“Zhang Xuan?” The middle-aged lady was taken aback by that name as well, and her body stiffened. “Is it the same person whom Hu Yiwei spoke of?”
“Jian Qinsheng came from the Sanctum of Sages as well, so the person he brought is most likely him. To think that we missed each other by such a close shot!” the middle-aged man exclaimed with a bitter smile.
The reason why they had ignored the objections of the elders within the clan to head to the Sanctum of Sages was to find Zhang Xuan and see if he was the person whom they had missed for twenty whole years… But who could have thought that the person they were looking for would actually head to their clan instead!
If they hadn’t chosen to willfully leave the clan back then, they might have already met him by now!
More importantly, on their way here, they even encountered Jian Qinsheng’s aerial saint beast, but as if fate was playing a trick on them, they missed him just like that.
Had they known this would happen, they should have paid a greeting to Jian Qinsheng when they heard that he was in the vicinity.
“Since he’s in the Zhang Clan, let’s hurry back now!” the middle-aged lady urged anxiously.
It was fortunate that they had found out early, or else it would be too late for tears once they reached the Sanctum of Sages, only to find out that the person they were looking for wasn’t there.
Hula!
Hearing the order, the aerial saint beast they were riding on hurriedly made a u-turn and flew its way back to the Zhang Clan.
“Quick, ask the Third Elder what kind of person Zhang Xuan is, what he looks like, and how his personality is!”
Seeing that the saint beast was swiftly making its way back, the middle-aged lady heaved a sigh of relief. She turned her gaze back to the middle-aged man and asked anxiously.
As if having guessed what his wife was worrying over, the middle-aged man took her hand and squeezed it tightly before saying, “Rest assured. Since Hu Yiwei has confirmed it, there’s a good chance that it’s the real one this time around.”
The middle-aged lady looked at her husband, but she couldn’t help but shake her head, “I know, but I still can’t help but worry…”
“In the past two decades that we have spent looking for him, we have been disappointed so many times, so what does one more count as? Besides, even if it isn’t him, he’s bound to have some kind of relationship with our child!” the middle-aged man said.
“Not to mention, the chances are pretty high this time around. Otherwise, how could he be so formidable as to astound even Hu Yiwei if he hasn’t inherited my genes?”
“Pfft!” Hearing those words, the middle-aged lady’s worried frown collapsed into laughter, and she patted her husband’s chest and said, “Stop getting narcissistic over here!”
Hu!
The Communication Jade Token flickered once more as information was sent over. The middle-aged man tapped on it lightly, and a video slowly played out before the duo.
The video showed a young man walking majestically into the Zhang Clan’s Defense Formation, and shortly afterward, the Dragon Spirit submitted to him, and the Tiger Spirit dissipated into nothing. A short moment later, countless buildings collapsed behind him.
At this point, the young man slowly turned his body around, revealing what that would have been considered as a nonchalant face if not for the slight hint of haughtiness and glee in his eyes.
“It’s him! It must be him!” Upon seeing the young man’s appearance, the middle-aged lady’s body jerked in astonishment. She clasped her mouth with her hands, seemingly unable to control her rampaging emotions.
“But his appearance looks neither like yours nor mine. I don’t think…” the middle-aged man said with a deep frown.
But before he could finish his words, the middle-aged lady had already interjected in agitation, “His appearance might not bear much resemblance to yours and mine, but his eyes are the exact same as how I remembered them to be when he was younger. I am certain of it, there’s no way I can be wrong about this!”
For the past twenty years, she had seen that pair of eyes thousands of times in her dreams, to the point that they were carved right in her mind. His appearance might have changed drastically over the years, but she was certain that those pair of eyes definitely belonged to her son!
Not only so, there was also an instinctive jolt in her heart when she first caught sight of him, and she believed that her feeling wouldn’t lie to her.
Perhaps this was the natural bond between a parent and a child, a connection that couldn’t be severed even with time.
“But… the Third Elder has brought him over to the Blood Reservoir, and it was shown that not only does he not possess our Zhang Clan bloodline, but even his soul showed no signs of resonating with the Time Quintessence as well. It’s almost certain that he has nothing to do with our Zhang Clan!” the middle-aged man was comparatively more rational as he tried reasoning with his wife.
