A Conversation Between Master and Disciple

The medicine chamber was thick with the scent of herbs, and the furnace fire crackled softly.

"What? You want to take Mingyue away from the Alchemy Tower?"

Xu Lin, the master of the Alchemy Tower, sat beside the furnace and frowned. "Qin Tian, I'm sure you know something about Mingyue's situation. I can protect her here. But once she leaves, being my disciple won't be enough to deter those people."

Qin Tian heard the displeasure in Xu Lin's voice. He sounded like a father watching some blond-haired punk try to whisk away his daughter—and take her somewhere even more dangerous.

Under Xu Lin's searching gaze, Qin Tian asked, "Tower Master Xu, do you know why Mingyue and her brother, Dongfang Haoyue, have suffered so much?"

Xu Lin's frown deepened.

The question had long puzzled him too.

He had asked Dongfang Mingyue more than once, but she always fell silent. Unwilling to press his disciple, he had stopped asking.

Now, though, Qin Tian seemed ready to tell him the truth.

"Then tell me. Why?" Xu Lin asked.

Qin Tian glanced at Dongfang Mingyue. She pressed her lips together, then met Xu Lin's eyes.

She wanted to give her teacher the answer herself.

"Teacher, my brother and I are actually—"

The name lingered on her lips for several seconds, as though she could hardly bear to say it. At last, she spoke the truth.

"—the Emperor's children."

What?!

Xu Lin jolted. His eyes widened, and the revelation struck him like a boulder dropped into still water.

He could scarcely believe his ears.

Mingyue and Dongfang Haoyue were the Emperor's children?

How was that possible?

Holy Bloods could not coexist. That was an iron law.

How could two great Holy Blood Families produce children together?

Was their mother not a member of the