Jun Laoye's brow furrowed in confusion at the sight. "The Suitian Spear?! Ancestor Suitian, isn't this your divine ability spear? How could it erge from my divine ability mark?"
He followed the lightning giant's finger and saw Ancestor Suitian nodding at him with a gentle smile.
Before Jun Laoye could go on, Ancestor Suitian's voice reached him. "Listen to the story first. By the end, all your questions will be answered.
"I, too, was once a successor of the Heavenly Dao Spear. But in my era, the Abyssal Demonic Spirits from the Outside had already begun their invasion. Spirit qi declined, and when the passage to the Outside opened, the top experts of our clan ventured forth to continue the search for traces of the Heavenly Dao.
"The remaining branch stayed behind, seeking the Dao's traces across the continent. Yet even after wielding the Heavenly Dao Spear for nearly ten thousand years, I achieved nothing of real significance, and the Dao itself remained beyond my grasp."
Jun Laoye was about to respond when Ancestor Suitian interrupted once more. "If I'm not mistaken, your original na should contain the word 'Tian'.[1] Pursuing the Heavenly Dao is our mission from birth. But in our clan, only those with 'Tian' in their na are qualified to inherit the Heavenly Dao Spear."
Jun Laoye listened, confusion deepening. Every word Ancestor Suitian spoke sounded familiar—he could have recited it from mory. Yet none of it touched the questions that weighed heaviest on his heart.
"I know you are confused. Listen to the whole story, and everything will beco clear," Ancestor Suitian continued, gazing at the sky, lost in mory. "Fifty thousand years ago, I was the generation's successor of the Heavenly Dao Spear. My na was Jun Suitian. The current successor is you. Before you, the heir was your father, Jun Wutian.
"However, due to the accident that befell your father and your second uncle's greater strength, your father passed the Heavenly Dao Spear to your second uncle instead. This was the first exception in Jun Clan history.
"Perhaps no one told you, but this is likely why your father entrusted you to Jun Wudi, and why Jun Wudi has cared for you all this ti. Your second uncle felt indebted to your father, and he transferred that debt into kindness toward you. That is why he chose to set aside his grudges and dedicate his life to guiding your cultivation."
"No..." Jun Laoye interrupted imdiately. "My second uncle owes us nothing. It's ... I am the one who has always owed him."
Ancestor Suitian chuckled. "Whether you owe him is not for , or even you, to judge. Only your second uncle can decide that. But now, a solution lies before you. This thod was devised fifty thousand years ago by those of us who remained on the continent."
"What do you an, Ancestor?" Jun Laoye asked.
Ancestor Suitian ford a hand seal, manipulating the Heavenly Dao Spear from a distance. "I possess a thod that, if successful, would harm no one. It allows your second uncle to regain the inheritance of the Heavenly Dao Spear without you losing your rightful claim."
"What thod? Why didn't my father ever ntion it... no, wait—"
Jun Laoye's eyes followed the swirling Heavenly Dao Spear, amazed. "Ancestor, how can you control the Heavenly Dao Spear? You are no longer its successor. You shouldn't be able to wield it."
"Hehehe. This is the thod we devised back then. Over the years, I've explored and mastered part of it. But to truly resolve your problem, an experint must be conducted, and it is extrely dangerous."
Jun Laoye clenched his fists. "Ancestor, tell ! If it can restore my second uncle's strength, I don't care if I lose the inheritance of the Heavenly Dao Spear. Even if I lose my cultivation, it will be worth it."
"The one thing the juniors of the Jun Clan never lack is courage," Ancestor Suitian said.
He returned the Heavenly Dao Spear to Jun Laoye. "When I first inherited it, the clan had secretly agreed to implent this thod, and I was entrusted to carry it out.
"As ntioned before, when a new successor appears, the original heir loses control over the Heavenly Dao Spear unless they rediscover the thod to reconnect with it. From my studies, I've only discovered two ways to reawaken this connection.
"The first is to gain the spear's acknowledgnt and reestablish contact. Anyone who has inherited the Heavenly Dao Spear has already been acknowledged by it, so that part is easy.
"However, reconnecting with the spear is no simple matter. When spirit qi was still dense, it took over twenty thousand years to gain even partial control. In this era, with spirit qi so scarce, anyone else would require far longer."
"If it's about that... I think Second Uncle may have already fulfilled this condition. Now, all he has to do is focus his mind, and the Heavenly Dao Spear will respond."
