Within the Purple Smoke Sect, Yin Hongxue was notorious for her arrogance and overbearing behavior — but even that arrogance had its limits. There were certain people within the sect who were simply off-limits, even for her.
The elder before her was a case in point — this was the Purple Smoke Sect's Old Ancestor. His status surpassed even the Sect Master's, and his age was said to be approaching two thousand years.
Naturally, Yin Hongxue wouldn't dare offend a pillar figure of the sect. What was more, the Old Ancestor was already pressing down on her with an invisible wave of spiritual pressure.
When the Old Ancestor unleashed his pressure, even Yin Hongxue's grandfather, Yin Tianchou, wouldn't dare intervene.
Yin Hongxue stammered, desperately racking her brain for a lie to deflect the situation. But the Old Ancestor's pressure bore down on her like mountain after mountain, more than she could bear.
Her entire body trembled, her teeth chattering against each other.
"Yes or no!" The Old Ancestor was growing angry, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes.
To tell the truth, even as the granddaughter of Grand Elder Yin Tianchou, the Old Ancestor found her thoroughly repulsive. If every sect disciple caused trouble like she did, the Purple Smoke Sect's foundation would crumble in no time.
Just then, Yin Tianchou's personal guard had arrived on the scene with Jiang Tong and his son.
When Yin Hongxue saw the guard leading Jiang Tong and his son over, her face turned ashen. She stammered, "These two servants were… were captured by me many years ago. But they come from humble backgrounds, completely ordinary. They can't possibly be the people the Emperor Realm senior is looking for…"
Yin Hongxue's eyes brimmed with tears. She felt deeply wronged. In all her years, no one had ever spoken to her so harshly.
Even though it was the sect's Old Ancestor who was being harsh with her now, she still felt aggrieved — felt that she, the young miss of the Grand Elder's household, was being looked down upon.
Jiao Yun cast his gaze toward Jiang Tong and his son. After a brief assessment, a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
Although he didn't recognize the pair, Jiang Chen had described their appearances to him beforehand. Most importantly, between the father and son's brows, there was indeed a faint resemblance to both Jiang Chen and Jiang Feng.
In particular, between Jiang Tong and Jiang Feng — these two blood brothers — the resemblance was as much as thirty to forty percent.
For a powerful martial artist, thirty to forty percent similarity was practically enough to identify them without any real effort.
In that moment, Jiao Yun was virtually certain — this father and son were Young Master Jiang Chen's uncle and cousin.
Without betraying any emotion, Jiao Yun transmitted his voice: "Are you two Jiang Tong and Jiang Yu? Don't make a sound, and don't look surprised. I've been sent by Young Master Jiang Chen to bring you to him. If you are truly the father and son Jiang Tong and Jiang Yu, simply blink once each."
The reason Jiao Yun didn't want to speak openly was that Jiang Chen had instructed him to handle everything with caution — without drawing attention, so as not to give anyone an opening.
Right now, the people from Dan Fire City were scouring the world for Jiang Chen's relatives, wanting to use them as leverage to blackmail Jiang Chen in exchange for Young Master Tianlin.
That was why Jiang Chen had sent Jiao Yun instead of coming personally. Moreover, he had specifically and repeatedly warned Jiao Yun not to cause too big a scene.
The bigger the commotion, the higher the chance of something unexpected happening.
When Jiang Tong and his son heard the transmitted voice, they both froze. They exchanged a glance, and their hearts rippled with countless waves of emotion.
An Emperor Realm expert, acting on Young Master Jiang Chen's behalf?
In that moment, they almost doubted whether they had misheard — or whether someone was deliberately toying with them.
An Emperor Realm expert claiming to be dispatched by Jiang Chen?
Both father and son knew Jiang Chen was a genius, but in only ten years' time, even if he hadn't met with any misfortune and had grown at incredible speed, he surely couldn't have risen so far as to command an Emperor Realm expert at will.
After all, there wasn't a single Emperor Realm expert in the entirety of the Fengming Lower Domain.
Experts of this caliber were exceedingly rare in the human territories — as scarce as phoenix feathers and dragon scales.
How could a powerhouse of this level possibly be acting on Jiang Chen's orders?
Jiao Yun noticed that the father and son's eyes were wavering, their expressions caught somewhere between belief and doubt. He found it quietly amusing.
But he also understood — these two had been trapped in the Purple Smoke Sect and were likely completely ignorant of the outside world. That explained their reaction to this news.
He exercised his patience and continued transmitting: "There's no need for hesitation. Young Master Jiang Chen is now famous throughout the world — he is the Young Master of Profound Jade City in the Upper Eight Domains. He learned of your whereabouts from Ye Chonglou's own lips. He sent people to investigate first, and only after confirming everything did he dispatch me to bring you to him. If you're going to keep doubting, I'll simply turn around and head back, and ask the Young Master to find someone else."
When they heard him mention Ye Chonglou, the father and son finally believed him.
Father and son each blinked once, confirming their identities.
Seeing this, Jiao Yun had his answer.
He turned and looked calmly at the Purple Smoke Sect's Old Ancestor. "There's no need for any more posturing. The people I'm looking for are exactly them."