Zhang Fei - The Abandoned Son
Chapter 1025: The Secret of The Cao Clan I

Chapter 1025: The Secret of The Cao Clan I

"Over there." Shangguan Yan pointed in a certain direction. "Isn’t the Sky Jade Shop yours?"

Zhang Xiaolong [3] nodded at her. "All my shops and restaurants use the name Sky Jade, especially since I first stepped on my cultivation path in that realm."

"How could you bring us to this realm so quickly? What kind of gate was that earlier?" Zhang Xiaolong [3] immediately changed into his half-fox form, which shocked Yuan Hao. "You... you are a fox beast?"

Zhang Xiaolong [3] turned into his transcendent lust demon fox, shocking Yuan Hao again. Duanmu Luolan immediately explained to her son about his three identities, but he found it hard to believe that a living creature had three identities at once.

"You don’t need to be confused like that." Yuan Hao turned to Qian Shuang, who had not said anything before. "Zhang Xiaolong is the man in the prophecy, and he is destined to be the peacemaker for this universe."

"What kind of prophecy?"

Qian Shuang explained the prophecy to Yuan Hao directly. "No human knows about it, but all the beasts and natural races from all over the universe do. The ten-tailed fox is our savior, and Zhang Xiaolong is his successor."

"Phew." Yuan Hao sighed heavily as he massaged his forehead. "I didn’t expect you to have such a story."

Zhang Xiaolong [3] shook his head in response. "The natural and beast races may regard me as the man in the prophecy, but I don’t think much of it. I have no desire to fight for others, and I fight only for myself and those closest to me. Even so, it will ultimately involve the fate of many people, especially since those bad guys will never stop targeting me. Therefore, I will reach the pinnacle of cultivation in the future, and no one can harm my loved ones then."

"The peak of cultivation, huh?" Yuan Hao muttered under his breath. "Your dream is surely too lofty for many people, including me. However, you are different from us with your three identities, and the prophecy also wrote about you, so I believe you can achieve it. At that time, Miyuan, I, and our children will watch you from afar."

"Hahaha." Zhang Xiaolong [3] laughed at that. "Why do you say that? Your mother will be my wife in the future, and so will Shangguan Yan."

"Huh?" Yuan Hao looked at Shangguan Yan in shock, but he glared at Zhang Xiaolong [3] instead. "Is... is that true, Aunt Yan? Are you in love with him too?"

Shangguan Yan immediately flew away. "Let’s meet Miyuan and Han’er."

"Haha." Duanmuo Luolan laughed at Shangguan Yan’s behavior, and she hurriedly caught up to her, followed by Qian Shuang.

"You’ve got the answer, right?" Zhang Xiaolong [3] patted Yuan Hao’s shoulder. "You and Shangguan Miyuan will be my family, and I will never forget my family."

Yuan Hao let out a soft sigh. "My mother and Aunt Yan have always been loyal to their deceased husbands, but you managed to change their minds and make them fall in love with you."

"Haha." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then turned to Zhe Wuming, who had just appeared. "Hmm? Congratulations, you finally broke through to the 3-Moon Divine Ascension Realm."

"Isn’t my success because of your pills? If you hadn’t given them to me, I wouldn’t have broken through now." Zhe Wuming then asked him. "Do you have any recent information about Xereth?"

Zhang Xiaolong [3] nodded at him. "Xereth is on his way to the Sovereign Heaven Realm with some people, and I plan to end everything there. However, there is a powerful cultivator from the Paradise Realm with them now, and I still don’t know the purpose of that person being willing to help them."

"What if you take me to that realm?" Zhe Wuming asked him.

"What do you think about his request?" Zhang Xiaolong [3] asked Yuan Hao instead.

Zhe Wuming looked at Yuan Tian in surprise. "Did he come from the Sovereign Heaven Realm?"

"I was born and grew up in that realm." Yuan Hai nodded to Zhe Wuming. "Sure, you can bring him to my realm, but he must pass those tests first, and not everyone can do it as quickly as you, which will waste a lot of time. The only way to pass them is through your gate, but you have to hide him somewhere else; otherwise, Uncle Tian and the others will notice his presence, and they will expel him by force even if he is your friend, especially since they already have plans against you."

"The only way to avoid that is to bring him to the eastern forest, and they won’t notice his presence." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then told Zhe Wuming. "I will discuss this matter first with the natural races in that realm, and I will take you guys there if they agree to accommodate you temporarily."

"All right, I will wait for news from you."

After that, Zhang Xiaolong [3] brought Yuan Hao to his shop, and Zhe Wuming watched them from afar. However, Tian Shuixiang suddenly appeared by his side, and he immediately asked him. "Do you think we can use your status as the alchemy god?"

Tian Shuixiang shook her head in reply. "They don’t necessarily know me, so my status probably won’t be useful there. The only way is to wait for Zhang Fei to discuss it with them first, and you can focus on your cultivation there."

