Warning: This would have some spoilers in the main storyline.
"How?"
"Hm?"
"H-How did we end up together?! H-Him and me?!" Wu Feng stammered with a demanding tone of voice. She felt all kinds of emotions—flabbergasted, shock, disgust and overall...confusion! She just cannot fathom a future of where she and Huo Yuhao ended up together.
Not only that, but he had also got together with Ning Tian?! Her lady, her friend and...the love of her life.
Just what happened in that alternate reality?!
Huo Yin took a step back in apprehension of Wu Feng's questioning as she replied, "I-I don't..."
"Hey! Auntie Feng, please give Yin'er some space." Huo Zhanji said, standing in front of his sister defensively.
"I..." Wu Feng froze her eyes staring at the boy's eyes then at the girl behind him, seeing the fear in her eyes, she swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step back and looked away.
"I'm sorry..." She mumbled out, not meeting anyone's eyes, who looked at her in disapproval.
Huo Yuhao especially was glaring coldly at her, even if he wasn't sure about Huo Yin, she was still a child and didn't deserved to be treated harshly.
Ning Tian took a step forward and quickly tried to ease the tension. "I know she was harsh on the kid, but anyone's emotions would be filed up in this situation."
Everyone narrowed their eyes at Wu Feng briefly before shifting their focus towards the children.
Out of everyone, no one expected Xu Sanshi to stepped forward towards Huo Zhanji with a grin and crouched. "Hey kid, how many aunties do you have? Not, an 'auntie' auntie, but like a another mom of yours. Do you understand what I'm talking about?"
"Sanshi!"
"Ah! Ow, ow, ow! Wifey, have mercy! I'm just having a conversation with the kid..."
Jiang Nannan scolded him and grabbed his ear, ignoring his pained cries, she then turned to Huo Zhanji with worried expression. "I'm sorry about him."
"Hehe. It's fine auntie Nannan, he's the same uncle Sanshi that we know." Huo Ying giggled, and Huo Yin also joined in laughing.
"Gasp! I'm an uncle?! And if you're calling her auntie Nannan.... kids, is she my wife?" Xu Sanshi excitedly asked, his eyes sparkling like stars.
Jiang Nannan blushed fiercely and hurriedly slapped the back of his head, "Quiet you!"
"Um, is it really alright for you all to tell us the future? Even if it were a different reality, wouldn't it cause some ripple effect in time and reality in our world?" Zhang Lexuan asked, looking concern while glancing at Elder Xuan in confusion.
This was clearly a very serious situation, yet why was the Elder acting so carefree? This concerns a very important manner, yet he's simply looking up at the sky in a daze!
Did old age finally caught up to him?
Yes and no. The reason for Elder Xuan's quietness was simply because...he did not know how to resolve this situation!
Time travel? Alternate reality? These are things he had no experience or knowledge on how to deal with. In the first place, the power to manipulate space-time is beyond anyone or anything's control in his knowledge.
Mu En had once told him that at his level, a Limit Douluo, can feel the pressure from the world and begin comprehending the laws of heaven and earth. They can easily control the basic elements of the world and then some, but the laws of space-time are quite hard; though a Limit Douluo does have some capability of using the laws of Space and Time, but they can never 'control' it to the point of traveling back in time.
Huo Zhanji shared a look with his siblings and turned back towards the stern beautiful elder sister with a smile. "It's fine, elder sister. Although I may not be that well versed in the principles of space-time and reality, but I learned enough from my father to know what happens in this type of situation."
He then raises both of his hands up, clasped them together, and started creating hand signs—confusing Huo Yuhao's group and the Shrek group.
Huo Zhanji then crouches down and slammed both his hands onto the ground, muttering: "Earth Style: Earth Pillar."
Suddenly, the ground beneath his hands began to ripple, and a 5 meter tall pillar of earth rose up, standing tall and steady with a blank brown board on the middle of it, much to the surprise of everyone around.
Huo Yuhao's eyes widened in surprise, his Spirit Eyes had closely observed his son's movements and he realized what Huo Zhanji had done.
'Such perfect control over his soul power, or at least I think it's soul power. He moulded his soul power with the use of his strange hand movements as a medium and altered its properties and characteristics in accordance to some technique...just like one uses a secret technique of Tang Sect.' His curiousity over this alternate reality intensified.
Especially how he married other women other than his dear Wang Dong'er! More than just a mistress or two, probably more than his father's harem.
