Chapter Five: Jade Pendant

  Who is 'Gongzi' in the sound?

  For the sake of a marriage, would you rather drive your whole family to death?

  Who is 'Longyuan City' again?

  Chen's brain was frantically thinking, the information revealed in the sound symbols was too obscure, but there were clues to follow, and as long as he found an entry point, everything would be solved!

  Longyuan City, it seems like there's only one thing related to myself...

  Home!

  Yes, it must be the Su family of Longyuan City!

  Chen Xiao's mind flashed with inspiration, and he suddenly thought of a possibility.

  He heard from his grandfather that at the time of his birth, his mother, Xue, had been engaged to the master of the Su family in Longyuan City, and it was agreed that eighteen years later, Chen would marry the daughter of the Su family, Yu. However, after the Chen clan was exterminated, his mother disappeared, and when he was four years old, the Su family of Longyuan City sent more than a dozen top masters from Huangting to tear up this engagement in front of everyone in Songyancheng.

  But able to affect Songyancheng, prompting three Zifu repairmen to kill Grandpa and younger brother, Longyuan City Su family is undoubtedly the most capable of this!

  Yes, it must be so!

  The more he thought about it, the clearer Chen's train of thought became, and he was certain that his conjecture was eight or nine out of ten correct.

  As for the identity of that "young master", it's also easy to explain. In order to prevent himself and his brother from escaping from Songyan City, he didn't hesitate to set up a trap outside the city, such a large-scale operation can only be done by some powerful force within Songyan City.

  Their purpose in doing so must be for the marriage of that 'young master', and it's possible that they want to form an alliance with the Su family of Longyuan City, with the key to the alliance being to use their own lives and their brother's life as a bargaining chip!

  Thinking of this, Chen Tang felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had fallen into an icy cave. Tearing up the marriage contract was already outrageous enough, but to actually drive his entire family to death was a vicious and ruthless move! What a cold-blooded heart!

  Chen Yu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, starting to think about which force in Songyancheng this "young master" belonged to.

  Nanjiang is the southernmost territory of the Great Song Dynasty, with a vast area of over 10 million miles, numerous cities, and Songyancheng is just an inconspicuous small town in the Nanjiang region, covering only a range of 10,000 miles.

  Furthermore, with the neighboring Southern Barbarian Mountains where demonic beasts run amok, there is no excellent spiritual land or vein, and it's almost like a poor mountain and evil water existence. Therefore, the major powers occupying Fengyan City are very few.

  As Chen Yu knew, the current Songyan City is controlled by three major forces: Jiangjun Fu, Li Family, and Songyan Academy.

  The General's Mansion is the military force of the Great Song Dynasty stationed in Songyancheng, with strict discipline, responsible for maintaining order in Songyancheng, and transcending worldly affairs.

  The Songyan Academy is a place where the young masters of Songyan City cultivate, accept disciples, spread the Tao and dispel doubts. The academy is not lacking in Zifu cultivators, but the Songyan Academy has never participated in power struggles and handles matters extremely low-key.

  The Li family is the dominant force in Songyan City, with more than a dozen Zifu cultivators in the clan. After the Chen family's downfall, they rose to become the number one family in Songyan City, shining brightly like the sun at noon.

  Chen Yao's gaze was firmly fixed on the Li family.

  Among these three forces, the Li family is undoubtedly the most hated by the Chen family. The two families have been sworn enemies and have been fighting non-stop before the Chen family was destroyed.

  Even his grandfather Chen Tianli suspected that the downfall of the Chen family was also participated by the Li family.

  "With the power to set up a trap outside Songyancheng, and having a feud with my Chen family, that 'young master' must be from the Li family!"

  Up to this point, all the clues have been roughly sorted out. Chen Xiao couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief and muttered to himself: "Grandfather, aren't you always tormented by not knowing who our family's enemy is? Don't worry, your grandson has already grasped an important clue. When I become stronger, I'll go take revenge for you! For the thousands of Chen clan members!"

