Xie Jianbai sensed a similar aura from him, so what could Yu Chengyan possibly say? He had no intention of acknowledging him as kin.
Irritation churned in his chest. He could not explain it clearly, nor did he have the energy to keep opposing Xie Jianbai as he once had. All he wanted was to stay far away from him.
“I did nothing. It was an accident that your power recognized me. I will not do anything to your sect in the future either, so you can rest assured.” Yu Chengyan said impatiently, “Stop bothering me. Leave.”
He tried to go, but Xie Jianbai stepped in front of him, clearly unwilling to let him have his way.
Yu Chengyan grew even more vexed, a faint sense of helplessness creeping in.
He had often felt that Xie Jianbai was no different from a wind-up puppet. The man was stubborn to the extreme, rigid in his reasoning, and once he latched onto something, he would never let go.
Now that he had caught Xie Jianbai’s attention, if Yu Chengyan could not dispel his suspicions, he feared there would be no peace for him from this day forward.
“I’ll say it again. I did nothing,” Yu Chengyan said coldly. “I was born this way, and I do not wish to have the slightest connection with you. If you don’t believe me, investigate it yourself. What are you accomplishing by blocking my way?”
Yu Chengyan felt Xie Jianbai’s icy spiritual power seep toward him, enveloping him. It was like a cold-blooded creature without warmth, coiling around him as it examined him.
He allowed Xie Jianbai to inspect him, and soon saw a trace of confusion appear on that glacial face.
For Xie Jianbai to reveal any expression at all, this must have truly puzzled him.
“You have indeed not manipulated the power,” he said. “But why do you possess an aura so similar to mine?”
“How would I know? Go investigate it yourself,” Yu Chengyan snorted.
Xie Jianbai frowned slightly, standing there in confusion.
In all his long years, he had never encountered such a situation.
There were indeed no signs of any acquired tampering on Yu Chengyan’s body. An ordinary person would never detect anything amiss, but Xie Jianbai was a god. His understanding of life far surpassed that of mortals.
He could clearly sense that this young man before him carried an aura close to his own, something that could only belong to someone of extremely close blood relation.
For a fleeting moment, Xie Jianbai wondered whether he might be the descendant of some relative he had never met. No, that was impossible. Ten thousand years had passed. Even if he truly had a family who left descendants behind, the connection should not still be this strong.
The entire matter was riddled with strangeness, and moreover, the young man before him clearly knew something but refused to speak.
After a long pause, Xie Jianbai said, “You know who I am, and yet you are not surprised in the least. Why?”
“What does it have to do with you?” Yu Chengyan replied coldly. “I do know who you are. So what? Which sect rule have I violated? If none, then stop pestering me.”
With that, he left once more. This time, Xie Jianbai did not stop him.
As Yu Chengyan rode his sword through the sky, gazing down at the mountains below, his tense shoulders gradually relaxed. It seemed that using Xie Jianbai’s own logic against him had worked.
Xie Jianbai was rigid and always acted according to rules. Without evidence, no matter how suspicious he felt, he would not forcefully interfere.
Perhaps his terrible personality was not entirely without its merits.
Once Yu Chengyan confirmed that Xie Jianbai was no longer following, he went to the outer sect mountain to see Yu Wei.
Yu Wei was chatting beneath a tree with Ning Suyi about their recent excursion outside the sect. When she saw him, she immediately said, “I listened to you. You promised me three days without cultivation, remember to keep your word.”
Seeing that she had already forgotten what happened on the main peak, Yu Chengyan finally relaxed.
“Fine! Three days without cultivation,” he said helplessly.
Yu Wei cheered at once.
Yu Chengyan then looked at Ning Suyi. “For these three days, stay in the dormitories. I have some matters to attend to on the main peak and will not return for a couple of days.”
Ning Suyi did not suspect anything. “All right!”
Yu Chengyan knew his affair with Xie Jianbai was not over. If Xie Jianbai only entangled himself with him, that was one thing, but he did not want him to notice Yu Wei. So he quickly left the outer sect without lingering.
When he first entered the Xuantian Immortal Sect, he had been nominally attached to the main peak and even assigned a private courtyard, though he had rarely returned these past months.
On the way back to the main peak, Yu Chengyan cursed himself for losing his composure. Xie Jianbai did not even know who he was. If he had not reacted so strongly earlier, Xie Jianbai might not have sensed anything amiss.
Although for anyone, the sudden appearance of a future son would be absurd, with Xie Jianbai’s methods, he would likely uncover the truth soon enough.
How troublesome.
Meanwhile, Xie Jianbai also returned to the main peak.
He was not pursuing Yu Chengyan, but going to inspect the Bone-Measuring Stone at the summit.
The Bone-Measuring Stone was originally an immortal stone from the Heavenly Realm. It had traveled through the Endless Sea to the lower realm, where endless ages of chaotic refinement turned it into a rare treasure.
It could reflect any power that touched it, hence “measuring the bones,” and it was also an excellent vessel for containing power.
Nearly ten thousand years ago, Xie Jianbai had placed the massive stone here simply for convenience when recruiting disciples. In truth, using it merely to measure aptitude was rather wasteful.
For countless years, it had never absorbed anyone’s power. The faint energy from disciples testing their roots was far from enough to be stored. It was not until several thousand years ago, when a sect master of the Xuantian Immortal Sect attempted to probe the Sword Venerable’s power and nearly suffered deviation, that a trace of Xie Jianbai’s power was captured by the stone.