He just... couldn't believe it, him marrying and loving women other the woman he swore to love forever. His heart only had one place, Wang Dong'er...
For a moment, the image of a beauty similar to Wang Dong'er yet she was noticeably different—cold, arrogant, strong and heroic. Unlike of a fleeting bright butterfly that would fly around mischievously and bring wonder, she was a strong and prideful golden dragon.
'Wang...Qiu'er...?' Huo Yuhao's eyes widened, his right hand clutching his shirt tightly.
He shook his head and brought his gaze back towards Huo Zhanji, who was busy explaining the principles of space-time and dimension hopping.
"....Simply put, our actions here would not cause any major consequences to you all and us. Our realities are simply too different and the flow of destiny and karma of this world is not that easy to be remolded into something anew just because of some future information. Like, you all might have encountered or heard about soul masters that can see into the future, right?"
Everyone that was listening in eagerly nodded.
Unbeknownst to them, other groups of people were nearby and were eavesdropping.
Huo Yuhao and Elder Xuan know about them, but they couldn't do anything towards them, especially not in their own territory. They were surrounded by their enemies and even Elder Xuan couldn't confidently protect his people and Huo Yuhao's.
Huo Zhanji continued, "Revealing unimportant and majorly diverge information from our 'future' world, like my family's identities, causes little to no backlash from a how little of a ripple it can make in the grand scheme of this universe."
"...Well, now that you mentioned it, knowing how some of the girls ended with Huo Yuhao is just a small blip in the grand tapestry of time," Elder Xuan finished for him, finally snapping out of his daze as he nodded sagely. "It's like throwing a pebble into a vast ocean. It might cause a ripple, but it won't change the course of the currents."
"Exactly," Huo Zhanji affirmed. "The major events and decisions that shape the flow of time are much more complex and interconnected than just knowing a few personal details."
Zhang Lexuan, still processing everything, took a deep breath. "So, you're saying that no matter what we learn from you, it won't change anything significant for us here?"
Huo Zhanji nodded. "That's right. Our worlds are like parallel lines. They might be close, but they don't intersect."
Elder Xuan hummed, rubbing his beard as he looked at the young ones and then at Huo Zhanji with a thoughtful expression. "Your understanding of the space-time continuum is impressive for someone your age. It seems your father has taught you well."
Inwardly, he began to wonder just how strong Huo Yuhao has become. Limit Douluo? Or did he and the others have truly....ascended?
Huo Zhanji smiled modestly. "I've had good teachers."
Xu Sanshi clapped his hands together, a sly smile on his face. "That is good to know! Since my little nephew here says it's safe to know about some stuff in their life, can I ask, who is in your family? Like...who married my dear little brother Yuhao here?"
Everyone stared at him dryly, Huo Yuhao's face twitched. This was his, possible, private life! Plus, he didn't want Wang Dong'er to have more reason on wanting to kill him any more than she currently has.
Jiang Nannan deadpanned. "He's not your nephew."
"Tomato, tomato. He called me Uncle and Little Yuhao and I are practically brothers~ So, little nephew Zhanji, could you tell us? And, do I also have a kid with your auntie here?" A cunning smile tugged on the corner of his lips.
'That what he was mostly after for.' Huo Yuhao and the rest thought, some cursing at his shamelessness. None more so than Jiang Nannan, who blushed fiercely.
"Oh! Bro, bro, can I tell them?" Huo Ying exclaimed, grabbing onto his shoulders and jumping excitedly.
"Yay! Story time!" Huo Shui'er threw her arms up and hopping onto Huo Yuhao's lap, startling him. He was about to nicely ask her to sit elsewhere, Huo Shui'er looked up at him with a "pitiful" look with her closed eyes and quivering lips, and he melted, letting her stay as she giggled.
Huo Chen lightly smiled at the scene and crossed his arms, merely enjoying the situation. Unlike most of his siblings, he only wanted to stay low-key and enjoy things from the sideline. He noticed Ning Tian, his 'mother', giving him a cursory look and gave her a wave.
Ning Tian blinked and waved back, not knowing what to feel about her...son. She was like the other girls who looked at their respective child with complicated emotions, well, with the exception of Wang Dong'er.
She looked extremely happy and looked ready to hug her daughter, but held herself back because of the current situation and that she'd be teased by her senior brothers.
Huo Ying however, noticed her feelings and smiled, She walked up to her and held up her arms, "Mom, do you want a hug?"