  "Brother, have you guessed who the enemy is?" Chen Hao looked up with a small face, his eyes full of hatred.

  Chen Yao shook his head and thought it would be harmful and useless to tell his brother Chen Hao about this before he had the power to destroy the Li family.

  "Xiao Huan, since you've decided to cultivate the left-handed sword, work hard and when you become strong, I'll take you to kill people, to avenge our enemies!"

  Chen Xiao patted his brother's shoulder and said calmly, "I will also work hard and become stronger. From now on, I won't let you suffer any more grievances."

  "Brother, for Grandpa's sake, for our Chen family, let's work hard together!"

  "Good!"

  The two brothers looked at each other, their expressions firm and identical.

  In the following days, apart from making talismans to earn yuan stones, Chen Xuan almost spent all his time on cultivation. Although his cultivation had been stagnant at the third level of the Pre-Heaven Realm for five years, he was not discouraged at all. Instead, he cultivated even more diligently, forgetting to sleep and eat, and refused to waste even a single moment.

  Dripping water can penetrate stone, but only by persisting can you see hope!

  Chen Xiao was silent and introverted by nature, and he had a stubborn and eccentric personality. He thought this way and acted this way.

  Chen Hao has also changed. Having lost his right hand, the swordsmanship he had previously practiced was almost entirely useless. Practicing with his left hand is undoubtedly starting from scratch.

  He worked hard to adapt his left hand, making great efforts to adjust the rhythm of using a sword, and gradually solidifying the foundation of his left-handed sword.

  In the morning sun and under the night sky, one can see his thin figure sweating profusely as he practices sword fighting with all his might!

  Chen Hao's qualifications were already excellent, and his foundation was solidified by his grandfather. In less than ten days, he had completely mastered the use of a sword with his left hand. Because of his focus, his swordsmanship had improved even further compared to before.

  It is especially worth mentioning that on the eighth day of his bitter cultivation, Chen Huan broke through to the Great Perfection Realm and successfully advanced to the Pre-Heavenly Realm!

  Its progress speed is so fast, it won't take long before surpassing older brother Chen Yu is also not impossible.

  Chen Xiao was naturally overjoyed and at the same time felt an invisible pressure, his younger brother had advanced to the Xiantian stage, what about him, when would he be able to break through the third realm of the Xiantian stage?

  However, although the boundary is still stagnant, Chen Tai has made other gains. With the yuan stone earned from making talismans these days, he has completely paid off the 100 yuan stones owed to Zhang Da Shu, and there is even a little left over, which makes him feel much better.

  He calculated that every day, the yuan stone he earned from making talismans, minus his daily expenses, would leave him with four blocks of yuan stone. Originally, he had planned to save up enough yuan stone to buy a book on how to make second-grade talismanic scrolls, but in order to quickly improve his cultivation level, he decided to use the yuan stone for cultivation instead.

  For Chen Tai, who was used to a poor and bitter life, using yuan stone for cultivation was simply a luxury. After all, in recent years, in order to make a living, he had been calculating every single yuan stone with great care, as if he wanted to split the yuan stone into two halves to use.

  However, in order to improve his realm, he can't consider so much anymore.

  The true yuan in Chen Yao's body can only support him to make thirty talismans a day, earning at most ten yuan stones. Once his boundary body is upgraded, the true yuan will surge, and he can make more talismans and earn more yuan stones.

  Therefore, improving one's realm is the top priority!

  The spiritual energy outside was too thin after all, and only by earning more yuan stones and using the yuan stones to cultivate could he and his brother Chen Huan become stronger.

  With this intention, Chen Quan divided the remaining four yuan stones every day into two halves, giving one half to his younger brother and keeping the other half for himself to cultivate.

  However, what left Chen Ting speechless was that more than ten days had passed, and even if he used the yuan stone to cultivate, his true yuan did not increase by a single thread.

