Tai Bai Martial Hall was buzzing with joy. Since Han joined, it wasn’t often that master and disciples were all together like this. Now, with Bai Tian’s triumphant return at the True Blood Realm, the mood was downright electric—hard not to feel elated.


    Bai Tian, drawing on his new True Blood perspective, offered the group some pointers on their martial paths. The higher the realm, the closer one got to the essence of martial arts, and the easier it became to spot the root of any flaws. A strong cultivator wasn’t guaranteed to be a great teacher, but they’d at least have some solid experience under their belt. Imagine a Skin-and-Flesh Realm dabbler who’d read a couple of books, proclaiming themselves a “theory guru” and trying to coach a prodigy—better not to ruin the kid’s future. Some things you just can’t grasp from pages alone.


    After a round of guidance and check-ins, Bai Tian beamed with pride at his seven disciples’ progress. The atmosphere was warm and cheerful. How to celebrate? With a feast, naturally.


    That evening, Han stepped out of Tai Bai and noticed the street damage from his clash with Hai Zhen hadn’t fully healed, though the ground was back to normal and the debris cleared. He strolled toward the peach grove, and despite the night, some passersby recognized him. Gasps and whispers followed.


    “That’s Han!”


    “Clearly a standout among men—an unrivaled genius!”


    “Brains and looks—he’s like something divine!”


    Word of the showdown at Tai Bai’s gates had spread through Black Cloud Town in half a day, boosting Han’s fame and Tai Bai’s prestige to new heights. One bold soul ventured a greeting; Han flashed a friendly smile back—approachable, a far cry from the intimidating figure he’d cut against Hai Zhen. That guy? Han remembered him clearly—the one who’d called him a divine talent. Fair praise deserved a warm response.


    Under the townsfolk’s watchful eyes, Han slipped into the peach grove.


    “Aunt Mo, you bolted out of there today,” he said.


    Lu Qingmo glanced at him, then away. “I had no business sticking around.”


    “You’re late tonight,” she noted.


    “Master was giving us some martial pointers,” Han said with a grin.


    “True Blood Realm’s no small feat,” Lu Qingmo conceded, giving Bai Tian a rare nod of approval. “Rising to that level from his roots? That’s exceptional.”


    Plenty of sect prodigies and noble heirs never made it that far. True Blood meant looking down on most of the world.


    “Aunt Mo, I didn’t embarrass you today, right?”


    “You fought with martial skills, not my sorcery. Nothing to do with me,” she replied, her tone cool and detached—she taught the mystic arts, after all.


    “True, but even in a martial brawl, my soul gave me an edge,” Han countered. Dual cultivation of soul and martial arts, with both at similar levels, meant that even without tapping the other path directly, its strength still subtly boosted him. A robust soul and steely mind amplified his physical power and fortified his body—a passive perk, understated but real.


    Han’s ability to punch above his weight in martial arts came from a mix of talent, luck, secret techniques, and soul cultivation. Every piece mattered.


    “Guess I’ve burned every bridge with Fang Zhenyu now,” he added.


    Lu Qingmo shook her head. “That bridge was ashes the moment he tried to soul-search you two, you refused, and Bai Tian and I stepped in. Your deathmatch with his disciple was just one spark in the fire.”


    “You did well,” she said. “No point playing nice with a destined enemy—don’t hold back.”


    Her voice took on an odd lilt as she murmured, “Heavenly Dragon Sect…”


    “Master mentioned the martial hall ranking,” Han said. “But it seems like he’s not keen on joining.”


    “The decennial ranking? For Tai Bai to stand out, it’d be up to you and Ruoyue to shine and force an exception,” Lu Qingmo replied, sounding like she knew Bai Tian inside out. “The imperial court sends overseers to the ranking event. Man and Earth tiers don’t have strict quotas, but the standards are steep. This year’s the one.”


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    “Bai Tian’s reluctance means he’s likely planning to take Ruoyue and leave.”


    “Where to?” Han pressed.


    “Jade Capital.”


    The next day, Han tracked down Bai Tian and cut straight to it. “Master, once the Black Mountain mess is over, are you leaving Black Cloud Town?”


    Bai Tian, mid-stroke on a sheet of paper, paused and looked up. “So she told you.”


    “Aunt Mo didn’t say much,” Han said, shaking his head. “Just that you might take Senior Sister to Jade Capital. That’s it—no details.”


    He’d pressed Lu Qingmo the night before, but she’d told him to ask Bai Tian directly if he wanted answers.


    With a soft sigh, Bai Tian set his brush aside. “Since you know, I won’t hide it. Yeah, I’ve got that in mind. Now that I’m True Blood, I’m not top-tier worldwide, but I’ve got some standing. So I’ve been thinking about taking Ruoyue to… find her mother. They haven’t seen each other in seventeen years.”


