Yin Long stood between his parents' bed, weakly grasping onto their limp hands as he allowed his tears to flow as freely as the torrential downpour outside. The pain made his entire body feel hollow, as if his insides had been gouged out and dragged away along with the lives of his parents, it was as if his stomach had become a bottomless pit that swallowed everything else. On this day, three months after their 3885th birthday, the leaders of the Lang clan passed away after reaching the natural end of their lifespan. They passed on in their beds right by each other's side and with peaceful expressions, leaving the Lang clan in the hands of their three young children.

Yin Long remained standing between his parents' bed for several minutes, gazing up at the dark clouds and the two weak rainbows as he emptied out everything in his soul. He closed his eyes once his tears dried up, sucking in a deep breath and wiping his face clean with a cloth he took out from his interspatial ring. He carefully reached out and crossed the limp arms of his parents in front of their chests and then closed their eyes.

He calmly walked to the front of the window and turned around to face the two beds, slowly dropping down into a kneeling position. Once he was on his knees, he slammed his forehead into the floor three times, respectfully kowtowing to send off the souls of his parents. The heavy sound of his kowtowing drew the attention of the people waiting outside the room, Lang Huo and the others quickly rushing in to see what was going on.

Seeing the kneeling form of Yin Long and the unmoving silhouettes lying on the bed, everyone knew what had happened, the tears streaming down their faces growing even heavier. Yin Long stood up from his kneeling position and wiped away the few drops of blood that started to seep out from his forehead after he smashed it into the floor, his eyes bloodshot and red, but dreadfully calm.

He tightly embraced his sisters and Tang Fen, the four huddling together while the girls cried. Among the three girls, the first one to swallow back her tears was actually Lang Huo, sucking in a deep breath to force her tears to stop. The Lang clan fell on her shoulders now that her parents were dead, she had to be strong to carry that weight properly, she had to be strong to make the souls of her parents proud.

"Spread the news, the funeral preparations must be made. I want the entire city to enter a state of mourning for seven days."

Lang Huo's voice was a bit choked up as she spoke, but her expression remained strong and dignified, now it was time to utilize everything her parents had taught her over the years. Yin Long's attention was drawn by a bit of motion he spotted out of the corner of his eyes, his gaze landing on the black-haired and crimson-eyed Bai Xiang, who was gesturing for Yin Long to meet him outside the room.

Yin Long embraced his sisters one more time before Lang Huo started working the preparations for the funeral and then left the room with Bai Xiang. They entered an empty guest room located a bit down the hallway, Bai Xiang's slightly moist eyes running up and down Yin Long's body for a short moment before he made a confident statement.

"You've found yourself. It seems like the path of the warrior really is your destiny. You have found your own path with your own hand, thanks to that I have no more worries. With the passing of your parents and you having found your own path, there is little reason for me to stay here for much longer. two years, I will stay here for two more years to teach you everything I haven't taught you yet, after that I will leave. I must return home so that I can start preparing for the next Six Dawn's Baptism, perhaps you will hear about me then."

Bai Xiang's words caught Yin Long rather off-guard, but it sounded reasonable after he gave it a bit more thought. Bai Xiang was someone who should be far above the Lang clan, the only reason he had stayed here for so long was due to his relationship with Yin Long's parents, and possibly partly due to Yin Long's own existence. But now his parents were dead and Yin Long had found his own path, Bai Xiang couldn't and shouldn't stay at his side forever so it was truly time to move on. A sheltered bird would never leave its cage, its wings would never spread to the vast sky above.

Reaching an understanding of Bai Xiang's thoughts, Yin Long gave a slow nod of his head. He once again dropped down into a kneeling position and placed his knuckles against the floor, hitting his head against the floor a single time.

"Thank you for everything you have taught me over the years, I swear that I won't disappoint you."

Yin Long raised his head and stood up after giving Bai Xiang a single kowtow, showing proper respect to the man who had already acted as his teacher for nearly 13 years. He would stay for another two years he said, but Yin Long had no idea about when exactly he would leave so he found it best to show his respect and appreciation right away.

