Yan Tianhen was certain that if it was Lin Zhan, he would never choose to abandon him.
But…that Ghost Masked Man who saw through his real identity from a glance and wanted to take him on as a disciple, was he really someone his biological dad sent over to help?
If so, then why didn’t he tell Yan Tianhen the truth and always avoided him?
If not, then why teach him those cultivation techniques suitable for him, and even secretly help him?
After thinking about it, Yan Tianhen nodded. “If I have a chance to see Ghost Masked Man next time, I’ll ask him.”
Feng Jingyu’s eyes twinkled as he took note of the address “Ghost Masked Man” in his heart.
In Lin Xuanzhi’s room.
“To think that that kid’s identity is actually a successor to the Qianyuan dynasty.” Soul Bead sighed, “I should have guessed this when I heard that his surname was Yan, but I didn’t think that he, someone living in the Five Continents, would have something to do with the Nine Lands.”
Lin Xuanzhi was also restless. He drank three cups of cold tea in a row and barely managed to calm himself.
The wave after wave of news made even an old soul like him who had lived for a thousand years feel somewhat surprised and a little unable to bear it, but even so, Lin Xuanzhi’s brain wasn’t muddled either.
“Yan is not a common surname.” Lin Xuanzhi noted.
“No kidding. In the Nine Lands, there is only one family with the surname of Yan. But it’s also nothing much; the Yan family isn’t the only royal family to reach the top of an era.”
Soul Bead tilted its head as he continued, “When I was alive, the royal family sitting on the throne of the Qianyuan dynasty was the Xuan family. However, the Xuan family suffered disastrous losses during the ancient Great Immortal-Demon War. The Xuan family’s most powerful prince at that time sacrificed himself to activate the array that sealed the Devil Emperor, his soul dissipating into nothingness. Thus, the Xuan family lost the throne after that. As for the events that happened afterward, I’m not clear on those.”
Lin Xuanzhi asked vaguely, “Can descendants of Divine Devils become the monarch ruling over the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital?”
After a long silence, Soul Bead replied, “There is no precedent because the Nine Celestial Families and the Divine Devil clan have always been mortal enemies; it would already be a miracle if the two sides didn’t start fighting when they met each other. How can such enemies easily link together and give birth to descendants? Your Didi’s bloodline is probably the first person in ten thousand years.”
If there was no precedent, then things would be troublesome.
But in other words, since those eccentric fellows from the family of prophets gave Yan Tianhen a legitimate successor ranking, that meant that he was still a successor recognized by the Dao of Heaven.
Soul Bead said leisurely, rejoicing in others’ misfortunes, “Interesting, this is really interesting. “Benzun”“This Venerable”[tn] really wants to see with my own eyes what kind of expression those successors would make when they find out they’ll have to be on equal footing with a half-devil heir. Thinking about it, it must be a — very enjoyable sight.”
If Yan Tianhen really slaughtered his way back to the Royal Heavenly Capital in the future to fight for the throne, it would be even more interesting.
Soul Bead thought about it and felt that this was much more interesting than his era.
Soul Bead laughed for a while, overjoyed, then heard Lin Xuanzhi’s calm voice, “Besides fighting for the throne, is there any other path?”
“Why do you need to ask me when you’re clear in your heart?” Soul Bead cooly responded.
Lin Xuanzhi let out a long sigh in his heart.
Soul Bead couldn’t help saying, “Speaking of which, this kid is also pretty unlucky. If he was only a half-devil, people will forget him if he doesn’t fight over the throne, but who let him be an exceptional furnace as well? You’ll see. I’m afraid that there are many people who want him.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s heart felt cold.
The biggest secret on Yan Tianhen wasn’t his background, but his constitution.
In the last life, Yan Tianhen died due to this constitution of his.
Therefore, in this life, Lin Xuanzhi had always been vigilant, afraid that someone would detect this secret — however, things turned out contrary to his wishes. In the Nine Lands, Yan Tianhen being an exceptional furnace had already become widely known.
This feeling was really too disgusting.
A furnace constitution was a natural vessel for dual cultivation.
And adding an “exceptional” in front of it meant that as long as someone dual cultivated with him, even against Ah Hen’s will, that person could still obtain immeasurable benefits.
For cultivators, this held much more attraction than medicinal pills or magic treasures.
When Lin Xuanzhi thought about how there were so many people coveting and thinking about his Ah Hen, his mood became gloomy. He dearly wished that he could dismember those bastards’ corpses into ten thousand pieces and scatter their souls so that they would never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation again.
Soul Bead saw Lin Xuanzhi’s increasingly gloomier thoughts and couldn’t stop himself from advising, “Kid, you don’t have to worry too much right now, those people probably won’t be able to find Yan Tianhen’s whereabouts so easily in a few years. What you should do is take advantage of these precious few years to quickly improve your cultivation. Hurry up and make connections with the families you should network with and quickly find the backers or golden thighs that you should find. It’s useless to be dispirited.”
“I know.” Lin Xuanzhi responded calmly, but his hand beneath his sleeve was clenched tight.
Yan Tianhen straightened out his mood only after making threats and promises to Feng Jingyu. Satisfied, he came to Lin Xuanzhi’s room.
As soon as he entered the door, Yan Tianhen once again became that timid, naive, and simple foolish little brother who was ignorant of everything.
When Lin Xuanzhi saw Yan Tianhen’s expression, which looked like a frightened rabbit, his heart immediately melted into a soft mess.
He beckoned with his hand for Yan Tianhen to come over and held Yan Tianhen on his leg, soothing him slowly, “Ah Hen, it’s Dage’s fault for letting you hear these unpleasant matters today, but since you heard them, I want to ask what Ah Hen thinks in his heart.”
Right now, all of Yan Tianhen’s attention was focused on Lin Xuanzhi’s solid and warm thigh.
