Chapter 29: Ten Years

Chapter 29: Ten Years

Through the secret tunnel,

Mother Su Yun successfully left Zhang Family Fort.

However, less than half an hour later,

pursuers from the Wanmo Sect arrived.

Clearly, the secret passage in the room had been discovered.

With no other options left, Su Yun had no choice but to place Lin Yuan into a patch of hidden bushes.

"I will go draw them away."

"I will come back to pick you up later."

After saying this, Su Yun headed off in another direction.

As the wife of the first-rate expert Zhang Kun, Su Yun was naturally no ordinary person.

Even having just given birth, her personal strength was no less than that of a third- or fourth-rate expert, and her lightness skill was particularly extraordinary.

Yet,

until two or three hours had passed,

Su Yun still had not returned.

"She probably won't be able to come back."

Lin Yuan thought silently to himself.

For such a long time, if Su Yun had shaken off the pursuers,

she surely would have returned long ago.

Since she hadn't returned,

it meant she hadn't shaken them off.

The fate of failing to shake off pursuers went without saying.

"Sigh."

Lin Yuan let out a soft sigh.

Just a moment ago, he was still the widely anticipated successor of Zhang Family Fort.

But now, all of that was gone.

"This is troublesome."

Lin Yuan furrowed his brows slightly.

Now was not the time for sentimentality.

The most urgent task was how to survive.

During this time-space traversal, Lin Yuan's situation was extremely difficult.

As a newborn infant, Lin Yuan didn't dare make any major movements at all.

Having just been born, if he left his swaddling clothes, his only fate would be freezing to death.

As for crying loudly and attracting the attention of others around?

Lin Yuan wasn't sure if what he attracted would be the Wanmo Sect pursuers.

Furthermore, the environment Lin Yuan was currently in was extremely remote and seemed sparsely populated.

He was afraid that the moment he dared to make the slightest movement,

jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards would come over.

In the eyes of those ferocious beasts, a human infant was a delicious meal.

"What a pity."

"If only it could have been a few months later."

"No, just a few days."

Lin Yuan felt somewhat helpless.

Relying on his Heaven-Defying Comprehension, as long as Lin Yuan was given time, he could rapidly grow stronger.

During his first traversal, Lin Yuan was still a three-year-old child, yet he was able to comprehend the Great Arhat Buddha Fist and step into the Innate Realm.

Although an infant's body had many restrictions, it wasn't completely powerless; at least it would have some ability to resist.

Soon,

night arrived.

The temperature also began to drop rapidly.

Even wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lin Yuan felt waves of chilliness washing over him.

If it were any other infant, they probably would have started crying by now.

But Lin Yuan did not, because he knew that once he let out a cry,

it would attract nearby beasts and result in him being snatched away and devoured by them.

However,

even so,

the natural milky scent belonging to an infant still faintly drifted outward.

Before long,

Lin Yuan heard a series of rustling sounds coming from the bushes not far away.

Listening to this movement, it was clearly not made by a human.

"What should I do?"

Lin Yuan's heartbeat began to accelerate.

If it wasn't made by a human, then it was a beast.

Facing beasts, Lin Yuan had no way out; to the beasts, Lin Yuan was simply a delicious meal, and they wouldn't feel any emotions like sympathy.

As the rustling sound drew closer and closer,

Lin Yuan's breathing began to slow down.

At the same time,

Lin Yuan's gaze

suddenly noticed the withered leaves and dead wood on the ground.

This was the wilderness, with abundant plants, and withered leaves and dead wood were everywhere.

Staring at the withered leaves and dead wood, numerous flashes of insight suddenly surged into Lin Yuan's mind.

[Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension allows you to observe dead wood and comprehend the Withered Wood Breathing Technique.]

[Withered Wood Breathing Technique: Through a special breathing rhythm, restrain all aura and simulate the form of dead wood.]

In a split second,

the aura on Lin Yuan's body was further restrained.

The originally faint milky scent disappeared entirely.

Even Lin Yuan's skin, which was originally tender and fair, shifted towards the dark color of dead wood.

Viewed from afar, Lin Yuan looked just like a piece of dead wood wrapped in swaddling clothes.

"Awoo."

Several meters away, an adult wild wolf was stunned. It sniffed the air and let out a puzzled, low growl.

After wandering around the vicinity for a long time and confirming there was no scent of food whatsoever, the wild wolf had no choice but to turn around and leave.

Inside the swaddling clothes, Lin Yuan's aura had vanished, but his consciousness remained. Discovering that the rustling sound had receded, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Withered Wood Breathing Technique?"

Lin Yuan maintained this aura-concealing secret technique.

In fact, regarding secret techniques for concealing aura, Lin Yuan had comprehended many during his first traversal.

However,

all these concealment secret techniques required the assistance of inner qi or Origin Qi.

Yet Lin Yuan was currently just an infant; how could he have any inner qi or Origin Qi?

As for the newly created Withered Wood Breathing Technique, it achieved the purpose of concealing aura merely by adjusting the breathing rhythm.

This belonged to things that Lin Yuan could currently accomplish.

"There won't be any danger for the time being."

Lin Yuan continuously surveyed his surroundings, not letting down his guard.

Time slowly passed.

In the blink of an eye, half a day went by.

Lin Yuan felt a wave of intense hunger.

Hunger came from every cell throughout his entire body.

[Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension allows you to suffer through extreme hunger and comprehend the Hibernation Breathing Technique.]

Heaven-Defying Comprehension saved Lin Yuan once again. The Hibernation Breathing Technique could greatly reduce Lin Yuan's physical consumption, and combined with the Withered Wood Breathing Technique, it made Lin Yuan indistinguishable from a genuine piece of dead wood.

Two days later.

Lin Yuan maintained the very last shred of his consciousness.

Right at this moment,

a Daoist priest wearing Daoist robes descended from the high sky.

"Someone is here?"

"And it's a Daoist priest?"

Lin Yuan's spirits stirred.

This was the first living person he had seen in two days.

"Forget it."

"If this keeps up, I really will die."

Lin Yuan quickly deactivated the Withered Wood Breathing Technique and the Hibernation Breathing Technique.

Although the Hibernation Breathing Technique could greatly reduce Lin Yuan's physical consumption,

it was only a reduction.

As a newborn infant, lasting two days was already the limit.

If it dragged on any longer, even the Hibernation Breathing Technique wouldn't be able to sustain him.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan mustered all his strength and began to cry loudly.

As the infant's voice rang out,

the Daoist priest clearly heard it.

"An abandoned infant?"

The Daoist priest looked to be middle-aged, his expression filled with exhaustion.

"Hm?"

"An abandoned infant from Zhang Family Fort?"

The Daoist priest immediately guessed Lin Yuan's identity from the pattern on the swaddling clothes.

"This jade pendant? It's Brother Zhang's jade pendant? This is Brother Zhang's child?"

The Daoist priest's eyes suddenly grew moist.

He was none other than Daoist Changqing. Several months ago, Zhang Kun had written him a letter,

stating that he had discovered the traces of the Wanmo Sect.

Daoist Changqing immediately set off for Zhang Family Fort.

However, on the way, he was ambushed by several Protectors of the Wanmo Sect,

delaying him for a few days.

By the time he rushed over again,

everyone in Zhang Family Fort had already been completely slaughtered.

Just as Daoist Changqing was grief-stricken and intended to return to Longhu Mountain to report,

he unexpectedly heard Lin Yuan's crying, and moreover, this infant was actually Zhang Kun's son.

"Good, good, good."

"Brother Zhang's Bloodline is not cut off."

"Brother Zhang's Bloodline has not been severed."

Daoist Changqing immediately embraced Lin Yuan and reached out to touch him for a moment.

In Daoist Changqing's view,

for a newborn infant like Lin Yuan

to be left in the wilderness for half a day would probably result in him freezing to death.

Although he didn't know how long Lin Yuan had stayed here, judging from the surrounding environment, it was clearly more than half a day.

Therefore, Daoist Changqing intended to use his own True Qi to mend the infant's Origin.

Even though this move would be a huge consumption for him, Daoist Changqing didn't care.

Because his late arrival had led to the massacre of Zhang Family Fort, if he couldn't even protect the last Bloodline of Zhang Family Fort now,

he truly would have no face to live in this world.

"Hm?"

"There's no damage to the body?"

Daoist Changqing was stunned.

He discovered that the infant's body was very healthy. Apart from a weakened blood vigor, which should be from hunger, there were no other major issues.

"Incredible."

Daoist Changqing muttered to himself.

"Child, from now on you are a person of my Longhu Mountain."

Daoist Changqing held Lin Yuan in his arms

and immediately set off to return to Longhu Mountain.

Longhu Mountain, Zhenwu Main Hall.

Daoist Changqing stood before the Cangqing Immortal and recounted the whole story in full detail.

Cangqing Immortal was the current generation's head of the Celestial Masters Residence of Longhu Mountain, a highly prestigious titan in the contemporary Martial Forest.

"This generation's Sect Leader of the Wanmo Sect possesses great talent and bold strategy, having already stepped into the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, which is why he ordered his sect members to plunder everywhere to boost the demonic prestige."

Cangqing Immortal said slowly.

Then, he took Lin Yuan from Daoist Changqing's hands.

"Poor child."

Cangqing Immortal let out a long sigh.

"Fort Master Zhang lived a life upholding chivalry and righteousness, and he died at the hands of the Wanmo Sect. My Celestial Masters Residence will definitely not let this rest."

"Right, has the child been given a name?"

Cangqing Immortal asked.

"I found a jade pendant engraved with the two words 'Mountain Peak' inside the swaddling clothes."

"It should be the name Brother Zhang gave the child."

Daoist Changqing said in a low voice.

"Mountain Peak, Mountain Peak."

"Very well, from now on you shall be called Zhang Shanfeng."

Cangqing Immortal said slowly.

Just like that, Lin Yuan stayed on Longhu Mountain.

At first, Daoist Changqing was still worried that Lin Yuan would cry and make a fuss, disturbing others.

But after a few days of getting along, Daoist Changqing unexpectedly discovered that Lin Yuan was extremely obedient.

He had never cried or made a fuss. If he was hungry, he would open his big, rolling eyes and stare at him.

It was simply excessively sensible.

As for an infant needing milk, there were quite a few villages at the foot of Longhu Mountain, among which were no lack of women who had just given birth.

Daoist Changqing would brazenly beg those women for some breast milk, which could be considered barely keeping Lin Yuan fed and alive.

Just like that, ten years passed.