C206 Jade Peak Mountain Range

"Yu Jue, he's your father?!"

Bai Shenshen clapped a hand over her mouth, her voice escaping in a startled gasp, her expression one of sheer disbelief.

Yu Yuan gave a slow nod in confirmation.

His reincarnation had been marred by the delayed return of his Heavenly and Earthly Souls, leaving him in a foggy state for years, his spiritual intelligence unawakened.

As a result, he had never truly felt a sense of belonging; he never considered the Yu family his own.

It wasn't until his interactions with Yu Cann that he began to feel a connection to the Yu family.

Regarding his nominal parents, he held no memories and little emotional attachment.

He had only gleaned bits and pieces about them from his grandfather and aunt.

His father, as described by them, had been exceptionally affectionate, going to great lengths to secure medicine that might cure his lack of spiritual intelligence.

Ultimately, his parents vanished into the Nether Abyss, their fates unknown.

The woman from the Medicine Sect, upon learning of his Yu family lineage, had inquired about his father's name. Could there be some hidden link between them?

"Do you know my father well?" Yu Yuan inquired, a note of surprise in his voice.

"An acquaintance from the past," Bai Shenshen replied, her face etched with complexity. "Your father visited the Jade Peak Mountain Range on several occasions and had numerous dealings with our Medicine Sect."

This revelation took Yu Yuan aback. "What business did he have in the Jade Peak Mountain Range?"

"What is the Yu family known for?" Bai Shenshen shot him a pointed look.

Yu Yuan stroked his chin, a realization dawning on him. "Are you suggesting that some of the Yu family's herbs come from the Jade Peak and your Medicine Sect?"

The Yu family of Darkmoon City, though lacking a resident alchemist, had always cultivated a variety of spiritual herbs.

Many of these herbs were exceedingly rare, some even unparalleled within the Silvermoon Empire.

This very uniqueness had prompted the Su family to extend an olive branch, forging a long-term contract to procure a substantial quantity of spiritual herbs from the Yu family.

However, as relations soured between the Su and Yu families, the Su family found themselves seeking the necessary herbs from the Medicine Sect and beyond their own borders.

Indeed, the costs had risen somewhat.

Shortly after Yu Yuan's soul had settled back into place, he visited Elfview to craft the Elemental Pill. There, he had observed some herbs in the garden, recognizing that they had been transplanted from elsewhere.

Yet, he hadn't connected them to the Medicine Sect.

Now, seeing Bai Shenshen's demeanor, it was clear she was acquainted with his father, Yu Jue. This revelation led him to the sudden realization that his father's repeated visits to the Medicine Sect and Jade Peak were likely in pursuit of these herbs.

"Did your grandfather never mention anything about your mother?" Bai Shenshen shifted the conversation.

Yu Yuan was taken aback, shaking his head, "No, he didn't."

"Your father managed to acquire those herbs from Jade Peak and cultivate them for the Yu family, all thanks to your mother's influence," Bai Shenshen remarked with a cold huff. "Otherwise, why would the Medicine Sect ever allow him to take those herbs, considering just the status of the Yu family and Darkmoon City?"

"My mother has ties to the Medicine Sect?" Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

In that instant, a wave of unusual emotions surged within him.

In his past life, as the leader of the Medicine God Sect, he was well aware of the profound ties between the Medicine God Sect and the Medicine Sect.

The Heaven Level Pills that the Medicine Sect sold were almost exclusively crafted by the Medicine God Sect.

Each leader of the Medicine Sect would secretly visit the Medicine God Sect to master the Spiritual Spells of alchemy and heed the teachings of the Medicine God Sect.

To say that the Medicine Sect was a subordinate and vassal to the Medicine God Sect was an understatement.

The clandestine bond between the two was an open secret among the elite sects of both the Heavenly Source Continent and the Quietus Continent.

Even the Primordial Yang Sect, backed by the Rainier Empire, was well aware of this.

The Medicine Sect's enduring presence on the Profound Sky Continent, untouched by the wars of nations and the incursions into Jade Peak, was a testament to its tight-knit relationship with the Medicine God Sect.

