Seeing her little aunt taken down a peg, Mentor Yu Xuan couldn’t help covering her mouth and chuckling softly. She quickly composed herself and paid her respects to her mother, great-aunt, little aunt, and aunt.
Yan Zhen followed suit with his greetings.
The Family Head Yu Lu gazed at her radiant daughter, then at Yan Zhen’s ashen face. Her eyebrows shot up as if caught in a gust of wind.
“You two—did you cross the line?”
Mentor Yu Xuan replied candidly,
“Yes, Mother. I’ve given myself to Yan Zhen.”
The words sent a ripple through the air. Dean Little Aunt and Mentor Aunt’s expressions shifted subtly, while even Elder Great-Aunt popped open her perpetually squinted eyes, her face turning grave.
All eyes then locked onto Yan Zhen. His pallid complexion sparked immediate alarm.
Elder Yu Yan appeared at Yan Zhen’s side in a flash. Without a word, she seized his wrist and channeled a thread of mystic power into his body to probe its condition.
Dean Yu Qing was livid. She jabbed a finger at Yan Zhen and berated him.
“You! You utter scoundrel! Why couldn’t you just hold back for a moment? Do you have to drag everyone down with you and push us to our graves? You big dumb pig!”
It wasn’t just her. Even the usually composed Shui Bailan was fuming as she asked anxiously,
“Sister Yu Yan, how is he? Can it be undone?”
The Family Head Yu Lu’s face was a mask of frost. She said nothing, but her simmering rage was plain for all to see, ready to boil over at any moment.
Then Elder Yu Yan let out a surprised “Eh?”, shattering the tension.
“What’s this? Little Yan Zhen seems perfectly fine.”
She pried open his eyelids to inspect the bloodshot veins in his eyes, had him stick out his tongue to check its coating, and even patted his chest muscles. She resembled nothing so much as a doddering old physician or an oversized, inquisitive child.
Shui Bailan blinked in bewilderment, utterly at a loss.
Xuan’er had received a restraint seal from her grandmother upon reaching adulthood. If she lay with a man before the Mystic King Realm, it would devour his essence, vital energy, and spirit completely, leaving him a husk.
The seal protected the heir while deterring premarital dalliances that might taint the bloodline.
“How could he possibly be fine?” Dean Yu Qing snatched Yan Zhen’s other wrist and sent in her own mystic power to scan him. Moments later, she echoed the surprise with her own “Eh?” and demanded, “You little punk, how are you unscathed? Were you just bored and messing with your elders?”
Yan Zhen spread his hands in a gesture of pure innocence.
At that moment, Mentor Yu Xuan stepped in to explain.
“I dispelled the restraint seal, so Yan Zhen wasn’t affected by it.”
The three women exchanged stunned glances. The Family Head Yu Lu, still rooted in place, asked icily,
“You’re not even at the Mystic King Realm yet. How could you unravel a restraint seal planted by Mother Superior herself?”
Mentor Yu Xuan laid it all bare.
“Don’t be shocked, Mother. The truth is, I’m a reincarnator. I returned from the future, carrying my memories with me.”
“A reincarnator?”
Even the aloof Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law froze at those words. Elder Great-Aunt, Dean Little Aunt, and Mentor Aunt mirrored her shock.
Reincarnation? The concept was rarer than a myth in even the most fanciful tales.
“Xuan’er, you’re serious?” Shui Bailan pressed. “Don’t just spin tales to fob us off.”
Mentor Yu Xuan smiled faintly.
“I’m not joking, Aunt. I truly am a reincarnator, with all my past life’s memories intact. In that life, I cultivated all the way to the Mystic Ancestor Realm, so I learned how to break the seal—and even how to implant one. That restraint derives from the Mystic Technique known as Greedy Devouring Water in the Timely Rain Scripture, doesn’t it?”
Shui Bailan, lacking the Yu bloodline and thus ineligible to cultivate the Timely Rain Scripture, shot a glance at her sister-in-law and the others for their reactions.
