A few days later, Jialan Holy Land formally allied with Death City. Death City halted in the spatial rift above the holy land, its hazy outline faintly visible through the sea of clouds.
As one of the alliance conditions, Jialan Holy Land acknowledged Yan Zhen’s identity as the Evil Flame Holy Son. In other words, Yan Zhen was both the Jialan Flame Holy Son and the Evil Flame Holy Son.
This drew quite a bit of grumbling from the higher-ups on both sides. For one thing, there was no precedent for such a thing. For another, they all knew full well how formidable Yan Zhen was and had zero intention of letting him go.
But the decision had been made. No matter their complaints, nothing would change.
Jialan Fairy took an unusually firm stance on the matter.
As for the Evil Consort, who among her subordinates would dare question her decisions? Usually, she beat them until they didn’t dare.
The alliance didn’t bring any immediate changes. Everything continued to run as usual.
Only Yan Zhen’s life changed dramatically.
Per the agreement with his three masters, each got ten days a month to teach him. First came the Saint Lord Master, then the Beautiful Master, and finally the Evil Consort Master, rotating in that order.
The Saint Lord Master taught him body refining. The Beautiful Master instructed him in technique refining. The Evil Consort Master covered Mystic arts and secret techniques.
Yan Zhen grew busy, shuttling back and forth between Bitter Sea Cave-Heaven, Fire Refining Starry Sky, and White Bone Grotto-Heaven. He vanished from sight during the first and last thirds of each month, only appearing at Holy Son Peak in the middle to hole up in his room. Only in his spare moments did he emerge to spend time with his daughter.
Perhaps sensing that a great war loomed, the women threw themselves into cultivation with unusual fervor, spending most of their time in seclusion. Affairs at Holy Son Peak fell to Sister Ji Ya, Aunt Shui Bailan, and the cultivation-averse Yan Meng’er to manage jointly.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Under the Saint Lord Master’s training, Yan Zhen’s physique advanced smoothly, finally stepping into the Body Refining Great Accomplishment realm.
At Body Refining Great Accomplishment, his vital energy birthed colorful auroras that lit up half the sky. With his fleshly body alone, he could split mountains and cleave waves without effort.
At the same time, Yan Zhen awakened the divine blood in his body, gaining its corresponding powers.
Resistance from the Snake God Blood; mystery from the Star God Blood; brute force from the Dragon God Blood… Though the enhancements were subtle at first, they would play a massive role as his realm deepened.
For instance, the Star God Blood’s mysterious trait let Yan Zhen conceal his aura. Paired with Starry Sky Dance, it allowed him to truly come and go without a trace.
On the technique refining front, since Yan Zhen had reached the Divine Soul True Realm, he could attempt seventh-tier Mystic pills.
Pills from the seventh tier onward triggered pill tribulations, causing the refining difficulty to skyrocket. Thus, most Pill Refiners got stuck at the sixth tier.
Even with Yan Zhen’s talent and his spiritual power at True Realm Peak, it took a full thirty days, several failures, and a fortune in spirit herbs before he succeeded in refining a mid-grade seventh-tier Mystic pill. It truly lived up to the saying: Pill Refiners were made by burning money, regardless of talent—the more talented, the less they burned.
As for Mystic arts and secret techniques, Yan Zhen practiced with the Death City Core while cultivating Flying Fire Meteor Sword. He also interspersed training in controlling his extreme flames, ensuring his combat prowess never slipped.
Notably, the infant spirit had been released. Confronted by the Evil Consort’s interrogation, the stone-faced loli trembled shyly. She was originally slated for further height reduction, but Yan Zhen interceded, sparing her.
To make amends, the infant spirit—a Mystic Venerable expert—became Yan Zhen’s sparring partner.
The little loli was utterly baffled. In less than two months since her capture, the world had flipped. The punk kid who’d wrecked their plans in the Great Marsh Desert had somehow become the Evil Consort’s beloved disciple, his status leagues above hers.
