The Past

"After my younger sister had that accident, I spent most of those early years in low spirits. Aside from cultivating, I had no interest in anything happening at the Spirit Pagoda."

"Then, thirty years ago, I met that little wild girl..."

Leng Yaozhu seemed to recall something. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took a sip of red wine, a charming smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"The little girl was an orphan, but she was stubborn. She often fought with the other children who tried to bully her. Even when she was outnumbered, she'd trade injury for injury. She was a lot like my younger sister. Neither of them would let anyone push them around."

"So I took her in."

"She had good talent. The amazing thing was that she awakened a Phoenix Martial Soul, and not just any Phoenix Martial Soul, but the rather rare Ice Phoenix. That was why I devoted myself to training her. I raised her from the age of six until she was an adult, but because she reminded me of my sister, we always called each other sisters."

Hearing this, Shen Nanxun finally felt a little relieved. At least it wasn't Leng Yulai. That meant things could still be worked out.

"As I said before, she had a free spirit. Put nicely, she was free-spirited. Put less nicely, she was rebellious. She had a mind of her own, and once she'd made up her mind, she was impossible to discipline."

"Until she turned twenty-three..."

Leng Yaozhu's voice gradually sank. She continued slowly, "By then, she wasn't content with the Douluo Continent alone. She set out to explore the other two continents."

"Things went fine on the Star Luo Continent. She wandered around, had fun, and nothing else happened. Then she came to the Douling Continent. There, she met a male Soul Master, and what followed was a painfully clichéd love story. Though, it wasn't exactly a rich young lady falling for a poor outsider. After all, the man was... a Dou Ling prince."

After hearing all this, Shen Nanxun couldn't help imagining a whole dramatic saga—an entire twenty-four-episode romance series.

"Aunt Leng, didn't you try to stop her? This doesn't sound very reliable."

How many coincidences could there be? She went to Douling, met a prince, and fell in love with him.

"How could I not have tried?" Leng Yaozhu gave a bitter laugh. "I already told you what she was like. Not even ten oxen could drag her back once she'd made up her mind. In the end, I could only let her do as she pleased."

"After that, she got married, had a child, and you were born. But it wasn't until after you were born that the Star Luo prince's true nature came to light. The Dou Ling Imperial Family's court was already far more corrupt than Star Luo's, and that prince was a womanizer by nature. Everything he'd done was just to get close to her."

The Dou Ling Empire's overall strength was nowhere near that of the Star Luo Empire. Without the Tang Sect's support, its overall Soul Tool technology would have been inferior even to that of the Sun Moon Empire ten thousand years ago. The situation was that extreme: at least the Star Luo Empire had been a major power, with its army and some of its people relocating to this continent so they could continue their development elsewhere. But only a few thousand members of the Dou Ling Imperial Family had come to this continent.

At first, they had no choice but to breed like mad to increase their population. With so few people, they were practically rebuilding a civilization from scratch. That was why their overall level of Soul Tool technology was still quite mediocre.

The Leng Family, meanwhile, was the Spirit Pagoda's second-largest family, a powerful clan renowned across the Douluo Continent. What's more, the Spirit Pagoda wielded considerable influence in the Dou Ling Empire.

So that disregarded prince had been reaching far above his station.

"That prince was sure that no matter how proud and headstrong she was, she'd have to hold back once she was carrying you. And he was right. She'd been so righteous and unyielding, willing to trade injury for injury even as a child, but in the end, she gave in for your sake. Even I was kept in the dark at first. The two continents were so far apart that there was only so much I could do."

Shen Nanxun had more or less pieced together what had happened, but he was still confused. "Then why did I end up back on the Douluo Continent? How did I get lost? If things had gone this way, shouldn't I have been on the Douling Continent?"

"Because not long after you were born, the Dou Ling Empire was turned upside down."

Leng Yaozhu set her wineglass on the armrest and leaned back in her chair. Her dark red eyes gazed out at the night over Tianhai Port, and her voice dropped even lower.

"The old emperor of the Dou Ling Empire died, and the new emperor, Xue Yuntian, took the throne. He was far more ruthless than the old emperor. The first thing he did after ascending the throne was purge every faction tied to the old emperor's sons. It didn't matter whether they had taken part in the succession struggle. He spared no one. Your biological father may have been an unimportant prince, barely allowed to speak in court, but in the new emperor's eyes, anyone who carried the old emperor's blood was a threat."

