Grand Dominance. Qin Manor.
Qin Yun with Yi Xiao and the Yellow-scarved Strongman landed together, coming to the yard he usually meditated in. The clean yard indicated that it was cleaned on a daily basis.
“Yellow-scarved Strongman,” said Qin Yun.
“Yes, my Lord,” said a polite Yellow-scarved Strongman immediately.
“From this moment forth, you should protect Qin Manor and protect my family members. As for the details, I will instruct you when the arrays are done setting up,” said Qin Yun. “You can take your leave for now.”
“Yes.” Yellow-scarved Strongman said politely. Following that, his body vanished into a stream of light.
“Xiaoxiao, let’s go greet Senior Yi first,” said Qin Yun.
“Alright.” Yi Xiao nodded. She naturally showed great respect for her patriarch.
The couple quickly saw Patriarch Yi setting up the array formation in a garden.
“Senior (Patriarch),” Qin Yun and Yi Xiao shouted politely.
Patriarch Yi turned to look at the couple. He nodded and said with a smile, “The Nine Heavens Astral River Array is almost done. By the way, give me the Galactic Swimming Dragon Array and the Grand Astral Sea Array materials. I’ll help you set them all up together.”
“Yes.” Qin Yun handed over a Cosmic Bag he had long prepared to Patriarch Yi.
After Patriarch Yi took it over from him and opened it, he nodded slightly. “It should take two days to finish setting them up. When the time comes, who do you plan on controlling the array formation? Your mercenaries have just barely knocked open the gate of immortality and you don’t even have a Connate cultivator. They will not be able to control such a massive array.”
“Xiaoxiao and I can both control it. It will be helmed by the Yellow-scarved Strongman usually. Can he handle it?” asked Qin Yun.
“Yea.”
Patriarch Yi nodded. “You can feel assured having the Yellow-scarved Strongman helm it. He is absolutely loyal and will not betray you.”
Qin Yun inquired, “By the way, Senior. It has been a day since I came out of the immortal abode. You came to my Qin Manor earlier than me. Were there any trouble caused by demons?”
“There were a few lesser demons causing trouble but that kid Hong Lingtong resolved the matter,” said Patriarch Yi with a smile. “I’ve already seen that Hong Lingtong has set up an extremely powerful array formation that covers all of Grand Dominance.”
“Brother Hong?” Qin Yun nodded.
“As for the great demons, although they are secretly watching, none of them infiltrated the Qin Manor as I have been setting up the array openly without hiding my identity,” said Patriarch Yi with a laugh. “Alright, both of you just returned. Go greet your parents. I’ll continue setting up the array.”
Qin Yun and Yi Xiao immediately took their leave.
…
Changlan was basking in the sun in a courtyard while making shoes herself. Although the Qin family was wealthy, Changlan was already used to doing such chores.
“Second Young Master!” Her personal maidservant exclaimed. It jolted Changlan’s heart as she turned to look over.
She immediately noticed the young immortal-like couple walking over. The man had an extraordinary bearing that could only be found on a peerless sword immortal; while the woman was like a fairy descended.
“Yun’er.” Changlan immediately put the shoe, needle, and thread down and ran over. After taking two steps, she turned her head and shouted. “Liehu! Liehu! Yun’er is back!”
Phew.
In the backyard on the other end of the courtyard, a middle-aged man with only one arm appeared nearly instantly. He was none other than Qin Yun’s father, Qin Liehu.
“Yun’er.” Changlan came in front of Qin Yun and grabbed his hands with her eyes red.
Qin Liehu walked over and nodded with a smile. “It’s good that you are back.”
“Father, Mother, sorry for worrying the both of you,” said Qin Yun. Immediately, he pulled over the somewhat shy Yi Xiao. “Father, Mother, I have something important I would like to tell the both of you.”
“Something important?” Qin Liehu and Changlan were taken aback. Their son had been gone for three years without any news. They were still feeling excited from reuniting with their son, so what important matter was there?
“Xiaoxiao and I were trapped in a land of peril and we had no idea when we could come out. Therefore, we had our wedding in there,” said Qin Yun with a smile. “Xiaoxiao is now your daughter-in-law.”
“Daughter-in-law?” Qin Liehu and Changlan were somewhat stunned.
“Yun’er, you really married Miss Yi?” Changlan could not help but say. “I once said that Miss Yi is like a fairy from heaven.”
“What are you talking about?”
Qin Liehu knitted his brows and interrupted Changlan. At the same time, he smiled at Qin Yun and Yi Xiao. “Yun’er, your marriage with Miss Yi is a joyous matter. Both your mother and I are very happy for you but it’s not formal enough. At the very least, we have to do the marriage rituals… After all, the Yi family is one of the few large families in the world.”
“Father, Mother, we were trapped and had no way of coming out back then,” said Qin Yun.
Yi Xiao added, “Brother Yun and I are cultivators so we do not care too much about these mere formalities.”
…
As they had been married for quite some time, Qin Yun and Yi Xiao offered tea to their parents as a part of the wedding tradition.
Changlan handed a jade bangle she had long prepared to Yi Xiao. She had waited a long time for this day, finally giving out the bangle she had prepared for her second son’s wife. She also smiled happily and said, “Both of you are now married, so quickly have an adorable baby. The both of us can help you take care of it.”
“We will do it as fast as possible,” replied Qin Yun as a form of lip service.
