In the courtyard behind the ancestral home, Lin Lei listened with some surprise to the sounds coming from the front.
"Boss." Bei Bei grinned at Lin Lei, giving him a thumbs up.
Wendy and Nina looked at Lin Lei with admiration. Nina even repeated, "The greatest and most talented stone sculpture Grandmaster, a genius who excels in both martial arts and magic, the founding emperor of the Baruch Empire, the master of the sacred site 'Dragon Blood Castle', and the most legendary god-level powerhouse—'Lin Lei Baruch'! Uncle, with so many titles, you're just too amazing."
"That person missed one, the ultimate warrior, the Dragon Blood Warrior!" Bei Bei chimed in with a laugh.
Lin Lei could only smile.
The students visiting the front courtyard had only seen a few places before uniformly leaving. Clearly, the backyard of this ancestral home was not open to the academy. That made sense... the backyard had also been dilapidated back in the day. Only the ancestral hall had been consistently maintained.
But how could the family ancestral hall be open for ordinary students to visit?
Of course, the Baruch family's true ancestral hall had long been moved to Dragon Blood Castle. There was nothing left in the ancestral hall within the old residence.
"Just now they seemed to mention the sacred site 'Dragon Blood Castle'. So Dragon Blood Castle has also become a sacred site," Lin Lei sighed.
Dilia smiled. "With several god-level powerhouses there, what else would it be but a sacred site?"
"Father," Nina said to Bei Bei from the side, "where were you born back then?" Bei Bei laughed and led Nina and Wendi off to one side, while Lin Lei walked towards the ancestral hall. Dilia and Wendy followed, pushing open the ancestral hall doors and stepping inside.
*Creak!* After the door opened, Lin Lei carefully examined the ancestral hall.
Compared to back then, the hall was almost unchanged, clearly well-maintained. The large number of spirit tablets that had originally been placed there had long been transferred to Dragon Blood Castle. The cabinet was empty.
Looking at the hall, Lin Lei's mind recalled the scene when his father, Hogg, had first introduced the Baruch family to him—"The four ultimate warriors actually represent four ancient families, and our Baruch family is an ancient family that carries the noble Dragon Blood Warrior bloodline!"
His father's passionate narration in this very hall seemed like it happened only yesterday.
However...
His father was already dead!
"Father, did you know? I have already gone to the Underworld and met Patriarch 'Baruch', Reinhart, Hazed, and many other family ancestors. They are all living very well, very well!" A wave of bitterness filled Lin Lei's heart. His father had spent his entire life hoping for the family's revival. The family had indeed been revived, but... his father would never see it.
Dilia and Wendy watched quietly from the side, not daring to disturb Lin Lei.
Lin Lei suddenly frowned and turned his head. "Someone's coming?"
"Who are you people!" a shout rang out from not far away.
"Let's go see." Lin Lei, Wendy, and Dilia all headed outside. When they emerged, they saw a middle-aged man in a gray mage's robe glaring at Bei Bei, Nina, and Wendi. When the three of them walked out, the middle-aged man was even more shocked. "There are actually six of you?"
This middle-aged man was the academy's headmaster, the Saint-level powerhouse 'Hamlin'.
Headmaster Hamlin had already reached the peak of the Saint realm. While walking past outside the yard, he had sensed unfamiliar presences within the ancestral home. This old residence was normally off-limits to others, so Hamlin naturally came in to shout them down. In fact, he had only sensed Nina's presence; he hadn't detected the other five at all.
He had assumed there was only one person. Who would have thought there were six!
Obviously, the strength of the other five surpassed his own!
"Who are you?" Lin Lei looked at him.
Hamlin, however, said sternly, "This is the core restricted area of my 'Lin Lei Academy'. How did you get in here? I am the academy headmaster, Hamlin!"
"Hey, what academy did you say?" Bei Bei immediately asked.
Lin Lei was also startled. Just now, this 'Hamlin' seemed to have said 'Lin Lei Academy'.