"Your mother had only just given birth to you and hadn't fully recovered. She could have escaped on her own. With her mastery of the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, even if she couldn't win, she could at least have flown away. But she didn't. She got you out. I don't know who she entrusted to carry you away in the chaos, but somehow, you made it to the Douluo Continent. The Shen Family found you and eventually adopted you."

"Then, Aunt Leng, you and the Shen Family..."

Shen Nanxun parted his lips, his throat suddenly tight. He'd always thought Leng Yaozhu had merely been an old friend of his birth mother. He'd never imagined there was more to it.

"I'd known Ye Li for a long time. We were close friends even before she married into the Shen Family. Later, Ye Li happened to find you by the seaside while she was away on a business trip, and she brought you back to the Shen Family."

Leng Yaozhu paused. "But back then, she brought you home as the Shen Family's youngest son, so she didn't tell anyone the truth. And I was far away at the Spirit Pagoda. There was no way I could have known."

"Years later, the Shen Family tried to find your family through the jade pendant you wore. When your mother, Ye Li, saw the character Leng on it, she finally thought of me and brought it to show me."

A small, exquisitely crafted jade pendant appeared in Leng Yaozhu's hand. It was the very same pendant Shen Nanxun had been wearing when he was found.

"I've been watching you for three years now." Leng Yaozhu paused, then raised her eyes to look at him. "Do you know why I watched you for three years and set those two tasks for you this time?"

"To evaluate me?" Shen Nanxun had naturally guessed as much.

"More or less." Leng Yaozhu sighed softly. "No matter how the Dou Ling Emperor compares to Star Luo or the Federation, he still rules an entire empire. Even I can only make them apologize. If you want revenge, you'll have to stand against the whole empire! So you have to be exceptional—exceptional enough to become someone who can shake an entire era, like Tang San of Shrek two thousand years ago, Spirit Ice Douluo, founder of the Spirit Pagoda, ten thousand years ago, or, at the very least, Sky-Piercing Douluo Yun Ming, the current Sea God Pavilion Master."

"Only then..." She leaned toward him, fixing her eyes on his. "Only then can you make the Dou Ling Empire bow its head and pay for what it did back then."

Leng Yaozhu rose to her feet, her wine-red dress flowing behind her like water. She walked over to Shen Nanxun and bent down, placing both hands on his lean shoulders. Her fingers were long and strong. Even through his clothes, he could feel their unyielding weight.

"Shen Nanxun, remember this. Justice doesn't fall from the sky. You fight for it. You kill for it. You seize it from your enemies inch by inch with your own strength. Your mother, Leng Yunling, awakened the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul at six. At eighteen, she was invincible among her generation at the Spirit Pagoda. At twenty-three, she crossed the Star Luo Continent alone. She was so proud, yet in the end, she knelt before someone for your sake. When she went down on her knees, she didn't ask anyone to avenge her. It wasn't that she didn't feel resentment. She swallowed every ounce of it. Because she knew she wasn't strong enough yet—not strong enough to protect you and crush those who had hurt you."

A fierce, pure light blazed in Leng Yaozhu's fiery red eyes, as if she meant to burn away all the anger she had carried for the past ten years.

"So I'll seek justice for her. But I'm not enough. Am I not impressive enough, Leng Yaozhu, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, vice master of the Spirit Pagoda? I am. But it still isn't enough. I can't single-handedly wipe out the Dou Ling Imperial Family, or make the entire Dou Ling Imperial Palace pay for your childhood with my fury alone. I'm the Spirit Pagoda's vice master. Behind me are the Spirit Pagoda's interests and everything the Leng Family stands for. I can't drag my entire family into the mire over a personal grudge."

She went down on one knee and met Shen Nanxun's eyes. Coming from a Titled Douluo who had spent half her life being proud, the gesture somehow felt entirely natural. Her hands were still on his shoulders, gripping them with even greater force.

"The strong rule. You should have understood that better than anyone from the day you awakened your Martial Soul at six. Without a Martial Soul, they called you trash. With only two ranks of Soul Power, they made you drop out. In that attack near the North Sea Legion four years ago, two Evil Soul Masters dared to strike near the Legion's base. They dared to target you because they thought you were weak! So now, in the future, and always, you must make anyone who wants to touch you think twice about the cost. When they hear the name Shen Nanxun, you must make fear seep into their bones. You must make the Dou Ling Empire understand that the baby they hunted back then grew into someone they can't afford to provoke ten years later."