Who could have imagined that by chance, this immortal stone would treat that fragment of his power as a protective treasure of the sect, linking itself to the jade tokens of countless disciples?
As soon as he approached the stone, Xie Jianbai sensed the power within, stirring excitedly in response. It was formed from one of his souls and subconsciously sought to merge with its master.
He did not immediately reclaim it. Instead, he pressed his palm to the stone and mobilized his power.
Over thousands of years, innumerable disciples had formed sect bonds with that fragment of his power. Information surged toward him like a tidal wave. His robes fluttered without wind, his dark hair lifting as his slightly upturned eyes grew focused and sharp.
Among the countless disciples, Yu Chengyan’s trace stood out like stars surrounding the moon. Xie Jianbai hardly needed to search before it appeared before him.
After a long while, the Bone-Measuring Stone fell silent once more. Xie Jianbai lowered his hand.
He stood there blankly, his expression empty, and had not recovered by the time Xiao Ziyi arrived.
Xiao Ziyi did not dare ask where Xie Jianbai had gone. Having guarded the main peak alone earlier, his own unease had nowhere to go. He stepped closer and asked respectfully, “Venerable, would you like to rest at this junior’s peak?”
This time, Xie Jianbai did not refuse.
The two returned together to Sword Peak. Xiao Ziyi had intended to offer his own palace to Xie Jianbai, but he declined and instead asked for a secluded residence to be arranged.
After Xiao Ziyi departed, Xie Jianbai took out a magical artifact and contacted Xiao Lang, the Heavenly Venerable.
Xiao Lang nearly jumped out of his skin upon receiving the call. Xie Jianbai was certainly not the type to chat with colleagues while on assignment. If he was contacting the Heavenly Realm, something major must have occurred.
His hands trembled as he activated the artifact, half afraid he would hear news of the lower realm’s destruction.
“Jianbai, what happened?” Xiao Lang asked, pale.
Seeing Xie Jianbai frown slightly in the projection, looking unusually serious, Xiao Lang grew even more anxious.
Under his tense gaze, Xie Jianbai finally spoke. “Could there be something like the Penglai Divine Tree in the lower realm?”
The Penglai Divine Tree was the Heavenly Realm’s tree of immortal progeny.
The higher one’s cultivation, the harder it was to have offspring. This was true in the cultivation world and even more so among immortals. The probability of a deity naturally conceiving and giving birth was less than one in ten million, so most sought help from the Penglai Divine Tree.
When they wished for a child, they would pray before the divine tree. If fate permitted, it would grow a spiritual fruit shaped like an infant. Nourished by the parents’ immortal qi, the fruit would transform into a child.
At Xie Jianbai’s sudden question, Xiao Lang’s mind stalled before he shook his head.
“No. The lower realm is still within the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The divine tree cannot take root there. What is it? Did something happen?”
For the first time, Xiao Lang saw such a rich array of expressions on Xie Jianbai’s face.
After a long silence, Xie Jianbai asked calmly, “Is it possible for a child inheriting a man’s bloodline to be born, even if the father himself does not exist?”
Xiao Lang stared at him. “Absolutely not!”
He could barely endure these inexplicable questions. The man who had been rigid and businesslike for ten thousand years, never indulging in idle chatter, was suddenly asking such bizarre things. It was terrifying.
“Jianbai, what are you trying to say?”
Xie Jianbai fell silent for a long time.
Then he said, “I seem to have a son.”
Xiao Lang’s eyes widened.
“You have… a son?” he stammered. “Since when?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who is the mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know—” Xiao Lang choked, speechless for a moment. “You do not know about your own son?”
Xie Jianbai said nothing.
Receiving no satisfactory answer, he prepared to end the communication.
“Wait!” Knowing his temperament too well, Xiao Lang hurriedly stopped him. “Heavenly Venerable Xie, could you perhaps try speaking a bit more? Even if I do not understand how you could have a son, we can at least discuss it.”
Xie Jianbai paused.
He had always been a lone wolf. In the cultivation world he was the strongest, and in the Heavenly Realm he remained the strongest. He had never needed to consult anyone, for most matters were trivial in his eyes.
But this was different. The near-identical aura on that young man could only mean blood kin. Given his age, it was impossible for him to have brothers surviving in the lower realm. That left only one possibility.
How could he have a son?
Seeing his tacit acquiescence, Xiao Lang asked, “What are the child’s characteristics? Does he resemble you?”
“I don’t know,” Xie Jianbai replied coolly. “But he is likely close to the Nascent Soul stage.”
Xiao Lang frowned. “So you truly cannot see now.”
For those of profound cultivation, even without eyes they could perceive the world through spiritual power. Given Xie Jianbai’s cold and reserved nature, this was why the other Heavenly Venerables had not immediately discovered the matter.
“It is not important,” Xie Jianbai answered briefly.
Aside from the instant he had confirmed that Yu Chengyan might truly be his child, he remained as indifferent as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
Xiao Lang felt a headache coming on. He sighed. “In that case, why not use the method you are best at to test him?”
Xie Jianbai lifted his head. Though blind, his eyes still aligned precisely with Xiao Lang’s.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“In simple terms,” Xiao Lang said, “beat him up.”