Sweeping across the heavens, starting with the first emperor of the ancient times.

"Haha!" The young man in black laughed and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. I am Xiao Fan. These gentlemen are Emperor Shangyang, Heavenly Venerable Chendao, and Fellow Daoist Immortal Mother. We all come from the Origin Realm."

Qi Xuan was taken aback, then remembered that the Heavenly Emperor had mentioned that Emperor Qiankun, Xiao Fan, had arrived in the Lesser Immortal Realm first, giving him the opportunity to find him.

He carefully sensed that although the auras of the other party had changed due to the influence of the rules of the Lesser Immortal Realm, their origins did indeed possess the aura of the Great Dao belonging to the Origin Realm.

"I see." Qi Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and returned the greeting with clasped hands. "I am Qi Xuan. Greetings, fellow Daoists. I apologize for my rudeness earlier."

Xiao Fan greeted him warmly:

"It's not your fault, fellow Daoist. The situation here is complicated, so it's better to be cautious. We sensed familiar fluctuations and guessed that a newcomer might be coming, so we came to meet them. We didn't expect it to cause a misunderstanding."

Xiao Fan patted Qi Xuan on the shoulder, appearing very pleased.

"Finally, another newcomer has arrived, and he's even a colleague of the new emperor! Our team is now even stronger!"

He was happiest when a new, younger emperor arrived.

Emperor Shangyang and the Immortal Granny smiled and nodded in greeting.

Only Chen Dao Tianzun glanced at Qi Xuan, snorted, and didn't say anything, but the wariness in his eyes obviously lessened a lot.

When Chen Dao Tianzun first arrived in the Little Immortal Realm, he was also full of confidence, believing that he could do whatever he wanted with his strength, and rejected Xiao Fan's suggestion of unity and cooperation.

He acted alone.

Chen Dao Tianzun's strength is indeed slightly greater than that of the local experts of the same realm, but he cannot withstand the superior numbers of the other side; two fists cannot fight four hands.

Before long, he was besieged by a group of local Emperor-level experts from the Lesser Immortal Realm. If Xiao Fan hadn't come to his rescue in time, he would have suffered a great loss.

Since then, Chen Dao Tianzun has become much more obedient, understanding that in this place, sticking together is the way to survive.

After the group introduced themselves, the atmosphere quickly became harmonious. Xiao Fan suggested:

"This is not the place to talk. Let's go back to our temporary lodging."

As he led the way, he gave Qi Xuan a brief explanation of the situation.

"This small immortal realm is indeed vast, with countless powerful figures and deeply entrenched forces. Since there are few of us from the Origin Realm, we can only keep a low profile for now, engage in guerrilla warfare, slowly figure out the situation, and find a stable foothold."

"Are there any very powerful people here? Like those who are close to immortals or even immortals?" Qi Xuan asked.

Xiao Fan nodded, then shook his head: "Yes, we sensed the aura of that person who is said to be close to an immortal from afar. He is indeed much stronger than an ordinary Great Emperor, and his Daoist charm is almost perfect, but..."

He paused, a look of doubt on his face.

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel that although that person's aura is lofty, it seems to lack something compared to our Heavenly Emperor. It completely lacks that unfathomable sense of depth."

The term "near-immortal" may only be a term used in this world, and it doesn't necessarily mean someone is truly only one step away from becoming an immortal. At least, I think this near-immortal is inferior to the Heavenly Emperor.

These were Xiao Fan's true feelings. He had sensed the auras of Jiang Hao and the near-immortal beings of this realm, and the two gave him completely different feelings.

The Heavenly Emperor Jiang Hao gave him the feeling of being vast and unfathomable.

Although that near-immortal was strong, stronger than him now, he didn't have that feeling of invincibility.

The others agreed wholeheartedly. Having witnessed Jiang Hao's figure, which resembled the very origin of the Great Dao, they had gained a new understanding of power.

"As for that immortal, I have never met him. I heard that he has been in seclusion."

Xiao Fan was both happy and somewhat regretful that the immortal had gone into seclusion.

They are happy because without immortals, those of them from the Origin Realm can survive better.

