...
Lu Bing didn't wait for her father's instinctive question before speaking directly.
"I just encountered sothing strange in front of the divine gate..."
Once she started, she didn't stop, chattering on and on, endlessly describing everything.
The listeners were left dumbfounded.
Words left at the divine gate—nothing surprising about that.
The character "Lu" at the top wasn't strange either.
If tens of thousands of years had passed without a single person leaving their mark, then soone finally doing so might be worth marveling at.
But there would always be successors.
From the past to the present, more and more people had been able to leave their nas at the divine gate's summit. The era was advancing, everything was progressing.
The flaws in cultivation realms and techniques were being gradually refined.
Later Qi Refiners would only stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, growing ever stronger.
The only thing developing in a worse direction was...
The issue of rare natural treasures and such.
Many rare natural treasures required a certain age. With more Qi Refiners, the demand for aged treasures far exceeded supply.
However, major clans, powers, and nations all had counterasures—techniques like artificial cultivation or secret thods.
It wasn't that everything artificially grown was bad.
So were good, others were bad.
The good part was that improvents and grafting were possible. The bad part was that certain species strictly required naturally aged ingredients, which might result in insufficient dicinal potency.
So in such an environnt, it was normal for more and more prodigies and powerhouses to erge.
But the current problem was that this person not only bore the surna Lu but could also erase other people's nas at the divine gate's summit and carve a 'Lu' character so deeply that even Lu Bing couldn't touch it, let alone replace it.
That was truly baffling.
Lu Bing's talent was already excellent.
Soone even better than her—one could only imagine how terrifying that was.
Lu's father remained silent: "As far as I know, under normal circumstances, our Lu Family shouldn't have such a young prodigy."
As soon as he said this—
The eldest Madam beside him spoke up: "But we can recruit such a young prodigy."
"My suggestion is to investigate imdiately. We must quickly identify this person. Since his surna is Lu, even if he's not directly from our bloodline, we can absorb him as a branch family or collateral relative!"
"Most importantly, it's this secret technique of leaving words at the gate."
"Bingbing, let your aunt see your hand!!"
Lu Bing raised her hand and said, "It's still a little numb."
The beautiful woman examined it with a secret technique and then nodded: "Such a secret technique is truly terrifying. You're only suffering its aftereffects now, which can gradually recover. If the you in front of the divine gate wasn't just consciousness but your soul or physical body, then after that strike, your fingers would never grow back or beco unusable."
"They'd need to be replaced."
Lu Bing hadn't expected such severe consequences: "Just leaving words at the divine gate can retain this level of power? What kind of technique is this?"
The beautiful woman shook her head: "I don't know what technique this is, but we can find him, recruit him, and then offer heavy rewards in exchange."
Lu's father nodded: "That's possible, but we need to find him first and see where he cos from. If he's a hidden prodigy within the Lu Family, even better. If not... we'll discuss it later."
Nearby.
Lu Bing's birth mother, Luo Qingshi's expression subtly changed.
When it ca to finding soone, she thought of that small figure lingering in her mory.
She gently tugged at Lu Teng's sleeve, signaling him to follow her.
Lu Teng imdiately said to the others: "Alright, alright, today is Bingbing's joyous day. Let's not talk about this. Bingbing, go change your clothes first. We'll head to Mingfeng Tower together later. I'll go get sothing with your mother first."
With that, he followed Luo Qingshi to the side.
He whispered, "What's wrong, dear?"
Luo Qingshi looked up, her eyes reddening: "Have you forgotten Ding'er!?"
One sentence.
Lu Teng froze as if struck by lightning, unable to et Luo Qingshi's eyes.
He lowered his head, sighed, looked up again with helpless eyes.
"I haven't forgotten."
"But my confinent hasn't ended yet. I can't leave Ji Continent. The elders and my father placed a joint restriction on —once I leave Ji Continent, I'll be forcibly pulled back."
"Qingshi, wait a little longer, okay? Once my confinent period is over, I will..."
He couldn't finish the rest of his words.
Luo Qingshi's gaze was like a sharp knife, stabbing straight into his heart.
"Lu Teng, are you really not just being perfunctory with ?"
"Nearly twenty years—I've been away from Ding'er for nearly twenty years."
"I can't bear to think about how much grievance and hardship he's suffered alone in the Third Circle of Great Han for these twenty years, without parents."
"Even I, his own mother, almost forgot about my suffering child because of the false comfort of my current life."
"You can look for that Lu-surnad genius who left words at the divine gate, so why can't you look for Ding'er!?"
"With the Lu Family's power, even if we're far from Great Han, even if you can't leave Ji Continent, can't you just send soone to negotiate? We can offer money, resources, any conditions—let Great Han help find Ding'er! Is that really impossible!?"
"Is it that you can't find him, or you don't want to!!?"
Since it had co to this, Lu Teng could only sigh and honestly reveal his thoughts.
"Dear, don't get worked up first. Let ask you a few questions. If we really do as you say and bring Ding'er back—what if his talent is bad? Even if his talent is excellent, he's already missed the optimal ti for foundation-setting and enlightennt. How would he fit in within the Lu Family?"
"Would Bing'er and Xiu'er accept this stranger as their eldest brother?"
"Would Yuexin and Yansheng accept him as their younger brother?"
"Would father and the elders accept him as an ordinary person of the Lu Family's direct bloodline!?"
"I'm not saying I won't look for him. I just don't have enough say right now. Wait until I gain more influence, until I can protect him even if he's ordinary—then we'll find him, okay?"
Luo Qingshi understood this logic too.
She was just heartbroken.
And unwilling.
But the current reality was that finding Lu Ding might not be a good thing.
Yet not finding him, not knowing—she would again imagine Lu Ding suffering, and feel miserable again.
Luo Qingshi held back her tears and spoke: "Fine, Lu Teng, I won't make things difficult for you. But I want to know how Ding'er is doing now."
"It's not like back then when we were both sealed in that secret chamber, unable to leave. This one request, you should be able to fulfill, right!?"
Lu Teng sighed: "I can. I'll secretly send soone to Great Han to negotiate."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Luo Qingshi's shoulder: "Alright, dear, don't be upset. I swear, once I have enough say, I'll do everything in my power to give Ding'er the best things in the world and satisfy all his demands!"
Luo Qingshi didn't speak. She just stared blankly into the distance, not even knowing in which direction Great Han lay.
She had no power, no background. All she had was Lu Teng's love for her and two very promising children.
Lu Bing and Lu Xiu.
Though she was their mother, she still hoped that Lu Ding would have excellent talent.
If he didn't...
She hadn't thought about it. She didn't dare to think about it.
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