Chapter 114 Double Inheritances
Chapter 114 Double Inheritances
Chapter 114: Chapter 114 Double Inheritances
Lin Lian had been watching the inheritances drift across the sky when a strange fragrance reached her.
She paused.
It was faint, almost nothing.
But it carried a spiritual fluctuation that made her turn her head.
Before she could look for the source, a pinkish-purple light bloomed several steps away.
It spread into the illusion of an ancient forest.
Towering trees.
Branches heavy with flowers.
Foxes moving between the trunks, their tails trailing wisps of spiritual energy.
Lin Lian’s eyes widened.
She could almost feel the breeze.
Then one of the foxes looked straight at her.
Its eyes gleamed.
Its body dissolved into light, and a woman stood in its place, wearing a flowing pink robe, nine long tails swaying behind her.
She was beautiful.
But the spiritual fluctuations around her were far more impressive than her face.
Lin Lian cupped her fists.
"Greetings, Senior."
The woman looked her over and smiled, as though she had already decided something amusing.
"Level Nine Illusion Intent. Not bad, little girl. You can change what people see. But do you know why a perfect illusion is the most dangerous kind?"
Lin Lian opened her mouth, then closed it.
She didn’t.
"Good. An honest answer." The woman’s smile widened. "I am the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit. Watch."
She raised one hand.
The forest vanished.
A vast ocean rolled out beneath a crimson sky.
Then that vanished too, and Lin Lian was standing in the middle of a noisy city street, close enough to smell the food stalls.
Every scene looked completely real.
Then she noticed something.
The woman hadn’t moved once.
Everything had changed around her.
"A convincing illusion isn’t the one that looks real," the Fox Spirit said, lowering her hand. "It’s the one the target never thinks to question."
The street faded.
A translucent orb floated up between them, nine faint tails of purple light circling its surface.
"The Nine-Tailed Mirage Orb. It helps you build illusions and hide your presence. It’ll show you more tricks as you grow."
Lin Lian stared at it like a child looking at sweets.
"My inheritance has my illusion techniques, and everything I learned about how minds can be fooled. Will you take it?"
"This junior is willing!"
The nine tails spread wide.
Pinkish-purple light poured over Lin Lian, and techniques flooded her mind.
How to hide the faintest spiritual fluctuation.
How to build an illusion that fooled sight, sound and smell all at once.
How to find the weak points in someone’s perception, and push on them.
It was far too much to take in.
The orb floated into her hands, and for a moment everything around her sharpened.
She could see the tiny ripples in the spiritual energy, and how easily they could be bent.
Then it faded.
She hadn’t mastered illusion.
But she now held a very good teacher.
"This junior thanks the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit!"
The woman winked and vanished.
Lin Lian turned the orb over in her hands.
"I think I’m going to enjoy this one."
Lin Mo eyed it.
"Should we be worried about walking into one of your illusions by accident?"
Lin Lian smiled sweetly.
"Only if you give me a reason."
Lin Mo looked away immediately.
Lin Zhen laughed.
"That was fast."
"Mind your own business," Lin Mo muttered.
Lin Lian shook her head, still smiling.
She already had several ideas.
She would keep them to herself.
---
A deep rumble came up through Lin Jue’s feet.
He looked down.
The ground was glowing with golden patterns.
Then the earth split open, and a man climbed out of it as though he were stepping out of a doorway.
He wore dark-golden armor, and his shoulders were broad enough to block out the view behind him.
He didn’t look at Lin Jue right away.
He stamped once, listening to the ground, then grunted.
"Level Nine Earth Intent. You know how to stand still."
Lin Jue cupped his fists.
"Senior."
"Standing still isn’t the whole path." The man finally turned. "Earth holds everything up. It shields what’s behind it. It crushes what threatens it. And when it finally moves, nothing gets back up."
A massive hammer dropped into his hand.
Its head was carved with ancient mountain patterns, and its handle was dark and thick.
Even held motionless, it pressed down on the air like a weight.
"I am the Earth Sovereign. This is the Mountain-Splitting Divine Hammer."
Lin Jue’s eyes brightened.
It was exactly the kind of weapon he would have chosen himself.
"My inheritance has how I built my defenses, and how I gathered the earth’s strength into a single blow." The Sovereign’s voice stayed flat. "Strength without control is just noise. Learn when to take a hit, when to hold, and when to let go."
Lin Jue bowed.
"This junior is willing to accept the inheritance!"
Golden light rolled off the Sovereign’s body.
Knowledge poured into Lin Jue’s mind.
