompany his little lover most of the time.
And later, when Wei Xiang succeeded in gradually and completely handing off his authority to his lieutenants as he planned to in the future, he would then obtain a position for himself in the Offices of Judgment and work under his master as his disciple, and maybe even succeed him as the Deity of Judgment when Feng Huixin took the Heavenly Throne after the current Heavenly Emperor stepped down.
And in the meantime…
One day, in the future, Chen Xiande would be conferred the title of Sect Master of the Heavenly Peak Sect, rising up prestigiously with the respect and blessings of all. Despite having ascended, the twins would still mostly stay in the sect after being kicked down by Qinghe to act as their senior brother's left and right hands, helping him manage the sect and lessening his burden.
Later, Chen Xiande had a private transportation array constructed in his room, which would immediately take him to his lover so that he and Hei NingYu, despite being the leaders of opposite factions, wouldn't have to stay apart for long, meeting each other every day to spend their time together with contentment and passion.
And later on, after being gifted a heavenly dual cultivation manual by Qinghe, they decided without aplomb to immediately bind their souls to each other so that they could spend all their lives together.
One day, in the future, the Sect Masters of the Golden Sun Sect and the Silver Moon Sect will step down as one, letting their head disciples take their place in a grand ceremony.
Liu Xue then set out to travel the lands and roam freely while Wu Xiao stayed on as a revered Elder of the Silver Moon Sect, equal to the status of his own master. The only problem was that he made his quarters in Jing Shui's room, cheerfully freeloading off of his beloved Ah-Shui, who had now become the sect master of the Golden Sun Sect.
On the other hand, Wen Huan, Wu Xiao's only disciple and the new sect master of the Silver Moon Sect, still greatly looked up to Jing Shui, leading to the continuation of the harmonious relations between the Golden Sun Sect and the Silver Moon Sect.
However, after being sent a mysterious jade scroll by Qinghe, Jing Shui and Wu Xiao stayed locked in their room for several days doing who knows what. When they came out, their souls were firmly bound to each other.
One day, far, far in the future, the title of Heavenly Emperor would change hands as the former Emperor gladly handed over the reins to the Heavenly Throne to Feng Huixin. As many had expected, the Offices of Judgment were then lead by his direct disciple Wei Xiang, with the occasional behind-the-scenes help from Qinghe.
As the Heavenly General, Feng Chunyi's intense dedication to the new Heavenly Emperor made Heaven more peaceful than ever before. She even started attending the court religiously. Of course, the people of the heavenly court all had to now deal with her constant flirting with her husband and the outrageous innuendos she let fly casually that would make even the most experienced of courtiers blush and flee in shame, not to mention the suspicious noises that the deities sometimes heard through the closed doors when the throne room was empty except for the husband and wife pair who never seemed to get enough of each other.
And one day, even farther in the future, the greatest Heavenly Emperor to ever reign over Heaven ascended the Throne with his father's blessing, ruling the heavenly realm with unprecedented cunning and wisdom while backed by the unwavering support of his lover, adopted children, friends, and family.
But all of this was something that would only happen in the far future.
Right now, at present time, Qinghe stood balanced on the branch of a tree that overlooked the bank of a wide lake that he, Jing Shui, and a few others had found while navigating a certain unexplored dimensional crack to look for for new resources.
Perched stably on the sturdy branch, Qinghe was looking affectionately at the junior disciples below who were frantically trying to chase and capture one of the denizens of the lake, a low-level spiritual beast called the Horned Rainbow Springfish, which kept slipping through their hands again and again.
Meanwhile, sitting and leaning back under the shade of Qinghe's tree was Wu Xiao, his hands folded on his lap, his legs stretched out, and his eyes closed in peaceful sleep.
Crouching on either side of him, the twins each had an armful of smooth, flat rocks that they took turns stacking on top of the slumbering Wu Xiao's head while grinning mischievously, wanting to see just how long it would take for him to wake up.
