Chapter 156: The Secret of the Tidy Clan

In the back courtyard of the Prince Changwu's Mansion, Chen Sinian slowly opened his eyes. Beneath his bronze-toned skin, faint dark-red veins flashed momentarily, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the unique bloodline technique of the Tidi clan when brought into play.

"What a pity. The 'truth' the Tidi clan has always blindly believed in is nothing more than an illusion. The true secrets hidden within this technique have long since been thoroughly unraveled by me."

Chen Sinian muttered softly to himself, the corners of his mouth twitching into a sinister, eerie smile.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Chen Sinian had already overheard the conversation between Yang Guang and Tiana inside the secret chamber. Yet, he felt not the slightest trace of panic; everything seemed to be unfolding precisely within his expectations.

"Although it happened a bit sooner than I anticipated, they had to find out sooner or later."

Chen Sinian sighed softly, lifting his chin slightly while narrowing his eyes into slits, through which a brilliant, piercing light flickered.

He stood quietly at the entrance of the courtyard, watching the snowflakes drift slowly downward. His memories seemed to transport him back to that snowfield in the Extreme North, the very place that had altered the course of his entire life.

To survive, Chen Sinian had not wasted a single drop of nourishment back then. Even the blood spilled by Tiana was caught in a helmet-shaped vessel, carefully collected while he simultaneously bandaged her wounds.

The tenacious vitality of the Tidi clan had long been stored within their bloodline, to say nothing of Tiana, who was regarded as the pride of heaven within her own tribe.

This was precisely why Langtou and his subordinates—the predecessors of the Langya Pavilion—had once relished consuming the flesh of the Tidi people.

At that time, Tiana was in her prime, and the vital essence contained within her blood was all the more precious.

Driven by the instinct to survive, Chen Sinian could not bear to waste a single drop of her blood, swallowing it all. Every single time he carved away a piece of flesh, he meticulously treasured the blood left oozing from the wound.

Later, when Chen Sinian successfully emerged alive from the snowfield, he discovered that his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, carrying him to the peak of the Grandmaster realm in a mere decade.

He was now only a hair's breadth away from the Saint realm.

When Yang Guang was born back then, he had successfully extracted the bloodline cultivation method of the Tidi royal family from Tiana.

Having absorbed the strengths of numerous schools of thought, Chen Sinian, upon reviewing that half-volume of the technique, had vaguely grasped its inner mysteries.

Dying from a ruptured body? That was likely not caused by an insufficiently pure bloodline, but rather by the impurities remaining within it.

Having reached the peak of the Grandmaster realm, Chen Sinian had long since refined the bloodline within his own body to an extraordinary degree of purity.

The blood of Tiana that he had absorbed in the past had also gradually permeated every fiber of his being. Perhaps Chen Sinian was now the only person in this world—a native of the Ye Dynasty—whose physical body had attained the acquired requirements of a dual-entity.

Kill Yang Guang?

Hearing Tiana mention to Yang Guang that he had swindled away the first half of the technique at the time of Yang Guang's birth, Chen Sinian could not help but sneer inwardly.

As a feudal prince who had fought across the northern and southern campaigns for so many years, how could he possibly be unaware of the existence of the dual-entity?

Back then, when Chen Sinian looked at the wailing infant Yang Guang in his arms and sensed the pure aura of the Tidi royal family inadvertently radiating from him, he had already resolved to spare Yang Guang's life.

What a terrifyingly formidable existence a dual-entity was! If he could bend it to his own will, it would undoubtedly become a powerful, lethal weapon in his quest to claim the throne and rule the empire.

Later, when trapped deep within the Extreme North, Yang Guang had displayed the formidable might of a dual-entity awakening for the very first time.

Watching Yang Guang—who seemed like an entirely different person—confront over a hundred dire wolves, Chen Sinian saw those beasts lower their forequarters in fearful submission, emitting timid, low whimpers in the wake of the awakening.

While the surrounding soldiers attributed the wolves' reaction to the murderous aura emanating from Yang Guang, Chen Sinian knew the truth very well: it was because the awakened Yang Guang was radiating the pure aura of the Tidi royal family.

While feigning shock on the outside, Chen Sinian was brimming with exceptional joy within.

Subsequently, seeing that Yang Guang was beginning to lose control after slaughtering the wolf pack, Chen Sinian deliberately unleashed a fraction of his own formidable aura to suppress Yang Guang's surging temperament.

Inside the cold, damp secret chamber, both Yang Guang and Tiana fell into a heavy silence.

Atop the rockery above the secret chamber, the accumulated snow of many days began to slowly melt. The thawed water seeped through the crevices of the rock, penetrating the gloomy ceiling of the chamber and gathering into droplets that fell with a steady patter.

"What is the matter with you?"

After a long while, the rhythmic dripping sound finally snapped Tiana out of her deep contemplation. Having purged the grief and hatred from her heart, her gaze now carried a trace of unexpected gentleness.

For reasons unknown, Tiana had originally believed that, after all these years of torment by Chen Sinian, she should despise the people of the Ye Dynasty to the core.

Yet, this young man before her made her feel an unusual sense of kinship.

Perhaps it was simply because he was willing to listen to her story.

Through all these long years of isolated imprisonment, Tiana had almost forgotten what it felt like to communicate with another human being.

Although Chen Sinian visited her frequently, every single visit was solely for the purpose of extracting the cultivation technique. Aside from flogging, rebukes, and insults, there was never a shred of genuine communication.

In Tiana's eyes, any lingering trace of affection from Chen Sinian had long since vanished.

Perhaps it had already faded away amidst that ancient snowstorm.

"You should have reached the Grandmaster level by now. If you truly wished to escape, this cage shouldn't be able to hold you."

Yang Guang's voice pierced the frigid air of the secret chamber, his tone carrying an added chill.

He lowered his gaze slightly, his eyes half-hidden in the shadows. Tiana, upon hearing his inquiry, could only see the cold, unyielding curve of his cicada-wing-thin lips.

Tiana furrowed her brows slightly, unable to fathom the thoughts of the young man standing before her. With a faint sigh, she turned her gaze toward those pitch-black, rust-covered iron pillars and explained softly:

"Ever since I was captured, my internal Qi and strength were crippled by Chen Sinian. Possessing merely physical strength alone makes it exceedingly difficult to truly walk out of this iron cage."

"You told me so much—have you already decided to give up on living on like this?"

Yang Guang's voice grew somewhat rigid, his words seemingly tinged with a hint of concern. Yet, accustomed as he was to being cold and ruthless, uttering such sentiments made him appear exceptionally stiff and awkward.

Hearing Yang Guang's question, a subtle ripple passed through Tiana's eyes. For the first time in all these years, someone had actually voiced concern over her life and death—and that person happened to be a total stranger.

Tiana gave a self-deprecating, faint smile and murmured softly, "Indeed. Living like this is far less satisfying than a swift death."

Upon hearing her words, Yang Guang jerked his head upward, a faint mist of moisture welling up within his bright eyes.

"You've endured for all these years; why give up now?"

Tiana stared at Yang Guang's expression in blank astonishment. Although their conversation had been relatively pleasant, her life and death ought to have had no bearing whatsoever on this young man.

Realizing that moisture was glistening in his eyes, Yang Guang hastily averted his face under Tiana's puzzled gaze, dodging her scrutinizing eyes.