You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

"Where should I start?"

"Looking back now, she was still so hard for me to understand..."

"The Seventeenth Prince may have heard, I was once a peerless genius of the Dawn Platform. Although I might not have been much compared to the princes, I was indeed confident then, even feeling that Harmonization and entering Saint was just a matter of time."

"I was a very solitary person, my whole heart devoted to cultivation, until I met your mother..."

"She was a very peculiar person, perhaps not as demonic as her father Tianyunzi, but she was a rare talent not inferior to me, and often foresaw things... Thinking back now, she likely had some kind of innate divine power good at calculations."

"That year, I activated the second World Token, and under a concealed identity at Tianxia Building, I met your mother."

"After going through some events, no one knew that I had feelings for your mother, but I never showed it, nor was I sure about my own feelings. Despite going to Tianxia Building to acquire more tokens, I deliberately hid my strength, just wanting to see her more and talk to her more..."

"Master told me to focus on cultivation. In reality, we never spoke, and I always thought she didn't know I was the Qingyang Daoist who often discussed Dao with her at Tianxia Building."

"Thinking about it now, even if we always pretended not to know each other, those days were very happy..."

"In the forty-sixth year of the Emperor's Inspection, the Dawn Army set out once more for Eternal Night. I specifically requested to be transferred to the army where your mother was, departing from the Northwest Pass."

"But... unexpectedly, perhaps by coincidence or some other reason, the Peng Clan, belonging to the Demon Clan's flying beasts, almost came out in full force to ambush our Dawn Army."

"Even with two commanders leading us, the Peng Clan brought more Demon Saints, and those endless Peng Demon men and mutant beasts attacked from the sky. At that time, countless people completely despaired..."

"In an instant, it was a massacre."

"I had long understood the Heaven and Earth Law, only needing to sharpen my Dao Heart for Harmonization. In that moment of despair, my only thought was to at least save your mother. So, I forcibly harmonized, although my Dao Heart could not support my Dao, and my Divine Soul was bound to collapse under pressure, at least I could temporarily burst out with entry-level Saint combat power."

"In my sudden burst, I indeed successfully broke through the encirclement with your mother."

"But the Peng Clan Demon Saint was too fast, and I knew there was no hope of returning to Great Yong. So I decided to put everything on the line, escaping deeper into Eternal Night."

"Not long after fleeing, my Dao Heart could no longer bear my Dao, my Divine Soul began to collapse, and my life force was quickly fading. I would soon die, so after setting down your mother, I told her to escape in another direction while I diverted the Demon Saint's pursuit."

"But your mother told me, 'Qingyang, don't give up, we can both survive.'"

"That was when I learned that your mother had long known that I was the Qingyang Daoist of Tianxia Building."

"Your mother told me to escape deeper into Eternal Night, continually correcting my direction, seemingly in search of someone. She said this was the only chance for survival."

"Not long after, with her, I met someone deep inside Eternal Night."

"At that time, I felt somewhat hopeless because I recognized that person. His name was Xiahong Feng, a descendant of the Twelfth Prince, Prince Cheng. It was said that even though his bloodline was thin, he had great talent in martial arts and had been summoned by the Crown Prince. He was also a member of the Dawn Army."

"Years before that, I had heard he died in Eternal Night. Everyone said he could have become a Martial Saint, yet when he died, he was barely in his early twenties."

"Although I didn't expect Xiahong Feng to still be alive, appearing so deep in Eternal Night, nor did I know how your mother knew him, he was barely in his twenties. With his cultivation, he would be of no use."

The elderly man spoke softly, his eyes distant, as if lost in memories.

Lin Yue felt a stir in his heart.

Grandfather had said before his death that his mother mentioned someone with a shallow Xiahong bloodline, so thin that it was nearly impossible to awaken, meaning his biological father's bloodline was at least six generations beyond.

But Grandfather couldn't find out who it was, as no Xiahong person matched the timeline who knew his mother.

His only suspicion was perhaps the lineage of the Twelfth Prince!

And wasn't this person Si Yangqi mentioned a perfect fit?

Could it really be Xiahong Feng?

"Back then, my state of forced Harmonization was unsustainable, my Divine Soul about to collapse, and as I was close to death, I saw that Peng Clan Demon Saint had also caught up, and in despair, I fainted."

The old man continued softly: "At that time, I thought I would never wake again, but when I opened my eyes once more, I realized I was not only alive, but my Divine Soul had stopped collapsing, and I was in a cave near the Northwest Pass. But your mother and Xiahong Feng were gone, leaving only a note."

He looked at Lin Yue, "The note said the Peng Clan Demon Saint was dead, that she had given me a Dao Heart Treasure, so my Divine Soul would no longer collapse, reassuring me not to worry, that she had something she needed to do, and requested my secrecy."

"What?"

Lin Yue was taken aback.

Did this mean... that the Peng Clan Demon Saint chasing them was killed?

At that time, his mother was in the third layer of Tianxia Building, Five Consecutive Wins, and had only achieved the Four Symbols Body, which was impressive, but was merely at the level of an average Great Cultivator.

A Great Cultivator was nothing in front of a Demon Saint.

So, could it be that Xiahong Feng was the one who killed the Demon Saint?