From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 21 Six Years of Waiting

The spirit boat glided through the night at an extremely high speed, yet remained as smooth as if it were gliding on still water.

Lin Chen stood in a corner of the cabin, while Chen Xuanfeng leaned back on a cushion, his face pale, but his spirits had improved considerably. Lu Qinghe was personally controlling the spirit boat in the cockpit, while two other disciples stood guard at the cabin door, their expressions alert.

Uncle Chen.

Lin Chen spoke, his voice low and deep.

"You just said that I've waited for you for sixteen years."

Chen Xuanfeng opened his eyes and looked at Lin Chen with a complicated expression.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Lin Chen said. "About my parents, about my background, about... why you're in Willow River Town."

Chen Xuanfeng fell silent.

Moonlight streamed through the portholes of the hearse, casting dappled shadows on his face. His expression shifted between light and shadow, like an old movie playing slowly.

"This matter..." he began, his voice hoarse, "goes back to thirty years ago."

"Thirty years ago, I was the number one genius of the Qingyun Sect. I reached the Foundation Establishment stage at fifteen, the Core Formation stage at eighteen, the Golden Core stage at twenty, and by twenty-three... I had already reached the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm."

A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"At that time, the entire Qingyun Sect was spreading the word that I would break through to the Nascent Soul Realm before the age of thirty and become the youngest Nascent Soul Realm expert in nearly a thousand years."

Lin Chen didn't speak, but listened quietly.

"But I know that's impossible."

Why?

Chen Xuanfeng did not answer directly. He reached out and gently pressed his hand against his chest, where a faint black line spread beneath his skin, like a sleeping venomous snake.

"Because of this thing."

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I planted it when I was twenty-five," Chen Xuanfeng said. "The person who planted it was the one I trusted most."

"Your junior brother?"

"No," Chen Xuanfeng shook his head, "It's my master."

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

"The former sect leader of Qingyun Sect... my mentor." Chen Xuanfeng's voice was calm, but beneath that calm lay countless years of suppressed anger and pain. "He planted a restriction in my dantian, preventing my cultivation from ever breaking through to the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm."

Why?

"Because of a secret."

Chen Xuanfeng raised his head, his gaze passing over Lin Chen and looking at the night sky outside the porthole.

"An ultimate secret about the river of time."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat.

"Do you know about the River of Time?" Chen Xuanfeng asked.

"I know a little," Lin Chen said. "The mark between the eyebrows... seems to be related to the river of time."

"It's not just about that." Chen Xuanfeng turned his head and looked directly into Lin Chen's eyes. "That mark... was given to you by your father."

Lin Chen's body stiffened.

"My father..."

"Your father's name is Lin Yuan," Chen Xuanfeng said. "He is the most unique disciple in the history of the Qingyun Sect. Not because of his talent; his talent can only be considered average. But because..."

He paused.

"He carries the blood of a guardian of time."

Guardians of Time.

These four words struck Lin Chen like a thunderbolt.

"The Time Guardians are the first life forms born in the River of Time," Chen Xuanfeng continued. "Their duty is to safeguard the stability of the River of Time and prevent time paradoxes from occurring. And their bloodline... can be passed down."

"Inheritance?"

"Yes." Chen Xuanfeng nodded. "The bloodline of the Time Guardians will be passed down from generation to generation, but only one person in each generation will awaken. And the sign of awakening is the mark between the eyebrows."

Lin Chen subconsciously raised his hand and touched his brow.

The mark was still there, faintly warm.

"Your father was an Awakener of the previous generation," Chen Xuanfeng said. "But his awakening was too sudden and too intense. He was forced into the power struggle within the Qingyun Sect before he could prepare himself."

"What happened?"

Chen Xuanfeng's expression turned gloomy.

"Your father fell in love with a woman. A woman he shouldn't have loved."

"My mother?"

"No." Chen Xuanfeng shook his head. "Your mother was another woman Lin Yuan met later. She was an ordinary mortal with no talent for cultivating immortality, but Lin Yuan still chose to become her Daoist partner."

"And the woman your father loved so deeply..." His voice grew heavy, "was the daughter of the former sect leader of the Qingyun Sect. She was also my junior sister."

Lin Chen frowned.

"my mother……"

"Your mother's name is Su Wan," Chen Xuanfeng said. "She was someone Lin Yuan met while he was out training. They met, fell in love, and eventually became Daoist partners. But what Lin Yuan didn't know was..."

He paused, his gaze complex.

"Su Wan's background is far more complicated than she has made it out to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Su Wan..." Chen Xuanfeng took a deep breath, "She comes from an ancient civilization that has already disappeared. That civilization was called the Dimensional Rulers."

Dimensional Dominator.

These four words weighed heavily on Lin Chen's heart like a mountain.

"In ancient times, a civilization was the first to complete dimensional ascension and enter a higher dimension," Chen Xuanfeng said in a deep voice. "That civilization called itself the Dimensional Rulers. They possessed the power to manipulate time, space, and causality, making them the most powerful beings in the entire river of time."

"But they...failed."

"fail?"

"Dimensional ascension comes at a price," Chen Xuanfeng said. "In their pursuit of higher dimensions, the dimensional rulers exhausted the very foundation of their civilizations. When they finally stepped into higher dimensions, they discovered that their civilizations could no longer be sustained."

"So, they made a decision."

"What decision?"

"To sow the seeds of civilization in lower-dimensional universes."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat.

"Su Wan... is she a descendant of the dimensional ruler?" His voice was somewhat dry.

"She is not a descendant," Chen Xuanfeng shook his head. "She is a dimensional ruler herself."

"What?!"

