However, Zhang Chen had no time to dwell on these rewards. He lifted his legs and rushed into the delivery room.
"Qingxue!"
He pushed open the door. Lin Qingxue's face was pale, and she looked especially weak.
But her eyes shone with astonishing brightness as she turned her head to look at the two little bundles lying beside her, her gaze so tender it could melt ice and snow.
"Husband..."
Seeing Zhang Chen enter, she tried to sit up.
"Don't move!"
Zhang Chen crossed the room in a few strides and dropped to one knee beside the bed. He clasped her hand tightly and kissed it, saying, "You worked so hard, my dear. You worked so hard."
Lin Qingxue smiled weakly and pointed beside her. "Quick, look at the babies."
Only then did Zhang Chen turn to look at the two wrinkled little monkeys.
They had only just been born, so it was impossible to make out their features, but the Spiritual Energy fluctuations emanating from the two little ones were enough to alarm even Zhang Chen, their father.
How were these babies? They were practically two human-shaped whirlpools of Spiritual Energy!
Just then, Zhang Yunshan and Liu Yueru rushed in as well.
"Quick! Let me hold them!"
Zhang Yunshan was so excited that his hands trembled. He carefully picked up the boy.
With practiced ease, he extended a finger and touched the baby's brow, sending in a wisp of Spiritual Power to examine his talent.
After just one breath.
Zhang Yunshan froze as if struck by lightning. His eyes bulged, and his mouth gaped wide enough to fit a fist.
"What's wrong? Is something the matter with the baby?"
Liu Yueru jumped in fright and hurriedly asked.
"Earth... Earth Grade..."
Zhang Yunshan's voice trembled like a broken bellows. "Earth Grade Upper! No! Quasi-Heaven Grade!"
"What?!"
Everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath.
In the East Mountain Islands, where even Mystic Grade Upper counted as top-tier talent, what did Earth Grade Upper mean?
It meant that as long as the child didn't die young, he would reach Nascent Soul at the very least, with Spirit Transformation within reach!
He was undoubtedly the family's Kirin child!
"What about the other one? What about the little girl?"
Liu Yueru hastily picked up the other baby.
A moment later, she let out an even sharper cry of surprise. "She's Earth Grade Upper too! Heavens! Our Old Zhang Family's ancestors must be smiling down on us!"
Two Earth Grade Upper talents!
If this news got out, the entire Southern Domain would surely be shaken.
"Ha ha ha ha! Good! Excellent!"
Zhang Yunshan roared with laughter, his spirit soaring. "This is an auspicious sign from Heaven! My Zhang Family is destined to flourish!"
He surveyed everyone, swept out his wide sleeves, and spoke in a voice like a tolling bell that instantly rang throughout the Zhang Family Courtyard:
"Today, the Zhang Family will host a grand feast! Every member of the Zhang Family will receive a hundred Spirit Stones! Every child of the Zhang Family under ten may choose one cultivation technique from the Scripture Pavilion!"
At that moment, the Zhang Family, which had been under strain for months, welcomed a time of celebration.
Standing behind the crowd, Zhang Chen watched his wife and children, surrounded by adoring faces, and smiled faintly.
At that moment, he gently pressed a hand to his chest.
There lay the scorching Longevity Pill and the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment Pill.
Night had fallen deep, and only a few traces of the day's celebration lingered in the Zhang Family Courtyard.
The banquet tables had stretched for three whole miles, and the fragrance of Spirit Wine still seemed to drift through the air, weaving a heady illusion.
The family grounds, which had been brightly lit, were gradually falling quiet. Only a few large red lanterns swayed in the wind, casting shadows on the ground.
Zhang Chen stepped out of the warm chamber where his wife and children lay, and tightened his robe.
The night breeze was cool. It swept away the scent of alcohol clinging to him and cleared his slightly heated head in an instant.
He glanced back at the tightly shut door. Inside slept his wife and their newborn twins—the deepest ties he had in this world, and the vulnerable spot he had to protect.
Precisely because he had a vulnerable spot, he needed an even stronger suit of armor.
Zhang Chen turned around and looked toward the towering mountain deep within the family grounds—Dao Seeking Peak.
Without disturbing anyone, he passed through layer upon layer of formations without the slightest hindrance.
The mountain path was silent, save for the occasional chirp of insects.
The higher he climbed, the denser the surrounding Spiritual Energy became...
Outsiders only knew that a great joy had come to the Zhang Family that day: a Kirin child had been born, and the Zhang Family seemed poised to enter another golden age.
But only the few people truly at the heart of things knew—
Beneath this so-called golden age of prosperity lay a hidden crisis.
It was like a mansion whose foundations had rotted away. No matter how beautifully its exterior was painted, it could not conceal the crumbling structure beneath.
Zhang Chen arrived at the stone door of the Cave Mansion. He did not go in at once, but stood outside and steadied his breathing.
Without thinking, he reached into his robe and touched the plain wooden box resting against his chest.
As long as he had this thing, the Zhang Family's sky would not fall.
"Come in."
The Ancestor's voice came from inside the Cave Mansion.
Unlike the booming voice he had used in front of everyone earlier, it now carried an unmistakable weariness and rasp.
The stone door rumbled open.
Zhang Chen stepped inside. The Cave Mansion was dim, lit only by the bean-sized flame of an Ever-Bright Lamp in the corner.
Amid the shifting light and shadow, Zhang Tianzheng sat cross-legged on a Prayer Mat.
At that moment, Zhang Tianzheng looked more than ten years older than usual.
The aura of death around him was even denser than when Zhang Chen had last visited the Cave Mansion.
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