The villa's hall was festooned with lights and adorned with various flowers and colorful balloons. It was as if a grand celebration party was being held.

What's going on? Qin Heng wondered.

Just then...

"TA-DA! Bro, happy birthday!"

Little Qin Yun, dressed in a frilly pink dress with a pink ribbon in her hair, appeared in front of Qin Heng. She was holding a birthday cake in her hands!

The cake was small and not very elaborate. It even looked a bit rough. Written on it with jam in crooked letters were the words "Happy 18th Birthday."

"This cake was handmade by Little Yun." Song Ningran walked over, holding a small bunch of candles, and gently inserted them into the cake. Then, she glared at Qin Heng and said, "If you hadn't come back tonight, Little Yun would probably have killed you tomorrow."

"..." Qin Heng stood frozen at the door, looking at the birthday cake in Qin Yun's hands and the candles Song Ningran had just inserted. He had a complex expression on his face as he gently closed his eyes and smiled. "So, today is my birthday, huh."

The 23rd day of the fourth lunar month was the birthday of the Xuantian Immortal Emperor.

In his past life in the Immortal realm, all the Heavenly Immortals had once held a grand banquet for him. At the banquet, the three Pure Ones—Yuan Shi, Spiritual Treasure, and Dao De—came to celebrate. The two Western Saints, Cundi and Tathagata, both presented generous gifts. Nuwa and Fuxi, the two human ancestors, also graced the event. Others like Haotian, Tathagata Buddha, and Zhen Yuanzi also came to offer their congratulations.

This was a feast even grander than the Peaches Banquet, a true event of the Immortal realm. But Qin Heng didn't really feel anything. It hardly counted as a birthday.

In his memory, the last birthday he celebrated was in his previous life when he was six years old, with his parents and younger sister. By the time he was seven, he had lost his family.

From that point on, until he achieved Eternity and became an Immortal Emperor, he had never observed his birthday again.

Having been reborn in a parallel world as himself, he had even forgotten when his own birthday was. Yet, surprisingly, Little Yun remembered it and had even baked a birthday cake for him with her own hands.

"Ha ha ha!" Qin Heng laughed, reached for the cake, grabbed a piece, and put it in his mouth. He said with a chuckle, "It's quite sweet. Not bad for a first try."

"Hey! The candles aren't lit yet, and you didn't make a wish! How could you start eating already?" Qin Yun pouted and complained, "Humph, glutton, and you even used your hands to grab it... MMPH!"

Suddenly, Qin Yun couldn't speak because Qin Heng had stuffed her mouth with a piece of cake.

"You just love to pick on Little Yun," Song Ningran said, rolling her eyes. They had a very good relationship and often joked around.

"Ha ha! I don't just pick on her!" Qin Heng laughed, closing the door. He wiped some residual cream from his mouth and smeared it directly onto Song Ningran's pretty face, instantly turning her into a calico cat. "I'll pick on you too! Ha ha ha!"

"How dare you!!" Song Ningran's beautiful eyes widened. She immediately wiped her face and tried to smear the cream Qin Heng had put on her face onto his.

However, with her speed, how could she possibly catch up to Qin Heng? Despite trying hard for a while, she failed to get any cream on him. Instead, Qin Heng managed to smear some cream on her face, chest, arms, and legs.

The two tacitly refrained from grabbing cream directly from the cake. After all, it was something Little Yun had painstakingly made by hand, and they couldn't just waste it like that.

"Wow! Bro, you're so bad! How could you leave sticky white stuff on Ran Ran's chest!" Qin Yun feigned surprise, pointing at the cream on Song Ningran's chest.

"Little Yun! You're banned from reading novels from now on!!" Song Ningran's cheeks suddenly flushed, as if dyed by the crimson clouds at the edge of the sky, looking shy but radiant.

"Little Yun, I really think we need to have a proper talk about your education!" Qin Heng's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke with a chuckle. "Come on, hand over your phone. Let's see what you've stored in there!"

