"Rise."
Chen Zheng gently lifted his right hand, and Jiang Boyue, who was kneeling on the floor, felt a current of air lift him up.
"Thank you, Ancestral Master!"
With the utmost reverence, Jiang Boyue bowed to Chen Zheng once more.
At that moment, everyone else in the Jiang Family's hall stared wide-eyed. They still had not recovered from their shock, because this scene was simply too bizarre! Anyone else who saw it would surely find it bizarre too!
An old man was actually paying a younger man's respects to a young man, and even calling him Ancestral Master. Were they filming some time-travel drama? Had some television crew rented the Jiang Family villa and invited the old man to act in their show?
"You bear a seventy-percent resemblance to Jiang Ziya."
Chen Zheng looked at Jiang Boyue and smiled kindly.
"Well... thank you for the compliment, Ancestral Master!"
Jiang Boyue froze for a moment. Not knowing what to say, he could only bow to Chen Zheng again.
"Jiang Ziya..."
Hearing that name, Jiang Fang suddenly recalled a secret of their lineage. In that instant, he finally understood why his father had called Chen Zheng Ancestral Master!
This young man his daughter had brought home was the young man in the painting within that ancient jade passed down by the Jiang Family's ancestors!
But this... this was far too incredible!
The Jiang Family's ancestor, Jiang Ziya, had lived at the end of the Shang Dynasty, in the era of King Zhou, Daji, and Ji Fa. That was over a thousand years before the common era-at least three thousand years ago!
No matter how accomplished someone was in martial arts, he could not possibly live for three thousand years!
"Grandpa, let's talk in the study."
Jiang Rou spoke up then.
She was a little excited herself, but seeing everyone else in the hall standing like wooden statues, she felt they should avoid frightening them any further. This really was a little too incredible.
"Very well." Old Master Jiang nodded at her words. "Ancestral Master, please!"
"Mm."
Chen Zheng nodded lightly.
And so Jiang Boyue led the way while Jiang Rou held Chen Zheng's arm, and they headed upstairs to the study under everyone's stupefied gazes.
"M-Master... this... this..."
Uncle Qian came back to his senses and looked at Jiang Fang, stammering.
He felt as though his brain could not quite keep up. Although he had come back to his senses, he was still dazed and could not understand it at all.
"This young man... no! The Ancestral Master!" Jiang Fang began, instantly realizing he had used the wrong form of address and correcting himself. Looking upstairs, he said, "The Ancestral Master may be one of those legendary immortals. Just think of it that way, Old Qian."
In truth, Jiang Fang also found it difficult to understand. He practiced martial arts himself and was a Grandmaster, but he did not believe immortals truly existed. Even the Terrestrial Immortals spoken of in the Ancient Martial Arts World were, in his view, merely Ancient Martial Arts experts of a higher realm. Living two or three hundred years would be their limit; living for thousands of years was something he believed impossible. Yet his father could not possibly have mistaken the man. What exactly was going on? He could not figure it out just then either.
"Then Old Master Tang..."
Uncle Qian looked toward Poison Hand Tang Luo and Tang Qisheng, who lay outside.
"Send them back to the Tang Family."
Jiang Fang shook his head lightly. After considering it for a moment, he decided to head upstairs to the study after all.
A few minutes later.
The study on the Jiang Family villa's second floor.
At that moment, an utterly fantastical scene appeared in the study. A piece of ancient jade hovered in midair, and not only did it hover, it also projected a painting. In the painting was a young man wearing a long gown, with the bearing of an immortal, transcending the mortal world. His face bore a ninety-percent resemblance to Chen Zheng's, while his expression was identical, with almost no difference at all!
"They really are exactly alike..."
Jiang Rou's little mouth fell open, her pretty face filled with astonishment. Although her grandfather had already confirmed Chen Zheng's identity, comparing him with the person in the ancient jade's painting still made her cry out in surprise.
Chen Zheng!
Chen Zhi's older brother!
