Yan Wanxi considered a certain terrifying possibility, and his entire body went rigid as though turned to stone. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the matter seemed.
The Yan family member who had raised the question also murmured, "Could it really be true? Could this Shao Yuan truly be that Jiang Chen from the Human Domain?"
"What did you say?" The Yan family patriarch was visibly shocked — this news was far too unexpected. The people of the Yan family were naturally well aware of Yan Qinghuang's affairs. They all knew that her Hundred-Lives Linked Hearts Curse had been broken by a young man named Jiang Chen in the Human Domain.
And Qinghuang had shared a deeply unforgettable romance with that young man in the Human Domain as well. That was precisely why she had remained so melancholy and withdrawn ever since her return.
If this Shao Yuan were that young man from the Human Domain, that would simply be too absurd.
Everyone from Myriad Abyss Island knew exactly what level the Human Domain currently stood at. It was a place that the people of Myriad Abyss Island wouldn't even deign to visit. They said that the cultivators there could barely produce even a handful of Heavenly domain powerhouses, and those were all recluses who never showed themselves. In the Human Domain, many young people still believed that the Emperor realm was the very pinnacle of martial cultivation.
And so, whenever the people of Myriad Abyss Island spoke of the Human Domain, they treated it as nothing more than a barren wasteland, utterly beneath their notice.
When Elder Xi had gone to the Human Domain back then, he had carried exactly that same attitude. It wasn't just Elder Xi who thought this way — nearly nine out of ten people from Myriad Abyss Island viewed the Human Domain in the same manner. They harbored a bone-deep sense of superiority and looked down on the people of the Human Domain from the very core of their being.
That was why Elder Xi had been so dismissive toward Jiang Chen back then. Even though he knew the boy was the young master of the Peacock Sacred Mountain and one of the Human Domain's rare geniuses, Elder Xi still hadn't considered him worthy of his attention.
After all, it was universally accepted in Myriad Abyss Island that even a third-rate genius from the island could become a top-tier talent in the Human Domain. And the so-called greatest genius of the Human Domain, upon arriving in Myriad Abyss Island, might struggle to even qualify as third-rate.
"Impossible! What level is the Human Domain? Surely everyone here knows. How could Shao Yuan possibly come from the Human Domain? How could the Human Domain possibly produce a genius of this caliber?"
"Exactly, exactly. It defies all reason. If you were talking about the Ancient Era, we might believe it. But the present-day Human Domain hasn't even recovered a tenth of its former vitality. Neither the feng shui and spiritual veins of that land nor its legacies could possibly nurture a genius to rival those of Myriad Abyss Island."
"Don't overthink this. Shao Yuan's heritage must come from Myriad Abyss Island. The Human Domain cannot possibly produce a once-in-ten-thousand-years talent like Shao Yuan."
"But doesn't Qinghuang's behavior strike you as very strange? Who is Qinghuang, and do we really not know her? She's only interacted with Shao Yuan a handful of times. How could she so easily agree to his proposal? And as for Shao Yuan, why would he take an interest in Qinghuang out of nowhere? Myriad Abyss Island has its Sixteen Beauties — women of comparable talent and appearance to Qinghuang may not be everywhere, but they are far from nonexistent."
"There's some logic to that. If I were Shao Yuan, with the Sixteen Beauties of Myriad Abyss Island to choose from, why would I pursue a girl cursed by fate above all others?"
"Furthermore, doesn't Shao Yuan's joining our Yan family strike you as suspicious? How did he end up in our family in the first place?"
"I believe it was Yan Qingsang who brought him in?" someone asked uncertainly.
"It was indeed Yan Qingsang."
"Then could it be that Shao Yuan had ulterior motives when he approached our Yan family?"
Someone else called out in frustration, "Enough, enough! What's the point of analyzing all this now? Qinghuang has no loyalty to our Yan family anymore. Supreme Elder Yan Wanjun has vanished without a trace. Yan Qingsang has joined the Eternal Sacred Land and is riding high — when would he ever care about the fate of the Yan family? What's the point of discussing why Shao Yuan is interested in Qinghuang?"
"Exactly. There really is no point in dwelling on this. We should focus on discussing how to mend our relationship with the Sacred Land. At the very least, we can't let the Sacred Land bear a grudge against us."
The people of the Yan family were all spinning in circles with anxiety, like ants on a hot pan.
At that moment, someone stood up. "I'll go to the Sacred Land and see what I can do."
The speaker was none other than Yan Zhenhuai, the Yan family's foremost young talent. Seeing Yan Zhenhuai volunteer, the others felt a spark of hope.
The person in the Yan family who could still carry the most weight in conversations right now was perhaps not any of the current elders, but rather Yan Zhenhuai. At the very least, his relationship with both Yan Qingsang and Shao Yuan had been fairly amicable back then — it had never deteriorated. Young people speaking to young people might find it easier to get through.
The Yan family patriarch was overjoyed. "Zhenhuai, if you're willing to go, I believe even Shao Yuan will give you face."
Yan Zhenhuai nodded earnestly. "I will do everything in my power."
Another person then proposed, "Patriarch, this is a critical moment. Our Yan family must take steps to make amends. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Why not promote Yan Zhenhuai to the position of Family Elder — an extraordinary appointment for extraordinary circumstances — and have him lead a contingent of the family's elite to support the Sacred Land? Perhaps the Sacred Land doesn't really need much assistance from us, but at least we would be showing our sincerity and taking a clear stance."
Promote Yan Zhenhuai to Family Elder?