Chapter 164: Protagonist 2

Who was it? Which audacious bastard had the nerve to secretly trick his proud disciple and niece into having a child?!

A sharp sword aura instantly filled the entire Zhaoming Palace, giving the impression that if Gongxi Yue dared to utter a name, he would fly a thousand miles and kill the scoundrel with a single sword strike.

Jing Lingzhao knew his niece better than anyone. She was devoted to cultivation, ignorant of love and relationships. If she had ever wanted a Dao Companion, she would have informed him as her elder.

If the man had been worthy, he naturally wouldn’t have objected. But now she hadn’t brought that person before him at all and had even gone so far as to give birth to a child for him.

Such an act of acting first and reporting later clearly indicated that the man was utterly unpresentable. Knowing Jing Lingzhao would disapprove, she had deliberately hidden it.

It could only mean some man had used flowery words to deceive his disciple!

Jing Lingzhao was so furious he almost roared aloud. If he were a few hundred years younger, he would already have drawn his sword.

Beneath Lingzhao Sword Immortal’s cold and detached exterior was a temper as explosive as fire.

But before he could erupt, another loud wail rang through Zhaoming Palace.

Startled by the fierce sword aura, the infant began to cry loudly. That sudden burst of crying temporarily quelled Jing Lingzhao’s overwhelming fury.

Seeing his niece holding the baby with visible helplessness, Jing Lingzhao’s gaze involuntarily softened.

After all, this was his own bloodline. And seeing the child’s familiar features, his casual attitude from moments before changed.

Though the child’s father was likely a wretched scoundrel, that had nothing to do with the child.

Gongxi Yue shifted the baby lying flat in her arms and, seeing her crying even louder, hesitated before directly handing her over to her master. Finally, she relaxed her stiff arms.

On the way here, the baby had only been softly crying. Why was she crying so loudly now?

Holding the soft little bundle of his own kin, Jing Lingzhao, suddenly promoted to “grandfather” status, instinctively withdrew his dangerous sword aura. Memories of caring for his niece years ago resurfaced as he lifted the child upright and gently rocked her.

Compared to Gongxi Yue’s clumsy handling, his technique was noticeably more practiced.

As the baby’s cries gradually lessened, Gongxi Yue’s heart slowly relaxed as well. As expected, her master had experience.

Seeing her master carefully inspect the child, Gongxi Yue asked, “Master, why has she been crying nonstop? I checked her, there are no injuries.”

Jing Lingzhao glanced at his clever disciple, somewhat helplessly. “Have you considered that she might be hungry?”

Gongxi Yue froze. She had stopped eating normal food since reaching Foundation Establishment at age ten and had long forgotten that people could even feel hunger.

She had thought about whether the child had physical problems, or issues with her soul… but never considered this most basic reason.

“What should she eat then?” Gongxi Yue asked earnestly.

In truth, Jing Lingzhao wasn’t great at raising children either, but he maintained the stern demeanor of an elder, his mind racing frantically before he spoke with feigned authority, “Naturally, she should drink some Jade Dew Nectar—food with Spiritual Energy.”

“As it happens, I have some in my treasure vault. I’ll get some for her.”

Lingzhao Sword Immortal’s treasure vault was filled with priceless treasures, each one something people would fight over.

When Gongxi Yue was young, she often took things freely from her master’s vault. As she grew older and advanced in cultivation, she gained her own treasure vault and rarely took anything from her master anymore—instead often presenting him gifts.

Thinking of the future she had seen, where both her and her master’s treasure vaults had ended up plundered by that little thief named Xiao Shou, Gongxi Yue’s murderous intent only deepened.

Jing Lingzhao had always been generous with his family. He directly took the finest quality nectar from his vault and fed it to the baby.

“Have you given her a name yet?”

“I have. Her name is Qian.”

The moment this child landed in her arms, Gongxi Yue had known her name.

The two Sword Cultivators solemnly watched the child drink the nectar. Clearly starving, she drank with great effort, using both arms and legs, kicking at Jing Lingzhao’s thigh.

