âWhat? You⊠youâre Shen Yin!?â
Xu Xiaolanâs eyes widened in disbelief as she stuttered with a shocked expression.
An Lin, Xiao Chou, and Da Bai, who had all been severely injured, also stared up at the woman in shock.
Shen Yin? What kind of sick joke was this!
Wasnât the Winter Dragon Tomb supposed to be Shen Yinâs grave?
If the tomb keeper of the Palace of Heaven was Shen Yin herself, then wouldnât that mean she built a tomb for herself then adopted the role of tomb keeper for fun?
The woman in white nodded in earnest and replied in confirmation, âIâm Shen Yin, the owner of this dragon tomb.â
An Lin, Xiao Chou, Da Bai: ââŠâ
The woman in white did not seem to take notice of everyoneâs reactions, and she waved her hand through the air, conjuring a huge healing spell formation which enshrouded everyone.
âThe stipulation for this trial is that youâll pass if you last the span of ten breaths against me. From the moment the trial commenced to now, a span of time equivalent to twelve breaths has passed. So congratulations, youâve passed the trial of combat strength,â the self-proclaimed Shen Yin announced with a smile.
An Lin and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Yin was a mighty figure of Return to Void Stage cultivation base; there was absolutely no chance in hell they could defeat her. Besides, there was still a lingering fear in their hearts upon the recollection of the prior battle.
The healing effect of the spell formation continued to act upon everyone, helping An Lin and the others to slowly recover to the extent that they were able to stand up again. Gundam One and Gundam Two were stowed away into the storage ring to absorb energy from vital stones and begin the arduous process of self-regeneration.
The two Gundams had already absorbed over a hundred thousand spirit stones up to this point. Thankfully An Lin was filthy stinking rich. Otherwise, heâd die from heartache alone.
Just as everyone was beginning to accept the fact that the woman in white was Shen Yin herself, Shen Yin spoke once again.
She was still speaking to Xu Xiaolan, thereby indicating that she was clearly quite interested in her. âXu Xiaolan, can I use a spell technique on you?â
Xu Xiaolan looked at her cautiously. âWhat spell technique?â
âA bloodline verification spell technique. Truth be told, I feel like you and I are related.â
âThe Dragon Sparrow is an extremely proud sword. Itâd definitely refuse to accept a Spirit Nurturing Stage cultivator as its new owner unless it detected a hint of familiarity from youâŠâ Shen Yin explained in a gentle voice with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
Xu Xiaolan remained silent for a short while before finally nodding her head in agreement.
Someone as powerful as Shen Yin could easily use any spell technique on her by force. The fact that Shen Yin was requesting her approval was a show of respect in itself. On top of that, she was also quite curious with regard to why she was so drawn to the Palace of Heaven, so there really was no reason to refuse.
An Lin, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou also widened their eyes in shock. They had considered that perhaps Xu Xiaolanâs family owned this dragon tomb, but they did not expect that the owner of the tomb might be one of Xu Xiaolanâs relativesâŠ
A red light appeared on the tip of Shen Yinâs slender finger, and she gently touched her fingertip to Xu Xiaolanâs forehead.
Xu Xiaolanâs eyes slowly shut, and her eyelashes trembled slightly as if she was a little tense.
An Lin focused the entirety of his attention on Shen Yinâs face to find her expression transitioning from tranquillity to confusion, then finally to a sudden realization.
Shen Yin retracted her finger and put an end to the spell technique.
There was no ear-splitting commotion or anything like that; the whole process seemed quite mundane and peaceful.
Xu Xiaolan opened her eyes to look at the woman in front of her. Her expression was a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.
Shen Yinâs eyes were particularly bright, and the expression with which she looked at Xu Xiaolan became increasingly more gentle.
âI know everything now, child, let me tell you what I have discoveredâŠâ
An Lin, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou all had their interests piqued by Shen Yinâs words.
Shen Yin spoke in a gentle voice, âYou are the daughter of the son of the daughter of the daughter of the daughter of the son of my elder sister!â
Xu Xiaolanâs mouth fell open. âWha?â
An Lin, Xiao Chou, and Da Bai also mirrored her expression.
