After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 17

The clamor of the Family Tournament gradually subsided, yet the aftershocks were far from over. Night Li’s name, like a boulder tossed into a tranquil lake, had stirred ripples that continued to spread, altering the established order of the Night family.

Shortly after the award ceremony, Night Li, carrying the mysterious mineral and the ancient notebook, returned to her secluded spot beneath the stone cliff in the back mountains. A black-clad, expressionless family steward soon sought her out.

“Miss Night Li,” the steward’s voice was flat and official, carrying a formalized indifference, “The Patriarch requests your presence in the study.”

What was due to happen, finally did.

Night Li was not surprised. For her to rise in such a disruptive manner and for the family’s senior members to be completely unresponsive—that would have been strange. This was both a test and possibly a confrontation.

She nodded calmly: “Lead the way.”

Following the steward, she passed through layers of guards, entered the Night family’s core area, and eventually arrived before a secluded, heavily guarded, independent courtyard. This was the location of Patriarch Night Tian’s study.

The steward stopped outside the door, bowing, and said: “The Patriarch is waiting inside. Miss, please proceed.”

Night Li pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped in.

The study was furnished with an antique yet grand aesthetic. Shelves made of rosewood were filled with various scrolls and classics. The air was filled with a faint scent of ink and a subtle, pervasive sense of pressure. Patriarch Night Tian was not seated at the main desk but was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, facing away from her, gazing out the window at an ancient pine in the courtyard.

Hearing her footsteps, he did not immediately turn around.

Night Li remained silent, standing still. Her gaze quickly and discreetly scanned the furnishings of the study, maintaining a high level of mental alertness.

Silence permeated the air, carrying an invisible pressure that would make any reverent family junior feel uneasy.

However, Night Li remained perfectly calm, her breathing steady, as if she were simply standing in her own yard.

After a long while, Night Tian slowly turned around. His face remained composed, but his deep-set eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s, firmly locked onto Night Li, as if trying to pierce through her body and see all her secrets.

“You are very good,” Night Tian spoke, his voice betraying no emotion. “This tournament was beyond everyone’s expectations.”

“The Patriarch is too kind. It was merely luck,” Night Li gave a slight bow, her tone flat, with no hint of pride.

“Luck?” A subtle, almost imperceptible curve seemed to play on Night Tian’s lips. He walked slowly to the desk and sat down, his fingers lightly tapping the surface. “Continuous victories over strong opponents, even forcing Night Feng to resort to such underhanded means, yet ultimately prevailing and taking the championship. If this is ‘luck,’ then all the years of painstaking cultivation by my Night family juniors must be a joke.”

His words seemed calm but carried an undeniable pressure, cutting straight to the core—What is the secret behind your sudden strength?

Night Li raised her eyes, looking at Night Tian with a frank gaze, not flinching. “I was previously ignorant, but I stumbled upon an opportunity. I accidentally consumed an unusual Vermillion Fruit in the back mountains. After that, I felt my body clear, and my cultivation speed greatly increased, which led to this minor achievement today. As for combat skills, perhaps it was an enlightenment born from the brink of life and death.”

She had long prepared an excuse. A fortuitous encounter with a Vermillion Fruit is the most common and unprovable explanation in the cultivation world. As for combat awareness, attributing it to a life-and-death epiphany was flawless. Whether he believed it or not was his problem.

“An unusual Vermillion Fruit? An enlightenment from the brink of life and death?” Night Tian repeated, his eyes inscrutable. “That is indeed a fortunate opportunity. It seems the Heavenly Dao ultimately favors the diligent. Even those who stumbled before may still have a day to soar.”

His tone abruptly shifted, his voice slightly hardening: “However, you must know that the tree that stands tall in the forest will inevitably be battered by the wind. It is good to be accomplished at a young age, but you must also know how to conceal your sharpness, remain humble, and be based in modesty. The family can grant you glory, and it can also… take everything back. Do not forget your place and become arrogant or make mistakes due to temporary success.”

This was a warning. Warning her not to challenge the family’s authority because of her improved strength, and not to harbor any inappropriate ambitions.

Night Li sneered internally, but her expression remained respectful: “I will keep the Patriarch’s teaching in mind. I will always be a member of the Night family, and all I have obtained is due to the family’s nurturing.” Her words sounded nice, but she glossed over “family’s nurturing,” subtly implying that her rise was primarily due to a “fortuitous encounter” and had little to do with the family.

