Chapter 457: Zhang Fan's Relatives! Hu San Tainai (5k Big Chapter)

River waves surge in thousands of layers, tides rise and fall, changing the world.

Sixty years ago!

About sixty years ago...

That year, many things happened.

Chu Chaoran of Zhenwu Mountain stepped into the Pure Yang Limitless Realm and killed the former world's number one powerhouse, the 【Three Corpses Daoist】, at the peak of Mount Dongyue, establishing his illustrious reputation as invincible for a sixty-year cycle.

That year...

A Daoist priest walked out of the Bai He Guan, entered the "Temple Hall" of the capital, established state affairs, sacrificed to the heavens, founded the Dao Alliance General Association, set up Dao Alliance branches in various parts of the world, oversaw all affairs of the Dao Sect, and monitored the Xuan Sect of the world.

That Daoist priest was named Jiang Your Majesty.

That year...

Zhang Tiansheng of the South Zhang lineage came to Jinmen from afar to welcome his bride, established a Water Mansion with the Long Hu Great Method, the Northern Dao Sect came to pay homage, mountain and sea demons and ghosts opened the way, and monsters from all directions celebrated together. The momentum was the greatest in Jinmen for a hundred years.

"Sixty years... sixty years... a sixty-year cycle in the human world, the scenery of the country is already different..."

Zhang Fan stood at the bow of the boat, watching the undulating waves in the night, looking at the looming Water Mansion, his eyes slightly unfocused.

Sixty years have passed, who still remembers the glory of that year?

Thousands of miles of river carp paved the road like red makeup, the mountains were as colorful as flowers, Dao Sect masters, mountain and sea demons and ghosts, monsters from all directions, hermits in the deep mountains... among those guests, there were even hidden Wu Wei Sect members.

Three religions and nine schools, dragons and snakes mixed, such incompatibility, yet so incredible.

In the world, I am afraid that only a man like Zhang Tiansheng could make these people gather together.

"That kind of scenery, I am afraid it will never happen again in the future." Lin Jianyue whispered.

These bits and pieces sealed in the years, she still knew a thing or two from the mouths of the older generation in Jinmen.

Such a grand wedding, there has never been one before, and there will never be one again.

In this world, there is no longer a person like Zhang Tiansheng.

"Hasn't your family mentioned it to you?" Lin Jianyue couldn't help asking.

Zhang Fan was silent, just shook his head.

Watching him build a high building, watching him feast guests, watching his building collapse.

These past glories and past events have long lost their former luster with the destruction of the South Zhang, and no longer have any meaning.

Zhang Lingzong encountered a great change when he was young, was displaced, and his family was destroyed.

He carried the blood feud of the South Zhang on his back. As the remaining fire of that lineage, a little carelessness would be a disaster that would destroy his family and clan. Out of caution, how could he mention these past events casually!?

"My father lived a precarious life when he was young, living a life of licking blood from the blade, living today without knowing tomorrow." Zhang Fan said lightly.

"For him, he is a person who only has the present, no past, and cannot see the future."

This kind of hiding life honed him, trained him, and created him.

Until he met Li Linglong...

"He was with my mother, gave birth to me, and spent twelve years of peaceful days." Zhang Fan looked at the surging river, his eyes calm.

Twelve years... perhaps hiding for twelve years was the limit.

Therefore, ten years ago, Zhang Lingzong and Li Linglong faked their deaths under Long Hu Mountain to avoid disaster, and won another ten years of peaceful time with the method of the golden cicada shedding its shell.

"After that day, I actually slept for ten years." Zhang Fan clenched his hands slightly.

For ten years of the Great Night without light, his soul-aspect split, his cultivation regressed, and he even forgot everything.

To ordinary people, when the God-Demon Calamity arose and the Great Night did not brighten, he had wasted ten years of time.

However...

Zhang Fan did not think so.

In those ten years, his body and his soul-aspect must have undergone some unpredictable changes.

Otherwise, from last year on Mount Zhenwu, when he began to shed the calamity until now, in less than two years, he had actually recultivated from an ordinary person to the Zhaishou Realm, a Second-Rank Inner Dan.

Such speed could no longer be described as shocking.

It had never happened before, and it would never happen again.

In the world, no Inner Dan method could achieve this step.

When things are abnormal, there must be demons.

Especially after establishing the Fan King divine position, Zhang Fan became even more sensitive to the perceptions from the netherworld.

Those ten years of deep sleep did not seem to have been wasted.

"Speaking of which, the Pure Yang Xu family should be your grandmother's maiden home," Lin Jianyue said with a light smile.

"The current patriarch of the Xu family's Third Branch, 【Xu Xuanxiao】, should count as your..."

"Great-uncle!?"

"Uh..."

Zhang Fan curled his lip, not knowing what to say.

