Deep in the night, near the vilge’s border and just outside the barrier prepared by Da Wei and Jin Tianrui for the vilge, the two Yan siblings silently made their way southwards, making sure to suppress their Qi signature so that no one would know that they were leaving.

  While, technically, they were allowed to leave anytime after Da Ling had dismissed them, they had waited for a long while before finally deciding to leave in the dead of the night so as not to arm the vilgers.

  This was due to a multitude of factors, but one of the major ones was that they were very self-aware of the threat to their life in this pce.

  Under the power of the strange formation around the vilge, they were no different from mortals, albeit with stronger bodies. This meant that it would not take much for anyone to kill them outright and they would not be able to do anything.

  And given the ire they felt from the people of this pce, the chance was very high that they would be silently killed off once they tried to leave the vilge for the sake of keeping Da Ling and this vilge’s existence a secret.

  This was not just specution on their end since this was a common method that is used across the continent to keep secrets intact and a tactic that they themselves have used many times in the past.

  Worse yet was the fact that whatever kind of Qi was used for this barrier interfered heavily with their communication jades, making it nearly impossible for them to contact reinforcements.

  In fact, during the few weeks that the Yan siblings had spent in this vilge, they had spotted many baffling anomalies that simply did not fit in with such a backward pce.

  Rich Pure Qi that was even more concentrated than what they would normally feel at the holy nd. Artifacts were a common sight across the vilge and being used by everyone, even the mortals, which would have been an impossibility anywhere else in the world.

  Strange buildings and their purposes that were even more mysterious, such as the so-called ‘school’ where the children and even a few adults were taught knowledge that only cultivators were supposed to know along with body cultivation for those without Qi cultivation potential while also teaching Qi cultivation with the help of high-level cultivation techniques to those that could cultivate Qi.

  Then there are the mysterious buildings called ‘Factories’ where strange contraptions were being manufactured by the people employed there, the inner workings of which were kept a strict secret from everyone not involved.

  Even more strange things that they spotted were the strange vehicles that kept moving to and from the vilge towards somewhere else on a path paved with spiritual materials.

  All in all, this pce looked nothing like a frontier vilge. It looked more like a miniature holy nd.

  Perhaps, the words of Da Ling had some merit when she said that she had already found her ‘holy nd’?

  As they slowly made their way across the barrier and finally managed to regain their cultivation, their communication jades started to incessantly buzz with hundreds of unanswered calls from their mistress, making them sweat in fear for her safety since she would not call so much unless something really serious happened to her.

  Yan Xinyan immediately sent her Qi into the jade, making it connect directly to its counterpart which is with her mistress.

  Within seconds, the call connected as the distressed face of their mistress appeared.

  “Where the hell did you two go!? Do you know how worried I was when you did not answer my summons for more than a few weeks??”

  The two siblings immediately knelt on the ground and started to speak.

  “We are sorry for not answering your calls, mistress. But, we were caught in a bad situation and could do nothing about it.”

  “Xinyan is right, mistress. We managed to find your niece, but the circumstances around her are quite complicated so we did not have a chance to contact you until now.”

  “You found Yan Ling!?? Where is she- no, forget that. Just take her and bring her back. I’ll hear the details ter. I really need you all to get back to the holy nd as soon as possible. Things have gone in a direction that I never could have imagined.”

  The urgency in Yan Huo’er’s voice made the siblings tense in worry.

  Yan Liehuo could not help but speak up.

  “Mistress? What happened?”

  “The Hidden Heavens Holy Land happened. Those bastards finally revealed why they were so cross with us when you two destroyed that sect all those months ago. Do you remember Huxing Liuyue?”

  “You mean the daughter of the ‘Bloody Seas’ Huxing Lianhua? The one that ran away after some kind of conflict with the elders of the Hidden Heavens Holy Land? The one that was given the moniker of ‘Raging Seas of the North’ after her rampage in the Obsidian Valley Holy Land?”

  “Yeah, her. Apparently, she was not dead like we were led to believe. Or rather, she did not die at that time but a few years after giving birth to a son. And guess where her son lived?”

  “….No way!! If they knew where she was all these years, why did they not take her back!? Weren’t they the ughingstock of the holy nds for letting one of their juniors steal their most important heritage and run away? Why did they not take the Heavenly Reversal Bead back along with their daughter?”

  “Who the hell knows!? The important thing you need to know right now is that they recently came to know that her son is still alive and living in that backward empire where you two are.”

  The slightly frightened look on Yan Huo’er’s face made the siblings feel a chill travel down their spine.

