Ladd Aiken

Ladd Aiken

"Reporting to Old Ancestor, for this Island Questioning Journey, there are three leaders. In addition, eighteen direct-line family members are accompanying us, all at Level Nine and awaiting Old Ancestor's inspection. There are also 167 crew members."

Alash answered carefully, "All these crew members are members of the family's branch lines. They earned their places aboard through family competitions: one hundred are Level Seven Warriors, fifty are Level Eight Warriors, and seventeen are Level Nine Warriors."

According to the family records, the Island Questioning Journey had originally served as a form of guidance from Old Ancestor to the family members.

Later, when they could no longer meet Old Ancestor, it gradually became a mere formality. The participants were no longer the family's true powerhouses, but descendants born from unions between direct-line family members and members of other powerful forces.

The family selected those whose Duncan Family bloodlines were sufficiently concentrated and who were personally outstanding to take part in the Island Questioning Journey. They would be brought to Ailin Island to go through the motions, serving as ties linking the family to other forces.

This was also one of the ways the Duncan Family absorbed and allied itself with other powers across the Brinia Continent.

Through this practice, the forces connected to the Duncan Family had become incomparably tangled and complex. It was also why, no matter how the Brinia Continent's landscape changed, the Duncan Family remained high above all others.

"Level Nine Warriors?"

Ailin chuckled softly to himself. He did not pay much attention to Alash and the other "younger members," instead looking toward where the Grand Ship was docked. "That is rather interesting."

To Ailin, whether they were direct-line members or so-called branch-line members, they all carried the Duncan Family's blood. As long as one branch could continue, the Duncan Family would not vanish.

Even the so-called direct-line members of today were merely descendants of branch lines from the past.

Hearing Ailin's inexplicable words, Alash and the others were quite confused. What did Old Ancestor mean? What was interesting?

"Among your fleet, there is a young leader. Bring him to see me."

Ailin paid no heed to Alash and the others' thoughts and spoke directly.

A young leader?

Alash froze for a moment, then immediately knew who Ailin meant. He hurriedly replied, "Yes."

Then Alash turned to a middle-aged man beside him. "Soro, go personally and bring Ladd before Old Ancestor."

To become a crew leader, one needed the strength of a Level Nine Warrior.

Among the Level Nine Warriors in the crew, only one was young: Ladd. Ladd was also a branch-line member who had risen to prominence in recent years. His talent and strength were so outstanding that even the gifted direct-line members of his generation were somewhat inferior to him. It was precisely because Ladd was so exceptional that he was qualified to come to Ailin Island.

It seemed that nothing aboard the Grand Ship was a secret before Old Ancestor.

"Yes."

The middle-aged man called Soro answered at once, then quickly headed toward the fleet.

Like Alash, he was one of the leaders of this Island Questioning Journey, an elder of the family and an early-stage Saint Domain Warrior. However, his strength was inferior to Alash's. He was even Alash's junior, so he naturally treated Alash with great respect.

"Old Ancestor, Ladd is a member who returned to the family only two years ago after passing the bloodline test."

Seeing that Ailin seemed somewhat interested in Ladd, Alash cautiously explained, "Ladd's bloodline is not particularly concentrated; he only barely passed the family's bloodline test. However, Ladd is highly talented and cultivates a special Battle Qi Manual. At only twenty-three years old, he is already a Level Nine Warrior."

The Duncan Family had a special method for testing bloodlines. Only those who passed the bloodline test could be considered members of the Duncan Family. After all, the Duncan Family had multiplied across the Brinia Continent for nearly a million years. The bloodlines of far too many branch-line members had long since become so diluted that they could no longer be recognized as family members.

Yet occasionally, there would be those with "ancestral reversion bloodlines." Ladd was one such case.

This led to a rather strange situation: they acknowledged Ladd as a member of the Duncan Family, but did not acknowledge his relatives as members of the Duncan Family.

Such a situation was no longer unusual within the Duncan Family.

Of course, with Ladd present, the relatives from the family he had originally belonged to could attach themselves to the Duncan Family.

Very soon, Soro returned with a blue-haired young man.

"Old Ancestor, Ladd has been brought."

Soro spoke respectfully.

The blue-haired young man was nervous as well. The person before him was the strongest expert rumored throughout the Brinia Continent, the object of worship for countless warriors and mages.

