The Mystery of the Bloodline, Yin Zhong's Observation

After returning to the residence, Zhou Ming shut himself in the study and forbade anyone from approaching. He took out the Jade Tablet Heavenly Book once more and began studying it.

At the same time, he kept recalling the plot of Water Moon Cave Heaven.

"Heavenly Eye... Heavenly Eye..."

Zhou Ming's gaze shifted as he recalled a piece of information from the story.

The Tong Clan within Water Moon Cave Heaven were Descendants of Gods. The Bloodline of Gods flowed through their veins, granting them the mysterious power to sense heaven and earth and command its forces.

Cultivating that power and wielding it was what became known as magic.

Yet even within this clan, those gifted in magic were ultimately few.

Moreover, as time passed and the bloodline was passed down generation after generation, fewer and fewer people possessed such talent.

By the time the story began, only a handful of people in the entire Tong Clan still had the talent to learn magic.

And among those few, most were elders of the older generation.

Only one belonged to the younger generation.

That person was Tong Xin, the youngest of the three Tong brothers and the protagonist.

Tong Xin lived up to his name. His intellectual development was incomplete; though he looked like a youth, he had the mind of a child.

This led him to become friends with Yin Zhong by accident, only to be used by him.

Before the final battle, Yin Zhong noticed that Tong Xin possessed the talent for magic. He helped him open his Heavenly Eye and taught him magic.

He hoped to use Tong Xin's magical ability to aid himself.

In other words, the Tong Clan—and perhaps even all Descendants of Gods—might need to open their Heavenly Eyes before learning magic, even if they possessed the talent for it.

Opening the Heavenly Eye was the prerequisite for learning every form of magic!

"This Heavenly Book is supposedly readable only with the Heavenly Eye. Could what it records be the Tong Clan's magic... Wait, why did Yin Zhong give this book to me?"

Zhou Ming had noticed something crucial.

"Could it be... that I possess this talent for magic? Am I descended from the Tong Clan?!"

He froze in place, unable to believe his own conclusion.

"No, no. The Tong Clan isn't the only group in this world with the Bloodline of Gods. There are other clans with divine blood as well!

No, that's wrong too. If I belonged to another divine-blood clan, why would Yin Zhong give me the Heavenly Book? The magic he wants me to learn is probably Tong Clan magic... Then I must still be from the Tong Clan!

That's not right either. If I were from the Tong Clan, then once Yin Zhong discovered it, he should have killed me outright. Why would he give me the Heavenly Book?"

Yin Zhong's hatred for the Tong Clan ran to the bone.

Back then, he had provoked the ruler's fury in an attempt to destroy the Tong Clan. When the Tong Clan received word and fled, he was the one who led troops in pursuit.

Had Great General Long Teng of the Long Clan not intervened to save them, the Tong Clan would likely have been completely exterminated at that time.

From then on, the Tong Clan went into seclusion and no longer appeared in the world. Naturally, there could be no bloodline left behind in the outside world.

There could not even have been surviving descendants from that upheaval... because Yin Zhong later returned from the dead.

After his resurrection, he still remembered his hatred. While searching for the Tong Clan, he also relentlessly hunted the Long Clan.

Later, he wiped out the entire Long Clan.

If even the Long Clan had met such a fate, what hope was there for the Tong Clan?

If any descendants of the Tong Clan had remained outside, he would certainly have found and killed them!

Given Yin Zhong's methods and abilities, Zhou Ming truly did not think anyone could escape his investigation.

If there really were still descendants of the Tong Clan in this world, then perhaps the only ones would be... Yin Zhong's descendants!

After all, Yin Zhong's original name was Tong Yin Zhong. He himself was a member of the Tong Clan.

His blood descendants would naturally carry the Tong Clan's bloodline as well!

Imperial Sword Manor could, in truth, be called an outside branch of the Tong Clan.

However, even in Water Moon Cave Heaven, where the Tong Clan married among themselves, fewer and fewer children were born with the talent for magic. Much less at Imperial Sword Manor, where their descendants were born from unions with outsiders.

Thus, despite Imperial Sword Manor's inheritance spanning several centuries, not a single person with talent for magic had appeared.

Moreover, Imperial Sword Manor had never been populous. After several hundred years of succession, only a handful remained in this generation.

On top of that, Yin Zhong, their ancient ancestor, had always controlled them from the shadows.

As a result, Imperial Sword Manor developed only within the Ancient Shu State and rarely ventured beyond it.

The possibility of Tong Clan blood appearing elsewhere was even more remote!

"Then how did I..."

No matter how Zhou Ming thought it through, he could not figure out where he had come from.

Wait!

There was one person in Imperial Sword Manor who often went out.

That person had even traveled thousands of miles to the Ming State capital before the new year.

And had only just left...

If there truly was a bloodline that had spread outside, then perhaps it was...

"No way..."

The conjecture was too bold.

Even Zhou Ming was stunned by it.

Outside the capital.

Imperial Sword Manor's merchant convoy moved forward slowly.

"Second Master, since something happened at the manor, shouldn't we... hurry..."

A middle-aged man rode closer on horseback and spoke.

"Hmm?"

Yin Zhong's face remained expressionless. "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

"This lowly one was rude. Please forgive me, Second Master."

"Hmph!"

Yin Zhong rode at the front of the convoy, moving at an unhurried pace without the slightest sign of anxiety.

He had set out half a year ago and come to the capital of the Ming State. They claimed it was for business, but that was merely an excuse.

His sole purpose had been to come to Pei Ju's residence and take a look at Zhou Ming.

Afterward, Pei Ju mentioned True Man Zhang of Wudang's hundredth birthday celebration and asked him to stay and watch.

Heh, what was there to see in some hundred-year-old child celebrating his birthday?

Yet Yin Zhong had casually agreed. His purpose had only been to remain a while longer and observe Zhou Ming carefully.

And he had been quite satisfied with the results of that observation.

In terms of talent, Zhou Ming's aptitude was exceptional.

Whether it was the martial arts talent he had already displayed or the talent for cultivation that he had yet to reveal.

As for intelligence, he was not lacking either.

After Pei Ju had briefly explained the situation at court, he had understood it and made certain judgments about the future situation.

He could not be called supremely intelligent, but he undoubtedly surpassed many others.

The only thing Yin Zhong found unsatisfactory was that Zhou Ming did not seem to have much ambition.

Put nicely, he was content with poverty and delighted in the Way.

Put bluntly, he was a total slacker!

However, Yin Zhong soon discovered that Zhou Ming did not truly lack ambition. Rather, he harbored a kind of arrogance.

It was as though Kyushu and the Four Seas, the supreme Son of Heaven, kings, marquises, generals, and ministers meant nothing to him.

Because he did not care, he had no ambition.

Just as no one would deliberately pursue a pinch of dust.

Those things were merely a pinch of dust in Zhou Ming's heart.

To Yin Zhong, that was instead a good thing.

And though he lacked ambition, he did not lack desire.

Once some desire arose in his heart, under that arrogance, he would likely become even more terrifying than those with ambition.

Therefore, Yin Zhong ultimately still approved of Zhou Ming.

"Hmm?"

Yin Zhong suddenly turned around and saw a dazzling pillar of light shooting from the capital into the sky, piercing the clouds.

"Second Master."

Seeing this, his subordinate hurriedly reined in his horse and turned back curiously, but naturally saw nothing.

"Hahahaha! I thought it would take another two days. I didn't expect him to unravel the mystery of the Heavenly Eye so quickly and open it directly! Hahaha..."

Ignoring his subordinate, Yin Zhong stared intently at the phenomenon only he could see and thought, As expected of...

My... son!