Chapter 296: Blood Relatives (Part 1)

Yun Canghai's sudden roar startled Yun Che. He immediately turned around and saw Yun Canghai's face completely contorted, his eyes covered in a terrifying reddish hue from excessive agitation. His right hand reached out, and his whole body struggled desperately, making the chains clatter.

Such an exaggerated reaction made Yun Che's heart skip a beat. "You've seen this before?"

As he spoke, he quickly picked up the pendant and held it before Yun Canghai. Then, he directly opened the pendant, revealing a seemingly ordinary small mirror inside.

Yun Canghai's eyes were fixed on the mirror, his eyeballs trembling as if they might pop out. After a brief, deathly silence, he struggled even more violently, letting out intense roars: "Where did you get this thing?! Why is it on you... Tell me! Why is it on you! Tell me!!"

Yun Canghai's reaction clearly indicated that he recognized the item in Yun Che's hand; not only did he recognize it, but it also seemed incredibly important to him. Yun Che's own heart began to pound with excitement. He took a step back, put the pendant back around his neck, and said in as calm a voice as possible, "It was on me when I was born. It's the only thing my biological parents, whom I've never met, left for me... Since you recognize it, can you tell me what it is? Who was its original owner? The two people who put it on me... are very likely my biological parents!"

The air suddenly solidified.

Both men were agitated, their wide eyes fixed on each other. Yun Che yearned for an answer; this pendant was his only hope of finding his biological parents and learning about his origins, and today, he had finally met someone who recognized it. Across from him, Yun Canghai's gaze changed from intense to blank... increasingly blank...

"This was... left to you... by your parents?" he asked Yun Che, his voice hoarse, speaking with difficulty and slowly.

"Yes!" Yun Che nodded. He picked up the pendant, took a deep breath, and said directly, "Soon after I was born, my parents were hunted. A close friend of my biological parents, who is my adoptive father, secretly switched his son with me to save my life... After my parents left, there was no news of them. The only thing they left me was this! I've worn it ever since I was a child because it's the only proof I have to find my biological parents! Since you recognize it, do you know who left it for me... who my biological parents are?"

Eager for an answer, Yun Che blurted out as much information as he could, desperately hoping to get the news he sought from Yun Canghai. As he spoke, he saw Yun Canghai's eyes tremble more and more violently, and even... more and more tears glistened.

Yun Canghai's outstretched right hand remained stiff in mid-air, as if in a spasm, unable to lower for a long time. Or perhaps... he had forgotten how to control his body in his extreme excitement. His eyes were fixed on Yun Che, not blinking once. After Yun Che finished speaking, his lips moved repeatedly, but no sound emerged for a long time. Finally, he spoke with immense difficulty, his voice trembling, "Child... how... how old... are you... this year?"

"Nineteen," Yun Che replied. Last month, it was his nineteenth birthday. Three years had unknowingly passed since he was cast out of the Xiao Sect, forced to leave his grandfather and aunt.

"Nineteen... nineteen... nineteen..." Yun Canghai mumbled, his gaze drifting slightly with each repetition. His arm, still stiff in mid-air, moved, adjusting his fingers into a softer posture. "You... come here... give me your left hand... Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you, and I won't take your things... Give me your left hand..."

Yun Canghai's demeanor had become incredibly strange, which surprised Yun Che. However, he found no malice or coldness in Yun Canghai's eyes. After a slight hesitation, he took two steps forward and extended his left hand.

Yun Canghai reached out and grasped Yun Che's wrist. Immediately, Yun Che felt a strange yet gentle energy flow from his wrist, quickly enveloping his entire left arm. Just as he was about to ask what was happening, he suddenly saw a thumb-sized, glowing white sword-shaped mark slowly appear on the back of his left hand!

"What... is this?" Yun Che asked, surprised by the sudden mark on his body.

The moment Yun Canghai saw the mark, tears streamed down his aged face. He looked at Yun Che through a misty veil of tears—a look Yun Che couldn't comprehend. His lips quivered, and the sound he made... was a choked sob born of uncontrolled emotion: "This is the mark of my Yun Clan... indicating an unawakened Profound Handle! It... it proves that you are a descendant of my Yun Clan... You are my Yun Canghai's... biological grandson!!"

