Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

Finally, she let out a muffled whimper under the covers, then closed her eyes and forced herself to fall asleep.

Chapter 98 Xiao Zhan's Family Revival Plan

The moonlight, as bright as silver, shone on the eaves of the Xiao family mansion in Wutan City. Most of the lights in the rooms had already been extinguished, except for the room of the family head, Xiao Zhan, where candlelight still shone.

Xiao Zhan paced back and forth in the room, his steps heavy and hurried. His brows were furrowed, his hands were behind his back, and his knuckles were white from the force.

Every few steps, he would stop and look out the window toward Xiao Xun'er's courtyard, then, as if whipped by an invisible force, he would continue pacing.

"Yan'er, Yan'er, this time you must succeed..." Xiao Zhan murmured softly, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

The candlelight flickered, casting swaying shadows on his face. The Xiao family patriarch, devoid of his usual dignified composure, resembled a restless prisoner awaiting trial.

He knew what his son Xiao Yan was doing at that moment—an action he secretly approved of, or even encouraged.

Xiao Xun'er, that girl of mysterious origins, hides a colossal force behind her that Xiao Zhan could not even imagine. Yet it is precisely this mystery and power that gives Xiao Zhan hope for the revival of the Xiao family.

"As long as we gain that girl's favor and get the support of the forces behind her..." Xiao Zhan stopped, his eyes burning with excitement, and said, "With Yan'er's talent and those resources, becoming a Dou Wang is within reach, or even higher!"

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhan's heart pounded violently. Returning to the capital of the Jia Ma Empire, avenging his father, and restoring the Xiao family's former glory—these thoughts had burned like flames in his heart for years, never extinguished.

Xiao Yan's close relationship with Xiao Xun'er was a risky move he had carefully planned.

"I know this is playing with fire." Xiao Zhan walked to the window and looked up at the night sky.

“But the Xiao family has been silent for too long… Yan’er, all my hopes are on you.”

Just then, a night breeze blew by, and the candlelight flickered violently, almost going out.

Xiao Zhan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, a coldness shooting straight from his feet to the top of his head. He turned around abruptly and saw a blurry figure that had appeared in the shadows of the corner of the room.

"Who?!" Xiao Zhan shouted, his Dou Qi instantly surging, and the aura of a three-star Great Dou Master exploded forth.

However, the next moment, an even more powerful and terrifying pressure descended upon the entire room like a mountain crashing down. Xiao Zhan's fighting spirit instantly dissipated before this pressure.

The candlelight stabilized, but the light became icy and chilling.

From the shadows, a figure clad in a black robe slowly emerged. His face was blurred, as if shrouded in a thin mist, with only his eyes clearly visible—eyes devoid of emotion, like those of eternal ice.

"Xiao Zhan." The icy voice echoed in the room, each word like an ice pick piercing to the bone.

"You've got some nerve!"

Xiao Zhan trembled. He recognized the owner of the voice—or rather, he thought it was Xiao Xun'er's guardian, the one he had always worried would appear.

"How dare you let your son climb into my young lady's room in the middle of the night." The voice continued, calm and even, yet containing a suffocating murderous intent.

Xiao Zhan's face turned deathly pale instantly, his legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud, his forehead hitting the cold floor hard.

"My lord, please forgive me! My lord, please forgive me!" Xiao Zhan's voice trembled, filled with fear and despair.

"It's all my fault! I instigated that incident; I'm the mastermind! Yan'er is just a child; he doesn't understand anything. Please, Your Excellency, have mercy and spare his life!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Xiao Zhan's forehead slammed against the ground repeatedly, producing a dull thud. Blood quickly seeped from his forehead, staining the floor red.

But he was completely oblivious, only kowtowing and begging for mercy. At that moment, all thoughts of family glory and revenge vanished. He had only one thought in his mind—to save his son's life.

Su Baichen watched this scene indifferently from the shadows, a barely perceptible ripple flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his icy composure.

The air in the room seemed to freeze, with only the sound of Xiao Zhan kowtowing and his heavy breathing echoing in the room. The candlelight seemed to sense the oppressive atmosphere as well, and its light dimmed.

After a long silence, Su Baichen finally spoke again: "Just this once."

His voice remained cold, but Xiao Zhan sensed a glimmer of hope in it. He suddenly raised his head, his face covered in blood, but a glimmer of hope ignited in his eyes.

"There will be a next time." Su Baichen said each word slowly and deliberately, each word like a heavy hammer blow to Xiao Zhan's heart.

