Finally, after enduring many hardships, the Heavenly Emperor rose to become a peerless genius, a leader of his era. His talents caught the attention of the former Heavenly Emperor, who brought him into the Heavenly Court and groomed him as a successor.
However, when he eagerly anticipated reuniting with Yao Ling, he learned that she had been banished from the Heavenly Court. Yao Ling had once been groomed as a successor, but she fell in love with a demon, forsaking everything for him.
As a result, Yao Ling was stripped of her cultivation and cast out of the Heavenly Court.
When the Heavenly Emperor found Yao Ling, she had already been tortured beyond recognition and was pregnant. The demon had never truly loved Yao Ling; he had only wanted to experience the thrill of conquering the once-proud daughter of heaven. Though the Heavenly Emperor killed the demon in a fit of rage, it couldn't bring back the vibrant, pure-hearted Yao Ling he had once known.
After Yao Ling's death, the Heavenly Emperor took her daughter, Yao Xi, back to the Heavenly Court and raised her. It was his way of repaying the debt he owed Yao Ling for setting him on the path of cultivation.
…
Upon hearing this, Xiao Fan understood the broader picture. The Heavenly Emperor, scarred by the tragedy of Yao Ling, feared that Yao Xi might follow the same path. He worried that Yao Xi, like her mother, could be easily hurt due to her kind and innocent nature. Therefore, he was overly strict with her, to the point of being harsh, which eventually led Yao Xi to resent him and secretly flee the Heavenly Court.
When the Heavenly Emperor discovered that Yao Xi had fallen in love with a mortal, it triggered memories of her mother, Yao Ling. Without investigating further, he lashed out in anger, forcibly separating Yao Xi from her husband.
Now, Yao Xi likely harbored not just resentment but outright hatred for the Heavenly Emperor.
Understanding this, Xiao Fan couldn't help but sigh deeply. The Heavenly Emperor, though not Yao Xi's biological father, cared for and protected her as much as any father would. While his actions were extreme, they were born out of a desire to protect her.
**Outside the Haotian Mirror.**
When everyone learned the full story, their gazes toward the Empress of the Jade Pool became more complex. No one had expected that the Empress was not the Heavenly Emperor's biological daughter. Her father had been a demon, someone who treated her mother cruelly and cared nothing for his own daughter. Without the Heavenly Emperor's intervention, the Empress might not have survived, let alone attained her current status and power.
Many believed that the Empress of the Jade Pool should be deeply grateful to the Heavenly Emperor. If she harbored hatred toward him simply because he was too strict, that would be an unforgivable ingratitude—a betrayal of someone who had saved her.
The Empress of the Jade Pool stood motionless, her eyes fixed on the image of the Heavenly Emperor within the Haotian Mirror.
"So… I was never truly your daughter…" she whispered, her lashes trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. Gradually, an expression of sorrow spread across her face, and tears began to flow down her cheeks.
For so long, she had believed that the Heavenly Emperor didn't care about her, that she was nothing to him. Now, with the truth laid bare, she realized that the Heavenly Emperor had cared too much. His harshness was born out of fear—fear that she would be hurt just as her mother had been.
She had been so wrong.
In her heart, she had hated the Heavenly Emperor, believing him to be cold and unloving. Now, she understood that she had been despising the one person who had cared for her the most.
And yet, until the very end of his life, she had never shown him any kindness, never given him a moment of peace.
Overwhelmed by a mix of pain and regret, her emotions finally broke through. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Father… I'm sorry…" she whispered through her tears, gazing at the Heavenly Emperor's image in the Haotian Mirror. She desperately wished she could stand before him and beg for his forgiveness. But it was too late—far too late.
Witnessing this, many of those around her felt their hearts ache with sympathy. To discover after thousands of years that you had completely misunderstood your father, with no way to make amends, was a pain too deep to fathom.
Even Leng Ruoxue and her companions, who usually held no love for the Empress, remained silent, refraining from any sarcastic remarks. The Heavenly Emperor was a figure worthy of respect, and they would not stoop so low as to ridicule his daughter in this moment of her deepest sorrow.
Xuanwei, watching the Empress break down in tears, felt a deep resonance with her pain. Yet, after a brief moment of shared empathy, she redirected her focus to the Haotian Mirror, or more precisely, to the jade-green bottle the Heavenly Emperor had held in his hand throughout the vision.
If her suspicions were correct, that bottle was indeed the Soul Nourishing Bottle, the same one the Empress of the Jade Pool had mentioned earlier, which held the soul of her husband.
But that left one final, crucial question: Who had killed the Empress's husband?
Given what Xuanwei knew of Xiao Fan's character, he wouldn't have done something like that without a significant reason. The missing piece of the puzzle—those lost memories—made Xuanwei uneasy.
**Within the Haotian Mirror.**
With the knowledge that he would soon have to absorb the Heavenly Emperor's power, Xiao Fan considered whether he could use the remaining time to mend the rift between the Heavenly Emperor and Yao Xi, sparing the Heavenly Emperor any regrets.
After a moment of thought, Xiao Fan suggested, "Heavenly Emperor, Yao Xi resents you because you separated her from her husband. If her husband is without fault, perhaps you could bring him to the Heavenly Court and allow them to be together."
Xiao Fan believed his proposal was a reasonable compromise. The Heavenly Emperor's objection had never been about Yao Xi marrying a mortal; it was about protecting her from harm. If the mortal was genuinely worthy, there should be no issue with allowing them to be together. Surely the Heavenly Emperor would have considered this once he calmed down.
However, after hearing Xiao Fan's suggestion, the Heavenly Emperor fell into a heavy silence, his expression filled with complexity.
Heavenly Emperor had once thought along the same lines, but unfortunately…
With a sigh, the Heavenly Emperor slowly placed the jade-green bottle in front of Xiao Fan.
"Yao Xi's husband is within this bottle," the Heavenly Emperor said softly.
Xiao Fan stared at the bottle, stunned. This was clearly not something meant for containing the living.
He frowned, asking, "Does this bottle contain Yao Xi's husband's soul?"
The Heavenly Emperor didn't respond directly, only letting out a deep sigh. But to Xiao Fan, the silence was an answer in itself.
"How foolish!" Xiao Fan thought, assuming that the Heavenly Emperor had, in a fit of rage, killed Yao Xi's husband. But as long as the soul remained intact, there was still hope for redemption.
As Xiao Fan prepared to offer the Heavenly Emperor some advice, the Heavenly Emperor suddenly handed the jade-green bottle over to him.
"This belongs to you. I am merely returning it," the Heavenly Emperor said, his expression laden with sorrow.
Xiao Fan was taken aback. This was his?
With his thoughts returning to the missing memories, Xiao Fan tentatively asked, "Could it be… that I was the one who killed Yao Xi's husband?"
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8