Madam Bai was a proud and arrogant woman. Since she and Lin Zhan were always at odds, it was reasonable that she would have bad blood with him. But how innocent was Lin Xuanzhi?
Because he was just a little more gifted, he gained a lot of rich resources from the family. But, this was a law of the world where the strong ruled. In addition, it was a decision made by the head of the Lin family.
Madam Bai sat down with a smile and sipped a cup of cold tea. Her eyes held a secretive glint as she chuckled, “It all began with that monster Lin Xuanzhi.”
“Monster?”
“It’s better that you don’t know about these things.” Madam Bai narrowed her eyes, “All you need to know is that Lin Xuanzhi is a monster who crawled out of a man’s belly. His existence is against the nature of heaven.”
Lin Zezhi’s face suddenly changed and he was shocked.
“His mother is a man? This … how is this possible?!”
“Not only is he a man but you and I both know him.” Madam Bai hooked her lips and her eyes exuded clear disgust. “Men giving birth to children is an act against the heavens. Because Yin and Yang were out of balance, the heavens sent disaster as a warning. Lin Xuanzhi’s birth brought chaos throughout the entire Qing city. At that time, you were still young so you didn’t know anything about the world. However, those of us who witnessed it knew how terrible and awful it was. Lin Xuanzhi should have been killed but Su Mo, that madman, said that if Lin Zhan and Lin Xuanzhi met any mishaps, he would let the entire Lin family be buried with them. Otherwise, do you think Lin Xuanzhi could have lived to this day?”
The more he listened, the more frightened Lin Zezhi felt. He had never heard of these things. He was several years older than Lin Xuanzhi, he should have remembered when his cousin was born but what Madam Bai said, he had no impressions of it.
Lin Zezhi asked cautiously, “Why have I never heard of these things before?”
Madam Bai glanced at him, “Lin Zhan gave birth to Lin Xuanzhi. This is the shame of the Lin family. In addition, the family head had imposed a ban on anyone who knew anything about it. What’s more, even if I said anything, few people would believe it.”
Although same-sex Dao companions often happened behind closed doors, those people having children was still shocking and it was called an act against heaven.
Yuan Zheng and Su Mo, the most famous of the same-sex couples, had the same son but Yuan Tianwen actually had no blood relations with them.
Yuan Tianwen came from Yuan Zheng’s first lady, who was said to be a peerless beauty. She lived in seclusion and seldom showed herself in front of others. As a teenager, Yuan Zheng was a popular playboy. It was unknown how many close female friends he had but after he married his wife, he seemed to have become a different person. Every day, he only accompanied his wife. When he went out to travel with his friends, he could not go without the two words “my wife”.
Throughout the Five Continents, several people envied Yuan Zheng’s wife who was treated with such sincerity from her husband.
However, she was an unlucky woman. As soon as she gave birth to Yuan Tianwen, she was sucked of her Qi and vitality, and became a lump of withered bones and died.
Soon after, when Yuan Zheng left his home to relax, he came upon a sea of flowers and saw Su Mo dancing among it with the butterflies. Since then, Yuan Zheng had fallen in love again.
Su Mo was also a strange man. Not only did he break off his relationship with the Xiqi Su family in order to marry into the Yuan family, but he also regarded Yuan Tianwen as his own. He sought to curry favor with people everywhere and even destroyed his ambition of “traveling all over the Five Continents” he set in his youth to become a romantic.
Some people say that Su Mo was favored by Yuan Zheng because of his strange resemblance to Yuan Zheng’s original wife. Su Mo was only a substitute in Yuan Zheng’s heart.
Others also say that Su Mo had already taken a fancy to Yuan Zheng so he secretly killed Yuan Zheng’s wife by any means, letting her die in childbirth and also designed his meeting with Yuan Zheng in the sea of flowers.
Whenever these rumors were heard, Su Mo would laugh them off and not refute them.
Yuan Tianwen was also kind and respectful towards Su Mo both personally and privately.
But in any case, he was not born from two men. In the entire Five Continents, the birth of a son by a man would never happen in an aristocratic family, although it was occasionally heard. It would be regarded as a sign of family unhappiness and impending disaster.
Lin Zhan gave birth to Lin Xuanzhi. In order to protect the family’s face and authority, how could the elders let people talk about it?
Madam Bai looked deeply at Lin Zezhi, who was still in shock, “I shouldn’t have told you this but now you have been confused by Lin Xuanzhi. I had no choice. Lin Xuanzhi’s birth will bring disaster to the Lin family. If he becomes the Lin family’s next head, I’m afraid even the heavens will not allow it. ”
Lin Zezhi was in a trance. After a long time, he said, “I have to think about it, Mother. I’ll leave first.”
Madam Bai nodded, slightly relieved, “Go ahead.”
After Lin Zezhi left, Third Elder came in.
Madam Bai got up to welcome him and anxiously told him, “Zezhi’s been brainwashed by Lin Xuanzhi this time. I’m afraid it’s out of my control.”
Third Elder narrowed his eyes, “Lin Xuanzhi is indeed really lucky. Unexpectedly, he was able to get a hold of a celestial-level pill after going to the Hundred Families Gathering. “
Madam Bai was worried. Even though she hated and despised Lin Xuanzhi, she had to admit that he was frightening.
