After listening in silence, Mu Lan paused for a moment and said, "Although there doesn't seem to be any problem with what you've said, may I see Yin... the ancestor with my own eyes?"
"Of course. I'll go bring her..."
"No need. Just take us to her."
Mu Lan spoke hurriedly. If Jiang Yinyin really was the Lord of Life and Death, how would he dare let her come to see him?
He would have to run to her himself!
Fang Yi nodded. From the looks of it, the Immortal Sacred Whale clan placed great importance on the reincarnation of the Lord of Life and Death.
Only then did Mu Lan remember. He pulled Mu Lingshan over and said, "This is... our way of verifying it."
Before he could explain,
Fang Yi glanced at her and said, "The Life and Death Ancestral Symbol. I know."
As expected of the union of the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol and the Lord of Life and Death's corpse, she had already reached the Life Profound Realm.
In other words, this little girl's realm was higher than that of many people.
But Mu Lingshan only looked young. She was already a legal loli; who knew how old she actually was?
Mu Lan was utterly stunned.
Mu Lingshan's identity was a secret within the Immortal Sacred Whale clan, known only to the three elders in power. Many people merely guessed that she was the Lord of Life and Death's reincarnation, or perhaps her descendant.
Only Fang Yi had identified Mu Lingshan as the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol in a single breath.
But he no longer wanted to ask how Fang Yi knew. There was far too much mystery surrounding this man. He was in the Eastern Xuan Region, yet how did he know so many secrets?
Mu Lingshan followed timidly behind Mu Lan and whispered, "Third Grandpa, if the ancestor comes back, will Lingshan die?"
Mu Lingshan's voice was exceptionally clear, like jade beads falling onto a silver platter. Though it still sounded a little childish, one could imagine how charming it would be later.
Mu Lan did not know what to say.
Mu Lingshan was the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol, so when the true ancestor returned, she would likely need Mu Lingshan's cooperation.
And if the ancestor wanted to recover her former strength as quickly as possible, she would certainly need Mu Lingshan's cooperation as well.
But he and Mu Lingshan had been together for so many years.
How could he bring himself to say such things?
Just then,
Fang Yi shook his head and smiled. "No. Yinyin doesn't like sacrificing others for her own sake either."
"Besides, an ordinary Ancestral Talisman would be one thing, but a Heaven and Earth Divine Object like Mu Lingshan, one that has already developed intelligence, might be of even greater help to Yinyin than an ordinary Life and Death Ancestral Symbol."
Mu Lingshan nodded. "Big Brother, I believe you."
"You believe me?"
Fang Yi smiled. "Aren't you worried I'm lying to you? Yinyin is my junior sister, after all."
"No. There's a very familiar feeling about you, Big Brother. It's just like... a mother."
Mu Lingshan hesitated. After saying it, she felt a little embarrassed, but that really was what she thought.
"A mother?"
All three of them were dumbfounded.
Good grief, a male mother.
But Fang Yi soon figured it out. It was probably because of Supreme Power.
Mu Lingshan was the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol, a Heaven and Earth Divine Object. She had essentially been nurtured by the plane, while he possessed Supreme Power.
That was, in fact, the Plane Power.
So it seemed natural enough that Mu Lingshan felt close to him.
"Hahaha, you'd better stick to calling me Big Brother. Calling me Mom is a little strange."
Fang Yi laughed it off and moved past the subject, then looked at Mu Lan. "Senior, please follow me."
Mu Lan could only set his doubts aside. Mu Lingshan had never said anything like that about anyone else before. It seemed the secrets Fang Yi carried were even greater than he had thought.
The four vanished from where they stood and reappeared on a Heaven Hall mountain peak, then entered the hall where he had been teaching earlier.
"Dad, Fang Yi?"
Ying Huanhuan, who had been cultivating, saw the newcomers and hurriedly rose, smoothing out her skirt.
Beside her, Ying Xiaoxiao was still teaching Jiang Yinyin the mnemonic verses of the Second Origin Art.
After Jiang Yinyin reached the Heavenly Yuan Realm, Ying Xuanzi had said she could try cultivating the Second Origin Art.
"The second origin..."