Wang Dong'er's eyes lit up, and she quickly embraced her daughter, holding her tightly. "Oh, my sweet girl! My daughter..." she whispered, her voice filled with emotion.
"Hehe." Huo Ying giggled.
Most of the people around them smiled at the tender moment between mother and daughter, Huo Yuhao especially had the biggest smile. He always dreamed about his future with Wang Dong'er and now, although it was but a possibility, he could see it right before his eyes.
'He's still looking at her...' Wang Qui'er clenched both her hands and let out a quiet sigh, inwardly laughing bitterly. What was she expecting? Even with their child before them, a literal copy of his younger self, he was still focused on the love of his life and their possible future child.
No matter what she do, she was but a cheap imitation. As she was wallowing in sorrow and despair, a smaller hand held onto her clenched right hand.
"It's alright mom." A young voice sounded. Wang Qiu'er flinched and she looked down to see Huo Zhanji holding her hand, his eyes filled with understanding and warmth. "You don't have to be sad. Trust me, everything will be fine." he whispered.
"....How do you know? You're not even from this place." Wang Qiu'er trailed off, her voice tinged with sorrow and doubt. She looked down at Huo Zhanji, his small hand grasping hers with surprising strength and assurance. His eyes, so much like his father's, bore into hers with a mixture of determination and warmth that seemed beyond his years.
"Because I know you two," Huo Zhanji replied softly in her mind, surprising her, his tone unwavering. "I've seen how strong you are, and how much love you have to give. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone else. And my dad here, he tries to hide it, to deny it, but I can tell he cares a whole lot about you as well."
"What do you know about romance? You're like, seven years old."
Huo Zhanji smiled, tilting his head. "Us kids are more perceptive to this kind of situation than adults. Plus, dad trained me on how to read people's body language."
Wang Qui'er was flabbergasted and softly chuckled, letting go of his hand and softly rubbed his head. "You're such a smartass. I wonder who you got that from, hm?"
Huo Zhanji scratched his cheek. "I wonder...."
The tender moment was interrupted by Xu Sanshi clearing his throat loudly. "Alright, enough of the mushy stuff. We're here for the juicy details. So, little nephew Zhanji, spill the beans."
"Sanshi!"
"What? Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow!"
Everyone watched with mixed amusement and exasperation as Jiang Nannan pulled on Xu Sanshi's ear again, dragging him away. She turned to the children with an apologetic smile. "Please forgive him, he's always been like this."
Huo Zhanji chuckled softly and then he addressed the group. "Alright, well, to start it off. For this explanation, I think it's better to show you all some images as well along with the explanation of my family members." he slipped his hand into his collar-robe and brought out a necklace with a device shaped similar to the symbol etched on their dao robes.
"What is that?" Huo Yuhao curiously asked, both he and He Caitou looked at the device with intense curiosity. The device seemed advanced, unlike anything they had seen before, and it sparked a myriad of questions about its origin and purpose.
Huo Zhanji activated the device, and a small, holographic projection appeared in the air. The hologram displayed an image of a large group of people with great detail and variety in their appearances, standing together with warm smiles and laughter.
"This," Huo Zhanji began, "is a family photo. This device can store and project images and information." He gestured to the hologram. "These are the people I call family."
Huo Yuhao and the others leaned in closer, examining the projection with keen interest. The image showed a tall and muscular man in his mid twenties, wearing a black kimono and bamboo sandals, looking roguishly handsome with long wavy black hair that reaches down to his back and a warm smirk on his face, his deep blue clear eyes could make one feel as though he could see right through to their very soul.
Standing beside him were women of varying ages and appearances, each radiating an aura of strength and beauty. Children, including Huo Zhanji and his siblings, were scattered around them, some posing playfully and others standing with pride.
Wu Feng's eyes widened as she recognized a few familiar faces among the adults. "Is that... me?" she whispered, pointing to a woman who looked remarkably like her but more mature and with a softer expression. For a moment she thought it was her mother.
"And I think that's me as well..." Ning Tian pointed out, standing beside Wu Feng and grabbing her shoulders with a big smile on her face, completely unlike her usual demeanor.
"Huh. So that's how I look like in the future." Xiao Xiao muttered, looking at a woman with a more refined and mature appearance, holding a little Huo Shui'er's hand. She didn't know how to feel about this whole situation.
Wang Qui'er's eyes lit up as she saw herself standing beside Huo Yuhao, holding his arm as she smiled. She blinked, for a moment she thought she got it wrong and it was Wang Dong'er, but the look of steel in her warm eyes soon convinced her otherwise.