The three matriarchs of the Yu Family looked utterly astonished.
Greedy Devouring Water was a Sect Mystic Technique, recorded in the seventh layer of the Timely Rain Scripture. By rights, the current Xuan’er—still at the Mystic General Realm—should only have access up to the fourth layer.
“Did you sneak a peek at the later manuals?”
“I read them in my previous life. Still don’t believe me, Mother? Then let your daughter offer more proof.” Mentor Yu Xuan came prepared and spoke at length. “For instance, why has our Yu Family struggled to produce any Mystic Venerables?”
The four elder beauties snapped to attention. This had long been the family’s greatest enigma.
They possessed supreme techniques and abundant resources. Their talents were exceptional. Yet the highest any had reached was Mystic Ancestor Peak. No one had broken through to Mystic Venerable, leaving the family’s status in an awkward limbo—overseen by a Supreme, yet lacking even one expert of that caliber.
Theories abounded, but the true cause eluded them all.
“Xuan’er, do you really know?”
Mentor Yu Xuan wasted no time on theatrics and explained methodically. Her words aligned closely with what Master Chen Xi had shared before.
Solitary yin cannot engender life; solitary yang cannot sustain growth. From their physiques to their techniques and even the environment they inhabited, the Yu Family was steeped far too heavily in yin energies. This imbalance manifested as Supreme Yin or even Absolute Yin constitutions, severing their path forward.
These states not only stalled their cultivation but wreaked havoc on their bodies. As their realms plateaued, ailments began to pile up relentlessly.
“For example, Little Aunt—at night, your body grows chilled, and sometimes you feel an urge toward men. You can’t help relieving the loneliness yourself.”
Dean Little Aunt’s cheeks flushed crimson. She glanced at Yan Zhen, who wore an all-too-knowing look, and squirmed in mortification.
“I-I haven’t! Don’t talk nonsense, Xuan’er!”
Mentor Yu Xuan pressed on undeterred.
“Great-Aunt’s condition is relatively milder, but your skin is overly hydrated—slippery to the touch. Pinch it, and water actually beads up.”
Elder Great-Aunt narrowed her eyes further and stroked her cheek with a troubled frown.
“Yes, being too hydrated isn’t all good. My undergarments and intimate pants need special Water-Absorbing Runes woven in. Otherwise, I feel damp and sticky all day long.”
“As for you, Mother—”
Mentor Yu Xuan turned to her own mother, whose face betrayed a flicker of unease.
“Ever since advancing to Three-Star Mystic Ancestor, you’ve started lactating again. And your breasts occasionally swell with painful urgency, haven’t they?”
“…”
Silence blanketed the stone pavilion. You could have heard a pin drop.
—Mentor, is this really something to say out loud?
Yan Zhen broke out in a cold sweat. He ducked his head and held his breath, terrified that the Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law might vent her humiliated fury on him—the only man present.
Dean Little Aunt, Elder Great-Aunt, and Mentor Aunt all stole glances at their second sister, younger sister, or sister-in-law’s ample bosom. Their expressions turned profoundly strange.
Two faint patches of red bloomed on the Yu Family Head Mother-in-Law’s strikingly cold and beautiful face. Her most closely guarded secret had been laid bare by her own daughter in public. Even with her ironclad composure, she wavered.
Summoning her resolve, she kept her features schooled and parted her crimson lips coolly.
“If it’s a matter of techniques and constitutions, then why did the Honored One never stall at Mystic Ancestor Peak? Why did she ascend smoothly all the way to the Supreme Realm?”
Mentor Yu Xuan replied steadily.
“There are two reasons. First, the Honored One isn’t of Yu blood. Her Extreme Yin physique is similar but not identical to ours. Second, when she was young, Master Chen Xi offered her guidance and bestowed upon her a wisp of the supremely yang and unyielding Gold-Silver Fire. It shattered the Supreme Yin state within her, allowing her breakthrough.”