“Lin Xuanzhi has great talent and is brilliant in cultivating the sword.” Madam Bai said uneasily, “Now that he has gained power, we won’t be able to suppress him again so easily.”
Third Elder replied coldly, “What are you scared of? He’s just a little boy. His cultivation is not as good as it used to be. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Madam Bai took a deep breath, “This boy is getting more and more incomprehensible. If he returns to Profound Sky Sect, he is sure to make a comeback. Not to mention, he emerged successfully at the Hundred Families Gathering and many influential families have made friends with him, especially the Bai—”
When Madam Bai said this, she couldn’t help feeling hateful, “The Bai family sent someone to warn me that they wanted to make friends with Lin Xuanzhi. For so many years, the Bai family had turned a blind eye to me. Now, they have the face to ask me to please Lin Xuanzhi for them?”
Third Elder saw that Madam Bai’s hands were shaking in anger and his heart softened, “Lin Xuanzhi may have two brushes but we are not without our own secrets either. My corpse puppet is almost finished. Soon, the entire Qing city will be in our hands. By that time, what can a mere Lin Xuanzhi do?”
When Madam Bai heard this, her face looked slightly relieved but she was still worried, “However, there is only one corpse puppet. It’s simply unable to defeat First Elder.”
Third Elder sneered contemptuously, “First Elder has long been dead!”
“What?” Madam Bai’s eyes widened.
There was still more than a month left before the enrollment of Profound Sky Sect. In this month, besides receiving guests to congratulate him with Fifth Elder, Lin Xuanzhi locked himself in his room and went into seclusion to craft magical weapons and practice his swordsmanship. But he wasn’t in a hurry.
Cultivating the sword path was impossible without the sword. He had the Zhige sword since childhood and if he couldn’t use it, Lin Xuanzhi didn’t want to practice with another sword.
Duan Yuyang didn’t appear often after he sent Yan Tianhen an alchemist furnace. However, it’s occasionally heard that Duan Yuyang had gone back to fighting cocks and running dogs recently, deceiving men and dominating women which caused all the unmarried boys and girls in Qing City to feel like they were in danger once more. They were afraid of being attracted by this bully and becoming frivolous.
After Lin Xuanzhi crafted several magical tools, he and Yan Tianhen would go to the post office to deliver them.
Most of the magical weapons he crafted were high-grade while a few of them were top grade. The reason for this was one, he didn’t want to expose his true level, and two, too much top-grade tools would cause a lot of suspicion.
Ah Bai and Hu Po were once again sent to the Demonic Beast Institute by Lin Xuanzhi. The cubs didn’t feel shy and helpless like the first time and they swaggered into the academy. Wherever they went, the demons retreated, chickens flew and dogs jumped. The two instructors, Qing Yuege and the Golden Leopard, showed bitter expressions. However, Lin Xuanzhi gave them enough money and the meaning of “using diplomacy before resorting to force” was clearly expressed. They could only accept the two little overlords for now.
Meanwhile, Yan Tianhen didn’t think about practicing alchemy. Instead, he went to the Mass Grave Ridge fifty miles away every night to practice the Imperial Corpse Technique and the Yin Flame Palm with Ling Chigu. In the middle of the night, the moon was full of Yin energy so the Yin Qi in Yan Tianhen’s body was like flowing water whereas during the day, it was dry.
In just a month, Yan Tianhen’s cultivation had actually leaped a level and he was now in the Second Layer of the Foundation stage.
On that night, the sky was overcast and moonlight was bleak. There wasn’t a single star in the sky, only the howling winds. Dead bodies and dense bones stood sluggishly all over the mountain. If anyone saw this scene, they would definitely be creeped out and faint immediately.
Feng Jingyu landed on top of the tallest branch of a young sycamore tree and decided to watch this scene. His eyes flashed like a stormy sea but it quickly faded away.
The Yin Flame Palm clapped and several dead bodies were burnt to ashes.
Ling Chigu followed Yan Tianhen’s movements, folded his hands together and made a secret hand seal. His body was like lightning as he moved among the dead bodies. In a moment, the bodies were all sucked into dry corpses, one by one becoming skeletons while standing upright like a puppet army.
Ling Chigu stood at the front, his scarlet eyes looking at the unknown distant horizon. He raised his right hand and held it as if he were holding something invisible to the naked eye. The gesture showed a strange and chilling image.
Yan Tianhen took back his palm and looked at Ling Chigu with bright eyes. He covered his chest with a face full of adoration. “How handsome!”
Feng Jingyu flew down from the branch and landed on Yan Tianhen’s shoulder, sighing, “Ling Chigu was a general in charge of an army before. Even if he became a corpse puppet, he would die unrepentant … ah, what is good about the prince he was loyal to? What made him so devoted? If it were me, I would only submit to the strongest, regardless of his succession to the throne.”
Yan Tianhen raised his hand to touch the bird’s feathers, saying, “Who is the prince that Ah Gu wanted to help?”
Feng Jingyu replied, “The third successor of the Qianyuan Dynasty of the Nine Lands. “
“What about those who hurt him?”
“The former seventh successor of the Qianyuan Dynasty.” Feng Jingyu paused then continued, “or, he should be called the Crown Prince now. In fact, he has already become the first successor.”
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