Granny… I've been wondering, Wang Fang said as they walked down the mountain path, "why did you come up to this mountain today?
Old Lady Shen stopped for a moment.
Then she sighed softly.
Yes," she said, as if deciding something important. Wang Fang… you and I are going into the Forest."
Huh?
Wang Fang froze in place, eyes wide in shock.
O–Oh… I knew you'd be surprised," Old Lady Shen said calmly.
"Granny," Wang Fang said quickly, confused and anxious, "you're the one who always warned me never to go into that Forest. You always said it was dangerous. But now, not only me, you're going in too?
Old Lady Shen smiled faintly.
"Don't worry," she said. "You'll understand once we're inside.
…Okay," Wang Fang replied after a moment of hesitation.
Her expression turned serious.
"Your mother is ill," Old Lady Shen continued. "She cannot follow us. And this journey… will take a long time."
What?
Wang Fang's heart jolted.
"I'm going to leave my mother alone?" he said urgently. I can't—!
He was about to protest further when Old Lady Shen interrupted him.
"Wang Fang," she said firmly, "you are too weak."
The words struck him harder than any blow.
"And that is why your mother asked me to take you into the Forest," she continued. "Not only to help you break through your realm, but to gain real experience.
She looked ahead at the winding path.
"You've already seen a fraction of what the cultivation world is like today. Dangerous cultivators, arrogant sect disciples… that is only the surface."
Wang Fang clenched his fists.
Granny," he asked quietly, "why did you always tell me not to get close to cultivators when ever I see them?"
Old Lady Shen stopped walking.
She turned and looked at him deeply.
"Because," she said slowly, "you possess an Old Era Bloodline."
"…An Old Era Bloodline?" Wang Fang repeated, stunned.
The words echoed in his mind.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced,
When he was a baby…
"Sect Master," a voice had once said, filled with shock,
"your son possesses an Old Era Bloodline… but its nature is unknown."
Wang Fang."
Old Lady Shen's hand gently touched his shoulder.
"You drifted off," she said. "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Wang Fang replied quickly, shaking his head.
She studied him for a moment, then nodded.
Before they resumed walking, Wang Fang hesitated, then asked,
"Granny… what is so important about an Old Era Bloodline?"
Old Lady Shen's eyes darkened slightly.
She whispered to herself,
"It's not your fault for not knowing… you were never raised within a sect."
Then she spoke aloud.
"Old Era Bloodlines are bloodlines born before the current cultivation era, when Heaven and Earth were complete, and the laws of the world were whole."
She continued slowly, making sure every word sank in.
"Those born with an Old Era Bloodline are not ordinary cultivators, on like ordinary blood line.
Even if their cultivation is low… their potential is limitless."
Wang Fang's breathing grew heavier.
They are born as legends," she said.
They are not meant to live ordinary lives.
They are born to rewrite history."
"There are many types," she continued.
"Primordial God Bloodlines. Immortal Bloodlines. Emperor Bloodlines… and more."
Then she paused.
"But legend speaks of one bloodline," she said quietly,
"one that stands above all others.
It was said to exist more than a billion years ago.
Whether it truly exists… no one knows."
She turned to Wang Fang.
"What I'm telling you," she said gently, "is that even if your Old Era Bloodline is unknown… your potential is still terrifying.
Wang Fang swallowed hard.
…So," he said slowly, you're saying I should have already broken through this realm?"
"Yes," Old Lady Shen replied without hesitation.
"I'm certain you understand now."
The wind swept through the forest path ahead.
And for the first time, Wang Fang realized,
That his journey…
was no longer ordinary