Chapter 683: The Mystery of Birth

Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

“If you hadn’t been imprisoned by the Qilin Lord, then why didn’t you contact me before? And does Uncle Gu know about this?” Seeing him look troubled, Ling Xiao spoke straightforwardly, without any hesitation.

This made Lin Ming, who had been planning to get this over with an excuse, freeze. Sometimes, having such a clever son wasn’t the best. He should’ve anticipated this.

“It wasn’t that I hid it from you purposefully,” Lin Ming said helplessly.

When Ling Xiao had been born, the Qilin Lord was on his last breath, but not dead yet. After finding out, the Qilin Lord was enraged, even wanting to imprison him in the Qilin clan forever.

There were two reasons the other didn’t kill him. One was because of the Qilin Lord’s injuries. Only his disciple knew that he had sustained severe internal injuries that were nigh impossible to recover from. He no longer had the ability to kill Lin Ming. Though Ling Ming felt that he had disappointed and wronged the Qilin Lord and failed to meet the other’s expectations, he refused to abandon his lover and son.

The other reason was because the Qilin Lord knew that he didn’t have much time left. As soon as he died, the Qilin Clan would descend into chaos, and those that had their eyes set on the Qilin Clan would begin to move in.

Using this incident, the Qilin Lord had Lin Ming protect the Qilin Clan for him through pretending to be him, and making sure that no one knew his true identity, including his lover and son.

Lin Ming was an empathic man of integrity. He had wronged the Qilin Lord with what he had done, and though he knew that the Qilin Lord was using this weakness of his to force him to comply with these demands, he still agreed, and this farce went on for a full ten thousand years.

However, what had happened with Ling Xiao was just out of his own selfishness. Lin Ming knew about the situation Ling Xiao was in. He knew the other was being ostracized, so he could only silently support him in secret. Lin Ming believed that his son would definitely be able to overcome all these challenges.

That was until ten thousand years ago, he heard that Ling Xiao had decided to leave the TongTian Continent for what he and Lin Shaoyi had agreed on. From then on, he disappeared, and didn’t come back for ten thousand years. Lin Ming regretted it a little, but it was too bad that his regret could do nothing by then.

After hearing all this, Ling Xiao was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Does Uncle Gu know about this?”

Lin Ming felt guilt rise in his heart, his gaze wavering.

Ling Xiao knew the answer from that. So the only one being kept in the dark was him. Absolutely wonderful, here he was, a puppet dancing on their strings.

“Xiao’er, don’t blame your Uncle Gu. It was me who forbid him from telling you. With your intellect, I believe you should’ve been able to guess,” Lin Ming hurriedly explained. Ling Xiao could blame him, but he didn’t want Ling Xiao to blame Lin Gu.

Lin Shaoyi was ambitious. Like the TongTian Emperor, he didn’t just want to rule the TongTian Continent, but all the worlds, becoming the sole Almighty and establishing his own Rules. He wanted a world of his own. He was even more ambitious than the TongTian Emperor.

Ten thousand years ago, not even Lin Ming realized this.

Back then, because his son had run away from home, Lin Ming hadn’t kept watch of Lin Shaoyi. By the time he realized Lin Shaoyi was plotting something, a thousand years had gone by and Lin Shaoyi had grown to a point where Lin Ming could no longer touch him. Not just because of his cultivation level, but also because of Black Spider.

Though Black Spider kept itself hidden back then, it grew rapidly.

However, by the time Lin Ming noticed, Black Spider had already formed. It wouldn’t be easy to wipe it out, so he could only gather intelligence on Black Spider from the shadows and leak some of it out, making sure it eventually reached Tian Gou’s ears.

“So you and Uncle Gu tricked me. What was in it for you two?” Ling Xiao asked calmly. It was true that he could figure out the gist of the situation, but who wouldn’t want to be told beforehand rather than after they had figured it out themselves? They might as well have just kept silent then!

Lin Ming sighed helplessly. “To achieve the legend of the Four Ancient Beasts, Lin Shaoyi planned to create the other three bloodlines for himself. I don’t know how he came up with this method, but by the time I realized, he was already halfway there. Back then, I couldn’t do anything about it, so I discussed things with your Uncle Gu and decided to raise you to be Lin Shaoyi’s rival, so you could destroy his plans!”

Ling Xiao sneered. He had already figured out what came of their discussion. No wonder Uncle Gu always told him that he had to get stronger to save his parents from the Qilin and Demon Phoenix Clans. In reality, it was just an excuse. He wanted to facilitate Ling Xiao’s growth. At best, it was an encouragement, at worst, it was all just lies!

Lin Ming was a little embarrassed, watching on. Back then that was all that they could come up with.

Ling Xiao then changed the topic. “Then what’s the deal with mother?”

Ever since he found out about the attitude his mother had towards him, he had been suspicious. Things were very likely not as he thought they were. There was probably something else he had been kept in the dark about. Ling Ming had heard about the situation with Ji XiuXin from Ling Gu. Ling Xiao’s suspicions were within his expectations.

