Identity Speculation, Beginning Qi Refining with the Yin Yang Two Caves Scripture! (Please Bookmark, Please Vote!)

West City, Beishan Yin Mansion.

"Father."

Entering the quiet room, Beishan Hu said, "Your son has arranged lodging for Young Master Xia Mang."

"Mm."

Beishan Yin looked at his son, somewhat puzzled.

By his reckoning, Beishan Hu should have vented his dissatisfaction first upon returning.

He should not have had any kind words for Xia Manggan, either.

Now that there were no outsiders around, he was still calling him Young Master?

"Tell me every word and every detail of your conversation with him," Beishan Yin said.

"Yes." Beishan Hu immediately recounted everything in detail, from when the two had left the Cave of Carefree until he escorted Xia Manggan into his bedchamber.

At the end, he sighed again over Xia Manggan's extravagant way of feeding spirit beasts.

"A spirit beast resembling a Flood Dragon?" Beishan Yin's eyes lit up as he hurriedly asked, "Did he say what breed it was?"

Among beast-kind and the Monster Race, the noblest bloodline belonged to the dragon clan.

Its progenitor, the Ancestral Dragon, had even been one of the mightiest great powers in the entire Three Realms.

Although the Ancestral Dragon had long since fallen into the river of history, the dragon clan remained a top force that could not be ignored in the Three Realms.

Thus, any creature with dragon blood was inevitably a divine beast, and its bloodline rank would not be low.

At the very least, it would be a divine beast that could only assume human form at the Myriad Manifestations level.

And the nobler a divine beast's bloodline, the rarer its origins.

If they could learn the breed of Xia Manggan's Flood Dragon spirit beast, it would undoubtedly be easier to infer his background and identity.

"He did not say." Beishan Hu shook his head. "But I examined it carefully and memorized the appearance of that spirit beast called Ah Huang."

As he spoke, Origin Force flew from his fingertip, forming a Water Mirror in the empty air before them.

Ripples spread across the Water Mirror, and soon an image of a tawny little snake condensed within it. It then gradually enlarged into a Flood Dragon more than a hundred feet long.

It perfectly recreated what he had seen earlier.

"Th-this is a Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragon!" Beishan Yin was stunned. "It is not a Flood Dragon, but a type of True Dragon. Its bloodline is incomparably noble, and it can only assume human form upon reaching the Heavenly Immortal realm!"

"What? It can only assume human form at the Heavenly Immortal realm?" Beishan Hu was dumbfounded as well.

He had only heard of such divine beasts in legends and had never seen one before.

He had never even heard of anyone capable of keeping a divine beast of this level as a spirit beast.

"That is right. It is indeed a Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragon. The last time I went to the Royal Capital to visit Young Master Shaoyan Nong of the Shaoyan Clan, he had just acquired a spirit beast, a Red-Scaled Horned Dragon. It was one branch of the dragon clan, but its bloodline was less noble than that of a True Dragon and only needed to reach the Primordial Spirit stage to assume human form."

Beishan Yin said with certainty, "Young Master Shaoyan Nong was extremely pleased and proud at the time. He discussed all kinds of dragon divine beasts in the Three Realms with his retainers. I happened to be there, which was why I was fortunate enough to learn about the Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragon."

"Even Young Master Shaoyan Nong, one of the four young masters of the Great Xia Royal Capital, only has a Red-Scaled Horned Dragon that can assume human form at the Primordial Spirit stage as a spirit beast. Yet Young Master Xia Mang has a Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragon spirit beast that can assume human form at the Heavenly Immortal realm..." Beishan Hu swallowed. "His identity..."

"Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragons are exceedingly rare in the Three Realms. Young Master Shaoyan Nong said that they exist only within the Yinglong Great World. What do you think his identity is?"

Even though Beishan Yin had cultivated for several centuries and held a high position within the Beishan Clan, his heart could not help but pound wildly.

"A Heavenly Immortal! The elder backing Young Master Xia Mang must at least be a Heavenly Immortal prince of the imperial clan! And he must be one of the highest-ranked princes to have the qualifications to obtain a young Heaven-Eroding Yellow Dragon as a spirit beast for his most valued direct descendant."

Even Beishan Yin's voice had become hoarse.

That was a Heavenly Immortal!

The entire Xia Clan Great World might not produce even one in a million years.

Their Beishan Clan had been able to inherit its legacy from the Primordial Fiendgod Era until now and continuously occupy Anchan Commandery because their ancestor was a Heavenly Immortal.

But even the Beishan Clan's Heavenly Immortal ancestor—

Before the Heavenly Immortals of the imperial Xia Mang Clan, especially those high-ranking Heavenly Immortal princes who governed the realm for the Xia Emperor, he would still have to bow his head.

