LAVW – Chapter 79 Can’t Find Mom

Shi Qian fell back into the clouds and let out a sigh of relief: “Squeak Squeak~”

At least you have a bit of conscience.

Then he looked up and saw the approaching Little Grandmaster.

Alright then, Long Ye might have a bit of conscience—but not much.

Shi Qian pointed downward and said to Mo Sanchi, “Squeak Squeak.”

Elder Yuheng is down there.

Mo Sanchi flew down on his sword.

Seeing this, Long Ye also remembered the proper matter at hand.

He grabbed Brother Qian with his dragon claw, perched him on his head, and soared off into the distance.

Shi Qian lay on the dragon’s head: “Squeak Squeak~”

Brother Ye, where are we going?

“Roar roar—!”

Taking you to eat barbecue.

Shi Qian: ?

Definitely a lie.

Shi Qian didn’t believe Long Ye would take him to eat barbecue at a time like this.

There was still a lot to do. Not to mention the devastation everywhere—the horrifying scenes still vivid—and even Old Dragon’s massive corpse surely needed to be dealt with first.

Wait a minute—”Squeak Squeak?”

You’re not planning to feed me that old dragon, are you?

The black dragon’s voice sounded a little confused: “Roar—”

Didn’t you say you wanted to eat dragon meat?

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

I do want to eat it right now.

Shi Qian lowered his head and opened his mouth, trying to take a bite out of Long Ye, but the dragon’s head was too big and his mouth too small—he couldn’t find a good spot to bite.

So Shi Qian ran over to the dragon’s horn and climbed up. That’s when he noticed one edge of the black dragon’s coral-like, handsome and striking horn was broken.

Shi Qian reached out his paw, but didn’t dare touch it.

Instead, the black dragon tilted his head and suddenly spoke: “Roar—”

Brother Qian, try biting it?

“Squeak Squeak.”

No way.

Shi Qian firmly replied: “Squeak Squeak.”

There’s no way I could bite through that.

Otherwise, Long Ye wouldn’t have even offered.

Seeing his trick had failed, Long Ye praised him: “Roar roar—”

Brother Qian, you’re so clever.

Shi Qian was immune to such empty flattery and asked: “Squeak Squeak?”

Brother Ye, how did you beat the demon dragon? How did you even ascend?

Crouched in the shell with everyone else, Shi Qian hadn’t known what had happened outside. But thinking about it, it must’ve been a miracle, a truly grueling experience.

“Roar roar—”

I collided head-on with the demon dragon. All the spiritual energy of the Ascension Path gathered around it and exploded. When everything ended and the Ascension Path shattered, I saw the body of a powerful demonic cultivator turning into smoke and dust. That body, I think, belonged to the Demon Ancestor.

Shi Qian scratched his head, puzzled: how did the Demon Ancestor know?

Unless—he had somehow learned of her original fate. That would explain why he switched sides from supporting the demon dragon to opposing it.

Then Long Ye gave a brief summary of his battle with the demon dragon, skipping ahead to when a bagua disk fell from the demon dragon after it was struck. He also mentioned that because of that, he took one less heavenly lightning strike.

Shi Qian felt bad and patted his foolish brother’s head.

Being happy over avoiding one strike? Poor guy’s really been zapped silly.

If it were him, he wouldn’t want to take even one.

Long Ye, such a diligent and motivated youth, would never suspect that this lazy fluffball resented him for being too dumb. He just assumed Brother Qian was being affectionate.

As Long Ye continued making a few complicated mental associations, Shi Qian sorted through everything.

That bagua disk was likely a powerful magical artifact—maybe even a divine weapon.

It allowed the big villain, the demon dragon, to foresee the future. That’s why both children of destiny were struck down.

The first one had it worse—he got dragged down the demonic path entirely.

The second time around, Long Ye was less affected. Maybe that was because the Heavenly Dao itself was trying to self-correct and only introduced one variable—the little grandmaster.

If both children of destiny had been destroyed, the old demon dragon might really have succeeded. If it were strong enough, it could’ve shattered the weakened Heavenly Dao and transcended this world. Theoretically possible.

So the “hidden threat” that could lead to the world’s collapse—was the old dragon, not the little grandmaster!

