Chapter Thirty-One: Subduing Nalan Jie

“You…” Nalan Jie was stunned by Lin An’s words, his mind short-circuiting for a brief moment. He had never imagined that Lin An had come to kill him!

“Aren’t you here to save me?” Nalan Jie asked.

“Of course I’ve come to save you. But before I can, you have to die once. Only then can the problem be solved,” Lin An nodded.

“Heh…” Nalan Jie gave a bitter laugh. “Indeed. For someone like me, tormented by the poison burning through my veins and clinging to life, death might be a relief. It’s just a pity for the Nalan clan’s foundation, built up over so many years. Without a Dou King to hold it together, I fear the other families will swallow us whole before long…”

Facing his imminent death, Nalan Jie found himself strangely talkative. He’d struggled so hard, endured so much, and yet this was how it ended. What a pity…

His granddaughter, Nalan Yanran, had failed to see the wolfish ambition in Lin An—even he, her grandfather, was now a target for Lin An’s blade.

Lin An had no patience for further conversation. The chilling aura of the Hall of Yama coalesced at his fingertip, forming a jet-black sword that, guided by his will, plunged straight into Nalan Jie’s body.

In that instant, the last thread binding Nalan Jie’s soul to his flesh was severed.

“What’s happening? How am I still here? Didn’t I just die?” After a long silence, Nalan Jie murmured in disbelief.

He knew his own strength better than anyone. Once dead, his soul should have dissipated almost instantly.

“I told you—killing you is also a way to save you,” Lin An said. “But, you will have to pay a small price.”

“What price?” Nalan Jie asked.

“From this day forward, the Nalan clan will serve me,” Lin An replied.

“Impossible. You think you can command the Nalan clan? And on what grounds? Just because of your relationship with my granddaughter?” Nalan Jie’s voice turned cold. “So long as I live, you and my granddaughter will never be possible.”

He had taken Lin An for a mere youth, but now he realized he had underestimated Lin An’s ambition—he actually dared covet the entire Nalan clan.

“Nothing is impossible. Even the Cloudmist Sect will belong to the young master in due time. Not just the Cloudmist Sect—in the future, the entire continent of Dou Qi will be under his rule.”

Before Nalan Jie could retort, another voice sounded from behind Lin An, carrying such power that Nalan Jie frowned. Soon, he saw who it was: Yun Shan, the former master of the Cloudmist Sect.

“Who is he, that even you call him master?” Nalan Jie asked in shock, scarcely able to believe his eyes.

Yun Shan was a Dou Emperor, who long ago had gone into seclusion in hopes of breaking through to the Dou Ancestor realm. Yet here he was, appearing in the Nalan household.

“I am not qualified to ask about the young master’s origins,” Yun Shan replied, “but I do know that if you follow him, the Nalan clan will rise to the very top of the Dou Qi continent. He has the power to do so. Of course, you may refuse—but the price will be your entire clan.”

Yun Shan’s tone was icy.

“I’m already like this. Can Lin An—can the young master restore my body?” Nalan Jie’s tone had changed; calling Lin An “young master” was a sign of his surrender.

“There is nothing the young master cannot do. Even my advancement to the Dou Ancestor realm is but a thought to him,” Yun Shan replied.

“Then I am willing. From this day forward, the Nalan clan will serve at the young master’s command.”

If even Yun Shan and the Cloudmist Sect had bowed their heads, how could the Nalan clan hesitate any longer? Besides, Lin An favored his granddaughter Nalan Yanran. If Lin An truly possessed such power, the Nalan clan would surely soar to new heights.

“Very good, you know your place.” With that, Lin An spent soul points to reshape Nalan Jie’s body.

In the span of a breath, Nalan Jie was reborn, his cultivation soaring to the peak of Nine-Star Dou King—only a step from breaking through to Dou Emperor. Such a thing had been unthinkable before. He had long given up hope of ever achieving such power, placing all his hopes on his granddaughter.

Moreover, his new body brimmed with vitality, like that of a newborn, filled with limitless potential.

Such means were truly divine.

…

“Yanran, why are you here?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to visit your grandfather before his anger subsided?”

When Nalan Su heard that Nalan Yanran had snuck off to visit her grandfather, he stormed over in a rage.

The old master had already been so agitated by Nalan Yanran that he could barely suppress the poison; most of the time, he was unconscious. If he awoke and saw her now, he might die from anger—how could Nalan Su not be anxious?

“Father, why are you here?” Nalan Yanran stammered, flustered.

Her junior brother had only just begun the treatment. If her father barged in now, it would be a minor inconvenience to him, but if it endangered her grandfather, she would be the Nalan clan’s disgrace.

“If I hadn’t come, who knows what trouble you’d have caused!” he shot back, pushing toward the room.

“Father, you can’t go in yet!” Nalan Yanran gritted her teeth and barred his way.

“Why not?” Nalan Su eyed the tightly closed door, sensing a shadow within, unease growing in his heart. “What are you hiding from me?”

“Junior brother is drawing out grandfather’s poison. If you go in now, you might disrupt him!” Yanran knew she could hide nothing more from her father and could only confess the truth.

“Absurd! Do you even know what you’re doing? You’re gambling with your grandfather’s life!” he scolded, brushing her aside and pushing the door open to see for himself.

He burst in, only to see his father, Nalan Jie, sitting upright on the bed, a smile still lingering on his face as he turned to look at him.

“What are you doing? Can’t you see that Lin An is treating me?” said Nalan Jie.

“F-father? You can speak again?” Nalan Su exclaimed in delight.

No one could know how much pressure he’d been under lately. Rival clans were already eager to suppress the Nalan family and seize their business. If word got out that Nalan Jie was in decline, those enemies would only become more brazen.