Naked Sword Art

The man with violet eyes simply stood there, watching him without expression.

"You are lucky to be alive, son."

"Who are you?" Xiao Fang asked.

"You don't recognize me?"

There was something hauntingly familiar about his voice. Not recent… old. Like hearing the echo of someone from a lifetime ago. A blurred memory, like a distant uncle at a family gathering, someone who'd held him once and said, "I remember when you were just this small."

"Are you from the Divine Sword Sect?" Xiao Fang asked, uncertain.

The man shook his head. "No. Try opening your eyes—just the left one. It appears the Curse has taken root in your right eye. I wouldn't recommend opening that one… not yet."

Xiao Fang hesitated, then slowly opened his left eye.

And froze.

He wasn't imagining it.

The man's eyes—violet, just like his own—glowed faintly in the light. But it wasn't just the color. It was the shape, the weight behind them, the way they shimmered with quiet intensity. It was like staring into a reflection not cast by any mirror.

Then, like a whisper from the past, his mother's voice echoed in his mind—the words she spoke the first time she saw him with his violet eyes:

"Your eyes… They look just like his." (Chapter 45)

What Xiao Fang had learned during his time with the Dual Cultivation Clan was that a Dual Cultivator's eyes only glowed violet while actively using a seduction technique, having a strong emotional reaction to something, or while dual cultivating. That was why it had always been a mystery to him—why were his eyes violet all the time?

But now, he was staring at a man whose eyes were permanently violet, just like his own.

"You're a Dual Cultivator… but I still don't know who you are," Xiao Fang admitted.

The man exhaled softly, as if bracing for something long overdue. "I suppose you were too young to remember. My name is Zhen Lixuan, the last Patriarch of the Dual Cultivation clan… and I am your grandfather."

Xiao Fang stared at him, his expression unreadable.

He had heard the rumors of the elusive last patriarch of the Dual Cultivation sect. A cultivator whose genius and disappearance had become that of legend. But never once did he imagine he'd meet him.

And yet, despite the weight of his words, Xiao Fang couldn't quite wrap his mind around it.

"You're my grandfather? Aren't you too young to be my grandfather?" he asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Zhen Lixuan didn't look a day over thirty-four. Fit, youthful, sharp-eyed—he looked more like an uncle than a grandfather.

"I'm Sixty-seven years old," Zhen Lixuan replied plainly.

Even though Xiao Fang could hear his steady heartbeat and detect no signs of deception, he still couldn't bring himself to believe it. Powerful cultivators in their 60s were typically only beginning to start a family. Cultivators of that age were just beginning to consider family. His grandmother, Wu Yue, was already over 90—and still considered fairly young for her role. His other grandfather, Xiao Kong, was closer to being 150 than 100.

This man—this stranger—was barely middle-aged in comparison.

"You say you're my grandfather, but your surname is Zhen. And don't you think you're a little too young to be anyone's grandfather?" Xiao Fang pressed.

Zhen Lixuan smirked.

"That's because your mother took my wife's surname," he explained, his voice deepening with a note of solemnity. "Her name… was Yu Lianyi. I met her in the Royal Court."

"Lianyi…" Xiao Fang echoed quietly, trying to recall if his mother had ever mentioned that name. But nothing surfaced.

"We were both very young when we had Yu An. Not much older than you are now," Zhen Lixuan added with a faint, nostalgic smile. "From what I've heard… you'll be having a daughter of your own soon."

Xiao Fang's brows furrowed. He and Chun Hua had always referred to the baby as he—so casually, so confidently. The thought that it might be a girl had never crossed his mind.

"Am I… really having a daughter?" he asked, voice soft with sudden uncertainty.

Zhen Lixuan shrugged lightly.

"Male Dual Cultivators typically only have daughters. It's always been that way. That's why many in our clan—your mother included—choose partners outside the sect. Otherwise, the sect would only give birth to daughters."

Xiao Fang, thinking about being a father to a daughter, felt very troubled. All the knowledge he wished to one day impart on his future son was now feeling like a fleeting dream. Just the thought of his future daughter one day talking to him about boys was already pissing him off.

'If she even thinks about such things, I'll take her eyes myself,' he thought coldly.

"What's it like being a father to a daughter?" Xiao Fang had no one else to ask.

Zhen Lixuan suddenly bursted out laughing.

"It isn't easy, I can tell you that much."

Xiao Fang's face darkened.

"If she's anything like your mother…" he shook his head, not finishing the sentence.

Xiao Fang just stared at his grandfather, he hadn't realized it till now, but somehow he had already become really comfortable with him. It was as if he knew him for a long time.

"I'm sorry to say it," Xiao Fang admitted after a moment, "but my mother never mentioned you to me."

Zhen Lixuan nodded, unsurprised. "Mn, I expected as much. I erased my wife's memories of both myself and Yu An after I was exiled. As for Yu An, I let her keep hers… on the condition that she never reveal who I was."

"You stole your own wife's memories of you?" Xiao Fang stared at him, eyes narrowing with a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"It was… a difficult time," Zhen Lixuan replied simply, his gaze distant.

Xiao Fang could sense he didn't want to speak further on the subject. Whatever had happened, it wasn't something easily explained. So he let it go—for now.