"Third Young Master, the family head is waiting inside." The middle-aged man who had led Qin Yu stopped outside the study.
Qin Yu gave a slight nod and walked in with calm composure.
The moment he entered the study, Qin Yu saw his "father," Qin Zhan, seated within in a bold, commanding posture, his tiger eyes fixed on him with icy intensity.
Qin Yu stood at the door and met Qin Zhan's gaze without speaking.
"Martial Realm First Layer! If I don't put pressure on you, will you never learn to strive for progress?" Qin Zhan's voice was low and imposing as he spoke coldly.
Qin Yu did not answer. His impression of Qin Zhan was limited to the memories of the original Qin Yu. In those memories, Qin Yu had very few recollections of his father, Qin Zhan, but the people he feared most were Qin Feng and his father, Qin Zhan.
"You are fifteen years old, yet only at the Martial Realm First Layer. It is not too late to work hard now. If you do not, you will remain mediocre for your entire life. You may not even know how you die one day." Qin Zhan's expression and voice were stern.
Seeing Qin Yu remain calm, Qin Zhan's gaze softened slightly. He said in a low voice, "If you had entered the Martial Realm First Layer a year earlier, I could have thrown you into the army to temper your bones and perhaps gotten you past the first two hurdles. But now, you can only wait. Once you reach the Martial Realm Fifth Level, I will take you somewhere. That place is your mother's sect! But you have at most three years. If you have not entered the Martial Realm Fifth Level within three years, you will remain here forever, in the Wu Kingdom."
"Mother's sect?" Qin Yu frowned slightly. For the first time, he realized that the Qin Family was not as simple as it appeared, and his mother was likely not the servant girl others had claimed she was.
Qin Zhan stared at Qin Yu, confusion in his eyes. He had always kept watch over his third son, Qin Yu. Under normal circumstances, Qin Yu would already have been trembling before him, yet this time, he remained unruffled and composed.
Could it be... that he had truly grown up?
At that moment, Qin Zhan suddenly felt somewhat gratified.
"Have you never thought about your mother all these years?" Qin Zhan asked.
Qin Yu's heart trembled. An elegant figure surfaced uncontrollably in his mind. What left the deepest impression on him was a pair of eyes brimming with tenderness.
"Mother..." Qin Yu murmured.
Perhaps influenced by Qin Yu's memories, Qin Yu felt a faint sting in his heart. In his former life, he had been an orphan and had not the slightest impression of his parents. Yet now, hearing of his mother and recalling those tender eyes, it was as though a stone had been tossed into his tranquil heart, sending ripples spreading layer upon layer.
"Forget it. Once your cultivation rises, you will naturally learn certain matters. Go." Qin Zhan's voice was low. At that instant, he seemed to have aged considerably.
Qin Yu glanced at Qin Zhan, then turned and left.
Just as Qin Yu stepped over the threshold, Qin Zhan's voice suddenly rang out. "Wait."
"This was left behind by your mother. If you can master it before the grand gathering, perhaps you will have hope of going to your mother's sect early," Qin Zhan said slowly.
Qin Yu paused for a moment and turned around, only to see a bamboo slip floating before him. Qin Yu looked at Qin Zhan in astonishment. Supporting an object with qi was something only a Gangqi Realm cultivator could accomplish at minimum. With Qin Zhan's Ninth Level of the Martial Realm cultivation, it should have been impossible—unless Qin Zhan had hidden his strength, and even Qin Yu had failed to notice it.
When his gaze fell upon the bamboo slip, he saw it was engraved with dense, tiny words. But when he saw the five characters upon it, Qin Yu was struck as if by lightning.
"Myriad Heavens Battle Art (Part One)"
"Strength can shatter mountains. If Myriad Force is stacked, it can surely fragment heaven and rend emperors..."
Those words, familiar beyond familiarity, sent Qin Yu into a daze, as though he had returned to that night countless years ago...
This was Myriad Force! This was the Myriad Force he had created.
It had to be. It absolutely had to be!
If the similar openings of other Spirit Arts could be called coincidence, then this Myriad Force could never be a coincidence. Because "fragmenting heaven and rending emperors" had resulted from a change in thought Qin Yu had once had.
When creating this Myriad Heavens Battle Art, Qin Yu had originally intended to write "fragment heaven and split earth." But with endless hot blood in his heart, he felt that Myriad Force could slay emperors, so as if guided by ghosts and driven by gods, he had written "emperor" in place of "earth."
Wang Qing?
A thin, small figure surfaced uncontrollably in Qin Yu's mind. He had a face that was young yet mature beyond his years.
His name was Wang Qing.
He had been one of the two young attendants responsible for Qin Yu's daily needs. Not long after Qin Yu had been poisoned, Qin Yu created his second secret art—this Myriad Heavens Battle Art—and gave it to Wang Qing.
