NOVGO.NET Chapter 232 - 232
Chapter 232: Shocked Into Unconsciousness
Noticing Lu Xunxian eyeing his tea, the elder smiled faintly.
"Young friend, you seem rather familiar."
Before Lu Xunxian could respond, Lu Fenggu jumped in first, his voice brimming with excitement.
"Branch Master, this is a real gem! I recruited him from outside--he wants to join our Desolation Branch."
"Oh? A gem? If you're calling him a gem, he must be no ordinary talent."
The elder's tea was ready. He poured himself a cup, then poured one each for Lu Xunxian and Lu Fenggu. After taking a sip, he smiled.
"Absolutely. Patriarch, you know what? I watched him with my own eyes--in a mere hundred and ten years, he went from Peak Immortal Monarch all the way to the Early Immortal Emperor Realm."
PFFT!
The Branch Master, who had just taken a sip of Dao Comprehension Tea, couldn't hold it in and sprayed the tea all over Lu Fenggu's face.
Lu Fenggu: ???
"How long? Say that again?"
The Branch Master stared at Lu Fenggu with wide eyes, his voice thick with disbelief.
"A hundred and ten years."
Lu Fenggu suppressed a wave of revulsion, wiped the tea from his face, and repeated himself.
The Branch Master's worry evaporated in an instant. In a flash, he appeared before Lu Xunxian, seized his hand, and began probing his cultivation.
Had the System not guaranteed that even a Peak Dao Venerable couldn't detect its disguise, Lu Xunxian probably would have struck back.
And what the Branch Master found nearly brought the heavens crashing down upon him.
He turned to Lu Xunxian with trembling hands, his voice laced with alarm.
"Young friend, how old are you?"
"Reporting to the Branch Master, I'm a little over two hundred years old."
Lu Xunxian answered truthfully.
Upon receiving Lu Xunxian's precise answer, the Branch Master lost all composure. His vision went black and he fainted dead away.
Lu Fenggu, standing to the side, hadn't processed the information yet. But the moment he did, he too couldn't take it--his vision went black and he collapsed unconscious.
Watching them both faint, Lu Xunxian suddenly realized his mistake.
Not good. He'd forgotten to alter his bone age.
This was bad. A two-hundred-year-old Immortal Emperor?
If word got out, it would absolutely trigger an investigation by the Lu Family's old monsters, and might even invite unnecessary trouble.
But since they'd already discovered it, Lu Xunxian knew there was no hiding it anymore. He'd just have to take things one step at a time.
Before long, the Branch Master was the first to wake.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have fainted--at least not while wielding his Late Dao Venerable cultivation.
But atop this mountain, everyone was suppressed to mortal levels, himself included.
Unless he chose to abandon his life as a mortal here, he was no different from an ordinary person--which was why the news of Lu Xunxian being a two-hundred-year-old Immortal Emperor had shocked him into unconsciousness.
After regaining consciousness, the Branch Master looked at Lu Xunxian as though he were gazing upon a monster.
A two-hundred-year-old Immortal Emperor. Even across the entire Dao Realm, one could rightfully call this unprecedented and unrepeatable.
As far as he knew, the youngest Immortal Emperor had been a prodigy from his own Lu Family. Yet even that person had been over thirty thousand years old when reaching the Immortal Emperor Realm.
Lu Xunxian's talent surpassed that prodigy's a hundredfold. He could scarcely imagine the heights the Desolation Branch could reach if Lu Xunxian joined their ranks.
After forcing himself to calm down, the Branch Master looked at Lu Xunxian with a grave expression.
"Young friend, allow me to introduce myself. I am Lu Daoqian, Branch Master of the Lu Family's Desolation Branch. My cultivation is at the Late Dao Venerable Realm."
"Are you certain you wish to join the Desolation Branch? If you join and later try to leave, the Desolation Branch will destroy your cultivation."
Lu Daoqian fixed Lu Xunxian with a solemn gaze and asked once more for confirmation.
To uncover the truth of his origins, Lu Xunxian didn't hesitate long before nodding in acceptance.
"Junior Lu Xuanxian greets the Branch Master."
"Ha ha ha! Excellent! Then from this day forward, you are my Desolation Branch's Direct Disciple!"
Lu Daoqian burst into hearty laughter.
Lu Xunxian's talent had already reached the level required for a Core Disciple, but the Lu Family was a clan that placed extreme importance on bloodline. Clan rules dictated that only those with Lu Family blood could hold the Core Disciple position.
Thus, even as Branch Master, the most Lu Daoqian could grant Lu Xunxian was the status of Direct Disciple.
Lu Xunxian was somewhat surprised--he hadn't expected to receive the Direct Disciple designation right away.
But after thinking it over, it wasn't that strange.
After all, a two-hundred-year-old Immortal Emperor was the kind of prodigy any force would spare no expense to recruit.
He just wondered what expression Lu Daoqian would make when his true Mid Dao Venerable strength was eventually revealed.
After bestowing the Direct Disciple status upon Lu Xunxian, Lu Daoqian asked another question.
"By the way, do you have any family? If so, you're welcome to bring them here to live in the Lu Family."
A flicker of melancholy crossed Lu Xunxian's face, and his tone turned wistful.
"Reporting to the Branch Master, I'm an orphan. I was abandoned by my parents as an infant and cast into a river. Had I not been lucky enough to be taken in, I'd likely be dead."
"So no, I have no family."
"Is that so? Well, if you don't mind, from today onward, this old man will be your grandfather."
Hearing of Lu Xunxian's past, Lu Daoqian couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. He declared it with a sweeping wave of his hand.
"What happened?"
At that moment, Lu Fenggu, who had fainted earlier, finally came to.
Seeing where he was, he quickly recalled what had transpired. He looked at Lu Xunxian as though staring at some kind of monster.
He'd thought his own achievement of reaching the Peak Immortal Venerable Realm in a hundred thousand years was already terrifying. Yet here was someone even more monstrous--a two-hundred-year-old Immortal Emperor?
Was this even human?
"Ahem, Branch Master, I'll have to decline the grandfather offer."
Lu Xunxian cleared his throat and politely refused.
He had no habit of casually claiming relatives, even though there was a chance that Lu Daoqian shared a deep blood connection with him.
But agreeing to call a stranger "grandfather" on the spot?
Sorry, he couldn't do that.
Hearing Lu Xunxian's words, a flash of disappointment crossed Lu Daoqian's face, but he didn't press the matter.
Having Lu Xunxian become the Desolation Branch's Direct Disciple was already an exceptional outcome.
"All right, hand over your Identity Token."
Lu Daoqian extended his hand and received the Identity Token from Lu Xunxian.
He then channeled a surge of dense Dao Power into it, causing the Identity Token to erupt in brilliant light.
Previously, the Identity Token had been azure. As Lu Daoqian infused it with Dao Power, its glow shifted from azure to blue, and then from blue to purple, before finally settling.