“A pair of children? That means there is one son and one daughter?”
Ling Xiao asked in surprise.
“That’s right. Their son has a very strange origin. It is said he was born from a heavenly descending stone. But the daughter is their biological child. Before their son was born, the daughter was already more than ten years old. Her appearance combined the best features of both parents, making her an absolutely stunning beauty. She even surpassed her mother, Yu Xuanyue, in looks.”
Feng Ming Lian explained, “Yu Xuanyue was the number one beauty of the Soul Clan. Yet her daughter, at just twelve or thirteen years old, already possessed the same level of beauty as her mother’s title of number one beauty. Moreover, her talent was even greater than her parents’. She was truly an unparalleled monster genius.”
“An unparalleled monster genius?”
“Yes. To say something you might not like to hear, Big Brother Ling, her talent was even more terrifying than yours. At twelve years old, she had already become a martial artist of the Tenth Cave Heaven Realm.”
Feng Ming Lian replied.
“Indeed terrifying.”
Ling Xiao felt somewhat shocked. Having roamed the martial world for so long, he had never heard of any child reaching the Tenth Cave Heaven Realm at the age of twelve. How exactly did she cultivate?
Just how monstrous was her talent?
But on second thought, it did not seem so surprising anymore.
He himself had reached the Second Cave Heaven Realm in just over two years. The other person took twelve years to reach the Tenth Cave Heaven Realm. In terms of talent, he did not seem inferior at all.
“It seems she was heavily nurtured by Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue?”
Ling Xiao asked.
“Correct. With such astonishing talent, if properly trained, she could probably have reached the Yin-Yang Realm by fifteen or sixteen years old. Even the Human King of that era was no more than that. However, something strange happened in the year she turned twelve.”
Feng Ming Lian’s face suddenly turned a little pale.
“Something strange?”
“Yes. That year, this child named Ji Lingyue mysteriously disappeared. According to the records, before she vanished, she had contact with the Divine Phoenix Emperor of that time, who is now the old ancestor of the Fire Phoenix Clan.”
Feng Ming Lian answered.
“The old ancestor of the Fire Phoenix Clan? Just how many old ancestors does your royal family have?”
Ling Xiao caught the key issue in Feng Ming Lian’s words.
“The Fire Phoenix Clan has two old ancestors, one black and one white. The one Ji Lingyue met was Old Ancestor Bai Yang, a kind-looking old lady who had taken in and raised many orphans. Both Old Ancestor Bai Yang and Old Ancestor Hei Ri are supreme powerhouses in the Yin-Yang Realm.”
Feng Ming Lian replied, “The Ice Phoenix Clan has one old ancestor, the one who acted before. The Nether Phoenix Clan is the most terrifying. They have three old ancestors, but back then they were jointly sealed by Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue. Whether they are still alive now is unknown.”
Hearing this, cold sweat had already soaked Ling Xiao’s clothes.
It seemed he had still underestimated the strength of the royal family.
If both the black and white old ancestors possessed strength on the level of the Ice Phoenix old ancestor, then even Moon Maiden would probably struggle to oppose them.
Fortunately, he had a good relationship with the Fire Phoenix Clan, and he was allies with Feng Yin Shan, so the two old ancestors of the Fire Phoenix Clan had not acted against him.
But what exactly happened to his elder sister, Ji Lingyue?
Could she have been killed by that Old Ancestor Bai Yang?
“You must be very puzzled about what actually happened to Ji Lingyue, right?”
Feng Ming Lian asked in return.
“Yes. Their daughter mysteriously went missing in the Divine Phoenix Empire. Those two must have gone mad with anger.”
Ling Xiao nodded and said.
“Exactly. For their own daughter to go missing in the Divine Phoenix Empire, it made Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue furious. Even though they were such kind and upright people, they still committed some violent acts.
They almost demolished the entire Divine Phoenix Imperial Palace at that time, forcing the black and white old ancestors to kneel and beg for mercy. Later, news suddenly came from overseas that someone had seen the unconscious Ji Lingyue on a ship. Perhaps she had been taken by human traffickers.”
Feng Ming Lian continued, “Many people thought Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue left the Divine Phoenix Empire simply because things there were finished and they planned to continue adventuring. But they did not know that their most important goal was actually to search for their missing daughter.”
“So was Ji Lingyue really abducted by human traffickers?”
Ling Xiao asked.
“I am not too sure about that. The old grandmother only told me that Ji Lingyue was a Tenth Cave Heaven Realm martial artist who did not even fear half-step Yin-Yang Realm experts. Unless a Yin-Yang Realm expert personally acted, it would be impossible for her to be abducted. She also said she had once seen a sword used by Ji Lingyue inside the palace.”
Feng Ming Lian answered.
Hearing these words, a chill ran down Ling Xiao’s spine.
If his guess was correct, his elder sister Ji Lingyue had probably been murdered, and the culprits were none other than the black and white old ancestors of the Fire Phoenix Clan.
But his parents were not like him. They did not have his ruthless nature and did not use the most brutal methods of interrogation, which allowed some fish to slip through the net.
Since his parents failed to uncover the truth, he would investigate it himself.
He hoped his sister had not been killed.
Although he had never met this sister, nor even seen his own parents, if his blood relative had been harmed, he had to find out the truth.
He even suspected that the reason his parents stepped into the Heavenly Chosen Giant Gate was to search for his sister Ji Lingyue.
This matter had triggered a chain of events that led to his own tragic childhood.
No matter what, he had to try to do something about it.
“Alright, Lian’er. Let us go and help you cultivate.”
Ling Xiao decided to bury what he now knew deep in his heart for the time being. He did not yet have enough strength to offend both the black and white old ancestors and the Ice Phoenix old ancestor at the same time.
Although he usually acted arrogantly and without restraint, he was not a brainless fool.
He knew that when endurance was necessary, he must endure. Otherwise, not only would he die, but he would also bring harm to his loved ones and friends.
“Mm.”
Feng Ming Lian did not know what Ling Xiao was truly thinking deep inside. She only vaguely felt that he was paying too much attention to matters concerning Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue.
But she interpreted it as Ling Xiao being someone from the Heavenly Dragon Continent, so he was naturally more interested in these two heroic figures.
Ling Xiao led Feng Ming Lian to the cultivation sacred ground of Qingxu Academy, a very spacious mountain peak.
Because certain cultivation techniques could cause quite a commotion, cultivating inside a room might really end up burning the house down.
Feng Ming Lian had been confined in the Ice Phoenix Clan for a long time and was forced to cultivate by her mother, Feng Ming Xiao.
Interestingly, the place where she was confined happened to be the secret collection building of the Ice Phoenix Clan.
It contained an vast and boundless collection of martial technique secret manuals. When Feng Ming Lian felt bored, she would treat these secret manuals as leisure reading. Otherwise, if that old grandmother left, she would have died of boredom.
The secret collection building held almost all the essence of the Ice Phoenix Clan’s martial arts.
Probably even Feng Ming Xiao never imagined that her daughter possessed a photographic memory.
Any book she read, whether she understood it or not, could be remembered perfectly in her mind.
Ling Xiao pointed a finger at Feng Ming Lian’s forehead and sensed the vast sea of martial technique secret manuals in her mind. He was genuinely startled.
He had assumed the martial arts of the Ice Phoenix Clan would all be related to the Ice Phoenix bloodline.
But he was wrong.
