The Time Mirror

Luo Tianlin rubbed his backside, not daring to speak. He wore a miserable, cringing expression. He was in for another round of suffering!

"Ancestor, when will we return to the Luo Family?" Luo Zongqi asked. This man was the pillar holding up their family. As long as he was around, not even the Desolate Ancient Families or supreme holy lands would dare bully them at will as they once had!

They would leap from being a top family in the Southern Region to an existence standing shoulder to shoulder with powers like the holy lands!

"No hurry. Before returning to the Luo Family, I intend to pay the Yaoguang Holy Land a visit! Is my origin divine weapon still with the family?"

At those words, Luo Zongqi looked ashamed. "Ancestor, your divine weapon shattered..."

"Hm?" Luo Yan was startled.

Luo Zongqi hastily explained, "After your soul lamp went out, the Time Mirror shattered as well. Otherwise, with your divine weapon, who would have dared bully our Luo Family? Though we aren't a Desolate Ancient Family, as long as your divine weapon remained, no one would have dared look down on us! But not long after your soul lamp went out, a traitor emerged among our senior ranks and leaked our most important secret..."

Understanding dawned on Luo Yan. "So that's the real reason the Yaoguang Holy Land set its sights on the Luo Family?"

It seemed the Luo Family was not as formidable as he had imagined. It was merely a family that had relied on the original owner's strength.

Luo Yan felt a little disappointed. He had assumed that even if the Luo Family was not a Desolate Ancient Family like the Ji Family or the Jiang Family, it would at least be a great family just one tier below them. He had never expected it to be this weak...

Having worked out the general reason, Luo Yan continued, "Then send someone to bring me the shattered Time Mirror. I'll see whether I can repair it!"

The original owner's origin divine weapon had reached the level of a Quasi-Emperor Weapon, infinitely close to a true Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, with only a hair's breadth separating them! Luo Yan had never imagined that a divine weapon of this caliber could shatter. It seemed to be closely tied to the original owner!

Perhaps I could borrow the Void Mirror from the Ji Family for a look! Luo Yan had already begun considering whether, if he could not repair the Time Mirror himself, he might study the Ji Family's Void Mirror to help restore it.

Both were mirrors, after all. One wielded the power of space, while the other contained the power of time. Surely they reached the same wondrous end by different paths!

The ability the original owner had mastered was the most forbidden power in the world: the time law. Across all the ages, only a scant handful of cultivators had ever mastered it.

Perhaps that was precisely why the Luo Family's ancestor had risen in his youth like a brilliant shooting star, invincible within his realm, peerless throughout the world, sweeping aside every rival of his generation. Yet by middle age, he had vanished without a trace. While his peers were still shining on the stage, he had already retreated behind the scenes.

Like a shooting star, his brilliance had been dazzling but brief.

It was not that the Luo Family's ancestor had been unwilling to remain invincible beneath the heavens. Rather, he had needed to address his own problems. In his later years, the time law had eroded his body, drastically shortening his lifespan and forcing him into seclusion...

"Yes, I'll send someone to see to it right away... no, I'll return to the Luo Family myself. Please wait a few days, Ancestor!" Luo Zongqi said. After learning that his ancestor's health was far from reassuring, his joy had faded, replaced largely by caution.

Their ancestor absolutely could not suffer so much as a bump or scrape!

What if he suddenly shattered like the Time Mirror?

Then the sky would come crashing down on the Luo Family.

Having seen it collapse once, they knew exactly how that felt!

"Get over here, you good-for-nothing! I have instructions for you!" Luo Zongqi called Luo Tianlin over again. He had something very important to tell him.

"Father, did the ancestor tell you not to punish me? Oh, there was really no need for him to plead on my behalf. Those punishments are nothing to me. I can take them! Still, vast as heaven and earth may be, the ancestor stands above them all! You must listen to him, Father. Don't make him angry!" Luo Tianlin came running over with a delighted grin.

Luo Zongqi merely glanced at him before swinging a palm at his face.

Smack!

"If the ancestor suffers so much as a bump or scrape while I'm away, I'll skin you alive!"

Clutching his cheek, Luo Tianlin protested aggrievedly, "Father, the ancestor is so powerful. How could he possibly get bumped or scraped?"

Luo Zongqi's face filled with fury, and he slapped him again. Smack!

Now both sides matched.

"Do you have no eyes, or no ears? Can't you see what condition the ancestor is in? One more word and I'll break your legs!" Luo Zongqi looked at him as though he were hopeless, then added, "How did I ever father a useless son like you!"

Luo Yan stood silently to one side. Isn't that going a little too far? How can a parent tear down his own child like that?

Is the Luo Family's upbringing really this rotten?

He had barely begun to frown when Luo Tianlin cried angrily, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! You old bastard, don't look down on a youth just because he's poor!"

He really does deserve a beating!

This brat truly was far too flippant.

Luo Zongqi turned to the cultivators in the shop. "An important family matter has come up, so we'll be closed for the next few days. Please understand!"

"Of course, of course! Elder Luo, go take care of your important business!"

"Please make haste, Elder Luo. Don't keep Ancestor Luo waiting too long!"

"Go attend to your business, Elder Luo. We understand! We'll keep our lips sealed about this!"

The cultivators in the shop hurriedly nodded and bowed, their eyes occasionally darting toward Luo Yan.

A living Saint stood right before their faces. Anyone tired of living was welcome to object at any moment. And a Saint with little lifespan remaining... the mere thought was terrifying. If he became displeased, a single thought would be enough to ensure that not one person in Mo City escaped!

Only after leaving a few more instructions did Luo Zongqi hurry away.

The shop emptied in an instant.

"Do only you and your father work here?" Luo Yan asked, surveying the deserted shop.

Luo Tianlin dared not be negligent and hastily replied, "Many family members used to manage the shop, but ever since the Yaoguang Holy Land began pressuring our family, only Father, me, and a few other Luo Family disciples have remained to run the medicine hall. You'll meet them later, Ancestor!

"Please come to the back and rest, Ancestor. I'll notify the other Luo Family members."

"Mm!" Luo Yan had no objections.

Ugh, how annoying. I only wanted to be a Daoist, yet somehow I ended up as a family ancestor. And this family doesn't even seem to have much promise...

Thousands of years, with an ancestor holding the fort, and this sorry fucking state is all they've managed? They have no drive at all!

Meanwhile, the Luo Family disciples who had received the message were already hurrying back.

"What do you think Tianlin called us back in such a hurry for?" asked a puzzled Luo Family disciple named Luo Tianyuan.

"Who knows? That fellow spends every day loafing around. If his father weren't our family's youngest elder, he'd probably have been kicked out long ago!" Another Luo Family disciple sounded rather displeased with Luo Tianlin.

"The third elder really has it rough. With such a troublesome son, even looking at him every day must be aggravating."

"Tianlin may usually be unreliable, but he probably wouldn't joke about something like this. Something extremely important must have happened in the family!" As the only woman among the four, she wore a worried expression. She turned to the person at the rear. "Luo Qing, what do you think?"

Luo Qing replied in bewilderment, "I'm thinking about something else."

"What?"

"Today, at the city gates, I saw someone who looked remarkably like our family's ancestor..."