Chapter 2: Leaving the Inner Area and heal Father now

As Lin Dong woke up leisurely, he heard a soft voice say, "Brother, you're finally awake?". The moment he opened his eyes, there lay in front of him a small, delicate, and young girl who looked back at him with her somewhat red and swollen eyes.

He asked her, "Qing Tan, have you also found out about our father's situation?"

The young girl now known as Qing Tan, Lin Dong's younger sister, deflated her mouth while crystal tears once again filled her eyes and stated, "Qing Tan already knows that father was and is badly injured."

Lin Dong can tell that she had cried earlier while he was unconscious. However, upon replying to that question, Qing Tan began to cry once again, so Lin Dong had to change the topic by asking "How long have I been asleep?"

She hurriedly wiped the teardrops from her eyes and smoothly helped her older brother to get up from his sitting position while replying "Two hours. Oh, brother Dong, father has woken up and said he wanted to see you."

Lin Dong who heard this immediately got off the couch, and started pulling his sister, quickly rushing towards the main bedroom of the house all the while saying "What! Father has woken up. Let's go and take a look together."

As the third master of the Lin family, the second Heaven Yuan powerhouse of the family apart from the patriarch, Lin Xiao has or at least has a courtyard of considerable size in the inner area of the Lin family. Lin Dong followed the familiar yet unfamiliar path from his memory and pushed open his parents' room.

As he looked at the handsome young man leaning on the bed, his emotions were quite complicated. As a part of him knows that he is not this father's son but at the same time fused/transmigrated with his son's soul and to his body. It was at this moment that he decided emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually he is Lin Dong from this moment onwards and make use of the knowledge of the plot to his, his new family's, and his future allies' advantage. This brought a weight off his chest, figuratively. This episode occurred while he asked his father, "Father, you were looking for me?"

Though handsome, his father Lin Xiao's face was slightly pale as he struggled down to the ground despite his wife's discouragement as he looked at his children in front of him all the while smiling bitterly, "Son, daughter, come here. Your father has something to announce to the two of you. I have already discussed it with your mother.

I have become a half-crippled person and have failed my father's and family's expectations during the clan competition. The Lin family had given me everything to support me in my cultivation journey, but I failed and now no longer am I eligible to enjoy the benefits they provided me due to my condition. I intend to move us out of the inner area and live in the deepest and most remote area in the Lin family area."

Qing Tan, not understanding her father's decision to leave especially now that darkness and night have fallen outside after glancing out the window asks "Father, are we really moving now? It is already nighttime. Why don't we go out tomorrow?"

However, their father who is still feeling under the weather couldn't help his body tremble a little and grit his teeth to rein in his emotions while answering in a deep voice "Yes we will move out overnight not tomorrow."

Lin Dong could see the turbulent emotions within his father's eyes and see that his sister still wanted to argue back and spoke up "Qing Tan, stop talking and come on. We should help father and mother prepare everything so that we can leave sooner." He knew that now was the time to talk more as his father is in a state of discouragement and misanthropy and the best medicine is time.

On the other hand, Lin Xiao smiled sadly and went about his work with his wife and children while stating "Move quickly, move quickly. We must move out overnight and ensure no one or at least not many see us leave…"

Half an hour passed… many of the other Lin family members saw the family of four carrying a small number of belongings and leaving to the deepest and more remote small mountain within the Lin family territory. The members who saw them leave reported this piece of news to the Lin family's main residence where Lin Zhentian the patriarch lived. After he learned of this, there was a brief silence before he sighed and replied "Forget it, let them go. Old three still do not see through the fact that I have never blamed him for this matter. Only he can overcome this obstacle as even I as his father cannot help him."

The Lin family members who finished reporting the news replied "Yes, understood Patriarch!" and retreated.

…

While the previous conversation was going on, the four members of Lin Xiao's family realized that the house they will live in the near future was abandoned for several years and they needed to clean it thoroughly. However, they decided to do so first thing tomorrow early morning.

Before sleeping, Lin Dong had decided upon seeing his father's disheveled appearance that he would act sooner rather than waiting for canon to begin.