Jun Laoye stared at the spear in his hands, his expression changing rapidly. "Ancestor, if this is the first condition, what is the second? Second Uncle could have fulfilled it as well."
"Oh? Jun Wudi can now trigger the Heavenly Dao Spear with his will?" Ancestor Suitian seed unsurprised. After exchanging a few words with Daoist Tian Ji, he stepped away from the group of venerables and began condensing a pill infused with lightning essence.
"Then this becos much easier. The process might be completed in as little as a day."
"I still don't understand," Jun Laoye said, frowning. "What does this have to do with ? With this thod... can Second Uncle regain control of the Heavenly Dao Spear?"
"Open your mouth."
Ancestor Suitian tossed the pill into Jun Laoye's mouth. The instant it entered, he felt as if a surge of lightning had struck him. His face darkened, his hair stood on end, and his whole body trembled violently.
"Ancestor... what did you just make swallow? I feel a surge of power, and my Heavenly Pool... it feels like it's burning! It hurts so much!"
Jun Laoye writhed frantically in the giant's hand. "Ancestor, my body... it feels like sothing deep inside is being torn away."
Sensing his will being drained from him, he looked up at Ancestor Suitian in terror. "My connection to the Heavenly Dao Spear is fading... what's happening to ?"
"This is part of the experint. It will be over soon. Be patient."
Ignoring the murmurs of the surrounding venerables, Ancestor Suitian perford a rapid series of hand seals. The lightning giant behind Jun Laoye began to shrink gradually.
Jun Laoye scread, "I can't control the lightning giant... it hurts... my lightning power is disappearing!"
Sensing the upheaval, the nearby cultivators shifted their attention from Lu Chen to him. The giant slowly diminished until it was no larger than a small pill.
Seeing his struggle, Nantian Yijian said, "Little Jun, let help you."
He moved forward, only to be stopped by Wind Dragon. "High Sage Suitian is stimulating his divine ability. It's a lost secret art from our era. Be patient. It will be over soon."
The Heavenly Dao Spear fell heavily to the ground. Jun Laoye ceased convulsing. "Ancestor... my Heavenly Lightning Giant is gone, and I can no longer sense the spear's will."
"Doesn't matter. The next step is mine," Ancestor Suitian replied.
He stomped his right foot, and another lightning giant materialized behind Jun Laoye. This one was the perfected version, hundreds of tis larger than Jun Laoye's own. Its terrifying form stretched across the heavens. It had a third eye blazing on its forehead, with four lightning arms extending from its back.
After scanning its surroundings, the giant roared toward the sky. The shockwave alone forced all cultivators at the valley's entrance to fall to the ground, dazed.
It scanned the area again, its third eye blazing with lightning. Bowing to Ancestor Suitian, it lifted Jun Laoye in one hand, while holding the pill-ford lightning giant in the other, standing imposingly at the valley's entrance.
"As expected, Jun Laoye cos from that clan. I have always wondered how soone from an ordinary noble clan could possess such determination to seek the Heavenly Dao," Wind Dragon said, projecting a protective barrier around Lu Chen and the others.
"Still, I am surprised. When the passage to the Outside reopened, why didn't they relocate their entire clan? Instead, they chose to remain on the continent, still searching for traces of the Heavenly Dao."
"They've been searching for a long ti," Red Fox quietly added, opening her eyes. "At least, in the mories of us bloodline beasts, cultivators like these, who dedicate their lives to tracing the Heavenly Dao, have existed since the first Dark Rebellion in the prival era."
"Again with the prival era... what really happened back then?" Wind Dragon glanced at Jun Laoye thoughtfully. "Why were all cultivation records on the continent cut off? Why did all the elders depart to the Outside?"
"Wind Dragon, why do you make the prival era sound so mysterious? I rember the classics ntioning that the Green Emperor lived during that ti. Doesn't that an you're survivors of that era as well?" Lu Chen couldn't help but ask.
Wind Dragon shook his head in response, a hint of helplessness in his expression. "Heh... We are survivors of the prival era, indeed.
"But in truth, the era of the Green Emperor was rely the tail end of the middle prival era, perhaps better called the recent-prival era. The true prival era had already vanished with the Dark Rebellion, along with the will of the Heavenly Dao."
1. Tian (天) translates literally to Heaven in English. ☜
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