Sage Tianyan

"I was a member of the Lu Clan over a hundred thousand years ago. Back then, everyone called me Sage Tianyan."

Sage Tianyan!

Was that their ancestor's name?

Lu Qingshan was shaken. He had read books recording the deeds of their ancestors, and they did indeed mention an ancestor known as Sage Tianyan.

This ancestor had been most skilled at divining the secrets of heaven and earth. When faced with powerful enemies, he had often subdued them without a fight.

If the records were true, just how high had this ancestor's cultivation been?

Looking at his ancestor, Lu Qingshan asked, "Ancestor, according to the clan's records, didn't you fall long ago?"

At those words, Sage Tianyan's expression turned grave for the first time.

"What I'm about to tell you concerns the greatest secret of our Lu Clan."

The moment he said that, Lu Qingshan and the other three jolted and pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single detail.

Sage Tianyan continued, "You should all know something of the Lu Clan's past deeds. Our Lu Clan was once glorious beyond compare."

A trace of reminiscence colored Sage Tianyan's voice, but it was also filled with sorrow.

Lu Qingshan and the other three looked on with a trace of longing. Though they had not been born in that era, they could tell from their ancestor's words that the Lu Clan had once ruled the skies.

"For any power, prosperity is followed by decline. That is the natural order."

"But the decline of our Lu Clan was an accident."

"I only learned of it when my lifespan was nearly exhausted and I entered the Ancestral Land."

Back then, Sage Tianyan had relied on his unbeatable art of divination to become invincible under heaven and dominate the entire Cangxuan Continent, engraving the Lu Clan's name deep in the hearts of the world.

But Sage Tianyan had run into a problem.

Because he had so often divined and peered into heavenly secrets, he had suffered a great deal of backlash from the Heavenly Dao. It had affected not only him, but his descendants as well.

Even as his lifespan neared its end, no one had emerged in the entire Lu Clan who could shoulder the burden.

It was then that Sage Tianyan realized that all of heaven and earth were targeting the Lu Clan.

If things continued this way, the Lu Clan would inevitably grow weaker and weaker, and might well be destroyed in the end.

To solve the problem, Sage Tianyan had traveled far and wide, seeking the key to resolving it. But he had once been so overbearing that he had made many enemies.

The powerhouses of the Cangxuan Continent were all waiting to see him make a fool of himself. Not one was willing to help.

Sage Tianyan was both furious and helpless.

With no other choice, Sage Tianyan had moved the Lu Clan from the prosperous Central Province to a remote corner of Qingzhou. He had then used his art of divination to conceal the Lu Clan's heavenly secrets, hoping the clan could recover and rebuild.

Afterward, Sage Tianyan had entered the Ancestral Land for a long sleep, filled with regret.

And that Ancestral Land was the incense burner on the table.

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan and the other three wore strange expressions. So after all that, the Lu Clan is so weak today because you committed too many sins while you were alive.

We descendants are the ones who have suffered for it all.

"Alas, this old man bears great responsibility for the Lu Clan's state today."

Sage Tianyan sighed, looking somewhat remorseful.

Even so, how would Lu Qingshan and the others dare blame their own ancestor?

But then Sage Tianyan suddenly said, "Still, what I mean to say is that the Lu Clan's decline up to today was not caused by me alone. The Ancestral Land also played a part."

"The Ancestral Land?"

Lu Qingshan and the other three were even more puzzled. What could the Lu Clan's decline have to do with the Ancestral Land?

In response to their questions, Sage Tianyan slowly opened his palm. The next moment, the incense burner on the altar flew into his hand.

"The Ancestral Land is of vital importance to our Lu Clan. Our forefather even left an ancestral instruction: only those who had made a tremendous contribution to the clan or achieved something of great significance could enter the Ancestral Land for a long sleep when death drew near."

"Looking at that instruction now, I've realized that our forefather was playing a game of chess on a colossal scale."

After Sage Tianyan's time, each generation of the Lu Clan had been weaker than the last, and no more clansmen had entered the Ancestral Land. Eventually, even knowledge of the Ancestral Land had been lost, leaving later generations unaware of it.

Lu Qingshan blinked, motioning for the ancestor to continue.

"Do you know what fortune is?"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan hurriedly answered, "Ancestor, when I traveled through Qingzhou in my younger days, I happened to learn something about fortune."

"Whether for a person or a power, fortune is extremely important. It determines whether their future will lead to prosperity or decline."

Sage Tianyan nodded slightly at Lu Qingshan's words. "Qingshan is right. Fortune is extremely important to a power."

"And the Ancestral Land of our Lu Clan is where our clan's fortune resides."

"However, it has been tainted."

"As a result, the Lu Clan's fortune has continued to diminish, and the clan has fallen into ever greater decline."

"What?!"

Lu Qingshan and the other three widened their eyes, all seething with indignation.

Just who had plotted against their Lu Clan like this?

Sage Tianyan shook his head slightly, then suddenly smiled. "That was what I discovered after entering the Ancestral Land."

