Gazing at the exquisite face of the beautiful boy below her, a memory that had long been eroded by the waters of time faintly emerged within Grandmother Mu's mind.
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It was during the winter of the Year 707 NCE. Fierce chaos blazed across the North Aislu Continent as word had spread amongst the noble clans and cultivation sects that the True Racial Inheritance of the Ancient Dragon race, the mightiest of the Seven Ancient Races, had been unearthed by some unknown youth. This news had everyone, even the forces outside of the North Aislan Continent, salivating at the thought of possessing it.
An 'Inheritance' was akin to a resource – much like coal, oil, or other magic metals and crystals. Most inheritances were shallow and weak and were usually assigned the status of 'low' or 'mid-level' resource points. Powerful forces rarely went all out to compete for these resources as the risk-reward ratio was pitifully insufficient.
That said, there were very rare instances where a 'large' or 'Titled' inheritance appeared. Such inheritances were on the level of strategic resource points and saw fierce competition between large groups and organizations. Bloodshed, schemes, and even wars were waged to compete for such resources.
As its name might suggest, 'Titled inheritances' weren't very common. In the seven hundred years of the New Calendar Era, less than fifty such inheritances were unearthed across the entire world. However, those who managed to win and secure these inheritances, all grew to be powerful factions without fail.
Half of the Eighty-One Orthodox Sects in the current period gained that position and status due to these inheritances. The importance and benefits of a 'Titled Inheritance' was evident from this fact alone.
But! Unknown to most people, there existed a level of resource that was considered even greater than the strategic-level Titled Inheritance. It was…
The True Racial Inheritance of the Seven Ancient Races.
It is rumoured that only seven such inheritances exist across the world and that each inheritance contained the total knowledge, wisdom, and power of a respective Ancient Race; put together as a final hope before their extinction. It was unknown how or why they had gone extinct and had almost all traces of their existence scrubbed clean from this world.
But putting that aside, the final inheritance that they had left behind was widely considered to be unrivalled. After all, this was the inheritance of an entire race which, according to myths and legends, had the power to travel the stars!
To date, only one of the True Racial Inheritances had been unearthed and it was the inheritance of the Ancient Elves. This inheritance was unearthed at the very beginning of the New Calendar Era by the Heavenly Spirit Empire and as a result, the Heavenly Spirit Empire was then and still is THE MOST powerful organization in the entire world.
Such was the value of a True Racial Inheritance.
And now, in the Year 707 NCE, a second True Racial Inheritance was unearthed; one that was put together by the Ancient Dragon race.
All sects, noble houses, organizations, and foreign forces across the world were instantly spurred on to possess this inheritance. They tore apart all pretences and lunged to bite the throats of even their nearest and dearest friends.
Back then, the Mu Household was none of the more notable noble houses in the North Aislan Continent. They weren't too strong and were even considered the weakest noble house by their peers as years of systematic corruption and infighting had resulted in the Mu Household weakening to the point of near collapse.
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Grandfather Mu was its Patriarch during this time. However, his power and influence had been the lowest of any Patriarch throughout history as his half-brothers and relatives all formed their respective cliques and groups to rebel against him. Grandfather Mu hadn't possessed the iron-blooded resolution of ridding the Mu Household of these parasites and had allowed them to fester and suck on the marrow of its foundation.
However, his failure as a Patriarch did not stem from incompetence –one must remember that Grandfather Mu had prevailed in the competition for Heir and had been named as the Patriarch by the Succession Stele- but rather from his lack of heart in managing the family.
And how could he have the heart? Especially after having lost his infant son to the schemes of his enemies.
At that time, Grandmother Mu had grown to loathe and blame her husband for his inability to save their child and protect him. She had even developed self-hatred and had tried to end her life many times from the heartbreak and guilt that tortured her every waking second.
The fires of war raged outside the walls of her abode as everyone fought and raced to possess the invaluable Racial True Inheritance. Grandmother Mu, however, was indifferent. To her, nothing was more valuable than the son that she had lost.
Was he alive? Was he well? Where was he? She knew the answer to none of these questions. And she hated herself for this ignorance.
She engaged in active self-harm to use the pain as a means to punish herself for her mistake back then and as a means to relieve the slightest bit of guilt torturing her heart, mind and soul.
She would've even taken her life a long time ago had it not been for that divine prediction of a Grand Elder that she would be reunited with that which she had lost. His words were vague and unclear, but they formed the light of hope that kept Grandmother Mu going for all these years.
Grandmother Mu sat alone in a gazebo and gazed at the rain of snow falling heavily on her garden and painting the world white.
Winter was the only thing that she liked in this joyless life of hers. She liked it because it was during such a time that she had given birth to her child. She also liked it because it gave her the impression of wiping everything clean and allowing one to start over again.
As she sat in the gazebo, staring blankly into the empty white space before her, she suddenly saw a red-coloured figure soundlessly crash in her garden. Grandmother Mu was startled out of her blank gaze. She thought that the intruder was an enemy and raised her energy to combat them.
"Not… an… enemy," hissed the red-coloured figure through pained breath. It was only then did Grandmother Mu realised that the red colour on the intruder's clothes wasn't dye but rather fresh blood!
While her mind struggled to make sense of the situation, the intruder presented something large and heavy with its arms and painfully whispered, "Hide… him… Enemies… are coming… I will… lead them… away."
Grandmother Mu snapped out of her daze and quickly arrived to receive the object. It was when the object switched hands did she realize that the heavy item was actually a person! Curiously, the black-cloaked person who seemed to be in a deep sleep gave her an intimate feeling. As if this person was the missing piece that her heart had lacked.
Grandmother Mu was shocked by this feeling. Her mind could not help but recall the words of that Grand Elder. Tears involuntarily fell from her eyes as she slowly reached with her hand to part the cloth covering the sleeping person's face.
Just as she was about to remove the cloth, the bloodied intruder spoke and interrupted her actions. "I will… leave… Please… protect… him."
The intruder stood with difficulty and turned to look at Grandmother Mu for an instant before disappearing with a flash.
In that sole instant, Grandmother Mu had seen the most beautiful face that could ever be imagined. She saw the face of an angel.
And after that, she never saw that face ever again.
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Asked that question, Wuzhi smiled at Grandmother Mu and replied, "Chu Yuechen. That is my mother's name. She used to be the Sect Master of the Sacred Snow Heart Sect and was Chu Mingxi's elder sister."
Grandmother Mu's heart stilled at that answer. Tears started to fall from her eyes. The memory of that winter night emerged with full clarity.
Yes. She remembered. She knew now why she found Wuzhi's face similar. It was the face of that angel!
The angel that had returned to her… her son.
Grandmother Mu howled with tears, startling her husband, Wuzhi, and everyone within the Cloud Crane Pavilion. Nobody understood why the Empress Dowager-like woman was suddenly screeching like a banshee.
"L-Lan'er!? What's wrong? Why are you crying so suddenly?" asked a panicked Grandfather Mu. He then turned towards Wuzhi and furiously bellowed, "You! What have you done to my wife!?!"
The young scholar was also speechless. 'What the hell? Didn't I just answer your question? Why the hell are you suddenly crying!?'
Just like the rest of the people in the pavilion, Wuzhi was also not aware of the secret interaction between Grandmother Mu and his mother. He stood dumbfounded, mind frantically racing to come up with another solution to this troublesome situation.
Grandfather Mu grew even more enraged at Wuzhi's non-reply. "Guards! Capture this bastard!" he roared.