Hamlin looked at the six of them, puzzled. "What? Don't you even know about Lin Lei Academy, one of the three great academies of the continent? Didn't you see the statue of Grandmaster Lin Lei inside our academy's main gate?" This was common knowledge, and the expressions on Lin Lei's faces made Hamlin rather confused.
"Lin Lei Academy?" Wendy's eyes widened, then he turned to look at Lin Lei. "Father, did you hear that? Lin Lei Academy."
Lin Lei was also speechless.
Although Hamlin had seen a statue carved in Lin Lei's likeness, firstly, that statue had not yet reached Grandmaster level, and secondly, Lin Lei's aura had changed greatly compared to when he was still in the Saint realm. Hamlin had absolutely no connection between the person before him and the continent's legendary figure, Lin Lei.
"We just came to have a look," Lin Lei said with a faint smile. "Alright, let's go."
Lin Lei's Earth divine power spread out, enveloping Wendi and the others. With just a flash of earth-yellow light, the six of them vanished from sight.
"This speed..."
Hamlin stood dumbfounded. "It's much faster than Master Rein! Master Rein is already a god-level powerhouse. Who on earth are these people?"
The Baruch Empire had been founded nearly two thousand years ago. The empire's sacred site was 'Dragon Blood Castle'. Most emperors, after abdication, would move to reside there. Dragon Blood Castle contained many god-level powerhouses and was also guarded by many Saint-level magical beasts.
No one dared to act rashly at Dragon Blood Castle.
Dragon Blood Castle had long been expanded; its current area was several times larger than before. The 'Black Jade Garden' within Dragon Blood Castle was Wotton's residence. At this moment, on the lawn of the Black Jade Garden, two young men sat cross-legged facing each other, drinking and chatting.
"Taylor, what's wrong? Don't want to look for women anymore?"
"Uncle Wotton, I'm tired," said the brawny young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes—Taylor. Although nearly two thousand years had passed, Taylor's appearance was almost unchanged from back then. He sighed, "Uncle Wotton, we possess eternal life, but what about our own wives? Watching helplessly as your wife grows old and dies... that feeling is too painful."
Over the past two thousand years, Taylor had had two wives.
But both had grown old and died, and Taylor had felt extreme pain.
"Alas." Wotton also sighed softly. "I remember, big brother tried every means to help me marry Nina back then. He even fought that Olivier on the dueling stage. Hundreds of years have passed, and Nina couldn't withstand time either... It's been almost two thousand years since big brother went to the Underworld. Nina has been dead for over a thousand years now." Wotton smiled self-deprecatingly. "Sometimes, having eternal life is also very painful."
Only by reaching the Saint realm could one obtain eternal life.
But reaching the Saint realm required talent and opportunity. For many mortals, it was too difficult.
"Gates and the others were lucky," Wotton lamented. Of the five Bak brothers, Bak and Gates had married the Rebecca sisters, respectively. The Rebecca sisters had pure souls and exceptional talent for necromancy. In just over a hundred years, they had reached the Saint realm.
Only when both husband and wife could possess eternal life was it perfect. If one had eternity but had to watch the other slowly grow old, it was indeed very painful.
"Uncle Wotton, I think, sometime we should go to the Underworld too," Taylor said.
"Go to the Underworld?"
Wotton nodded slightly. "In this Yulan Continent plane, although we have a great enmity with that Odin Empire, we are powerless. So there are no real attachments left... When the time comes, we'll go to the Underworld to have a look. I haven't seen big brother for a very long time either. I really miss him."
"I miss Father too," Taylor said softly.
"Wotton, Taylor!" A voice suddenly sounded in the minds of both Wotton and Taylor.
The two of them shuddered as if struck by lightning, looking at each other in disbelief. At the same time, they sensed a powerful aura emanating from the training ground area in the front courtyard of Dragon Blood Castle. Although this aura was formidable, it felt familiar to them. It was Lin Lei's aura!
*Swoosh!* *Swoosh!*