Chapter 388: Scandalous Grandfather v/s Hidden Ancestor with OP Bloodline, Tales of the Spirit Chicken Returns

They said there existed nine people with the same face within the Heavens.

Then... was Yu Xuan now seeing one of them, someone who looked uncannily similar to his father?

When his thoughts drifted to his grandparents, only fragments surfaced.

Because before he was even born, both his paternal and maternal grandparents had already ascended.

He had never met them, only heard stories.

Stories his father would occasionally tell him when he was a child.

Among them, one tale stood out.

His grandfather had loved his grandmother deeply.

So deeply that, according to his father, he had never even glanced at another woman. A devotion bordering on legend.

Then what was this?

Was the man before him his grandfather’s mistake from before he had met his grandmother?

Was he... seeing an uncle?

Yu Xuan’s expression stiffened slightly.

’...Grandfather, you’ve really lost a lot of face in front of me, even though I’ve never met you,’ he thought.

His mind began to spiral.

Scandalous grandfather.

Hidden offspring.

Secret ascended bloodline.

OP ancestor shenanigans.

The theories piled up rapidly, each more absurd than the last.

At the very top of the mental list was this:

Scandalous Grandfather v/s Hidden Ancestor with OP Bloodline.

The mental debate escalated rapidly.

If the first theory were true, then this "uncle" would be his rea—

"Why are you so distracted?" Jian Chen interrupted, his brows knitting slightly.

"I only asked you a simple question."

Yu Xuan snapped back to reality.

He realized, a fraction too late, that he had been staring blankly.

Now as he stood there, wearing what could only be described as the textbook look of ’slow and curious’ junior who had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Yu Xuan blinked once.

Then again.

"...I—I don’t think we’re connected," he replied, a little stiffly.

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

His father might be connected.

And he wasn’t about to explain that.

Jian Chen’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he studied Yu Xuan’s expression.

The hesitation, the timing, the way the answer had been shaped, nothing more could be faked.

He knew.

The boy was lying.

Or rather, hiding something.

Before Jian Chen could press further, a calm yet weighty voice cut in.

"Why are you pressing the child so hard, Jian Chen?" Ximen Juesheng said, his tone even but firm.

"Because I can feel it. There is definitely a connection." Jian Chen frowned slightly.

Ximen Juesheng glanced at Yu Xuan, then back at Jian Chen, a trace of calculation flashing through his eyes.

He did not deny Jian Chen. Instead, he smiled faintly.

""Then consider this," he said.

"I already have plans involving him and I intend to gift this child a weapon. Why don’t you join in?"

Yu Xuan listened to them carefully.

He was definitely interested in a plan involving him, and this Old man was not even trying to hide anything.

Jian Chen raised a brow.

"A weapon... for him?"

"He is a future pillar of Humanity." Ximen Juesheng continued giving Yu Xuan a sneaky look.

"Whether he likes it or not."

"Oh?" Jian Chen’s expression shifted into one of genuine interest.

"I thought that weapon would be given to the challenger."

He paused, then smiled faintly.

"But now... I’m intrigued."

This arrangement suited him just fine.

This way, he could observe Yu Xuan more closely.

Probe that strange resonance.

Confirm whether the connection he sensed was blood, or something far more troublesome.

"So who will be forging this weapon?" Jian Chen asked.

Ximen Juesheng’s face briefly darkened, as if recalling an unpleasant transaction.

He was paying a painful price.

Then, as his gaze flicked toward Yu Xuan.

He was really betting all in!

"I contacted the Prime Architect, and called in a few favors I would have preferred to keep."

Jian Chen’s eyes widened.

"...You must be serious, then."

He too, wanted to probe the intention of the Human Emperor, but seeing how Ximen Juesheng is calling out favours from people in this place, he must be really serious.

Ximen Juesheng nodded once to him.

He then turned to Yu Xuan and gestured forward.

"Come."

Without further explanation, the three of them departed.

Yu Xuan did not question why he was getting a free weapon.

But, instead of heading deeper, they turned back towards the ancient pagoda.

Toward the place where the Leader resided.

And for reasons Yu Xuan couldn’t yet explain, his instincts screamed that whatever awaited him next...

Would change far more than just the shape of a weapon.

***

Arriving outside the pagoda, Ximen Juesheng stopped.

He glanced at Yu Xuan once, then calmly turned and walked inside, leaving him behind with Jian Chen.

Yu Xuan’s expression immediately stiffened.

This was bad.

Jian Chen’s face was already far too similar to his father’s for comfort, but it wasn’t just the appearance.

It was the bearing.

The calm sharpness.

The way his gaze seemed to peel layers off people.