Ways to armor the body in earth energy.
Ways to build defenses that no one could push through.
Ways to gather the land’s strength into one strike.
Two of them held his attention.
The Mountain Suppression Technique, which pressed earth energy down on an opponent until they couldn’t move.
And the Earth Defense Art, which tied his defenses to the ground itself.
He couldn’t understand either yet.
But he knew he wanted both.
The hammer drifted toward him.
He grasped the handle.
BOOM!
The ground shook.
His arm dropped under the weight, then he shifted his grip and held it steady.
A slow satisfied look spread across his face.
It was heavy.
But it moved the way his energy moved.
"This junior thanks Senior!"
The Earth Sovereign grunted once more and sank back into the ground.
Lin Jue looked down at the hammer.
His Level Nine Earth Intent had let him glimpse the Earth Law in the previous trial.
This showed him more of the road.
But he hadn’t crossed it.
He’d take his time.
---
Lin Haochen’s inheritance didn’t announce itself.
A man simply stood in front of him, as though he had been there all along.
He wore a plain black robe.
His arms were thick with muscle, and his fists were wrapped in dark-golden gauntlets covered in ancient patterns.
He looked ordinary next to some of the others.
But the pressure coming off his body made Lin Haochen’s skin tighten.
A body cultivator.
"Level Nine Fist Intent," the man said. "What makes a fist strong?"
Lin Haochen thought.
"Strength. Speed. Technique. Gathering power into a single strike."
The man didn’t answer.
He just punched.
It was a plain, simple punch.
No light.
No technique.
The space in front of him trembled.
Lin Haochen’s pupils shrank.
It looked like nothing.
It felt like a mountain.
The man lowered his fist.
"That’s the answer. I am the Primordial Fist Emperor."
He held out the gauntlets.
"They gather your power and protect your hands. Take them."
Lin Haochen stared.
He wanted them badly.
"My inheritance has my fist techniques, and how I tempered my body." The Emperor looked him up and down. "Your body, your technique and your understanding grow together, or none of them grow at all."
Lin Haochen bowed at once.
"This junior is willing to accept the inheritance!"
A wave of energy crashed over him.
Fist techniques unfolded in his mind.
Some were pure force.
Some were precise, squeezing spiritual energy into a tiny point.
Some tempered the body through hardship.
The deeper insights were even stranger.
He could feel the principles underneath, but he couldn’t hold them all.
He didn’t try.
The gauntlets floated toward him and closed around his fists.
A powerful resonance ran up both arms.
He clenched his fists.
A faint wave of energy rippled outward.
His eyes shone.
"This junior thanks the Primordial Fist Emperor!"
The Emperor nodded once and was gone.
---
A dragon’s roar cut through Lin Zhen’s thoughts.
He had been watching a spear-shaped light drift across the sky.
Now he turned.
A crimson-gold spear was shooting straight at him.
Its shaft shimmered with a faint draconic glow, and its tip gave off a light sharp enough to pierce the sky.
It stopped in front of his face.
An enormous dragon coiled through the light around it, then shrank and became a tall man in dark-red robes, his eyes sharp as spearheads.
Lin Zhen cupped his fists.
"Senior!"
The man looked at him for a long moment, then smirked.
"Level Nine Spear Intent. You hold a spear like a man who thinks it’s a stick he can poke things with."
Lin Zhen blinked.
"Is that a compliment?"
"No." The smirk stayed. "I am the Heavenly Dragon Spear God. Your spear should be an extension of yourself. Yours is something you carry."
He gestured at the crimson-gold weapon.
"The Dragonblood Divine Spear."
The shaft had faint patterns like dragon scales, and an enormous energy seemed to sleep inside it.
"Forged from dragon bones, then fed dragon blood for countless days. It’s tough, it pierces almost anything, and the dragon inside will answer your spiritual energy once you’ve earned it."
Lin Zhen’s eyes widened.
Dragon bones.
Dragon blood.
"Don’t get cocky," the Spear God said. "A good weapon helps. It doesn’t do the work for you."
Lin Zhen bowed.
"This junior is willing to accept the inheritance!"
Golden-red light flooded his mind.
Spear techniques unfolded before him.
Fast thrusts that tore through strong defenses.
Wide sweeps that controlled the whole battlefield.
Moves that blended motion and piercing, striking from angles he hadn’t known existed.
Beyond them were the Spear God’s own insights.
He grabbed what he could.
The Dragonblood Divine Spear drifted toward him.
He gripped the shaft.
ROOOAARRR!
A dragon’s roar rolled out of the weapon.
