Chapter 1107: Family and Relatives

“You’re referring to that battle for the spirit stone mine in the Flying Ball Tribe territory?” Xu Xiaolan asked with a speechless expression.

An Lin nodded with lingering fear in his heart. “I am. I was really angry at that time, and I came very close to killing Ao Meng. Thinking back now, I almost made a huge mistake…”

He had almost killed Xu Xiaolan’s grandpa!

Wasn’t that the equivalent to almost killing his own grandfather-in-law?

At that time, he was bashing Ao Meng like he was bashing his son…

Speaking of which, he should’ve made this connection a long time ago after learning of Xu Xiaolan’s dual bloodline. Perhaps he just never thought about it that way.

Xu Xiaolan immediately provided words of consolation upon seeing An Lin’s distressed expression. “You don’t need to be so self-critical. My father had been disowned by Ao Meng after being taken away by my mother, so he had cut all ties with the Dragon Court.

“Even I have no further ties with the Dragon Court. The Dragon Court won’t acknowledge me, and I don’t want to have anything to do with them either.”

An Lin nodded. “Ao Meng sure has a weird way of treating his own children. I find it really hard to imagine that he would just disown your father and force him to leave the Dragon Court.”

Xu Xiaolan took a sip of wine and shook her head. “Wasn’t the Dragon Princess Bei Lian of the Four Nine Immortal Sect also forced to leave? Ao Meng is a professional at forcing away his children!”

Both of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Xu Xiaolan had never seen Ao Meng, so she naturally had no emotional ties with him.

Furthermore, Ao Meng’s outlook on life really was quite hilarious.

“This is probably the downside to having too many children. He doesn’t have enough time to understand the thoughts and feelings of all of his children, but he still tries to force them to live their lives according to his ideals,” An Lin summarized.

Xu Xiaolan heaved a forlorn sigh. “After severing all ties with the Dragon Court, my father changed his name from Ao Guanyu to Xu Guanyun.”

A smile appeared on An Lin’s face. “No wonder your last name isn’t Ao! Xu Xiaolan sounds much better!”

An amused smile appeared on Xu Xiaolan’s face. “After that, my father and mother got married, and they lived happily together at the Vermilion Bird Sect!”

If this were just some generic love story, then this would be the end.

However, An Lin knew that the story was only just beginning.

Xu Xiaolan extended a slender hand. “I’m thirsty. Bring on the fruit!”

An Lin immediately produced a first-grade spirit fruit, which he placed obediently into her outstretched hand. “Please enjoy, Your Majesty.”

“Good boy, Little An.” Xu Xiaolan accepted the spirit fruit with a dainty smile before digging in.

“After living together happily for a long time, they encountered a major hurdle that they knew they were going to encounter. Even after living together for so long, they couldn’t conceive a child together no matter how hard they tried…”

An Lin instantly became nervous for some reason upon hearing this.

“From a scientific standpoint, my mother and my father were from completely different species. Their sperm cells and eggs weren’t compatible with one another, so how could they produce an offspring?” Xu Xiaolan analyzed it with a serious expression.

An Lin became even more nervous upon hearing this. “Then how can this be overcome?”

He finally figured out what he was nervous about.

This was an issue he had to face with Xiaolan as well!

Xiaolan was also a half-dragon.

If An Lin was to be in a relationship with Xu Xiaolan in the future, wouldn’t they have an issue with conception as well?

This was a very important issue!

“Well…” A slight blush appeared on Xu Xiaolan’s face. “My parents went to a Purple Star fertility clinic and finally resolved this issue.”

An Lin: “…”

A peculiar silence ensued.

Why did the atmosphere suddenly feel a little bit weird?

An Lin: “I’ll go ask Bai Ling.”

“There’s no need for that! I still have the pill recipe, but the ingredients are quite difficult to find.” Xu Xiaolan’s blush deepened as she continued, “The issue was resolved after my mother took the pill to improve her constitution.”

An Lin heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. “No problem! Sword Immortal An Lin will gather any ingredients no matter what it is!”

“After that, my parents went to great lengths in order to balance my dual bloodline. Only then did I escape the fate of detonating from the clash between my powerful bloodlines.” Xu Xiaolan sighed with emotions, clearly lamenting how difficult a journey it was just for her to be born into this world.