"What about you?"

Tian Shuixiang immediately explained to him. "Actually, Zhi Ye and I were able to defeat Xereth because our cultivation has long since reached the Five Celestial Realms, but I sealed our cultivation with a special seal, and you can only sense our cultivation in the Divine Ascension Realm. If we release the seal, the people of our races will detect our presence here, especially since it will release the power of our bloodline as well. Moreover, there was Taotie behind that demon, so we deliberately didn’t do anything. Therefore, I don’t bother with my cultivation, especially since I can only continue it in the Paradise Realm."

"I see." Zhe Wuming nodded in understanding. "Let’s go back."

.

.

.

"Mother? What are you doing in this realm? Why didn’t you tell us that you would follow us here?" Shangguan Miyuan asked as soon as Shangguan Yan and the others entered the shop.

Shangguan Yan pointed at Yuan Hao. "Luolan and Huan’er came to our clan to ask for your hand in marriage, but since you two are in this realm, we came here to bring you back with us."

"What?" Shangguan Han shouted loudly before asking her sister. "Since when did you have a romantic relationship with Brother Hao?"

"Hehehe." Shangguan Miyuan giggled as she stuck out her tongue. "Brother Hao and I have been lovers for the past two years, and I forbade him to tell anyone before he was ready to marry me."

’This troublesome sister of mine!’ Shangguan Han grumbled in his heart as he glanced at Zhang Xiaolong [3]. ’Fortunately, our mother has not matched her with this kid; otherwise, everything would be chaotic.’

Shangguan Miyuan walked next to Yuan Hao, hugged his arm, and spoke to her mother. "Mother, Brother Hao and I love each other, and since he has conveyed his wishes to you, I hope you are willing to agree to our relationship, and we will get married soon."

"Why should I disagree?" Shangguan Yan shook her head. "Our two clans have been on good terms since our ancestors were alive, and Hao’er is a good son, so I will fulfill your wish to get married."

"Hahaha." Shangguan Miyuan laughed loudly as she jumped for joy. "Brother Hao! We will get married soon!"

Yuan Hao hugged his lover. "Thank you, Aunt Yan. I will take good care of Miyuan and make her happy."

"Yes." Shangguan Yan replied with a relieved expression, as she had always worried that her daughter might become an old maid due to her behavior; however, those concerns had proven to be unfounded.

Shangguan Han immediately showed some pills to his mother. "Look at these pills, Mother. Our realm is much stronger than this realm, but our realm does not have as many superior-grade pills as here, so I bought quite a few pills for us."

"Our realm has these pills now." Shangguan Yan’s answer stunned her son. "This Sky Jade Shop opened a branch in our realm a few days ago, and Jia Yuyan is in charge of it."

"Huh? Are you serious about that, Mother?" Shangguan Miyuan asked.

Shangguan Yan pointed to Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "He is the owner of both shops, and he also has many other shops spread across various realms."

Both Shangguan Han and Shangguan Miyuan looked at Zhang Xiaolong [3] in disbelief, but he only smiled at them and spoke to the shopkeeper. "Please return all their jewels."

"Yes, Young Master." The shopkeeper immediately carried out Zhang Xiaolong [3]’s order, confusing the two.

"Why did you return our jewels? Didn’t you open your shops to collect resources?" Shangguan Han asked in confusion.

"I—"

"He is the future stepfather to both of you." Shangguan Han and Shangguan Miyuan’s eyes widened as they stared at Duanmu Luolan. "Just ask your mother."

Shangguan Miyuan immediately let go of Yuan Hao and hugged her mother. "Is that true, Mother? Have you really fallen in love with him?"

"Please tell us the truth, Mother." Shangguan Han urged his mother because Shangguan Yan and Zhang Xiaolong [3] had only met recently, and she didn’t show any signs when she taught him to create his domain, but their relationship had suddenly gone so far.

"You have a big mouth, Luolan." Duanm Luolan responded to Shangguan Yan with a joyful laugh, causing her to sigh helplessly. "Actually, we haven’t established such a relationship in the real world, but our relationship has indeed gone that far in the dream."

"What do you mean by ’in the dream’?" The Shangguang siblings were confused by that.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] spoke to them. "Let’s go back there first."

.

.

.

A while later, they had already gathered in the main hall of the Shangguan Clan, and Shangguan Yan immediately explained to his two children many things about Zhang Xiaolong [3], including his dream abilities and other wives. She told them that she was always comfortable being with him in the dream, but she still didn’t accept him in the real world.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] showed them the other two identities, and his demon identity shocked them. However, Shangguan Yan immediately provided an explanation to them, and Qian Shuang backed up her statement.