SMACK!

The moment Qin Yun heard this, she quickly put the cake on the table and, with a WHOOSH, dashed upstairs, shouting, "Brother! I just remembered! I've got a 25-man raid to do. I'm going to play Swords of Legends now!!"

BANG!

The door to the room closed.

In the lobby downstairs, Qin Heng and Song Ningran looked at each other, then both burst into hearty laughter, laughing freely and joyfully.

Gradually, the laughter subsided.

Song Ningran looked at the cake on the table, smiled, and said to Qin Heng, "You know, you're always traveling, gone for ten days or half a month at a time. Little Yun misses you a lot. The birthday cake she made for you today is also filled with her longing for you. She didn't want me to tell you, but I think it's better for you to know. After all, your parents are in Beijing, and in Tianhai, it's just the two of you."

"..." Qin Heng fell silent for a moment, then nodded with a smile and said, "I understand. I'll make sure to spend more time with her from now on."

"I knew you would understand," Song Ningran responded, her smile as bright as flowers. "Now I'm relieved. This should make Little Yun happier in the future."

"But you got one thing wrong just now," Qin Heng looked at Song Ningran and laughed. "Tianhai doesn't just have me and Little Yun. There's you as well, Ran Ran. You forgot about yourself, but I haven't."

"You..." Song Ningran's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red. She lowered her head, fiddled with the hem of her clothes, and whispered, "I-I'll go take a shower and change into my pajamas first. You take your time eating."

Having said that, she walked away as if escaping.

"Hahaha!" Qin Heng laughed again.

This short while was the most he had laughed since he was seven years old in his previous life until now.

After finishing the food on the table, as well as that piece of cake, Qin Heng also returned to his room. He lay on the bed, looked at the ceiling, and chuckled, "Heh, it's been so long since I've laughed like this, but it's not bad."

「The next morning.」

After breakfast with Qin Yun and Song Ningran, Qin Heng left home. He arrived at the place where he had gotten out of the car the night before and waited.

Chen Qingzhu arrived on time, driving the same red BMW. After a journey of more than twenty minutes, they arrived at a parking lot outside an office building in the center of a business park.

A huge sign hung above the building, reading "Yue Feng Martial Arts Club."

The decor was very luxurious. The lobby featured sensor-activated glass doors that opened automatically as Chen Qingzhu and Qin Heng approached, revealing four beautiful receptionists bowing in welcome.

Chen Qingzhu, escorting Qin Heng, took the elevator to a spacious hall on the twelfth floor.

Through the open doors, one could see various fighting equipment and rubber mats inside. More than a dozen people were sparring—not just practicing forms, but engaging in real fights!

Punches landed solidly, with refreshing vigor!

Qin Heng also noticed a wooden plaque hanging at the entrance of the hall with three characters: "Baiyu Jing."

At that moment, a young man in a white vest, black shorts, and bare feet approached. He had handsome features, clearly defined muscles, was over 1.8 meters tall, and was both lanky and sturdy.

"Heavenly Baiyu Jing, twelve floors, five cities.' That's a saying. This place is where Yue Feng's strongest experts gather, so it's called Baiyu Jing. I am the strongest here, Bai Zhen—the 'Zhen' in 'ferocious.' You can call me Tower Master Bai." The young man glanced indifferently at Qin Heng. He flexed his fingers, producing a crackling sound, then clenched them into a fist and said in a deep voice, "I heard from Manager Chen about you, Qin Heng. A genius who achieved Hidden Force at only seventeen, and you said you came to be our instructor. You are quite arrogant, exceptionally so. Many have dared to claim they would be my instructor, Bai Zhen, but I've crippled them all. Now, let me test you!"

WHIR!

The air tore apart, a fist breaking through the void!

This Bai Zhen, without any preamble, directly struck at Qin Heng!!