After figuring it all out, Shi Qian pulled out another handful of spiritual sunflower seeds.

He couldn’t finish them all. He really couldn’t. Would Brother Rat like them? Would Rat Mom?

Long Ye: “Roar roar—”

Give me some.

Thinking of the dragon’s giant mouth, Shi Qian directly tossed him a storage pouch: “Squeak Squeak.”

Crack them yourself.

Long Ye showed off by summoning a breeze to neatly separate the seeds from their shells.

Shi Qian: … Okay, that was kind of satisfying.

But seeds that you don’t crack open yourself—have no soul.

So Shi Qian helped Long Ye eat a bunch of kernels, then cracked more together with him.

When they neared a large city, the black dragon swooped down into it, flying toward the teleportation array.

Without stopping, he directly spoke in human speech: “Borrowing this.”

Then he dove into the array and, in an instant, was transported to the other end.

This was Shi Qian’s second time using a teleportation array, so he paid close attention. He realized it wasn’t like the dizzying time-space tunnels often shown in movies or described in novels.

Inside the array was like a regular tunnel—just pass through it and you reach the other side. At first glance, it seemed ordinary, but it was actually quite miraculous.

“Squeak Squeak.”

How does a teleportation array let you travel so far so quickly?

It’s basically a vastly upgraded version of teleportation!

“Roar roar—”

Between two spatial points, you create a new stretch of space. A truly brilliant invention.

Sometimes, the greatness of those who came before reaches an almost unreachable height. So later generations can only look up in awe and admiration at such wonders.

Shi Qian felt like he kind of understood—but also didn’t. He nodded vaguely.

Then he turned and asked Long Ye: “Squeak Squeak?”

Aren’t you able to speak human? Why do you keep roaring at me?

“Roar—”

To practice dragon speech, of course! Nobody else understands it, so now’s a perfect chance.

Shi Qian thought of a dragon who couldn’t even speak its own language fluently, and laughed while leaning on Long Ye’s horn.

With the teleportation array, they soon reached their destination.

Several powerful cultivators at the late Tribulation stage—some of the top powerhouses of the entire cultivation world—were gathered around a dug-up segment of a demonic dragon’s corpse, looking troubled.

When they saw the black dragon approaching—especially those who had personally witnessed his ascension after the Path of Immortality shattered—they exchanged looks.

Compared to their own ages, Long Ye was still just a baby.

So forget about calling him “senior”—the head of the Heavenly Star Pavilion simply smiled and greeted him: “Greetings, Immortal Black Dragon. I am Tianxing.”

The others followed suit and addressed him as “Immortal.”

“You’re too polite,” the black dragon replied in human speech. “Are you troubled by the demon dragon’s corpse? Let me handle it.”

The Heavenly Star Pavilion Master and the others immediately stepped aside to make room for Long Ye.

Shi Qian also jumped down, not wanting to get in his way.

Not seeing the Sword Sect’s leader among these late-stage powerhouses, Shi Qian concluded their sect’s cultivation level lagged behind this top tier.

No, that’s not right—their Sword Sect had already managed to overtake the others.

The only immortal now… wasn’t he from their Sword Sect?

Shi Qian looked at one person who resembled Shi Hao and guessed that he was likely the sect master of Taiyi Dao Sect. He wrote a message and showed it to the man:

—“Elder Wu is injured, but his life is not in danger.”

The sect master of Taiyi Dao Sect read it and, realizing that “Elder Wu” referred to his Dao companion, visibly relaxed and thanked Shi Qian.

Then the Valley Master of Divine Flower Valley spoke up with a question. Shi Qian also wrote a reply: one elder had passed away, but the other elders and Saintess Hua Qing were all unharmed.

Overall, the losses in the Immortal Ascension Path weren’t too severe, although there were still some regrettable deaths.

But compared to the worst-case scenarios everyone had imagined, it was far better.

Meanwhile, the black dragon arrived in front of the crimson, demonic dragon corpse. Immortal spiritual energy emanated from his body as he let out a dragon’s roar. The sound had a strange rhythm, carrying a vast, ancient resonance that dispersed the demonic energy clinging to the dragon corpse.