"Ladd Aiken greets Old Ancestor."

Ladd drew a deep breath, calmed himself, and spoke.

Clearly, although Ladd was now a branch-line member of the Duncan Family, he had previously belonged to the Aiken Family. Only after his bloodline test met the Duncan Family's standards had he been absorbed into the Duncan Family.

But only he himself had been accepted. Whether his relatives or his future descendants, if their bloodline concentration was insufficient, they would still only be members of the Aiken Family.

The Aiken Family was not a unified family like the Duncan Family. Aiken was an extremely common surname throughout the Brinia Continent. It was not one single family, but more like a commoner's surname.

Among a hundred people, one could probably find two or three with the surname Aiken.

If one traced back to when it had first appeared, it was likely even older than the Duncan Family itself.

The reason he carried Duncan Family blood was most likely that one of his ancestors had married into the Duncan Family. Even if there was no record of it, bloodlines could not lie.

"Ladd Aiken."

Ailin repeated the name. Then, with a faintly playful look in his eyes, he suddenly asked, "How is your cultivation progressing now?"

When Ailin suddenly asked Ladd this question, everyone present could not help but feel a surge of jealousy.

Why did Ladd deserve such special treatment from Old Ancestor?

They all possessed the current direct-line bloodline of the family, as well as the bloodlines of other upper-class families on the continent, such as imperial royal bloodlines.

Moreover, many of them were stronger than Ladd, yet Old Ancestor had not even spared them a second glance.

Yet Ladd was merely a member of some remote branch line from who knew what era, a fellow who had only earned the chance to come to Ailin Island through competition. Compared to theirs, Ladd's bloodline was far inferior.

But not only had Old Ancestor asked Elder Soro to bring him personally, he was now asking about his cultivation!

To them, such a question was like the concern an elder showed for a favored junior.

What had Ladd done to deserve this? Was it merely because he was younger than them?

Of course, no matter how jealous they were, they did not dare show the slightest dissatisfaction.

Even Alash could not help glancing at Ladd several more times. Since Old Ancestor cared so much about Ladd, this matter had to be reported to the family head. They had to strengthen Ladd's sense of belonging to the family.

Hearing Ailin's question, Ladd grew even more nervous and did not answer immediately.

Ailin was in no hurry. He simply watched Ladd.

"Ladd, Old Ancestor is asking you a question."

Alash could not help speaking up. He was already prepared to regard Ladd as someone the family would focus on cultivating in the future.

Ladd came back to himself and drew a deep breath before respectfully saying, "I would not dare conceal anything from Old Ancestor. Ladd's cultivation has been going fairly smoothly. Some time ago, I already broke through into the Saint Domain."

In truth, when he had been brought here, he had guessed that his strength might have caught Old Ancestor's attention.

After all, Old Ancestor was the strongest person on the Brinia Continent, a legendary God-level expert. It was not impossible for him to notice Ladd's realm. Still, he had not expected his minor concealment to make Old Ancestor personally ask about it.

After all, before a God-level expert, there should have been little difference between the Saint Domain and Level Nine. Furthermore, Old Ancestor was the foremost God-level expert on the Brinia Continent. Why would he care about Ladd?

Whoosh—

At Ladd's words, everyone around him except Ailin widened their eyes and stared at Ladd.

Even Alash was filled with disbelief. When had Ladd entered the Saint Domain?! If he had become a Saint Domain expert, then even as a branch-line member, he could become a family elder. Even if he refused to join the family and remained a member of the Aiken Family, the family would not offend him.

The Saint Domain and Level Nine were two entirely different levels. Upon reaching the Saint Domain, one gained the qualifications to speak with the family as an equal.

Most importantly, Ladd was only twenty-three years old.

A twenty-three-year-old Saint Domain expert?!

Within the family, aside from Old Ancestor, he was the youngest Saint Domain expert ever!

Countless geniuses had appeared on the Brinia Continent, but the universally acknowledged greatest genius had always been their Old Ancestor, the supreme genius who became a Saint Domain Archmage at eighteen. Other than Old Ancestor, the most exceptional genius had only reached the Saint Domain at twenty-five, and that person had merely become a Saint Domain Warrior.

But now, Ladd had broken that record and become a genius second only to Old Ancestor?!