Chao Lun Hui had survived ancient scrolls, forbidden archives and a Truth Stone with terrible communication skills.
Today, Azure Cloud Sect intended to test him with a piece of jade.
The fact that this sounded less dangerous did not comfort him.
He walked beside Shen Yan Ting towards the Hall of Records while morning mist drifted between the mountain paths.
Neither of them spoke for several steps.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Hm?”
Luo Yanhe : “May this disciple make one complaint before we arrive?”
Shen Yan Ting glanced at him.
Shen Yan Ting : “You usually do.”
Luo Yanhe nodded seriously.
Luo Yanhe : “Ancient artefacts have terrible timing.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Explain.”
Luo Yanhe : “A reasonable artefact would provide several days’ notice before examining someone’s bloodline.”
Shen Yan Ting : “The examination was arranged yesterday.”
Luo Yanhe : “That is not several days.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It is one.”
Luo Yanhe : “Exactly.
Completely unreasonable.”
They continued walking.
Luo Yanhe : “There should be preparation guidelines.”
Shen Yan Ting : “For touching jade?”
Luo Yanhe : “For being recognised by an extinct clan.”
Shen Yan Ting : “How would you prepare?”
Chao Lun Hui considered the question.
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple would sleep properly.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You chose to read twenty-three scrolls until dawn.”
Luo Yanhe : “That was before this disciple understood the importance of preparation.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You knew about the examination.”
Luo Yanhe : “Master is making this complaint unnecessarily difficult.”
Shen Yan Ting : “You asked permission to complain.
I did not promise assistance.”
Chao Lun Hui looked at him with quiet betrayal.
Shen Yan Ting continued towards the Hall of Records without the slightest sign of guilt.
The sealed examination chamber was already crowded when they arrived.
Sect Master Qing Xu stood beside the central formation.
Elder Mo and Elder Lin waited near a long stone table, accompanied by three record keepers and two senior cultivators responsible for bloodline law.
The awakened Luo Clan scroll lay sealed beneath a transparent barrier.
Beside it rested Luo Yanhe’s identity jade, his sect admission record and a dark green piece of ancient jade carved with the broken-circle symbol of the Luo Clan.
The arrangement looked less like an examination and more like evidence presented during a criminal trial.
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple notices that everyone arrived before breakfast.”
Elder Mo : “This is a serious matter.”
Luo Yanhe : “Hunger is also serious.”
No one answered.
Chao Lun Hui quietly decided that sect bureaucracy had no respect for nutrition.
Sect Master Qing Xu gestured towards the formation.
Sect Master Qing Xu : “Stand within the inner circle.”
Chao Lun Hui obeyed.
Shen Yan Ting remained beside the formation rather than joining the elders.
Elder Lin noticed.
Elder Lin : “Elder Shen, the examination barrier is sufficient.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I know.”
Elder Lin : “Then there is no need for you to stand so close.”
Shen Yan Ting : “There is no need for me to stand farther away.”
Elder Lin’s expression tightened.
Chao Lun Hui wisely chose not to become involved.
He already had enough problems without refereeing an argument between people who could flatten mountains.
Elder Mo opened the bloodline register.
Elder Mo : “Luo Yanhe’s spiritual signature, identity jade and sect admission formation have all confirmed authentic Luo blood.”
One of the senior cultivators looked towards him.
Senior Cultivator : “Every abnormal response began after the forbidden-technique incident.”
The accusation was not openly hostile, but it carried enough weight to change the room.
Senior Cultivator : “The Truth Stone awakened.
The sealed records reacted.
Now a Luo Clan scroll has revealed hidden writing.”
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple would like to clarify something.”
Every elder looked at him.
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple is also confused.”
No one appeared satisfied.
Luo Yanhe : “Deeply confused.”
Shen Yan Ting remained silent.
Chao Lun Hui turned his head slightly.
Luo Yanhe : “Master could help me .”
Shen Yan Ting : “How?”
Luo Yanhe : “By confirming that this disciple usually didn’t understands what is happening.”
Shen Yan Ting : “That would be inaccurate.”
Several record keepers lowered their eyes.
Chao Lun Hui suspected they were hiding smiles.
Considering Luo Yanhe’s reputation, they might also have been avoiding eye contact for survival.
Both possibilities remained equally plausible.
Sect Master Qing Xu raised one hand, restoring order.
Sect Master Qing Xu : “The jade will determine bloodline continuity.
Nothing more.”
Elder Lin : “Recognition must not be treated as proof of innocence.”
Shen Yan Ting : “No one said it should be.”
Elder Lin : “Nor does it grant him authority over the Luo inheritance.”
Shen Yan Ting : “The examination has not begun.”
Elder Lin fell silent.
Chao Lun Hui looked towards his master.
Shen Yan Ting was not defending Luo Yanhe as innocent.
He was merely refusing to let the elders decide the result before the jade did.
Protection and trust remained carefully separated.
Sect Master Qing Xu activated the outer formation.
Spiritual lines spread across the floor and connected Luo Yanhe’s identity jade, bloodline record and the ancient Luo Clan jade.
Sect Master Qing Xu : “Place your hand above it.”
Luo Yanhe held his palm over the jade.
Nothing happened.
The formation continued glowing.
The jade remained dark.
Several breaths passed.
Luo Yanhe : “Is it supposed to do something?”
Elder Mo : “Wait.”
Luo Yanhe waited.
Still nothing.
