Vol. 1 - Ch. 57 - Child, I Am Your Grandfather

After one spirit discovered this ability, the other departed spirits quickly realized it as well. They entered the dream realms of their junior clan members.

That night, the Chen Clan was destined for a storm of unrest. Countless slumbering clansmen murmured in their dreams, stirred by the sudden presence of their ancestors.

In the clan leader's chamber, while others had already retired, Chen Xingzhen remained awake, pondering the future direction of the family and the necessities for the coming winter.

As the clan leader, he couldn't afford to be lax, and the weight of responsibility bore heavily on his shoulders.

As dusk fell, the tiredness on Chen Xingzhen's face reflected a full day's work. Although his Blood Coagulation martial body had ample qi and blood, age had caught up with him.

The gradual decline of his internal energy prevented him from regaining the vigor of his youth.

Chen Xingzhen finally stopped thinking and lay down to rest.

In his dream, an elusive and indistinct figure appeared. With a furrowed brow, the sleeping Chen Xingzhen tried to make out the face behind the mist.

When the fog lifted, he exclaimed in amazement,

"Father? Is it really you?"

Seeing the familiar face in front of him, Chen Xingzhen, now in his sixties, felt a surge of emotion.

The features were even clearer than the rejuvenating fruits on the Divine Tree, resembling his father's appearance during their mortal days.

"Xingzhen, you've suffered all these years," Chen Changming's expression softened as he looked at the elderly figure in front of him, someone now close to his own age.

There was a trace of pain in his eyes.

But he couldn't blame his son. The family's migration back then had been fraught with difficulties, and even as the clan leader, he couldn't remain aloof.

However, they had managed to preserve a thread of the family bloodline that led to the miraculous fruit of rebirth.

"Not suffering, Father. How are you doing down there?" Chen Xingzhen asked.

Chen Changming hesitated for a moment. Since awakening with the power of the Divine Tree after his death, he had no memory of the intervening years or how he had fared.

However, to comfort Chen Xingzhen, he smiled and replied, "I've been fine down there!"

"That's good, that's good!" Chen Xingzhen's relief was palpable.

Chen Xingzhen nodded repeatedly, reassured that his father seemed to be doing quite well in the afterlife.

"Oh, by the way, your elder brothers will be coming to see you soon. You can catch up with them," Chen Changming said.

"Even my elder brothers are coming?" Chen Xingzhen's expression changed.

Though he spoke with anticipation, there was an underlying uneasiness. If even his deceased relatives were visiting him, could it be that they were here to take him away?

Despite his advanced age, he hadn't expected his life to be cut so short. The clan's affairs were still unresolved, and the next clan leader hadn't been chosen yet.

Was he really supposed to leave now?

Seeing Chen Xingzhen's changing expression, Chen Changming hastily patted his own head.

He couldn't blame Chen Xingzhen for jumping to conclusions; he had forgotten to explain clearly.

Feeling his own ghostly form weakening in the dream, Chen Changming began to urgently recount the events surrounding the rejuvenating fruit.

"Xingzhen, listen to me..."

....

"The situation is like this: the resurrection of our clansmen's spirits depends entirely on the power of the Divine Tree," Chen Tianshun explained.

"However, Qingyu, reaching the Innate Realm at your age makes you the first in our clan. I am truly happy for you!"

Chen Qingyu beamed with pride, feeling as though he had returned to the vigor of his youth.

Yet, despite hearing about the resurrection of their deceased clansmen's spirits, a hint of confusion lingered in his eyes. Even though Chen Tianshun had personally informed him, the concept still felt abstract and difficult to grasp.

Just as Chen Qingyu was about to inquire further, the figure in front of him suddenly vanished.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dream realm, Chen Xing was filled with excitement. "Tianjing, tell me quickly, which room is my grandson in? I want to see him with my own eyes," he asked eagerly.

When he had passed away, Chen Tianjing hadn't married, leaving no children behind---a deep regret that lingered in his heart. Now, the prospect of finally seeing his grandson filled him with a joy he had never known. How could he not be excited?

After receiving the answer, Chen Xing resolutely left the dream and began wandering through several rooms until he finally found Chen Qinghe, who was peacefully asleep.

Seeing the young man who bore a striking resemblance to himself, Chen Xing felt a surge of relief.

"Chen Qinghe, what a good name!" he thought to himself.

"And he looks handsome too!"

Without hesitation, Chen Xing entered his grandson's dream. In the dream realm, the two figures gradually appeared in a void.

Chen Xing, looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar young man before him, called out softly,

"Kid, I am your grandfather!"

Initially puzzled and curious, Chen Qinghe in the dream soon showed a hint of anger upon hearing these words.

He coldly replied, "I am still your father!"

With that, Chen Qinghe swung his fist, shattering the figure in front of him and returning to a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the bewildered Chen Xing stood there, wondering why the situation hadn't gone as he had imagined.

How exactly did Heaven teach children these days? He'd have to discuss this later!

As for tonight, he felt that he could no longer enter the dream realm.

In the Ancestral Hall, Ji Yang silently observed the situation within the clan and quickly discovered a limitation. Although the deceased clan members could enter dreams, there were various restrictions.

For instance, their time in the dream realm was limited, and if they encountered any resistance from the dreamer, they would be swiftly expelled from the dream.

Additionally, after each dream entry, the Yin energy of these deceased clan members would diminish. Among them, Chen Tianshun's Yin energy depleted the fastest, resulting in the shortest stay in the dream realm.

This seemed to correlate with their cultivation levels---the denser the qi energy of the living, the faster it dissipated the Yin energy of the spirits.

As a result, these ghosts had little to no attack power. However, Ji Yang considered another divine ability he possessed: "Protective Armor." He wondered if this ability could allow interaction between the ghosts and living warriors.

If it could, it had great potential. But this Protective Armor also consumed his vitality, and with his vitality dwindling, he feared it might not sustain him. Perhaps it would be best to deal with this later.

Moreover, Ji Yang believed that the resurrected spirits within the family had a more important purpose than fighting. Their experience and knowledge could greatly strengthen the Chen Clan.

Many of these awakened spirits had already left the dream realm, but their curiosity about the current state of the family persisted.

They wandered around the clan like lingering ghosts, unseen by the living. It was fortunate that the living couldn't see them; otherwise, rumors of hauntings would have quickly spread.

Yet, after tonight's dream entrance, the stability of the Chen family might be in jeopardy. As time passed, the sky grew brighter. The first rays of the morning sun rose, accompanied by the crowing of the ghost rooster.

However, when the sunlight touched the wandering spirits within the clan, it felt as though a blazing fire consumed their ethereal forms. Even the dense Yin energy in their bodies quickly dissipated under the sun's rays, much faster than during their dream encounters.

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