Moreover.

Beishan Yin had an even more astonishing speculation.

But that speculation was too terrifying.

So terrifying that he only dared think of it privately and did not even dare tell his own son directly.

"Hu'er. It seems that being accepted by Young Master Xia Mang as a follower is your good fortune. From now on, you must put yourself in the proper position. No matter what requests he makes, if there is anything you cannot accomplish, come find me immediately."

Beishan Yin's tone was incomparably solemn. "He is traveling alone now, so he may be undergoing some kind of trial. He needs people at his disposal, which is why he accepted you as a follower. Once he completes his trial and becomes an influential figure in the entire Great Xia Dynasty... by then, not to mention you, even I will have no chance to get close to him."

As he spoke, he could not help recalling his visit to Shaoyan Nong in the Great Xia Royal Capital.

Shaoyan Nong was merely a candidate to succeed Duke Yushen, the next clan leader of the Shaoyan Clan, yet the retainers and followers around him were all powerful Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals.

If Beishan Yin had not used the name of the Anchan Marquis Mansion, he feared he would not even have been able to meet Shaoyan Nong.

And compared to Shaoyan Nong, Xia Manggan was a close blood relative of a Heavenly Immortal prince from the imperial Xia Mang Clan, a peerless genius who had entered the threshold of the Great Dao while still at the Purple Mansion stage.

The nobility of his status and the splendor of his future authority...

Shaoyan Nong was simply not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as him!

Within another estate in West City.

In the dim space.

Beishan Baiwei stood respectfully before a tall, burly bald man.

The bald man sat cross-legged atop a massive crimson boulder.

Even while seated, he emitted a terrifying aura like that of a peerless monstrous beast.

And as Beishan Baiwei spoke, that aura grew increasingly stronger.

"So you are saying that Beishan Yin deliberately put on an act in order to make Beishan Hu become Xia Manggan's follower?"

The bald man frowned deeply, lost in thought.

"Yes, Father." Beishan Baiwei replied respectfully. "I did not understand it at first, but only afterward did I realize that Beishan Yin had deliberately arranged it all."

This bald man was Beishan Baiwei's father, Beishan Heihu, a candidate to become the next Marquis of Anchan. Within the Beishan Clan, his authority was immense, and he was no less influential than Beishan Yin.

"If he were merely a peerless genius, even the most outstanding few from the Black-White Academy would not make Beishan Yin act this way. Then it can only be because of his imperial identity." Beishan Heihu muttered to himself. "But there are many people in the world with the surname Xia Mang. How could he be certain that Xia Manggan's identity was worth..."

Beishan Baiwei waited silently at the side.

"Baiwei." Beishan Heihu suddenly said, "You said that Xia Manggan first arrived at the Cave of Carefree with Qu Changqing of the Zhenhua Sect?"

"Yes." Beishan Baiwei quickly replied, "Young Master Qu even purchased a top-grade Human Rank magic treasure for him."

"Mm." Beishan Heihu nodded lightly. "Tomorrow, go find Qu Changqing and probe into Xia Manggan's origins and background."

"Understood." Beishan Baiwei replied. "Then what about Ji Ning, whom I told Father about?"

"Let him stay. You may provide him with resources and intelligence as you see fit."

A smile appeared on Beishan Heihu's face. "You did very well today. You did not neglect the friends by your side merely because you met someone more outstanding, whose status and origins were even more extraordinary. Besides, Ji Ning's talent is not ordinary either, and he comes from humble beginnings. Befriending such a person will be even more beneficial to you. Tomorrow, I will go meet him as well."

"Yes." After answering, Beishan Baiwei saw that his father had no further instructions and left the dim space.

Only Beishan Heihu remained seated cross-legged, his eyes filled with contemplation.

Beishan Yin has gone to the Royal Capital several times in recent years. I heard he even met that noble young master of the Shaoyan Clan... Could it be that he learned something from the Shaoyan Clan?

Compared to his old rival Beishan Yin, Beishan Heihu knew that his weakness was having too little outside support.

Moreover, most of those supporting him were elders from the military branch within the clan.

Unlike Beishan Yin, who had more elders supporting him and connections with many top clans of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Never mind. I will wait until Baiwei obtains more information. Outside support is ultimately external strength. In the end, everything must be fought for with one's own power.

Beishan Heihu stopped thinking about it, opened his mouth, and countless flames surged forth.

In the blink of an eye, they formed an enormous black flaming serpent around his body.

...At the same time.

Xia Manggan was also preparing to cultivate within the quiet room.

This time, he would cultivate one of the three techniques imparted to him through direct transmission.

...The Yin Yang Two Caves Scripture.

The third update is here. More tomorrow.