And rather than stopping them, Jing Shui merely pointed them towards a few more stones when they ran low while standing bent over Wu Xiao, curiously studying his lover's face to see if he could catch any signs of his waking.
By now, the tower of rocks on Wu Xiao's head had already reached three handsbreadths.
Meanwhile, from deeper inside the forest bordering the lake came the sounds of passionate activities as Chen Xiande and Hei NingYu celebrated their affections once again, not bothering to keep their voices low. Hei NingYu's voice sounded hoarse and unimpeded while Chen Xiande's seemed muffled as if his mouth was filled with something.
Thankfully, the innocent little juniors playing in the lake were spared from hearing it due to their low cultivation. As for Qinghe and his group, they simply pretended to not hear them at all by tacit agreement and went on doing what they were doing.
After determining that Wu Xiao didn't seem like he would wake up any time soon, Jing Shui leapt up from beside his still-slumbering lover and landed on a branch adjacent to Qinghe's.
Looking at the merry fish-chasing disciples who were carefreely splashing around in the waters, Jing Shui's expression morphed into an angry scowl. "Those idiots! We specifically told them not to play around with random beasts! Do those reckless young ones even know if that fish beast's horn is poisonous or not? Brother Feng, we should stop them before they get hurt!"
Chuckling lightly, Qinghe shook his head, "Brother Jing, if the juniors want to play, then let them play. They are so confidently harassing it only because they know that the Horned Rainbow Springfish is harmless on its own. However, this fish is not on its own right now. They'll soon learn what a mistake it is to not assess the threats in their surroundings before jumping in to frolic about in the waters like this."
Jing Shui looked at his friend's unwaveringly warm smile that struck such a sharp contrast to his unbending words and felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
Sure enough, Feng Qinghe really was just as scary as before―No, after knowing him this long, Jing Shui knew that he was scarier than this.
And yet, Jing Shui felt neither the antagonism, nor the cautiousness from when they had first experienced a similar scene in the hidden realm so far ago in the beginning.
With a sigh, Jing Shui spoke knowingly, "Are you going to use this as an educational learning experience for them?"
Qinghe cheerfully nodded. "Yes. Ah, it should be about time now for―"
A chorus of screams interrupted him in a timely manner.
In the center of the lake, a large whirlpool had suddenly appeared, trying to angrily suck in the screaming junior disciples. The juniors all thrashed desperately in the water as they shouted and pleaded in their senior disciples' direction, only to see them both discussing something with calm expressions.
"We should probably go save them now," Jing Shui said in a conflicted tone.
Qinghe smiled placidly and spoke, "No, let the lesson sink in a bit more."
"A bit more and the disciples themselves will sink into the water, Brother Feng," Jing Shui cautioned dryly.
With a pleasant and clear laugh, Qinghe declared, "With your expertise in manipulating the water element, I doubt that would be possible. Brother Jing, it's not good to underestimate your own skills so much. Have some more self-confidence."
Jing Shui felt speechless. This fellow was just as infuriating as he had been back then!
Through gritted teeth, Jing Shui began, "You―!"
"Ah, look, one of them is about to finally drown. I think it's about time we stepped in. Brother Jing, what are you doing just standing around? Our dear junior brothers' and sisters' lives are on the line!"
So saying, Qinghe jumped down and rushed to the bank while affecting a look of horror and fear as if afraid to lose his precious little juniors.
With a simple wave of his hand, all the disciples were lifted up from the water and deposited safely on the shore in one smooth motion.
The group of juniors who had faced their first near-death experience all looked exceedingly pale with fear as they shivered, their eyes round and wide. Their bodies were completely drenched, their appearance reminiscent of miserable and pitiful drowned rats.
The second they saw their savior—their much-admired Senior Brother Feng—approaching them with a caring and concerned look, many of the disciples shot forward and clamped their arms around him in a hug, silently asking for comfort as their bodies shuddered with sobs.
