The opportunity came sooner than Lin Yinuo had expected.
Just days after he obtained the fragment of the Dragonblood Secret Canon, Hogg arrived at the Ernst Institute. Nominally, he was visiting his two sons, but a trace of barely concealed excitement and urgency showed on his face. Clearly, the excavation of the clan library had yielded a new discovery that puzzled him.
"Father!" Linley rushed happily toward Hogg when he saw him. Bebe turned into a gray streak and deftly scrambled onto Hogg's shoulder, affectionately rubbing against his cheek. After Lin Yinuo's secret treatments and the baptism of that night's bloodline disturbance, Linley looked exceptionally healthy, his eyes brighter than before. The magic power faintly flowing within him secretly startled Hogg.
Hogg fondly stroked Linley's head, then looked at Lin Yinuo, who stood quietly to one side with a gentle smile. Every time he saw his eldest son, Hogg felt an inexplicable sense of reassurance, as though any problem could be readily solved with him around.
"Yinuo, Linley, have you been doing well at the institute? I heard a few things about the trial..." Hogg's voice carried concern and pride.
"We're doing very well, Father." Lin Yinuo stepped forward, calmly meeting Hogg's gaze. "But you seem to have something on your mind. Has there been... some progress back at the clan?"
Hogg paused, not expecting his eldest son to be so perceptive. He sighed, then rallied and lowered his voice. "There have indeed been some discoveries. Behind a wall in the ancestral home's library, I found an extremely well-hidden compartment containing some fragments of notes left by our ancestors. They mentioned terms like... 'bloodline resonance' and 'ancestral land core,' but the wording was vague. I've tried many methods, but I still haven't been able to locate this so-called 'core.'"
He rubbed his brow, looking somewhat tired and perplexed. "It feels as though I'm only one final step away, yet an invisible membrane stands in the way."
(Lin Yinuo's thoughts): Perfect timing. The discovery of the compartment has already laid enough groundwork for possibilities. Now it's time for me, the "key," to break through that last thin barrier.
A suitably thoughtful expression appeared on Lin Yinuo's face. He frowned slightly, as though struggling to recall something, and murmured, "Bloodline resonance... ancestral land core... When I was looking through some miscellaneous writings on ancient bloodlines in the library recently, I think I saw something similar. It mentioned that the central secrets of certain ancient clans required a particular bloodline to come into close proximity before a faint response could be triggered..."
Hogg's eyes instantly lit up, like a drowning man catching hold of driftwood. "Yinuo, what did you say? What were the details? Which book was it?"
Lin Yinuo shook his head regretfully. "I can't remember which one. Those miscellaneous writings were all very old and damaged. But the book mentioned that this sort of response is usually very faint. You need to quiet your mind and focus, carefully sensing the likely locations. Perhaps... there might be some unusual energy fluctuations, or... a change in temperature?"
His words were vague, yet they pointed precisely to the Dragonblood Secret Canon's description of how to sense the hidden chamber's entrance.
Understanding suddenly dawned on Hogg, and he clapped his hands sharply. "Of course! Energy fluctuations! Temperature! I've been fixated on finding a mechanism and overlooked the possibility that the bloodline itself might be the key!" He looked excitedly at Lin Yinuo. "Yinuo, you truly are a blessing to our Baruch Clan! Every conversation with you gives me fresh inspiration!"
Lin Yinuo lowered his head modestly. "I only happened to read it. I'm glad it could help you, Father."
(Thoughts): The guidance is complete. Next, I just need a reason to return with him and "sense" the entrance at the crucial moment.
He raised his head and looked at Hogg, a hint of earnestness in his voice. "Father, could I take a look at that compartment and those notes you mentioned? I'm interested in our clan's history too. Besides, perhaps Linley's bloodline and mine..." He left the sentence unfinished, but his meaning was clear.
Hogg scarcely hesitated. His eldest son's precocious intelligence and composure had long since won him over. Moreover, Yinuo possessed the talent of superb aptitude in all elements. Perhaps his soul and bloodline truly were different, allowing him to sense things Hogg could not perceive.