That traitor Jiu Youyue had joined Jialan Holy Land and gained her freedom—all thanks to this kid. When would she get her own freedom?
Yan Zhen also caught sight of the Faceless Woman, but the Evil Consort forbade him from approaching her. The latter was acting strangely.
Beyond that, after three months of cultivation, Yan Zhen’s own realm advanced from Three-Star Mystic Ancestor to Four-Star Mystic Ancestor.
Surprisingly, Peacock Heavenly Monarch’s death elicited no response from Demon Domain. Everything remained eerily calm.
This left them wondering if the Demon Domain Lord was plotting something.
As the New Year approached, Yan Zhen led the women back to the Yan Manor in Pilgrimage City.
The entire Yan Manor turned out to welcome the young master home, everyone beaming with joy. Leading them was Yan Lie, his face glowing with pride.
But when he saw a dozen or twenty women disembark from the Holy Son’s mount, he was dumbfounded…
“Zhen’er, these are…?”
Yan Zhen felt a touch awkward, but there was no backing down now. Bringing them home to meet the elders meant granting them proper status.
“Let me introduce everyone. This is Myriad Snake Queen Cai Lian, Thousand Fiend Queen Yi Xian’er, Jiu Youyue of the Evil God Clan, Mentor Yu Xuan of the Yu Family, former outer academy Grand Mentor Shui Bailan. These two are Senior Sister Xue’er and Senior Sister Xinyan from Silver Moon City. This is Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce President Sister Ji Ya, along with her guard Aunt Mu Xin’er and Jin Tong and Yu Nu… And this is Long Ying of the Dragon God Clan, as well as—”
Yan Zhen pulled Yan Yan in front of him, hands on her shoulders, and smiled.
“Our daughter with Cai Lian, Yan Yan.”
The little princess, dressed in a flaming gown, curtsied politely.
“Yan Yan greets Great-Grandpa~”
The Yan Manor folk stared in shock. Yan Zhen’s entourage of famous beauties had already stunned them, but now he claimed to have a daughter?
Yan Lie was especially dumbfounded. Premarital children went against propriety; he ought to be furious. But the little girl’s sweet cry of “Great-Grandpa” melted his temper instantly.
“Yan Yan… The girl’s name is Yan Yan?”
“Yes. The ‘Yan’ from flame. She was born with a companion extreme flame, so we named her that.” Yan Zhen casually wrapped an arm around the Sovereign Lady’s water-snake waist, drawing a faint blush to her elegant face. “Cai Lian chose it.”
“Companion extreme flame? Excellent, excellent! As expected of my Yan Lie’s great-granddaughter.” Yan Lie stumbled over his words, tentatively extending a withered hand to pat Yan Yan’s little head. “Little Yan Yan is such a good girl. Great-Grandpa wasn’t prepared—I’ll get you a proper gift later.”
Yan Yan blinked her lively eyes and nodded obediently.
“Zhen’er, let’s head inside to talk.”
“Right.”
The group filed grandly into Yan Manor.
During the reunion feast, the women dined at a separate table. Only Cai Lian, with Yan Yan in tow, joined Yan Zhen at the main table. Long Ying, who only cared about sticking to Yan Zhen and ignored such formalities, sat there too.
After the meal, Yan Manor’s gaggle of aunts and cousins dragged the women off for girl talk with great enthusiasm. Even Yan Meng’er and Yan Ruyu got hauled away by their mothers—their gossip fires blazing.
The Yan Manor’s higher-ups moved to the main hall.
“Zhen’er, since you’ve already had Yan Yan with Lady Cai—er, Cai Lian, you should hold the wedding soon. Give her and the child proper status to avoid idle tongues.”
Yan Zhen gave a wry smile.
“Grandfather, some things are hard to explain. I will hold the wedding, but not now. When the time is right, I’ll throw the grandest ceremony ever to make it up to them.”
The word “them” fell heavy. Yan Lie fell silent, then sighed deeply.
“Very well. You’re grown now, Zhen’er. Grandfather trusts you know what you’re doing.”
