Chapter 9: The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Seal!

  He heard Helian You still worrying about whether he could survive in this perilous forest, Gong Sunjan couldn't help but burst out laughing, as if he had heard something extremely ridiculous.

  He Lian was confused by the laughter, looked down at himself, and seemed to be fine, so he innocently turned to Gong Sun who was still laughing uncontrollably.

  After a long time, Gong Sun finally stopped his somewhat manic laughter and changed to a low-headed smile, looking at He Lianuo with a satisfied expression, as if he was admiring an extremely delicate work of art. He Lianuo felt uneasy under his gaze and shouted in anger: "Hey, old monk, are you crazy? Just now you were still smiling foolishly, and now you're staring at me again! Are you plotting something again?"

  Gongsun Yan, however, completely ignored the disrespect in Helian Nuo's words and continued to smile, saying: "I'm laughing at you, a son of the Helian family, being worried that you'll lose your life in this You Yue Forest. This is the most ridiculous joke I've ever heard in my life!"

  "What's so funny? Why is it a joke? Besides, I'm Helian's son, what does this continent have to do with me?" Apparently, Helian Nuo had been confused by Gong Sunyang's endless chatter.

  Gongsun Jian burst out laughing again: "Haha, dead end? For others, entering the interior of the Youyue Forest is indeed a fatal move, almost certain death. But for you Helián siblings, it's a different story altogether. Do you really think that your Helián family is just an ordinary, common aristocratic family in the secular world? Do you really think that the Helián family has been guarding Tiān Shuāng for generations relying solely on the innate military talent of the Helián siblings or the Tianjié Gōngfǎ Xián Bīng Yìn passed down through the Helián generations?"

  "What's that, you're saying that there's more to it than just these? Does Helian have something else to rely on?" Helian Nuo was bombarded with questions by Gong Sun Jian, and he felt a bit dizzy. He only vaguely felt that the Helian family seemed to be far from simple as he had understood.

  "Hmph, you fake Hélán scion wouldn't know anything!", Gōngsūn Ràng said with a pleased smile, finally not keeping it under wraps anymore: "Actually, before falling to Tiān Shuāng as a vassal, the Hélán family had another illustrious identity: one of the 'Four Great Sacred Soul Families of the Ancient Times'!!"

  "Four Great Sacred Soul Families of the Ancient Era?" Helianthus subconsciously felt that this title seemed to have a significant origin, and according to his logic, anything that could be connected to the ancient era wouldn't be so simple.

  "In the ancient times, there were four great sacred soul families, also known as the Sacred Clans. It's said that each of these four families had produced Soul Saints in the past. You know, Soul Venerables are extremely rare, and every time one appears in the world, it causes a huge sensation. As for those who are even higher than them, the Soul Saints, they're almost like gods, with hardly anyone having seen them before! Gong Sunjian's face was filled with yearning, clearly he had never seen a Soul Saint-level expert before either. And as someone with Soul Venerable-level strength himself, his heart deeply longed to advance to the Soul Saint level one day and look down upon the continent."

  "In the past, your Helian clan was one of the four great sacred clans in the ancient world, and on the continent, there were almost no forces that dared to offend the dignity of Helian. If they only had what you knew, how could they have dominated the ancient world with their power? However, it was also because your Helian clan was too proud, and the younger generation was mostly arrogant, which easily led to jealousy from others. On the continent, they had indeed offended many forces, and the most frightening thing was that the Helian family had always looked down on the other three great sacred clans, even repeatedly provoking them. In the end, the three families could no longer tolerate it and finally joined hands to destroy the Helian clan at a great cost. Only Helian Wushuang, who was still a young man at the time, escaped by chance while traveling outside. It is worth noting that although the Helian clan had many enemies on the continent, they also had a few friends who were unwilling to see the Helian family die out. These friends jointly requested the three families to spare Helian Wushuang and leave some descendants for the Helian family. The three families, although wanting to eradicate the Helian clan, were forced to compromise under pressure, but proposed that the ancestral land of the Helian family must be managed by the three families, and Helian Wushuang and his future generations would not be allowed to return. Helian Wushuang was thus spared from being pursued, but he had lost interest in martial arts and entered the secular world with a disheartened mood, continuing to travel around. Later, by chance, he became close friends with Tang Tian, the founding emperor of the Tianxiao Empire, and together they repelled the Longfeng army and established the Tianxiao Empire. From then on, the Helian family became the guardian deity of the Tianxiao Empire, no longer participating in the struggles of the spiritual world, but enjoying the carefree life of ordinary people. Over time, not to mention the spiritual world, even the later generations of the Helian family almost forgot that their ancestors were once one of the four great sacred clans in the ancient world."