"Oh, my poor dears," Qinghe spoke in a warm and sympathetic voice. "Ah, this is why you should have listened to your seniors and carefully assessed the dangers of your surroundings before letting down your guard like that. What if something had happened to you all on my watch? What if I had lost you all because of a moment of inattention and carelessness? Just thinking about it…I…"
As if unable to speak because of the tears choking his throat, Qinghe buried his face in the nearest disciple's hair, seemingly to hide his expression and compose himself.
Then looking up again with slightly red eyes, he said, "Thank goodness you are all alright. Thank goodness…"
By now, all the disciples had flocked around Qinghe and were clinging to him, soaking his clothes and pressed together tightly as they sobbed and fought for the right to stand nearer to their kindhearted senior brother.
Look how distraught he was because of their foolish carelessness! They had to quickly comfort him!
Thus, after resolutely flinging away the image of Qinghe and Jing Shui calmly chatting that they'd seen before to the back of their minds, the young disciples began talking earnestly.
"Senior Brother Feng, please don't be sad! It was our fault for thoughtlessly charging in!"
"Yes, yes! You had even warned us before. We were the ones who didn't listen."
"Senior Martial Brother, we promise we will listen to whatever you say from now on. We will never repeat this again!"
"Yes! Senior Brother, we will learn from this and do better! Please don't be sad because of us!"
With guilt still written large on his face, Qinghe hesitantly nodded. "Even though I was almost late to save you, if you can all still forgive me and promise not to do something so dangerous again…"
"Senior Brother, it wasn't your fault!"
"We will definitely not do this ever again! We'll always assess our surroundings!"
"We'll be careful! We'll listen!"
"Senior Martial Brother, please don't blame yourself!"
"Yes, Senior Brother Feng…"
Seeing this meticulously orchestrated drama playing out from his place on the tree branch, Jing Shui sighed helplessly, "He never changes."
"Hmm, on the contrary, I feel like his acting skills have definitely gotten better," Wei Xiang said with amusement, having silently appeared out of the shadows a few moments ago and now occupying the branch Qinghe had just left.
"Well, that is a change the world could do without," Jing Shui commented wryly without missing a beat.
Meanwhile, after feeling his lover's arrival through their soul bond, Qinghe immediately began advising the juniors to quickly disperse so that their clothes would dry soon. After all, as cultivators who had barely formed their cultivator cores and reached the first realm, they were still not completely immune to common illnesses.
Seeing how distressed their senior brother seemed to be at the thought of them contracting a cold, the disciples all reluctantly agreed to let go of him and dry themselves.
Qinghe immediately turned to run towards his beloved as Wei Xiang jumped down from the branch he had been perching on.
With his arms held away from his soaked clothing, Qinghe pouted, "Xiang, I'm all wet. Dry my clothes for me, would you?"
"Alright." Wei Xiang gave a light chuckle as he spread out his hands in a 'come here' gesture. Neither of them brought up the fact that Qinghe could have easily dried himself using his wind.
Qinghe barreled into his lover's arms that were opened in welcome as Wei Xiang hugged his beloved back, the pair just basking in each other's presence for now.
Just then, deep inside the forest, Hei NingYu gave a loud shout as he finally reached climax, startling awake the Wu Xiao who had been peacefully sleeping under the tree. But sensing that his head had become strangely heavy, Wu Xiao lightly tilted his neck, only to see a pile of stones sliding down.
As the twins giggled from either side of him, Wu Xiao's face darkened. He didn't even need to ask who the culprit was. It was definitely these two brats!
And so, as Wu Xiao gave chase with a look of vengeance, Fei Jin and Fei Yin had to flee quickly, their carefree laughter trailing behind them.
Ignoring the chaos stirring around them as usual, Wei Xiang and Qinghe remained pressed together in a loving embrace as Wei Xiang used his fire-wielding ability to slowly raise the temperature. Nestled within his beloved Xiang's arms, Qinghe could feel heat gradually seeping into him, drying his clothes and warming up his body.
Qinghe closed his eyes to revel in this comfortable feeling, his lips arching into a small smile filled with contentment.
His life was more blissful than he had ever thought it could be.