Jiang Chen's breakthrough this time, combined with the improvements to his martial techniques and magical treasures, kept him in seclusion for nearly ten full days before he finally emerged.
Once he came out, he found that Huang'er had already brought his parents and had been waiting for him for quite a while.
"Brother Chen, you're out!" Huang'er flung herself into Jiang Chen's arms like a fledgling swallow returning to its nest, her face beaming with happiness. "Brother Chen, from now on, Huang'er is like you — I have a father and a mother too."
Jiang Chen was equally delighted. Seeing Yan Qianfan and An Yu'er behind Huang'er, he quickly stepped forward. "Junior Jiang Chen pays his respects to the two elders."
An Yu'er giggled. "Not old, not old — don't call us elders. Now then, although you and Huang'er have already pledged yourselves to each other, you haven't formally married her yet, so you can't call us Father and Mother just yet. How about Uncle and Aunt instead?"
Jiang Chen noticed that Huang'er's mother had a rather playful manner and tone, and found it quite amusing. He hadn't expected that Huang'er's personality would be so completely different from her mother's.
Huang'er was rather reserved and introverted, never showing her livelier side in front of outsiders.
Huang'er's mother, by contrast, was clearly of a spirited and carefree temperament — quite the lively one.
Yan Qianfan, on the other hand, appeared relatively quiet. But Jiang Chen could understand that. A man who had been through so much in life could hardly remain as impetuous as he had been in his youth.
After a round of pleasantries, the family was finally together. It was clear that Yan Qianfan and An Yu'er thought very highly of Jiang Chen.
They were especially impressed by how courteous and refined this young man was — unfailingly polite, without the arrogance or delicacy that so many geniuses displayed. This was something they particularly appreciated.
Having achieved his breakthrough thanks to the Heavenly Rank Relic, Jiang Chen naturally needed to pay a separate visit to Divine Venerable Kasyapa to express his gratitude.
"Forget it, forget it. I already told you there was no need for thanks. This is my gift to you in return for saving Huang'er and giving me a granddaughter."
Jiang Chen smiled and said nothing more.
An Yu'er then subtly raised the matter with her father of accompanying her husband back to the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
She had expected her father to firmly oppose the idea, but Divine Venerable Kasyapa surprised her by showing no objection whatsoever. He simply nodded. "Go ahead. Some things, in the end, simply need to be let go. Only by untying the knots in one's heart can one find happiness."
These were truths that Divine Venerable Kasyapa himself had not understood in his younger days.
He did not wish for his daughter to be as stubborn as he was, ending up alone and friendless, pitted against the entire world.
They departed aboard the Star Fate Airship, and in just a few days, arrived at the Eternal Divine Kingdom.
Yan Wanjun had never expected that his son and daughter-in-law would actually come to visit him. Tears of old grief streamed down his face. Though father and son did not collapse into each other's arms weeping, tears rolled freely down both their cheeks.
Both father and son cherished this moment. They knew that if the rift between them remained unresolved, it meant they would spend the rest of their lives burdened by it.
Now, with the situation as it stood, one could say it was the most beautiful and most perfect outcome imaginable.
Yan Qingsang's parents had also returned from the outlying territories to the Divine Capital during these days. With the Yan clan destroyed, their branch families had no further reason to remain outside. The clan's old restriction barring branch families from entering headquarters had become nothing but a dead letter.
Now the entire Yan clan consisted almost entirely of Yan Wanjun's three generations. All that remained beyond them were a few weaker branch families.
The Yan clan had been destroyed, but its legacy would not perish. Its bloodline would not die.
Yan Wanjun proposed that they must rebuild the Yan clan. Even if it could not be restored to its former location on the old site, the clan had to be rebuilt.