Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

Ning frowned. He wasn’t willing to discuss his mother with others. “Princess, the Youngflame clan is pursuing me because they believe me to be one of the surviving spawn of the Yuchi clan. Although this information is quite well hidden, for someone like you, Princess, it shouldn’t be too hard to acquire this type of report.” Ning was rather displeased.

Princess Xiyue, however, revealed a look of delight. She could already tell the truth from Ning’s reaction. She immediately said, “Actually, I found out about it long ago, and I even sent people to your West Prefecture City of Swallow Mountain to investigate. Only, I still couldn’t quite believe it, so I had to ask you myself.”

“Oh?” Ning, surprised and puzzled, asked her, “Princess, you sent people to Swallow Mountain to investigate? Dare I ask, why did you seek me out, Princess?”

She was so cautious, and her words gave no clues at all. What in the world was this princess up to?

“Ji Ning.” Princess Xiyue began to feel rather nervous. Looking at Ning, she said, “Actually, actually, I, I…”

Ning just looked at her.

“Actually… you are my little brother.” Princess Xiyue finally said the words.

“Little brother? My mother only had one son; me.” Ning immediately shook his head, refuting these words. However, in his heart, a different idea came to Ning’s mind… little brother? Could it be that this Princess Xiyue was the cousin which his mother had always been thinking about, the final successor to the Yuchi clan’s lineage? [1. Chinese lineages are patriarchal; because Ning’s lineage was through his mother, he is not a ‘real’ Yuchi clan member, and is considered a ‘Ji’ clan member. Xiyue’s lineage, however, is from her father, and so she is a ‘real’ Yuchi clan member. Alas, because there are no male Yuchi clan members left, technically speaking, she is the ‘final’ one of this line.]

“You are my younger cousin. I’m your older cousin.” Princess Xiyue said, “My father’s name… was Yuchi Mount!”

Ning was stunned.

Although this thought had flashed through his mind earlier… when Princess Xiyue said the words, Ning was still rather stunned.

“But… you are a princess. A princess of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia,” Ning said.

“King Yan is only my maternal grandfather; my mother was of the Xiamang clan, but I am a true heir of the Yuchi clan. My true name is Yuchi Xiyue.” Princess Xiyue looked at Ning.

Ning’s heart was in a state of chaos now. In the past, Ning’s uncle, Yuchi Mount, had given up his life in order to block the forces of Snowdragon Mountain and protect his pregnant little sister, Ning’s mother. He had been the strongest one of their group, but he had died. In doing so, he had allowed Ning’s parents, Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Snow, to escape with their lives. The bitter seeds sown in that year, however… had caused his parents to only live for a fairly brief period of time. Ning’s father had always felt guilt towards Ning’s uncle, and even more guilt towards his daughter, whom they had never seen before.

Strictly speaking… although Ning also carried the blood of the Yuchi clan in his veins, he was a child of the Ji clan! Only his older cousin… only she, and she alone, was a true member of the Yuchi clan!

“Your name is Yuchi Xiyue? Your father was Yuchi Mount?” Ning couldn’t even believe it.

“Yes.” Princess Xiyue nodded heavily.

“Princess… it’s not that I don’t want to believe you. However, this matter is of tremendous importance to me. We have to test our blood together.” Ning’s heart was filled with excitement as well. Actually, upon Princess Xiyue saying that she was the daughter of Ning’s uncle, Ning had already been mostly convinced. This was because… very, very few people knew about Ning’s uncle. As for the fact that Ning’s uncle had a daughter, even within the Ji clan, only Ning and his parents knew about it. His parents had already passed away. No one else could possibly know.

Ning himself had never before revealed this to anyone. And so, this Princess Xiyue who stood in front of him was indeed quite possibly his own cousin, who he had never seen before!

“Alright. Let me test our blood.” Princess Xiyue immediately slashed out with her fingernail, using it as the tip of a dagger to prick her own wrist.

Swish. Instantly, fresh, scarlet blood flicked out.

Ning stretched out his own wrist, using his own finger to cut it as well. After he cut his own wrist and the blood flew out, the wound on his wrist instantly healed.

Those two drops of blood flew towards each other in midair, forming into two small spheres of blood. These two spheres of blood swiveled around each other, and as they did, Ning executed a technique that would cause blood from the same lineage to resonate with each other. Instantly, golden runes began to flash atop the two spheres of blood. Whooooooosh. Slowly… strands of golden blood began to appear above the two spheres of blood.

The two strands of golden blood quickly began to ravel around each other, forming into one. There was no way to tell them apart now.

“It’s true!” Ning was stunned.

“It’s true. It’s true!” Princess Xiyue revealed a look of excitement and joy as well. Although she had engaged in deep, thorough investigations, those couldn’t compare to testing their blood lineage.

“Cousin…” Ning stared at Princess Xiyue, still in a shaken state. This news had simply arrived too quickly. He had truly been caught off-guard.

“Little brother. Little brother.” Princess Xiyue excitedly stretched her hands out, clutching at Ning’s own hands. Because she had mentally prepared herself over the course of the past year, she had been desiring to meet Ning this entire time. She simply hadn’t been able to find him.

“My cousin is Princess Xiyue? A princess of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia?” Ning still couldn’t believe this was happening.

Princess Xiyue let out a long sigh, then said, “What’s the point of being a princess? It’s all too late… Grandpa came too late. If he had come a bit earlier, then my father, my mother, and even Aunt… none of those tragedies would have occurred.”

“What happened? The exalted King Yan just allowed his own daughter and son-in-law to die, without even responding to it?” Ning couldn’t help but say these words.

“You don’t understand the situation back then.” Princess Xiyue said slowly, “Grandpa was of an extremely distant branch of the imperial clan of the Grand Xia. Even though he worked hard and trained to become a Void-level Earth Immortal, all he received was a few treasures from the imperial clan that were mandated by the rules. Every single person who became an Earth Immortal would be bestowed those treasures. That was it; just a few treasures. After that? They no longer paid any attention to my grandfather. His status within the imperial clan of the Grand Xia remained low.”

Ning nodded. He could understand. Just look at the Ji clan; the Ji clan had only been within the Swallow Mountain region for a comparatively short period of time, but the number of clansmen it had was truly astonishing.

The imperial clan of the Grand Xia had begun to establish itself as soon as this major world had been born. From then til now, countless, unfathomable numbers of eons had passed. The passage of so much time had caused the imperial clan of the Grand Xia to possess an utterly breathtaking population; just the number of people with the surname of Xiamang was beyond number.

As for Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals? Within the Black-White College, they might be major figures.

Within the Youngflame clan, they might be considered fairly powerful figures.