"Wow..." Wang Dong'er muttered, staring at her alternate future self with a mix of disbelief and curiosity. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, seeing herself with Huo Yuhao, yet at the same time, she was intrigued by the cheery and mature version of herself. She couldn't help but giggle, "Besides looking a bit older, I don't feel like I changed much."
Huo Zhanji smiled. "Everyone, let me introduce you all to the Huo Family! The tall man here in the middle is my father, Huo Yuhao, and the rest are my father's wives and us. Oh and those other three are our older siblings, the one with red hair and scary face is Huo Xiaoyu, she's the oldest. Standing on her right is big brother Huo Yunhan, while on the other side is big sister Huo Mei."
Xu Sanshi chuckled, rubbing his chin. "No wonder you called your dad here wimpy. Compared to your real father, little Yuhao here is like a stick! Man, dude, you gotta build up some more muscle if you wanna match up with this version of yourself. Little Yuhao?"
"Ah..."
Huo Yuhao looked at the holographic image with a slacked jaw, everyone else had a similar expression, but he had a more exaggerated and panicking look on his face. The reason for that was the other women that were on the image.
Out of everyone else, Bei Bei was the one to bring it up with a strange look on his face. "There are a couple of other women I don't recognize there but, isn't that senior Ma Xiaotao, the Ju Zi girl of Sun Moon Empire, and is that... Tang Ya?"
Huo Yuhao felt a cold shiver run down his spine and thought to himself, 'Why is my other self such a playboy? How did he even get together with them?! Especially teacher Xiao Ya!?'
////////
On a far away reality.
A man with long wavy black hair sniffed and frowned, muttering. "Huh. Weird. For a moment I felt like I was about to sneeze. It's been....a long time since this happened."
"Yuhao! Hurry up and find our children! I'm deeply worried about them." The man's cheeks was being pulled and he looked down to his wife glaring at him with a pouty expression. She was Wang Dong'er, his wife, mother of one of his wonderful kids, and the God King of Light in their God Realm.
Huo Yuhao chuckled and held his wife's hands tenderly and lovingly kissed her forehead, calming her down. "Don't worry hun, they're safe. Even when they're sent to another reality, a couple friends of ours are keeping them safe. Only a Peak 1st Class God could try to hurt them, keyword, 'try'. Because I prepared some hidden protections for them that would only trigger if a God King level threat were to try and hurt them."
"Yeah, but still... I miss them." Wang Dong'er muttered, planting a soft kiss on his chin.
"Hmm. Well, then shall I go get them now?"
"Yes, go get your children from a parallel world before they get themselves into trouble." Wang Dong'er deadpanned and Huo Yuhao laughs, letting go of her and turned around.
"Mugen no genjitsu(Boundless Reality)"
His deep blue eyes began to change as numerous rings appeared around his pupils and a bright kaleidoscope of colors appeared. The very fabric of space-time and reality began to tear apart right before his very eyes before his eyes seemingly reverted back to normal.
He smirked. "Relax hun. On my word as the Heavenly Emperor, I will bring back our children safely. Love you."
Wang Dong'er smiled warmly. "I love you too."
As Huo Yuhao stepped into the shimmering portal, the fabric of space-time rippled around him. He felt a familiar rush of energy, a blend of his immense Immortal Qi, Divine Consciousness and the godly abilities he had honed over the years. The journey through the dimensional rift was brief but intense, a kaleidoscope of lights and colors blurring past him.
Arriving in a familiar yet different dimension, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smirk.
"Well, I wonder if this world's father-in-law needs a bit of a beating as well..."
.....
AN: I had a poll up on my pa.t.reon about my other side stor,the What If...?Byakugan, and it's been decided by vote that storyline is officially over. As for what comes next, I have an idea which would become a future fanfic storyline.
❄️Shout out to the great Cultivators of my patreon, may you reach the peak of the heavens and conquer the earth! Pursue immortality and receive enlightenment!
•Julien
•Nicholas Berenguer
•Swift Arrow
•SpamSubi
•AR
❄️A bigger shout out to the ones who ascended to become a One Above All!! The GOATS! THE MAJESTIES!!
•Adrian Durand
•Banphot Chada
•Jonathan
Wanna read advanced chapters, stock-piled stories, photos of the characters and support me all at the same time so I can pump out more chapters, and possibly dish out extra chaps? Well then, head on over to my patreon and become enlightened cultivators!
p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/FroztDouluo