Chapter 114 - 88: There Are Four Profound Skills, Nine Calamities Demon-Vanquishing

He slowly sighed, placing his foot on the Big Spear resting on the boat. "Marshal Li, are you here to hunt me down?"

Li Zongkang shook his head slightly and said softly, "Lord Duan guessed you would take the waterway."

Xu Guang slowly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Li Zongkang was not an enemy.

"Before Lord Duan initiated the Sealing Heaven, he told me to leave Qing State. I didn’t want to go. I stayed behind to seek revenge.

"He also asked me to pass a message to you: make good use of the Mountain and River Divine Seal."

"So, you joined the Yellow Heaven Sect?" Xu Guang thought.

Xu Guang remained silent. Duan Jue had treated him well. If his Cultivation proved successful one day, he would avenge the man as well. Thus, he asked, "Who exactly killed Lord Duan?"

Li Zongkang looked up toward Feiyun City. "Lord Duan is not dead.

"Many plotted against him. State Chief Lin Yu and the lower nine sects of the Earthly Branches Twelve Sects were all accomplices..."

In truth, Li Zongkang wasn’t telling the whole story. On the day Duan Jue initiated the Sealing Heaven, they had faced a siege. Li Zongkang, with his illustrious reputation, naturally possessed extraordinary skills. The injuries he bore were left from a life-and-death struggle with a Sensing Profound expert.

Later, Zhang Qing arrived in person. Appreciating Li Zongkang’s talent, he ordered the Demon Sect members to stop. Li Zongkang could have originally left safely...

Duan Jue, however, was essentially dead. Sealing Heaven with one’s soul was a taboo power of the Cultivation of Literature. Once unleashed, both body and soul would be annihilated.

Xu Guang knew this, just as he knew of Li Zongkang’s deep admiration for Duan Jue.

"If I, Xu, ever encounter anyone from the Earthly Branches Twelve Sects in the future, I will kill them without fail," Xu Guang declared.

Li Zongkang fell silent. He slowly released the boat, causing countless ripples to spread across the sparkling water. He was clearing the way for Xu Guang.

As the boat slowly glided across the surface, the two men maintained eye contact. To Xu Guang’s surprise, Li Zongkang said softly, "Take care, Brother Yixuan."

Taken aback, Xu Guang cupped his fists. "Farewell, Brother Ning De!"

The rest of the journey was smooth sailing. They soon crossed the borders of Feiyun City, easing Xu Guang’s worries considerably.

These past few days, he had occasionally released a Messenger Owl to gather news about Feiyun City. However, the bird was too dim-witted to bring back any useful intelligence.

Still, the absence of the apocalyptic massacre and blood seas he had imagined from the Yellow Heaven Sect brought him some peace of mind. Although he was somewhat selfish, he could not bear to see his homeland turned into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

After traveling for about another half a month, the group stopped to rest at a Water God Temple built in a small village near Jing City in Qing State.

The village chief was not a friendly man. In fact, in this era, it was hard to find anyone who would be kind to outsiders. While there were still places with honest and simple folk, it was far more common for harsh environments to breed treacherous people.

After Xu Guang punched a large tree until it tilted, he handed the village chief three taels of silver and dismissed the villagers.

The arduous journey had left visible exhaustion on everyone’s faces. The two children, Wang Wen and Xing Hua, looked especially pale.

In contrast, Xu Guang’s child, Xu Zhan, was looking more and more human. Over the past few days of growth, fueled by the uninterrupted supply of Essence of Life from his mother, he had developed significantly.

"Zhan is extraordinary by nature. He truly lives up to being born as one of the Abnormal People," Xu Chun said as she cradled the fleshy sphere that was Xu Zhan.

Wang Ming was speechless, knowing his wife was subtly criticizing him. He quickly changed the subject and asked Xu Guang, "Erlang, what kind of Bloodline Power does Zhan have? Were there any remarkable figures among the Xu Family ancestors?"

Before Xu Guang could speak, Xu Chun chimed in. "What bloodline? Our family doesn’t even have a genealogy book. My nephew’s bloodline comes from Brother Guang. From now on, he will be the founding ancestor of the Xu Family."

Wang Ming and Xu Guang exchanged a glance, both at a loss for words.

Since Xu Zhan’s birth, Xu Chun had never shown any disgust toward him. She genuinely treated him like a treasure.

Xu Guang could feel Xu Chun’s profound love and couldn’t help but shoot a pitying glance at Xu Zhan. He wondered if the little guy would be able to handle such suffocating affection when he grew up.

RUMBLE!

An arc of lightning flashed across the sky.

The weather this year was peculiar. Even though winter had already set in, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and sudden storms still arrived every few days.

Xu Guang stood at the entrance of the temple. After a brief wait, Hai came sprinting from afar, carrying an elk in its mouth.

"Why are you so slow?"

Xu Guang kicked the beast in mild distaste.

Among all the captive Exotic Beasts, this fellow had consumed quite a bit of the Blood of Transformation simply because Ji Xiaolu liked it. Yet, it was the most useless of them all. It was neither strong nor possessed any special abilities; it just looked a bit smarter than the rest. Its greatest skill was acting cute to win Ji Xiaolu’s favor.

Hai whimpered in grievance.

Xu Guang perfunctorily patted its head as a form of comfort, then turned and carried the elk into the temple.

"Let’s all rest here and roast something warm to eat."

While roasting the venison, Xu Guang and Wang Ming discussed their plans.

Suddenly, a cry of surprise from Wang Wen, accompanied by the loud wailing of a baby, instantly caught Xu Guang’s attention.

Without a second thought, he rushed into the dilapidated inner hall. There, he saw a joyful Ji Xiaolu holding a baby who looked like a plump New Year’s doll. The infant was struggling as if trying to get down and walk, wailing all the while.

"Lu, is this Zhan’Er?" Xu Guang asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Ji Xiaolu nodded, her face brimming with joy. "When the thunder clapped outside just now, a fluorescent glow suddenly lit up on Zhan’Er’s body. Before I could even call you, he rolled onto the ground and turned into this."

Overjoyed, Xu Guang stepped forward and embraced his child. A profound sense of blood connection surged in his heart.

He felt a genuine, heartfelt joy. His child was not a freak!

However, he couldn’t discern Xu Zhan’s Bloodline Power; he only knew that the child could run right after taking human form.

Xu Guang didn’t harbor any excessive expectations. With the Searcher, Xu Zhan would undoubtedly have a bright future.