30. Before seeking connections, prove yourself first.
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“Who?”
The two of them grew wary, and Zhou Yan immediately began setting up a formation around them.
“It has been no easy wait. I have been waiting for so many years.”
The white smoke slowly took the form of an affable old man, his smile warm and kindly. Even so, neither of them lowered their guard.
Lin Jiugue stared straight at him, frowning. It was a strand of divine consciousness deliberately left behind. But why was its aura red? She could not understand.
“Elder, is this thing yours?” Lin Jiugue asked.
“Elder? What do you mean, elder? Since you were able to come here, you must be this old man’s successors. Call me Ancestor!”
The old man puffed out his beard and glared at them. At the same time, he was puzzled. By rights, his inheritance should have been passed down, but why did these successors seem to know nothing at all? Had something gone wrong along the way?
“Elder, one cannot casually acknowledge someone as one’s grandmaster. You claim to be our grandmaster—do you have any proof?” Lin Jiugue did not believe him.
“Exactly. How do you prove that you are our grandmaster?” Zhou Yan agreed.
The old man had finally waited for his successors, only to be asked to prove that he was their grandmaster. The absurdity of it completely washed away his joy.
“Then how do you prove that you are my successors?” the old man retorted helplessly.
“We do not acknowledge you as our grandmaster,” Zhou Yan replied. “So what exactly are we supposed to prove?”
They seemed to have fallen into an endless loop. The old man was furious, yet there was nothing he could do. Still, he consoled himself inwardly: these two children were young, but their vigilance was commendable.
“The courtesy names of every generation follow the sequence I devised: Constancy, Embrace, Joy, Longing; Delight, Sorrow, Regret, Emotion; Remembrance, Repentance, Cherishing, Understanding; Fear, Aptitude, Prudence, Insight; Astonishment, Serenity, Strangeness, Lament.”
The old man began with what he considered his first piece of evidence.
“That is not a secret, so it proves nothing,” Lin Jiugue rejected it at once. Then she wondered what sort of compulsion her grandmaster had possessed. Even the character components had to follow the same pattern.
“Indeed. The sequence of courtesy names was recorded. Anyone who has read the records would know it.” Especially since it had always been controlled by the main branch of their sect.
The old man decided that he absolutely must not learn which generation they had reached. What if the later generations cursed him for his lack of virtue? Their masters might curse him even more thoroughly.
“The Scripture of Regulating Qi was created by me. It is exceedingly difficult to master at the beginning, but once one has entered the path, cultivation becomes exceptionally easy,” the old man continued.
“Senior Brother, was it really that difficult?” Lin Jiugue asked, puzzled.
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“No, it was not. Elder, that still proves nothing. Besides, my junior sister comprehended it completely in just three hours.”
Zhou Yan conveniently skipped over himself and proudly used his junior sister as a boast.
“Three hours?”
The old man stared in astonishment at Lin Jiugue, who was holding the child. Had his descendants actually taken in such a prodigious disciple? Excellent. Excellent indeed.
The astonishment on the old man’s face gradually turned into gratification.
Lin Jiugue clearly sensed that orange had mingled with the old man’s aura—a sign of happiness. Beneath the blood-red hue, there was also a thread of gray.
“I do not know how else to prove it. However, since you were able to appear here, this must be the territory of the Main Sect Lineage, though you should not know that. The Main Sect Lineage consists of three branches. The sect master is merely the one who appears publicly; there are also the Guardian Elders and the Heavenly Mechanism branch. This knowledge is passed down only within the Main Sect Lineage. I simply do not know what duties you will assume in the future. Still, the disciples of the Main Sect Lineage may never number more than five, and all of them must be direct disciples.”
The old man had thought it through. A proof spanning several thousand years was truly difficult to explain. Given the age of these two children, it was questionable whether they had even heard of him.
“This disciple, Lin Jiugue, under the command of Battle Venerable Wu, pays respects to the Ancestor.”
Lin Jiugue bent slightly at the waist, which counted as a formal greeting.