“Also, how do I have all four bloodlines?”

Ling Xia was certain that no matter if it was his father or his mother, they both only had one bloodline. Then where did the True Dragon and Black Tortoise bloodlines come from? This was something he couldn’t figure out at all.

“I’m sorry about your mother. Your birth was actually a deal I made with her. Your mother was originally a very passionate and energetic woman. She longed for freedom, but the Demon Phoenix Clan was an obstacle to that freedom… The Holy Maiden of the Demon Phoenix Clan has to dedicate her entire life to the clan. They can never leave the Demon Phoenix Clan and never marry or have children. This was something your mother couldn’t accept. Then, by chance, she found out about my plan.”

Here, Lin Ming seemed reluctant to continue.

Ling Xiao raises an eyebrow. “What plan?”

Lin Ming hesitated for a moment before saying, sounding rather drained, “A prophet of the Black Tortoise Clan once foretold that after billions of years, the ancient war will repeat itself. The TongTian Continent will be bathed in blood and submerged in chaos, unless a certain unpredictable element existed.”

Ling Xiao’s eyes darkened.

Lin Ming sighed once more. Having a son that was too clever wasn’t a good thing indeed. He suddenly felt rather envious of You JunQi.

The first part of this prophet’s prophecy referred to the current TongTian Emperor and Lin ShaoYi. The two were very different from the previous TongTian Emperor and the person with four bloodlines, but both were ambitious and would surely come to blows over that all powerful position. In the end, they were still going down the same path.

However, the TongTian Continent would once again be face calamity. The current TongTian Continent was already cracked, fragile, if another ancient war occurred, then this world might not be able to take it, and TongTian Continent would fall.

As for the unpredictable element, that was Ling Xiao. The four bloodlines within Ling Xiao were purer than what Lin ShaoYi had, because he wasn’t actually carried by his mother.

Lin Ming heeded the prophet’s words, but Ling Xiao’s heritage was still a surprise. Originally, he had been planning for his son to be born with the Qilin and Demon Phoenix bloodlines, and he would think of something later for the True Dragon and Black Tortoise bloodlines. He never expected something so serendipitous. Even now, it still seemed like quite the miracle.

“What do you mean?” Ling Xiao frowned when the other stopped.

Lin Ming could only continue. “The True Dragon and Black Tortoise bloodlines you bare actually come from your Uncle Gu. I only found out later as well that your Uncle Gu is a descendent of both clans. It was just that it had thinned out a lot, and it was even thinner in you.”

“Uncle Gu is human.” Ling Xiao’s frown deepened, calmly replying.

“I know.” Lin Ming nodded. “Your Uncle Gu is indeed a human. His True Dragon and Black Tortoise bloodlines were never activated, so he remained a human. Plus, it’s harder for a human to unleash their demon beast bloodlines. With you, your original form is that of a demon beast, so it’s much easier.”

“So…” Ling Xiao paused for a moment, “I’m actually Uncle Gu’s son, too, right?”

Lin Ming couldn’t hold back his laughter at that, his smile holding a hint of delight. “That’s right. Your mother, Ji XiuXin might’ve given you your Demon Phoenix bloodline, but that’s just for her freedom. After you were born, she never came to see you or asked after you. Though this is rather thoughtless, I still want to tell you that the person that actually carried you to term was your Uncle Gu. You should call him papa.”

Here, Lin Ming eyed Ling Xiao expression cautiously.

Any normal person would have a hard time accepting reality upon finding out that their mother wasn’t their mother at all, but their father. However, he had clearly forgotten that Ling Xiao wasn’t a normal person.

Hearing his explanation, Ling Xiao calmly asked, “Then how come Ji XiuXin ended up imprisoned in the Demon Phoenix Clan?”

Lin Ming was surprised at his sudden change in address. ‘Mother’ suddenly became ‘Ji XiuXin.’ It took him a while to reply. “The Holy Maiden has to be pure in both body and soul. Your mother… ahem, XiuXin was found out to have lost her purity, and your existence was discovered by the Demon Phoenix Clan, so she was imprisoned by the clan and confined there. Though I wanted to save her, I couldn’t act back then, so she probably hates me by now.”

After hearing all this, Ling Xiao decided to accept his explanation, which could be summarized in three words: no other choice! He wasn’t an emotional person, but his calm far exceeded Lin Ming’s expectations. If a normal person heard such a fantastical story, they would at least have some sort of inner conflict, but he didn’t, instead managing to guess most of it.

Lin Ming really didn’t understand this son of his at all and started envying You JunQi again.

Just as Lin Ming was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Ling Xiao spoke up again, gazing straight at him. “Apart from this, are there any other secrets you want to spill?”

Lin Ming froze for a moment before saying almost subconsciously, “No.”

Ling Xiao started at him with a half smile for ten seconds before turning and leaving. “I’m going to go find my dear wife. You can leave now.”

His voice was casual, uncaring. Lin Ming suddenly felt like he was the son and Ling Xiao the father.

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