Dragon Chant Unraveled, Essence Blood Borrowed; A Resounding Reputation, A Transformed State of Mind

There were four Foundation Establishment cultivators, all from the Huang Family. Lin Chang had met most of them and remembered them.

Chef Zeng was among them.

He was still burly and powerfully built. His cultivation had risen to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and he had advanced quite far within it.

Though his face was flushed with vitality and he carried himself with greater composure, exuding the imposing authority of a man who needed no anger to inspire fear, Lin Changheng keenly sensed that something was wrong. Chef Zeng seemed troubled by grief—

Lin Changheng withdrew the Divine Light he had sent ahead, used the Illusory Appearance Shift Demon Art to reveal his true face, and sped toward the Huang Family Mountain Gate.

Before he had fully descended, the four Huang Family Foundation Establishment cultivators sensed his arrival and turned to look.

The moment they recognized Lin Changheng, the stifling severity they had maintained before the mountain guards melted from their faces like snow beneath the sun.

The new Grand Elder, who was at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, laughed aloud. Unfeigned delight filled his face, and the oppressive air around him vanished as he flew out to greet Lin Changheng first.

The other three followed, smiling warmly as they rose on the wind to meet him in midair. Their eagerness was worlds apart from their earlier bearing.

"Attendant Lin!"

His voice arrived before he did, brimming with delight. "Ever since we received word that Attendant Lin had emerged from seclusion and was returning to the Lineage, we've watched for him every day. We old fellows were too excited even to settle into cultivation. We insisted on greeting you ourselves, lest the juniors slight our honored guest."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Lin! Welcome back to the Lineage!"

The other three Foundation