“This disciple, Zhou Yan, under the command of Primordial Venerable Wu, pays respects to the Ancestor.”
Zhou Yan saluted properly, bending at the waist with both hands clasped before him.
“So that counts as successfully proving my identity? You are not afraid that I am deceiving you?”
The old man was somewhat astonished and could not help asking.
“Not at all,” Lin Jiugue replied, her bright eyes fixed directly on him.
“The Eye of Calamity-Breaking. It seems you have discovered the secret of the pool.”
The old man’s face filled with satisfaction.
“More or less.” Lin Jiugue nodded. They had merely stumbled upon it by accident.
“The water in that pool is only ordinary primordial energy transformed into liquid. Within it lies a piece of Weak Stone no larger than a fingernail, while the ice spikes above contain sealed Ice Marrow. When the two are combined, they form Purifying Water.”
The old man’s explanation confirmed Lin Jiugue’s guess. She wondered how old the Nameless Sword was compared with this Ancestor.
“Your eyes were already somewhat special. After being transformed by the Purifying Water, they can now see directly through the essence of things. Nothing in the world will be able to interfere with your perception.”
“I see.”
Lin Jiugue blinked. So that was how it was. She had once been able to see weaknesses, but what did the colors she saw now represent?
As though wishing to confirm her guess, Lin Jiugue turned to look at Zhou Yan. She froze for a moment, then quickly came back to herself.
“Ancestor, why do I feel a burning sensation while Senior Brother feels the complete opposite?”
“It is a matter of constitution. Purifying Water only affects those with special physiques. I have nothing more to say. Take these three boxes with you. I left them behind for my future disciples’ descendants.”
The old man paused. He had simply never expected those descendants to come from sixteen generations later.
“Let those with the necessary affinity claim what is meant for them. Each of you will receive one, and that little one is also my descendant.”
The old man looked at Lin Jiugue’s arms. The child, Lin Jiuci, possessed a Flawless Constitution—rare even in their era.
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“The Purifying Water takes effect gradually, so do not panic. Carry the boxes with you, and you will naturally leave this place. The contents within will be sealed. If fate allows, you will see them again.”
The old man’s strand of divine consciousness began to dissipate.
Seeing this, Lin Jiugue realized that she still had many questions. She handed Lin Jiuci to Zhou Yan, then formed a series of seals with both hands. A black-and-red sword suddenly appeared. Like a gust of wind, it absorbed the remnant soul before returning to Lin Jiugue’s sea of consciousness.
Holding Lin Jiuci, Zhou Yan stared in shock. He was certain that he had not imagined it. His junior sister had summoned a black-and-red sword. Had the Golden Sword somehow faded?
“Ancestor, you cannot dissipate yet!”
The old man, now residing in Lin Jiugue’s sea of consciousness, froze. Such a thing was actually possible? A child who had only just begun cultivating should not possess such a method.
“Jiugue, this can erase memories. Do not let anyone other than yourself know that I exist.”
The Nameless Sword swiftly wrote these words within Lin Jiugue’s sea of consciousness.
“This sword is… Wait, it has actually acknowledged my grand-disciple as its master!”
The old man was stunned.
“Hurry. Erase his memory first.”
The Nameless Sword sounded somewhat anxious.
“Senior Brother, give Fuzai back to me.”
Lin Jiugue spoke.
“All right.”
Zhou Yan came back to himself and handed Lin Jiuci over. The instant their hands touched, Lin Jiugue changed her grip, seized Zhou Yan by the wrist, and met his eyes.
Zhou Yan felt dazed, as though something had vanished—something important.
“Senior Brother, you should put the boxes away. We can look at them after we leave.”
Lin Jiugue’s voice brought the dazed Zhou Yan back to his senses.
“All right.”
Zhou Yan nodded and stored the boxes away. After the final box disappeared, a formation lit up beneath their feet. Before either of them could react, they found themselves beneath the peach tree in the courtyard.
The formation vanished. The two of them swayed in a daze.
This peach tree looked strangely familiar.
“You little wretches! Where did you run off to?”
A furious roar exploded beside their ears.
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