Shen Yin explained once again, âIn other words, Iâm the younger sister of the mother of the father of the mother of the mother of the mother of your father!â
An Lin, Xiao Chou, and Da Bai continued to gape like statues.
Xu Xiaolanâs lips trembled. She knew everything now; she knew that she was Shen Yinâs relative.
But⊠what should she even refer to her asâŠ
âAn⊠ancestor Shen YinâŠâ Xu Xiaolan greeted hesitantly.
Shen Yinâs face fell immediately. âCall me big sister!â
Xu Xiaolan was startled by her words, but could only oblige to such a powerful mighty figure. âBig Sister Shen YinâŠâ
At the conclusion of her sentence, she began to realize there was a serious problem. She was supposed to call her Big Sister Shen Yin? Then what would her mother refer to Shen Yin as?
Shen Yin nodded in satisfaction at Xu Xiaolanâs words, and a doting expression reappeared on her face as she lightly stroked Xu Xiaolanâs head. âWho would have thought that the daughter of the son of the daughter of the daughter of the daughter of the son of my big sister is already all grown upâŠâ
An Lin finally came to his senses. Such a bizarre development shocked him to the core and he couldnât help but think to himself that Shen Yin wouldnât even have met the son of the daughter of the daughter of the daughter of the son of her big sister⊠so it was quite normal that the daughter of the son of the daughter of the daughter of the daughter of the son of her big sister had already grown up! What the hell was she lamenting about?!
âYou have the bloodline of the Dragon Tribe within you, and itâs an extremely pure bloodline of a lineal descendant. Your mother is most likely the next in line leader of the Vermilion Bird Sect, so you also have the Divine Phoenix Bloodline running through your veins. A bloodline of such terrifying potential⊠this is most likely a strong factor in why the Dragon Sparrow chose you as her ownerâŠâ Shen Yin nodded to herself.
A thought then seemed to suddenly occur to her. âIt appears that this is all designed by fate. Back when I made the Dragon Sparrow Sword, I intended to create a divine weapon that combined the power of dragon and phoenix. In the end, I succeeded in making the Dragon Sparrow Sword, but we were not a good matchâŠâ
She turned her gaze upon Xu Xiaolan. âWho would have thought that the sword would meet you after eight thousand long years⊠Perhaps you, who possesses both dragon and phoenix bloodlines, will be able to bring out the swordâs full potentialâŠâ
âThe designs of fate are indeed intricate!â An Lin exclaimed sarcastically.
Xu Xiaolan stared at the Dragon Sparrow Sword with a blank expression.
Everything was far too coincidental; was this truly fateâŠ
The Dragon Sparrow Sword rose from her hands and revolved around Shen Yin like a pouting little girl as if it was objecting against the notion that they were ânot a good matchâ.
Shen Yin stroked the Dragon Sparrow Sword lightly with a faint smile on her face.
She looked at Xu Xiaolan and seemed to have come to a decision. âYour dragon bloodline is yet to be fully activated, mainly because the Divine Phoenix Bloodline awakened too early, thereby restricting the power of your dragon bloodline.
âSo be it, let me help you awaken your dragon bloodline and bestow my inheritance and treasures upon you at the same time.â
Xu Xiaolan was instantly rooted to the spot.
An Lin immediately flared up in protest. âBig Sister Shen Yin, your inheritance should only be rewarded after a series of trials, shouldnât you give everyone a fair chance?!â
Shen Yin chuckled lightly. âOriginally, I had a trial of bloodlines and a trial of heart planned, but I like Little Sister Xu Xiaolan, so Iâm giving everything to her. Any objections?â
âThatâs not fair, woof!â Da Bai wailed with tears streaking down his face.
He entered the tomb and came close to death many times, only to receive zero rewards, what an injustice!
âThis is my tomb and my treasure, so I can do whatever I want!â Shen Yin raised her chin slightly as spoke in an imposing voice filled with unparalleled dragon might.
An Lin, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou trembled in unison. They did not dare raise any further objections.
It was true anyway, the tomb belonged to her, so what could they do even if she chose to bestow her inheritance upon a relative?
Everyone lowered their heads to Xu Xiaolanâs ancient relative.