"Then there's no need for the Xiao family to exist."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a spatial rift suddenly appeared out of thin air in the center of the room, and a figure fell out of it and crashed heavily to the ground—it was Xiao Yan, who was unconscious.

"Yan'er!" Xiao Zhan exclaimed, scrambling to his son's side and trembling as he reached out a finger to check Xiao Yan's breath.

Warm breath sprayed onto his fingers, and Xiao Zhan let out a long sigh of relief, feeling almost completely exhausted. He quickly checked Xiao Yan's body and found that apart from a slight red mark on the back of his neck, there were no other injuries; he had obviously just been knocked unconscious.

"Thank you for your mercy, sir! Thank you, sir!" Xiao Zhan turned around and kowtowed again, his voice filled with gratitude and lingering fear.

A cold snort echoed through the air, like a winter's chill. The next moment, the oppressive chill in the room receded like a receding tide, and the figure in the shadows vanished silently, as if it had never been there.

Only the unconscious Xiao Yan and the blood-covered Xiao Zhan on the ground proved that what had just happened was not an illusion.

Xiao Zhan slumped to the ground, and after a long while, he struggled to get up, carried his son to the bed, and carefully covered him with a blanket. After doing all this, he walked to the window, looked at the night sky, and his eyes were filled with complex emotions.

"I was too eager for quick success..." Xiao Zhan muttered to himself, his tone full of regret and lingering fear, "I almost harmed Yan'er, and I almost destroyed the Xiao family..."

……

Meanwhile, in another quiet courtyard in Wutan City, Su Baichen emerged from a spatial rift and turned to enter the house.

In the center of the room, Su Baichen reached out and retracted the puppet clone.

After retracting his clone, Su Baichen arrived at the place where Ling Ying was imprisoned.

Su Baichen walked up to Ling Ying, raised his hand and released a stream of pure battle qi that entered Ling Ying's brow.

"Hmm..." Ling Ying groaned and slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was initially confused, but then quickly focused. When he saw Su Baichen, his pupils contracted sharply. His body instinctively tried to struggle, but he found that the flow of his fighting spirit was sluggish and he felt powerless.

"Who are you? What do you want?!" Ling Ying tried to remain calm, but a slight tremor in his voice betrayed his inner fear.

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen's lips curled into a smile that was neither a smile nor a frown.

"Ha, what do I want?" He shook his head, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? Breaking into my house in the dead of night, and now you're asking me what I want—Ling Ying, have you lost your mind?"

"You—" Ling Ying's face flushed red, and he wanted to retort, but Su Baichen waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Stop, I don't want to hear your nonsense." Su Baichen said calmly, "Now, all you need to do is listen to me."

He paced back and forth in front of Ling Ying, then slowly said, "I just went to the Xiao family."

Upon hearing the words "Xiao family," Ling Ying's body trembled violently, and a look of anxiety flashed in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but found that her voice was blocked, and she could only make "woo-woo" sounds.

Su Baichen glanced at him: "I'm talking, listen, don't interrupt."

"I went to the Xiao family only to save an old friend. It has nothing to do with your young lady, so you can rest assured about that." Su Baichen's tone was calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

He then briefly recounted what had happened in Xiao Xun'er's courtyard that evening: Xiao Yan attempted to climb through the window, causing Xiao Xun'er's internal fire to become uncontrollable. In the nick of time, he intervened to save her and stabilize the raging fire.

"So you see, not only did I not harm your young lady, but I actually saved her life." Su Baichen spread his hands and said helplessly, "In a way, your young lady still owes me a favor."

After saying that, he raised his hand and waved it, releasing Ling Ying's voice from the seal.

Ling Ying coughed twice and asked anxiously, "Is Miss really alright?"

"The Golden Emperor's Heavenly Flame has stabilized. She was just overexerted and will recover in a few days," Su Baichen said calmly. "If you don't believe me, you can go back and check now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the invisible force binding Ling Ying receded like a tide, and Ling Ying felt his battle qi begin to flow smoothly again. He slowly stood up, stretched his stiff limbs, and looked at Su Baichen with a complex expression in his eyes.

"My storage ring and communication jade talisman..." Ling Ying hesitated.

Su Baichen said expressionlessly, "I won't accept those things. Consider them payment for saving people tonight, and compensation for your trespassing."

Ling Ying opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but considering the other party's unfathomable strength and his current isolated and helpless situation, he ultimately swallowed his words. He gave Su Baichen a deep look, clasped his hands, and said, "I have remembered what happened tonight. If anything happens to you, Miss, the Ancient Clan will not let this go."

