Chapter 537: Chapter 181: The Art of Tracing Back to the Source

Rune Language is the key to unlocking the spirit of Moonlight.

As Zhou Yan uttered those ancient rune sentences, the Guanghua beneath his feet began to ripple, and the reflections of Zhou Yan and Hou Chen, as well as the illusory images of the sky and clouds in the mirror, started to distort, eventually coalescing into a drop of ancient blood, suspended in the Void.

This droplet of blood was red with tinges of purple, purple with hints of black, seeming crystalline and about to drop, yet filled with a dangerous aura.

After this droplet of blood appeared, the world returned to normal.

Snow started to fall from heaven and earth, and a light layer of snowflakes began to accumulate on the ground.

The temperature was also not as severely cold as it had initially been.

“Master.”

Hou Chen was somewhat worried as he looked at the droplet of Ancestor Blood, seemingly uneasy.

“There’s nothing to worry about, Chenchen.”

Zhou Yan extended his hand to receive the droplet of Ancestor Blood and began to guide his own life energy to make contact with it.

Not only that, but Zhou Yan also unfolded the ability of the Purple Flame Void to lock onto this droplet of Ancestor Blood.

Since it was actually the Purple Flame Refining the blood, there was no need for Zhou Yan to worry about any schemes within; his direct contact with the droplet of Ancestor Blood was merely for show.

Hou Chen, not knowing this, was therefore worried.

The purple-black Ancestor Blood gradually merged into the palm of Zhou Yan’s hand. Zhou Yan closed his eyes in contemplation, a flush of unusual redness crept over his face as if a ball of flame had entered his body.

The blood within him rippled abnormally, and Hou Chen guarded him cautiously at his side, ready to prevent any unexpected occurrences.

Hou Chen didn’t know that all of Zhou Yan’s displayed symptoms were an illusion.

At this moment, the droplet of Ancestor Blood wasn’t being absorbed by Zhou Yan’s body but was being devoured and refined by the Purple Flame Lotus Flame inside a special space within the Purple Flame Void.

As the Ancestor Blood was refined, some Tao from the inheritance that emerged, Zhou Yan entered it in Soul Form to comprehend.

Through targeted comprehension and at the expense of a stream of Origin Energy, Zhou Yan had momentarily gained an understanding of the so-called “Tracing Origins” technique. This technique involved infusing a strand of Life Energy into a sealed memory imprint, allowing the muddled memory to awaken.

It was akin to the time he left a drop of his blood with Zhou Gucheng. If someone were to resurrect him upon his death, they would use that ancient blood to stir his memory.

The principle was similar, but this method was somewhat peculiar.

After careful study and comprehension, Zhou Yan didn’t feel that Hou Ting and others had any intentions of deceit, and therefore he had no further doubts about these people.

In previous exchanges, he was always sensing the emotional changes of the group, and he hadn’t sensed any intention to deceive. For this reason, he ultimately agreed to their request.

Outside, Zhou Yan’s Soul returned to its place, and his body’s abnormal changes gradually subsided. Soon after, Zhou Yan returned to normal.

“Master, how is it? Did everything go smoothly?”

Hou Chen asked anxiously and with concern.

“Everything went very well, don’t worry.”

Zhou Yan said, his gaze shifting toward the distance. He then grabbed Hou Chen’s arm and, using the Netherworld Life and Death Bridge Cultivation Technique, disappeared from the vicinity of Forbidden Moon Cliff in an instant, arriving atop Lonely Sword Peak.

This was the Lonely Sword Peak of the Qiankun Lineage, nearly identical to the Lonely Sword Peak of the Wuji Lineage, with scenery so beautiful it seemed surreal.

“Zhou Yanxuan, how did your comprehension of the Tracing Origins technique go?”

Upon seeing Zhou Yan appear, Hou Ting, along with Hou Xianxian and Hou Caiqing, immediately came forward to greet him.

“This method has been completely mastered. The chance of successfully awakening Hou Yao’s memory is ninety-nine point nine percent.”