Jiang Yinyin's voice was clear as she committed the Second Origin Art's verses to memory. She seemed to sense something very familiar, and her gaze fell on the people entering.
Then she saw Mu Lingshan.
"Huh? Why do you look so much like me?" Jiang Yinyin could not help asking.
Mu Lingshan was stunned too. Jiang Yinyin looked like a slightly more mature version of herself; they were practically identical.
The moment Mu Lan laid eyes on Jiang Yinyin,
there was no need to test her anymore.
Whether it was her presence, her appearance, or the feeling she gave him, she was certainly the reincarnation of the Lord of Life and Death.
Mu Lan's usually gentle face was instantly filled with excitement. Before anyone had time to react, he dropped to his knees with a thud.
"Your descendant Mu Lan pays his respects to the ancestor!"
"Welcome back, Ancestor!"
Jiang Yinyin was so startled that she hurriedly hid behind Fang Yi. In her heart, Fang Yi gave her the greatest sense of security.
"Senior, please get up. You've frightened Yinyin."
Fang Yi had not expected Mu Lan to be so impulsive. Why had he dropped to his knees without another word? Never mind Jiang Yinyin-
everyone else had been startled too.
Jiang Yinyin looked at the man, who was a little younger than her father. Why had he suddenly knelt down and called her his ancestor? She was not that old.
Seeing Jiang Yinyin's reaction, Mu Lan realized he had been too impulsive.
"This is a good chance to explain everything to Jiang Yinyin too."
Fang Yi spoke up and repeated what he had told Mu Lan, this time for Jiang Yinyin's sake.
Although Jiang Yinyin was young, she was clever. She soon understood. No wonder her senior brother had taken her in as a disciple on their master's behalf. So she had such an extraordinary background!
"...And actually, Jiang Yinyin's reincarnation there was probably influenced to some extent by the fact that the Devouring Ancestral Symbol was there."
"I don't know if you've heard of the Black-Eyed Elder, Senior Mu Lan. He sacrificed himself to the formation and suppressed the Ninth King Hall there."
After some thought, Fang Yi decided to say it. He had already guessed why Jiang Yinyin had reincarnated in Great Desolation Commandery.
Either she had sensed something, or it was due to the Plane Embryo's influence.
It was all for the Ninth King Hall at the Great Desolate Ancient Tablet. Later on, the Ninth King Hall had nearly escaped, only to be suppressed by Jiang Yinyin again.
Mu Lan's eyelid twitched.
Wasn't the Eastern Xuan Region a little too special? The ancestor had reincarnated there, as had the Ice Master, and even the Devouring Ancestral Symbol had appeared there. Most importantly, several Yimo True Kings were suppressed there as well.
Hearing Fang Yuan's words, he said, "There are indeed records of it in the clan. The Black-Eyed Elder had some contact with the Kunpeng Clan. Later, I heard that when the Yimo attacked him in force,
the Kunpeng Clan wanted to rush to his aid, but they were stopped in the Chaotic Demon Sea."
"So that was where it happened? Then did you obtain the Devouring Ancestral Symbol?"
Mu Lan thought Fang Yi had made the Devouring Ancestral Symbol acknowledge him as its master. If so, it was only natural that there was something special about him.
After all, he would be the master of an Ancestral Talisman.
Anyone who earned an Ancestral Talisman's recognition would be rather special.
"No. The Black-Eyed Elder said the Devouring Ancestral Symbol would affect my path and might affect my advancement to the Reincarnation Stage, so he didn't give it to me."
Hearing Fang Yi's words, Mu Lan thought he had misheard.
What did he mean, the Devouring Ancestral Symbol would affect his path to the Reincarnation Stage?
Everyone else wished they could take control of such a Heaven and Earth Divine Object, but now it sounded as though the Heaven and Earth Divine Object would hold him back instead.
After Fang Yi finished explaining, Jiang Yinyin was no longer so frightened. Ying Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, was utterly bewildered.
It had taken her a long time to come to terms with her younger sister being the Ice Master's reincarnation, and now her new junior sister was the reincarnation of the Lord of Life and Death?
That left her even more speechless.
So she really was the least talented of the four of them.