"Hehe." Su Baichen's tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

Ling Ying said no more. With a flicker of his body, he transformed into a black shadow and disappeared into the night, speeding towards the Xiao family's location. His most important task now was to confirm the young lady's safety.

Su Baichen stood there, watching Ling Ying leave, until the dark figure completely disappeared into the night before slowly turning around and walking to the window.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face and revealing a calm, expressionless countenance. He raised his hand, and in his palm appeared the storage ring and several jade talismans he had obtained from Ling Ying.

“Ancient clans… Xiao family… Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame…” Su Baichen murmured to himself, a profound light flashing in his eyes.

"Was helping Xiao Xun'er a blessing or a curse?"

Chapter 99 The Awakening of the Rainbow Scales

After dealing with Ling Ying's matter, Su Baichen was about to take out the Bone Flame Ring to prepare for Yao Chen's resurrection when a stream of eight-colored light suddenly burst out from his sleeve!

Su Baichen's pupils contracted. Before he could react, the colorful light had already spiraled out like a dragon, gracefully stopping three feet in front of him, suspended in mid-air, its light flowing, as if it were alive.

The colorful light gradually faded, revealing a delicate and petite eight-colored snake. Little Cai was raising its head, its pure snake eyes reflecting Su Baichen's figure, with a faint glimmer of intelligence.

Su Baichen was taken aback at first, then a meaningful smile appeared on his lips, and a mischievous look flashed in his eyes: "Oh, after sleeping for so long, you've finally decided to wake up? I thought you were going to stay in my sleeve forever, Your Majesty Queen Medusa."

He deliberately emphasized the words "Queen Medusa," with a playful and teasing tone.

As soon as the words were spoken, the eight-colored snake called "Xiao Cai" trembled, and the innocent and naive look in its eyes faded away like a tide, replaced by a sharp and fierce light—the eyes of Cai Lin, tempered by countless battles.

Immediately afterwards, the snake's body shone brightly with eight colors, dazzling and magnificent. Its body stretched and expanded rapidly in the light, outlining a slender and graceful human figure.

The light and shadow shifted, like a dream. A moment later, the bright light faded, and the little snake was nowhere to be seen. A tall, elegant woman stood quietly in the room.

She wore a dark purple brocade robe with gold-embroidered snake patterns coiling around it, exuding nobility and majesty; her long, black hair cascaded down to her waist, adorned with exquisite snake-shaped hair ornaments.

Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, possessing both alluring charm and icy aloofness; two completely different qualities blended perfectly within her.

It was Cai Lin, the snake-woman queen who had been dormant for two years in spirit form.

She slightly raised her chin, parted her red lips, and spoke in a low, hoarse voice, still as cold as a spring: "When did you find out?"

Su Baichen stood with his arms crossed, his smile deepening: "Well... I noticed something about a year ago."

"A year ago?" Cai Lin raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing it.

“Yes.” Su Baichen slowly walked forward, stopped just a step away from her, leaned close to her ear, and lowered his voice.

“Every month or so, I can feel a faint gaze watching me from the shadows. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but after it happened so many times, I couldn’t help but become suspicious. I scanned my surroundings with my soul power several times, but I found nothing.”

"So it's either outside, or right next to you!"

He paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping over Cai Lin's slightly reddened ear tips: "Moreover, when I rest at night, I always feel something heavy pressing on my heart, a warm mass. With my cultivation level, how could I not feel it?"

Cai Lin's breath hitched. Those "surveillances" were naturally her doing—after her soul awakened, she didn't know how to face Su Baichen, so she often secretly observed him.

As for "pressing down"... she would occasionally press her body against his chest, savoring the reassuring warmth and heartbeat. But she believed she concealed her breathing perfectly, and her movements were light and silent, so how could she be discovered?

Seeing the surprise and doubt in her eyes, Su Baichen chuckled: "You can fool others, but you can't fool me. I am a Heavenly Realm Soul. Although you try your best to hide it, the occasional wisp of familiar aura is enough for me to recognize you."

Cai Lin pursed her lips, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside her. So he had known all along, yet had been playing along with her "act." But then, remembering certain "accidents" of the past two years, her expression suddenly changed.

"Those times when you turned over in the middle of the night, you... you held me in your arms, and... you said some nonsense..." Cai Lin's voice lowered unconsciously, and her ears turned completely red.