A Bunch More Ancestors to Worship

Chen Feng soon arrived at his destination—a valley filled with skeletal remains.

The extreme yin side of the Jade Mountain's Heavenly Pool.

The desolate Jade Mountain bore not a trace of green.

The empty valley was devoid of any plant life.

The Jade Mountain's Nine Orifices were nine gaping black holes, unsettling to behold.

Chen Feng could only describe it in four words:

Deathly silent.

The qilin landed.

Qianqian cheerfully played her harmonica as she walked toward the center of the valley.

The edge of the ink-black Heavenly Pool.

And the scattered stone monuments.

Upon them lay the purpose of Chen Feng's journey.

Approaching closer,

Chen Feng immediately spotted a stone tablet engraved with four familiar characters:

Nine Yin Manual!

Chen Feng shook his head.

"This is the Liu family's martial art."

Soon after, he saw nearly all the martial arts of the Eight Great Families.

Indestructible Golden Body, Sunflower Manual, Nine Yang Manual, Six Meridian Divine Sword, Solitary Nine Swords, Taiji Fist, Heaven and Earth Great Shift.

Chen Feng felt that, aside from the Sunflower Manual and Taiji Fist,

Zhang Bowen likely knew them all.

Then he spotted the Innate Gang Qi, Lion's Roar, and Star Absorption Technique—all techniques Zhang Bowen had once used.

Soon, Chen Feng noticed a shattered stone tablet.

Curious, he asked,

"Why is there a broken tablet here?"

Gu Qianqian explained,

"This tablet recorded the Eternal Youth Technique."

"It could reverse aging, but required drinking fresh blood daily."

"Our Gu Clan feared its misuse, so we destroyed it."

"Otherwise, we'd have to slaughter countless beasts every day for fresh blood."

"Only certain elders pass it down orally."

Chen Feng hadn't expected such a brutal technique.

Drinking fresh blood every day?

That would mean endless killing.

Now he understood—Zhang Bowen's unnaturally long life must have relied on this very method.

Moments later, Chen Feng stood stunned before another martial art tablet.

Tripartite Unity Qi!

He had never heard of this technique.

But its moves sounded familiar.

Wind God's Leg!

This was the very art once practiced by the War God Dojo.

Yet, judging by the description,

The War God Dojo's weak version was clearly incomplete.

Three other techniques accompanied it:

Frost Fist.

Cloud-Parting Palm.

Tripartite Divine Finger.

As for Frost Fist and Cloud-Parting Palm, Chen Feng recalled Zhang Bowen possibly using them in battle.

That freezing punch that had trapped him—Chen Feng guessed it had to be at least a Heaven-tier technique.

A single martial art with branches reaching Heaven-tier?

This suggested the complete set might rival the Sunflower Manual as a Sage-tier art.

Chen Feng immediately pulled out his phone, hoping to photograph the technique before nightfall.

Tripartite Unity Qi didn't belong to the Eight Great Families.

Some of its branches were unknown to the outside world.

Perfect as the foundational art for his dojo.

Just then—sudden chaos.

Figures in ancient attire emerged from the ink-black waters of the Heavenly Pool.

The qilin, sensing the crowd, leaped into the air and vanished instantly.

Qianqian also sensed danger.

She urgently blew into her harmonica.

But upon recognizing the newcomers, she lowered it in shock:

"Grandpa, grandma, father, mother—why are you here?"

Chen Feng turned in surprise, staring at the emerging figures.

He never expected

to meet Qianqian's family.

And not just her family—

The Gu Clan's patriarch and elders had come too.

These were ancient beings who had lived for untold years.

Now, all their eyes locked onto Chen Feng.

"Young man, who are you?"

Chen Feng pocketed his phone and introduced himself:

"I'm Chen Feng, from Great Xia. I mean no harm—I only came to learn some techniques."

The patriarch spoke:

"Who are your parents?"

Parents?

Chen Feng truly didn't know:

"I grew up in an orphanage. I don't know who they were."

The old patriarch frowned.

He detected no scent of the Eternal Youth Technique's bloodlust on Chen Feng.

The youth's age didn't match Kunlun's awakening timeline.

Yet he could enter Kunlun unharmed, retaining his vitality.

This meant he absolutely carried Gu Clan blood.

Finally, the patriarch reached a conclusion.

"Are you Zhang Bowen's son or grandson?"

Chen Feng was stunned.

Gu Qianqian's mouth fell open in shock.

The entire Gu Clan shared the same thought.

No other explanation made sense.

Chen Feng was speechless.

Of all the absurd twists—

He wanted to shout: I have a system! That's why Kunlun can't touch me!

I'm no descendant of Zhang Bowen!

"Don't misunderstand—I have no relation to Zhang Bowen whatsoever."

The patriarch studied Chen Feng's expression and found no deceit.

So he theorized further.

Finally, he declared:

"A Gu Clan man must have fathered an outsider's child, leaving our bloodline in the world."

"Perhaps they've passed, but you—a later generation—now show ancestral reawakening."

Ancestral reawakening?

Chen Feng admired the old man's imagination.

But let him believe what he wanted.

No better explanation existed.

Chen Feng played along:

"That... does seem likely."

"Then we're all family here."

Instantly, the clan revered their patriarch's wisdom.

Even Qianqian hadn't realized her master shared Gu blood.

The patriarch continued:

"Since you carry our lineage, you may count as kin."

"Learn any technique here—but don't repeat Zhang Bowen's greed."

"The more arts you learn, the harder to master any single one to perfection."

Chen Feng hadn't known this.

But for him, it didn't matter.

Every technique he touched reached perfection anyway.

The elder went on:

"Come with us. Pay respects at the ancestral shrine."

"Today, you return to your roots."

Chen Feng's mind blanked.

He'd only wanted to copy some techniques.

Now?

Suddenly, he'd gained a hall full of ancestors.

But the lie was told.

To maintain it, he had to see this through.

One lie demanded countless more.

Steeling himself, Chen Feng followed the Gu Clan into the Heavenly Pool.

The yin side's pool was ink-black, rippling faintly underfoot.

Yet none sank beneath its surface.

At its center, a vast white spring bubbled.

The group reached its edge and plunged in.

Chen Feng followed.

Having once exited the pool with Qianqian, he avoided embarrassment this time.

Months later, he re-entered the dragon vein.

And now—stepped into the Kunlun Remnant Clan's hidden home.