331: Chapter 331: I Want Revenge

"Next!" the Disciple in charge of registration shouted.

Lin Xue stepped forward. "Name?"

"Lin Xue."

"Background?"

"Loose Cultivator."

"Cultivation level?"

"Foundation Establishment Great Perfection."

"Do you have any family background?"

Lin Xue was silent for a moment. "No."

The Disciple registered her and handed over a number plate.

Lin Xue took the number plate and turned to walk into the Dao Palace.

Her face was expressionless, like a frozen mask, but flames burned in her eyes.

After walking a few steps, a voice came from the side.

"Are you from the Lin family of Falling Snow City?"

Lin Xue turned her head and saw a white-haired old man standing on the side of the road, looking at her.

The old man's face was withered, he was wearing a tattered grey robe, and leaning on a wooden staff; he looked like an ordinary country old man.

But Lin Xue's intuition told her that this person was not simple.

"Who are you?" Lin Xue asked.

The old man smiled. "An old acquaintance. Your father, Lin Yuanshan, owed me a favor back in the day."

"Now that he is dead, it is time for you to repay this favor."

Lin Xue narrowed her eyes. "What favor?"

The old man said, "You don't need to know. You only need to remember to find the murderer who wiped out your family and kill him."

"This is your father's last wish, and it is also my wish."

Lin Xue stared at him for three breaths. "Do you know who the murderer is?"

The old man shook his head. "I don't know, but I know the murderer is in the Supreme Dao Palace. As long as you stay in the Supreme Dao Palace, you will meet him one day."

Lin Xue was silent for a moment. "Why are you helping me?"

The old man replied, "I am not helping you; I am helping your father."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

Lin Xue stood in place, watching his back, a complicated feeling surging in her heart.

She didn't know who this old man was, but she knew his words were credible.

Because her father had indeed mentioned once that he owed an old friend his life.

She turned around and continued walking forward.

Ahead, the towering main hall of the Supreme Dao Palace shimmered with golden light in the sun.

In her eyes, the flames burned even brighter.

...

The heroes of the world are as numerous as the carp crossing the river.

There are countless Geniuses, they just need to be discovered.

Manshan is one such Genius. He was born at the border between the Northern Territory and the Wilds.

His father was a human Loose Cultivator, and his mother was a Yao Fox in the Transformation Stage.

This should have been a romantic story, but reality is cruel.

Humans do not accept him, and the Yao Race does not accept him either.

His human father abandoned them when he was three, and his Yao Race mother was killed by a passing Monster Hunting Team when he was five.

He grew up alone in the wilderness on the edge of the Wilds, relying on his half-human, half-Yao talent to survive.

In those years, he saw the ugliest things.

When the human Monster Hunting Team chased him, they cursed him with the most vicious words.

When the Yao Race mocked him as a "bastard," they scratched him with their sharpest claws.

He did not belong to either side, and both sides rejected him.

He learned to be silent, learned to endure, and learned to survive in the cracks.

But he also learned another thing—strength.

Only by possessing enough strength can one not be bullied.

Manshan's Cultivation level was earned by killing.

He hunted Yao Beasts to seize Yao Cores; he robbed Loose Cultivators to seize resources.

He didn't ask about right or wrong, good or evil; he only asked who could bring him strength.

Manshan's skin was covered with fine scales, his eyes were light gold, and there was a faint vertical line in his pupils.

That was a characteristic of the Yao Race, which he could not hide no matter how he tried.

He was used to the strange looks of others, used to being rejected, used to loneliness.

But when he saw the announcement for the Demonic Path's Demon Refining Conference, his heartbeat accelerated.

The announcement read: "We do not ask about background, we do not ask about origin. As long as you are strong enough, the gates of the Demonic Path are open to you."

Do not ask about background, do not ask about origin.

He read it once, then read it again, and then smiled.

The smile was complicated, containing relief, bitterness, and a trace of hope.

"Half-Yao is fine, bastard is fine. As long as I am strong enough, I can be accepted," he said to himself.

He packed a simple bag, brought his most reliable weapon, and walked toward the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

On the way, he met many people, both humans and the Yao Race.

Their eyes when looking at him were the same—vigilant, disgusted, fearful.

He was already used to it.

But this time, he did not lower his head.

He faced those gazes and walked forward step by step.

Because he knew that there was a place ahead that did not care who he was.

On the way to the Eternal Night Demon Sect, he stopped to rest in a dilapidated small town.

There was a noodle shop at the entrance of the town. He went in, ordered a bowl of noodles, and sat in a corner, eating silently.

There were a few other people in the noodle shop, all Loose Cultivators on their way.

They were whispering about the Demon Refining Conference.

"I heard that on the Demonic Path side, the top of the list gets a yellow springs puppet. That is a great killing weapon at the Void Refinement Stage."

"Tsk tsk, the Demonic Path is truly generous. But having said that, it's easy to go to the Demonic Path, but hard to come out. Once you go in, it's for a lifetime."

"That's still better than being a Loose Cultivator, hiding everywhere all your life, without even a stable place to Cultivate."

"That's true. If I were twenty years younger, I would go try it too."

Manshan listened to their conversation without interrupting.

He finished his noodles silently, put down a few Spirit Stones, and got up to leave.

When he walked out of the noodle shop, he saw an old man squatting at the door.

The old man was wearing an old robe covered in patches, with a broken bowl in front of him, and the bowl was completely empty.

The old man raised his head, looked at him, and suddenly smiled.

"Kid, the scent on you is very special. Half-human, half-Yao; it's rare to see."

Manshan stopped. "You can tell?"

The old man said, "I've lived so long, what haven't I seen? What's wrong with being a Half-Yao? Back in the day, there was a Half-Yao who became the King of the Yao Race and beat the humans until they were scrambling in terror."

Manshan was silent for a moment. "That was a matter from the ancient times."

The old man said, "Whether it's ancient times or now, the principle is the same. As long as you are strong enough, who cares if you are human or Yao?"

Manshan did not answer, just took out a few Spirit Stones from his bosom and placed them in the old man's bowl. "Thank you."

The old man smiled and accepted the Spirit Stones.

"What are you thanking me for? I just like to speak a few home truths. Go on, the Eternal Night Demon Sect is over there, don't go in the wrong direction."

Manshan nodded and strode toward the south.

His pace was steadier than before because he had finally seen a path that belonged to him.