17 Inheritance

Chapter 17

When he suddenly withdrew his hand, Yun Ran’s hand remained suspended in midair, grasping at empty space.

The atmosphere grew awkward.

“……”

Shen Yihan snapped back to reality, feeling a twinge of regret—what should have been nothing had become complicated by his own guilty conscience, making him jumpy and tense.

He was about to concoct an excuse to explain why he couldn’t let Yun Ran inspect him when Yun Ran, as if the earlier awkwardness never happened, slowly retracted his hand. After a brief pause, he said, “It’s fine now.”

Shen Yihan looked at his friend and saw that his eyes remained as dark and profound as ever, calm and clear as before.

Those eyes were like the sword heart he once glimpsed in his friend: cold and solitary, wholly devoted to the Dao, yet straightforward and honest, with nothing kept hidden.

In his heart, Shen Yihan thought, “Yun Ran has cultivated the Dengyang Sword for a thousand years, his mind as pure and cold as ice. Others only know the Dengyang Sword for its ruthlessness, but they don’t realize the Compassionate Sword values ‘mercy and love for all under heaven.’ Though Yun Ran practices the Dengyang Sword, he is still Master Mei’s disciple—how could he ever be truly heartless?”

“His path is to ‘discard petty feelings for the sake of greater love.’ If that’s the case, even if he worries about me, it’s because we have shared hardships since youth, not because of any shameful thoughts. I, too, worry about him being delayed in his pursuit of the Great Dao—so why would I have any other thoughts about him?”

“I was misled by that dream and by that demon named Xie, making me overthink. Our thousand-year bond should never be broken over such matters.”

Having resolved this in his mind, all his earlier anxiety vanished. His heart cleared and he felt enlightened.

Walking side by side through the forest, Shen Yihan recalled a thousand years ago when the Dengyang Sword legacy manifested in the world. He stood beside Yun Ran then, accompanying him in searching for the inheritance and enduring the trials left by their ancestors.

Back then, Yun Ran was eager to improve his cultivation to protect Master Mei’s Compassionate Sword legacy from being stolen, burdened also by family grudges. His mindset was likely far less clear and serene than it was today.

Suddenly, Shen Yihan remembered that now it was he who was in urgent need—afflicted by a poisonous insect and needing to find the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” inheritance to detoxify. He was unsure whether to be more worried about the poison or to lament how much had changed.

Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations around them, he said, “That ‘Deer Antler’ fellow said his junior sister found the inheritance nearby and is undergoing trials. Why haven’t I sensed any inheritance here?”

Yun Ran replied, “Hmm, it’s probably a false tomb.”

When a sword legacy appears, besides the sword seed containing the former master’s sword intent, there are often other treasures or secret stashes left by ancestors for future disciples.

Obtaining these is never easy. Even if one finds a true inheritance, they must pass trials to gain its recognition and distinguish between real tombs and false ones used as decoys. If one wastes time in a false tomb only to realize it’s the wrong place, the inheritance may have already been taken by someone else.

Disciple Deer Antler and others from Tiantong Peak lack the cultivation to sense potential inheritance sites, so they cannot tell true from false tombs. But for Yun Ran, who truly inherited the Dengyang Sword legacy, discerning false tombs is no challenge.

As for Shen Yihan, it wasn’t experience that made him realize this place was a false tomb, but the presence of the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” cave dwelling.

This artifact recognized him as its master, making him more sensitive to the sword intent and spiritual energy from the “Ancestor Grandmother.” Although there were faint traces of sword pressure in the forest, they were very weak; the area was most likely a false tomb.

Shen Yihan wanted to find the true tomb and felt he should explain to Yun Ran.

After all, his friend didn’t know this inheritance wasn’t from the Kunwu Sword Sect but from the “Ancestor Grandmother.” If it were a private possession of the Kunwu Sword Sect, his interest would be inappropriate.

“I want to look for the real tomb… but it’s not that I’m coveting it, it’s just…”

Before he could finish explaining, Yun Ran said, “Alright. The inheritance might contain opportunities to help you break through.”

Shen Yihan was speechless.

…This inheritance is at least located in their Kunwu territory. Yun Ran really didn’t treat him as an outsider, did he?

Seeing his friend so calm and entitled, Shen Yihan felt a bit guilty. Clearing his throat, he explained, “Actually… I have no intention of competing with your sect for the inheritance. It’s just that there might be something in it I desperately need. If I can get that, I’m fine with letting someone capable from your sect have the inheritance.”

Yun Ran shook his head. “You shouldn’t think like that.”

Shen Yihan was stunned. “Huh?”

Yun Ran lowered his eyes, gazing at Shen Yihan with serene and cold clarity. “The way of Heaven is to diminish the excess to replenish the deficiency. Cultivators essentially contend with fate itself. Opportunities in the mortal world are the same. If you don’t strive and give them to others, what is given away is not chance but your own vitality and destiny. Shen Zhuo, it’s because you lack this fighting spirit that you’ve made no progress in a hundred years.”

Caught off guard by the rebuke, Shen Yihan felt awkward. He realized Yun Ran didn’t really mind that he coveted his sect’s inheritance.

It was he who had troubled himself unnecessarily.

Closing his eyes to sense the direction where the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” sword pressure was strongest, Shen Yihan summoned his purple-gold soft sword formed from the Yulan mandarin ducks, and Yun Ran rose with him into the air.

Flying together, Shen Yihan suddenly recalled something and asked, “By the way, Yun Ran, did your Dengyang Sword’s first generation ancestor have a Dao spouse?”

Yun Ran replied, “No.”