And Yu Xuan could tell.

This man wanted answers.

The kind Yu Xuan had absolutely no intention of giving.

While Yu Xuan mentally prepared himself for interrogation hell, Ximen Juesheng entered the pagoda.

The doors closed silently behind him.

After a brief pause, an unseen permission was granted.

The space within shifted.

Ximen Juesheng found himself standing before Hundun.

He immediately lowered his posture slightly.

"Lord Hundun," he said respectfully.

This was not empty courtesy.

There was a reason the Third Human Emperor showed restraint here.

Hundun did not bother with pleasantries.

"Why are you here, Human Emperor?" Hundun asked, its voice echoing directly within Ximen Juesheng’s mind.

Straight to the point.

Hundun had no interest in human schemes, especially not now.

The challenger this time was already troublesome enough.

And this Human Emperor?

Even worse.

’If this bastard is plotting the Third Heaven–Human War I’ll personally throw him into limbo the moment I’m freed.’ Hundun thought coldly.

Hundun enjoyed chaos.

But there was a difference between natural chaos and idiots flipping the board.

It did not tolerate disturbances within its territory.

And to Hundun, the Primordial Chaos itself was exactly that.

Its garden.

A gardener did not tolerate raging weeds destroying the soil.

And beings like the Human Emperor, who treated Primordial Chaos as a chessboard for ambition, were nothing more than pests – useful at times, but dangerous when left unchecked.

Hundun’s unseen presence pressed subtly forward.

"Speak," it said.

Ximen Juesheng did not hesitate.

"I was wondering if you would spare a True Primordial Chaos Crystal."

For the first time in a long while, Hundun felt something very close to disbelief.

Silence fell.

Then.

"...Did I hear you correctly?" Hundun asked slowly.

"You want a True Primordial Chaos Crystal?"

"Yes," the Human Emperor replied calmly.

"Apart from you, there is no one else in this sealed space I can ask. And I intend to forge a new weapon for Yu Xuan."

That single sentence carried outrageous implications.

A True Primordial Chaos Crystal was not some random resource that could be bargained over.

It was not a Lesser Chaos Crystal.

Nor even a Greater Chaos Crystal.

It was a condensation of Primordial Chaos Essence itself, something that formed naturally only over a really long period of time.

Even Hundun treated such a crystal as a rare resource.

Hundun did not even pretend to consider it.

"I refuse," it said flatly.

Ximen Juesheng merely smiled.

"Well, don’t be so quick to reject," he said mildly.

"At least hear my offer first..."

Hundun’s presence twisted slightly, irritation rippling through it.

This human truly had no fear.

Meanwhile.

Far away from the pagoda, according to Yu Xuan’s increasingly unreliable sense of time, half a day had passed.

Yu Xuan was currently hanging upside down from a nearby tree, one leg hooked around a branch, arms crossed behind his head.

Jian Chen stood a short distance away, eyes closed, arms folded, unmoving like a sword embedded in the earth.

The reason for Yu Xuan’s... posture?

Exhaustion.

Not physical.

But mental one.

He had answered the same question at least seventeen times.

"What is your connection to me?"

"I don’t know."

"Then why do our auras resonate?"

"I really don’t know."

"Are you hiding something?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"No."

"Then explain—"

Old people really do have patience.

And at some point, Yu Xuan had simply given up.

Now he was thinking about random, deeply unimportant things.

Like if hanging upside down actually improved blood circulation.

Or.

Why the sky suddenly went dark?

A massive shadow passed over him.

Yu Xuan’s relaxed expression vanished instantly.

He unhooked his leg and landed lightly, snapping his gaze upward.

His pupils contracted.

The sun was gone.

Not eclipsed but the moon.

Rather Covered.

A colossal silhouette stretched across the heavens, wings unfurled to an impossible span.

It had the body of a fish – vast, ancient, and powerful yet instead of fins, it bore wings like those of a divine bird.

Tail fins that fanned out like feathers.

It moved slowly, majestically, as though the sky itself existed merely to accommodate its passage.

And it was huge.

So enormous that it blotted out the sun entirely, casting the world below into shadow.

Yu Xuan’s breath caught.

"...No way."

His mind raced.

He had seen this before.

Not in reality.

But in stories.

In dusty old books from the Yu Clan library.

In one particular book he had read obsessively as a child.

Tales of the Spirit Chicken.

A legendary story.

And among its pages, alongside the spiritually awakened chicken protagonist...

There was a friendly companion.

A being that traversed seas and skies alike.

A mythical existence.

Yu Xuan swallowed.

"...A Kun Peng."

He was seeing a legendary Kun Peng.