Past & Present

"Who is he?" asked Xue'er.

"He is Xiao Yan, son of Xiao Clan Patriarch and mother's Elder sister Hao Ling, the most amazing cultivation genius this world has ever seen, your cousin and my Young Master," said Lin Jian proudly.

"Wait, what? THE Xiao Clan, the overlord of the South Azure Heaven Continent?" Xue'er was dumbfounded.

"Yes, the family you insulted as Devil Cultivators is the Xiao Clan which has been protecting us for thousands of years. If anyone learns of it, even Young Master can't save us from extermination," sighed Lin Jian.

"…" if they learned, the Xiao Clan members won't even have to do anything, just the Pure Mist King would use all his power to exterminate the Lin family.

"In front of him, those geniuses are not even worth carrying his shoes. Young Master was born with Qi Sea already in his dantain. From birth, he was already at Qi Sea realm. He became the youngest to reach Emperor realm when he was fourteen years old. Now he is close to seventeen years, and he is at the peak of Emperor realm, close to becoming a Sovereign!"

"… E-Emperor?" Xue'er's mind just short-circuited. 'Big brother Yan told me he was a bit stronger than peak Qi Sea realm, how is this a bit?'

"Even I could sense it. Although he was seriously injured, his Emperor Qi was slowly converting into something more overbearing, he might have already taken half-a-step into Sovereign realm, the youngest Sovereign!" exclaimed Lin Jian, "That is the man you have fallen in love with, that is also the man who has fallen in love with you!"

"Half-step Sovereign!"

"Twenty years ago, I joined the Xiao Clan as the attendant of Mistress Ling. I don't know how much fortune my forefathers had made, I and Hao Ming, my Mistress's sister, fell in love with each other. When Mistress learned of it, ignoring my status as an attendant, she immediately got Patriarch to arrange a Marriage. Many of Ming'er's suitors complained to Patriarch at that time, but both Patriarch and Mistress stood for us. Patriarch even gave me a position in the Clan."

"Mistress at that time was pregnant, a couple of months later she gave birth to Young Master Xiao Yan. Close to a year later, you came into this world. You two were really close back then. Mistress was busy with helping Patriarch on Clan affairs, hence Ming'er took care of both of you as her own. You would run around all day playing with him calling Big Brother Yan this, Big brother Yan that," Lin Jian smiled.

"Naturally, as a genius in cultivation, Patriarch didn't want him to waste time playing, so he started imparting cultivation techniques and martial arts to him together with his elder sister who was ten years older than him. Every now and then, he would sneak out to play with you and every time he would be caught and punished."

"Five years later, the current Patriarch of the Long Clan that rules the East of the Continent fell in love with your mother the instant he saw her during a Clan meeting. He requested Patriarch to marry her to him, but Ming'er and I were already married, and we already had you. When Long Clan Patriarch learned of it, he still insisted to marry her. But Patriarch and Mistress protected us again."

"After Long Clan Patriarch got rejected by your mother, he turned his anger towards me. At that time, I was outside of the Clan to take care of some task. When I was returning, experts from Long Clan encircled me and captured me. They threatened Ming'er that if she wants me to live, then surrender herself and become Long Clan Patriarch's concubine."

"Mistress pleaded Patriarch to rescue me. But it was difficult to storm into Long Clan with just the Patriarch, he needed to mobilize all the Sovereigns of the Clan. When Young Master saw Ming'er sobbing, he directly went to his father and told him that he will not practice cultivation anymore if I am not rescued. He really did just that, for the next few days, he would just sit around doing nothing. Patriarch couldn't bear seeing his genius son wasting his life away anymore, so he convened all the Sovereigns immediately and managed to have Long Clan release me. But the Long Clan Patriarch asked for Young Master to be married to his daughter in exchange for my release. To rescue me without causing bloodshed, Patriarch had agreed to the marriage under the condition that Young Master agrees after he reaches adulthood."

"But Patriarch didn't want his son to continue growing up like this, so he put the harshest punishment on him. Young Master was not allowed to leave his quarters for the next five years and should practice cultivation wholeheartedly. Even his Mother, Aunt, and Siblings were only allowed to meet him once every month if he performed well. And no one else could meet him till his punishment was over, including me and you. I couldn't even get to personally thank him for all he's done for us."

"By the time Long Clan released me, I was inflicted by Poison and my cultivation reduced to Qi Sea realm. Ming'er and I decided we have imposed enough on Xiao Clan and we decided to leave and seclude ourselves. After leaving Xiao Clan, we came to this remote place to hide. But you kept crying and throwing tantrums to meet Big brother Yan. Unable to help, Ming'er brought a memory talisman from Patriarch and made you slowly forget everything about Xiao Clan."

"Every time your mother visited Young Master, he would ask how cousin Xue'er was doing, every time she would lie to him. I have forgotten how many times your mother had cried after coming back. Years later when Young Master learned that we had removed your memories, he wanted to rush to meet you. But we didn't let him, telling him it could bring disaster upon you if Long Clan learns of it."

"After a decade, you still ended up meeting him. Fate probably pitied Young Master. When you told him your background, he should have already known you were his cousin, all the emotions he had buried for years must have exploded when you told him you loved him. Hence, he accepted you even though you just met."

"Even now, Long Clan is creating problems for Xiao Clan, just to make Young Master accept the marriage,"

"We took his friend, his freedom, forced him to almost accept a marriage with a woman he doesn't like, now we insulted him and almost took his life, how much more suffering must he endure because of us? Do you want us to hurt him all the way until he dies?" asked Lin Jian with tears in his eyes. Men don't cry easily. But when they do, it must be because of unbearable pain.

"When Young Master said he loved you, I thought we can finally repay him a little by marrying you to him. But … sigh" sighed Lin Jian.

"…" tears were running from Xue'er's eyes, her hand covered her mouth and she was sobbing continuously. 'Big brother Yan, how much have you suffered because of us?' thought

"That's why your mother took him away, at least he won't be hurt anymore,"

"Dad, I want to meet him. Till now Big brother Yan only suffered because of us, I want to give him my Love, so much love that it should fill his life completely. Big brother Yan once said that anyone who sincerely tries to correct their mistake deserves a second chance. I also want another chance, I will surely make it up to him," said Xue'er as determination shone in eyes.

"Do you know how many maidens want to capture his heart? You can compare to them neither in cultivation nor in background. Do you know what they will do to you once they learn Young Master has feelings for you?"

"I don't care. The only thing I want to do now is see Big brother Yan again. If I lose my life along the way, I don't care,"

"Good, good!" Lin Jian said good twice appreciating his daughter's determination, "Ming'er said you can meet him if you can enter a Competition."

"What Competition?" Xue'er became eager to know more. Whatever it is, she will give it her all to meet Xiao Yan quickly.