Chapter 2684 Protection from One’s Ancestor

The atmosphere in the pavilion was heavy. Dugu Youran sat facing the lake in silence. Yun Muzhe gazed at her graceful figure from behind, feeling an indescribable rage welling up inside him. He rarely had an emotional fluctuation like this.

No one knew that he regarded Dugu Youran as his alone, but she had gotten angry at him because of another man. This was considered crossing a line for him, whose temperament was usually as steady as a rock.

All these years, they had grown up together, trained together, and shared their lives together. Their bond was so deep, but it turned out he couldn't even compare to some Fangchun Mountain remnant?

He wanted to ask her why, but he held back because he knew Dugu Youran all too well. She had a stubborn streak in her bones, so saying anything at this juncture would only push her further away from him.

In the end, Yun Muzhe stood up and bitterly shook his head, “Youran, I'll leave you alone.”

He then walked away. Once he disappeared from sight, Dugu Youran let out a soft sigh. How could she not understand her cousin's feelings? It was only that...she had only ever seen him as her cousin.

She murmured, “You have your aspirations, and I have my own thoughts. How can we force ourselves to be together?”

Dugu Youran then gazed at the jade slip in her hand. Recalling the moments she had shared with Lin Xun in the Great Thousand Battle Domain, she couldn't help but laugh again.

That fellow has tough luck, but he's got nine lives to make up for it.

......

Far away from the pavilion, Yun Muzhe no longer concealed his emotions once he was alone. His exceptionally handsome face flickered dimly.

Lin Xun!

After a long time, he inhaled deeply, and a kind of determination surfaced in his eyes Back then, Bai Jianchen failed to kill Lin Xun, so this time, he would take matters into his own hands!

......

One of the twelve grotto heavens, Linghong Grotto Heaven, was located in Tianxuan Starfield and was a base of the Immortal Imperial Zhou Clan.

Xuan Jiuyin was lying on a soft couch, sipping from a wine gourd made of green jade in a content and leisurely manner. Zhou Bowen, the patriarch of the Zhou Clan, was in another chair with a wry smile.

Even as a peak Nirvana Spirit expert and an elderly figure with prominent prestige in the clan, Zhou Bowen felt nothing but helplessness at this moment as he faced Xuan Jiuyin.

After what seemed like half a day, Zhou Bowen said, “Little friend, why don't you come with me to the Origin Sect Ancestral Court and ask for permission from Deputy Leader Xuan yourself?”

Xuan Jiuyin shook his head, “No. What if they lock me up? That would be the end of everything. Senior, can't you go and let Xuanyue tag along?”

“But...” Zhou Bowen hesitated.

Xuan Jiuyin let out a long sigh, rose from the couch, and said somberly, “Ahh, I crossed the cosmos, enduring countless hardships and risking my life to reach Linghong Grotto Heaven. I'm only making a small request, yet you want to turn me down? Don’t you think that’s a bit too heartless?”

Zhou Bowen almost rolled his eyes.

Hardships, risks? With the Xuan Clan having your back, how could you have encountered any dangers?

Moreover, once you arrived at the Eternal True Realm, I dispatched my clansmen to escort you, providing you with the best food and accommodations along the way. How did you suffer in any way?

However, venting his frustration inside was the only thing Zhou Bowen could do. Although Xuan Jiuyin was a bit of a scoundrel, he had a great-great grandfather who currently served as the deputy pavilion master of Origin Sect’s Origin Sky Pavilion—Xuan Feiling!

Furthermore, Xuan Feiling was sworn brothers with Zhou Zhongdao, who was the sixth ancestor of the Zhou Clan. The two shared an unbreakable friendship, having traveled worlds and overcome life-and-death ordeals together. In Zhou Zhongdao's eyes, Xuan Feiling's great-great grandson was his own great-great grandson!

Being two generations younger than Zhou Zhongdao, how would Zhou Bowen dare neglect this little rascal Xuan Jiuyin?

This was what people called to be blessed by one's own ancestors!

Xuan Jiuyin shamelessly pleaded, “How about this, let me bring Xuanyue and follow you to the Origin Sect Ancestral Court. If my great-great grandfather gets angry, I will take full responsibility.”

Zhou Bowen suspiciously asked, “Is that girl really that important? You said she wasn't your dao partner.”

Xuan Jiuyin snapped, “Senior, please don’t get the wrong impression. Xuanyue and I are sworn friends who've been through life-and-death situations together. Heaven and earth bear witness to our bond! Besides, I brought her here to the Eternal True Realm. How can I just leave her by herself now?”

Zhou Bowen said, “Actually, you can leave her in my clan. We’ll certainly treat her well... Um, never mind, forget I said anything.” He shook his head with an awkward smile upon seeing the change in Xuan Jiuyin's expression.

Xuan Jiuyin said, “Senior, I'm not being unreasonable, nor am I using my great-great grandfather's status to be a bully. The situation here is plain and simple: I won't go to the Origin Sect Ancestral Court if Xuanyue can't.”

