Hundred Refinements??

Qin Zhan smiled in relief, a smile from the bottom of his heart that swept away the gloom and depression that had weighed on him for years.

"Xiao Yu, you only need to know that all my efforts over these years were only to wait for you and Xue'er to enter a sect. This was the shared wish of your mother and me!" Qin Zhan said slowly.

"Is that so? You hid everything from us—what did you take us for? Your puppets? Must Xue'er and I walk the path you planned for us?" Qin Yu shouted coldly. He had never wanted to ask about anything concerning the Qin Family. He was merely a passerby, and before long, he would walk his own path. But the situation before him left Qin Yu unable to withdraw unscathed. If he wanted to leave the Qin Family and head to the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect, he still had to endure these six months.

Besides, Xue'er was still here. Qin Yu did not want to make Xue'er sad. There was also the fact that Qin Zhan had knelt for three days and three nights, which stirred a trace of guilt and emotion within Qin Yu.

Qin Zhan's expression shifted between light and shadow, his eyelids lowering slightly as he sank into thought and struggle. After a long while, he suddenly said, "Have you never wondered why you suddenly became so clever? And... what you used in your battle against Cui Shuo should have been the Myriad Heavens Battle Art, right? I never expected you to master it so quickly."

Qin Yu froze. He had just been wondering whether this would make Qin Zhan suspicious, yet Qin Zhan's sudden words made him realize something. He stared at Qin Zhan but did not answer.

"Your mother left something inside you. As for what it was, I do not know too clearly. She only said that around the age of sixteen, you would activate what she left behind. What I never expected, and what greatly comforts me, is that you activated it ahead of time. Since that is the case, you have the right to know certain things." Qin Zhan spoke with sorrow, as though the words had brought back many memories.

She left something behind?

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. He had not sensed anything within his body. Could it be because his cultivation was insufficient?

"And you should have noticed that my cultivation is not actually at the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm, correct?" Qin Zhan added.

Qin Yu's gaze sharpened. Back then, Qin Zhan had supported an object with qi and shattered the Three Mountains Guarding Heaven Formation Qin Yu had laid down with a single palm strike. Qin Yu had concluded that Qin Zhan's cultivation was at least in the Gangqi Realm. Yet he had been puzzled by how Qin Zhan had concealed it from him. After all, he had interacted with cultivators of every realm in the past, and it was easy to judge another's cultivation from their aura.

"Thirty years ago, I entered the Martial Realm. Twenty years ago, I stepped into the Early Astral Qi Stage. Seventeen years ago, I entered the middle stage of Astral Qi!" A strange glint flashed through Qin Zhan's eyes.

Qin Yu frowned. Ten years to go from the Martial Realm First Layer to the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm? Yet only three years to advance from the Early Astral Qi Stage to the middle stage of Astral Qi?

"The reason my cultivation fell was related to the Spirit Art I cultivated. I obtained this Spirit Art by chance when I was young. It is very slow to cultivate, but among those of the same realm, I fear no one in a one-on-one fight."

"Twenty-three years ago, I accidentally discovered something strange about this Spirit Art. I could actually burn my cultivation in exchange for immense power. It was because of that incident that I gained Cui Hong's favor. He promoted me to general and married Cui Liu to me. But Cui Liu was already pregnant at the time. All these years, Cui Liu and I treated each other with respect as guests. We had the name of husband and wife, but not the reality."

A brilliant light burst from Qin Yu's eyes. No reality as husband and wife? In other words, Qin Feng and Qin Yong were not Qin Zhan's biological sons? All these years, Qin Zhan had endured in silence...

Qin Yu felt inexplicably troubled. If Qin Zhan had initially yielded to the Cui Family's power, then now... after enduring for so many years, it was likely for Qin Yu and Xue'er!

It was hard to imagine that for more than ten years, Qin Zhan had raised another man's sons without revealing the slightest flaw. Cui Liu did not dare make it public either, afraid of Cui Hong's rebuke. Thus, even Cui Hong knew nothing of it. One could see just how bitterly Qin Zhan had lived all these years.

"Nineteen years ago, I met your mother. We were of one heart and mind, deeply in love. But good times did not last. Seventeen years ago, someone attacked the military camp for no reason. Your mother wiped that group out completely, leaving none alive, while I burned my cultivation and killed a cultivator at the Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching with middle-stage Astral Qi cultivation. But my cultivation fell from the middle stage of Astral Qi to the Martial Realm Second Level. Only after all these years did I finally return to the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm!" As Qin Zhan spoke, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, as though he had recalled the beautiful days of old, brief though they were.

