"Father sealed my age for the purpose of temporarily locking away my talent at the moment of my birth."
"That way, I wouldn't miss the best years of cultivation or waste time just because I had become a mortal."
"In reality, my body would grow—just like an ordinary human—maturing, aging… and dying."
"After sealing my bloodline, Father and Mother brought me down to the mortal world. They sealed their own cultivation as well and became ordinary people."
"And so, we became a simple family of three. Father farmed the fields, Mother gathered mulberry leaves and wove, and I was the crying baby wrapped in swaddling cloth."
Yunze spoke slowly, his expression softening as he sank into his memories, a faint smile at his lips.
He described to Gu Yuena the entire life he lived as a mortal—from learning to walk, to babbling his first words.
How he knocked out a tooth from falling while running at age three…How he climbed trees and raided bird nests at age seven…How he almost drowned while swimming in the river at age eleven.
His childhood had been a joyful one—carefree and simple. His family wasn't wealthy, but the warmth at home was unmatched.
His father was strict—but only with words. Even when Yunze made mistakes, he was scolded with reason, not violence. His father never once raised a hand against him.
His mother was gentle beyond words, caring for him with meticulous devotion. When he fell ill, she stayed up all night tending to him, forgetting food and sleep.
When she learned he had nearly drowned, she cried through the entire night—her eyes so swollen the next day she could hardly open them.
His father loved his wife dearly. Every time before cooking, he would first ask her what she wanted to eat. And she, in turn, would ask Yunze what he wanted to eat.
During cooking, Mother tended the fire, Yunze chopped vegetables, and Father handled the wok. The three worked together, laughter filling the kitchen.
At the academy, Yunze had been the naughtiest student—and also the smartest. He was always ranked first.
He was an excellent learner, but he disliked studying. He frequently skipped class to learn martial arts in the dojo next door.
Eventually, he quit studying altogether and apprenticed at the dojo. Within a year, he defeated the dojo master.
"After beating the dojo master, I felt there was no point in staying, so I left and enlisted in the army."
Yunze continued. Though the mortal years were long gone, the memories remained vivid.
He remembered every event clearly and could recount them fluently—as if he had told the story countless times.
But in truth, he hadn't. The impression was simply too deep.
Gu Yuena sat on a stool, chin resting on her hands, listening intently with great interest.
After joining the army, Yunze made great contributions thanks to his martial prowess. Within a few years, he became a general commanding fifty thousand soldiers.
He was only twenty.
Five years later, with military achievements stacked upon military achievements, he was bestowed the title Marquis Wu Yun, commander of three hundred thousand troops.
"When I was granted the marquisate, the emperor even arranged for the Thirteenth Princess to marry me."At this part, Yunze's expression grew complicated.
Gu Yuena's heart tightened. Her smile froze. Her fingers stiffened as she asked cautiously,
"You… agreed?"
Yunze glanced at her and nodded."I did. By then, my parents had urged me many times to marry and have children."
"I didn't particularly dislike the Thirteenth Princess, so I accepted, and we became husband and wife."
"Oh…"
Gu Yuena's mood instantly plummeted. Her head lowered, fingers knitting together. Sadness seeped into her voice.
Seeing her reaction, Yunze understood why she felt that way, but he said nothing and continued his story.
The year after the marriage, he had a daughter—a girl—named Yunxi.
Hearing that Yunze had once married, and even had a child, Gu Yuena's heart sank further. Her nose stung, full of grievance and sorrow.
Knowing Gu Yuena was hardly listening anymore, Yunze skipped several minor events.
"When I was forty, my mother passed away. That same December, my father died as well. At forty-four, my wife succumbed to illness."
"My daughter… during a period of national unrest, was killed by others. She died before me—she was only twenty."
"With the deaths of my parents, my wife, and my daughter… I became completely alone. The home we once lived in was destroyed in the turmoil. I never rebuilt it, nor did I return."
"Perhaps it was because military duties kept me busy… or perhaps because I feared that returning would make me drown in grief when facing memories of them. Either way, I remained in the army."
"It wasn't until I resigned at sixty-three that I finally returned—to the place of my childhood, the home where I grew up, played… where my father, mother, wife, and daughter were all buried."
"In the years that followed, I tended to the fields, pulled weeds, visited their graves daily. My life became peaceful."
