The courtyard was still as moonlight draped across the stone tiles.
Lin Ho had never seen his grandfather laugh — not even as a child.
But tonight, Lin Jinhai laughed freely, his deep voice echoing against the stone walls, shaking pine needles loose from the old tree.
> "Six years of silence… and now you come crashing through Body Tempering like a wild beast!"
"Haha! If your father were here, he'd be insufferably proud."
Lin Ho smiled for the first time in what felt like years. "You're not mad at me?"
His grandfather waved it off. "I was never angry. Just waiting."
He pulled something from his storage ring — a gray spirit stone, no larger than a child's palm, etched with fine golden lines.
> "This… was prepared from your father, long ago.you are was supposed to open it when you began cultivating."
He handed the stone to Lin Ho.
---
The Stone Speaks
Lin Ho took the stone and carefully injected a thread of his chaotic Qi into it.
The stone resisted for a moment — then pulsed warmly and began to glow.
Lines across its surface flared with light, and a soft hum filled the air.
Then, a familiar voice spoke.
> "If you're hearing this… it means you're cultivating now."
Lin Ho's breath caught in his throat. His grandfather stopped breathing entirely.
The voice was calm, warm, unmistakable.
It was his father.
> "Lin Ho, my son… first, let me say: we love you more than life itself."
"We didn't leave because we wanted to. There are things happening in this world — and beyond it — that few understand."
"There are forces moving behind the veil… and we had to act."
> "You may one day resent us for not being there."
"But if you ever wish to see us again—"
> "—you must reach the God Realm."
Lin Ho's eyes widened. Even Lin Jinhai, known across the world as one of the strongest cultivators alive, trembled slightly at those words.
> "Until then, do not search for us. Do not speak of your bloodline to anyone — not even those you trust."
"The Chaos Bloodline is not just rare… it is ancient, dangerous, and watched."
> "You are the last of it."
"Survive. Grow. And protect your grandfather."
The voice softened.
> "We love you, Lin Ho. May fate be kind until we meet again."
The light faded. The stone dimmed and crumbled into dust.
---
The Silence After
For a long time, neither of them moved.
Lin Ho stared at the place the stone had been. Lin Jinhai stood beside him, fists clenched, jaw trembling.
He had never looked older.
> "God Realm…" he whispered. "Even I have never touched it."
Lin Ho didn't reply.
His chest ached — not with grief, but with something deeper: a call.
Not a whisper of vengeance.
Not a lust for power.
But a burning yearning to reach them. To rise to the stars and stand beside those who vanished for the sake of something greater.
He looked up at the sky.
So far away.
But not unreachable.
Not anymore.