  Is this how I'm going to spend the rest of my life?

  At night, Chen Xiao sat cross-legged on the bedhead, silent and speechless. Even with his strong and tenacious temperament, he couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

  When he was anxious and distracted, Chen Tang would habitually sit in meditation to cultivate himself. Only through cultivation could he forget everything.

  Operating the "Zi Xuan Gong", the external spiritual energy is transformed into strands of true yuan, flowing through the meridians throughout the body, circulating eighteen times around the heavenly orbit before slowly entering the dan tian.

  Congenital boundary, every step up, the dantian will appear a cloud of true yuan condensation, called the foundation cloud ladder, until nine clouds are condensed, you can open the purple mansion and become a formal entry into the fairy mansion with a dao foundation.

  Zi Xuan Gong is divided into eighteen levels, it's the Chen family's traditional martial art. Chen Tang has been practicing since childhood and now he has reached the thirteenth level, possessing the cultivation of the three innate heavens. In his dantian, three purple clouds have condensed, floating inside the dantian, absorbing the true yuan from the meridians throughout his body.

  Crack!

  After a long time, when the true yuan in his body was full and Chen Tang was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard an extremely faint cracking sound. The voice was small, but in this quiet and deep night, it seemed particularly clear.

  He looked around, and soon his eyes fell on a long-life lock hanging from his chest, which was worn by his mother, Zuoshan Xue, when he was born, symbolizing no disaster or difficulty, growing up safely.

  This longevity lock is also the only thing Chen Yu has that is related to his mother, and he treasures it exceptionally. However, at this moment, many spider web-like cracks have quietly appeared on the surface of the longevity lock, and he can't help but feel a pang of heartache.

  "What's going on? Why would the Longevity Lock suddenly appear with cracks for no reason?"

  Chen Xiao stretched out his hand to touch the Longevity Lock, but unexpectedly, as soon as his fingertips came into contact with its surface, countless cracks spread across it like wild grass, and then, after a crisp cracking sound, the surface of the Longevity Lock shattered into countless fragments, scattering down into his arms, revealing a dull black jade pendant.

  A jade pendant was hidden inside the Longevity Lock?

  Chen Xiao only felt that his brain was a bit inadequate, and he stared blankly at the jade pendant. It was about the size of a dragon eye, round and transparent, jet black without any luster, resembling an exceptionally fine black pearl.

  Could it be a gift left by her mother? But if so, why did she hide it in her own locket?

  Buzz!

  Just as Chen Xiao was perplexed, a gentle and elegant clear hum began to resonate, like the sound of a babbling brook, light and pleasant to the ear. Along with the sound, a dazzling white light suddenly shot out from the surface of the jade pendant!

  Moments later, the countless soft white lights floating out of the jade pendant thoroughly illuminated the entire room. The white light rotated and dispersed like fog, like a dream or an illusion.

  Chen Xiao felt as if he was in a dream, and when he was at a loss, the white light in front of him suddenly surged violently, and gradually, a woman in a white dress condensed from light and shadow appeared out of thin air!

  The woman's white dress fluttered, her eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, elegant and refined. Her big, bright eyes shone with a hint of mischief.

  When he saw her, Chen Xiao suddenly felt a sense of strangeness and familiarity in his heart, feeling a long-lost intimacy, and he couldn't help but feel curious, who was this woman, how could she make him feel such a subtle emotion?

  "Oh, baby son, we mother and son finally meet again!"

  The woman in white clothes put her hands behind her back, playfully winked at Chen Yu and smiled, opening her mouth to speak with a clear and pleasant voice that sounded like the gentle gurgling of a spring.

  At these words, Chen Xiao's eyes suddenly widened, and he stared at the woman in white, his face full of incredulity, no longer with his usual calm and composed demeanor.

  She... She is her own mother, Zuo Qiu Xue?

  ——

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