Suddenly, a figure descended from the heavens, his weather-beaten robes snapping loudly in the wind.
It was none other than Li Xinnian and Nangong Qingya's eldest brother, Su Chen.
Su Chen landed before the main hall, exuding a heroic spirit that reached the very clouds.
"From miles away, I heard you husband and wife talking about being 'base' and 'fishing in troubled waters.' What is happening now?"
Li Xinnian hurriedly stood up to welcome him.
Over the years, his Uncle Li Xinghuo had taken in a total of sixteen adopted sons and daughters in the Northern Border.
Without exception, they were all geniuses of the world.
Their circumstances—'engagements annulled,' 'abandoned by their clans,' 'wrongfully accused,' or 'bearing seas of blood and deep feuds'—were utterly tragic.
Yet, among them all, Eldest Brother Su Chen was the most extraordinary.
Traversing the lands north and south these past years, there was no telling how many Secret Realms he had conquered, nor how many oppressive major powers he had defied.
His temperament was now far more steady than before.
"Big Brother, your strength..." As he drew near, Li Xinnian's face lit up with joy.
Upon his return this time, his brother's progress was even greater.
"The Peak of Divinity Transformation!"
Su Chen laughed heartily and sat down casually.
Accepting the tea poured by Nangong Qingya, he took a sip and said,
"Back during the battle with the Immortal Zhao Clan, I witnessed many Void Refining cultivators fighting, and I finally gained some insights from it.
A few years ago, Senior Old Flood Dragon also bestowed upon me a dragon scale left behind from his shedding."
As he spoke, Su Chen hurriedly stood up and bowed toward the Old Tree behind the main hall.
A white snake, possessing scales and two feet, was slithering up the tree.
The white snake glanced back at him, and a low, proud voice drifted into his ears:
"Don't call me Old Flood Dragon anymore. Master has bestowed a new name upon me. My name is Bai Gen!"
"...."
Su Chen turned back to his brother and continued,
"Nowadays, not only am I at the peak of Divinity Transformation, but my Domain is brimming; I have reached the absolute limit of the Divinity Transformation realm.
With six Primordial Spirit techniques at my command, I need only one final push to forge a Void Refining Dimension and leap over the Dragon Gate!"
"Good, good, wonderful news!" Li Xinnian's brow was filled with delight.
He mused inwardly that a Reincarnator was indeed extraordinary; breaking through realms came as naturally as water flowing into a formed channel.
"Sigh, it is good, but Senior Bai Gen's dragon scale alone is worth seven thousand years of stipend.
Over these years, you and Adoptive Father have gifted me quite a few resources.
Added to the cultivation in the Dao-Transmitting Secret Stele, the Dao-Pattern Heavy Water, and the Myriad Dao Pagoda, I now owe a debt of sixty thousand years of stipend."
Su Chen's face was filled with shame.
"Xinnian, wait until I break through to Void Refining and eradicate my enemies—that will be the day I repay you!"
"We are family; why be so calculating? It is enough that Big Brother keeps it in mind." Li Xinnian smiled faintly.
The husband and wife exchanged a glance.
They had racked up a debt of eighty thousand years of stipend for their own cultivation over the years, yet they hadn't said a word about it.
Soon after, the three of them began discussing the matter of Zishu Lingtian once again.
"So you were dwelling on this matter."
Su Chen frowned slightly.
"During my travels, I also heard rumors of it—that finding the Three Corpses of Lingtian would allow one to ascend to the Body Integration realm.
In fact, I came here precisely to inform the Clan about this."
"Oh?" Li Xinnian was startled. "Big Brother has knowledge of this?"
"Correct."
Su Chen exhaled a long breath.
"In the era sixty thousand years ago, there were three factions that drew the utmost attention from the Human Sovereign.
They could be considered the most extraordinary sect powers of these past sixty thousand years, and throughout this time, they have remained under the Human Sovereign's watchful eye.
Because their power transcended the mundane, they were compelled to go into seclusion, and those above the Divinity Transformation realm were forbidden from entering the secular world."
"The Peerless Hall, The Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, and The Grand Tower."
"Back then, the Peerless Hall stood proud above the world, for no other reason than that its Heavenly Venerable possessed extraordinary aptitude that shocked the entire world."
As he spoke, Su Chen raised his head with arrogance.
"With the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower rising to power, given the Heavenly Venerable's unparalleled talent, how could he not go and see who dared to stand on equal footing with him in the same era?"
"...."
Li Xinnian's toes curled inside his boots.
Adhering to the principle of neither exposing nor slandering, he remained silent.
He just heard Su Chen continue,
"When the Heavenly Venerable went there, he discovered that the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower... heh, were nothing special.
Those two major powers were completely unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the Peerless Hall.
The strength of their disciples was entirely based on opportunism and borrowed external forces!"
Li Xinnian frowned.
"Big Brother, are you saying that the matter of Lingtian's Three Corpses is related to them?"
"Precisely." Su Chen spoke in a grave voice.
"I have heard that people in the world today have tracked down quite a few anomalies—a demonic cultivator with 'wind-catching ears,' and a malicious ghost with Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils!
Back when the Heavenly Venerable barged into the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower, he encountered many such anomalies!
Inside the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, the Heavenly Venerable was once forced to retreat by a headless man; that headless man possessed the power to move mountains and shift seas."
"Big Brother, how do you know this in such detail?" Li Xinnian asked in confusion.
Su Chen hesitated for a moment.
"I learned it from the Secret Realm where the Heavenly Venerable perished.
I suspect that for those two great sects to stand on equal footing with the Peerless Hall in the same era, it must be related to Lingtian's Three Corpses."
Upon hearing these secrets, Li Xinnian pondered for a long time.
"Thank you, Big Brother. With such an opportunity for the Body Integration realm in sight, I still need to make further preparations."
Hearing this, Su Chen smiled.
"You need not force yourself. I know the world is in chaos, and you are worried that without a Body Integration expert, the Family will lack the authority to survive in the long term.
But rest easy; with me here, the Li Clan has nothing to worry about!
As for the matter of the Three Corpses of Lingtian, I will go and make a trip myself."
They watched Su Chen's receding figure, solitary and proud.
Li Xinnian and Nangong Qingya exchanged a glance.
Li Xinnian smiled bitterly.
"Big Brother is becoming more and more confident."
"He is used to walking alone in the world; this is normal for him."
Nangong Qingya shook her head.
"It seems Big Brother intends to search for the Three Corpses of Lingtian on his own. What about us..."
Li Xinnian thought for a moment.
"This matter is far from ordinary. We still need to ask the Old Ancestor and the Elders.
The matter of the Three Corpses for Body Integration cannot be rushed.
Rather than seizing power from outside, it is better for us to achieve the breakthrough ourselves."
Changing the subject, Li Xinnian asked, "How is Heng'er progressing with his cultivation?"
"I made a trip to the Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven."
Nangong Qingya's face was filled with gratification.
"He will soon break through to the Fifth-Tier of Divinity Transformation.
Among all the cultivators of his age in the world, there is no one who can compete with Heng'er!"
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