Chapter 465

The river stretches vast, a mighty wind sweeping for ten thousand li, pushing clouds gently, brushing waves into countless blossoms.

The riverbank changed; Zhang Fan watched the old man walking up from behind, his expression alert to the extreme.

Without needing words, he could feel the lingering ripples of that immense aura emanating from the man.

Master of the Tian Shi Realm.

This old man was the Tian Shi cultivator who had just fought him.

“Old man, my surname is Zhao.”

With a momentary distraction, Zhang Fan’s expression remained unchanged as he answered the old man’s question.

“After leaving that water mansion, can you still wield such heaven-shaking power?” Xu Xuanxiao said coolly.

The moment he spoke, Zhang Fan’s pupils contracted sharply.

He had been found out after all—he had truly underestimated the terror of a Tian Shi cultivator, underestimated the depth of the pure yang Xu family.

He thought his golden cicada molt had left no trace, yet the man still saw through the deception.

At this moment, Zhang Fan could no longer return to the water mansion.

“You’re from the Zhang family,” Xu Xuanxiao asked again.

Zhang Fan fell silent; after a long while, he slowly nodded.

“Who is Zhang Tiansheng to you?” Xu Xuanxiao asked further.

“He… he’s my grandfather,” Zhang Fan said firmly.

At this moment, any concealment was meaningless.

The moment he spoke, Xu Xuanxiao’s gray eyebrows twitched slightly, and his weathered face revealed a complex expression.

He stared at Zhang Fan, lost in thought, as if searching this young man’s features for the shadow of the man from long ago.

“Life’s paths diverge north and south… this road is too long, long enough that reunion is inevitable,” Xu Xuanxiao suddenly sighed.

He looked at Zhang Fan, his emotions surging: “You are Lingzong’s son.”

“Sir, are you…” Zhang Fan’s heart stirred, and he couldn’t help asking.

“I am Xu Xuanxiao.”

“Uncle Grandfather!” Zhang Fan blurted out.

Before the words faded, Xu Xuanxiao visibly froze, then—rarely—his icy face showed a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

“You, boy, are nothing like your father.”

“What’s your name?” Xu Xuanxiao asked.

“Zhang Fan!”

“Fan…”

Xu Xuanxiao’s gaze grew hazy, as if this young man carried within him the long-dead years; when he snapped back, sixty years had passed in this mortal world…

Sixty years…

“Come with me.”

Saying this, Xu Xuanxiao turned and walked away.

Zhang Fan hesitated slightly, then followed.

…

Evening.

The Xu ancestral home.

Incense curled above the altar, and in the haze, a strange sword flickered in and out of view.

It was an iron sword, its surface pitted with rust, its blade chipped and warped, terribly worn.

Amid the incense, the sword’s form grew hazy; its body trembled faintly, emitting a low, guttural roar that echoed through the silent hall.

Hum…

The rust on the blade slowly peeled away, drifting like scattered light, dissolving into the incense smoke and sinking into Xu Chengtian’s forehead.

Moments later, his aged face regained a trace of color; his eyes slowly opened, still tinged with lingering dread.

“Finally awakened.”

At that moment, a cold voice rang out before the altar.

Xu Chengtian looked up and saw an old man seated there, older than himself, his hair entirely white, leaning on a black dragon-headed cane, his left eye entirely milky white.

“Elder brother.”

Xu Chengtian rose shakily, showing not the slightest disrespect.

The man before him was the head of the second branch, his elder brother, a Tian Shi Realm cultivator: Xu Chengtian.

“Enough.”

Xu Chengtian raised a hand, halting the formalities.

“Your condition is dire—you’ll need at least half a year to recover. Soul depletion is nearly impossible to mend.”

At these words, Xu Chengtian’s face darkened; he instinctively lowered his head—he knew his own state better than anyone.

That cry at the Sanchahe crossing nearly killed him.

“Tell me,” Xu Chengtian said sharply.

Xu Chengtian paused briefly, then recounted everything that had happened at the Sanchahe crossing.

He had merely received a message from Xu Mingjing saying someone had entered the water mansion, so he went to investigate—never expecting such a turn of events.

“Elder brother, what of the water mansion now?” Xu Chengtian asked.

“All remains as before,” Xu Chengtian said gravely.

After the incident, he had personally inspected it and found no anomalies.

Yet Xu Chengtian’s experience was undeniably real.

“Elder brother, was there a Tian Shi cultivator who came to Jinmen?” Xu Chengtian asked.

“Unlikely,” Xu Chengtian shook his head. “Tian Shi cultivators have merged with Heaven and Earth. If such a being had acted, I would have sensed it—especially at the same level.”

“Then…” Xu Chengtian hesitated.

“Zhang Tiansheng’s tricks… this man has been dead over thirty years, yet he still held back one final move,” Xu Chengtian said coldly.

“When he built the water mansion back then, I already sensed something off.”

As he spoke, Xu Chengtian cast a sidelong glance at his brother.

“You once called him a show-off.”

“Who could have imagined that after thirty years of death, Zhang Tiansheng’s water mansion still held such power?” Xu Chengtian exclaimed.

“Elder brother, that was definitely Tian Shi-level…”

“I know that,” Xu Chengtian said gravely.

“Zhang Tiansheng was arrogant with his talent—he thought leaving a hidden hand could restrain our Xu family, never imagining the southern Zhang line would be wiped out. Now, this power has ultimately benefited us.”

As he spoke, a sharp gleam flashed in Xu Chengtian’s eyes.

In his view, Zhang Tiansheng’s grand design—constructing the water mansion and concealing such power—was meant to counterbalance the Xu family in case they ever turned against each other, striking unexpectedly.

But no matter how brilliant this man was, he could never have foreseen the southern Zhang line’s annihilation.

Yet…

The water mansion had been in Xu hands for sixty years, and nothing happened—why did it manifest today?

Only by understanding the reason could they uncover the mansion’s true secret.

“You said someone entered?” Xu Chengtian suddenly changed the subject.

If the water mansion differed from its usual state today, it was only this.

“Yes, that boy’s name is Zhao Jiexuan…” Xu Chengtian said firmly.

He immediately relayed all intelligence he had gathered on Zhao Jiexuan.

“Zhai Shou Realm? At such a young age, he’s already achieved Zhai Shou Realm?” Xu Chengtian was visibly startled.

Of all the young man’s traits, what most impressed him was his youth and his perfected life-energy cultivation.

Such talent, even looking back a hundred years, would be among the rarest.

“Mingjing confirmed it—definitely Zhai Shou Realm, his inner elixir fully formed,” Xu Chengtian said gravely.

He had gone to the water mansion himself precisely to verify Mingjing’s report.

“This young man’s background is complicated. I suspect Changshou has already pledged allegiance to that so-called Fan Men,” Xu Chengtian mused.

“Elder brother, what do you think his background is?”

“Probably… Zhang,” Xu Chengtian said firmly.

“Elder brother means this boy is from the Zhang family?” Xu Chengtian’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The Fan Men publicly has a brat named Zhang Wu as its figurehead—he’s a disciple of northern Zhang. This Zhao Jiexuan is likely from northern Zhang too,” Xu Chengtian said gravely.

“Only the Longhu Zhang family could train a disciple like this.”

As he spoke, Xu Chengtian’s deep eyes gleamed with unusual light.

Undeniably, even after the Daoist catastrophe, the Zhang family remained the Zhang family—an ancestral sect, a divine lineage.

“Could today’s disturbance in the water mansion be tied to this brat?” Xu Chengtian pondered.