The next day, Liu Yan (for those who may have forgotten this is their mother's name), Lin Dong, and Qing Tan got up early to clean the house while Lin Xiao simply sat dazed in the one room which was tidied up the night before.

Before picking up his broom to help with the clean-up, he told his mother and sister "Mother, Qing Tan, I'll leave for a little while and be right back." As he ran away in what seemed like a flash to his sister, he heard his sister shout "Brother, where are you goi…" While running his thoughts kept running through the keywords: the back of the mountain, behind the cliff, and hidden cave over and over again in his mind.

He followed the path that he and his sister happened to find during their younger years. He breezed into the hidden cave which was under several boulders. This cave was a bit wide and had a stone pool of water laying on one side. One can see the pool of water was clear at the bottom. He wanted to take the mysterious stone talisman, no to be precise the supreme divine object: the Ancestral Stone, which was at the top of the cave. This divine object was ranked second on the ancient divine object list and made by the number one ancient powerhouse, Lord Fu Ancestor.

As he leaped into the cave, he was assaulted by a burst of coolness. He knew that the stone pool of water was great to cultivate in as it had accumulated the ancestral stone spirit liquid over the years. This means that it can barely qualify as a treasure. He knew that the ancestral stone was situated at the top, so he wandered in the pool for a while searching for it. Just as he looked for three minutes, a drop of bright red liquid slid down from the top of the cave into the stone pool causing ripples in the water.

He couldn't help but show a satisfied smile "I found you!" and walk towards a climbable wall. It took him ten minutes to finally retrieve the pigeon egg-sized gray-white stone which was covered with dense arcane runes, soft to the touch, and appearance practically broadcasting an ancient and simple atmosphere.

The red liquid that fell into the stone pool was emitting rich energy fluctuations within the groove in the stone. Lin Dong fondled the ancestral stone for a while but knew that he needed to get home, so he reluctantly took the stone into his arms and carefully went down the mountain.

Once he returned home, he saw that his mother and sister have mostly packed all the junk and cleaned up the house. He also saw that his mother was decocting the medicine, first-grade spiritual medicine, that his father will be using for his healing.

Liu Yan knew her husband had given up on treatment and on himself, but she did not. She firmly believed he would get better. As she was about to feed the celadon bowl filled with medicinal liquid to her husband, Lin Dong quickly stepped forward, took the bowl from her hands, and said "Mother, let me do this. I will serve the medicine to my father. Why don't you sit and relax?"

Liu Yan smiled and reached out to wipe a handful of sweat from Lin Dong's forehead all the while patting his head and gesturing for him to go in quickly, "Go on then. Coax your father to not give up on the treatment as he still refuses to take the medicine."

Lin Dong smiled and said, "Got it, mother." As soon as he turned around, he added a drop of spiritual red liquid to the bowl and swirled the bowl so that it disappears without a trace within the light green medicinal liquid.

As he passes the door into the simple but neat room he says "Father, it's time for you to take your medicine." He sees that his father is sitting dazedly not knowing what he is thinking about but still decides to silently hand the celadon bowl over.

The first action Lin Xiao does is speak "It's useless, I am already a half-wasted person so giving this medicine is totally a waste…" The reason he stops is that he looks up and sees the eager eyes of his son, Lin Dong, and both his wife and daughter hugging each other at the door while looking at him with hopeful eyes as well. A long sigh fell in the already silent room. Lin Xiao decides to drink the medicine, so he takes a mouthful of the medicinal liquid from within the bowl into his mouth.

Under the calm eyes of his son, Lin Xiao's slightly thin body trembled while his face rapidly flushed at a speed visible to the naked eye and his body temperature rose sharply.

Cultivation Ranks:

Rank 1: Tempered Body – 9 Stages – (1-9)

Rank 2: Earthly Yuan – 3 Stages – (Early, Middle, Late)

Rank 3: Heavenly Yuan – 3 Stages – (Early, Middle, Late)

I won't include later ranks until it is mentioned in the chapter.