Yan Tianhen let out an “Ah” and whispered, “Actually, I don’t know what to do either, but I thought about it, and even if I know who my parents are, know my background and the reason why Feng Jingyu stayed by my side, would knowing those mean I’m no longer me?”
No matter what, he was still Yan Tianhen.
Lin Xuanzhi understood the implication behind Ah Hen’s words and secretly let out a small sigh of relief. He nodded, “That Ah Hen can think of these things makes Dage relieved. If Ah Hen has any ideas in the future, be sure to tell me.”
Yan Tianhen nodded cleverly.
Lin Xuanzhi continued, “Your identity is indeed troublesome, but it’s not enough to affect your cultivation right now. Continue doing what you should do. Just leave the other matters to Dage.”
Yan Tianhen knew that if he pitifully begged Lin Xuanzhi to let him intervene, Lin Xuanzhi would definitely feel uneasy, so he obediently smiled as he agreed, “Okay, I’ll listen to Dage.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled gently, his forehead lightly touching Yan Tianhen’s as he whispered affectionately, “Ah Hen is so well-behaved, what reward do you want?”
“I want Dage to kiss me.” Yan Tianhen said that, but he had already pecked Lin Xuanzhi’s lips.
Lin Xuanzhi deepened the kiss with a smile, picking up Yan Tianhen and walking towards the bed.
In a few days, it became time for Profound Sky Sect’s new round of entrance exams.
Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen had already registered in advance, so they could apply directly when the time came. Because the Lin family rose to a first-class family in the Hundred Families Gathering, the Lin family’s quota of disciples who could interview for celestial-level sects changed from one to four — of course, these four placings were the sum the quotas of all five major celestial-level sects.
Among them, Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen were classified as special recruitment and not included in the quota. Lin Yan occupied Heavenly Fire Sect’s quota, Lin Zezhi naturally occupied another placing. Like this, there were still two precious spots left.
These days, Fifth Elder’s doorstep was about to be broken by all the Lin family members walking over it.
In order to decide who to allocate the remaining two spots to, Fifth Elder racked his brain hard. He originally wanted to find Fourth Elder Lin Liuchun to discuss and solve the problem, but as soon as Lin Liuchun came back, he disappeared again without a trace and couldn’t be relied on at all. This infuriated Fifth Elder so much that he wanted to curse Lin Liuchun’s mother.
There were many monks but only a few bowls of congee. Everyone wanted those two placings that allowed them to enter Profound Sky Sect without having to participate in the examinations. Although Fifth Elder was the head of the family, he actually didn’t know much about the younger generation’s abilities. After all, he only truly became in charge of the Lin family’s matters after Lin Zhan’s disappearance.
Afterward, when Fifth Elder was thinking about it, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He boldly gave the right to decide to Lin Xuanzhi.
When someone came to ask for the spots on the quota once again, Fifth Elder waved his hand and announced, “These placings were won for the Lin family by Xuanzhi, go find him if you have any thoughts.”
Thus, Fifth Elder’s side became calm, but on Lin Xuanzhi’s side–
“Nephew Xuanzhi, take a look at this Didi of yours, although he’s young, he’s already showing faint signs of your demeanor. You may as well give him this opportunity…”
“Xuanzhi, this is my mother’s family’s 300-year-old lingzhi, it’s the best for nourishing the body when used in medicine. Why don’t you try it?”
“Xuanzhi…”
“Xuanzhi–”
When Lin Zhantian walked into the courtyard, he saw Yan Tianhen sitting on top of the peach blossom tree in the courtyard with one leg over the other, blinking and holding a peach in his hand, happily munching on it.
Lin Zhantian stopped and looked up at Yan Tianhen. “Why are you sitting here, where’s Xuanzhi?”
Yan Tianhen blinked and replied, “My Dage was surrounded. I thought it was too noisy inside, so I came out to get some fresh air.”
Lin Zhantian immediately chuckled, “Xuanzhi is now the person who calls all the shots in the family. Naturally, there will be many people looking for him. I’m afraid they’ll even show off their individual abilities, just like when the eight immortals crossed the sea.”
Yan Tianhen nodded and jumped down from the tree. He dusted himself and smiled, “Zhantian Gege, are you here with some gift to ask my Dage for a placing as well?”
Lin Zhantian’s face, which had always been taut, revealed a little smile. He shook his head, “I did bring something for Xuanzhi, but regarding the spot in the quota, I won’t think more of it.”
Yan Tianhen asked, “Don’t you want to go to Profound Sky Sect?”
Lin Zhantian was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I can’t go. My sister can’t leave me.”
His ability was out of the ordinary and he also conducted himself honestly. If he could enter a celestial-level sect, it would naturally be a great help to his future development. However, he couldn’t leave his little sister Lin Yuhan, which was why, for so many years, he had been guarding the Lin family, never leaving his little sister.
Yan Tianhen patted Lin Zhantian’s shoulder and winked at him, “Thinking like this is not right.”
Lin Zhantian stared blankly.
Yan Tianhen explained, “Lin Yuhan’s health will continue to remain that way for a short while to come, there won’t be much improvement. You can’t do anything for her even if you stay with her. I think you might as well go outside and see the world. Make more friends in Profound Sky Sect and find a reliable master; improve your cultivation as soon as possible. This way, you can better protect Lin Yuhan in the future.”
Lin Zhantian heard this, and his expression became a little complicated.
He didn’t want to go to a sect?
No, of course he wanted to go. More than anyone else, he longed to go outside, see the world, and make some friends. Lin Zhantian adored Lin Zhan ever since he was young, he admired Lin Zhan’s carefree and leisurely lifestyle, as well as how he did whatever his heart desired. He admired how Lin Zhan dared to leave when he said he would leave.
