Chapter 3374 — Yushu and Yuning

"There is. A prophet possesses an innate gift of the body, but it is only a kind of sensation—one cannot deliberately set out to predict a specific event. That master of the esoteric sect, however, can, through the transmission of empowerment, awaken and unlock this gift within Xiaoning's body. This is something she cannot achieve through her own cultivation. Thus empowerment is the only choice for raising her strength," Yu Tianxing said. "Of course, it is not certain that empowerment will absolutely prevent one from ascending to the Heavenly Dao—all of this is unknown. So I hope Young Hero Lin will agree to this request..."

"Heh, the request is not excessive. I have no reason to refuse." Wei Zhao shook his head. Yuning's situation was similar to that of the many women and subordinates around Wei Zhao; in the end he would find a solution for them all. One more Yuning made no difference. These were all aftereffects of Wei Zhao's own advancement, and so they had to be resolved as well.

"Ah? I never expected Young Hero Lin to be so open-minded. Then I am reassured. You agree to let Xiaoning go to the Endless Western Sea?" Yu Tianxing asked hastily.

"Yes, I agree." Wei Zhao nodded, then his expression turned grave. "Next—shall we talk about Xiaoshu? I hear her parents have been imprisoned by your family, and that you forced her to do things she did not wish to do. Such as scheming against me? The scheming I can let bygones be bygones, but her parents—can they be released?"

"Xiaoshu..." Yu Tianxing trailed off there, then suddenly sighed, his face somewhat desolate and ashamed.

"Hm?" Hearing Yu Tianxing say only the two words "Xiaoshu" and then fall silent for a long while, Wei Zhao frowned at once. "Could it be, Yu Tianxing, that you do not wish to release them?"

Wei Zhao had gone so far as to address Old Master Yu by name directly, which revealed the anger in his heart. Ever since he learned of Xiaoshu's tragic origins, he had felt deep sympathy for her plight. Wei Zhao had kept it in mind all along, preparing to find a fitting opportunity to have it out with the Yu family.

And this invitation from the Yu family was undoubtedly a fine opportunity. In Wei Zhao's view, with his current strength, Yu Tianxing could absolutely not refuse him. He had not expected Yu Tianxing to hem and haw, which set Wei Zhao's fury ablaze at once.

"This... before we speak of this matter, there is something else. I no longer wish to conceal it—I have concealed it for far too long, and the pressure in my heart has been immense. All these years, apart from Yu Yi and the Xiao Chen couple, no one in the Yu family has known of this matter, including Xiaoning herself..." Yu Tianxing's tone was somewhat heavy. "But today, I will tell you everything, plainly and truly... I hope that after you hear it, you will understand my hardship."

"What do you mean by that? Whether you release them or not is a single sentence." Wei Zhao's face was cold, and the full peak of his mid-Heavenly rank strength suddenly surged forth without reservation—an invisible pressure brought to bear on Yu Tianxing. Though Wei Zhao would not strike directly, out of consideration for Yuning's face, he still had to let Yu Tianxing know that he should not think that, just because Yuning was present, Wei Zhao had no temper of his own.

"Young Hero Lin, hear me out first..." Yu Tianxing sighed somewhat helplessly. "In truth... I never imprisoned Xiaoshu's parents at all..."

"What?! Then where are her parents? Could it be they have already been secretly done away with by your family?" Killing intent flared abruptly from Wei Zhao.

"Her parents? They are alive and well..." Yu Tianxing smiled bitterly. "Not only are her parents fine, her grandfather is alive and well too..."

"Hm?" Wei Zhao was taken aback.

"Because... her grandfather is me!" Having said this, Yu Tianxing let out a long breath, as though all the years of pent-up gloom in his heart had been poured out at last.

"Wh... what?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide as he stared at Yu Tianxing. "You mean Xiaoshu is your granddaughter?"

"Indeed. Her father is my son, Yu Xiaochen. And Yuning is her fraternal twin sister..." Yu Tianxing nodded and said solemnly.

"Yuning is Xiaoshu's sister?!" At that moment Wei Zhao was struck dumb, staring at Yu Tianxing, unable to speak...

Fraternal twins—no wonder the two of them did not resemble each other so closely. Wei Zhao had overlooked this circumstance all along, but now, thinking it over carefully, there were still points of resemblance between Xiaoning and Xiaoshu...

"Shen Yushu—her true name is in fact Yushu. The surname Chen was appended to disguise the truth..." Yu Tianxing continued slowly. "This matter was in fact known to the secular Chen family as well, but I warned the Chen family's Old Master Chen not to let word of it get out."

Yushu? Wei Zhao was suddenly enlightened. No wonder the "Yu" in Shen Yushu's name was not the same character as the "Yu" in Chen Yuxuan's name. At the time, Wei Zhao had assumed it was merely the slight difference between a male and a female name; now it seemed that was not the case at all. As for the identical pronunciation, that was nothing but coincidence.

"Then what of Xiaoshu's betrothal?" Wei Zhao pressed on.

"It was fabricated. The one betrothed to her is the young sect master of the Xuandan Sect, Tian Canbian, but it was arranged in secret by the Five Luminaries Sect. Only Old Master Chen knew of this matter." Yu Tianxing said, "The purpose, I would guess, was because an inheritor cannot lose her virginity. I did not wish Yushu to fall in love too early, to be too soon..."

"But what I do not understand is this: since Xiaoshu is a member of the Yu family, why did you place her in the secular world? And why force her?" Wei Zhao asked in return, somewhat puzzled. Though what Yu Tianxing said seemed quite reasonable, Wei Zhao still felt there were points of doubt in it.

"Yuning belongs to water; Yushu belongs to fire. Two inheritors of water and fire cannot be together before they have received their inheritance. If they often meet, the result is that water and fire cancel each other out, and the constitutions of both will undergo change." Yu Tianxing said, "You must have heard the saying that water and fire are incompatible. We did not tell Yushu the truth for fear she would secretly meet with Yuning. Once the two met face to face, all our arrangements would come to nothing."

"Water and fire incompatible? The mutual overcoming of the five elements?" Wei Zhao frowned. "So by that reasoning, an ice-element inheritor and a fire-element inheritor being together should also cause problems?"

"Not so. Because Yuning and Yushu are twin sisters, a special resonance arises between them, and only then does water overcome fire. Other inheritors do not have this situation." Yu Tianxing waved his hand and explained. RU