Chapter 1788 - 321:

Li Zhiyuan: "I don't think Old Tian's plan will succeed."

Zhao Yi: "Whether Old Tian succeeds or not, it doesn't affect my decision to go back and recognize the old lady as my honorary grandmother. Our Zhao family has committed so many sins; it's only fitting for those surnamed Zhao to become someone's grandson."

In the bedroom.

Jin Xingshan was still looking at those paintings. This was the first time in years that he knew about his daughter's situation.

He particularly liked the painting depicting a card game, rubbing his fingertips over it for a long time.

But at that moment, it seemed like the painting was set on fire, turning a portion into a smoky yellow.

The old man was stunned, somewhat at a loss. Fortunately, the smokiness did not spread nor affect the area portraying his daughter; it merely completely covered the "old lady" playing cards at the same table.

Jin Xingshan's mouth opened, fear showed in his eyes, which gradually transformed into a kind of reverence.

He probably guessed the young man's identity.

...

The preparation was simple; all that was needed was an offering table.

Lin Shuyou was seen by Ping as he was getting ready, and she swiftly set up the offering table.

After lighting the candles, she deliberately kept a distance from the offering table, standing under the eaves, not daring to enter the yard.

She probably often helped Jin Xingshan prepare for the ancestral rituals before, but every time the ritual began, Jin Xingshan would ask her to stay away as much as possible.

It wasn't because her stepdaughter status made her unfit to honor the Jin Family ancestors, but Jin Xingshan didn't want to affect her in any way, even if she wasn't of Jin Family blood, yet this kind of thing... just feared the slightest possibility.

Lin Shuyou carried Jin Xingshan out and placed him on a platform made up of several long benches behind the offering table.

Jin Xingshan flicked his fingertips, a thread shot out, coiling around the well cover, with the other end tied to his wrist.

This scene was really similar to the method Liu Jinxia had figured out for herself.

One could only say Grandma Liu indeed had "talents from family upbringing."

Li Zhiyuan stood beside Jin Xingshan, pulled out another thread from him, not immediately binding it to his own hand, but wrapping it around a nail.

"You can start."

Jin Xingshan's eyes showed determination, and from his throat came an obscure, unintelligible tone.

Soon, a slight scraping sound was heard from below the well mouth.

The residual spirit awoke.

The thread trembled, Jin Xingshan closed his eyes, the scales on his back suddenly filled with vitality, looking very fierce and terrifying.

"Buzz!"

The well cover trembled, the Black Flood Dragon residual spirit was about to come up to feast.

Li Zhiyuan activated Walking Yin, watching as Jin Xingshan's already scarce Blood Qi began to reverse, turning black afterwards.

The old man's body had reached its limit, he probably won't be able to withstand this round of "suppression."

Usually, when the Jin Family carried out this ritual, many supporting arrangements were in place, but this time, Li Zhiyuan only prepared an offering table and nothing else.

This was akin to making Jin Xingshan face Black Flood Dragon residual spirit directly, and the latter sensed today's special occasion, thus became extra excited.

Li Zhiyuan flicked the nail away, wrapped the thread around his middle finger.

The next moment, just like the experience when first entering the yard, all people and things around disappeared, as if in his view, only he and that well remained.

Oh, and also Jin Xingshan.

He was kneeling there, incredibly small while almost transparent.

The young man experienced the environment here, this was a dimension of spiritual consciousness, also understandable as a dream, just like the kind Dream Ghost previously crafted.

As long as you have sufficiently thick spiritual power to rely on, here, you can be very "free," everything that cannot be concretized in reality can be presented one by one here.

Li Zhiyuan walked up to Jin Xingshan.

Jin Xingshan could speak here.

"I must apologize..."

At this moment, the disparity in spiritual realms was incredibly clear.

Although Jin Xingshan was now so old that he seemed to be on the verge of collapse, when he was young and first took over the suppression of the Black Flood Dragon Skin here from his father's hands, he was nowhere near as substantial and coherent as the young man before him.

Initially, upon seeing this young man in front, Jin Xingshan once thought he hadn't "entered," still residing in reality.

Li Zhiyuan: "Do you need me to help you disengage and leave?"

Jin Xingshan was only meant to initiate; he needed him to enter here.

Now that he had entered, Jin Xingshan was no longer useful.

Jin Xingshan: "I want to see it terminated, this is the goal for many generations of my Jin Family."

But upon reflection, Jin Xingshan spoke again: "I might as well leave..."

Li Zhiyuan: "Then you stay here."

Jin Xingshan: "Will I be a burden to you..."

Li Zhiyuan: "No."

Actually, Jin Xingshan had an unspoken line he felt embarrassed to express, his concern about being affected, spirally annihilated, and dying, depriving him of the chance to see his daughter.

He was a very conflicted person, constantly oscillating between ancestral teachings and his daughter, yet he was a perfectly ordinary person.

Li Zhiyuan: "I promised you, that you'd see your daughter."

"Bang!"

Behind him, the well cover exploded, a roar echoed out.

Previously, when Li Zhiyuan greeted it, it backed off, but this time, sensing Li Zhiyuan's presence stimulated its ferocity once again.

Jin Xingshan looked at the young man in front of him: "It... is coming..."

Li Zhiyuan turned around, facing the Black Flood Dragon.

It wasn't particularly huge, resembling a giant python in shape, but thicker and more robust than a python, and the horn atop its head gave it a special majesty.

Its physical form was long gone, only leaving a small piece of skin, but the newly born spirit, at least on the spiritual level, completed itself.