This fellow really was the person in the painting within the ancient jade left behind by the Jiang Family's ancestor, Jiang Ziya. In other words, Chen Zheng had lived for at least three thousand years!
But... how had Chen Zheng done it? Judging by Chen Zhi's age, he was twenty at most. That did not seem to make sense! Had Chen Zheng traveled back to ancient times during the past three years, then recently traveled back to the present?
While Jiang Rou puzzled over this, Old Master Jiang looked at Chen Zheng with boundless excitement. Someone who had existed three thousand years ago was standing alive before his eyes, and he was even the Jiang Family's Ancestral Master. How could he not be excited?
This was nothing short of a myth!
A living, breathing myth!
"I gave this piece of jade to Jiang Ziya back then. I never expected him to leave a little trick in it, preserving an image of me to pass down. I really did have the bearing of an immortal back then. I thought nothing of it at the time, but looking at it now, no wonder Daji fell in love with me."
Chen Zheng smiled faintly.
"...D-Daji fell in love with you?"
Hearing that, Jiang Rou instinctively rolled her eyes at Chen Zheng. Even in her surprise, she could not help marveling at how narcissistic this fellow was. Still, he did seem to have a point. The Chen Zheng in the ancient jade's painting truly had the bearing of an immortal. A single glance at him felt soothing, and the longer she looked, the less she wanted to look away, as though she had unwittingly become enchanted by him.
"Er... the Ancestral Master is a Celestial Person of extraordinary grace. It was only natural for Daji to fall in love with you."
Old Master Jiang spoke with a smile.
"There is a Secret Method hidden in this ancient jade. You have been in the Great Grandmaster realm for over twenty years without breaking through, so it seems you know nothing of the Secret Method hidden within it. Today, I have met Ziya's descendants, and you call me Ancestral Master, so I will unlock the Secret Method in this jade for you. If there is anything you do not understand, just ask me. I will be staying with the Jiang Family for a few days."
Chen Zheng casually pointed at the ancient jade.
"Jiang Boyue thanks you, Ancestral Master!"
Old Master Jiang trembled, his face filling with tremendous excitement, and bowed deeply to Chen Zheng once more.
Chen Zheng nodded lightly and left the study with Jiang Rou.
Only Old Master Jiang and Jiang Fang remained in the study. Looking at Old Master Jiang in confusion, Jiang Fang asked, "Dad, that mysterious light just now was..."
Old Master Jiang drew a deep breath, and a trace of tears actually appeared in his eyes. "I have remained in the Great Grandmaster realm for over twenty years. Outsiders have no idea that I would likely never have another chance to break through in this lifetime. And in three years at most, my body's vitality would have run dry, and I would have reached the end of my lifespan. The Ancestral Master saw through my condition at a glance. That mysterious light just now was an ancient Secret Method. It should be the Secret Method the Ancestral Master passed down to our ancestor Jiang Ziya all those years ago. And this Secret Method is not of the martial path-it is of the immortal path! I have already comprehended most of it, and I will be able to break through within half a year at most! That means the Ancestral Master freed me from the limit of my lifespan with a casual point of his finger! The Ancestral Master truly is unfathomable, beyond anything we can fathom!"
"It... it's that powerful?"
Jiang Fang was dumbfounded.
"You don't understand." Old Master Jiang shook his head lightly, then sighed. "To you and me, to China's Ancient Martial Arts World, such means reach the heavens. But in the Ancestral Master's eyes, it was nothing more than casually moving a finger."
"..."
Jiang Fang opened his mouth, not knowing how to respond.
Jiang Rou's bedroom.
After pondering for quite a while, Jiang Rou looked at Chen Zheng and asked, "Ancestral Master, have you really lived for three thousand years?"
Chen Zheng smiled faintly at her question. He looked toward the white clouds on the horizon outside the window and recalled some things he had experienced. His airy voice rang out. "Three thousand years is only a snap of the fingers. Sometimes, it is not even enough for a good night's sleep."