Zhan Yue pondered the question, letting out a long, heavy sigh. She reached up and aggressively scratched the back of her head, momentarily breaking her dignified posture in sheer frustration.
"Xiao Ning, there are many profound mysteries in this world that even the greatest Dou Zun or Dou Sheng cannot comprehend until now," Zhan Yue explained, her tone apologetic.
"Maybe your sister is one of these grand anomalies. Even being direct blood relatives, genetic inheritances can be fickle. Sometimes a bloodline skips generations, or perhaps the other sibling needs a specific, acquired opportunity to trigger it like any inheritance. Or maybe, her bloodline mutated independently due to an external factor we don't know about."
She dropped her hand, offering him a reassuring, genuine smile.
"The truth is, I couldn't explain it even if I had a hundred years to research it," Zhan Yue admitted freely. "But I want you to rest easy. I am telling you this so you understand her value and her situation. Do not overthink it. Both of you are safe and secure here. If any faction, be it the Demon Flame Valley or anyone else, tries to cause a problem for you or your sister, they will have to step over my dead body and the entire might of the Jia Nan Academy first."
Yoriichi looked at the fierce, unyielding resolve in the Dou Huang's eyes. He felt a profound sense of respect for her. He nodded silently, accepting her protection and her honesty.
With the heavy political and biological mysteries temporarily shelved, their conversation naturally drifted toward the pursuit of martial strength.
Yoriichi took the opportunity to ask a few highly technical doubts regarding his newly formed liquid Dou Qi, specifically inquiring about how a Dou Shi safely managed the hydrostatic pressure within their meridians. Zhan Yue, thrilled to discuss martial theory with someone who could actually keep up with her, answered with eager detail.
Eventually, theory gave way to practice.
"Show me," Zhan Yue challenged, picking up a sturdy fallen bamboo branch from the ground. "Your sword is broken, but show me the density of a 2-Star Dou Shi who can cleave a Dou Ling."
Yoriichi didn't refuse. He stepped into the center of the courtyard, picking up a matching bamboo branch.
For the next twenty minutes, the courtyard echoed with the sharp, cracking sounds of bamboo clashing. Yoriichi did not use Sun Breathing, relying purely on foundational swordsmanship and his newly refined Dou Qi.
Even holding her strength back to the Dou Shi level, Zhan Yue was more surprised. Every time their branches met, the sheer, crushing density of Yoriichi's Dou Qi sent violent vibrations up her arm. His liquid energy wasn't just dense; it was heavy, carrying the paradoxical, flowing weight of a deep ocean mixed with the explosive compression of a volcano.
When the bamboo branch in Yoriichi's hand finally splintered and shattered from the sheer force of his own Dou Qi, they called the spar to an end.
"Your foundation is a fortress of iron," Zhan Yue praised, tossing her own branch aside, slightly out of breath but grinning widely. "Focus on stabilizing it for the next few weeks. I must return to my administrative duties."
She turned to leave, but as she reached the arched gateway of the courtyard, she paused, looking back over her shoulder.
"Xiao Ning," Zhan Yue called out, her tone adopting a thoughtful, almost hesitant quality. "Regarding your sister's bloodline anomaly... you said you both share the exact same parents."
"We do," Yoriichi affirmed.
"You both don't know much about your parents, do you? And you've never spoken about them in your academy files," Zhan Yue pointed out. "Perhaps... you can write to your grandfather back in Wu Tan City. Ask him about your mother and father. Maybe... you can learn something about your lineage that serves as a clue to this bestial resonance. Hmm... just a little idea."
Without waiting for his response, she offered a swift wave and vanished from the courtyard, leaving Yoriichi alone with his thoughts.
Soon, the golden hues of the afternoon sun bled into the deep, bruised purples of impending twilight. The darkness was looming.
Yoriichi moved to the small, open-air fire hut situated near the balcony of his courtyard. The rigorous spar and the days of unconsciousness had left his mortal vessel demanding sustenance. He gathered the spare vegetables and herbs he kept stocked in his spatial ring and began to prepare dinner.
He moved with the same fluid, absolute precision he used in combat. He diced lotus roots, crushed fragrant herbs, and maintained the fire at a perfect, even temperature.
As the vegetarian broth began to boil in the iron pot, releasing a rich, earthy aroma into the cool evening air, Yoriichi scooped a small amount into a wooden cup to taste it.
He blew on the steaming liquid, taking a slow sip.
Yet, his mind was entirely elsewhere. He was replaying the last moments after Zhan Yue's goodbye.
'You both don't know about your parents...'
Yoriichi closed his crimson eyes. He dove deep into the vast, perfectly preserved archives of his own mind, sifting through the sixteen years of memories that belonged to the Xiao Ning.
He searched from the earliest moments of his birth up until the day his own soul had overtaken the vessel. He looked for faces, for voices, for any mention of a mother or a father.
He found nothing.
It wasn't that the memories were blurry; it was a profound, absolute void. He remembered the First Elder, his grandfather, raising them with strict, overbearing affection. He remembered growing up in the Xiao Clan compound, playing with Xiao Yu, and his subsequent descent into arrogant rivalry with Xiao Yan.
But regarding his actual parents? It was as if they had never existed. The First Elder never spoke of them. There were no portraits in their ancestral hall, no graves they visited during the Qingming Festival, and no passing remarks from the servants. It was an unspoken, ironclad taboo within the Xiao Clan.
Yoriichi lowered the wooden cup, the steam curling around his stoic face.
To the original Xiao Ning, an arrogant, pampered youth, this lack of parents was simply a normalized reality, easily overshadowed by his grandfather's overwhelming presence.
But to Yoriichi's ancient, analytical mind, this sheer lack of data was a glaring, massive anomaly. A mutated primordial ice bloodline with bestial resonance did not simply spawn from a standard border-city clan without a catalyst.
"Hmm," Yoriichi murmured quietly to the crackling fire, a profound sense of mystery settling heavily over his Dao heart.