Chapter 1267

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

Xu He and the Lu Family stood side by side at the far left of the second row, their three sons and two daughters behind them.

The eldest son, Xu Jing, gazed straight ahead, his bearing already that of the next Family Head.

Xu Sui stood beside Xu He, her Dao Companion half a step behind her, one hand resting lightly on the shoulder of the young daughter they had raised together.

Xu Mu and Qin Xian stood shoulder to shoulder at the front of the Martial Lineage formation.

Xu Mu's eldest son stood with hands lowered at his sides.

The second son bent his head, fiddling with an unformed artifact-refining embryo.

Xu Xiao stood at the very front of the Side Lineage, his Dao Companion cradling their young daughter in her arms, the vertical pupil on the child's forehead tightly shut.

Further back were almost entirely the many second-, third-, and even fourth-generation disciples of the Main Lineage, Commerce Lineage, Martial Lineage, and Side Lineage.

Some, Xu Zhangqing could name.

Others, he merely glanced over.

Everyone's gaze at this moment fell upon that crystal bed.

Ruo Qunshuang lay upon it, white hair like snow, face withered with age.

Nearly eight thousand years of time had stripped away her youth of old.

The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were fine and dense as woven silk.

Her forehead was full of deep furrows.

Her once plump cheeks now sank deeply inward.

Her eyes were half-closed, pupils turbid, breathing shallow to the extreme.

Xu Zhangqing sat on the edge of the bed, gripping Ruo Qunshuang's hand tightly.

His hand remained fair, skin smooth as jade, clasped with her withered, twig-thin fingers covered in brown age spots, forming a stark contrast.

Several thousand years had left not a single trace on Xu Zhangqing's face.

He still looked exactly as he had when he first joined the Dongting Immortal Sect's Inner Sect, not even a single white hair at his temples.

Yet the woman lying on the bed was about to burn through her last bit of life force.

"Frost Sister!"

Xu Zhangqing's voice was very soft: "I've done all the effort I should have done, you won't blame me, will you?"

Hearing this, Ruo Qunshuang's eyes widened slightly, she struggled to focus her gaze on Xu Zhangqing's face, her lips moved twice before a sound emerged: "Qing Ge, I have never blamed you!"

Xu Zhangqing froze for a moment: "Is that so?"

Ruo Qunshuang drew a difficult breath, then spoke in halting fragments: "I was originally... just a... an ordinary Water Spirit Root Disciple of the Tianyuan Realm, the Dongting Immortal Sect.

Aptitude mediocre... at most only Golden Core Stage.

If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have had Linglong, wouldn't have had Ping'an, wouldn't have had Xiao He and Xiao Sui... even more impossible to have lived five thousand extra years.

This life... was worth it!"

Xu Zhangqing wanted to speak but stopped: "But..."

Suddenly, Ruo Qunshuang gripped his hand tightly: "My only regret in this life... is that I cannot continue walking onward with you all.

Cannot see Ping'an reach the summit!

Cannot see Linglong grow up!

Cannot see Xiao He and Xiao Sui develop and grow strong!

I truly want to accompany you all for another stretch... but Qing Ge... I cannot do it!"

Xu Ping'an stood behind Xu Zhangqing, his face looking even a few years older than his father's.

Previously it was merely maturity; now several strands of gray-white had appeared at his temples.

Though his features remained rugged, the corners of his eyes had not escaped the traces left by time.

Words reached his lips at this moment, yet he could not utter a single one, stuck in his throat like a fishbone.

Xu Linglong stood on the other side of the crystal bed; she possessed the Dragon Race bloodline, and though her lifespan was not infinite, over seven thousand years had passed and she still appeared as a young girl.

But right now, she wept like a child.

Strictly speaking, Xu Linglong and Ruo Qunshuang had no blood relation.

But from childhood, it was Ruo Qunshuang who fed her meal by meal, coaxed her to sleep night after night.

Therefore, the two were no different from a normal mother and daughter.

"Mother!"

Xu Linglong wailed: "You cannot go, who will cook soup for me to drink after you leave!"

Ruo Qunshuang raised her other hand, trembling as she placed it on her head, stroking while her voice trembled: "Linglong, be good!"

Xu He and Xu Sui stood not far away, both with reddened eyes.

Their mother was Bei Qingtang, but she too had been raised under Ruo Qunshuang's care.

This scene made disciples of every lineage stand with hands lowered in solemn silence, stifled sobs rising and falling.

The slightly older grandchildren, some wiping the corners of their eyes, some shedding tears silently.

Xu Zhangqing was silent for a good while, then suddenly stood up; he bent down, one arm passing under Ruo Qunshuang's knees, the other supporting her back, and gently lifted her from the crystal bed: "Come, I'll take you home!"

"Home?"

"Isn't this home?"

"Where are you going?"

Hearing these words, many people felt doubtful in their hearts.

Xu Zhangqing turned around, facing the house full of descendants, and said in a deep voice: "I'm taking Frost Sister back to the Tianyuan Realm, back to the Jiuqu Sect!"

At this moment, he saw clearly the faces of all the descendants in the house.

Or rather, he finally had the chance to look at them carefully.

Xu Ping'an's temples were slightly white, standing silently at the very front, eyes lowered and nodding.

Xu Linglong's eyes were red and swollen from crying, still holding Ruo Qunshuang's hand without letting go.

Xu He and Xu Sui stood not far away, both already aged.

The white hair at Xu He's temples was even more than his elder brother's.

His eye sockets were slightly sunken, with several deep wrinkles on his brow bone.

Xu Sui was maintained slightly better, yet still couldn't hide a full head of white hair.

Further back, the grandchildren Xu Mu and Qin Xian stood shoulder to shoulder.

This eldest grandson was no longer the high-spirited youth who had just entered the Supreme Elder's tutelage; he even appeared more "aged" than his father Xu Ping'an.

Because Xu Xiao had Three-Eyed Clan bloodline, he looked merely like a middle-aged person.

Even farther away, those of the Main Lineage, Commerce Lineage, Martial Lineage, Side Lineage, etc... various generations and branches.

Some faces were round and smooth, revealing immaturity, standing bewildered beside their parents.

Some faces were aged, temples completely white, foreheads crisscrossed with deep heavy lines.

They stood under the same roof as Xu Zhangqing, yet seemed more like elders.

At this moment, everyone's gazes fell on the Ancestor's face.

No, precisely speaking, they fell on this face so young it felt unreal.

A youth of twenty-something, embracing a decrepit old woman in his arms, with a large amount of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren standing beside him in their twilight years.

Looking at these familiar faces, Xu Zhangqing's heart gave rise to a trace of strangeness, even an illusion of standing at someone else's doorstep.

In fact, this strangeness wasn't only Xu Zhangqing's.

Almost everyone present had it.

Xu Zhangqing, the Xu Clan's Ancestor.

He had lived at least nearly eight thousand years.

Yet the real person was even younger than in the portraits, so young it made one's heart tremble.

Others either had heads full of gray-white, or middle-aged appearances, or were just born not long ago.

While this Ancestor before them didn't look old at all, even extremely young.

Everyone's impression of this Ancestor was almost entirely the Yuheng Star Lord, Creation Dao Daochuan, Beidou Xianfu Ninth Direct Disciple.

When truly standing before the Ancestor, what everyone saw was just a young man.

Suddenly, a strange thought arose in many people's hearts: "Is this fair?"