Yan Tianhen stepped in front of Lin Xuanzhi and blocked Xuan Lou’s sight. “Pardon me. Although I very much approve of your praise for my Dage, he’s mine and has absolutely no adulterous relationship with another man.”
“You? What’s your name?”
“Yan Tianhen.”
“Which Yan?”
“The Yan family’s Yan.”
Xuan Lou’s eyes widened in a glare. “Are you Yan Chi’s descendant?”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his nose and suddenly realized that the one in front of him had a bone-deep blood feud with the Yan family, so he thought about it and said, “We’re not from the same branch.”
“People from the Yan family are all the same. There’s not a single good person in the Yan family.” Xuan Lou said coldly, “Leave quickly, or else I won’t be polite!”
Yin Chongyue also felt quite helpless. He repeatedly made eye contact with Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen, signaling them to leave for now.
Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen didn’t want to create complications, so they could only retreat for the time being.
When they reached the cave entrance, they heard Xuan Lou’s childish voice travel over, sounding very miserable and sad, “It’s one thing for you to bring strangers to the place where we fell in love at first sight, but you actually even allowed them to covet the cauldron I use as a bed. Ah Yue, tell me, have you fallen out of love? Do you not like me anymore? Do you still hate me for sealing you in the FIve Continents?”
Yin Chongyue started coaxing him again with a flattering voice. Yan Tianhen only felt that he couldn’t bear to listen anymore.
Yin Chongyue was so domineering and awe-inspiring back when he was still sealed, exuding an aura of “Laozi is the first under Heaven. Fight me if you won’t accept that.” Even when he came to the Nine Lands, where big shots were as common as the clouds in the sky, he still maintained his proud and extraordinary aura. Unexpectedly, the current Yin Chongyue had actually become a scaredy-cat, raising a baby like he was serving a little ancestor.
Yan Tianhen shrugged speechlessly as he glanced at Lin Xuanzhi. “What do we do? That little ancestor is especially resistant to lending out the cauldron.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s expression looked nonchalant. “Based on that little ancestor’s words just now, the Illuminating Sky Cauldron seems to be nothing more than his bed. In that case, we might as well wait another couple of days. We’ll try peaceful measures before using force. If we truly can’t come to an agreement, we can’t just make this trip for nothing and resign ourselves to fate.”
Yan Tianhen asked hesitantly, “But, he should be your Xuan clan’s old ancestor, right?”
Lin Xuanzhi replied very contemptuously, “An ancestor who lost the Xuan clan’s empire?”
Yan Tianhen: “…”
Lin Xuanzhi added, “Old ancestor, yeah right. He’s nothing more than a little brat right now, and even his cultivation seems to have dropped greatly. If you and I join hands, we can absolutely suppress him.”
Yan Tianhen gave Lin Xuanzhi a deep look. “Dage, you’ve changed.”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “The situation forced my hand.”
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Probably because Xuan Lou also knew that his current cultivation and situation weren’t good, he actually allowed Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen to re-enter his cave the next day, albeit with great reluctance. Of course, Yan Tianhen brought over three fish that he bought from a small town hundreds of miles away as a thank you gift.
Two were being roasted over the fire, while another one was already done. Yin Chongyue was carefully picking the bones out of that fish.
The little ancestor sat solemnly on the futon and crossed his pair of short legs. The Illuminating Sky Cauldron was behind him. He smelled the fish while staring at Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen. “I also know a little about the two of you. Although you’re descended from Yan Chi’s branch, since you look kind and also contributed greatly to releasing Ah Yue from the seal, I will very reluctantly stop pursuing the matter of your blood relations with that goddamned Yan Chi for the time being.”
Yan Tianhen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he still had to nod and bow. “Many thanks to little ancestor for letting this matter go.”
