Yan Qingsang had stumbled upon his grandfather by sheer chance, and naturally, he was overjoyed. Ever since Yan Wanjun had left, he had been constantly worried—his grandfather wandering out there alone, with the Yan clan's assassins hunting him down. The anxiety had gnawed at him day and night.
What he never could have imagined was that his grandfather had never ventured far at all. He had been watching over Qingsang from a close distance all along, silently keeping vigil.
This realization filled Yan Qingsang with equal measures of shame and gratitude.
Yan Qingsang had been raised by Yan Wanjun since childhood, and his feelings for his grandfather ran extraordinarily deep. As for his own biological parents, he had seen far less of them—in truth, his bond with them was exceedingly thin. After all, his parents had been assigned to insignificant posts within the clan early on, their martial cultivation potential too weak to merit attention. They had scarcely any opportunity to interact with him.
So it was no exaggeration to say that the emotional bond between Yan Qingsang and his parents was nothing compared to what he shared with Yan Wanjun.
When Huang'er saw Yan Wanjun, she stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Huang'er greets Grandfather."
A look of tender affection surfaced in Yan Wanjun's eyes, mingled with a trace of guilt.
"Huang'er, your grandfather has heard the news. Shao Yuan slew Xiahou Zong and brought that matter to a close." He let out a long breath. "Grandfather has let you down. I'm ashamed, truly ashamed."
"Everyone has their own fate," Huang'er replied softly, gently taking Jiang Chen's arm. "If not for the tribulation I endured back then, how would I have ever met Brother Chen?" Her smile was serene and content.
"Brother Chen?" Yan Wanjun looked taken aback.
"Heh heh, Grandfather, you're still in the dark, aren't you?" Huang'er chuckled. "This Shao Yuan—he is Jiang Chen of the Human Domain. When Elder Xi returned, didn't he mention someone named Jiang Chen in the Human Domain? It's him."
"The Human Domain?" Yan Wanjun started. "I just heard you all discussing the Human Domain and couldn't make sense of it. So, Shao Yuan, you… you come from the Human Domain?"
Jiang Chen smiled calmly. "The situation is complicated, and I didn't have the chance to explain the truth to Elder Wanjun. Please forgive me for the deception."
"Ha ha ha…" Yan Wanjun burst into hearty laughter. "Good, good, good! A man who sees things through from start to finish—that's a true man. You're worthy of Huang'er's love. Entrusting my granddaughter to a young man like you puts my heart at ease. Huang'er, with a dao companion such as this, you have nothing to regret in this life. Nothing at all!"
Yan Wanjun was deeply moved. After everything he had been through, he had long since seen through most things. What did sectarian prejudice matter? What did the divide between the Human Domain and Wanyuan Island amount to?
This world belonged to the strong—the strong survived and the strong ruled!
This Jiang Chen had even killed Xiahou Zong. That made him one of the strong. And if he was strong, what was there to worry about with Huang'er by his side?
"Oh, right—Young Friend Jiang Chen, I heard you all talking about the formations on Dongyan Island. What's the story?" Yan Wanjun asked with curiosity.
Jiang Chen made no effort to hide the truth. He recounted everything—from his initial arrival on Dongyan Island to all that had followed.
Yan Wanjun listened, utterly captivated, and could only laugh ruefully when it was done. "I can hardly believe that the Jiang Huang whom the Duowen Divine Kingdom's joint kill order targeted was you all along. Incredible. Simply incredible."
"Ha ha, all we can say is that this was the will of heaven," Yan Qingsang chimed in with a grin. "Huang'er and he are a match made in fate—no river, no mountain could have kept them apart."
Yan Wanjun shook his head in wonder, marveling at the coincidence.
After a pause, Yan Wanjun continued, "Young Friend Jiang Chen, from what you've told me, this island was originally crafted by Senior Pei Xing? All the formations, everything—they're all controlled by that stele? By refining the stele, you can command every formation on this island?"
"Exactly."
"Then we absolutely must restore Dongyan Island." Yan Wanjun volunteered eagerly. "With no one to watch over it, let me stand guard in your stead. Consider it a stronghold of yours here on Wanyuan Island."
Jiang Chen's eyes lit up. "Elder Wanjun is willing to help? Wouldn't that be beneath your talents?"
The man was, after all, a Grand Elder of the Yan clan—an eighth-level Heaven Rank cultivator. In all of Wanyuan Island, even if he wasn't the strongest, he was certainly among the most exceptional.
Yan Wanjun laughed. "I'm a man with no title and no ties now—a stray dog without a home. I need a place to settle in, and this will do nicely."
His state of mind was remarkably healthy. Having lost the position of Grand Elder, he felt no sense of loss. In truth, he had grown tired of that role long ago.
Had it not been for the blood-tie sentiment he felt toward the clan, he would have stepped down ages ago.
Now that the clan had wounded him so deeply, his sense of belonging to it had faded. Even though he still harbored love for his family, so long as the current clan head remained, there was no way Yan Wanjun would ever have ties to the Yan clan again.
Unless one day the clan chose to tear everything down and rebuild from the ground up.
Since Yan Wanjun was willing to watch over the island, Jiang Chen thought this was an excellent arrangement. With Yan Wanjun's strength and capabilities, he could certainly manage the island well.
Turning it into a proper stronghold in the future was entirely feasible.
In that moment, excitement sparked within Jiang Chen as well.
He was a man of action. No sooner had the idea formed than he set to work. Restoring the formations began with placing the refined stele back in its original position, then making the necessary preparations.
Once those preparations were complete, restarting the formations and restoring Dongyan Island to its former configuration would not be particularly difficult.
After all, while the island had sustained some damage over the years, the foundations of the formations had never been destroyed. Besides, with Jiang Chen present, even if some of those foundations had suffered harm, he had the means to repair them.
And so, the long-deserted Dongyan Island buzzed back to life once more. Within half a month, Jiang Chen had restored the island's formations to roughly eighty or ninety percent of their original state.