Jing Lingzhao’s expression softened like snow melting in spring. Holding the baby’s chubby little arm, he gave it a gentle squeeze and nodded. “This arm has strength. She’s suited for Sword Cultivation. Just like you, she has an Ice-Fire Spiritual Root. Her aptitude is excellent.”

She had fully inherited her mother’s talent without a trace of inferiority.

Pulling his gaze away from the adorable child, Jing Lingzhao remembered the unpleasant matter and shot a sharp look at Gongxi Yue.

“What exactly is going on? Who’s the father?!”

The child’s origin was tied to the future enemy she had seen. That strange ability and the immense energy behind the opponent’s System were secrets she couldn’t reveal.

When she accidentally glimpsed this heavenly secret, she’d realized that if this matter were exposed and the “System” behind Xiao Shou became aware, things would grow far more complicated. Thus, she had to keep it hidden now.

Gongxi Yue didn’t want to lie to her master, so she could only remain silent.

Her silence was completely misinterpreted by Jing Lingzhao as her continuing to shield and hide that man. The two Sword Cultivators stood in stalemate, neither yielding. In the suffocating atmosphere, only the sound of the child noisily eating and the gurgle of the nectar running dry could be heard.

Jing Lingzhao wanted to explode again, but when the corner of his eye caught the baby’s adorable face, his anger deflated.

He stewed for a while, finally managing to put on a stern face and summon some authority. Just as he was about to speak, Gongxi Yue suddenly frowned and asked, “Master, does Qian seem… not quite right?”

Having eaten her fill, the child was hiccupping. With each hiccup, a dense wave of Spiritual Energy burst from her mouth. Within moments, Spiritual Energy was seeping out of every pore on her body, enveloping her in a misty spiritual fog.

Gongxi Yue: “!”

This looked like… the Spiritual Energy concentration was too high to absorb! If this continued, the child might actually explode!

“Master, is this normal?” Gongxi Yue asked, a little panicked.

Jing Lingzhao: “!”

He pressed a palm against the child’s chest, guiding the excess Spiritual Energy to circulate, directly breaking open the Spiritual Apertures within her body. He didn’t hesitate to expend his own cultivation to lay her Foundation.

In today’s Great Cultivation World, the gods had long since vanished. Even passing the Lightning Tribulation no longer allowed Ascension. The highest level after the Tribulation was the Spirit Immortal stage, and Jing Lingzhao was one of only eleven Spirit Immortals remaining in the world.

With such a high cultivation level, establishing a Foundation for a baby was effortless. Thus, in just three days after being born, under her granduncle’s help, the child jumped straight to the Foundation Establishment stage, saving ten years of cultivation effort on the spot.

After burning off the excess Spiritual Energy in the child’s body, Jing Lingzhao finally withdrew his hand, exhaling almost imperceptibly.

Forcing himself to maintain a calm and dignified expression, he said with an air of complete control, “Why panic? I was planning to use this Spiritual Energy to establish her Foundation. Nothing unexpected here.”

Gongxi Yue wasn’t entirely convinced. “But Master, depleting your own cultivation to help her establish her Foundation seems a little… indulgent. Shouldn’t she do it herself?”

Jing Lingzhao bristled, “You mean to say me helping her is worse than her doing it herself?”

Gongxi Yue: “…”

Master, back when you made me train day and night as a Sword Cultivator, you didn’t say that. Didn’t you say relying on external force wasn’t the right path, that only cultivation earned through personal understanding and hard work was truly valuable?

Holding the child, Jing Lingzhao faced her accusing gaze without a shred of guilt. “This child doesn’t have to be like you. With me looking after her, plus you and the Gongxi family as her backing, her future is bright enough. No need for excessive hardship.”

Gongxi Yue, who had considered handing the child over to her master for upbringing, decisively abandoned that thought.

If she really left the child with her master, the girl might very well grow into a pampered, lazy second-generation cultivator good-for-nothing.

Better if she raised her herself.

Having been thoroughly sidetracked, Jing Lingzhao no longer had the energy to get angry or press for answers. Anyway, his disciple couldn’t hide that man forever. Sooner or later, Jing Lingzhao would find him, and then it would be time to settle accounts.

