Earth Grade Talent!

But Zhang Chen had no time to dwell on these rewards. He strode straight toward the delivery room.

"Qingxue!"

He pushed open the door. Lin Qingxue's face was pale, making her look exceptionally weak.

Yet her eyes were startlingly bright. She was turned sideways, gazing at the two little bundles lying in swaddling beside her, her look 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 steps, dropped to one knee by the bed, and gripped her hand tightly, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "You've worked hard, my wife. You've worked so hard."

Lin Qingxue smiled weakly and gestured beside her. "Hurry, look at the children."

Only then did Zhang Chen turn to look at the two wrinkled little monkeys.

Though they were newborns and their features weren't yet clear, the spiritual energy rippling off these two little ones startled even Zhang Chen, their father.

These weren't babies—they were human-shaped whirlpools of spiritual energy!

Just then, Zhang Yunshan and Liu Yueru burst in as well.

"Hurry! Let me hold them!"

Zhang Yunshan's hands trembled with excitement as he carefully picked up the boy.

With practiced ease, he extended a finger and pressed it to the infant's brow, sending a thread of spiritual power to check his aptitude.

A single breath later.

Zhang Yunshan looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. He stood frozen, eyes wide as saucers, mouth gaping wide enough to fit a fist.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the child?"

Liu Yueru was startled and asked hurriedly.

"Earth... Earth Grade..."

Zhang Yunshan's voice quivered like a broken bellows. "Earth Grade Upper! No—Quasi-Heaven Grade!"

"What?!"

Everyone in the room sucked in a sharp breath.

In the East Mountain Islands, where even Mystic Grade Upper was considered a top-tier genius, what did Earth Grade Upper mean?

It meant that as long as he didn't die young, Nascent Soul was the starting point, and Spirit Transmutation was within reach!

This was absolutely a dragon-phoenix child of the clan!

"What about that one? What about the girl?"

Liu Yueru fumbled as she picked up the other child.

A moment later, she let out an even sharper cry: "Also Earth Grade Upper! Heavens! The Old Zhang Family's ancestors must be burning incense!"

Two Earth Grade Upper!

If this news got out, it would shake the entire Southern Domain.

"Hahaha! Good! Very good!"

Zhang Yunshan laughed heartily, his voice bold and unrestrained. "This is a heavenly blessing! Our Zhang family shall rise!"

He swept his gaze over everyone, waved his sleeve, and his voice boomed like a great bell, instantly spreading throughout the entire Zhang Family Courtyard:

"Today, the Zhang family will host an open feast! Every clan member shall receive one hundred Spirit Stones! Every child under ten may enter the Scripture Pavilion to choose one cultivation technique!"

At that moment, the Zhang family, suppressed for months, erupted into celebration.

Zhang Chen stood behind the crowd, watching his wife and children surrounded like stars around the moon, and smiled faintly.

His hand pressed lightly against his chest.

There, he kept the scorching Longevity Pill and the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment Pill.

The night was deep, with only a lingering trace of revelry still echoing through the Zhang Family Courtyard.

The open feast during the day had stretched for a full three miles, and the fragrance of Spirit Wine seemed to still hang in the air, brewing a dizzying illusion.

The family compound, once brightly lit, gradually quieted down. Only a few large red lanterns swayed in the wind, casting shadows on the ground.

Zhang Chen stepped out from the warm chamber where his wife and children rested and tightened his robe.

The night breeze was cool, blowing away the smell of alcohol clinging to him and clearing his slightly heated mind.

He turned back to glance at the tightly shut door. Inside slept his wife and his newborn son and daughter—his deepest ties in this world, and the weakness he had to protect.

Precisely because he had a weakness, he needed an even harder armor.

Zhang Chen turned and fixed his gaze on the towering peak deep within the family grounds—Dao Seeking Peak.

Without alerting anyone, he passed through layer after layer of formations without obstruction.

The mountain path was silent, broken only by the occasional chirp of insects.

The higher he climbed, the denser the surrounding Spiritual Energy became...

To the outside world, today was a day of great joy for the Zhang Family—the birth of a Kirin child, heralding what seemed to be another golden age.

But only the few truly at the core knew the truth.

Beneath this so-called prosperity and splendor lay a hidden crisis.

Like a building whose foundation had already rotted—no matter how beautifully painted its exterior, it could not hide the crumbling structure within.

Zhang Chen arrived at the stone door of the Cave Mansion. He did not enter immediately but stood at the entrance, steadying his breath.

Instinctively, he reached into his robes and touched the simple wooden box pressed against his chest.

As Long As this thing was here, the sky over the Zhang Family would not fall.

"Come in."

The Old Ancestor's voice came from within the Cave Mansion.

It was no longer as booming as a bell before the crowd; now, it carried an unmistakable weariness and hoarseness.

The stone door rumbled open.

Zhang Chen stepped inside. The Cave Mansion was dimly lit, with only an Ever-Bright Lamp in the corner casting a flame no larger than a bean.

In the shifting shadows of light and dark, Zhang Tianzheng sat cross-legged on a Prayer Mat.

At this moment, Zhang Tianzheng looked more than ten years older than usual.

The deathly aura around him was even thicker than when Zhang Chen had last visited the Cave Mansion.