Chapter 856: Big Brother, Don't You Recognize Me?

The woman froze for a moment. "Big Brother Miaolin, don't you recognize me? It's me, Miaosen!"

Upon hearing this, Tang San couldn't help but inwardly praise her. She was practically a treasure trove of information that she simply presented to him on a golden platter.

"Miao... Miaosen?" His face remained a mask of confusion.

Miaosen suddenly became anxious. She took a step forward and grabbed Tang San's sleeves with both hands. "Big Brother, look at me carefully! What's wrong with you? How could you not even recognize me? Where have you been all these years? We couldn't find you no matter how hard we tried."

Tang San stared blankly at her. "I... I went to the Empyrean Dominion. Before that... I can't remember anything. I just remember being ambushed, maybe I fell off a cliff? Then I ate something, and then... I forgot everything. But I kept feeling like something was waiting for me, so I kept walking, walking until I got here. Do you... know me? Miaolin? Is that really my name?"

With Tang San's quick wit, he had already deduced from the woman's exit from Skytree City's inner part, combined with the guards' deference at the gate, that her clan held a high status here. What better way to gather information and get benefits than to infiltrate an elite clan? Naturally, he went along with it. But how could he avoid suspicion? The simplest solutions were often the best—feign amnesia. No matter what she asked, he could use his "memory loss" to explain it all.

Miaosen stared blankly at Tang San. Amnesia? She could never have imagined that after all these years of waiting, her long-lost and apparently evolved brother would return with no memory. Her tears began to flow even more heavily, and the spiked vines entwined with Tang San's vines trembled, emitting waves of intense emotion.

Tang San gently sent soothing emotions back through his vines and murmured, "Can you tell me who I am? And what is this place?"

The blue-haired woman's voice trembled as she spoke. "You... You're my older brother. You're the heir of our clan, the hope of the clan, Jin Miaolin! This is Skytree City, the main city of the Blue Gold Tree clan. Ever since our father fell, our clan has been without an Emperor, and we've been oppressed. Big Brother, didn't you swear to restore our clan and revive Skytree City? How could you forget all of this?" By now, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Outwardly, Tang San still appeared dazed, but had carefully committed every word of this nymph princess's explanation to memory. Thanks to her, Tang San now had a general understanding of Skytree City and the Blue Gold Tree clan.

Skytree City was, just as he had expected, a remote main city, similar in status to Kali City. What made it even more similar was that their Emperor had also fallen, and no new Emperor had arisen. It seemed that Jin Miaosen's older brother had left home years ago, seeking opportunities to grow stronger, become an Emperor, and revive their clan. It was likely due to their long separation that she had mistaken Tang San for him. The eight vines on his back were probably a key reason for the mix-up—it was possible that the number of spikes that appeared on a Blue Gold Tree clan member's back was proportional to their power. Since she had six spikes, while he had eight, she probably believed he was stronger than her even though she couldn't tell his cultivation.

Moreover, as it turned out, she was from a first-tier clan. As Tang San listened to Jin Miaosen's story, he surreptitiously absorbed some of her bloodline power through the connection of their vines, while she was still too shaken to notice and thought he was just soothing her chaotic bloodline power. If he was going to act, he had to play the part fully. Conveniently, since reaching the eleventh order, he had two slots he'd yet to fill. By imprinting the Blue Gold Tree clan's bloodline into one of them, his act would be even more convincing. After all, unlike appearance, a bloodline could not be faked. Additionally, the fact that the inner city guards weren't Blue Gold clan members suggested their numbers were likely few; they certainly knew each other well, so he had to pay attention to every detail.

Having reached these conclusions, Tang San let out a sigh and spoke in a softer tone, tinged with bitterness, "I really don't remember. I've forgotten so many things. But what you just said feels familiar to me. Maybe that's why I was able to find my way back."

"Yes, yes." Jin Miaosen wiped away her tears, speaking excitedly. "Big Brother, let's go home. We'll go home now. Once you're back, you'll definitely remember everything. You will!" As she spoke, she used her vines to guide Tang San toward the drawbridge.

Tang San followed her onto the drawbridge. The moment he stepped on it, he felt the life energy in the air was more than ten times denser than outside the moat, so plentiful that it even felt somewhat oppressive. But the sensation of being bathed in it was so exhilarating it made all the bloodline imprints in his dantian hum in satisfaction.

The Blue Gold clan bloodline he had just absorbed was guided by his divine consciousness and placed into his tenth slot. With his current cultivation level and the eleventh-order transcendent bloodlines he possessed, integrating this new bloodline didn't cause any noticeable disturbance.

When the Blue Gold Tree bloodline imprint was set into place, Tang San immediately felt his life energy begin to surge. This was not a transcendent bloodline, yet upon integrating it, Tang San felt his very level of life was ascending. All his other bloodline imprints benefited from this, and the sensation was marvelous.

In that instant, Tang San understood what the Blue Gold Tree clan truly was—a higher form of the Golden Tree! Their personhood was beyond anything he had encountered since arriving on the Daemon Continent. The sheer density of life energy they possessed was simply marvelous.

No wonder the inner city walls of Skytree City were constructed from goldenwood. The Golden Trees were probably just an offshoot of the Blue Gold Trees, and in this place, the Golden Trees were likely mere vassals. The Blue Gold Tree clan truly was an extraordinary one! Tang San had unquestionably stumbled upon a treasure.

With the life energy radiating from the Blue Gold Tree bloodline imprint, Tang San noticed that the dense life energy surrounding him no longer felt heavy. Instead, it felt just fresh and pure. Whenever the thick life energy approached him or Jin Miaosen, it was naturally filtered and absorbed.

Tang San felt a slight twinge of anxiety, followed by relief. Fortunately, he had absorbed the Blue Gold Tree bloodline in time; otherwise, his disguise would have been instantly exposed.

Jin Miaosen didn't find it strange at all that he could also absorb and release life energy. In fact, she felt their connection growing even closer as they crossed the moat. Naturally, she had no way of knowing that this was because Tang San had absorbed her bloodline power and fused it with himself right before crossing. Since Jin Miaosen was at the tenth order and Tang San had more than enough energy to fuel this new imprint, his Blue Gold Tree bloodline was also at the tenth order.

As the goldenwood gate opened, Jin Miaosen led Tang San into the inner part of Skytree City.

At this moment, Tang San felt a mixture of curiosity and excitement. He was growing more fond of Skytree City by the minute, appreciating its abundant life energy. Moreover, in this place, he had no fear of danger. Jin Miaosen, this simple girl, had already mentioned that ever since their father's death, Skytree City had been without an Emperor. A main city without an Emperor posed no threat to Tang San. Even if his identity happened to be exposed, it wouldn't be a problem for him at all; he may not be able to fight a whole main city, but leaving was quite literally a walk in the park.