The little ancestor was very satisfied with Yan Tianhen’s attitude. He nodded. “And you — since you’re called the Light of Daoism, you should also be very capable. I see that your cultivation has already reached the major attainment phase of Earth Realm’s Grandmaster Stage, but you didn’t make any breakthroughs after that. You should be deliberately suppressing your cultivation, right?”
Lin Xuanzhi was secretly surprised. After all, this little ancestor’s cultivation wasn’t very high right now, so he shouldn’t be able to see through Lin Xuanzhi’s cultivation. But unexpectedly, he hit the mark.
Lin Xuanzhi didn’t reveal anything on his face as he responded, “Indeed. Senior, you probably also know that the passage connecting the Nine Lands to the upper realm no longer exists. If I break through to Sky Realm, then either I’ll be crushed to pieces by the Nine Lands — which will no longer be able to contain my cultivation level — or I’ll completely destroy the Nine Lands. This is quite a hopeless situation.”
The little ancestor nodded. “At least you can see this clearly, unlike that bastard Yan Chi.”
Yan Tianhen asked, “What about Yan Chi?”
The little ancestor glared at him. “Do you know him?”
Yan Tianhen shook his head. “I don’t know him.”
The little ancestor: “Then what are you getting so excited for? Do you want to take revenge for him?”
Yan Tianhen: “…”
Little ancestor, aren’t you being too sensitive to anything related to Yan Chi?
Yin Chongyue hurriedly stuffed a mouthful of tender and delicious fish into the little ancestor’s mouth. “The fish is done. Ah Hen really was careful when buying this fish. Not only does it have very few bones, but it also doesn’t have a strong fishy smell. It melts as soon as it enters the mouth.”
The little ancestor chewed it and decided to let this unthoughtful boy off the hook for the time being.
After finishing the fish, the little ancestor revealed a cold smile that completely clashed with his baby face. “Yan Chi has been punished by the wrath of Heaven a long time ago. He’s deader than dead.”
Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen both raised their brows.
Yin Chongyue lowered his eyes. “I always thought that he was still alive.”
The little ancestor said, “If he really was still alive, then I would truly have died with grievances. At that time, I placed a secret manual detailing how to break through to Sky Realm as fast as possible inside the most secretive location at the Royal Heavenly Capital’s imperial library. Accompanying that secret manual was a forged book written in divine script, which claimed that as long as one advanced to Sky Realm, they would be able to transcend the shackles of the Nine Lands and ascend to immortality at the price of destroying the Nine Lands.”
Yan Tianhen blinked. “I’ve also read that book, but I felt that it was a little too cruel. One person attains the Dao, while the Nine Lands collapse into utter ruin. It’s a little too much, so King Ye completely destroyed the book later.”
The little ancestor chuckled twice and continued, “One person ascends at the price of the entire Nine Lands. This kind of thing is indeed possible, but there’s still a crucial prerequisite. That is, the person who’s ascending must be at the peak of Sky Realm. But it’s hard for those in the Nine Lands to even reach Sky Realm. How can they possibly jump over the three smaller stages within Sky Realm? So when Yan Chi finally cultivated to Sky Realm, what awaited him was death as his body exploded.”
Yin Chongyue was very surprised. “You actually screwed him over from behind the scenes.”
Xuan Lou sighed. “I saw through his ambitious nature back then, but for various reasons, I couldn’t personally kill him before my death, so I could only leave this trap behind, so that he wouldn’t be able to harm the world, even after my death.”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, “This move is truly vicious. The Nine Lands’ magnetic field has already been closed off. If Yan Chi wants to forcibly transcend the Nine Lands with his Sky Realm cultivation, he would definitely suffer a backlash from the magnetic field. No matter how powerful he is, his body is still merely flesh and blood; it can’t fight against the entire Nine Lands at all.”
Xuan Lou’s infant voice replied, “This isn’t my fault. Who let him be so greedy, insatiable, and utterly lacking in humanity? He was so decisive back then when he massacred an entire city. I–”
Xuan Lou suddenly shut his mouth and even nervously balled his little hand into a fist.
