Chapter 170: CH. 170 | Yun Feng and His Past
"I can see it clearly. You don’t carry my bloodline," Yun Feng said, drifting closer to Lin Tian, circling him slowly as he spoke.
"But the heavens willed otherwise. They granted you a gift even though they struggle to fully grasp themselves."
Lin Tian stood still, his eyes tracking every movement of the golden qi figure before him, this being called Yun Feng.
His robe felt strange, foreign, nothing like the fashion of this current era.
He walked with an easy, unhurried grace, speaking at length about matters that, oddly enough, lined up perfectly with the records Lin Tian had just read.
"Sometimes the heavens’ plans lie beyond our understanding. What feels strange, even impossible to us, makes perfect sense to them. They simply see further than we do."
Yun Feng stopped walking, his attention drifting sideways before settling back on Lin Tian, "You arrived here bearing Nascent Soul strength, in your very first realm. Not bad at all."
"And it seems you’ll soon grasp an understanding of the heavenly path as well."
The man continued on, speaking of the heavens, of fate, of dao, of the cultivation world and the realms among the stars.
Lin Tian absorbed a staggering amount of information in a single day, more than he could hope to fully digest all at once, even if he could retain it.
"Might this junior ask something, Senior Yun Feng?"
"Go ahead."
"Is Senior Yun Feng... an Ancient Emperor?"
Yun Feng went still for a moment, his warm expression sharpening into something far more severe the instant the question left Lin Tian’s mouth.
Lin Tian caught the shift immediately, suspecting the question had cut too bluntly for a first meeting.
Still, he needed to know, if only to judge whether the information Yun Feng offered carried real weight.
A person’s credibility shaped the value of what they said.
"HAHAHA!"
The tension in his face dissolved just as quickly, breaking into open, easy laughter.
The sudden shift left Lin Tian more confused than reassured.
"There were many Ancient Emperors during the Imperial Age. I’m not fit to be counted among them."
"But I am, indeed, the ruler of the Heavenly Golden Jade Palace."
Lin Tian kept listening, weaving each fragment Yun Feng offered together with what he’d already read in the records.
One passage he recalled clearly named the palace’s ruler as a Sovereign of the Heavenly Realm, his power beyond imagining, beyond any measure or calculation.
The true master of the Primordial Origin dao, commander of the heavenly army that once marched against the Realm of Absolute Void, and guardian of the Sacred Blue Azure star realm’s very reality.
His words don’t line up with what the records said. Records don’t lie. Words might.
He truly isn’t fit to be compared to those ancient emperors, because his power surpasses every one of them.
"Enough of that. You don’t need to know more about me."
"If anything, I find myself curious about you, Fellow Daoist," Yun Feng countered, settling into a cross legged seat that floated in midair, directly before Lin Tian.
"Tell me of yourself, and of the world beyond my dimension," Yun Feng requested.
Lin Tian paused, letting out a slow breath, pressing his palms together respectfully before he began recounting everything.
He started with his sect, then traced the threads outward to the other sects, to the Qin Sect Alliance itself.
Finally, he didn’t hesitate to speak of the looming threat that Sect Yuanmo posed for the future.
Yun Feng listened without interrupting much.
The only reaction he showed at the mention of Sect Yuanmo was a sigh and a shake of his head.
"Yuanmo, oh Yuanmo. They’ve sown ruin in every single age."
"I worry that if they rise in your era, no one there will be able to stop them," Yun Feng added.
"Does Senior Yun Feng know something about them?" Lin Tian asked.
The man before him went quiet for a beat, glancing up toward the sky above before his focus settled back on Lin Tian.
"Even if I told you about them, you wouldn’t be able to grasp it, not with your cultivation base as it stands now," Yun Feng answered.
"What I can tell you is this: they’re nothing but a splinter of power, followers serving the Youdu Demon, ruler of the Realm of Absolute Void."
Lin Tian nodded. If even a sovereign of a star realm like Yun Feng spoke of them this way, then the threat Sect Yuanmo posed was clearly no small matter, nothing to be dismissed or solved with ease.
"If my era stands no chance against them, then what are we supposed to do?" Lin Tian asked.
"You must lead the fight against them," Yun Feng answered.
"Lead them? I don’t know about that, Senior Yun Feng. With my cultivation base as it stands now, that feels impossible," Lin Tian said.
"You truly are sharp minded. A future emperor needs exactly that kind of caution," Yun Feng said, chuckling and pointing at Lin Tian, praising his sharp thinking.
Lin Tian rejected the title of future emperor outright.
His goal from the start had only ever been to protect his sect, his disciples, and to live out eternity beside An Yue.
He had no interest in getting dragged into some cosmic war against powerful entities from distant star realms.
To him, that lay far beyond anything he’d ever set out to accomplish.
"This junior isn’t fit to carry that title, Senior Yun Feng."
"Fit or not, that’s for Ling Weixi to decide," Yun Feng countered.
The golden qi figure rose into the air, turning his back to Lin Tian, and swept his hand briefly to the side.
The golden qi power flowing from his hand tore straight through the fabric of the dimension itself, opening a rift that connected this palace to somewhere else entirely.
Witnessing power like that left Lin Tian stunned, his heart pounding hard, eyes wide with disbelief.
Clearly, no one could stand as Yun Feng’s equal, not in power like this.
How strong was he, back in his prime?
"She’s waiting for you, on the other side," Yun Feng said.
"Who?"
Yun Feng gave a faint smile, crossing his arms, "Good grief. What exactly did you think you came to this valley for?"
The Saintess? Could this Ling Weixi... be the saintess herself?
Lin Tian’s focus locked onto the rift ahead of him, swallowing hard as the dimensional tear before him opened a direct path straight into the Saintess Valley.
Just before Lin Tian stepped through the rift, Yun Feng called out to him once more. Lin Tian glanced back briefly.
From the tip of Yun Feng’s finger, an ancient character shot forward, striking Lin Tian’s forehead and etching a golden mark there, with no side effect to speak of.
"What did you just do to me, Senior?" Lin Tian asked.
"That will help you when you meet her. Be careful, she’s a bit temperamental," Yun Feng said.
He knows her temperament that well... what exactly is his connection to this saintess?
His mind buzzed with questions, curiosity gnawing at him. Lin Tian drew a deep breath and steeled his resolve, stepping forward into the dimensional rift.
In an instant, his figure vanished from the Heavenly Golden Jade Palace, leaving Yun Feng standing alone, a quiet sense of relief and contentment settling over him.
He tilted his head back, gazing up at the sky with quiet hope written across his face.
"He’s my last hope, Ling’er."
"Don’t you dare shatter his dao!"