Inside the mourning hall, everyone from the Ling family wore mourning clothes and knelt in vigil. Aside from Chu Hanzhou, there was not another outsider.
Chu Hanzhou offered three sticks of incense, then walked to the coffin. It was empty, with no body inside—only a set of robes engraved with a blazing sun.
At the sight, Chu Hanzhou lowered his eyes and glanced around at the Ling family members. He waved a hand, signaling them to leave.
A moment later, only Chu Hanzhou and Ling Yu'an remained in the mourning hall.
Chu Hanzhou raised his head and studied Ling Yu'an before him, his gaze shifting unpredictably. He knew her potential well. Born with the Blazing Sun Body, she was naturally close to the great sun. Her gifts were peerless, enough to be called unprecedented, but her cultivation speed could never have been so fast.
Over the years, Ling Yu'an had kept out of sight in Lingyang. Chu Hanzhou had casually asked about her once, but Ling Qing had only said she was in seclusion. Now, it was clear that had been a deflection.
Her cultivation had undergone such an earthshaking transformation in a mere few decades. Combined with the name Lingyang, it inevitably brought the Heavenly Dao's avatar to mind. At first, he had not dared be certain, which was why he had tested her with his words.
He had traveled through the greater universe and had naturally heard of beings like the Heavenly Dao's avatar, whose existence defied reason. Since the primeval age, there had only ever been one monster like Shi Lan. Ling Yu'an would not be a second.
"What happened to Ling Qing's body?" Chu Hanzhou took a deep breath, calming the turmoil within him. If the person standing before him was the Heavenly Dao's avatar, he