  “The Hidden Heavens Holy Land has fully mobilized all of their disciples and even called in all the favors that others owe them. They are now searching for this man throughout the continent and will not show any mercy to anyone who gets in their way. I need you two to take Yan Ling and come back as soon as possible so that you don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

  “….Do we know who this man is?”

  Yan Huo’er nodded her head and showed the image of a fairy handsome man with bck hair and eyes. The thing that stood out to the duo was just how simir he looked to Huxing Liuyue.

  Even without knowing about his retionship with her, they would only need to look at him once to directly figure out that he was reted to that woman.

  “Somehow, those bastards managed to find a picture of him before he left that sect. In the sect, he was supposedly known as Wang Xiang and was unaware of his true identity. The information they released is sparse so we don’t have the full details, but it is highly likely that he may have changed his name by now and could be literally anywhere in that empire. The only reason I am telling you two any of this is because I need you two to stay away from this man. The Crimson Realm Holy Land cannot afford to offend the Hidden Heavens Holy Land in any way, and if this boy is anything like his mother and shares her battle lust, we are doomed!”

  “Rest assured, Mistress, we will avoid contact with him at any cost. That aside, there is something that we must tell you.”

  “Whatever it is, can wait until you three get here-“

  “Mistress, Yan Ling, now going by Da Ling, has-“

  Before Yan Xinyan could continue her words, the image was suddenly cut off, startling the siblings before a tired voice rang out in their surroundings, making them stiffen up in surprise.

  “Really, I overestimated your intelligence. I thought you two would be wise enough not to mention this incident to your higher-ups if only to keep your lives intact, but looks like your loyalty is more overwhelming than your survival instincts.”

  “Who’s there!?”

  The siblings suppressed the fear in their hearts as the sound of footsteps echoed around them, slowly approaching their location.

  However, when the figure was finally revealed under the moon light, they felt their fear be repced by confusion.

  For facing them was the old man with a head full of white hair and a messy beard who was responsible for keeping an eye on them when they were kneeling at the center of the vilge.

  They recognized the old bcksmith and knew that he was a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment realm, a retively high level in this area but not that much in comparison to what they were used to.

  Now that they were outside the barrier and could fully use their Soul Transformation realm cultivation, they could not understand how this old man still confidently stood in front of them.

  From what they overheard in the vilge, this old man was called ‘Old Feng’ by everyone and was the vilge’s bcksmith.

  Looking between the calm old man and the communication jade that had stopped working, it did not take long before things clicked in their mind, making their temper explode.

  “You damned old man!! What did you do!?”

  Old Feng simply raised his brow at those words before shrugging, making the siblings even more angry.

  However, the two had learned their lesson after these few weeks and did not recklessly put pressure on the old man through their cultivation, fearing that the barrier, despite being outside its influence, could do something to them should they be careless.

  Old Feng must have realized the reason for their caution because he ughed at their expression before smiling amusedly.

  “Looks like you two are capable of learning. Good. This makes things simpler.”

  Suddenly, the old man turned serious, making the siblings feel chills despite knowing that the old man was not a threat to them.

  “Leave this vilge and never reveal its location to anyone, even your mistress that you were talking to until now. Never look for little Ling again and tell your mistress that she is now the daughter of someone that you cannot afford to offend.”

  The old man made a peculiar expression as he looked into the distance.

  “Seriously, don’t piss him off. I have never seen a brat more bizarre than that guy and trust me, you do not want to be his enemy.”

  Yan Liehuo, being the bullheaded idiot he was, pushed down the strange fear that enveloped his heart and gred at the old man.

  “And what gives you the right to order us around? Old man? If you have not noticed yet, we are outside the influence of your barrier and you are just a foundation establishment realm cultivator while we are Soul Transformation realm experts. You are like an ant that we can crush with just a thought.”

  “…Is that so? Why don’t you try it then?”

  Suddenly, the old man took out a massive, pin looking-hammer, from his storage ring and held a casual stance, clearly looking down on the Yan siblings.

  And yet, they did not act. Because the moment the hammer came out, they immediately sensed the power held within the weapon, clearly informing them that it was at least an Earth-grade, maybe even a Heaven-grade, weapon.

  More importantly, they clearly recognized that hammer and they could not help but take a step back in abject terror.

  “Y-You! How do you have that hammer!? Who are you!?”

  The old man gave an amused and self-deprecating smile.

  “Just an old man living out the st years of his life in this peaceful pce. And as for my name, I suspect you already know it if you can recognize my hammer.”

  “…..Feng Tianyan. The divine bcksmith of the Obsidian Valley.”

  Yan Liehuo moved forward with rage, ignoring the awe-filled whisper of his sister.