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple has noticed that ancient artefacts enjoy making people uncomfortable.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Perhaps it is considering whether answering is necessary.”
Luo Yanhe slowly turned towards him.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “What?”
Luo Yanhe : “That sounded familiar.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Effective arguments should be reused.”
Chao Lun Hui stared at him.
His own teachings had returned to threaten him again.
The jade remained unmoved.
Luo Yanhe : “Perhaps it dislikes me.”
Elder Lin : “That remains possible.”
Luo Yanhe looked at him.
Luo Yanhe : “Elder’s honesty is refreshing.”
Sect Master Qing Xu adjusted the formation.
Sect Master Qing Xu : “A bloodline artefact may require direct contact.”
Luo Yanhe : “Naturally.”
He lowered his hand onto the jade.
Pain cut across his palm.
A fine line opened beneath his skin, and one drop of blood struck the carved symbol.
The jade awakened.
Golden light raced through the broken circle and spread across the examination table.
The formation shook hard enough to send two record keepers backwards.
Shen Yan Ting moved towards Luo Yanhe before anyone else reacted.
His hand closed around Luo Yanhe’s shoulder as a protective barrier formed between him and the jade.
Luo Yanhe : “Master.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Stay still.”
Luo Yanhe : “This disciple was already standing still.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Continue.”
Luo Yanhe : “Continue standing still?”
Shen Yan Ting : “Yes.”
The jade projected a column of ancient characters above the table.
Bloodline confirmed: Luo.
The first line matched the sect records.
A second line appeared.
Bloodline continuity: concealed, not severed.
The chamber became quiet.
Then the jade revealed its final judgement.
Status recognised: bloodline successor hidden beneath forgotten time.
Below it, weaker characters flickered.
Inheritance unnamed.
Qualification incomplete.
The golden light settled.
No title appeared.
No authority transferred.
The jade had recognised Luo Yanhe’s blood, but it had not named him final heir or owner of anything.
That distinction did little to calm the elders.
Elder Lin : “Hidden beneath forgotten time?”
Elder Mo : “There is no such classification in the sect records.”
Senior Cultivator : “The forbidden technique may have altered the response.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Or the records are incomplete.”
Senior Cultivator : “You assume the artefact is trustworthy.”
Shen Yan Ting : “I assume nothing.”
His hand remained on Luo Yanhe’s shoulder.
Shen Yan Ting : “The jade identified his bloodline.
It did not clear him of wrongdoing, nor did it grant him the inheritance.”
Sect Master Qing Xu studied the fading characters.
Sect Master Qing Xu : “The result will be sealed until we understand its meaning.”
Chao Lun Hui barely heard him.
The jade had recognised Luo Yanhe.
Not Chao Lun Hui.
It had recognised the blood, body and identity he had entered, then called that person a successor concealed beneath forgotten time.
Relief should have been impossible.
Yet Luo Yanhe’s body softened beneath Shen Yan Ting’s hand as though it had finally reached a place that knew its name.
The feeling frightened Chao Lun Hui more than rejection would have.
The jade pulsed once more.
Shen Yan Ting’s fingers tightened.
His spiritual energy broke rhythm.
It lasted only a moment, but Chao Lun Hui felt it through the hand resting on his shoulder.
Shen Yan Ting’s face remained controlled, though a sharp line appeared between his brows.
Luo Yanhe : “Master?”
Shen Yan Ting did not answer.
The jade’s light reflected in his golden eyes.
Pain passed through them without becoming an image or memory.
Then Shen Yan Ting stepped between Luo Yanhe and the artefact.
The movement was instinctive.
Protective and unexplained.
Sect Master Qing Xu noticed.
So did the elders.
Elder Lin’s gaze shifted from Shen Yan Ting to Luo Yanhe, suspicion deepening.
Luo Yanhe : “Master, are you injured?”
Shen Yan Ting : “No.”
Luo Yanhe : “That answer was too quick.”
Shen Yan Ting : “It was accurate.”
Luo Yanhe : “Master uses that defence often.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Because it remains accurate.”
The pain had already disappeared from his face, but Chao Lun Hui had seen it.
The Truth Stone had reacted to both of them.
Now the Luo Clan jade had recognised Luo Yanhe, and Shen Yan Ting had suffered for a reason neither of them understood.
The original novel had not described any of this.
It had given Chao Lun Hui battles, betrayals and the future villain’s death.
It had never mentioned an impossible bloodline successor, missing generations or a connection between Luo Yanhe’s extinct clan and Shen Yan Ting.
Perhaps the novel had omitted the truth.
Perhaps someone had removed it.
The jade darkened completely.
Luo Yanhe looked at the silent artefact.
Luo Yanhe : “That is all?”
Elder Mo : “It identified you.”
Luo Yanhe : “It created more questions.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Ancient artefacts have terrible communication skills.”
Luo Yanhe turned towards him.
Luo Yanhe : “Master agreed.”
Shen Yan Ting : “Reasonable conclusions should be accepted.”
Despite the elders, sealed records and deeply inconvenient result, Chao Lun Hui nearly laughed.
The Luo Clan jade had recognised Luo Yanhe.
Shen Yan Ting’s body had recognised danger before his mind did.
Chao Lun Hui recognised neither.
That imbalance could no longer be ignored.
The chapter has now been updated to the latest revised version.
I truly appreciate everyone who waited and continued supporting this story while I worked on improving it.
I hope this updated version gives you a smoother and more enjoyable reading experience.
Thank you for staying with me.
Happy reading!