Crimson-gold light ran along its surface, and a faint draconic aura wrapped around him.
The spear was solid.
And it moved with his spiritual energy as though it had always known him.
A huge grin broke across his face.
"This is a good spear!"
"Use it well," said the Spear God, with something almost like approval.
Lin Zhen bowed.
"This junior thanks the Heavenly Dragon Spear God!"
The man disappeared, still smirking.
Lin Zhen held the spear up and looked at its tip.
His Level Nine Spear Intent hadn’t turned into Spear Law.
But he had techniques now he’d never seen before.
He could hardly wait to try them.
Then he turned toward Lin Mo.
"Hey, saber user! Look at this!"
Lin Mo glanced at the spear.
"Congratulations. You have obtained a long stick with a sharp end."
Lin Zhen’s smile dropped.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me."
Lin Zhen lifted the Dragonblood Divine Spear slightly.
"Say that again after we leave this place."
Lin Mo smiled.
"Of course. I’ll even give you time to practice."
Lin Qing sighed.
"Can you two behave for a few minutes?"
They looked away at the same moment.
Neither wanted to argue with her.
---
The air around Lin Xuan suddenly grew hot.
He looked up.
A brilliant flame hung in the sky.
It had nine distinct layers.
The outer one burned a gentle gold.
The innermost one held something terrible, tightly restrained.
It sank toward him, and a man stepped out of its light.
He wore a dark-red robe and a crown of blazing fire.
His eyes held the glow of countless flames.
But his voice was calm, almost tired, like a man who had burned for a very long time.
"Level Nine Fire Intent."
Lin Xuan cupped his fists.
"Senior."
"You’ve started to understand fire. There are a great many kinds you haven’t met." He turned his hand, and the nine-layered flame settled beside him. "I am the Primordial Flame Sovereign. I spent my life studying every kind of fire. The gentle kind that keeps a family warm. The kind that burns a region to ash."
Lin Xuan listened.
"This is the Nine Suns Divine Flame."
Lin Xuan’s expression changed.
He could feel the energy inside it even from where he stood.
"Nine layers. Each one has its own nature. The deeper ones are much harder to handle." The Sovereign looked at him. "Don’t try to force them before you’re ready. The flame will answer your understanding, and it will punish impatience."
Lin Xuan bowed.
"This junior understands."
"Will you accept my inheritance?"
"This junior is willing!"
The Sovereign nodded.
A blazing radiance washed over Lin Xuan.
Techniques entered his mind.
How to control flame.
How to refine its heat.
How different fires served different purposes.
And the Sovereign’s understanding of how Fire Intent connected to the deeper path of fire.
It was vast.
Lin Xuan could only take in a part.
But even that part gave him a clear direction.
The Nine Suns Divine Flame drifted toward him.
He held out his hand.
It didn’t burn him.
The outermost layer flowed around his palm, answering his energy.
For a moment, he sensed the layers beneath it.
Then the feeling was gone.
He drew his hand back, and the flame settled into a calm, steady glow.
He hadn’t won control of all nine layers.
That would take time.
But the flame had accepted him.
"This junior thanks the Primordial Flame Sovereign!"
The Sovereign gave a small nod and faded.
Lin Xuan looked at the flame for a long moment.
He would follow the warning.
He would not rush.
---
Elsewhere, a cool sensation slid through the spiritual energy around Lin Yu.
He turned toward it.
A crystalline pearl floated through the air, wrapped in gentle blue light.
The spiritual energy near it flowed more smoothly.
Lin Yu recognized something in it.
Water energy.
But it was nothing like the ordinary kind.
It was so pure and so old that the energy around it seemed crude.
The pearl stopped in front of him.
A man stepped out of its light, wearing blue robes.
His presence was like standing on a shore and looking at an ocean with no far side.
Lin Yu cupped his fists.
"Senior."
"Level Nine Flowing Water Intent." The man’s voice was soft, like waves. "You know that water bends. But that is only the beginning of water."
He raised a hand.
A stream of water appeared in front of Lin Yu, gentle at first.
Then it quickened, twisted around an unseen obstacle, and gathered into a torrent that struck with tremendous force.
Then it scattered into droplets.
"Water can yield without giving up its strength. It can change direction without losing its purpose. And it can gather until nothing stands against it."
Lin Yu listened closely.
"I am the Supreme Water Emperor. This is the Primordial Water Pearl. It holds pure water energy, and it will help you refine your control."
Lin Yu looked at it.
He could feel how clean the energy was.
