You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

"Hong Xi,"

Lin Yue turned his head towards Hong Xi and said with a smile that was not quite a smile, "You now understand your situation, don't you? You are the granddaughter of the Ninth Prince of the Xiahong clan. Now that Prince Lin Mansion has collapsed, you should follow the Blood Sea Saint Mother in cultivation."

"Ninth Prince..." Hong Xi fell silent for a moment before asking, "And what of my father?"

"Commandery Prince Tianxuan..."

Lin Yue glanced at her, speaking with a deliberately deep reserve, "You should assume he is already dead. Do not seek him out, for it would only bring you misfortune."

Of course, from the secrets he had obtained, in actuality, Commandery Prince Tianxuan was not dead, and was in fact quite alive and well.

Hong Xi silently nodded her head, not saying more.

After all, she had been an orphan since birth and had never met her biological parents; she valued the foster mother who had raised her more and did not particularly care about that father she had never met.

"From now on, focus on your cultivation."

Lin Yue said, "With your talents and the cultivation provided by the Blood Sea Saint Mother, you may also have the hope to understand these matters in the future... Do you have any other questions at the moment?"

Hong Xi nodded and asked, "I would like to ask... why did you help me disguised as a young child?"

"It must be considered a fortuitous coincidence," Lin Yue did not elaborate.

After all, it could be considered that the Flying Spirit Chasing Sun had chosen her, and to encounter her was indeed a fortuitous coincidence.

Hong Xi seemed somewhat disappointed as she inquired further, "And those opportunities that I've received..."

"They were given to you by me," Lin Yue looked at her, shaking his head and smiling, "Don't think too much of it. I am not your father; consider me an uncle. It's just that your grandfather held a grudge against the Twelfth Prince, and I also have a feud with the Twelfth Prince, so I helped you out."

He did not want to reveal the existence of the Flying Spirit Chasing Sun and indeed had that reason in part.

Hong Xi was taken aback.

Previously, she had not known Lin Yue's identity and had been guessing whether he could be her unseen father. It seemed she had thought too much.

"Thank you... I will definitely repay you in the future," Hong Xi said with a bit of reluctance, "I'll give you back this Heavenly Martial Heart Plate."

Lin Yue felt a surge of interest and quickly responded, "No need, the Heavenly Martial Heart Plate has no use for me. Cultivate well, and in the future, you might be able to help me."

He deliberately pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's do this... leave me a token. When I need you in the future, I will send someone with the token to find you. You help me once, and that will be payment for my help."

Without hesitation, Hong Xi immediately took out a broken Jade Pendant from the storage space of the Heavenly Martial Heart Plate and said, "This is the Jade Pendant I've had since I was little. I was told that when my foster mother found me, this half of the Jade Pendant was already with me."

"Oh? Fine then."

Lin Yue pretended to be just learning about the existence of such a Jade Pendant on her person, nodded slightly, and seemingly casually accepted the half Jade Pendant.

In fact, he had noticed the half Jade Pendant from the very first day he had discovered Hong Xi.

And later, from secrets concerning the Jade Pendant, he had learned that it was one-half of the Yin Yang Heavenly Mechanism Jade, one half Yin and one half Yang, with their function being a single one... Yin Yang attraction and positioning.

As long as one is within the same space, even if tens of thousands of miles apart, one could find the other half of the Heavenly Mechanism Jade.

The half that Hong Xi possessed was the Yin Jade.

From the moment he first discovered the secret of Hong Xi, he had planned to have her voluntarily surrender this half of the Yin Jade.

Even if what she had taken out just now wasn't this piece of Yin Jade, he would have subtly guided her to surrender it.

However, among her own belongings, this was the one special item that also held unique significance, so the likelihood of her offering this item was naturally quite high.

"Focus on your cultivation."

Lin Yue advised, then looked at the Blood Sea Saint Mother and said, "Saint Mother, I leave the rest to you."

The Blood Sea Saint Mother nodded and replied, "Please rest assured, Your Highness."

"Right," Lin Yue suddenly asked, "How is the preparation for Baili Fengzhi's Bloodline Harmonization Treasure going?"

"Soon, at most two to three years, or perhaps three to five years, it should be nearly complete," replied the Blood Sea Saint Mother. "Mainly, cultivating that Bloodline Embryo still requires some time."

Lin Yue nodded his head.

A few years' time was quite fast indeed.

...

Without further conversation, the Blood Sea Saint Mother collected the Inner Heaven and Earth Domain and left with Hong Xi towards the Blood Sea.

As for Lin Yue, he stood in place, watching the departing light from afar, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Duanmu Yan... I'll be waiting for you to come knocking."

He took out an item; it was a strand of hair emitting an aura that seemed both illusory and real, even faintly connecting to a realm that was both phantom-like and actual.

After closely studying it for a while, Lin Yue finally stored away the strange strand of hair.

Then, with a step forward, he vanished into the Void.

...

In Cangzhou, atop Primordial Mountain, a figure in a black robe appeared quietly above, gazing down at the misty mountains below.

It was unmistakably Duanmu Yan.

"Even though he should have already left, but..."

With a flip of his hand, Duanmu Yan took out a clear, semi-transparent token and immediately activated it.

The token gradually dimmed and shrank slightly.

"The Primordial Spirit Token is not responding... as expected, he's gone," he muttered, shaking his head slightly. "But at least, I have grasped the trail."

Duanmu Yan put away the Primordial Spirit Token and immediately vanished into thin air.

...

This was an Illusion World, forever enveloped in the solitude of night, with towering peaks standing within the Eternal Night.

This was Eternal Night Mountain.

Only cultivators among the Great Cultivators who met the minimum qualifications were allowed into Eternal Night Mountain.

And atop those towering peaks resided the various Peak Masters of Eternal Night Mountain, all of whom were Saint-level powerhouses.

"Whoosh."

A figure in a black robe materialized in this Illusion World.

Within Eternal Night Mountain, the presence of Duanmu Yan was immediately detected by several Peak Masters, and an array of powerful Divine Thoughts spread through the area.