Once the demonic energy was fully gone, Long Ye returned to human form and shattered the dragon corpse, fusing the fragments into the earth’s meridians.

Just this process—carrying and dispersing the dragon corpse at the severely damaged sites—took nearly half a month.

The vast power of the earth returned to the meridians.

The original cracks, broken mountains, and ruined walls couldn’t be restored immediately. But with the earth’s energy replenished, new life could once again emerge from the fractures.

Shi Qian also rushed around the cultivation world, only then realizing just how vast this place was—beyond his imagination. No metaphor, no matter how exaggerated, could capture its entirety.

On the other side—

After Hei Mao and Long Hu finished looting the spirit melon platter and came to their senses, they realized the younger brother was missing. So they followed Hua Qing back to Divine Flower Valley.

But since Hei Mao wasn’t fast enough and the others were also injured, Mo San Chi took the task of escorting everyone back, sending people home one by one along the route.

Those who couldn’t be conveniently transported were simply taken back to Sword Sect to recuperate for a while.

As for Long Hu, Wu Chunshu brought her son’s spirit beast back to the Dao Sect.

Upon seeing his mother, Shi Hao’s eyes turned red. “Mother!”

“You’re… still alive—”

After learning the Immortal Ascension Path had collapsed, with no way in or out, Shi Hao had started worrying about his mother.

Then came the earthquakes, terrifying everyone. His father had also been gone for many days with no news. Now that he saw his mother in person, Shi Hao could finally relax.

Wu Chunshu: “…”

“Were you hoping I was dead?”

“Doesn’t the sect have life tokens?” Wu Chunshu asked, puzzled.

If a life token were completely shattered, the sect could confirm that the cultivator had died.

“No! Of course not.” Shi Hao quickly explained. “Mother, I was just too worried. The life token can’t put my mind at ease.”

He stepped forward and hugged her tightly, overwhelmed with emotion.

Wu Chunshu patted her son’s back, internally finding him annoyingly clingy, then suddenly asked in alarm, “Your father’s dead?”

Why else would this unfilial child look so sad?

Shi Hao froze, tears falling again. “No, that’s impossible!”

“Then why are you crying?” Wu Chunshu asked anxiously, confused. “I don’t feel anything.”

If her Dao companion had truly died, Wu Chunshu would definitely feel the pain of the severed bond.

Just then, the sect master of Dao Sect arrived back at the sect and said dryly, “…Because I’m not dead.”

“Don’t mind this brat, Chunshu. Let’s go home.”

The Dao Sect sect master took his wife and left, leaving Shi Hao and Long Hu staring at each other.

Long Hu: “Awooo—”

Stop crying. You look awful.

Shi Hao wiped his face. “As if you look any better.”

“Awooo awooo—”

Long Hu pounced on him and slapped Shi Hao’s face with a big paw.

Shi Hao caught the creature and quickly asked, “How’s the Saintess? Was she hurt? And your two kids—are they okay?”

“Awoo awoo.”

The Saintess was injured. The two cubs and I are fine.

“Then I need to find some medicine to send over.” Shi Hao sighed. “Too bad I don’t have time to go myself—I need to go help with the rescues.”

Saving lives—that was the most important task right now.

This earthquake had devastated every region. The stronger areas could manage on their own, but the weaker ones had suffered heavily. They needed all the help they could get.

While his parents were absent, Shi Hao found himself, under immense pressure, beginning to see things even more important than the Saintess.

Once he finished helping, he would go to Divine Flower Valley!

After running around and helping where he could, and after things had stabilized across most areas, Shi Qian rode the dragon back to Sword Sect.

News that Sword Sect had produced an immortal had already spread throughout the cultivation world.

From afar, disciples who remained behind in the sect saw the silhouette of a black dragon and cried out in shock, calling their companions over to see the dragon.

And seeing the dragon, one could hardly miss the white fluffball perched on its head.

There atop the dragon’s head, Shi Qian basked in everyone’s awe and admiration—well worth all the pleading he had done to get Long Ye to agree.

What an entrance. Just one word—cool!

Surely, even years from now, countless people would still remember this stylish, showy appearance and spread the tale, turning him into a legendary figure.