  “Impossible! Fen Tianyan is dead, the Obsidian Valley confirmed it themselves. After he was falsely accused and stripped of his cultivation because of internal politics, he was killed by his enemies. So, tell me the truth, who are you, or don’t bme me for being impolite!”

  “Ah! The ignorance of youth. Come then, show me what your being ‘impolite’ looks like.”

  Yan Liehuo could hold back no longer as the humiliation he had endured throughout the st few weeks, the fear for his mistress’s safety, the helplessness he felt when Da Ling refused to come back with him, and now this, combined together finally made him explode.

  With his full cultivation packed behind his attack, he sent forth a straight punch with enough force to level a mountain.

  And yet, this force that was equivalent to a natural disaster was casually defeated when Old Feng swung his hammer and hit Yan Liehuo, making him bounce like a baseball hit by a batter, and shooting him into the distance.

  “Liehuo!”

  Yan Xinyan tried to go after her brother but was forced to stay put when overwhelming killing intent locked onto the woman, making her look at the old man with abject fear.

  Reading in the records that this old man’s killing intent could make even rampaging demonic beasts freeze in terror was one thing, to experience it personally was something else altogether.

  And yet, it made sense to the woman since this man’s lineage was no secret to all the Holy Lands.

  It is said that during the first era, also known as the Age of Chaos, there existed many races of sapient beings in this world. Some, are born with superior bodies, others with superior spirit roots. Some races were born of a specific elemental Qi while others were unmatched body cultivators.

  Out of these countless different races, there were five races that stood at the pinnacle of the world in those times.

  The Forest folk, elemental beings born from Wood Qi that took on a humanoid form with long, pointy ears and unmatched mastery of Wood Qi cultivation.

  The Giants. Beings that were masters of the Earth Qi and capable of colpsing the very ground beneath them with a single stomp. Beings of unmatched strength yet also unmatched in the art of spiritual bcksmithing.

  The Sea Tribes, beings born from the abundant Water Qi of the oceans and as a result, are unmatched in maniputing anything reted to water. Their ability to easily transition from a humanoid form to that of an aquatic creature gives them the ability to easily travel across the oceans as they please. It also gave them unmatched wealth as they alone could monopolize the treasures hidden beneath the waves.

  The Puppet race, is creatures born from the abundant Metal Qi found beneath the earth and the ability to manipute any metal in their surroundings. Their bodies are made entirely out of spiritual metals allowing them to easily tunnel beneath the earth and live peacefully.

  And finally, the Fire spirits. Another race of elemental beings that were born from the Fire Qi of the volcanos and magma beneath the earth. These beings, being made of pure Qi, could take any form they liked, but most of the time, they took on the form of serpentine creatures that closely resembled the Dragons of the second and third eras.

  Some even specute that the Dragons were born based on the images of the Fire Spirits.

  It is believed that in those chaotic times, humans were nothing more than food for the other races and led lives simir to livestock.

  Not much is known about those times except for the fact that something happened that dramatically reduced the power of these other races and eventually led them to go extinct, allowing humans to finally become the leaders of the continent.

  Now, why was all of this important? Because the man standing in front of her, Feng Tianyan, is a man who is said to possess the bloodline of the Giants form the first era, making him unmatched in physical power and bcksmithing ability.

  It was believed that these abilities pyed a rge role in his rise to fame as the Divine Bcksmith, the spiritual bcksmith without equal in the entire continent.

  The old man gred at Yan Xinyan as he slowly spoke out.

  “I will repeat again. Leave, and never come back. Never mention this vilge’s existence, and never tell your mistress about Da Ling’s whereabouts. If you do, you already know what happens. After all, you don’t want to end up like my old enemies, do you?”

  Yan Xinyan frantically nodded her head, knowing better than anyone what happens when the divine bcksmith is enraged.

  The number of experts that were fttened into a paste by his hammer was not low in number and she definitely did not want to become like them.

  “Good. Now, leave.”

  She did not even waste a single second and directly shot towards her brother.

  Watching the Yan siblings disappear into the distance, Old Feng sighed tiredly and put away his hammer, finally allowing himself to curse as the pain of forcefully using his treasured weapon despite his cultivation not supporting such exertion caught up to him.

  “Damn it, Da Wei! You owe me some of the better stuff from your stash of wines for making me exert myself so much.”

  The old man grumbled as she slowly walked back home, but he could not help but smile wryly.

  “Still, who would have thought that you are a direct descendant of the Hidden Heavens Holy Land? With Da Ling, me, and you, we have three of the four holy nd’s people present in the vilge.”

  Old Feng ughed a little as he continued walking home.

  “How interesting.”

  Author Notes:

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