  As he spoke, Gong Sunjan couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. The once-renowned sacred clan had fallen to the point where they were being forced into a desperate situation by ordinary people. This made him think of his own family's experiences, which were surprisingly similar. Both families had risen to great heights and then slowly declined, eventually reaching a point where they were almost at a dead end. It was clear that in this world, nothing was eternal, and no one could maintain their high status forever. The rise and fall of the world would always lead to its cruel renewal and replacement. However, some people took these ups and downs as experiences, turning them into wealth, waiting for the day when they could rise again. Others, however, never recovered from their downfall and gradually disappeared from the world, no longer being mentioned by anyone.

  Gongsun let out a sudden silence, and Helian You faintly guessed that he was thinking of his own family's decline, and his heart was also somewhat melancholic. However, there were still some doubts in his mind, so he asked softly: "Since the Helian clan used to be one of the four great sacred clans, why is it now so weak?" Indeed, before being exterminated, the Helian clan was already an existence as strong as a giant among ordinary people. But Helian You knew that this was only in the eyes of ordinary people. As the saying goes, "your ability determines the world you can touch." A poor farmer's son would never be able to access state secrets. Similarly, the Gongsun clan, which had entered the secular world, should not have any contact with the world of souls, let alone compare strengths.

  Upon hearing He Lian's question, Gong Sun finally reacted and rubbed his eyes, saying: "As far as I know, your He Lian clan had a contract with the sacred beast Tian Lang in ancient times and obtained its power. It was this power that allowed the He Lian family to become one of the four great sacred families of ancient times. Putting aside soul techniques and martial arts, the true source of fear for your He Lian clan comes from the Tian Lang mark on your chest. However, the Tian Lang mark on you now is incomplete and can only unleash less than a tenth of its power. To obtain the complete Tian Lang mark, one must enter the He Lian ancestral land at the age of ten to bathe in the Tian Lang spring water. The first thing the three families did after occupying the He Lian ancestral land was to destroy the Tian Lang pool, cutting off the He Lian clan's chance to rise again. Without the complete Tian Lang mark, later generations may have produced talents like He Lian, but never a truly powerful individual."

  "Is the Heavenly Wolf Pool destroyed? Doesn't that mean I'll never have a chance to obtain the complete Heavenly Wolf Seal in this lifetime?" Helian asked with concern, his eyes fixed on the faintly visible wolf tattoo on his chest.

  "Otherwise, as far as I know, there are only two ways to get the complete Heavenly Wolf Seal. One is to bathe in the Heavenly Wolf Spring, but that's no longer possible now. The other way is to find a living Heavenly Wolf and re-establish a contract with it, which can also obtain the complete Heavenly Wolf Seal again. In fact, the effect of the Heavenly Wolf Seal obtained through this method is far better than bathing in the Heavenly Wolf Pool!" Gong Sunjian's eyes reignited with a fierce flame, his face filled with expectation as he stared at Helianuo.

  "Is the Sky Wolf still alive?" Hearing that there was another way to obtain a complete Sky Wolf imprint, Helianuo also breathed a sigh of relief and became excited. However, Gong Sunjian's next words poured cold water on him again. The Sky Wolf? Or is it still alive?! Helianuo's heart was filled with doubts. To think that in the past few days, he had only seen some ordinary soul beasts on the outskirts of the Youyue Forest, and they were already so powerful and terrifying. Then how formidable would a Sacred-level soul beast be?! Taking a step back, even if he had a way to deal with the Sky Wolf and had the ability to re-contract with it, where would he go to find a living Sky Wolf? After all, sacred beasts are mysterious existences like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!

  It was as if the knot in Helian's heart had been untied, and Gong Sun let out a faint smile, speaking in a mysterious low tone: "Don't worry about how to get close to the Sky Wolf, the person by your side is fully capable of helping you complete this task. As for finding the Sky Wolf, haha, people think that the Saint-stage Sky Wolf that surpassed the 9th stage has been extinct for thousands of years, but my Gong Sun family has discovered that in the deepest part of the Youyue Forest, there is a secret cave where a mature Sky Wolf lives!!"