35: Meeting relatives in water prison and breaking the situation

After settling the two women, Lin Yang led the horse by the reins and stepped into the Lin Family Mansion. The bluestone slabs in the courtyard were covered with a thin layer of frost. In previous years at this time, Uncle Liu would always be curing preserved meat under the porch, but now only the empty bamboo racks remained, and the wind swept past the dry leaves, making a mournful sound.

"Young Master?" The old Servant, Butler Zhou, poked his head out from behind the woodshed. His cuff was stained with dark red blood. Seeing Lin Yang, he immediately dropped to his knees. "The Family Head... he has been locked in the Ancestral Hall's Cellar by the Grand Elder!"

The stone door of the Cellar was sealed by a Talismanic Incantation. The moment Lin Yang swung his blade and shattered the seal, a strong smell of medicine mixed with mildew rushed out. In the gloom, Lin Xingnan was chained to the stone wall. Most of the scales on his Dark Armor had broken off, and the old wound on his chest, which had been healing, was split open, where blood scabs and moss were stuck together. Hearing the noise, the old man struggled to raise his eyes. A faint light appeared in his clouded pupils, then dimmed again. His cracked lips moved, but he only coughed up a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

"Grandpa!" Lin Yang rushed over and severed the chains. When his fingertips touched the old man's icy skin, his heart suddenly constricted—the "Spirit-Locking Clasp" on Lin Xingnan's wrist glowed black and purple. It was a Magical Artifact used to punish Family criminals, but now it had been poisoned with Spirit-Devouring Poison, slowly eroding his True Essence.

"Lin Yang... leave..." Lin Xingnan gripped his hand tightly, his knuckles white from the effort. In his palm, he was clutching half a piece of hard, dry steamed bun. "They want the chaos star core... don't worry about me..."

"No one is leaving!" Lin Hongfeng's sharp shout came from outside the Ancestral Hall. He stood on the steps, leaning on a Dragon Head Cane, followed by four Elders. Third Elder Lin Wenshan, who had been Lin Yang's father's Enlightenment Teacher, now lowered his eyes, afraid to meet Lin Yang's gaze. "Lin Yang colluded with the Star Moon Sect and murdered fellow clansmen. Today, I shall use my authority as Grand Elder to purge the Family!"

"Purge the Family?" Lin Yang helped Lin Xingnan stand up. His Innate Fifth-Layer True Essence suddenly erupted, the wave of Qi causing dust on the Cellar ceiling to rain down. He pulled out the Secret Correspondence given by Su Qingyue from his embrace and shouted, "Third Grandpa, look clearly! This is the Secret Correspondence between Lin Hongfeng and the Misty Immortal Palace, offering the Ancestral Land's Spiritual Vein in exchange for him achieving a Breakthrough to the Gang Qi Realm! Is this how you repay the life-saving favor my father showed you back then?"

Lin Wenshan trembled violently, and old tears mixed with snot streamed down his face. "I... I was coerced..."

Lin Hongfeng's face turned ashen. He suddenly slammed his cane onto the ground, and dark yellow Earth Element True Essence surged out, condensing into a ten-foot-high earthen wall outside the Cellar. "Nonsense! Seize this wicked obstacle!"

Two Gang Qi Realm Envoys lunged out from the shadows, their cyan-gray Qi Energy enveloping the Cellar like a thin mist. Lin Xingnan suddenly erupted, using all his strength to push Lin Yang away, but he was struck on the shoulder by the Protective Aura. His old wound burst open, staining half his lapel with blood.

"Grandpa!" Lin Yang's eyes were splitting with fury. The chaos star core spun wildly, and the sharp light condensed from Metal Element True Essence surged three feet long on his Woodcutting Knife, forcefully slashing toward the left Envoy's wrist. With a crisp sound of "Clang," the opponent's Protective Qi Shield was actually split open, and the Envoy screamed and retreated, his wrist bone shattered.

The earthen wall of the Cellar swayed under the impact of the Qi Energy. Lin Yang shielded Lin Xingnan and retreated to the stone wall, seven Tiger Shadow Fist Projections weaving into a net in front of him. The Palm Wind of the right Envoy had arrived, the cyan-gray Qi Energy carrying a bone-chilling coldness, and it was about to strike Lin Xingnan's back—

"Grandpa, this was left by Uncle Liu!" Lin Yang suddenly remembered the half-piece of Star-Patterned Jade Pendant in his embrace, which Uncle Liu had hidden under the bed board before his death. It was currently resonating with the chaos star core in his chest. He shoved the jade pendant into Lin Xingnan's palm and simultaneously activated the chaos star core to unleash its Origin power.

The moment the jade pendant touched Lin Xingnan's palm, it suddenly erupted in brilliant golden light. A gentle yet tyrannical energy surged through his Bloodline and violently collided with the residual medicinal power of the nine revolutions jade dew pill deep within his Dantian!

"Ugh ah—" Lin Xingnan let out a painful roar. The black-purple poisonous Qi on the Spirit-Locking Clasp was forced back by the golden light, condensing into tiny black beads on the surface of his skin, which then rattled down. His previously weak aura suddenly surged, and pale golden Innate True Essence poured out like a tide, causing the stones on the Cellar ceiling to crash down.

"The Gang Qi Realm! The Family Head has achieved a Breakthrough to the Gang Qi Realm!" Fifth Elder cried out in surprise, and the cane in his hand fell to the ground with a "Clang."

Lin Xingnan slowly straightened up. His Dark Robe moved without wind, and his hunched spine became perfectly straight. He pressed his fingers together like a sword, and a pale golden Finger Wind carrying the sharpness of Protective Aura erupted—it was the Lin Family's lost technique, the "Aura-Shattering Finger"! Where the Finger Wind swept past, the right Envoy's Protective Aura Shield shattered instantly. The opponent screamed and flew backward, smashing through the Cellar's earthen wall and kicking up a cloud of dust in the courtyard.

Lin Hongfeng collapsed completely onto the ground, looking at the Protective Aura emanating from Lin Xingnan, his face ashen. "I... I just wanted to achieve a Breakthrough to the Gang Qi Realm..."

"Trading the Clan's Foundation for Cultivation—are you worthy of being called a Martial Artist?" Lin Yang stepped forward, Chaos True Essence condensing into a gray-gold Fist Projection in his palm. "Colluding with external enemies and illegally confining the Family Head, according to the Lin Family rules, what should the punishment be?"

"Abolish his Cultivation and demote him to a Servant!" The clansmen shouted in unison, their voices making the Cellar hum.

Lin Wenshan dropped to his knees with a "thump," kowtowing repeatedly like pounding garlic. "Family Head, I was foolish, please give me another chance..."

Lin Xingnan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was calm. "Considering you once fought alongside my father, you are penalized to guard the Ancestral Tomb for three years, copying the Family rules one hundred times daily." He turned to Lin Yang, a look of relief in his eyes. "Lin Yang, help me out."

As they walked out of the Cellar, the moonlight happened to break through the clouds, spilling onto the gray tiles of the Lin Family Mansion. Lin Xingnan patted Lin Yang's hand. The warmth from his palm transmitted through the sleeve. "Your father once said that the bones of the Lin Family are harder than Dark Iron. It seems he was right."

Lin Yang looked at his grandfather's straight back, the chaos star core gently spinning in his Sea of Consciousness. He knew that although this Family upheaval had subsided, the game surrounding the chaos star core had only just begun. And the figures of him and his grandfather standing side-by-side had carved a new vow under the moonlight—the honor of the Lin Family would be protected by them.