Chapter 248: CH. 248 | Hao Xiu’s Final Choice

One week later.

The week since the confrontation with Hao Ming had been the calmest stretch of time Lin Tian had experienced in a while.

Hao Xiu, daughter of the Hao Family, had already come by twice in the past few days.

Her reason for visiting was plain enough, she wanted to know how her father and brother were doing.

Lin Tian had asked her to come again today, exactly seven days after Hao Ming first went searching for Hao Bao.

That evening, once the blacksmith shop had closed for the night, Lin Tian invited Hao Xiu to his home.

She’d followed his earlier advice and arrived dressed in plain mortal robes rather than the ones bearing the Hao Family crest.

Part of his reasoning was simple, he didn’t want to draw the village’s attention again.

He’d already been the center of enough gossip and speculation lately, and he had no interest in stirring that up further, it was more trouble than it was worth.

The door opened, and Hao Xiu stepped inside wearing a hooded cloak, unrecognizable to anyone else, though Lin Tian could see her clearly enough.

He invited her in and introduced her to An Yue. Hao Xiu found herself momentarily stunned by An Yue’s beauty, and in that instant, she finally understood why Hao Bao had gone to such reckless lengths to steal Lin Tian’s wife away, An Yue’s grace and beauty truly surpassed that of any woman she’d ever seen.

"Greetings, Lady Lin."

An Yue nodded with a warm smile. Lin Tian locked the front door and summoned a surge of primordial qi into his palm.

With two fingers, he tore open a rift in space, a jagged black portal spreading open before them.

Hao Xiu watched the scene unfold with wide, disbelieving eyes. Lin Tian turned to look at her.

"I can still sense your father and brother’s qi aura coming from within. If they manage to find this portal, they’ll survive."

"But I can’t guarantee whether your father actually managed to find your brother or not. All you can do now is hope."

Hao Xiu listened closely to what he said, then stepped nearer to the rift without actually crossing into it. She positioned herself right beside Lin Tian.

"Can I go inside to look for them?" Hao Xiu asked.

"Go ahead," Lin Tian answered. "But I won’t be responsible for your safety."

"How long will you keep this portal open for them?" Hao Xiu asked.

Lin Tian paused for a moment, studying her face with an expression that left no room for doubt. "One stick of incense."

"What?! That’s far too short a time. How are they supposed to make it out in that window?!"

"Opening a dimensional rift isn’t a simple task. I’m expending a considerable amount of primordial qi just to create it, let alone sustain it for any length of time!"

"If you want it held open longer, I’ll let you channel your own spiritual qi to help sustain the rift."

Hao Xiu, without hesitation, agreed to what Lin Tian proposed. Lin Tian stopped feeding his primordial qi into the rift and let Hao Xiu take over.

The moment Hao Xiu mustered the courage to channel her spiritual energy to sustain the rift, her body immediately buckled, collapsing weakly, her breathing ragged, her chest aching sharply.

"What... what’s happening?!" Hao Xiu gasped.

It wasn’t just her body suffering the strain, the rift itself was affected significantly as well.

Lin Tian watched it clearly, the tear was on the verge of sealing itself shut again, unable to withstand the sheer volume of energy required to keep it open.

Lin Tian gave a small smile and stepped closer to Hao Xiu, who was still only at Mid Core Formation, straining herself far beyond her limits trying to sustain a rift built on Lin Tian’s own dao concept.

"No matter how hard you push yourself, your cultivation base simply isn’t enough to meet the energy demands of a dimensional rift."

"So? Do you still want to argue with me?" Lin Tian said firmly.

Before she could answer, a burst of energy from the rift slammed into her body. She was thrown backward, crashing into the wall of the house, smoke rising off her body as though she’d just been pulled straight out of a furnace.

Her body went limp, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. An Yue rushed to her side and began working to heal her, while Lin Tian kept his focus fixed on maintaining the rift.

"I’ll only keep this open for one stick of incense. If they don’t return by then, you’d best prepare to name a new head of the Hao Family."

Hao Xiu pulled herself up, leaning on An Yue for support. She felt a bitter sting of frustration, because what Lin Tian said was true.

There was no way she could sustain a rift like this on her own. If she pushed any further, she’d be consumed entirely by the void dimension’s overwhelming energy.

But in Lin Tian’s hands, the rift stayed open steadily, with no strain or backlash at all.

He simply took a seat in his chair, lit a stick of incense, and waited for them, sipping tea calmly all the while.

"How confident are you that they’ll actually make it back?" Hao Xiu asked. "I’ll do anything, absolutely anything, if you’re willing to help bring them home."

"I don’t need anything from you. So there’s no point begging me like that," Lin Tian replied.

"But... I don’t want to lose them."

"Hao Bao is facing the consequences of his own actions, and Hao Ming has to suffer for his son’s foolishness."

"Cause and effect. Hao Bao is the root of this entire problem," Lin Tian said firmly.

Hao Xiu listened quietly, then sat down in a chair, trying to recover her strength and steady her racing heart.

An Yue genuinely wanted to help her, but Lin Tian’s resolve was unshakable. She worried he wouldn’t listen even if she tried to intervene.

Even as Hao Xiu pleaded with An Yue, there was nothing she could do. All they could do now was wait and leave the outcome to fate.

Before long, someone stepped through the portal. It wasn’t Hao Ming, and it wasn’t Hao Bao either, it was Hao Yun, the very elder who’d once dragged Lin Tian to the Hao Family residence.

The moment Hao Xiu saw him, she was startled. She rushed toward him, looking him over carefully.

"Elder Hao Yun?!"

"Lady Hao Xiu? How are you here?" Hao Yun asked, equally stunned.

"I’ve been speaking with him," Hao Xiu answered quickly, "Forget about that. What’s the condition of my father and brother?"

Hao Yun fell silent for a moment, then shook his head as he explained everything. He told her that he and the other elders had been separated from Hao Ming early on.

They’d had no way to communicate with one another through their qi, and the void dimension stretched on so vastly it seemed to have no end at all.

By the time Hao Yun made his way back, he had no information whatsoever about Hao Bao’s fate.

"I... still haven’t been able to determine Young Master Hao Bao’s whereabouts."

Hao Yun turned to look back at the void portal. "We have to face the reality that Hao Bao... may already be gone for good!"

He glanced over at Hao Xiu standing beside him. "You’ll need to become the new Head of the Hao Family, Lady Hao Xiu!"