Chapter 3328 - Let Him Return

Eminent Ranxing sat under a pavilion within an ancient-looking courtyard in Suishen Cave. As he closed his eyes to rest, the light of stars surrounded his body like fireflies, humming as they burned.

"Dad, I still don't understand how the folks of House Yumo died," Eminent Ranxing said as he suddenly opened his eyes and turned back. In an ancient-looking house behind him, he could see an old man lying on a wooden bed through the window.

"Nobody knows," the old man said.

"I was going to say that maybe it has something to do with the wonderians?"

"Impossible. The valley lord’s already asked them."

"Since the valley lord himself said so, we can exclude them from our list of suspects, then." Eminent Ranxing gave it some more thought. "Dad, what’re your thoughts on this matter?"

The old man sat up on his bed and said, "To the Three Exalted Houses, a new unknown element has appeared within the Million Mundi. That can’t be something good. However, if it’s some kind of special being that doesn’t threaten Myriadpath Valley's rule, such as some kind of beast, it might be a good thing for House Suishen."

"Is it because they weakened House Yumo and returned them to the state before they had starblood? Dad, what should we do about it?"

"We can work with House Yumo to investigate and decide after we have all the facts. Don't act rashly or send any forces to avoid losing our eminents," the old man said.

"Understood. So we'll only investigate and hold off on forces until we have more information. If this being is something that can threaten Myriadpath Valley, the three houses should work together as one. If the cause of the incident is something like a beast with no direct intent, or a freak accident in a secret realm, we should prioritize ourselves."

"Myriadpath Valley’s existed for so long without any real challengers, and in the past, those challengers have been unbelievably powerful races, not a single person. It's rather unlikely for that to be the case. As for a secret realm...."

"There’s quite a few places in the astralscape that are so odd and dangerous that even eminents can die there. They’re usually higher-dimensional scars left behind in the Million Mundi." Eminent Ranxing's expression changed when he thought about it. He had once passionately sought out such secret realms to surpass the limits of Myriadpath Valley, only to fail and suffer heavy losses in the process.

"Son, I have two things to say to you today," the old man hoarsely said as he stood up. However, he didn't leave the house.

"I’m listening," Eminent Ranxing said.

"I want you to rescind the top-fugitive label on Li Tianming and let him return to Myriadpath Valley," the old man said.

"What?!" Eminent Ranxing's eyes widened before he grit his teeth and his expression soured, his teeth grinding. "Dad, did I hear you right?"

"You did."

"I wish to hear your reasoning! Pray tell!"

"After the incident with House Yumo, I’ve come to believe that there are still a lot of things and people that Myriadpath Valley can't fully control. Back then, I was convinced that Li Tianming was destined for mediocrity after losing the cultivation resources of Myriadpath Valley, but now my opinion’s changed. Someone with his luck could have encounters that completely transform and elevate his abilities, even without us there. My worry is that he’ll become so powerful that we can no longer handle him years later, only to come back to Myriadpath Valley and end House Suishen."

"Dad, something like that’s incredibly unlikely, so unlikely that you can just brush it off," Eminent Ranxing said.

"What’d you think the odds of him conquering the ancestral idol were before the Prehistoric Path opened? What about the odds of him obtaining the legacies of two great Suishen steles?"

Eminent Ranxing went quiet with realization. Even if the odds that Tianming could be lucky enough to grow powerful outside of Myriadpath Valley were small, they were still much higher than the two examples his father had brought up, and Tianming had actualized the latter two possibilities.

The old man continued, "That kid’s really hard to capture. It’d be better for us to allow him to return. I’ll personally observe and study him to see if there's a way to transfer his talent to House Suishen.

"I worry that you don’t understand the fact that a talent that's capable of challenging the geniuses of the three houses is far more terrifying when out of our sight. We won't have the slightest idea of what they'll bring to the table. But if you keep them in our sights where we can see them, there’s much more room for us to manipulate them.

"After all, without huge boons like the Prehistoric Path, he’d go from a genius to a normal powerful elite, like you. Even if he's ten times more talented, it’ll still take him five centuries to reach your level. That's more than enough time for us to do what we need to."

Eminent Ranxing nodded. "Alright! However, I believe that he won't return even if he's no longer a top fugitive. House Suishen's relationship with him already has countless cracks. He could just be cautious enough to never return."

"Don't be so sure of that," the old man said with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Try guessing who the one that convinced me to help Li Tianming return to Myriadpath Valley was."

"It must be my sister!" Eminent Ranxing didn't even need to ponder it for a moment.

"That's right. The fact that she's asking means she knows where Li Tianming is. As long as you pull back, she'll be able to notify him."

Eminent Ranxing had a feeling that Eminent Jiguang knew how to reach out to Tianming, but he also knew that he wouldn't learn where the brat was from her mouth. With the recent deaths of twenty eminents from House Yumo, Tianming's scandal had already blown over.

After some thought, Eminent Ranxing still shook his head. "I don't think it really matters. That kid already has a great rift with House Suishen. He won’t come back just to get himself killed."

"You're wrong. He has a great rift with

you

. He gets along well with Yaoyao and Jiguang. As for the others in House Suishen, he doesn't feel anything particular toward them. House Suishen isn't a monolith to him."

"Dad, you mean to say...."

"Since it's already an established fact, let’s go with the flow and have Yaoyao marry him. He's still young and we still stand a chance of nurturing him and developing his sense of belonging to House Suishen. The most important thing is...."

"What’s the most important thing?"

The old man pointed at himself and smiled. "Me!"

"You?" Eminent Ranxing's eyes brightened. "I know what you mean. You still haven't officially made yourself known to him. You can come out and side with Jiguang and Yaoyao and call the kid one of our own. That’ll be enough to change what he thinks of House Suishen."