Chapter 629: Ch629 - Your Sword Has Likely Already Broken

"Yuchen, there has been no small amount of talk coming out of the Northern Region Ruins lately. Rumor says a new demon king was born there, one still so young and already carrying the bearing of that Demon Venerable of the old days..."

"And that Yino, the one who took the tournament champion, beat both Nangong Xi and Wen Ruzhi with his own hands. He’s riding high at the moment, blessed by the heavenly mandate. That boy is too dangerous. Best not to offend him further..."

"Yuchen, safety first in all things. We elders would rather you stay in the Lin mansion and not take this risk!"

In the ancestral hall of the Lin mansion, several old men in divination robes sat on azure dragon chairs and sighed with the weariness of age. Lin Yuchen stood before them, sullen and openly defiant.

"It’s a tournament champion, nothing more. What’s so impressive about that..."

"Back in my day, I was a tournament champion too."

"And besides, I’ve reached the peak of the Great Vehicle stage. There may be nothing between me and tribulation crossing but the Primordial True Inheritance itself! How could I give up an Opportunity like that so easily?!"

For a full month since the tournament ended, Yuchen had listened to people talk about the boy who took the champion’s crown. Every day the shame settled deeper into him.

Killing Intent surfaced in his eyes.

"That brat sits at the divine transformation stage on an ordinary day. Even burning through his potential he only reaches Emptiness Refining, two whole realms below me. What’s there to fear!"

"And who among us has no reserves to fall back on! If I overdraw the azure dragon bloodline, I can break into the tribulation crossing stage for a short while and stand equal to Pei Zhihan. Pair that with the assorted artifacts of our Lin mansion, and even a demon king out of the Northern Domain would be no match!"

A ring of azure dragon holy flame burst out around him as he spoke.

The elders exchanged glances. They knew how stubborn this child of theirs had always been, and they stopped trying to hold him back. One of them drew a jade pendant marked with the sigil of the azure dragon from his robe and held it out.

"Since your mind is made up, these old bones will not meddle further in the affairs of you young ones."

"But your younger brother Lin Ze has already met with disaster. He was the second son, still young, and even crippled there is hope of recovering him... The Northern Region Ruins is a place out of the primordial wilds, and you are the eldest son of this generation of the Lin mansion. When you travel abroad, caution above all!"

"Take this pendant. At the critical moment, it can summon a spirit body of our Lin clan’s dao protector to pull you out of the fire!"

The old man’s voice was low and heavy.

Yuchen took the pendant, and the corner of his mouth lifted with fresh confidence.

Seeing him so pleased with himself, the elders coughed and cautioned him again. "Remember, this pendant is for preserving your life! Our clan’s dao protector exists to shield the clan’s descendants. You must never use it to kill an enemy. Bullying the weak with the strong would rouse the Old Ancestors standing behind other clans, and then there would be no end to it!"

"Relax. So long as no ancient monster at the Immortal realm or above comes to meddle, my peak Great Vehicle azure dragon bloodline is the strongest of the younger generation in that ruin!"

Yuchen waved a hand and tucked the pendant into his robe, then turned to stride out with a low laugh. "Heh heh..."

"No more talk! Your grandson is off to Jianlan Sect to secure the Primordial bloodline for our Lin mansion’s line!"

"That child... honestly..."

"Haha, just like his father..."

The old men glanced at one another and stroked their white beards, more than a little comforted.

-----

Northern Region Ruins, the Heavenly Prison Deep Tower.

Humming a nursery rhyme, the white-haired girl draped in blood feathers swept them idly to part the old chains and stepped down towards the sealed woman in red at the tower’s lowest level.

The woman was a beauty of the kind that topples cities, dressed in a long and brilliant gown, and even fallen into a heavenly prison she had not lost her arrogance. A woman of the Dragon Clan.

Her circumstances, though, were nothing like they once were. A giant divine sword carved with golden holy marks stood driven into the ground like a great anchor, and the woman in red hung against its blade, bound there by countless iron chains.

In the ancient age she had been the dragon queen of the Northern Domain. After the War of Dragons and Phoenixes, all that remained to her was the name of Demon Venerable and this pit to be pressed into...

Such an ending stirred a quiet sympathy in the blood-feathered girl.

Su Yaojin turned that over in her mind as she stopped before the red-robed dragon woman, gave a simple bow and smiled. "Honored master, following your instructions, this Disciple has reached an agreement with the Noble Family."

"Word that the Primordial True Inheritance lies in the Northern Region Ruins has already spread outside. Pei Zhihan, as the sole heir of the Primordial Sword Venerable, is certain to be moved and come..."

"Once she steps into the Northern Domain, this Disciple and the Noble Family’s elders will lay a killing formation from within and without. Primordial True Inheritance or tribulation crossing cultivation, Pei Zhihan will die there without fail!"

Yaojin spoke with rising excitement, as if the pleasure of revenge already sat within reach.

Above her, the woman chained to the divine sword opened her blood-colored dragon eyes.

"Well done."

She nodded in approval first, then let her lashes fall and spoke without weight. "But remember. Pei Zhihan’s Disciple, Lin Che, must not be killed..."

The Demon Venerable’s voice was cold and clear. It was an instruction, and yet it carried no binding force at all.

Yaojin raised a brow and clenched her teeth.

"Lin Che cannot be killed...?"

"Honored master, do you not know what this Disciple has been after, ever since she was reborn and took you as her master?"

Killing Intent filled her voice, and the dragon blood surging past holding in her turned that bewitching face sickly sweet.

The Demon Venerable looked at her and gave a bitter laugh.

"Your master has been pressed beneath this Void Divine Sword for a thousand years. Whatever I say now, whatever I do, none of it is my own to command..."

"And if this Disciple insists on killing Che, and every last elder of the Noble Family with him, and one day leaves corpses lying across the whole of Jianlan Sect?"

Yaojin narrowed her dragon eyes and tested her with a cold and weighted voice. She watched the corners of the dragon woman’s eyes, and as the seconds passed she found not the slightest wavering there.

"Su Yaojin, you are you, and your master is your master."

"I have passed the Divine Gate’s warning to you. What you choose after this, whom you want to kill, what does that have to do with me?"

"Besides..."

At that the dragon woman laughed, almost with relief. "You have seen it yourself. Your master has been pinned under this Void Divine Sword for a thousand years. Even if you truly kill Che, I would have no power to stop you, would I?"

With those words the whole prison at the tower’s base fell silent.

Yaojin’s cross-shaped dragon pupils froze. Then something seemed to come clear to her, and she curled her lips with meaning. "In that case, this Disciple understands."

"Understanding is enough. Once you are out of this prison and walking a path against heaven, do not say your master taught it to you."