Shi Qian was enjoying his mental fantasy when the black dragon landed on Elder Peak and Long Ye turned back into his human form, thus robbing him of his “flashy ride.”

Falling into Long Ye’s arms, Shi Qian pouted, still unsatisfied. “Squeak Squeak.”

I haven’t had enough yet.

Long Ye: “We’ll continue later.”

After saying that, Long Ye saluted Elder Chang Youcai and the others who had come out to greet them, then the two entered the Elder Hall together.

After a few polite congratulations, the topic naturally shifted to the Immortal Ascension Path—how Long Ye had dealt with the soul of the demonic dragon. Since Long Ye had been outside all this time and no one else was present during the event, no one knew the details, and the more battle-hungry among the Sword Sect elders were dying of curiosity.

Long Ye recounted the events again—and only now did Shi Qian realize just how dangerous the situation had been.

Clearly, the version told to him and the version told to the public were not the same.

But since the elders asking had all once taught Long Ye, it wouldn’t have been right to hide it from them.

While speaking, Long Ye couldn’t help but sneak a guilty glance at the fluffy little creature obediently lying on his knees.

Once the elders allowed them to leave, Long Ye descended from the Elder Peak. He transformed back into a black dragon, carrying the fluffball on his head, preparing to return to Emerald Dragon Mountain.

“Roar roar—”

Brother Qian, why have you been quiet for so long?

Long Ye felt that the best thing about dragon roars was that others couldn’t understand them—it made speaking freely much easier.

“Squeak Squeak.”

I don’t know what to say.

“Roar roar?”

Aren’t you going to ask me?

Shi Qian wasn’t some naive fool; of course he knew the process must’ve been extremely difficult.

He only pretended not to know because he hadn’t heard it directly—but covering one’s ears never truly worked.

What should he ask?

Shi Qian thought for a moment, then asked a rather pointless question: “Squeak Squeak?”

When things are really hard, you still don’t give up? How come you’re so amazing?

“Roar—”

I have given up before, plenty of times. Maybe you just didn’t know.

“Roar roar.”

When I don’t give up, it’s because I see hope.

And when I can’t see it… I just trick myself into believing it’s still ahead. Long Ye thought that if he had given up at the beginning, he definitely wouldn’t have made it here.

Maybe he wouldn’t even have awakened the power of his bloodline. He’d just be a pathetic nobody in a small town, abandoned by both his family and the person he loved, never even knowing how his father had died…

He would’ve lived out his life in miserable obscurity—never seeing the vast world, meeting these amazing people, or having his little fluffball.

In the cultivation world, Long Ye had always understood: he had to become stronger to live better, to live more freely.

Long Ye shifted the topic to something he actually wanted to know: “Roar roar—”

Brother Qian, why didn’t you ask me if it hurt?

Shi Qian: ……

Shi Qian extended a paw and gave a light slap to a scabbed wound on Long Ye’s head.

It wasn’t too hard, but it wasn’t gentle either.

It was just enough to let Long Ye feel the pain.

Long Ye: …Brought this on myself.

How could he forget that Brother Qian never played by the rules?

But when they got back to Emerald Dragon Mountain, neither of them really felt like resting—not even Shi Qian wanted to go to sleep.

He lay sprawled on Long Ye’s head and watched him pull out another book.

“Squeak Squeak.”

How boring, reading all the time.

Long Ye flipped to the cover to show him. The translated title was something like: “One Hundred Must-Visit Places in the Cultivation World.”

The ridiculous part was that every single location in the book had comments scribbled in the margins by You Fang.

About half were approved, the other half criticized—often with direct comparisons like “not as good as such-and-such place.”

Shi Qian hopped down and landed in Long Ye’s arms to look together.

Whenever he saw a place that sounded fun or pretty, he’d tap it with a paw.

After carefully selecting, they had over fifty destinations. Then they pulled out a map of the cultivation world to figure out a travel plan.

Shi Qian, for once, didn’t slack off, and ended up memorizing the entire map.

In the following days, after meeting up with friends like Wang Xingzhi and others, they finalized Long Ye’s ascension ceremony six months later. Then Shi Qian set off riding Long Ye, beginning a journey around the cultivation world.