"In fact, I'm afraid all the ancestors who entered the Ancestral Land back then already knew this secret."

"Actually, our Lu Clan's Ancestral Land has another very important function: it can extend the lifespan of those who enter it indefinitely."

"What?!"

Lu Qingshan stared blankly, unable to remember how many times he had been shocked.

"That is also why I am still alive today, a hundred thousand years after entering the Ancestral Land."

"But that is not the most important thing."

That isn't the most important thing?

This was practically an unlimited lifespan. Wouldn't that be the same as immortality?

"Wait, I understand!"

Lu Qingshan jolted and hurriedly said, "Ancestor, only by sleeping in the Ancestral Land can one's lifespan be extended indefinitely. But in that case, once you leave the Ancestral Land, you would still face the problem of your lifespan running out. That's no different from when you went in, is it?"

Hearing Lu Qingshan's words, the three elders thought it over and immediately realized that did seem to be the case.

Sage Tianyan looked at Lu Qingshan, a descendant separated from him by who knew how many generations, and a trace of appreciation appeared in his eyes.

"Correct. If that were all, there would be no point."

"But our forefather was clearly no fool."

"The key to the problem still lies in the Ancestral Land itself."

"Because the Ancestral Land has been tainted, every Lu clansman who enters it is forcibly plunged into slumber. The entire Ancestral Land is filled with an unknown foul Qi."

Hearing this, the third elder, Lu Chen, dropped his jaw. "Then wasn't our forefather setting his descendants up for trouble?"

Lu Qingshan patted Lu Chen on the shoulder and said patiently, "Third Brother, don't be hasty. Let the ancestor finish first."

"Please continue, Ancestor."

Lu Guangyao glared at Lu Chen, who merely curled his lip and then fell silent.

The second elder, Lu Mutong, meanwhile, had been sitting with his back ramrod straight like a model student the entire time, listening attentively to their ancestor.

Seeing the four of them react, Sage Tianyan smiled and continued, "Our forefather would never set us descendants up for trouble. On the contrary, even though he is no longer here, he is still doing his utmost to look after the clan."

"The state of the Ancestral Land was our forefather's deliberate doing."

"We who are about to die have already developed death Qi within our bodies. After we enter the Ancestral Land for a long sleep, the death Qi that escapes from us mingles and harmonizes with the foul Qi in the Ancestral Land. As time goes on, the foul Qi will grow weaker and weaker, until it is completely purified."

"More importantly, after this unknown foul Qi has been harmonized with our own death Qi, it also gives back a great deal of pure power, raising our cultivation."

"When this old man entered the Ancestral Land, I was only at the peak of the Saint Realm. Now that I have awakened, my cultivation has reached the Sage King Realm."

Sage Tianyan stroked his beard and smiled faintly.

The Sage King Realm was already at the very ceiling of the Cangxuan Continent.

It was also the first time Lu Qingshan and the other three had heard of a realm so high.

"So that's how it is. Our forefather truly possessed boundless divine powers."

Hearing this, Lu Chen immediately changed his attitude toward their forefather, his face full of admiration.

Just then, however, the second elder, Lu Mutong, suddenly said something astonishing. "Ancestor, does that mean that all the ancestors who entered the Ancestral Land are still alive?"

At those words, Lu Qingshan and the other two froze for a moment before realization struck them.

That's right!

The Lu Clan has been around for so long. How many ancestors must there be?

Lu Qingshan instinctively looked at the hundreds of memorial tablets behind Sage Tianyan and instantly sucked in a breath.

If all those ancestors awakened, he could not imagine how powerful the Lu Clan would become. It would probably dominate the Cangxuan Continent for a very, very long time.

If those sleeping ancestors knew what Lu Qingshan was thinking, they would all laugh their teeth out.

What was a mere Cangxuan Continent? It could be destroyed with a snap of their fingers.

Unable to contain his excitement, the third elder, Lu Chen, asked, "Ancestor Tianyan, when will the other ancestors in the Ancestral Land awaken?"

Lu Qingshan and the other three all looked at Sage Tianyan, their gazes burning.

Sage Tianyan chuckled. "There's no telling. All I can say is that the weaker one is, the less one is tainted by the foul Qi, and the sooner one will awaken."

At this point, Sage Tianyan could not help sighing. "Back then, I thought I was invincible under heaven. But do you know how terrifying the presences I sensed in the Ancestral Land were after I awakened there?"

"I was a firefly before the bright moon! How ashamed I am."

"Ancestor, please don't think that way. If not for you, the Lu Clan might already have been destroyed. You are the savior of our Lu Clan!" Lu Qingshan said respectfully to Sage Tianyan.

The other three elders also voiced their agreement.

Those words made Sage Tianyan beam.

"In that case, let our Lu Clan begin carrying out its plan for revival!"

"I believe that one day, our forefather will surely return. When that happens, we cannot let him see our Lu Clan in such a weakened state."

"Yes, Ancestor!"