Leng Yaozhu released his shoulders, uncorked the wine bottle, filled her glass to the brim, and drained it in one go. Her eyes were slightly red, but her lips curved into a smile.

"Aunt Leng isn't a good person. I'm even more used to throwing my weight around than Cai Yue'er, and when I fight, I'm more ruthless than anyone. But every word I've said to you today is true. You owe no one anything, but I owe my younger sister justice. I've spent ten years trying to get it for her and failed. The rest is up to you."

She lowered her head and looked at the jade pendant in Shen Nanxun's palm. Reaching out, she folded his fingers around it one by one, until his hand was clenched tight.

"Child of the water's edge, go become the sea."

At that moment, Shen Nanxun understood why Leng Yaozhu had watched him for three years and set those two tasks. At its heart, it had been a test—to see what kind of talent and character he had.

Now, he and Gu Yue had swept aside all seven members of Shrek Academy. A lot of things had already been laid bare.

That was also why Leng Yaozhu had asked him several times whether he really wanted to know the truth about his birth. Once he knew, he would have to shoulder the burden. If he didn't know, he wouldn't have to feel any pressure; he could go on living as the young master of the Shen Family.

All the way back to North Sea City from Skysea City, Shen Nanxun kept thinking about it.

It wasn't that the pressure was too much. He was simply turning over all the details in his mind. For example, how had that Dou Ling prince learned his mother's identity? And why did he have the nagging feeling that some inexplicable force had been pushing things along behind the scenes?

He had no memories of his birth mother, but the debt of being given life was there all the same, and he couldn't sit idly by. The debt of birth might not outweigh the debt of being raised, but it was still as vast as the sky. Everyone yearned for that devoted heart and tender affection.

His consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness, and he looked at the woman on the golden tree trunk.

"Sis Xue, you wanted to see me?"

Qian Renxue had guided him in herself this time, which was why he asked.

"Mm." Qian Renxue gave a slight nod. Sitting with her legs crossed, she was as languid as ever. "I heard everything that woman just said."

"Before that, there's something I have to tell you."

"I absorbed eighteen ranks of your Soul Power."

"What?" Shen Nanxun blinked. What did she mean, she'd absorbed eighteen ranks of his Soul Power?

The old grandpa in the ring?

Had he become the Flame Emperor of the Douluo Continent!?

"Don't start blaming me yet. It was all because of your situation." Qian Renxue's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly as she explained, "This also has to do with how you were adopted."

The ferry's announcement echoed through the night sky, a woman's voice crackling as it repeated that they were about to arrive on the Douluo Continent. There were hardly any passengers left on deck. The winter sea wind swept through the empty corridors, bringing a bitter chill.

A middle-aged woman sat alone by a window in a corner of the cabin, clutching a baby tightly to her chest.

She was dressed inconspicuously, in a dark gray cotton robe that had been washed until it was faded. A plain cloth covered her hair, with only a few strands at her temples left tousled by the sea wind. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but her features held a deep, steady composure. Her ice-blue eyes shone startlingly bright in the dim cabin.

She gathered the baby against her chest, using her body to shield it from the cold wind blowing in through the porthole. The swaddling hid most of the baby's face, revealing only one tightly clenched little fist and a sliver of pale forehead.

At the other end of the cabin, several figures were slowly approaching from the shadows. Their leader was a tall, thin, middle-aged man in plain clothes. His steps were casual, as if he were merely taking a stroll on deck to get some fresh air.

Three people followed him, spreading out in a fan formation to occupy both sides of the corridor.

The four of them sealed off the cabin's only exit. Their steps were so light they made almost no sound. Their formation seemed casual, yet it blocked every escape route in both directions.

The middle-aged man lifted his head, revealing an utterly ordinary face. The only unusual thing about him was his eyes. He had no pupils; his entire eyeballs were a murky gray-white, as though something had corroded them from within. The sight made one's scalp crawl.

He spoke in a hoarse voice, as if reporting to some unseen presence. "Target confirmed. Leng Yunling's child, nine months old."

He paused, the corners of his mouth curling upward. There was no smile in the gesture, only a sinister cruelty.

"Attack."