They have a chance to turn the tables; otherwise, if there were immortals around, they would have virtually no chance.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the immortals, which is a great pity.

After all, immortality is the goal that all the powerful beings in the Origin Realm have always pursued, and they are still very eager to see it for themselves.

I want to see what immortals are really like, how they differ from the Great Emperor and Heavenly Venerable, and just how powerful they are.

However, the immortals in this world seem to be different from the immortals the Heavenly Emperor spoke of. Xiao Fan inquired and had never heard of the immortals in this world undergoing eight or nine transformations.

Xiao Fan felt that the immortals in this world might not be the mortal immortals that the Heavenly Emperor spoke of.

The group of people flashed and quickly disappeared into the vast wilderness.

They were like a few pebbles thrown into the sea, creating some ripples, but they still had a long way to go before they could truly take root in this vast world called the Little Immortal Realm and then stir up waves.

Sticking together for mutual support and sharing resources is undoubtedly the wisest choice at present.

Those who ascended from the Origin Realm have quietly formed a new force that should not be underestimated in this foreign land.

Time passed quickly and quietly, and soon nearly ten thousand years had passed again.

In the ancient star Gouchen of the Origin Realm, in the eastern region, there is a clear pool of water.

Every morning, a young girl comes here to wash clothes. Her name is Chen Qingwan, and she is the daughter of a medicinal herb farmer in the mountains.

There was an ordinary golden carp in the pond, which was injured and abandoned by its kind.

The girl was kind-hearted and often brought food to feed it. Over time, the carp would happily swim closer whenever it saw her.

In a year, the carp grew to be over three feet long.

After a stormy night, the pool water shimmered with gold, and a little carp somehow obtained a precious pearl and swallowed it.

Not long after, the little carp writhed in pain, with a seven-colored pearl shimmering in its mouth.

The girl waited anxiously for three days, and on the fourth day, as the sun rose, golden light shot into the sky!

The carp leaped out of the water, already five feet long, its golden scales dazzling, and its eyes even seemed to gleam with human-like light.

It swam to the girl's hand, nuzzled her gently, and nodded.

From then on, the carp became fully intelligent. The girl taught it to recognize words, and the little carp watched attentively.

The little carp can predict the weather and find ancient artifacts at the bottom of the pond.

Their relationship improved, and their lives got better and better.

The girl regarded the little carp as her confidant and confided all her secrets to it.

But the good times didn't last long. The steward of the Zhang family, a prominent family from the neighboring city, passed by and noticed the situation in the pond, discovering the small carp.

"Wow, not bad. I didn't expect to find an intelligent carp in this small pond. What a pleasant surprise."

The steward took the carp back and put it into the ferocious beast pool, where there were bloodthirsty spirit creatures like the Rifttooth Crocodile. The small carp and some other spirit creatures were also put into the pool.

All the spirits in the same batch perished.

The little carp, with its agile body, hid in the crevices of rocks and the walls of the pond, but was left with a hideous scar by the claws of a crocodile, hence the name Scarred Carp.

This amazed the Zhang family.

The young girl searched in vain for the little carp, sold her land and jewelry, borrowed a large sum of money from all her neighbors, and finally found the Zhang family, offering herself as a hostage to beg for the release of the fish.

Moved by the girl's sincerity, one of the young masters of the Zhang family agreed to return the carp to her, and the girl returned to the pond safely with the little carp.

The man and the fish were overjoyed to be reunited.

The girl named the little carp Chen Changsheng, wishing him peace and longevity, and then gathered spiritual herbs to heal his wounds.

Three months later, Chen Changsheng recovered from his injuries and transformed into a handsome young man, though the scar on his back remained and his golden eyes held a hidden light.

The girl was so startled that she took a half step back, nearly dropping the bamboo basket in her hand.

She stared wide-eyed at the handsome young man by the pool, then at the empty water, and after a long while, she finally spoke in a trembling voice, "You...you are..."

Chen Changsheng, or rather, the boy who was actually Scarface Carp, smiled shyly, his unique golden eyes shimmering with a light familiar to the girl.

"Qingwan, it's me, Chen Changsheng."

Chen Changsheng's voice was clear and his smile was gentle.