The Past of Parents

Dongbo Xueying, Zong Ling, and Tong San all stood at the castle entrance, watching the people from Dragon Mountain Tower depart.

Immediately, they turned and began walking back into the castle.

"Uncle Zong, Uncle Tong." Dongbo Xueying's footsteps crunched against the accumulated snow as he spoke softly, "I have obtained this Black Iron Token now. It is time you told me about what happened to my father and mother all those years ago."

Zong Ling and Tong San exchanged a glance.

"It is better for your Uncle Tong to tell you; he followed your mother the entire time and knows the details better," Zong Ling said. "I only heard about it from your mother myself."

"Xueying." Tong San looked up at the falling snow. "I originally lived in a remote little Lion-Man tribe. But one day, our tribe was targeted. A powerful merchant caravan wanted to capture us all, and those who resisted were almost all killed! After being captured, we were branded as 'rebels' and all became slaves!"

"Rebels?" Dongbo Xueying was shocked.

Slaves were already rare in the Empire.

Only those who committed heinous crimes—such as a commoner killing a noble, or engaging in direct rebellion—would become slaves. In short, one had to commit a monstrous crime to be reduced to slavery.

"Don't be surprised. The Empire has been established for over nine thousand years and has long since become corrupt. Furthermore, with the influence of various top-tier powerhouses and their clans, there are plenty of dark dealings. As long as they aren't brought out into the open, no one cares. Besides, for a weak Lion-Man tribe like ours, who would stand up for us without any evidence?" Tong San sneered.

"I became a slave, was trafficked, and was sold to the Moyang Clan!"

"The Moyang Clan is an extremely powerful family in the East Region Province. The Duoyu Prefecture of the East Region Province is completely controlled by them! And this control has lasted for over a thousand years," the Lion-Man Tong San said. "We slaves were given names at random: Tong Da, Tong Er, Tong San, Tong Si, Tong Wu... I was the one called Tong San."

"When the young masters and misses of the Moyang Clan came to pick slaves, I met your mother." A faint smile appeared on the Lion-Man Tong San's face. "Your mother was still young then, only thirteen years old—even younger than you are now."

Dongbo Xueying listened silently at his side.

"The Mistress was carefree..."

"She played happily every day and had no malice toward anyone. She didn't look down on me, a slave, in the slightest. When I was injured by the subordinates of other young masters in the Moyang Clan, the Mistress was so worried she cried, and she even angrily stood up for me."

The Lion-Man Tong San looked up at the snowflakes in the sky. "These were all trivial matters. I thought I would spend my whole life in the Moyang Clan, but who would have thought that when the Mistress turned twenty-four, the Moyang Clan forcibly arranged a marriage for her. The other party was an old man who was already one hundred and fifty-two years old."

"One hundred and fifty-two?" Dongbo Xueying's eyes widened.

His mother was only in her early twenties, and the other party was one hundred and fifty-two?

What kind of joke was that?

"It is said that the other clan was even more powerful than the Moyang Clan, ranking in the top three of the East Region Province. The Moyang Clan shamelessly offered up a young woman of their direct line for the marriage alliance," the Lion-Man Tong San said. "The Mistress had never suffered any great grievances since she was a child; how could she endure such a thing? She took advantage of an outing to go sightseeing and quickly escaped."

"She fled Duoyu Prefecture, and even fled the East Region Province! After a long journey, she arrived in Anyang Province."

"I followed the Mistress, and thus our life of adventure began. Soon, we met Zong Ling and your father, Dongbo Lie."

"Haha..."

"Those days of adventure were truly magnificent. We braved life and death, and we all entrusted our lives to our teammates. That is how this bond of life-and-death friendship was forged. Later, your mother even told them her background because she was worried about implicating your father and the others," the Lion-Man Tong San said.

Beside him, Zong Ling also nodded: "We only learned about the Moyang Clan later after hearing it from your mother! We didn't even care about life and death, so why would we fear the Moyang Clan? Haha, naturally, we continued to adventure together."

"Later, your father and the Mistress became a couple," the Lion-Man Tong San laughed. "She even became pregnant with you, so they decided to stop adventuring and find a place to settle down. That is how they came to your father's hometown—Qinghe Prefecture!"

"You know what happened next. We lived quietly here in Qinghe Prefecture for eight years, but the Moyang Clan still found us and took your parents away."