"My inheritance includes the Flowing Water Art, and the techniques built on the same principles. Take your time with them."
Lin Yu bowed.
"This junior is willing to accept the inheritance!"
Blue light wrapped around him.
Techniques poured into his mind, each a different way to shape water energy.
Some were smooth shifts between movements.
Some gathered water into concentrated strikes.
Some turned an opponent’s force aside instead of meeting it.
They fit with what he already understood.
The pearl floated into his palm, and the water energy around him became easier to feel.
His control wasn’t perfect.
But the pearl would help.
"This junior thanks the Supreme Water Emperor!"
The Emperor nodded.
But as the light around him began to fade, something cold touched the air.
A chill spread across the ground.
Lin Yu turned.
The temperature was still dropping.
Another inheritance was coming.
A crystal like a shard of eternal ice floated toward him, perfectly clear, with a deep cold living inside it.
A figure stepped out behind it.
Unlike the Water Emperor, he wore pale-white robes.
His hair was silver, and frost drifted around his shoulders.
He looked at Lin Yu with something close to irritation.
"You already took the Water Emperor’s inheritance."
Lin Yu bowed.
"Yes, Senior."
"Hm." The man glanced at the crystal. "I came all this way. I may as well make my offer."
He turned back.
"I am the Eternal Ice Sovereign. I spent my life on ice. Stillness. Cold. The slow gathering of frost until it becomes something no one can break."
Lin Yu looked at the crystal.
The chill was deep.
But it didn’t feel strange.
"Water is ice in its flowing form, and ice is water at rest," the Sovereign said. "Your understanding of flowing water is why my inheritance came to you."
He raised one finger.
"But don’t think it works both ways. Knowing one doesn’t mean you know the other."
He gestured toward the crystal.
"The Eternal Frost Crystal. Ancient ice energy. It will help you learn frost."
"My inheritance has the Eternal Ice Art, the Absolute Frost Technique, and everything I understood about ice. You have to learn each step yourself. Neither my inheritance nor this crystal will do it for you."
Lin Yu bowed deeply.
"This junior is willing to accept the inheritance!"
Cold light surrounded him.
Techniques and insights entered his mind.
The Water Emperor’s legacy had been about flexibility, and motion that never stopped.
The Ice Sovereign’s was about controlling temperature, forming frost, and packing energy into hard, stable shapes.
Lin Yu could feel how different they were.
They were related.
But each had its own character.
The crystal floated into his hand.
Frost spread across his fingers for a moment, then melted away.
He had two inheritances now.
But he hadn’t mastered ice, and he certainly hadn’t reached the Ice Law.
He would have to study the Eternal Ice Art, practice the Absolute Frost Technique, and build his own understanding.
"Don’t try to blend the two paths until you understand each one," the Sovereign said.
"This junior will remember!"
The Sovereign sniffed, as though he’d hoped for a longer conversation, and faded.
Lin Yu stood still, holding the Primordial Water Pearl and the Eternal Frost Crystal.
Both held extraordinary energy.
But their characters couldn’t be more different.
He carefully put them away and looked toward the others.
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Two inheritances?"
Lin Yu nodded.
"Both chose me."
Lin Mo looked at the two treasures.
"Seems like someone has been particularly lucky."
Lin Yu smiled.
"I suppose so."
Lin Qing congratulated him, and Lin Jue nodded in approval.
Lin Zhen glanced at the treasures, then at his own spear.
"At least you won’t have to worry about opportunities for a while."
Lin Yu laughed.
"Neither will you."
Lin Zhen looked very pleased with that answer.
---
The ten youngsters drew together, each looking over what they’d received.
Lin Lian turned the Nine-Tailed Mirage Orb in her hands.
Lin Jue held the Mountain-Splitting Divine Hammer.
Lin Haochen studied the patterns on his gauntlets.
Lin Zhen kept looking at the Dragonblood Divine Spear.
Lin Xuan held the Nine Suns Divine Flame under careful control.
Lin Yuexin ran her eyes along the Void-Splitting Divine Blade, sensing the faint spatial ripples at its edge.
Lin Chen and Lin Qing stood a short distance apart, each quietly thinking about the different sword paths they’d been given.
Lin Mo was still trying to understand the strange new sense the World-Severing Saber had given him.
None of them had mastered the Laws that went with their Intents.
But the inheritances had shown them the way.
None of them needed to compare whose was greater.
Each had received something that fit their own path.
Above them, the inheritance lights kept drifting across the vast land.
More ancient legacies were still searching for recipients.
And the final trial continued.
End of Chapter 114