For now, raising a child wasn’t bad either. He had been too strict raising Gongxi Yue back then. A different approach this time might be good.

“Forget it. I won’t meddle in your business for now. Go cultivate. I’ll look after the child for you.”

Gongxi Yue pressed her lips together. “Master, I’m planning to take Qian back to the Gongxi Family first.”

Jing Lingzhao thought for a moment. True, the child should be added to the family registry and meet her other elders.

“Alright then, the sooner you go, the sooner you return.” Her granduncle gave his instructions, handing the child back to her mother, looking a little reluctant to part.

Gongxi Yue bowed crisply to him, then rose into the air with her child, flying away on her sword.

She was in a hurry to bring the child back to the Gongxi Family, not because she feared her master would forcibly take the child, nor just to add her to the family registry, but because she needed to save her younger siblings.

In the future she had seen, by this time, her younger sister Gongxi Wenxing had already encountered that Xiao Shou with the System and had started being influenced. She couldn’t afford any further delay.

In the original future, she didn’t have this child and knew nothing of any of this. She would have continued in Closed-door Cultivation on Crane Cauldron Mountain for five years.

By the time she emerged, her sister had already been completely won over by Xiao Shou, filled with thoughts of him, falling out with the family for his sake, and even sacrificing herself to save him in a Secret Realm, transferring all her cultivation to him through Dual Cultivation before she died.

And Xiao Shou, with his skyrocketing cultivation and the inheritance from that Secret Realm, would escape the Gongxi Family’s pursuit, live comfortably, and move on to his next target.

“Babble babble, huff puff, splat!” A small hand slapped Gongxi Yue’s cold face that was about to frost over.

Her chilling aura instantly dissolved.

The child, now full and comfortable, had finally stopped crying, giving her a chance to really take a good look.

Though still very young, the child’s features already bore her shadow. Just looking at her filled Gongxi Yue with a strange sense of closeness—the blood bond from carrying her was both intimate and miraculous.

Her eyes were round, dark pupils darting around, lively as she explored the new world, babbling meaningless syllables.

Gongxi Yue tried to decipher them but quickly realized there was no real meaning.

Just as her master had said, the child’s arms and legs were strong. Forced into Foundation Establishment, her little hands now packed surprising strength—smashing a stone would likely pose no problem.

But as a Sword Cultivator mother, Gongxi Yue’s expression didn’t even flicker as she let the baby babble away and wiggle up, tiny hands smacking randomly at her shoulders.

Thankfully the child was already at Foundation Establishment. Otherwise, carrying her on a sword flight all the way to West Ridge would have done more than just mess up her newborn hair—it could’ve cost her half her life.

The Gongxi Family was the prominent clan of West Ridge, thriving for a thousand years, with a vast estate that included two of West Ridge’s seven mountains.

The Gongxi Family was like a city unto itself, with an outer city built around it, home to tens of millions of mortals who couldn’t cultivate.

Protected by the Gongxi Family, nearly all cultivators in nearby cities chose to affiliate with them, serving as retainers or subordinates.

The family’s main and collateral branches spread like a flourishing tree, forming this immense clan.

The current family head, Gongxi Yao, was Gongxi Yue’s paternal uncle. Having no children of his own and being deeply attached to his late elder brother, he treated his brother’s three children as his own, especially Gongxi Yue.

Every time Gongxi Yue returned home, Gongxi Yao would make a grand production of it, almost wanting to announce to the whole world that their beloved Eldest Young Miss had returned.

The more exaggerated and grand the welcome, the less Gongxi Yue wanted to come home. And the less frequently she did, the more important it seemed whenever she did.

The moment she flew past the outer city gates, the Gongxi Family had already received word.

In an instant, totem fireworks bloomed in the sky, countless Spirit Stones rained down onto the city streets in celebration of the Eldest Young Miss’s return.

The main street was freshly cleaned, laid with a long carpet, countless jade trees blossomed with Qionghua flowers, immortal music rang out, festive and lively.

Gongxi Yue had just landed with her child when two young men and women rode over on a beast-drawn sedan.

“Sister!” they both shouted excitedly in unison.