By this point, he was mentally exhausted.

Is it really that difficult to take Xuanyue to the Origin Sect?

Zhou Bowen, in fact, was just as exhausted. After a long silence, he finally sighed, “Alright, I agree to your request, but I can’t guarantee that the Origin Sect Ancestral Court will allow her to stay.”

Xuan Jiuyin grinned, “That’s plenty enough, Senior, thank you so much. Once we get there, I will personally appeal to my great-great grandfather.”

Zhou Bowen couldn't help but ask, “Little friend, do you truly have no feelings for her at all?”

Xuan Jiuyin took a deep breath and said earnestly, “I repeat: I have always considered Xuanyue my younger sister. It has always been like that before, and it will remain so in the future.”

Shortly after, Zhou Bowen left. Xuan Jiuyin, on the other hand, excitedly went to find Jintian Xuanyue to share the good news with her.

“Lin Xun, Lin Xun, I’m going to bring Xuanyue to you. It’d be wonderful if the two of you end up together, but if not...then you'll be letting all my efforts down...” he mumbled to himself.

Having heard that Lin Xun had appeared in the Seventh Heaven Domain and that he was set to travel to the Origin Sect Ancestral Court in three years, Xuan Jiuyin was determined to take Jintian Xuanyue there no matter what.

She was such a great young lady. How could he leave her here to be alone and lonely?

......

Word of Lin Xun’s appearance in the Seventh Heaven Domain had also reached the ears of his enemy factions such as the Donghuang’s Four Clans or various immortal factions associated with the Ten Immortal Giants of the Eighth Heaven Domain.

However, considering how expansive the Seventh Heaven Domain was, finding an individual here was like searching for a needle in an entire ocean. Despite the news having spread throughout the world, no one had found his exact current location.

Everyone was certain of one thing, though, which was if Lin Xun really dared to show his face at the Origin Sect Ancestral Court’s successor selection three years later, then he would become the target of public ire!

......

In Cold Moon City, the residents living around an alley had recently noticed the reopening of Cloud Guardian Workshop after a long closedown. Currently, the shop was being tended to by a handsome young man.

Since he was the only one in the shop, people speculated that he must also be a blacksmith. Business had been rather slow, perhaps due to him being an unfamiliar face. They often saw the young man placing a rocking chair in front of the shop whenever he had nothing to do, and he would lie down in it to soak up the sunlight and stay there until night fell.

Even when his shop had a potential customer, he answered their questions distractedly and quoted an exorbitant price that the customer would simply find unacceptable. As a result, the already bad business had become even more desolate.

Nevertheless, it was clear that the young man didn’t care. He opened and closed the shop on time every day. If there were no customers, he would just remain in the rocking chair. He seemed to be the lazy type.

This caused the neighbors to look down on him. They viewed him as a young bum who idled away his days and was unprofessional.

The cultivation world favored relentless progress and diligence. Those who were lazy, unless they were descendants of Immortal Imperial Clans, were destined to amount to nothing.

In this alley, most of the residents were low-level cultivators of Cold Moon City. Their cultivation ranks varied, but it was difficult to find an Emperor among them.

Such was the reality of the lowest echelons in the cultivation world. Even in the Seventh Heaven Domain, where the atmosphere was rich with aeth qi, only a tiny fraction among the countless beings could become Emperors.

The path to the Emperor Stage spanned nine realms, and the higher one climbed, the more risky it became. Furthermore, the pinnacle was another turning point.

This meant that the higher a stage, the increasingly fewer the number of cultivators who could reach it.

The Seventh Heaven Domain certainly did not lack supreme Great Emperors or just Emperors in general; this world was too vast after all. Cold Moon City, for example, had produced countless Emperors.

Still, though, there were far more cultivators below the Emperor Stage.

The alley where Cloud Guardian Workshop was located was a remote area of Cold Moon City. Since most of the cultivators here were below the Emperor Stage, the shops established in this neighborhood primarily catered to this demographic.

Therefore, people had no idea that the bum they regarded as idle and unproductive was actually an Emperor Ancestor, someone so exalted that they could only look up to with awe.

Lin Xun had never explained himself as he had not been in this kind of environment for too long. Whether it was in the Great Thousand Battle Domain or on his journey from the First Heaven Domain to the Seventh Heaven Domain, he had almost only come into contact with those in the same stage as him, or even Immortals.

This led him to rarely pay attention to or experience the cultivation life of those below the Emperor Stage.

Settling down in Cloud Guardian Workshop, watching the bustling stream of people passing every day, living the chaos of the streets and alleys, and seeing cultivators rushing about in pursuit of the dao...

The feeling he got from these activities was familiar yet at the same time strange. It was as if he had been out for too long and had finally just returned to the mortal world, where all he could see were the various aspects of the normal cultivation life.

The lower five great cultivation stages, the Longevity King Stage, the Saint Stage, the Quasi-Emperor Stage... Cultivators in each stage had their own goals and hardships.

The various facets of sentient beings interwove into the diversity of life.