Zhou Fan and Heaven descended down to the core realm. More specifically, they descended down to the Heaven sect. As soon as the members of the Heaven sect saw Heaven and Zhou Fan flying down, they trembled and prostrated themselves on the ground.
They never even imagined seeing Heaven descend one day. They had never seen him before, but one glance was enough for them to feel it.
Zhou Fan and Heaven entered the palace in the middle of the Heaven sect. There, they met the current Tian, named Tian Yer.
They only briefly exchanged greetings before Zhou Fan and Heaven entered the back of the palace.
Heaven had led Zhou Fan there to show him something. Far below the ground, in an underground prison, a man was locked up by immensely powerful chains. The chains were made up of the most powerful natural metal Zhou Fan had ever seen, as well as infused with a bit of Heaven's power. The man being held was at the 1st level of the inner world realm.
"Who is he?" Zhou Fan asked curiously. He had never seen an inner world realm cultivator locked up.
"He is the one who killed the 3rd generation Tian, the one after Tian Fu." Heaven said.
"Why not just kill him?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Because of some things he said. I'll let you see for yourself." Heaven said as he walked into a cell where the man was chained up.
Only then did the man's gaze leave the floor. When he saw Heaven, immense rage bursted out of him.
"Anything you'd like to say now?" Heaven asked.
"Just the same old. I am the one who carries the mandate of Yao Mun. His will has led us this far. He will return." The man said.
"Who is us? How will he return?" Heaven asked.
"I am the one who carries the mandate of Yao Mun. His will has led us this far. He will return." The man repeated.
"Answer." Heaven said.
"I am the one who carries the mandate of Yao Mun. His will has led us this far. He will return." The man repeated.
Heaven slapped him unconscious and left the cell.
"See. I don't know if he is insane, but he claims that Yao Mun is leading him and other people, and that he will return one day." Heaven said.
"Have you looked for Yao Mun?" Zhou Fan asked.
"I have, but could not find anything whatsoever. Not even records of his existence, which is even more suspicious as the man in the cell seems to know him. What if you look?" Heaven asked.
"Why would I do that? It would spoil any interesting developments." Zhou Fan responded.
There seemed to be something going on, and Zhou Fan was absolutely interested in how it would play out.
He and Heaven left the underground prison, which even the current Tian seemed unaware of.
They left the Heaven sect and went to the cosmic sect.
Zhou Fan was quickly recognized, though no one seemed to recognize Heaven. That was until Ying Xiong arrived.
"Why aren't you all greeting Heaven?" He asked.
The members of the cosmic sect were stunned for a moment, before greeting Heaven. Only one person around them was unknown, and if Heaven was around, then it was obviously him.
Heaven just nodded. He had only come because Zhou Fan had led him to the cosmic sect.
Zhou Fan slipped away from the crowd with Heaven and entered his mountain. As he returned, he received a surprise.
Near his courtyard, there was a grave and a man cultivating near it.
"Lu Wei." Zhou Fan said.
Lu Wei opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Fan. He seemed happy, before his eyes were filled with grief.
"Father is dead." Lu Wei said.
"People die on the path of cultivation. You must move on." Zhou Fan said.
"I know. But that does not stop me from mourning." Lu Wei said.
"I see. This is my son, Heaven." Zhou Fan introduced.
Heaven nodded at Lu Wei.
Lu Wei looked at Heaven before speaking.
"He may not understand it. Do you? How would you feel if he were to die?" Lu Wei asked curiously. He naturally knew who Heaven was.
"I too would mourn, though I may actually die if he dies, I'm not sure." Heaven said.
"What do you mean?" Lu Wei asked with confusion.
"I am made from a part of his soul. Who knows what the effects of him dying would be. At the very least, I know that I would lose my cultivation." Heaven said. "That would naturally lead to my death."
"Then perhaps you couldn't relate. Anyway, it is nice meeting you." Lu Wei said.
He turned to Zhou Fan and nodded.
"Good day, Uncle." He said before beginning to cultivate again.
Zhou Fan nodded and entered his courtyard. It truly was a pity that the old man died.
He and Heaven relaxed in the courtyard, bonding as father and son like they never had before. They fished together and ate together for years before finally leaving the courtyard and parting ways.
Zhou Fan sighed. It was good to see his son.
He once again sat on a cloud above the core realm as he thought. There was a lot he wanted to do before breaking into the next realm. That was because, as soon as he broke through, he planned to fight the last difficult fight of his life. A fight against the cosmic dao. He had a gut feeling that, even if he did not provoke it, it would come for him when he broke through.
No matter how passive it was, would it really just watch as Zhou Fan became able to completely overpower it?
He only knew that it was still beyond him now due to the fact that he could not find it.
As far as he could see, there was no battle for him beyond the cosmic dao. That would be the last time, and perhaps nearly the first time, that he actually fought a difficult battle. He was excited.