Could it have been Wang Qing?
Then, Qin Yu suddenly recalled one of the records about the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect that he had read in the Qin Family's Library Pavilion.
"The Myriad Heavens Battle Sect became one of the Star Realm's top sects after heaven and earth shattered and the Blood Emperor reunited heaven and earth. Because its sect-defending immortal art was incomplete, it gradually declined and later took root in the Azure Lotus Heavenly Domain."
"It is said that within the ancestral shrine of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect lies a mysterious painting... In the painting, a person gazes up at the vast stars. Some say this person is a self-portrait of the founding patriarch Wang Qing, while others say this person was the one who guided the patriarch..."
Words concerning the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect flashed through Qin Yu's mind one after another.
Qin Yu gripped the bamboo slip tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Wang Qing, the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect!
Qin Yu shut his eyes tightly, his heart churning like an overturned sea, filled with every flavor of emotion.
His former enemy had become a great demon. His former younger sister had become the Blood Emperor. His former young attendant had actually become a founding patriarch...
And all of that had become a distant past, as though everything had merely been a dream.
At that moment, an inexplicable loneliness rose in Qin Yu's heart. His soul should have scattered long ago in his former life, yet he had unexpectedly reincarnated for no apparent reason.
And it was as though an invisible hand was manipulating everything in the dark. His mother in this reincarnation was actually a member of the Myriad Heavens Battle Sect, while the battle art he had created had passed through countless years before returning to his hands.
Seated in his chair, Qin Zhan stared at Qin Yu's ever-changing expression in astonishment, his eyes full of confusion.
He sensed Qin Yu's change. He could see the shock, fury, resentment... and loneliness revealed in his son's expression.
At that moment, Qin Zhan suddenly realized that, as a father, he could not see through this seemingly ordinary son of his at all.
Was it because he had not cared enough about him?
Or was it...
After a long while.
Qin Yu came back to himself and suppressed every thought in his heart. He glanced at Qin Zhan and said calmly, "I understand." With that, he turned and left.
By the time he returned to the small courtyard, it was already evening. Xiao Tao and Xiao Hua had long been waiting anxiously at the entrance. When they saw Qin Yu, both hurried toward him at a small run.
"Third Young Master, where did you go?"
"Third Young Master..."
Qin Yu glanced at the two of them and said calmly, "For the next half month, no one is allowed to approach the small courtyard. No matter what happens, wait until I emerge from seclusion!" Without waiting for their response, Qin Yu entered the room directly and shut the door.
"Th-this... what is Third Young Master going to do?" Xiao Tao and Xiao Hua looked at each other.
"Xiao Tao... I'm a little scared. Third Young Master hasn't really been driven mad by the shock, has he... I heard... people like that are very frightening..."
Inside the room.
Qin Yu took out one hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones from his Void Storage Ring and set up two simple formations in the room. One was called a Spirit Gathering Array, while the other was a Defense Array. The Defense Array could defend, insulate heat, and block sound. Though both formations were simple, Martial Realm cultivators would be unable to break them unless they were Gangqi Realm cultivators.
Back in the Library Pavilion of the Tian Qi Sect, Qin Yu had read an all-encompassing range of texts. So long as the Library Pavilion possessed it, he had nearly always committed it to memory. Thus, these two simple formations came as easily as turning his hand.
Afterward, Qin Yu took out a huge azure cauldron. It was a pill cauldron, the most common kind used in alchemy, engraved with heavenly patterns. Once activated, it could produce true flame.
It had to be said that Qin Yu had spent heavily for this Bone Marrow Tempering. Even the water used to brew the medicinal ingredients was high-quality Spirit Water.
After pouring the Spirit Water into the pill cauldron, Qin Yu used the spiritual energy contained in the Spirit Stones to activate the cauldron's heavenly patterns. A surge of azure flames enveloped the pill cauldron, and before long, the Spirit Water within began to boil.
Qin Yu then took out all the medicinal ingredients and placed them into the pill cauldron one by one. However, quite a few of them were not thrown in. He had only bought them to confuse Zi Xun'er.
In less than half an hour.
The many medicinal ingredients had all been boiled into a pot of thick medicinal juice.
Qin Yu did not enter the pill cauldron. He continued waiting.
One hour later.
After the temperature of the boiling medicinal juice had dropped by half, Qin Yu's expression became steady as he sat down inside the pill cauldron.
The instant he sat down, Qin Yu's expression changed drastically. The color drained from his face at a speed visible to the naked eye, replaced by pallor.
A surging medicinal force burrowed into every pore of his body like spiritual serpents, while the intense pain was like ten thousand arrows piercing his heart.
Qin Yu gritted his teeth tightly. Beads of sweat the size of beans burst from his forehead without end, while the cooling medicinal liquid began to boil violently like scalding water...
Before you continue