“Blood Reservoir?” the middle-aged lady scoffed in utmost derision. “Those bastards actually still have the cheek to talk about that? Have they forgotten how they have treated my ill-fated child back then? Even if he has survived the ordeal, there’s no way he would have any Zhang Clan bloodline in him, so it goes without saying he has nothing to do with your Zhang Clan anymore! But my blood still flows in his body, and I know for sure that he’s my child!”
“Since you are certain about it, that should probably be the case then. However, it appears that Zhang Xuan is a particularly worrisome individual. In less than a day since he has arrived in the Zhang Clan, he has already raised a couple of incidents, resulting in many buildings being torn to the ground!” Seeing how adamant his wife was on the matter, the middle-aged man wisely decided not to argue with her on this matter.
He continued to browse through the remaining content on the token and shook his head, “It seems like the First Elder has decided to have Zhang Xu and the others teach him a lesson so as to make him learn that the prowess of our Zhang Clan.”
“The prowess of your Zhang Clan? How dare that Zhang Wuheng lay his hands on my son? If a strand of hair were to fall from my son, I swear on my name, Wang Mengya, that I’m going to tear down your Zhang Clan’s ancestral hall!” the middle-aged lady narrowed her eyes menacingly as a domineering aura burst forth from her body.
Under the tremendous pressure of her aura, the aerial saint beast stiffened in fright, and it ended up plummeting for several hundred meters before it finally managed to find the strength within itself to remain afloat.
“I understand your feelings, but there’s no meaning in us arguing about all this right now. We have to see with our own eyes to confirm whether Zhang Xuan is truly our son or not!” the middle-aged man said as he patted his wife’s back to calm her down.
After which, he instructed the aerial saint beast beneath him to speed up back to the Zhang Clan before falling silent.
…
“Our clan head has already agreed to your demand! As long as you are able to defeat us, he’ll face you in a swordsmanship duel!”
Zhang Xu and the others walked back into the room.
“Good! Let’s not waste any time and get on with it then!” A smile crept on Zhan Xuan’s lips as he stood up and walked to the center of the room. He beckoned toward the trio with his finger as he asked, “Who’s going first?”
“Me!” Zhang Qin stepped forward with a powerful bellow.
With a simple flick of his wrist, a white trail was dragged out along with the motion of his sword.
“Formidable…”
Even though the battle hadn’t started at all, Jian Qinsheng could tell from Zhang Qin’s simple gesture that none of his students would be able to match up with the latter,
“I’ll suppress my cultivation down to your level right now.” Zhang Qin took in a deep breath and suppressed his cultivation down to the same level as Zhang Xuan, Grand Dominion realm pinnacle.
“Draw your sword!” Zhang Qin said as he pointed his sword toward Zhang Xuan.
“There’s no need for me to use my sword to deal with you. My fingers will suffice!” Zhang Xuan chuckled softly as he raised his forefinger and middle finger up.
A surge of zhenqi flowed in between his fingers, forming a projection of roughly three chi1 long, around the same length as a sword.
“You’re courting death!” Seeing how Zhang Xuan dared to underestimate him, Zhang Qin harrumphed in anger.
He unhesitatingly drove his sword right toward Zhang Xuan.
Tzla!
In an instant, it seemed like time had frozen. Both Zhang Qin’s silhouette and his sword seemed to vanish from sight, undetectable through both sight and Spiritual Perception.
“Zhang shi, be careful!” Jian Qinsheng could immediately tell that Zhang Qin had already executed the Speed Sword Quintessence, and he swiftly sent a telepathic message over to warn Zhang Xuan.
Most of his students had lost to this very sword move. In fact, most of them didn’t even have time to put up their defenses before they were defeated.
And to make things worse, Zhang Qin had used his strongest move right from the start. There was a good chance that Zhang Xuan would be caught off guard and wounded by the move…
If that were to happen, things could get really troublesome!
Peng!
Just as Jian Qinsheng was panicking, a dull thud suddenly sounded. Following which, the vanished Zhang Qin was suddenly sent flying out of the battlegrounds, and he fell headfirst into a nearby wall. On the other hand, Zhang Xuan appeared as if he hadn’t moved at all, and a calm expression could be seen on his face.
“Easier than I thought. Next!”