    Seventeen years meant Bai Ruoyue had been one when they parted—too young to remember her mom, probably just off the bottle. Unless she was some born sage, gifted with innate wisdom.


    “What about her mother…?”


    “She’s from Jade Capital,” Bai Tian said, stepping to the window and gazing out, lost in thought as if he could see the distant city thousands of miles away. “Born to the Ling family there. Not on par with the likes of the Meng or Wei clans—global heavyweights—but still a renowned name. Her talent outshone mine by miles, and she trained in the Ling family’s secret martial arts. Her strength was something else.”


    “Were you forced apart?” Han asked. It was an obvious question.


    “Yeah,” Bai Tian nodded. “External pressures and Ling family politics. Seventeen years ago, they dragged her back, and I took Ruoyue to Black Cloud Town. Even if I’d wanted to go with her, the Ling family wouldn’t have it.”


    He gave a wry smile. “Seventeen years apart—I was in my twenties back then. They told me if I didn’t have what it takes, I should never set foot in Jade Capital or darken the Ling family’s door. They wouldn’t acknowledge the kid either. That’s what their elders said.”


    Against a prominent clan like that, Bone Refining or Marrow Cleansing didn’t cut it. True Blood, though? That might just do.


    Han fell silent. A split marriage, a fractured family—it wasn’t something he’d lived through, but he could feel the pain woven into it.


    “Now that you’re True Blood, it’s time to head to Jade Capital and reunite with her,” Han said. It was only human, and though Bai Tian’s departure would mean parting ways, Han backed him fully.


    “True Blood, huh,” Bai Tian mused, his voice thick with reflection. “I never thought I’d hit this level after seventeen years apart. Back then, I was full of ambition, dreaming of storming the capital, but reality and ideals don’t always align. Without that Black Mountain trip with the Meng duo and the luck I stumbled into—without your help—I might’ve been stuck for another decade. Two, even.”


    He shook his head. “Too late by then.”


    The Yin Spirit barrier, the True Blood threshold—these were chasms. Bai Tian was over forty now. In Marrow Cleansing terms, waiting another ten or twenty years would leave him pretty long in the tooth. Bai Ruoyue would be grown by then.


    “But now, there’s hope,” Han said.


    “Yeah, hope,” Bai Tian echoed, a rare spark lighting up his face—one Han had never seen before. A reunion with his wife, a mother meeting her daughter: pure bliss.


    “What happened back then?” Han’s curiosity gnawed at him.


    “I told you once about my travels at eighteen,” Bai Tian began. “I ended up in Qingzhou and ran into that mess with the Heavenly Mother Sect’s Chi Yao Goddess.”


    Since the topic was out, Bai Tian seemed ready to lay it all bare for Han.


    “I remember,” Han said. Bai Tian had nearly died at Chi Yao’s hands, powerless to fight back.


    “I was this close to being finished by her when Ruoyue’s mother swooped in and saved me.”


    Han nodded quietly. Classic damsel-saves-hero vibe.


    “Her name’s Ling Yue.”


    Paired with Bai Ruoyue’s name… Han couldn’t help but think: Guess the parents were the real love story—kid was just a bonus.


    “After that, we got to know each other,” Bai Tian went on. “Circumstances kept throwing us together. The secret martial arts you train in? Ling Yue and I snagged those from a hidden site in Qingzhou.”


    As Bai Tian unraveled the tale, Han pieced together their past. Heroine saves hero, followed by chance meetings, shared adventures, and even scoring secret martial arts together. Naturally, they fell hard—head-over-heels, no turning back. Then came Bai Ruoyue.


    From her birth to her first birthday, Bai Tian and Ling Yue lived their happiest days. Even now, recounting it, Bai Tian’s eyes softened with a tender glow. It was like a dream—too good to be true.


    But when Bai Ruoyue turned one, the dream shattered. The Ling family showed up, yanking them back to reality. Ling Yue had a fiancé.


    It wasn’t that she’d hidden it from Bai Tian. The truth was messier—she hadn’t even known about it herself. Before that day, she didn’t know her betrothed’s name, face, or hometown. Total stranger.


    The bombshell dropped when the Ling family rolled in and laid it out. Ling Yue balked—how could she agree to some random engagement? She was in her early twenties, married, with a kid, and now they spring this on her? It was absurd.


    Her fiancé? Some big shot from the Dong family in Jiangnan.


    “The Dong family—top-tier clan, produced powerhouses on the Mountains and Rivers Life List, still wielding immortal artifacts, lording over Jiangnan,” Bai Tian said, his face grim. “Even the Ling family didn’t want to cross them—they’re outmatched. That engagement wasn’t originally Ling Yue’s. It was an old deal between the families, meant for someone else. Somehow, it landed on her.”


    Han got the gist. His master’s wife was a sacrificial lamb—caught in a freak twist of fate, saddled with a promise that wasn’t hers.


    That’s where the tragedy kicked off.