When he was a child, his family had no relatives, especially during holidays and festivals; while other people's homes were lively with the whole family gathered together, only his home was cold and desolate.

Now that he had grown up, he discovered that he still had a bunch of relatives he had never met.

"My grandmother was from the Xu family's Third Branch," Zhang Fan said thoughtfully. "Who else is in the Third Branch?"

"The Third Branch of the Xu family has the thinnest population. Of the older generation, there are only the three siblings: Xu Xuanxiao, Xu Xuanguan, and Xu Wenjun," Lin Jianyue said in a low, firm voice.

Xu Xuanguan left the Xu family when he was young and had not returned for many years, effectively cutting off contact.

Xu Wenjun married into the Southern Zhang family and passed away before she could even wait for the Southern Zhang family to be exterminated.

"Xu Xuanxiao has only one son, who counts as the only second-generation disciple of the Third Branch, named Xu Qiaosheng."

As she spoke, Lin Jianyue looked at Zhang Fan.

In terms of seniority, Zhang Fan should call this Xu Qiaosheng "cousin-uncle."

"Xu Qiaosheng has one son and one daughter," Lin Jianyue continued.

"The daughter is named Xu Jiuzhi, who is the close friend I am going to introduce to you in a moment."

"As for the son..." Lin Jianyue's expression became somewhat unnatural.

"Xu Jiuliu!"

"This is the only male descendant left in the Xu family's Third Branch. I hear he isn't very promising."

"His name is Xu Jiuliu!?" Lin Jianyue sighed.

"Xu Jiuliu!?"

Zhang Fan was stunned for a moment, and the image of the Xu family youth he met at West Spirit Mountain that day immediately appeared in his mind.

"So it was him!?" Zhang Fan thought to himself.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jianyue couldn't help but ask.

"Nothing." Zhang Fan shook his head, having to marvel at the mystery of fate and the wonder of destiny.

So, that Xu Jiuliu was the only male descendant of the Third Branch, and according to seniority, he should count as Zhang Fan's distant cousin.

"Zhizhi's younger brother is indeed not promising. The Third Branch of the Xu family was already thin in population; I'm afraid it will end with him..." Lin Jianyue couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.

"That's not necessarily true," Zhang Fan said casually.

Boom—

Suddenly, a gust of river wind rose wildly, and in the hazy night, a large ship slowly sailed over from the distance.

The style of that large ship was quite ancient, as if it were made entirely of vine-like giant wood. A dim yellow firelight flickered on the ship, as if it were a ghost that had broken free from the dust-sealed years.

At this time, there were still many cargo ships coming and going at the Sancha River mouth, but it seemed as if no one could see that strange ship.

The Daoist Xuan Sect method is to borrow the false to cultivate the true, recreating the True Self within the red dust of the ten thousand phenomena.

Such means cannot be captured by the five senses of ordinary people; they cannot see, hear, or touch it... just like that 【Water Mansion】.

Unless one uses the soul-aspect to observe, transcending the perception of the five senses, can one discard the false and preserve the true.

Precisely because of this, since ancient times, there have been many strange legends on the nine rivers of Jinmen.

"Mom, there's a big wooden ship on the river, and there's fire too."

Just at this moment, on the shore, a small child being held pointed at the river surface and suddenly shouted excitedly.

"Where is there a big wooden ship? Don't talk nonsense." The woman holding the child's expression became nervous.

"Right there, and there are people walking on the ship," the child gestured excitedly.

"Let's go back quickly. The Ghost Festival is almost here. I told you not to run around in the middle of the night, but you insisted on coming out. What's so good about strolling by the river? People drown here every year, don't you know that?"

At this time, the man beside her also had a strange expression, muttering to himself as he pulled the woman and headed back.

"Children have not yet been fully polluted by the red dust, and their soul-aspects have not yet fully fallen asleep," Zhang Fan said with a light smile as he watched the episode on the shore.

Because of this, many people can see things that adults cannot when they are very young.

So much so that the Dao De Jing says the essence of cultivation is to be like an infant, extremely soft and extremely still.

"This close friend of yours is really quite flashy," Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

"This large ship is refined from 【Yin Ghost Wood】. It doesn't sink in water, and no matter how big the wind and waves are, it can travel as if on flat ground," Lin Jianyue introduced.

"This is worth much more than any yacht. If you had one, wouldn't you be flashy?"

Yin Ghost Wood is a strange type of timber, usually growing in mass grave sites. Over long years, it absorbs the earth's Qi and is nourished by rotting corpses; it takes a hundred years to become usable timber.

It is said that this wood has extremely strong Yin Qi, and no matter how big the wind and waves are, it will not sink into the water, always being supported by that intense Yin Qi.

In the past, this kind of wood was not rare, especially during times of war and chaos, when Yin Ghost Wood was most abundant.