"At that time, you must have felt terribly lonely… and heartbroken."Gu Yuena whispered, eyes glistening with tears.
Whether those tears were for his past wife and daughter, or for his tragedies—she could not tell.
Yunze nodded, emotion flickering across his features, and sighed.
"At first, of course I felt pain and loneliness. Whenever I visited their graves, I always cried."
"But as time passed, the sorrow and the loneliness grew lighter, until eventually I could smile while speaking to them at their graves."
"I came to accept their deaths and face them calmly."
"I lived alone in seclusion for thirty-seven years. On my hundredth birthday… I died, thus ending my life as a mortal."
"At the moment of death, everything went dark. My consciousness blurred… and when I awoke, it was in the Phoenix Palace of the Immortal Realm."
"I had returned to the form of a baby—just like at the start of that mortal life—as if I had been reborn with my memories."
"At first, I truly thought I had been reborn with memories. But later, after my parents explained everything… I realized I hadn't been reborn at all."
"That hundred-year life… was a dream I had awakened from."
"A dream?"Gu Yuena suddenly perked up.
Yunze shook his head—then nodded, leaving her more anxious than before.
"So was it a dream or not!?" she urged.
"It can be said to be a dream… and also not a dream. I say this because everything truly happened."
"I really spent a hundred years in the mortal world—an innocent childhood with my parents, a blood-soaked and passionate middle age as a general, and a tragic old age where I lost my father, mother, wife, and daughter."
"All of it was real. Later, I even went back to the mortal world myself. I saw the old thatched house… the tombstones."
Gu Yuena's heart, which had just lifted a little, sank again. Her mouth puckered with frustration.
"Then why call it a dream?"
Yunze gave a bitter smile.
"Because the moment I ended that hundred-year mortal life… I was no longer the 'me' from the mortal world."
"I was once again the young heir of the Undying Phoenix Clan of the Immortal Realm—a child entrusted with immense expectations, destined to cultivate diligently from infancy."
"To me, those hundred years became nothing more than a beautiful dream. And once a dream ends… it's over."
"Can you really treat it as just a dream?"Gu Yuena asked softly, her heart aching for him.
"Whether I can or not… I must."There was helplessness in Yunze's voice.
"My parents took me to the mortal world so I could experience a far more relaxed childhood than in the Immortal Realm—so I could feel fatherly love, motherly love."
"During that time, they had no special requirements for me. They let me do whatever made me happy, even if I spent every day idling."
"But once that mortal life ended… they became strict with me. Ruthlessly strict."
"So strict that even if I was on the verge of death, they would not intervene to save me. Only afterward would they bury me and avenge me."
"Ah—!"Gu Yuena covered her mouth in shock. She had never expected Yunze's parents to be that severe—cold, even.
"The Immortal Realm, which countless cultivators yearn for and call paradise, is anything but peaceful."
"It's full of conflict. Even a mighty clan like the Undying Phoenix Clan faces the risk of extinction."
"If I don't cultivate relentlessly, how would I protect my people? How would I protect myself?"
"Their harshness was for me—to ensure I could truly grow strong. To become an Undying Phoenix who didn't need their protection… who could soar across the Immortal Realm through my own strength."
"Just as they told me—once the hundred mortal years ended, they were no longer my parents, but my teachers. They would oversee my cultivation until I surpassed them."
"Only when I became stronger than them… would they return to being my parents."
He understood his parents' intentions. He did not resent them. Without their strict discipline, he would never have achieved what he had.
When Yunze finished recounting his mortal life, neither spoke. Silence settled between them.
Only after a long while did Gu Yuena ask,
"Then… your wife and daughter… were they revived?"
By now, Yunze had calmed completely. His tone was as serene as before. He shook his head.
"No. As I said—they belonged to a dream. When the dream ended, so did they."
"My fate with them has concluded. There is no need to forcibly continue a bond that has run its course. Letting it all become the past is for the best."
Hearing this, Gu Yuena felt unexpectedly relieved. Her mood lifted significantly—she had prepared herself for the worst, but things weren't nearly as bad as she feared.
"Sister, I wasn't cursing them or anything—please don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand…"Gu Yuena apologized repeatedly in her heart.
She realized her thoughts earlier sounded like she was happy they were dead, which was absolutely not her intention.
(End of Chapter)