He had never imagined that in this life, reborn, his maternal lineage would be entwined with the Medicine Sect.

And a connection to the Medicine Sect also implied a hidden link to the Medicine God Sect of the Quietus Continent.

"The world is so capricious, with fate seemingly etched in the shadows."

He reflected inwardly, feeling that despite the vastness of the Boundless Land, it could sometimes feel claustrophobically small.

For this lifetime, his foresight had led him to plant a safeguard within the Jade Peak, in the domain of the Medicine Sect.

And now, Chiu Wan from the Ghoul Glyph Sect had surfaced here. Was it possible that the seeds he had sown three centuries prior were beginning to bear fruit, drawing the Sect's scrutiny?

His mother had ties to the Medicine Sect, and his father had come here seeking herbs...

"Your mother indeed has deep connections with our Medicine Sect," Bai Shenshen said with a face full of reverence. "I still wonder how Yu Jue persuaded her, how she agreed to bear a child despite her frailty. Pregnancy and childbirth would only bring her more hardship."

She sighed deeply, her expression wistful.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

At that moment, a bizarre buzzing erupted from the toxic miasma hovering over the swamp where Jin Fann and others of the Ghoul Glyph Sect were active.

Even from a distance, Yu Yuan's keen eyes could make out innumerable venomous insects, their wings beating furiously within the foul-smelling fog.

"It's been well over three hundred years."

He murmured to himself, staring transfixed at the poisonous miasma, a glimmer of excitement and anticipation shining in his eyes.

"If you are Yu Yuan, the child of the Yu family, you'd best leave the Jade Peak Mountain Range immediately!"

Bai Shenshen's countenance darkened as she spoke, "It's truly bizarre. In recent months, all sorts of mysterious figures have been spotted on our lands. There was one with a body half black, half white, unclear if flesh or spirit, and another with the body of a dragon and the head of a man. And now, the Ghoul Glyph Sect's members are causing chaos."

"I have this nagging feeling that trouble is brewing in the Jade Peak Mountain Range."

Bai Shenshen clutched at Yu Yuan's sleeve, pointing in a direction, "You could take that route, or better yet, return to the Silvermoon Empire, to your Darkmoon City, and quickly."

Yu Yuan remained steadfast.

Bai Shenshen was getting worried. "Why are you being so stubborn, kid? With your Spirit Accumulating Stage cultivation, roaming the Jade Peak Mountain Range would normally be no issue under the protection of our Medicine Sect. But now, things are amiss. Many cultivators from afar, including those from the Ghoul Glyph Sect of the Quietus Continent, have been slipping in quietly."

"Moreover, families from various major empires who cultivate spirit herbs have been converging on the Jade Peak Mountain Range lately."

"There have been a string of odd occurrences during this time. Heed my advice and don't linger here too long."

Her concern was genuine.

Regrettably, Yu Yuan, having departed the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, did not head straight back to the Silvermoon Empire. His arrival at the Jade Peak Mountain Range was driven by ulterior motives.

He was after the contingency plan he had discreetly laid out years before.

Little did he expect that his reincarnation would be delayed by three hundred years, leaving his carefully placed schemes dormant for just as long.

"Sister Bai!"

"You're here as well?"

"What a relief to see you!"

Out of nowhere, a chorus of excited shouts echoed from a different direction.

Yu Yuan looked over to see a throng of young men and women, clad in alchemist robes, approaching with smiles and laughter.

Some, dressed similarly to Bai Shenshen, were likely from the Medicine Sect.

Others, in their vibrant and varied robes, were clearly from different empires and families.

"Wait, is the alchemist examination in the Profound Sky Continent scheduled to take place at the Medicine Sect soon?" Yu Yuan's mind raced, and he quickly grasped the situation. "Why now of all times?"

"They all aspire to join the Medicine God Sect one day, to pursue the grand path of alchemy. Naturally, they must clear this hurdle first," Bai Shenshen explained.

Yu Yuan's face took on an odd expression. "This could spell trouble."

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