"A children's game?" Wei Zhao's mouth twitched. True, whether seen from his own vantage or Lin Dongfang's, turning Bing Wushuang and the others had been no grand maneuver—just small skirmishes, when all was said and done—but surely it was still a cut above a children's game...

"What? You think it wasn't?" Lin Dongfang curled his lip with a grin. Set beside the sort of things Yang Zhao had done back in the day, calling Wei Zhao's little exploits a children's game was not the least exaggeration.

Wei Zhao laughed outright at that, and his curiosity got the better of him. "Since there's nothing to do just now anyway, why not just tell me about my master and the Center? Every time I asked before, you always kept me hanging, but I've got at least a bit of strength and ability now—surely you don't mean to keep hiding it even at this point?"

He had asked this question countless times growing up, but Lin Dongfang had never told him, always putting him off with the excuse that his strength was too meager and it would be wasted breath. Now that it had come up in passing, he asked out of habit—though in his heart he held no hope at all.

To his utter astonishment, Lin Dongfang pondered for a moment and then said, "Very well. Since we've come this far, I may as well tell you—at least it will set your mind at ease and let you know what you'll be doing from here on."

"Truly?!" Wei Zhao was the one startled now, and half nervous, half excited, he hurried him along. "Tell me! Tell me!"

His loss of composure was no wonder. He knew next to nothing about these matters and had always been deeply curious—it had very nearly become a chronic ache in his heart. Now that Lin Dongfang had suddenly loosened his tongue, it would have been strange if he were not agitated.

"All right, but where should I begin?" Lin Dongfang rubbed the space between his brows.

"From the beginning, of course. Don't keep me in suspense, old man—hurry up." Wei Zhao could scarcely wait.

"From the beginning? How long would that take?" Lin Dongfang shot him a look, then said, "Let's start with the Center, then. Do you know who founded the Center, boy?"

"Who?" Wei Zhao asked at once. Ever since this projection of his primal spirit had returned to the mundane world, he had wanted to investigate the Center—and apart from that method of the Center's for traveling between the mundane world and Cloud Terrace Island, this was the thing he most wanted to know. Only by knowing the Center's founder could one truly understand where it came from and whither it went.

"Li Bozhao. That man controls Era Technology, and the Center was built by his hand alone," Lin Dongfang said.

"Era Technology? No wonder the Center's technological strength is so formidable—so that's where it got its start." Enlightenment dawned on Wei Zhao. Then he pressed on. "So how did he come to be at odds with my master?"

"Heh. At first it wasn't your master Yang Zhao he fought—his greatest enemy was actually your grandfather," Lin Dongfang said with a smile.

"What? My grandfather? You knew my grandfather?" Wei Zhao was struck dumb. All his life he had believed himself an orphan, an abandoned infant Lin Dongfang had picked up somewhere; apart from Lin Dongfang, his only true elder had been his master Yang Zhao. Yet from the drift of Lin Dongfang's words, the old man actually knew his own grandfather?!

"Of course. The feud between your family and the Center runs deep. If your grandfather hadn't snatched away the heaven-born woman Li Bozhao yearned for day and night, why would Li Bozhao have fought your family to the death?" Lin Dongfang said mildly.

"What? It even goes back to my grandfather's generation?" Wei Zhao found it beyond belief. He had assumed the grudge was at most a matter between Li Bozhao and his master—who would have thought it stretched back so far, dragging in even his grandfather? And his grandfather had snatched someone's heaven-born woman?

"If you really want to trace it, all three generations of your family have been deeply entangled with the Center—your grandfather fought them, your parents fought them, and now in your generation you'll go on fighting them. Of course, your master Yang Zhao fought them too. 'Deeply entangled' hardly covers it—it's unfathomable," Lin Dongfang said, unable to suppress a laugh.

"Old man, you knew my parents? Can you tell me about them?" Wei Zhao asked urgently.

Though from childhood the words 'father' and 'mother' had meant nothing to him, had left no impression at all, they had always been the words he yearned for most and could never reach. He had simply assumed he was an orphan of unknown origin, and so there had been no point in wondering.

Now, hearing Lin Dongfang speak of it so suddenly, he was overcome with emotion, and even his mental fortitude could not hold it back. Hearts are made of flesh, and to seek out one's roots is an instinct born in every person—it has nothing to do with strength.

"Your parents? Very well. Since we've come this far, a few words for you won't hurt. Your father was named Liu Meizi. He was once a member of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau, and a sworn brother of your master," Lin Dongfang said briefly.

"Liu Meizi? My father was named Liu Meizi?" Wei Zhao hastily fixed the name in his memory, astonishment flooding his heart. Never in his wildest imaginings would he have guessed that his father had also been a member of the Mysterious Investigation Bureau—and a sworn brother of his master at that. Then he hurried on. "And... and my mother? Oh, and besides—if my father's surname was Liu, why is my surname Lin?"

"Simple. Because you took your mother's surname. Her name was Lin Yinuo." Lin Dongfang smiled, then added, "And one more thing—she was my adopted daughter."

"Adopted daughter?" Wei Zhao was choked speechless again. Eyes wide, he looked Lin Dongfang up and down anew and stammered, "Then... then doesn't that make you my grandfather?!"

"What did you think?" Lin Dongfang said, amused.

"I..." Wei Zhao was struck dumb for a long while, unable to utter a word. Every scene of his life from childhood flashed before his eyes. Before, none of it had seemed strange; now, thinking it over, it felt utterly different. Speechless for a long time, he finally gave a bitter laugh. "You hid it from me cruelly!"

For all these years he had never known what exactly he and Lin Dongfang were to each other—not master and disciple, not grandfather and grandson. Every time he asked, there was no answer, and he could only muddle through in the dark. Who would have guessed the old man was his own grandfather!

"Now, now, you can't blame me for this. If there's blame, blame your own parents and your master—it was their idea. They said you should be tempered by extraordinary trials from childhood. If I'd told you early on that I was your grandfather, would you have feared me as you did? Would you have cultivated as diligently as you did?" Lin Dongfang pursed his lips. "Haven't you heard the saying? When Heaven is about to confer a great burden on a man, it must first subject his heart and mind to bitter discipline..."

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