After hearing everything, Shangguan Miyuan held her mother’s hand and spoke to her. "I was truly shocked to hear about your relationship with him, Mother. Moreover, he is still very young and already has many wives; however, I always hope that you will find new happiness. Since you are comfortable with him in the dream and your relationship has progressed that far, I will support you in accepting him in the real world."

"I agree with Miyuan, Mother." Shangguan Han said with a nod. "Honestly, I feel strange that you would choose him, especially since he is much younger than us. But your feelings matter more, and you’re already comfortable with him, so we’ll accept your relationship."

Shangguan Yan was speechless after listening to her two children, as she always thought that they would object if she remarried, but they actually supported her relationship with Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "Are you two really okay with our relationship?"

"No." Both of them answered with a shake of their heads.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] immediately took Shangguan Yan’s hand. "Since they have agreed to our relationship, there is no reason to reject me in the real world anymore, right?"

"Yeah." Shangguan Yan then leaned against Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "However, I don’t want anything to do with you, especially since this is your clone."

"Hahaha." Zhang Xiaolong [3] laughed at that.

"Is this really your clone? Why are you so real?"

"This is one of my several clones, and my real body is still in the Star Tower now." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then changed the subject of their conversation. "Instead of talking about our relationship, we should talk about Shangguan Miyuan and Yuan Hao’s wedding, especially since they can’t wait to get married."

"Hehehe." Shangguan Miyuan giggled before moving to sit beside Yuan Hao. "Mother and Aunt Luolan, please arrange our wedding as soon as possible."

Both Shangguan Yan and Duanmu Luolan could only shake their heads at the impatient looks on their children’s faces, and they began to talk about their marriage.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] did not join them, and he brought Qian Shuang back to the eastern forest.

.

.

.

Upon their arrival, Zhang Xiaolong [3] rushed to meet Jia Yuyan and discussed his plan to bring Zhe Wuming and the others there. However, the female fairy refused his request, particularly because many of the natural races were uncomfortable with the presence of humans among them.

Despite her rejection, Jia Yuyan gave Zhang Xiaolong [3] another solution, and she allowed him to bring the people to the eastern forest, but they had to stay in another area, which was still covered by the formation. This way, Tian Jingxuan and the others would not be aware of their presence, and they could cultivate in peace there.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] immediately contacted Zhe Wuming and informed him about that, and he also asked him to tell the others to get ready.

"What are you going to do now?" Jia Yuyan asked.

Zhang Xiaolong [3] first took out the memory extractor device and connected it to hismemories; then, he moved the Demon’s Eye Orb to check on the Cao Clan.

"Hmm?" Jia Yuyan looked at the Qi screen with surprise. "How can you do this?"

Zhang Xiaolong [3] explained to Jia Yuyan as he controlled the Demon’s Eye Orb to search for something hidden in the Cao Clan.

"Stop first." Jia Yuyan then pointed to the door that was visible on the screen. "Try checking inside that place first."

"All right." Zhang Xiaolong [3] flew the orb into that room, but gruesome activity appeared on the screen. They saw many men and women from that clan absorbing other people’s cultivation, forcing Jia Yuyan to avert her gaze. "I didn’t expect the Cao Clan to be so vicious; they even used people to enhance their cultivation."

"Aren’t you the same as them?"

"You’re right; I have indeed done that many times before." Zhang Xiaolong [3] did not refute that. "However, I have never used innocent people to increase my cultivation, and all of my victims were my enemies. Unlike me, the Cao Clan is indiscriminate, and they used so many innocent people for that."

Jia Yuyan released a heavy sigh. "No wonder they always seal their clan, and their cultivation can increase so rapidly. It turns out they used such an evil method to increase their cultivation, but I don’t understand where they got such a technique from."

"Aren’t there still many relics of the past in this realm?" Jia Yuyan nodded to Zhang Xiaolong [3]. "Not all living beings are good, and I’m sure many evil cultivators hid in this realm in the past. Perhaps the Cao Clan was part of them in the past, and they inherited that technique from their ancestors."

Jia Yuyan agreed with that. "Hey, check other places first; I’m sure they hide even more terrifying secrets."

"All right." Zhang Xiaolong [3] then used the orb to check several other areas of the Cao Clan, and they saw many horrific scenes within the clan.

In one of the rooms, Zhang Xiaolong [3] and Jia Yuyan saw many piles of skeletons, and they noticed some humans inside, but their appearances were extremely terrifying. They looked more like demon beasts, and they were eating the human corpses that were used as sacrifices by the clan members.

Jia Yuyan almost vomited upon seeing such a scene. "Are they humans or demon beasts?"

"They are both." Jia Yuyan turned to Zhang Xiaolong [3], who immediately pointed at the screen. "Look at these people; they still retain many human characteristics, and they have gained their demon characteristics due to the augmentation. In my home realm, we called them chimeras, and I have fought many of them in the Star Tower."

"Chimeras?"

- To Be Continued -