If Qin Yu had still felt some disdain before—what kind of aptitude was this, to remain in the Martial Realm for ten years?—then Qin Zhan's following words filled him with shock!

Burning cultivation? Killing a peak Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching cultivator with middle-stage Astral Qi cultivation?

What kind of terrifying Spirit Art was this?

Even after Qin Yu had read through the Tian Qi Sect's Library Pavilion, he had never seen such a strange and tyrannical Spirit Art!

One had to know that the higher one's cultivation, the greater the gap between each realm. Just as Qin Yu, with Martial Realm Sixth Level cultivation, had fought Cui Shuo of the Early Astral Qi Stage by using the Six Transformations of the Mad Demon—yet he absolutely could not have killed a peak Second Realm of Heavenly Quenching cultivator with middle-stage Astral Qi cultivation. Even with the Six Transformations of the Mad Demon, it would have been extremely difficult!

"It was also because of that incident that your mother saved Cui Hong's life. Cui Hong also learned that your mother came from the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. That is why Cui Hong has secretly supported me all these years. Just as you said, he wanted to establish a connection with the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect!"

"After that battle, your mother and I lived peacefully for several years. Cui Hong and Cui Liu did not dare disturb us either. It was then that you and Xue'er were born. But after Xue'er was born, your mother left without a sound or trace. Though so many years have passed, I firmly believe your mother is not dead, and I want to find her."

"But reality forced me to remain here. First, the two of you were still young. Second, after my cultivation regressed, my cultivation speed became even slower. Over these years, I immersed myself in commerce and amassed wealth without restraint, wanting to quickly raise my cultivation, but it was of no use at all. Fortunately, what comforts me is that although my cultivation has progressed slowly, each time I advance by a minor realm, my strength seems to grow even greater."

"Though I am currently at the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm, I do not even regard ordinary Gangqi Realm cultivators as worthy opponents. Moreover, I have opened another place besides the dantian." As he spoke, Qin Zhan looked at Qin Yu and raised a finger to point at the spot between Qin Yu's brows.

"The Sea of Suffering?" Qin Yu was greatly shocked as he murmured.

"How do you know that place is called the Sea of Suffering?" Qin Zhan looked at Qin Yu in surprise. He had searched through countless ancient books before learning that the place between the brows was called the Sea of Suffering.

What he did not know was that Qin Yu was shocked by more than this. What shocked him even more was the Spirit Art Qin Zhan cultivated. Qin Yu vaguely felt that what Qin Zhan cultivated was extremely similar to a Spirit Art described in ancient records in the Tian Qi Sect's Library Pavilion.

Seeing Qin Yu remain silent, Qin Zhan once again attributed it to Qin Yu's mother. After letting out a long sigh, Qin Zhan said, "Your mother's background was far from simple. She deliberately hid it from me. All these years, I never even knew where she came from. I only knew she was a disciple of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. But I once made inquiries. It was true that your mother was a disciple of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect. Some even said she was the maidservant of one of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect's favored daughters of heaven. Yet I vaguely felt that was not the case. I met that favored daughter of heaven from the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect once, and she treated your mother with great courtesy. She did not seem to regard her as a maidservant."

"Therefore, I have always been waiting. Waiting for you and Xue'er to enter an Immortal Sect, and waiting until my cultivation improves. Then I will leave to search for your mother!" Qin Zhan sighed. These matters had always weighed on him alone. After enduring for so many years, he had seen all the vicissitudes of life, and worldly affairs had worn away his sharp edges. Yet they could never grind away his feelings for Qin Yu's mother.

Qin Yu stared at Qin Zhan and sensed that he seemed to have aged considerably. Qin Yu felt deeply uncomfortable, but regarding the Spirit Art Qin Zhan cultivated, he had vaguely found a clue.

Seeing Qin Yu remain silent, Qin Zhan thought Qin Yu could not accept it all at once. After a long while, he finally said, "Over these five and a half months, I will think of every possible way to raise your cultivation. Rest for a while first." With that, Qin Zhan slowly rose to his feet and left wearily.

Watching Qin Zhan's departing back, Qin Yu suddenly thought of a phrase. Strands of doubt and shock swept through his eyes.

"Tempered a thousand times upon the body, refined a hundred times within the heart... could it be 'Hundred Refinements'?"

"How could that be?"