Protector Spirits of Soul Land.

"Grandmaster, can we have a private talk?"

"Sure." - Yu Xiaogang agreed easily, and the duo went out. - "What is it?"

"It is not about Na'er, but you and aunt Erlong." - Aiden said. He lacked moral power as it is and here they are causing troubles. - "I don't understand, what is the use of running away? Just answer one thing – do you love her or not?"

"I can't love her." - he said with indignation.

"I believe I asked a different thing."

"I... We..." - tried to say Yu Xiaogang.

"Cousins? I'll be blunt here, can I?" - he didn't ask for confirmation. - "First, you both love each other, and knowing aunt Erlong she will better die than find another man. That unnatural stubbornness is just unbelievable. And second... I say, are you an idiot who knows nothing about beast spirits? Have you ever thought about how the purity of bloodlines works and how ancient people could preserve it? Naturally through wedding among family. Actually, what you considered a problem never was one in the distant past when cultivators had extensive knowledge about bloodlines."

"What are you trying to say?" - he asked with astonishment.

"I'll be blunt then. Do you know how awakening works?"

"We create an external stimulus to..."

"I'm talking not about how you do it, but what is happening during it inside your body." - Aiden saw that Yu Xiaogang started to think and the more he did the more his eyes were getting round. He was worthy to be the number one scholar of the first novel of Douluo Dalu.

"This... this... martial spirit is part of us... but I never thought about the connection between it and body, every time it was a link to the cultivation realm and soul, but could it be that body as a vessel needs to be transformed too?"

"Correct." - Aiden said feeling tired all of a sudden, but he needed to finish it. He owes Liu Erlong a lifetime of favors already. - "From the very birth, it is just a question of what comes first – your body or your spirit. Speaking in simple terms, it is a martial spirit that changes your body and not your body that defines it. Martial spirit comes with the soul, body just a vessel of rebirth."

Actually Aiden and Nexus came to this theory through years of research and corrections and with his experience as a reincarnator as a basis.

"What I'm trying to say is that bestial martial spirits change genome the most..." - Aiden scratched his head, trying to figure out how to explain it in simple terms. - "You can think of the genome as a set of rules which define the body. When awakening is happening the shift in them to accommodate martial spirit is so severe, that masters lose any similarity on an inner level to even their twins, let alone some cousins if they have different martial spirits." - Aiden drank tea from the table and sighed. - "Grandmaster, and among all, your case is even more special. Your martial spirit was hurt because it is a so-called legacy protector spirit of this world."

Knowledge about that was found by Nexus in ancient texts. They were common in the distant past but completely forgotten now.

Protector spirits of Douluo Dalu.

Divine Phoenix. Azure Dragon. Black Tortoise. White Tiger. Blue Qilin. Rainbow Unicorn. Sky Wolf. Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life.

And the last but not the least as it was a guardian of the border at the doors of Hell.

Cerberus.

That is exactly Yu Xiaogang's martial spirit. In the cultivation era, each one inheritor would be top geniuses to nurture and train. They would have a position higher than most. But during the last war with demons, something happened, and it severely damaged these legacy spirits. All nine of them at once, and therefore they all can't grow to their true potential.

Yes, that was a reason his Tree of Life stopped at a low level in the development, and researching it he stumbled on such an astonishing secret. Yu Xiaogang has a similar problem. Aiden first thought his martial spirit was just undeveloped, but it later turned out to be wounded severely.

The marvelous thing about his own spirit is that it can heal others without a big problem. However, even with all that life force, it can't restore itself. From this one fact, Aiden summarized that the injury of Yggdrasil was the most severe of them all.

Healing Cerberus was rather easy, but the method for Yu Xiaogang spirit to grow three heads again is yet to be found. It is not as simple as healing. For now, what Aiden tried to say is genetically any possessor of legacy guardian spirit is too far from another and can even hardly be considered a human being. Their bloodlines resemble legacy spirits more.

In a sense, they are genuine unique existences in the world.

The duo spent several hours and the more Aiden talked, the more Grandmaster understood what he was trying to convey.

"I and Erlong... we can't be considered relatives at all..." - he blurted out with shock on his face.

"It is far more than just that. All reclusive clans that were able to preserve bloodline purity to maximize the attraction of certain martial spirits in beast form can easily marry even their twin siblings with no anomaly in childbirth if their martial spirit differs even a little and that was a common practice among nobles of the past. The moment you awaken a beast spirit is a moment your bloodline connections ends then and there." - finally said Aiden what he wanted. - "So now the main issue is whether you are brave enough to be with the one you love despite the attitude of the world, or you will follow canons created out of lack of knowledge and leave her again."

"I... I have to think it all over." - he said, standing up in shock.

"That is your room." - Aiden walked out first and saw Liu Erlong standing there dumbfounded. How can a master of her level not have an ability to hear what was said inside? He nodded, passing her in silence with a mask of ice on the face. These days it was very hard for him to feel anything.

If he let loose, it was akin to torture.

Aiden went out and changed clothes a bit, using his rings, putting on a mask. Walking on evening streets alone, he saw many people doing their own business. Some were working, others just relaxed in the company of friends. He went through and found a dilapidated inn, taking a seat at the corner, ordering some wine.

He drank alone in silence. Each cup signified a memory. A way not to forget but say goodbye. Her every smile, every touch, every mischief. Her adorable love for chickens and protectiveness, her slight pouts when she is hungry and laziness when she is full. How she always got clingy and liked to watch him during training. How shy she sometimes became when with him alone and angry when someone disturbed them.

He drowned it all in alcohol as a means of self-preservation because for this entire time he was dancing at the razor-sharp edge. One wrong step and what will greet him will only be insanity and ruin.

Nexus remained silent all this time.

Weeks combined into months and like that, he turned ten. The only thing that never changed was his training in the art of a sword and Nexus research, he literally abandoned everything else and didn't interact with the outer world at all. Only a handful of people remained by his side.

Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang after figuring out the entire truth became a married couple again. However, the latter still could not cross the last line, requesting time. As for Tang San and Xiao Wu – they were just training and studying as usual with no second thoughts and distractions.

But today they all came in one place because it will be a year after her death.

Aiden was practicing the sword on the hill like a loyal tomb guardian. Sometimes he will go away for a day or two or maybe a week and come back reeking of blood and death. His current level caused the four to have a feeling of suffocation and mystery, yet was straightforward and simple at the same time. They could not understand it but always had slight inspirations while seeing him.

It was a simple meeting, after which Aiden was grabbed by Liu Erlong and dragged to the city to have some social interactions.