Shi Qian brought along many memory stones, clumsily attempting to record images.

A still-online 1958 quietly reminded him:

[Brother Qian, memory stones can only be used under specific rules and require sufficient spiritual energy to activate.]

[…Explain further.]

[They don’t work in our Bureau HQ. Most other worlds can’t activate them either. Memory stones are likely to just be… well, literal stones.]

Shi Qian paused, then asked:

 [Then get me a phone, or a camera or something? I’ll put it on credit.]

He’d finished the mission anyway—he’d earn more points in the future. No way would a living Totoro be defeated by poverty.

[I’m sorry. But modern tech products can’t appear in cultivation worlds—they’d disrupt the world’s operation.]

[Brother Qian, you can hire me to take photos. The limit is 100 photos per world. But staying online consumes energy, so you’ll need to spend 5 to 10 points.]

[And if I complete this world’s mission, how many points will I get?]

[This cultivation world has a higher difficulty. You’ll get 1,000 points. But in basic or easier worlds, some tasks only give around 100 points.]

Shi Qian did the math:

High-difficulty world = 1,000 points.

A small 8-square-meter private space = 100,000 points.

Keeping 1958 online for 6–12 months for photos and chatting = 5 to 10 points.

Entering a new world costs 20 points, as 1958 had explained before.

So that reward space really was expensive. And 1958’s labor cost… felt a bit overpriced. Two years of keeping 1958 online would be enough to enter another new world.

[What if I don’t need photos? Just want you online?]

[Brother Qian, it costs the same. Taking photos is a perk we offer. Storing those images also uses energy, but the Bureau believes in emotional support for hosts, so we added it as a benefit.]

Shi Qian sensed something off—it seemed like the Bureau… was pretty poor.

They could store pictures, but wouldn’t give video. Something had to be wrong.

Still, what Shi Qian cared more about was:

[So… can I come back to this world again, or go to that so-called Immortal Realm to find Long Ye?]

[After completing three missions, you’ll unlock the ‘Visit Old Friends’ feature. It costs 666 points per use. But due to time discrepancies, we’ll first confirm whether your friend is still alive.]

No need to confirm that—Long Ye was definitely alive. He had already become an immortal, after all.

But still—666?! What a rip-off!

After consulting the system, Shi Qian bought the photo-recording service on credit, then angrily bit Long Ye’s dragon horn.

As expected, he didn’t manage to leave a mark.

Not long after flying out of Sword Sect, the black dragon, suddenly bitten, asked in confusion:

“Roar roar?”

What’s wrong?

Shi Qian hugged the dragon horn again and gave it two more gnawing chomps.

“Ao Tian, you have no idea how hard I have to work just to see you once!”

“Roar roar——”

Brother Qian, are your teeth itching because they’re growing in?

Long Ye looked a little worried and stopped midair, wanting to pry open Shi Qian’s mouth to check his teeth.

Shi Qian: …Don’t make me actually bite you!

In the end, he was forced to bare his teeth and let Long Ye check them, finally proving his teeth were fine.

Since it wasn’t a dental problem, it must be psychological.

Long Ye summoned the Dragon Slayer Sword, multitasking as he continued flying while trying to have a heart-to-heart with the little spirit□□.

“Brother Qian, are you thinking about what’ll happen in half a year?”

Shi Qian looked at Long Ye seriously and said, “Squeak Squeak.”

All good things must come to an end.

Parting is already fated, so why dwell on unhappy things? Shi Qian wasn’t thinking too much—just now, he had only been wondering if there was a chance they might meet again.

“That was beautifully said,” Long Ye replied. “Then let’s agree: from now on, we’ll have fun and not be sad.”

Shi Qian nodded: “Squeak Squeak.”

Yes, we’ve made a promise.

Soon, they arrived at their first destination—the Hundred Bird Mountain Range.

It was a place where avian-type demon beasts gathered. Every evening, you could witness the spectacular “Return of the Birds to the Forest.”

At that time, the sunset blazed across the sky like fire, and countless types of birds flew back in flocks to the golden-lit forests. Their cries mingled with the sound of wind brushing through treetops—nature’s own symphony, sometimes light and graceful, sometimes powerful and majestic.