Though this answer wasn’t unexpected, Shen Yihan felt a bit disappointed. He had hoped to hear some insider information from his friend, a descendant of the Dengyang Sword.

Still not giving up, he asked again, “Then… did he have anyone close? Like… a lover almost becoming a Dao spouse?”

Yun Ran turned his gaze on him.

Shen Yihan realized the question sounded odd—everyone knew the Dengyang Sword was a “lonesome sword.” Asking about the first generation ancestor’s romantic entanglements might be seen as slandering the ancestor. He quickly coughed and said, “Ah… I mean no offense. I just heard some rumors and was curious.”

Yun Ran seemed to consider it, then shook his head slightly. “Letters and writings left by the ancestor don’t indicate he ever had a Dao spouse.”

“Oh…”

Shen Yihan was disappointed.

Unexpectedly, Yun Ran changed topic. “But… if you mean someone close, the ancestor had a younger sister.”

Shen Yihan was stunned. “A sister?”

“Yes.”

“Why have I never heard of this before?”

Yun Ran said, “The ancestor’s records never mentioned her either. I only learned from letters left by the ancestor’s friends that he had a half-sister by the same father. She was abducted by demon cultivators in childhood and grew up among them, becoming thoroughly corrupted by their ways and beyond redemption. The ancestor tried repeatedly to persuade her but failed. They became estranged and never contacted each other again until after the ancestor’s death, when she came to the Kunwu Sect to pay respects.”

Shen Yihan was speechless.

He felt he had stumbled upon something significant.

Could it be that instead of a tragic love story of betrayal, these two were simply “lovers who turned out to be siblings”?

Good grief.

With the moistening of Yun Shui stone marrow, the terrain and plants around the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” cave dwelling had been deeply influenced, as if it had been settled there for thousands of years. If this sister was truly her, then after the Dengyang Sword master’s death, the “Ancestor Grandmother” came to mourn at Kunwu Sword Sect and never left.

No wonder… no wonder a demon cultivator’s inheritance appeared in the Kunwu Mountains.

After flying for a while, they finally arrived at the place with the strongest sword pressure. Before Shen Yihan and Yun Ran landed, they saw the dense crowd below in the forest.

There were many sword masters above Nascent Soul stage, not to mention sword lords and sword monarchs. Shen Yihan even spotted someone who should never be here—

Helan Ting.

Helan Ting, like him, was disguised.

But unlike Shen Yihan’s subtle illusion, Helan Ting used a treasured artifact left by the Helan family of Yingzhou that allowed him to freely change his appearance and mask his aura. Even a Strong Ascension stage expert would find it hard to detect.

Shen Yihan recognized him only because he had seen this disguised face in a dream. If next time Helan Ting changed to a different form, Shen Yihan would be at a loss.

His brow twitched as he silently scolded himself for forgetting.

How could he have forgotten?

This was a favored child of Heaven, a chosen one of fate.

Even if a chance from Heaven fell from the sky, it should land on his face.

The dream had no mention of the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” inheritance appearing. That matter was linked to Xie Xiaofeng, who had become desperate and was connected to him. Because Shen Yihan deliberately tried to change the inevitable future, the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” inheritance manifested. Helan Ting had not apprenticed under Yun Ran, so he could not settle at Dengyang Peak to learn.

Helan Ting’s presence here was not strange but was destined by fate because of Shen Yihan.

He had a bad feeling.

He needed to find a way to remove the poisonous insect in the “Ancestor Grandmother’s” inheritance, but to compete with Heaven’s favored son for the opportunity…

He must be courting death.

Yun Ran noticed Shen Yihan’s lingering gaze below and his hesitation to land. His eyes darkened slightly as he asked, “What’s wrong? Are the people who chased you last night down there?”

Shen Yihan did not answer, lost in thought about what might happen if the poison was not cured. After Yun Ran called him twice, he finally gathered himself and absentmindedly replied, “Ah, no… nothing. Why?”

Yun Ran watched him for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Is there something you can’t tell me?”

Shen Yihan had been distracted, but this question startled him.

He hadn’t expected to reveal so much in front of Yun Ran.

…This won’t do. The disappearance of Xie Xiaofeng hasn’t been discovered by Master Mei or Yun Ran yet. If he slips up again and this secret is exposed…

“I have nothing I can’t tell you,” Shen Yihan said, forcing a casual smile as he looked down. “It’s just that with so many people here, I suddenly don’t feel like joining in the excitement.”

Before he could finish, he abruptly stopped, his face changing dramatically.

This time, it wasn’t a pretense—

That guy was here too??

Yun Ran followed his gaze and saw two young disciples—a boy and a girl—talking among the crowd below. The boy looked ordinary, about sixteen or seventeen, nothing remarkable.

But the girl wore vibrant red robes, her features dazzlingly beautiful and striking. She seemed a couple of years older than the boy. They laughed and joked with playful banter full of charm.

At that moment, the red-robed girl covered her mouth laughing, while the boy blushed slightly, looking away shyly.

Yun Ran’s sharp eyes, though having met the boy only a few times, recognized him and said, “…That seems to be your junior disciple.”

“……”

Shen Yihan’s head buzzed.

It seemed his earlier bad premonition was right—

Chang Gexiao, this troublesome ancestor, couldn’t get mixed up with anyone but Helan Ting?

Originally, the crisis was only his own poisoning. Now it was worse.

If the Heaven-favored son discovers his junior disciple has been toyed with emotionally and comes seeking revenge, how could their small sect, Miaoyin Sect, possibly withstand such a mighty Buddha?