Zhou Yan confidently said.

Hou Ting’s eyes suddenly became excited, and his gaze took on a shock, knowing that for a proud person like Zhou Yan, saying that there was a more than ninety-nine percent chance was almost certainly one hundred percent. Because that lone sliver of deviation was the uncertainty towards fate, not something that lay with Zhou Yan, but rather with Hou Yao in her next life.

For instance, if she were to die young at birth or pass away midway, then there would be nothing that could be done.

“Then, I’ll have to trouble you.”

Hou Ting was somewhat excited, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

If it were truly possible to awaken Hou Yao’s memories in her next life using Ancestor Blood and a trace of Emperor Blood from Hou Chen, then Hou Yao would become a peerless prodigy reborn.

Zhou Yan did not reply; instead, he cast a calm look at the excited Hou Ting before setting his gaze upon his disciple Hou Chen. He was not worried about Hou Ting attempting an assassination at a crucial moment, because the Frost Snow Holy Sword was always with him. The Frost Snow Holy Sword, formed from the union of Little Xue and Xiao Shuang’s swords, had lost some of its power for various reasons and was not particularly strong. It might be difficult to actively slay Hou Ting, but it was more than enough to protect Zhou Yan and Hou Chen.

“Master, Chen Chen is ready.”

Hou Chen sat atop the Lonely Sword Peak. With a tap of his finger to his brow, a shadowy image of Emperor Blood appeared, carrying one-tenth the essence of the original Emperor Blood.

“Trace the Origin Technique!”

With the Secret Technique of Ancestor Blood, and combining it with the Trace the Origin Technique, Zhou Yan merged it with the shadow of Emperor Blood and directly cast out the part of Hou Yao’s Memory Inheritance.

…

“Sword Burying Ancient Road, apricot blossom forest. The beginning of July. Today, I wanted to give my pure self to my senior brother, but he did not want it…”

“Sword Burying Ancient Road, Forbidden Moon Cliff. September. Today, my senior brother abandoned me for the Heavenly Girl…”

“Sunset Ancient Road, Lonely Sword Peak. Mid-December. The Heavenly Girl is dead, killed by me at…”

“Sword Burying Ancient Road, Forbidden Moon Cliff. December. Time has passed, I can no longer remember. It turns out, heartbreak can age a person…”

(See the ‘Ancestor Blood’ chapter for details)

…

The memories Hou Yao retained through Ancestor Blood were still tied to her senior brother.

She loved her senior brother, through several lifetimes, and was unwilling to let go of that memory.

Senior brother, Heavenly Girl, and the others, because of love, even her rivals were unforgettable to her.

This was an obsession, a thought that turned to madness for love, preferring death over forgetting.

And so, she was a pitiful woman, trapped by love her entire life.

Zhou Yan had once been pursued by the Void Body of Hou Yao, had captured Hou Yao’s private recordings in an Ancient Scroll, and had learned about her sorrowful past. Now, through Ancestor Blood, he saw even more clearly how an unbending young girl grew into an old woman whose heart was utterly shattered for love.

Yet even as she aged for love, she remained pure as ice and jade, never having any man beside her senior brother. All other men were beneath her notice.

Everything, under Zhou Yan’s Trace the Origin Technique and guided by the will of Emperor Blood, carried that strand of memory and opened the Void Gate, entering the endless cold Universe’s starry sky.

On the other side of the Void, Zhou Yan did not know what world it was, but it had to be the world where Hou Yao would be reborn.

Hou Yao would also, at this moment, gain all this, knowing that Zhou Yan had opened her Memory Inheritance for her, so she could truly live her next life.

At this moment, Zhou Yan had no other desires, just hoping that this pitiful woman could find happiness in her next life.

In the world, there is no everlasting enmity. After understanding all there was to know about this woman, for the first time, he felt that he should not be her enemy anymore.

This was an indescribable feeling, as if, for Hou Yao, he now had an inexplicable concern founded deep within destiny.

…