Lin Feilin, Sixth Senior Sister.
This was a name often reminisced within Yan Zaizen's mind. It was this girl, now a woman, who cleaned his body in that isolated cave. When he first stepped onto the path of the strong, she was there.
Like him, she had been accepted by Han Genji as a disciple, and her past was similarly tragic. He didn't know the full story of her origins, but he knew she regarded Han Genji as an important figure in her life, enough to seek revenge for his death.
She had joined the Water Veil Sect and was nearly forced to marry. Due to his arrival, he had reclaimed her fate and even led to her being the disciple of the Water Veil Sect Master. It had transformed her from being a pawn to becoming a future expert of Presba.
He hadn't thought that he would meet her. This was because, when he used his expansive yet taxing soul search, he hadn't found a hint of her aura. Observing her now, he knew why.
It might've been minor, but her physical and soul presence had undergone a shift. This shift made her seem like an entirely different person. Furthermore, she had traces of Yao Wuhen aura on her. This was such an irregularity that he still hadn't deduced the cause despite her being directly before him.
As he entered the palace, his eyes were honed on the back figure of Lin Feilin. Her earlier words seemed as if she knew that he would return her, to find her or more accurately, find Yao Wuhen who she had the aura of.
They entered the glorious and luxurious palace that emanated traces of serene and rippling aura. He glanced for a moment, but ignored all the other special characteristics of this palace. In truth, it wasn't worthy to be given an in-depth look.
Instead, they arrived at a central living room, well-furnished, and decorative. He didn't waste a second as he found himself a comfy chair, seating in it while regarding the woman before him.
Only then did she turn, allowing him to fully grasp her intrinsic qualities and beautiful features. The once young girl at the springtime of her youth that transformed into an adult beauty with a sharpness and experienced gaze. Her well-proportioned figure, voluptuous and firm, with delicate curves and long, river-like flowing hair.
She seemed like an immortal fairy queen who descended into the mortal world. Those eyes that were calm yet bright left a drawing allure that could barely be resisted.
"Sixth Senior Sister…" Yan Zaizen calmly said. The eyes of this woman before him trembled slightly as she focused her eyes on Yan Zaizen's seating figure.
"You look the same as before," a tinge of emotion leaked out of her voice as she spoke. Yan Zaizen's newly formed body had barely any physical differences to his original body. In fact, they could be regarded as twins. The only difference was aura.
While Yan Zaizen's original body contained an aura that was unparalleled and resembling a sovereign of the world, his new body had a more resemblance to the personification of the unshakeable watcher of heaven and earth. His strong physical presence that wasn't hindered by Qi Cultivation and Heavenly Dao Seed highlighted this.
"You look even better than before," a slight smile surfaced on his face. It was warm and held his earnest emotions of happiness. At the moment, he didn't know of his Sixth Senior Sister's circumstance or if she was truly his Sixth Senior Sister.
The beauty before him brushed a strand of loose hair away, tucking it behind her ear as she sighed. "Thousands of years…" her words were flowing with complex emotions.
Yan Zaizen just quietly watched. Old Man Bo held the snow-white puppy and stood behind him like a quiet servant. He was merely a listener.
After a period of long extended silence, the beauty's eyes flashed a determined and firm light. "Yao Wuhen was killed."
"..." Yan Zaizen remained silent.
She continued, "She was murdered by the Xiantu Empire. When she died, I was captured by the Imperial Clan of Presba. They...I survived and killed those responsible. She left a treasure, a safety net in an attempt to revive. She used me as the target for her resurrection, but she inevitably failed.
"I took over the Water Veil Sect after. I changed its name and controlled it from the background while remaining in hiding." As she spoke, she went into detail of what had happened.
Supposedly, her capture was once more a matter of marriage, and one of the Princes wanted to claim her as a concubine, but she refused. Therefore, she was kept in captivity. While she didn't go into how she escaped, the fact that she was here right now proved she did.
Furthermore, her Master, Yao Wuhen, was killed by the Xiantu Empire. As for why, she didn't know. All she knew was that she had a treasured item that stored a portion of her Soul and Origin Source, and tried to use Lin Feilin as a medium. Ultimately, she failed.
This was why Lin Feilin had a different soul aura and intrinsic soul signature than others. This included Yao Wuhen's aura. Yan Zaizen knew that resurrection was a possibility, and there were a myriad of ways to achieve it.
Firstly, Wu Yuanxu had revived thanks to interlinked but duplicate soul. Ezekiel had been consumed and refined entirely by the Black Hole, yet he survived due to a miraculous item found in the Heavenly Origin Grounds. The Laws of Life, Death, Soul, Rebirth, and Samsara were boundless and profound. Yan Zaizen's original body could easily revive an existence who held even a tiny fragment of their soul.
He didn't question the validity of her words. In fact, he only listened as he formulated his own thoughts.
In the end, he finally asked: "The Yan Clan?"
The beauty that was both Lin Feilin yet changed at the fundamental level gently inhaled and exhaled. This was the question that she didn't want to answer the most. She began to explain, and as she did, Yan Zaizen's indifferent, immovable eyes started to tremble.
The story went as such:
The Yan Clan was housed and protected by the Water Veil Sect, and they somehow started to grow. In the past, Yan Zaizen had left them a cache of resources that sparked their growth. Unfortunately, the Yan Clan's bloodline gated their progress, until a genius emerged. His mastery was incredible, considered and termed the Master of a Thousand Arts.
He could, with a glimpse, copy and execute any art if any element with any law. He had awakened the Imperial Law of Mimicry Bloodline within their Origin Source, gaining world-wide recognition.
However, his strength was accompanied by heaven-shaking ambition as he ushered the Yan Clan into a glorious age. Their unique bloodline was made known soon after due to him awakening it in others, creating a clan of astonishing warriors. These warriors could cultivate any cultivation method, even men could cultivate Yin Methods limited to women.
They rose and tackled the Imperial Clan. In the end, they won. The remnants of the Imperial Clan seeked refuge in the arms of other powers, barely surviving. These survivors were the ancestors of the current Imperial Clan.
After they took over Presba, they overreached. The astonishingly powerful genius and leader of the Yan Clan ventured out into the greater world.
This was where her knowledge had mostly ceased, becoming incredibly vague. That genius had instigated a disaster, and the Xiantu Emperor at the time had declared him a criminal of the highest order. He was hunted and said to have been subsequently killed.
Later, the Yan Clan was revealed to become bloodthirsty demons hell-bent on annihilating all life, and most of Presba was wiped out in a very short period of time. The Xiantu Emperor descended with his exalted forces and eradicated these demons before they spread, later releasing evidence and determining history.
However, what caused Yan Zaizen to feel disturbed was a single fact.
At that time, the Xiantu Emperor had been newly crowned. It was someone who he was familiar with. A person he had thought of recently quite often.
The new Xiantu Emperor that led the eradication of his clan was…
Shin Xuanji!!!
His Eighth Senior Brother, and the first to receive his Bestowed Dao!