Reluctant to return to their nests, the birds would circle the mountains repeatedly. Individually elegant, collectively synchronized.

Shi Qian held a memory stone, recording all the birds.

Surprisingly, 1958 was very reliable—it managed to capture a stunning photo of Shi Qian and Long Ye together.

As they were leaving, Shi Qian still remembered one particular bird with an especially beautiful tail: “Squeak Squeak.”

That big bird’s tail was so pretty!

Even more dazzling than a green peacock. Shi Qian was truly amazed by the species in the cultivation world—each one seemed to grow in such extraordinary ways.

This was already the fifth time. Long Ye asked, “Wanna go touch it?”

Shi Qian thought: If you could just change that expression of yours, I’d dare to go.

The fluffball shook his head: “Squeak Squeak.”

What’s the point of touching someone else’s tail? We’ve got our own.

Shi Qian flicked his own tail, hugged it, and gave it a sniff.

The perk of growing bigger was that it was now more convenient to snuggle his own tail.

As for whether it was heavy or not—well, it wasn’t Long Ye’s concern anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Long Ye watched as Shi Qian repeatedly sniffed his own tail and was a little puzzled: “Is it that fun?”

So Long Ye leaned in and took a sniff of the big white fluffball.

Soft fur brushed against his face—the feeling was so plush it tugged at the heartstrings.

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

Feels good, right?

Long Ye smiled and nodded: “Not bad.”

After visiting a few places, they arrived at Divine Flower Valley.

Shi Qian planned to pick up Mouse Bro and, on the way, go home to see Mouse Mom. Coincidentally, Long Ye’s hometown was nearby too—a perfect chance to return in glory.

But since they were already there, they naturally had to check out the famous Sea of Spiritual Flowers in the valley.

Hei Mao, upon seeing his younger brother, was ecstatic and immediately stayed up all night sharing which flowers tasted the best.

The result? The two brothers accidentally ate the wrong flowers at night. The next morning, after watching the flowers bloom, they were promptly kicked out by Hua Qing.

Shi Qian protested his innocence. He had warned Mouse Bro that those plump little white flowers looked suspicious—the spiritual energy was just too dense.

But Hei Mao had been full of confidence, claiming those were the tastiest and that Hua Qing often fed them to others.

Well… they were delicious.

Shi Qian smacked his lips, still able to recall the flower’s unique texture and flavor.

After leaving Divine Flower Valley, Shi Qian secretly pulled out one of those little white flowers and gave it to Long Ye to try.

Long Ye asked, “…That was the last one, right?”

Shi Qian the dutiful son: “Squeak Squeak.”

There’s one more. I’m saving it for Mom.

As Long Ye munched on the “sacred flower” of Divine Flower Valley, he thought: No wonder Hua Qing kicked you two out. If not, the Law Enforcement Elders would’ve chased you across the entire valley.

With Mouse Bro now in tow, they headed straight for home.

First stop: Five Leaf Mountain, since Falling Maple Town was further down the road.

When Long Ye arrived and looked around, he realized Falling Maple Town wasn’t far at all. He said in confusion: “Brother Qian, didn’t you say your home was really far? That you couldn’t go back?”

Shi Qian confidently held out his short front paw: “Squeak Squeak.”

It is far.

Back then, if it weren’t for hitching a ride with a demonic cultivator, it would’ve taken half a month of travel. He’d run his legs thin.

Hei Mao: “Squeak!”

It really was far.

Long Ye opened his mouth but was no match for the two brothers’ double talking. He simply followed behind them as they bounced along joyfully.

Hei Mao carried his brother and happily dashed back home.

But after one turn into the cave, they realized Mouse Mom’s scent had faded—clearly, she hadn’t been home in a long time.

Hei Mao was stunned: “Squeak Squeak…”

Bro, where’s Mom?

Shi Qian: “Squeak Squeak.”

I don’t know either.

Turns out, if you lie to a tiger and say you don’t know where your mom is… you’ll actually end up not knowing where she is.

But it didn’t matter—he had Long Ye now. Once Long Ye became an immortal, he was super useful.

Shi Qian turned his head: “Squeak Squeak!”

Brother Ye, I really can’t find my mom. Hurry and help me look for her!