478: Chapter 478 The Ancestor of the Lu Family

[The five of you set down your wine cups, walked onto the balcony, and looked up at the sky.]

[At the same time, the people of the entire city came out.]

[On the streets, rooftops, and balconies, people stood everywhere, craning their necks to look at the sky.]

[No one ran, no one shouted; they just watched.]

[There was no fear on anyone's face, only solemnity.]

["Sigh..." someone sighed.]

["I wonder who it is this time who failed again."]

["Another one is about to leave."]

["Our Immortal Sect has lost another great power. How lamentable, how truly lamentable."]

[The sounds of sighing came from all directions, one after another.]

[In the sky, a hunched old man took the iron sword from his back and tossed it upward.]

[The moment the sword left his hand, the rust peeled away, revealing a flash of cold light.]

[Then it transformed into a streak of light, charging straight into the massive Sword Vortex deep in the firmament.]

[Hundreds of millions of Flying Swords rotated slowly. That streak of light bored into it, merging until it could no longer be distinguished.]

[The old man stood in the Void Realm and glanced down.]

[Just one glance.]

[Then his figure flashed and vanished.]

[The crack in the sky slowly closed, returning to its original state.]

[The people on the street dispersed, returning to their homes to continue what they were doing.]

[The few of you stood on the balcony, and for a long time, no one spoke.]

[A moment later, you turned your head and looked at Ximen Huan:]

["What's the situation?"]

[Yu Hong, Yu Ji, and Chen Biao also looked at him in unison.]

[Ximen Huan stood there, still looking up at the sky, and only snapped out of it after a few seconds.]

[He let out a sigh, his tone heavy:]

["There are twenty-nine strongest people in the Wuji Immortal Sect."]

[He paused, as if counting:]

["Twenty-six Body Integration and three Mahayana."]

["I don't recognize that Senior from just now, but judging by his methods and that sword, he should be in the Body Integration realm."]

["He did that... likely because he's nearing his end, so he merged his lifebound Flying Sword into the Sword Vortex."]

[These words were spoken calmly, but you could hear the underlying meaning.]

[When one's life is near its end, merging the sword into the firmament is a tradition of the Immortal Sect.]

[This wasn't a secret; anyone who stayed in this city for a few years would know.]

[You and Chen Biao exchanged glances and didn't ask further.]

[Twenty-nine people.]

[To this city, those twenty-nine people are the heavens.]

[Every time one is lost, a piece of the heavens collapses.]

[No wonder everyone in the city had that expression just now.]

[At the same time,]

[In the inner courtyard of the Fairy Maiden Tower, within Fairy Xi He's garden.]

[An old man sat in the pavilion, his back hunched and his face frighteningly pale—it was the same man from the sky just now.]

[Lu Xihe stood before him, her eyes red and tears welling up.]

["Old Ancestor, is there really no other way?"]

[The old man shook his head, his voice so weak it seemed it could cut off at any moment:]

["Xihe, I failed to break through the realm. This is fate, and it cannot be reversed."]

["Unless..." He paused, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but then he swallowed it back.]

["Unless what?" Lu Xihe asked hurriedly.]

[The old man waved his hand and didn't answer.]

[He looked up at his great-great-granddaughter before him, his eyes filled with a bit of heartache and helplessness.]

["Xihe, your father... cannot support the Lu Family. In the future, the Lu Family will depend on you."]

[He paused, his voice growing even lower:]

["The only thing I'm worried about now is you."]

[Lu Xihe didn't speak, her nose tingling with sadness.]

[She knew, of course.]

[It turned out that this old man was the Ancestor Lu, one of the twenty-six Body Integration cultivators of the Wuji Immortal Sect.]

[Not long ago, he entered the Guixu Forbidden Land, hoping to Breakthrough to Mahayana, but he failed and suffered a backlash. Because of this, his life's Origin was drained, and he had, at most, less than a hundred years left.]

[A Body Integration cultivator can live for ten thousand years.]

[Less than a hundred years is no different from being a dying man.]

[For the Lu Family, this was like the heavens collapsing.]

[With this Body Integration Peak Old Ancestor around, the Lu Family was an upper-tier Family of the Wuji Immortal Sect.]

[And they could even rank within the top ten.]

[If the Body Integration Old Ancestor were gone, the Lu Family's status would surely plummet.]

[It might even lead to a terrifying chain reaction.]

[Those families that were originally beneath them would surely pounce and take a bite.]

[While it might not destroy the Lu Family, it would be difficult for the Lu Family to rise again.]

[Just like how if the Liu Clan Immortal Family didn't have Liu Xuerong, a Mahayana, the outcome can be imagined.]

[The most critical point was—the Lu Family only had this one Body Integration cultivator.]

[And among the Lu Family Juniors, there was only one exceptionally brilliant figure—her, Lu Xihe.]

[She was the Clan Chief's daughter and the Lu Family's true number one Prodigy.]

[But her current strength was not yet enough to support the Lu Family.]

[Once the Body Integration Peak Old Ancestor was gone, she would be the first to be targeted.]

[Marrying her would be equivalent to obtaining the entire Lu Family.]

[By then, it wouldn't be up to her whether she was willing or not.]

[Lu Xihe's face darkened, and she bit her lip without saying a word.]

[The Old Ancestor looked at her and sighed:]

["I originally thought I could hold on for a few more years, until you advanced further..."]

[He didn't finish.]

[Lu Xihe looked up: "Old Ancestor, please speak plainly."]

[The Old Ancestor was silent for a while before uttering two words:]

["Recruit a husband."]

[Lu Xihe's brow furrowed.]

[She had never thought about the matter of a Dao Companion.]

[In the past, with the Old Ancestor around, no one dared to force her.]

[But once the Old Ancestor fell, those people wouldn't just be "forcing" her; they would be "snatching" her.]

[Marrying her, get the Lu Family.]

[With such a huge piece of fat, the entire Immortal Realm would be watching.]

[This kind of thing was very common in the Immortal Realm.]

[She originally wanted to delay, to delay until the day she reached Body Integration.]

[But with the Old Ancestor's sudden change, there wasn't enough time.]

[She stood there and was silent for a long time.]

[Then she took a deep breath and looked up:]

["I agree."]

[The Old Ancestor looked at her, his eyes a bit complicated.]

["However," Lu Xihe paused, "I have a condition."]

["What condition?"]

["Under five hundred years old, and able to defeat me."]

[She was currently at the Void Refining Late Stage and was about five hundred years old. Anyone who could beat her at this age would at least be a top Prodigy of a first-rate power.]

[A five-hundred-year-old Void Refining Cultivator—in the entire Immortal Realm, there were probably no more than a thousand.]

[Such people would undoubtedly become the strongest in various first-rate or even top-tier powers in the future.]

[After all, some Prodigies were still young and hadn't grown up yet, such as—Yun Xiaozi at this very moment.]

[Lu Xihe also knew in her heart that she had to compromise now. While the Old Ancestor still had decades to live, she had to hurry and find a Dao Companion she liked.]

[Only someone who met these two conditions would be worthy of her and able to protect the Lu Family.]

[The Old Ancestor nodded, a hint of relief appearing on his face:]

["Good, I will have your father send out the news."]

[He paused and added:]

["Your condition is fair and reasonable."]

[Yes, fair and reasonable.]

[Without that kind of ability, marrying her would only harm her; they wouldn't be able to protect the Lu Family and would be killed sooner or later.]

[One who could win against her would at least be able to keep the Lu Family from falling in the future.]