"But there's one thing you need to understand." The Celestial Emperor said. "The Emperor's Way—I passed it to your eldest brother, and when your second, third, and fourth brothers ascend to High God, I'll pass it to them too. In the end... it all depends on your own fate!"
Sean Shaw: "Understood."
Celestial Emperor: "Do you know why every Celestial Emperor comes from Drake Abyss, from our Divine Dragon Clan?"
Sean Shaw thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"It's because of the Emperor's Way! Your mother once said there are Three Thousand Great Daos in this world, and each one can grant immortality. In the Lotus Realm, the only true Dao is the Emperor's Way—it's one of the Three Thousand Great Daos!"
"Immortality?" Sean Shaw frowned. "But none of the past Celestial Emperors ever achieved immortality, did they?"
"That's because their cultivation wasn't complete."
"What level counts as complete cultivation?"
"Maybe... you have to break through the limits of the Lotus Realm!"
...
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.
They'd finished studying every single military strategy manual in that room.
The Divine Commanders’ Training Camp crew faced their final big assessment.
Lucy Luan completed the foundational training with top marks, finishing first.
Afterward, His Majesty the Celestial Emperor granted them a long vacation so they could go home and reunite with their families.
So, the three Lu siblings returned to Peach Blossom Haven.
"Wow! That familiar scent! The peach orchard! The smell of home!" Ryan Lu’s face was practically glowing. "It’s been ages since I came home!"
Luna Lian laughed at him. "It’s only been three years! Anyone listening would think you’d been gone for three thousand!"
"You two are still young! You can’t understand the feeling of ‘fallen leaves returning to their roots.’" Ryan Lu declared, hugging a peach tree.
"Pfft!" Lucy Luan burst out laughing. "You can only say that once you’ve got grandkids!"
"You don’t need grandkids to say it!" Ryan Lu pouted. "Don’t you two ever get homesick?"
"We’re used to it," Luna Lian replied. "Did you forget? We spent years grinding it out at the Spirit Alliance! Especially Sis—she didn’t come out for centuries! Who else but you, Young Master, gets pampered by a whole flock of Divine Attendants and doesn’t even have to pick a single peach fuzz?"
Ryan Lu blushed, then grumbled, "Father really went overboard! He actually locked you up at the Spirit Alliance for centuries and wouldn’t let you come home!"
"That’s called ‘no hard study, no achievement!’" Suddenly, Ethan Lu’s voice rang out.
Ryan Lu sucked in a breath. "Big Brother!"
"That’s why she came in first! You came in dead last!" Ethan Lu looked at him with absolute disdain.
"I wasn’t dead last!" Ryan Lu protested. "I was second-to-last, okay?"
Ethan Lu swung a palm at him, but Ryan Lu dodged nimbly.
"Big Brother! It really isn’t my fault," Ryan Lu wailed. "Ever since I got contaminated with demonic energy, I’ve had lingering side effects—constant nightmares, insomnia, memory loss, palpitations, and total fatigue!"
Ethan Lu frowned at him, then turned to Lucy Luan. "Is he really having side effects?"
Lucy Luan said, "He does say he has nightmares a lot, but there’s nothing physically wrong with him that I can find. It’s probably psychological."
Ethan Lu frowned. "Let’s go! Father and Mother are waiting for you!"
The four siblings went home together.
It wasn’t easy for all the kids to gather at once—High God Quentin Lian and High Goddess Vivian Lu were overjoyed.
The whole family sat together, chatting and laughing in rare harmony.