An Lin immediately offered his shoulder and chest for Xu Xiaolan to lean on.

He couldn’t help but get nervous again. “When you say balance your bloodlines…”

Xu Xiaolan: “I have a pill recipe for that as well.”

An Lin heaved a sigh of relief.

A smile appeared on Xu Xiaolan’s face. “In any case, I grew up to be a healthy little girl. My father taught me Dragon Tribe spell techniques while my mother taught me fire-type spell techniques. I have had great aptitude since birth, and my dual bloodlines further accelerated the progression of my cultivation base.”

She was actually the epitome of a standard prodigy. She had a good background, came from a good sect, had a good set of parents, and had a good aptitude. She was living the life of a princess.

“My mother was very strict. She would always beat me whenever I tried to slack off, and I was beaten by her to the point of tears close to twenty times… In order to hone my courage, she would often unleash some terrifying mutant beasts to scare me…

“In contrast, my father was really gentle with me. He would always comfort me, and he was really handsome when he smiled.”

An Lin nodded. “I’m not surprised.”

Zhu Yishuang had crushed the entire Dragon Court by herself and abducted Xu Guanyun, who was a male version of the cliched damsel in distress. It was not difficult to guess their personalities based on this…

Xu Xiaolan recounted her past in a slow voice.

An Lin listened very carefully, trying to understand as much of her past as possible.

Xu Xiaolan’s recount was very diligent and thorough, as if she was trying to reveal everything she could about her past to the man beside her.

“I was twelve that year when the Holy Vermilion Flame suddenly showed signs of becoming volatile and unstable. In order to stabilize the Holy Vermilion Flame, my parents and my uncle traveled to the Void Spirit Realm in order to find a certain energy crystal. However, they caught the attention of two Vermilion Bird Tribe Dao Integration Stage super mighty figures who wanted to devour their souls…”

Xu Xiaolan’s hands were tightly clenched into fists, and her body trembled uncontrollably as she recounted this part of the story.

An Lin encircled his arms around Xu Xiaolan and consoled her in a gentle voice.

He already knew the ending of the story at this point.

“Among the Vermilion Bird Origin Treasures, there is a treasure known as the Vermilion Bird Wing, which is a one-time life-saving treasure. When activated, the treasure allows the user to unleash a spatial teleportation technique for a short time. Not even a Dao Integration Stage super mighty figure would be able to stop them.

“Unfortunately… the Vermilion Bird Wing can only teleport one person. It was the second Vermilion Bird Origin Treasure that my mother had obtained, and she didn’t use it for herself or my father. Instead, she gave it to my uncle and told him to look after me before they separated…”

Xu Xiaolan was already sobbing at this point in the story.

“They left me forever, just like that. It was so sudden. They didn’t even say goodbye to me before they suddenly disappeared from my life.”

“There was no longer anyone who could teach me Dragon Tribe spell techniques. My uncles taught me fire-type spell techniques, but they wouldn’t beat or scold me, nor would they release beasts to scare me…

“I was very obedient. I listened to everything my seniors told me. I tried my best to live, to smile, to not make my relatives worry, and to be an exceptional woman. Everyone would praise me, but the people I wanted to hear praise from the most would never appear again…”

Xu Xiaolan sobbed as she spoke, releasing years and years of pent-up emotions.

Her uncles really did love her and take good care of her.

But how could they take the place of her parents?

An Lin silently wiped the tears from Xu Xiaolan’s face.

After crying for a while, Xu Xiaolan carefully pulled out a photographic crystal, into which she injected her vital energy.

An image began to appear before them.

This was an image of a family of three wearing intricate red vermilion bird robes.

There was an exquisitely beautiful woman with a vibrant smile on her face with one hand on a man’s shoulder. Her other hand was holding a little girl’s hand.

The man had dragon horns on his head, and he wore a shy and gentle smile as he too latched onto the little girl’s other hand with a hand of his own.

The tiny Xu Xiaolan stood between them with two buns on her adorable little head. Both of her hands were being held, and she wore an extremely warm and joyful smile under the light of the sun.