However, Yi Xiao secretly turned anxious and felt helpless.
The higher one’s cultivation realm was, the harder it was to conceive. It was not something that could be rushed.
******
On the second day after Qin Yun returned, Hong Lingtong came to visit.
“Congratulations, Brother Qin Yun. Congratulations Miss Yi.” Hong Lingtong was beaming. “Congratulations on your marriage and for the both of you to come out of the immortal abode safely.”
“How did you know?” Yi Xiao was somewhat astonished.
“I can read karma and the light that providence shines on people,” said Hong Lingtong with a smile. “Now, both of you are connected by marriage, so I can tell that.”
“Brother Hong’s inference arts are truly impressive,” remarked Qin Yun.
At the same time, he instructed Yi Xiao to leave temporarily through a voice transmission. This was because the treasures in the immortal abode were to be split evenly between Qin Yun and Hong Lingtong! Hong Lingtong had requested Qin Yun to keep it a secret back then. No third person was allowed to know of it, so Qin Yun did not even mention it to Yi Xiao.
Yi Xiao nodded and took her leave immediately.
As he watched Yi Xiao leave, Hong Lingtong said wistfully, “Brother Qin Yun, you are truly a trustworthy person. You didn’t even mention the matters regarding the immortal abode’s treasures to Sister-in-law. In fact, although you had to keep it a secret, it wouldn’t have mattered if you told Sister-in-law.”
“Oh?” Qin Yun looked at Hong Lingtong. “You seem a lot more confident. It appears you have broken through?”
“Haha, Brother Qin Yun, you had given me quite a bit of treasure back then,” said Hong Lingtong with a smile. “I didn’t easily use the Golden Core Outer Pill and the Nine Revolutions Spirit Pills but just the second-grade and third-grade Dharma treasures… made me have more treasures than some Connate Golden Core cultivators. I used them and after three years, my strength has increased quite significantly. Even my Dharmic powers had reached the Connate True Core realm.”
Qin Yun nodded with a smile. “I was inside the immortal abode and could only use Spirit Pills that could enhance Dharmic powers. You were outside and there were means available for you. It isn’t a surprise that you can enter the Connate True Core realm.”
“It’s best if those treasures were used to convert into strength as early as possible.” Hong Lingtong flipped his hand and handed a black metallic token to Qin Yun. “Brother Qin Yun, this is the token that controls the array formation.”
“The array formation’s token?” Qin Yun was astonished.
“I received a lot of benefits on our trip to the immortal abode,” explained Hong Lingtong. “Although we had agreed on splitting it equally, you had kept it a complete secret, making the world think that all the treasures were with you. Those great fiendish demons targeted you as well, leaving me void of any danger. I feel quite ashamed. Besides, didn’t you request me to protect your Qin family for the past three years?”
“I set up a secret array formation of my lineage, the ‘Nine Doubts Realm Array’ around your Qin family. It is also the most powerful array formation that I’m capable of setting up. Now, I’m giving it to you, Brother Qin Yun,” said Hong Lingtong.
“No way,” said Qin Yun immediately. “You have helped me protect my Qin family for three years. How can I…”
“Brother Qin Yun, listen to me,” said Hong Lingtong immediately. “You helped me ward off disaster and I feel that I owe you a lot. I’m still not strong enough and can only hide with my thick skin. But since I have already set up this array formation, you should just accept it. It will make me feel better. Besides, treat it as a wedding gift. It’s a gift, so you should accept it, right?”
“Alright then.” Qin Yun did not continue rejecting it.
“This Nine Doubts Realm Array is rather unique,” said Hong Lingtong. The array’s interior is split into nine different spaces and it is one of the best illusion array formations in the world.”
Qin Yun was surprised.
Split into nine different spaces? To be able to do so indicated how astounding the array formation was. This made Qin Yun more curious over Hong Lingtong’s heritage. After all, back when Hong Lingtong just entered the Connate False Core realm, his attainments in array formations were extremely high. He could also infer the past and future. What lineage was his heritage from?
“Brother Qin Yun, you exhorted me to protect your Qin family. I have never slacked off for the past three years,” said Hong Lingtong. “And during these three years, there were indeed fiendish demons watching. Ordinary fiendish demons were fine. I could easily vanquish them but there was a Connate Golden Core great fiendish demon that once came.”
“What? A Connate Golden Core great fiendish demon?” Qin Yun was alarmed.
He had brought the Golden Core Cauldron into the array formation for three years, yet there were great fiendish demons that had targeted his family?
“Yes, it was Temple Lord Ruyi from the Qian Prefecture,” said Hong Lingtong. “He infiltrated the Qin Manor and probably wanted to capture your family members so as to threaten you with them when you come out. The Nine Doubts Realm Array encompasses the surrounding five kilometers and my Hong family is within the range. The moment he entered the Nine Doubts Realm Array confines, I was alerted. And just as he infiltrated the Qin Manor, I immediately trapped him using the array.”
“Inside the array formation, I fought with him and although I injured him, my strength was ultimately lacking,” said Hong Lingtong. “Finally, I purged him out. He was afraid of the Nine Doubts Realm Array’s strength so although he made several attempts with other fiendish demons, he no longer dared to come personally.”
“Temple Lord Ruyi?”
Qin Yun’s eyes flared with killing intent. “That centipede demon?”