"Before their demise, the dimensional rulers sealed their life's cultivation and memories in a container and released it into a lower-dimensional universe," Chen Xuanfeng said. "That container... later took on a human form."

"That person is Su Wan."

Lin Chen's mind went blank.

He never knew that his mother... had such a background.

"Su Wan possesses fragmented memories of a dimensional ruler, but they are incomplete," Chen Xuanfeng continued. "She only knows that her origins are not simple, but she doesn't know exactly what they are."

"Until she met your father."

"Lin Yuan is an awakened guardian of time; he can sense abnormal fluctuations in the River of Time. When he met Su Wan, he felt it—a call from the depths of the River of Time."

"call?"

"The river of time is calling Su Wan," Chen Xuanfeng said. "Or rather... the remnant consciousness of the dimensional ruler is calling her back to a higher dimension."

"But Su Wan refused."

"She refused the call of the higher dimensions, choosing to remain in the lower-dimensional universe and live with Lin Yuan." Chen Xuanfeng's voice softened. "She said something that I still remember..."

"I am now just Su Wan, a mortal. The glory of the past is irrelevant to me."

Lin Chen's eyes felt slightly hot.

That was his mother.

A woman who gave up her status as the ruler of a dimension to choose to love a mortal.

"But the Qingyun Sect will not let her go." Chen Xuanfeng's voice became heavy again. "The former sect leader discovered Su Wan's background. He wanted to obtain the power of the dimensional ruler, so he set a trap and captured Su Wan."

"Lin Yuan single-handedly stormed into the Qingyun Sect to save her."

"result……"

"What was the result?"

Chen Xuanfeng remained silent for a long time.

"Lin Yuan is dead." His voice seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat, "He died in front of the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate."

"Su Wan... has also been arrested."

That year, your mother was three months pregnant with you.

Lin Chen's body was trembling.

"My father..."

"Before he died, Lin Yuan used all his time to protect his bloodline, condensing it into a mark, which he then injected into the fetus in your mother's womb," Chen Xuanfeng said. "That mark was his final gift to you."

"It was also the last hope he left for this world."

Lin Chen closed his eyes.

Tears fell silently.

He remembered the jade pendant, the letter, and the look in his father's eyes before he died...

"And then?" His voice was hoarse.

"Later, I learned the truth," Chen Xuanfeng said. "I wanted to rescue Su Wan, but the former sect leader had already hidden her away. I went to confront him, but he ambushed me and placed this restriction on me."

He pointed to the black markings on his chest.

"My cultivation was crippled, and I was expelled from the Qingyun Sect."

"But I didn't give up."

"I used my remaining strength to track down Su Wan's whereabouts. I know she is still alive and is being held captive in the forbidden area of ​​the Qingyun Sect."

"I've waited sixteen years, waiting for you to grow up, waiting for you to awaken, waiting for you to have the ability to enter the Qingyun Sect..."

He raised his head, his cloudy eyes glistening with tears.

"Chen'er, I owe your parents a life."

"These sixteen years have been spent waiting for you."

"So that one day I can lead you back to the Qingyun Sect and rescue your mother."

Lin Chen clenched his fist.

"My mother... is she still alive?"

"Alive." Chen Xuanfeng nodded. "The former sect leader is dead, but his successor is still after Su Wan. She's imprisoned in the forbidden area of ​​the Qingyun Sect, which... is where I need to go."

"The place we're going."

Lin Chen took a deep breath and suppressed her tears.

"Does Lu Qinghe... know him?"

"He knows part of it," Chen Xuanfeng said. "He only knows that Su Wan is a key figure, but he doesn't know that she is the incarnation of the Dimensional Ruler."

"This secret is known only to me and the former sect leader."

"And you."

He looked at Lin Chen with a solemn gaze.

"Now you know."

at the same time.

Outside the city in the clouds, deep in the woods.

Murong Xue knelt on one knee, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Her right arm hung limply, the bones broken.

Shadow Six stood not far away, holding a black short blade in his hand, dripping blood.

"It's been three years." Shadow Six's voice was cold and playful. "I've almost forgotten what the Murong family's unique hidden weapon tastes like."

"Today, I can finally have another taste."

Murong Xue gritted her teeth and stood up, supporting herself with her left hand.

"You think... killing me... is all it takes...?"

"Of course not." Shadow Six laughed. "After killing you, I'll go kill that kid named Lin Chen. He has something that lord wants on him."

"you……"

"Don't worry, you'll keep each other company on the road to the underworld." Shadow Six raised his short blade. "But before that..."

"Let me enjoy this moment."

He moved.

A black blade flashed through the night sky, aiming straight for Murong Xue's throat.

Murong Xue did not dodge.

She simply raised her left hand, her still intact hand, and in her palm, she held a silver jade talisman.

"The Murong family... wiped out three years ago." Her voice was icy, resolute. "Do you think we left nothing behind?"

She crushed the jade talisman.

Instantly, a dazzling white light burst forth from the jade talisman, illuminating the entire forest as if it were daytime.

Shadow Six's expression changed drastically.

"This is!"

"The legacy of our ancestors." Murong Xue's voice echoed in the white light, "The last strength of the Murong family."

"Shadow Six, you think it's over after you wiped out our entire family?"

"No."

"This is just the beginning."

The white light grew brighter and brighter, like a sun rising in the forest.

Shadow Six wanted to retreat, but the white light had already enveloped him.

"Murong Xue, you've gone mad!" he roared. "You can't escape this area either..."

"I know."

Murong Xue closed her eyes.

"But at least... I can drag you along with me."

"Lin Chen..." she whispered, "I'm sorry..."

The white light devoured everything.