The last few words struck Yun Che like thunder in his ears, shaking him to his core. "You... you... what did you say?"

"That white Profound Handle mark is proof of the Yun Clan's bloodline... And the item you've worn since childhood is a supreme treasure guarded by our Yun Clan for the Demon Emperor's lineage! I always kept it on me, never letting it leave my side. When I went to the Azure Cloud Continent to search for the Demon Emperor, I gave it to my son... and my son, in turn, gave it to you... You are my son's son... I am your... biological grandfather!"

Yun Che's mouth hung open, his eyes wide. He was stunned by this seemingly otherworldly revelation. He staggered back two steps, shaking his head in a daze. "Impossible... impossible... How can you be my grandfather... How can such a coincidence happen... Impossible... impossible..."

His repeated cries of "impossible" were uttered unconsciously in his stunned state. After learning that Xiao Lie was not his biological grandfather, the concept of "blood relatives" had become incredibly distant and ethereal to him. The pendant that had always hung around his neck was the only link between him and his true family.

Now, completely unprepared, Yun Canghai—the man who had brought him into this abyss, with whom he had spent over a year, and whom he was determined to kill—suddenly told him he was his relative, his biological grandfather. His mind, unable to subconsciously accept this, plunged into chaos, almost completely losing the ability to think.

"Yes... such a coincidence can happen in this world..." Yun Canghai said, his face streaked with tears, his voice blurred with emotion. "Your Profound Handle mark, and the pendant on you, are undeniable proof... Do you remember when I brought you down here, that junior from the Heavenly Sword Villa mentioned that my son and daughter-in-law, twenty years ago, entered the Azure Cloud Continent searching for me, and later found this very area... After that, they were hunted by the Heavenly Sword Villa... The timing, the events, the location... everything aligns perfectly! You are the descendant my son left behind during the two or three years he spent searching for me on the Azure Cloud Continent!"

Yun Che was speechless.

"If... if you still don't believe me, then we can perform a blood-bonding ritual... That's the most direct proof, impossible to fake or question!"

Yun Canghai spoke excitedly, simultaneously flipping his right palm, and drops of crimson blood dripped from his index fingertip.

A blood-bonding ritual is the most authoritative method to confirm kinship. When two blood drops are mixed and gently agitated with even the most basic profound energy, if they are direct blood relatives, they will thoroughly merge. If not, they will instantly disperse... There are no exceptions!

Yun Che had, of course, clearly heard what Ling Kun said that day, and now, recalling it, the timings astonishingly aligned.

Could it be...?Could it be...?Could it really be...?

Watching the drops of blood fall from Yun Canghai's fingertip, Yun Che was so tense he could barely breathe. He gritted his teeth, trying to calm his mind as much as possible. Without a word, he stepped forward, extended his finger, and with a surge of profound energy, gently pricked his fingertip. A bead of blood slowly formed, then dripped down, touching one of Yun Canghai's blood drops.

Yun Che crouched down, holding his breath, and extended his palm towards the two touching blood drops. His hand moved incredibly slowly; what should have been an instant distance felt like an eternity. Finally, a wisp of the most basic profound energy emanated from his palm, enveloping the drops...

Both blood drops trembled slightly, then almost instantaneously... completely merged into one.

Yun Che's mind reeled.

Yun Canghai's entire body trembled, an endless mix of sorrow and joy flooding his heart, leaving him unsure whether to sob uncontrollably or burst into joyous laughter. He waved the only arm he could move, emitting hoarse cries he himself could barely hear: "My grandson... You are my grandson... my biological grandson... My biological grandson!!!"

The two fully merged blood drops were deeply imprinted in Yun Che's pupils and soul. He looked up at Yun Canghai, muttering in a daze, "You really... are my... grandfather... my... grandfather..."

"Yes... I am!!" Yun Canghai tilted his head back, shouting to the sky, unsure if he was crying or laughing. "Heaven has been kind to me! Not only have I found my grandson, but he's also been sent to my side, and he's so exceptional... The only young man I've ever truly admired in my life turns out to be my biological grandson... Haha... Hahahaha! Heaven has been kind to me, heaven has been so kind to me!!"