Night Tian naturally understood the implication, a sharp glint flashed in his eye, but he didn’t take offense. Instead, his tone softened slightly: “It’s good that you understand. Since you have performed exceptionally now, the family will naturally not treat you unfairly. In the future, if you have any difficulties in cultivation, you may come to me or the Elders. Resources will also be tilted in your favor. I hope you cultivate diligently and bring honor to the family soon, not wasting this opportunity.”

This was an attempt at recruitment—a stick followed by a carrot.

“Thank you, Patriarch!” Night Li timely showed a hint of “excitement,” and then, as if remembering something, she slightly frowned, her voice carrying a trace of suitable confusion and sorrow: “I am deeply grateful for the Patriarch’s kindness. It’s just… lately when I cultivate, I occasionally feel unsettled, as if… as if I have a spiritual connection with my deceased parents. Does the Patriarch know what kind of powerful bandits my parents encountered when they went to Black Water City for their mission? Why were… not even their remains recovered? I have never been at peace. If I could know a little, perhaps it would resolve this knot in my heart, which would also benefit my cultivation.”

She finally found an opportunity to steer the conversation toward the mystery of her parents’ disappearance. She lowered her posture, using the excuse of a spiritual knot affecting her cultivation to probe for information.

Sure enough, upon hearing the words “Black Water City,” “parents,” and “mission,” Night Tian’s eyes underwent an extremely subtle change! It was a fleeting flicker, a mix of complicated, obscure, and even a barely noticeable evasive emotion!

Although he immediately masked it by picking up his teacup, how could he deceive Night Li’s keen insight?

“Alas,” Night Tian set down the teacup, letting out a heavy sigh, his face showing a perfectly appropriate expression of regret, “That incident back then was indeed a great loss for the family. Your parents were both brilliant talents, but alas, Heaven envies talent. The family also investigated those bandits extensively, but their movements were secretive and their methods ruthless. After the incident, they vanished as if into thin air, leaving no trace. It is the family’s deepest regret that we could not avenge your parents.”

His words were airtight, attributing everything to “bandits” who mysteriously disappeared. His tone was mournful and his emotions sincere, as if this were truly the case.

But Night Li keenly captured his momentary abnormality and the perfunctory, fact-devoid nature of his reply.

“I see… I apologize for my impertinence.” Night Li lowered her head, hiding the cold light in her eyes, her voice tinged with “disappointment.”

“The deceased are gone, and the living must move forward,” Night Tian waved his hand, his tone returning to the authority of a Patriarch. “Your most important task now is to focus on cultivation and improve your strength, so as not to let your parents’ spirits down. Do not dwell too much on the past. You may leave.”

“Yes, disciple takes her leave.” Night Li bowed and slowly retreated from the study.

Not until the study door closed did the sorrow and regret on Night Tian’s face slowly dissipate, replaced by a profound solemnity. His gaze sharply fixed on the window, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk.

“Vermillion Fruit? Enlightenment? Black Water City…” he murmured to himself, his eyes shifting. “Night Feng… Your daughter seems even less simple than you were back then… Is this a blessing or a curse?”

On the other side, Night Li walked out of the Patriarch’s courtyard, her expression calm, but her heart was blanketed in frost.

Night Tian’s reaction had all but confirmed her suspicion! Her parents’ disappearance was absolutely not an accident! The family’s high-ranking members, at least the Patriarch, definitely knew about it, and possibly even participated! That evasive attitude showed that there was a tremendous secret hidden, one he didn’t want her to know.

“Black Water City… bandits… vanished as if into thin air…” she scoffed internally. “A perfect case with no witnesses.”

The family harbored wariness and ambition toward her, attempting to control her while simultaneously having hidden motives.

This summons, seemingly peaceful, was in reality a silent confrontation. She had managed to handle it for now, neither exposing the secret of the Reincarnation Mirror nor startling him further about her parents’ case. But she had also genuinely felt the pressure from the high-ranking members and the undercurrent hidden beneath the calm.

The gap and suspicion between her and this family had deepened.

Returning to the stone cliff, she looked at the strange mineral and the ancient notebook. Her desire to become stronger had never been so urgent.

Only with absolute strength could she tear through all the pretense, seek the truth, and control her own destiny!

The Profound Cloud Sect, she must enter!