"Good! We'll return to Wushan Town first thing tomorrow!" Hogg decided firmly. "Linley will come too! Perhaps the two of you together can bring an even greater surprise!"
Although little Linley did not quite understand what was happening, he nodded excitedly at the chance to go home and explore the clan's secrets with his father and older brother.
The next day, Hogg returned to the Baruch ancestral home in Wushan Town with his two sons.
Without taking much time to rest, Hogg led them straight to the library, which his excavations had left in utter disarray. He pointed to a newly opened hole in the wall, narrow enough for only one person to pass through. Some yellowed scraps of paper were faintly visible inside.
"This is the place." Hogg's voice carried anticipation. "I've carefully examined every inch of the nearby walls and floor, but I haven't found any mechanisms."
Lin Yinuo nodded, walked to the center of the library, and slowly closed his eyes. His powerful spiritual energy mingled with the dragonblood factor within him, which had undergone several rounds of purification, spreading silently like mercury spilling across the ground and enveloping the entire room.
He "saw" it. Near the eastern corner, beneath a patch of floor half concealed by several empty book crates, roughly three feet down, an area emitted extremely faint, strange fluctuations that vaguely resonated with his bloodline. Its temperature was also slightly higher than its surroundings. Without the Dragonblood Secret Canon's explicit guidance and his spiritual energy, which far surpassed that of ordinary people, it would have been impossible to discover.
(Thoughts): Found it.
He maintained his posture with his eyes closed, his brow slightly furrowed, as though struggling to catch hold of something. Only after quite a while did he slowly open his eyes. With a trace of uncertainty on his face, he pointed toward the corner half concealed by the book crates.
"Father," he said, a strange tremor in his voice, "over there... I feel as though the floor there... is a little different. There's a very faint, very familiar warmth that vaguely echoes a certain power within me... and Linley."
Hogg looked in the direction Lin Yinuo pointed. It was a place he had inspected before without paying particular attention to it. His heart jolted. Without the slightest doubt, he immediately stepped forward and personally moved the heavy, empty book crates aside.
With the crates removed, the flat, dust-covered stone floor beneath was exposed. At first glance, it looked no different from anywhere else.
"Here?" Hogg crouched and carefully ran his hands over the stone slabs.
Lin Yinuo also stepped forward and crouched beside Hogg, pressing his small hand against a seemingly ordinary slab. Secretly, he channeled into it a thread of battle qi imbued with a dragonblood aura-he had long since been quietly cultivating with the Dragonblood Warrior Basic Battle Qi Tempering Method obtained through check-ins.
"It seems... to be this one," he said softly.
The instant his words fell-
"Hum!"
An extremely faint hum rang out, seemingly from deep underground!
An intricate, pale blue-green pattern suddenly lit up on the stone slab beneath Lin Yinuo's palm, so faint it was almost imperceptible! The pattern vanished in a flash, but Hogg saw it perfectly clearly!
"It reacted! It really reacted!" Hogg's voice trembled with excitement. He whipped his head toward Lin Yinuo, his eyes filled with incredulous joy and the relief of having his suspicions confirmed!
Without further hesitation, he took out the crowbar he carried and carefully inserted it into the gap beside the slab. This time, it took little effort to pry the slab loose. It slowly tilted upward, revealing a pitch-black opening leading down!
A gust of air, long sealed away and bearing a faint draconic presence and the breath of ages, surged from the opening.
Under Lin Yinuo's guidance, the Baruch Clan's long-lost hidden chamber had finally seen daylight again after thousands of years!
Hogg stared at the deep, dark entrance, his body trembling slightly with excitement. Turning back, he looked with a complicated gaze at his composed eldest son beside him and gave his shoulder a firm pat. A thousand words went unspoken.
(Hogg's thoughts): The ancestors have blessed us! Yinuo... you truly are the hope that will lead our clan to revival!
Meeting his father's excited, trusting gaze, Lin Yinuo felt at ease.
(Thoughts): The first step has succeeded. Father, the opportunity meant for you lies just below. From this moment onward, the Baruch Clan's fate will change completely.
Before you continue