Yin Chongyue’s expression dimmed instantly. His eyes, which were originally very bright, became gloomy and depressed.
Xuan Lou became nervous now. The matter regarding the City of Twin Moons had always been the deepest and most unspeakable scar in Yin Chongyue’s heart. After he found out about Yin Chongyue’s identity, he constantly blamed himself and was careful in everything he said and did, fearful that he would carelessly mention the matter and bring Yin Chongyue pain.
Who would’ve thought that he inadvertently mentioned the past because he was too smug just now? He truly deserved death!
“Ah Yue…” Xuan Lou stretched out a small hand and poked Yin Chongyue’s arm.
Yin Chongyue made an expression of indifference and continued to feed the little ancestor fish. He even said, “You can continue, don’t worry about me.”
Continue? Continue my foot!
The little ancestor knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he nervously stared at Yin Chongyue with watery eyes, as though he wanted to say something, but Yin Chongyue stuffed a mouthful of fish directly into his mouth.
The little ancestor: “…”
Yan Tianhen cast a sympathetic glance at Xuan Lou, who was still so arrogant only moments ago. However, getting news about Yan Chi’s death was an unexpected harvest.
Although he was Yan Tianhen’s ancestor, he threw stones while people were down and even did something as crazy as slaughtering an entire city, so he didn’t deserve Yan Tianhen’s respect. Instead, he felt that a dead Yan Chi was much better than a living Yan Chi; it would bring less harm to the Nine Lands.
The little ancestor flattened his mouth and didn’t dare to speak. He wanted to act spoiled, act cute, and roll around in order to beg for forgiveness, but Yin Chongyue looked disappointed and distressed, which made his heart hurt. Thus, the little ancestor held back his words, unable to say anything.
A meal of roasted fish ended unhappily, just like that.
After they finished the meal, Yin Chongyue stood up and claimed that he wanted to go out for some fresh air. The little ancestor also wanted to follow him but was stopped by a glance from Yin Chongyue.
The little ancestor finally conceded, “…Okay. Then you should return quickly.”
The little ancestor started to bite his hand, looking grieved. His appearance moved even Yan Tianhen’s heart.
But Yin Chongyue only responded emotionlessly, “Got it.”
The little ancestor: “…”
Ahhhhh, why did I have to mention the City of Twin Moons, and I even said the word “massacre”!
Yan Tianhen gave the little ancestor a sympathetic look and followed Yin Chongyue outside.
Yin Nian didn’t interrupt from beginning to end. After all, all the people present were big shots. He was just a small cannon fodder. If he spoke even a single wrong sentence, he might end up with an even worse fate than the little ancestor right now.
Outside, standing by the lake, Yin Chongyue calmly gazed up at the moon in the sky.
Lin Xuanzhi walked to Yin Chongyue’s side. “So much time has already passed since that matter. The wronged spirits of Twin Moons City have already reincarnated. You should also try to move on.”
Yin Chongyue turned to Lin Xuanzhi and rolled his eyes. “Don’t you know who I’m doing this for? I’ve flattered him to high heaven today, but he still refuses to lend out the Illuminating Sky Cauldron, no matter what. Laozi finally seized some ammunition to use against him. Don’t I have to exploit this rare opportunity to the utmost?”
Lin Xuanzhi: “…”
Yan Tianhen: “…”
…Pardon us for bothering you, goodbye.
Yan Tianhen couldn’t help being amused. “Your move really is great ah. It looks like the little ancestor doesn’t even dare to throw a tantrum anymore. Senior Yin, you’re such a good friend.”
“Forget it. I didn’t do it only for you guys, but also for myself.” Yin Chongyue tutted twice. “That little rabbit really thinks of himself as a little brat all day now. His attitude towards me is growing more and more unbridled and won’t even let me leave the cave. That won’t do. I have to give him a harsh lesson, or else he’ll actually think I really feel guilty towards him.”
