Father and Son Talk (Part One) — Please Recommend

"Yang Yan, the dead cannot return to life. What are your plans from here on?"

After Yang Yan killed Yang Jun, Nie Yun moved against the last servant. Though this man was somewhat stronger than him, once they truly fought, he followed in Yang Lin's footsteps in fewer than three moves, becoming a cold corpse.

With all three pursuers dead, Nie Yun gathered all the money from their bodies and stood to one side, waiting for the emotionally stirred Yang Yan.

He had originally planned to draw Yang Jun out to resolve a future crisis, but he had never expected the man to reveal the reason behind his mother's death.

Yang Yan was a filial son. He had left the family back then because his mother had died of illness. Now that he knew she had been murdered, even though he had avenged her with his own hands, guilt still gnawed at him, impossible to calm.

Nearly an hour later, Yang Yan rose from the ground. Knowing that his emotions had settled, Nie Yun finally asked.

"My plans from here on? I will place Mother's memorial tablet in the ancestral hall!" Yang Yan took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

"I'll help you," Nie Yun said calmly.

"Thank you!" Hearing the boy's seemingly casual words, Yang Yan's eyes reddened.

His mother had not been the principal wife. Entering the ancestral hall was simply impossible, and they would surely face every kind of challenge, with difficulties piled upon difficulties. Even Yang Yan himself lacked confidence in making this decision. Yet the boy before him had agreed without a second thought. This friendship, this bond!

Yang Yan knew that from this day onward, Nie Yun was not merely his friend, but his brother—a brother for life!

"Yang Jun has been killed. The branches and forces that once depended on him will definitely go mad. You've only just advanced to the fifth level of the Qi Sea Realm and haven't completely stabilized your cultivation yet. It would be best to consolidate your strength first before going. That will give you a greater chance of success," Nie Yun advised.

"Mm, I know." Yang Yan nodded and looked at the boy before him. "I'll come find you in three days."

"Alright!" Seeing that he had not lost his cool, Nie Yun let out a breath of relief and nodded.

As one of Luoshui City's Four Great Families, even if Yang Yan's strength had improved and he had refined the Blazing Axe, charging in by force would still likely mean certain doom. Since he understood that, Nie Yun was reassured.

"Farewell!" Yang Yan knew that they had now become true friends, and that many words no longer needed saying. He turned and walked away, soon vanishing into the depths of the dense forest.

"I should head back too."

Once he saw Yang Yan disappear into the distance, Nie Yun pushed off with his feet and swiftly ran toward the branch family.

Between the auction, the pursuit, and the killings, by the time Nie Yun returned to the branch family, the eastern sky was already turning pale like a fish belly. Without realizing it, another night had passed!

"Hm? What's that?"

Just as he was about to sneak back into his room, Nie Yun suddenly spotted a figure on the small hill in the branch family's rear courtyard, facing the newborn blazing sun and absorbing the purple qi arriving from the east.

Purple qi, also known as Mysterious Yang Qi, was the life essence born from the first ray of sunlight that broke free of darkness and touched the earth. It was said that after cultivators absorbed it, it could alter their body structure, unblock their bloodlines, and make them more suited to cultivation!

Having lived two lives, Nie Yun knew Mysterious Yang Qi well. While it did have some benefits in improving the body, it was absolutely nowhere near as miraculous as the legends claimed. At most, it could leave one full of vigor for the day.

Huff!

As he pondered this, the figure on the hillside opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath, then stopped. When the figure turned around, Nie Yun froze in shock.

"Father?"

He had never expected that the person in the rear courtyard breathing in the purple qi from the east would be none other than his father, Nie Xiaotian, whom he had always considered a drunkard!

Why was Father breathing in purple qi? Hadn't he always been despondent and only known how to drink?

"Hm?"

Nie Yun's startled cry seemed to disturb his father on the hill. Nie Xiaotian hurriedly turned his head, and when he saw it was his son, his face immediately became cold. "Why are you here?"

Because of the resentment in his heart, his relationship with his father had never been good in his previous life. His father had also been very indifferent whenever he saw him, as though he did not care about this son at all.

"Why were you breathing in purple qi?"

Judging from how practiced his father was at breathing it in, he must have persisted for many years. But hadn't his Qi Sea been damaged, leaving him unable to cultivate? Breathing in purple qi should have been useless too!

"What purple qi? You saw wrong. I drank too much here last night and only just woke up!"

When he heard his son mention purple qi, panic flashed across Nie Xiaotian's face, though he quickly concealed it and snorted.

Though his father hid it well, who was Nie Yun? He saw through the abnormality at a glance. Without exposing him, he chuckled. "Oh, perhaps the sky still isn't fully bright. Maybe I really did see wrong."

After saying that, he walked toward his father. "Father, ever since I woke up, I haven't had a proper talk with you. Since we happened to meet so early, let's talk for a while..."

Hearing Nie Yun naturally call him "Father," a trace of excited flush rose to Nie Xiaotian's face. He quickly turned away. "There's no wine left in my flask. I'm going to buy some!"

With that, Nie Xiaotian walked forward without looking back.

"Hm?" Seeing his father acting so strangely today, Nie Yun's brows drew together.

In his previous life, he had sulked at his father, and his father had deliberately avoided him as well, so they had not spent much time together. He only knew that his father had damaged his Qi Sea during a cultivation deviation, leaving him unable to cultivate ever again. But now, it seemed things were far from that simple!

His father had been a cultivation genius, able to operate all seven dantians at once. How could he possibly suffer a cultivation deviation?

Even if he had, at most his dantians would have been damaged. His Qi Sea should not have ruptured!

Besides, even if his father's strength had plummeted after the deviation, he had still earned the Luoshui Golden Shield honor for the family. Luoshui City produced only one such honor every five years. With such a tremendous contribution, could he really have been pushed to the margins simply because his strength had fallen, even dragging the entire branch family down into such miserable circumstances?

None of this made any sense!

Before the Demon Race invaded in his previous life, he had spent his days wallowing in self-pity, muddled and listless, never thinking about these things. After the Demon Race invaded and all his relatives died, the thought of them caused such painful regret that he had never examined them deeply. Now, however, it was clear that there was indeed a problem!

Could someone have specifically wanted to target our branch family?

A thought suddenly struck Nie Yun, and he considered a possibility!

That was right. If someone had not wanted to target their branch family, how could it be such a coincidence that his father's Qi Sea was damaged and he could no longer cultivate, while even his younger brother Nie Tong had been bitten by a venomous snake and had his legs petrified?

If he had not been reborn, then according to the course of history, his elder sister would have been set up and violated, while his mother would very likely have been pushed off a cliff because of the Pengxin Snow Lotus... Everything, every last thing, seemed like a conspiracy shrouding their branch family!

"Anyone capable of plotting against our family like this must be someone within the clan. Who could it be?"

If he had experienced only the events of this life, Nie Yun would certainly have had no clue. But having lived two lives, as the many events of his previous life slowly flowed through his mind, a name suddenly surfaced.

Thinking of this, Nie Yun stared straight at his father, who had not yet gone far, and asked loudly, "Father, what are you hiding from me? Does it have something to do with Nie Haotian?"

"You..."

The moment the words left his mouth, Nie Yun saw his father's body stiffen. The murky light in his eyes flashed, shooting out a brilliant gleam as he slowly turned around.