Bai Xiang accepted the kowtow with a solemn and dignified expression, giving Yin Long a heavy pat on the shoulder once he rose to his feet again. The two returned to the other room, exchanging a few quiet words as they walked. Bai Xiang also gave Yin Long a pill and had him swallow it, his wounds starting to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. By the time they returned to the room, his wounds had already practically vanished and only left behind faint scars. Everyone else in the room had already swallowed back their tears by the time Yin Long and Bai Xiang returned to the room, some of them hurriedly rushing around to prepare everything needed for the funeral.

Bai Xiang returned to the side of his wife and Yin Long locked eyes with the bald and old Jiu Meiyu, his father's closest friend and aide. Yin Long used his chin to gesture towards the outside of the room, Jiu Meiyu nodding his head and following Yin Long out of the room. The two quietly walked through the hallways and rooms until they reached Yin Long's room on the second floor, entering it and closing the doors behind them.

Yin Long still didn't say anything, first switching into a clean white mourning robe. He then removed the blanket covering his bed and placed it on the floor before swiping his interspatial ring and taking out the corpse of the assassin that he had stored away earlier. Jiu Meiyu was immediately caught off guard by the sudden corpse, Yin Long giving a quick recap of what happened.

"I was attacked by three assassins while I was out, that's why I was gone for so long. The three had reached the 6th Mortal Door and were practicing what I assumed to be the Forest Lord's Scripture. I also recognized one of the men as Siu Kong, one of the guards at the transmission station guarded by the Four Valley's Village. I got rid of all three, but I wasn't able to learn exactly why they wished to assassinate me."

Jiu Meiyu's wrinkled face turned solemn and grave as Yin Long explained what had taken place in the forest. He crouched down at the side of the corpse and placed his hand over the dantian, feeling the remnant energy still lingering around within it. Realizing that the energy had indeed reached the 6th Mortal Door, he couldn't help but raise his eyes to look at Yin Long, muttering softly.

"A tiger truly doesn't father a dog..."

Jiu Meiyu knew that Yin Long was skilled with a blade, he could also feel that there was a rather thick Qi within Yin Long's body. But all that Qi was just floating around aimlessly within his body, it hadn't settled in any location, preventing him from properly entering the 1st Mortal Door, which was usually required to properly concentrate and move his Qi. As such, Jiu Meiyu had no clue just how Yin Long had managed to kill not just one person, but three people at the 6th Mortal Door, it simply shouldn't be possible.

But the truth was right there in front of him so he couldn't really doubt it, nor did he think that Yin Long was someone who would lie about something like this. He stood up from his crouched position with a serious expression, storing the corpse into his own interspatial ring.

"Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of who exactly sent the assassins and get things taken care of, you should go accompany your sisters."

Yin Long and his sisters were the last remnants of Jiu Meiyu's best friend, he would not allow anyone to harm them now that his friend was no longer around to protect them. But he was actually stopped by Yin Long just as he was about to turn around and leave the room.

"No, I'm going with you. From now on, I'll help you get to the bottom of things like this, I'll also help you deal with them."

Jiu Meiyu's eyebrows couldn't help but furrow slightly as Yin Long made his declaration, his eyes looking deeply at Yin Long. He couldn't resist opening his mouth in an attempt to dissuade Yin Long, but he was quickly silenced by Yin Long.

"I know what you might be thinking, but this line of work is unsavory and ig..."

"There's no point in trying to dissuade me, I've made up my mind. My father has entrusted the protection of my sisters to me, and that is a duty I will accomplish no matter what. Little Huo is the next clan leader and I will make sure that no one can shake her reign, I will deal with anyone who would try to assassinate her or otherwise steal the position that is rightfully hers."

Yin Long's expression was dignified and serious as he spoke, leaving Jiu Meiyu no room to say anything else. This was the decision that Yin Long had come to, Lang Huo would take the position of clan leader and Yin Long would act as her shadow and blade to deal with all who would harm her. He also knew that he couldn't step forward and show off his actual abilities, if others learned about his skills and strength then they could use that as a base to undermine Lang Huo's position by saying that there was a male heir more suited to the position.

Something like that might even quietly split the Lang clan in half as more and more people gathered under the banner of Yin Long, a banner he had no interest in raising. As such, he would remain quiet and lowkey, he would take up the same position that Jiu Meiyu had certainly taken up for his father all those years. Jiu Meiyu recognized the determination in Yin Long's gaze and could only nod his head and accept it.

"Very well, come with me."