Dongbo Xueying nodded gently.

So that was how it all happened...

It was one thing for a great clan to force a marriage, but to arrange it with a one hundred and fifty-two-year-old geezer? One had to know that even for a Title-level powerhouse, reaching two hundred years old was remarkable; most would grow old and die by one hundred and seventy or eighty.

"The Moyang Clan is an ancient family with a history of over a thousand years, and their clan rules are strict," the Lion-Man Tong San said. "Your mother dared to run away, which was a violation of clan rules. Naturally, the Moyang Clan would punish her severely."

"I just don't understand," Zong Ling scoffed. "Do these great clans not feel ashamed to sacrifice their own kin like this? Or do the old geezers who actually hold power in these clans simply not care about the younger generation?"

"Zong Ling, the Moyang Clan has been passed down for over a thousand years. How many clan members do they have? Tens of thousands! What does sacrificing one or two juniors matter to them?" the Lion-Man Tong San said.

"Hmph."

Dongbo Xueying said coldly, "If they were strong enough, there would be no need to force a young descendant to marry a man over a hundred years old! If the clan is truly in decline, then let it decline. Using such disgusting, shameless marriage alliances to consolidate their status is sickening!"

It wasn't just because he was siding with his mother; this was truly how Dongbo Xueying felt.

If you are strong, others will come to curry favor with you.

If you are weak, then let nature take its course and let the clan decline! There is no such thing as a clan that prospers forever.

"The Moyang Clan has even issued an order to capture your parents. How can we save them now?" Tong San shook his head.

"You have been in contact with Dragon Mountain Tower; do you have a way?" Zong Ling asked, and Tong San also looked at Dongbo Xueying.

"There is no accurate news yet. Let's wait another month," Dongbo Xueying said.

He judged based on the strength of the clans.

The entire Empire consisted of nineteen provinces, including both land and maritime provinces.

Take the family of the Anyang Province's top powerhouse, the 'Changfeng Knight' Chi Qiubai; that was the number one family in Anyang Province! Their influence could affect the entire province, making them a first-rate family even by the standards of the entire Empire.

But families like the Si Family of Qinghe Prefecture or the 'Moyang Clan' of Duoyu Prefecture in the East Region Province only controlled a single prefecture. The strongest member of the Si Family, 'Si Lianghong', was a Title-level Grand Mage who had transformed her body into a Blood Demon, while the strongest in the Moyang Clan was a Pseudo-Transcendence! Families that only controlled a single prefecture could only be considered second-rate in the Empire.

My current Battle Qi is only at the Earth-Rank Knight level. Relying on the power of my Primordial Bloodline and my spear techniques, I have the strength to rival a Silver Moon Knight, Dongbo Xueying thought to himself. In the future, I will definitely be able to surpass Si Lianghong and surpass that Pseudo-Transcendence!

The Woodcutter Knight, who had awakened his Primordial Bloodline, had once killed a Transcendence lifeform with a single axe strike.

That was what he needed to achieve.

If he possessed that kind of strength? He probably wouldn't even need to speak; the Moyang Clan would obediently bow their heads and return his parents.

"I wonder how Father and Mother are doing right now." Dongbo Xueying felt anxious; he was deeply worried about his parents' current situation and feared they might have met with some misfortune. If something truly had happened, Dongbo Xueying dared not even imagine it; he only knew... he would definitely make the Moyang Clan regret it!!!

"Wait one more month, and there will be news from the Dragon Mountain Tower." Dongbo Xueying could only suppress his anxious mood.

Time passed day by day.

Half a month later, his younger brother's teacher, the Archmage Bai Yuanzhi, unexpectedly arrived at Snow Stone Castle.

"Archmage, why have you come? You could have simply sent someone to deliver a message if you needed anything." Dongbo Xueying personally greeted him at the castle gate.

"Haha, so it is true that the Silver Moon Wolf King was indeed slain by you, Lord. I suspected it before, and now it has spread throughout almost all of Yi Water City. Because the Curved Blade Alliance coveted the pelt of your Silver Moon Wolf King, they were ultimately wiped out by your single spear. Now, everyone says you are the number one expert in our Yi Water City!" the old man in white robes, Bai Yuanzhi, said with a smile, while the group of disciples behind him looked at Dongbo Xueying with curiosity and nervousness.