After laughing wildly for quite a while, Huang Li finally calmed down. He looked at this grandson of his—who seemed to become more and more pleasing to his eyes the longer he stared at him—before he nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, good, good, Shi'er! Since you have proven yourself to be competent, then it is high time you learn the truth about your mother's death! Remember, this is a secret only the two of us know; not even Li Mei knows about this."
Huang Shi, on the other hand, was quite shocked. He didn't expect his little ruse—tricking his grandfather into thinking he has an Earthly Physique instead of a Heavenly Physique—to lead to such a situation.
Of course, the reason why he couldn't openly reveal that he had a Heavenly Physique is because, from what the system told him, a Heavenly Physique is something that only shows up in a mortal world like this one once every hundred million years.
Also, he sort of expected this grandfather of his to know the distinction between divine bodies, or at least have an idea of how to recognize the difference between a mortal physique and an earthly physique.
The reason for this was quite simple: the ancestor of their Azure Dragon Sect, the Azure Dragon Ancestor, also had his own Earthly Physique known as the [Azure Dragon Tyrant Body].
This was basically the original basis for the sect's orthodox technique, the [Azure Dragon Thunderform Body], which is a lesser version of it. Unfortunately for them, the original Azure Dragon Tyrant Body was stolen by the True Dragon Ancestral Sect and was used as their inheritance, even changing its name to the [True Dragon Tyrant Scripture].
All of this was, of course, information he had learned beforehand from conversations with Li Mei when they discussed what to tell his grandfather and asked for his help.
However, all of this was basically nothing compared to the so-called secret that his grandfather was about to tell him. And so, he cleared his mind of all unnecessary thoughts and listened intently.
"Listen well, Shi'er! You do know that Li Mei and your mother, Li Qian, were both members of the powerful Li Clan, right?"
Huang Shi nodded his head. Even though he didn't know much about the Li Clan, from what little he could gather from his Mei'er, he realized that her maiden clan was powerful—much more powerful than even the Azure Dragon Sect.
But what does this have to do with the secret that my grandfather is about to tell me?
Seeing the look of deep concentration on his grandson's face, Huang Li no longer beat around the bush as he spoke solemnly:
"Listen well, Shi'er! Your mother did not die because of complications of birth! In fact, how could she die? She was a cultivator, not a mortal woman! Any cultivator that has a decent cultivation base would at least be able to survive a childbirth!"
When Huang Shi heard these words, he was shocked. Clearly, he hadn't thought of this before, and yet when he really thought about it, it did make sense.
That's right! Cultivators are much more powerful than mortals, and even within mortals, death through birth complications is rare because of the presence of spiritual energy. Not to mention a powerful cultivator—why would she die?
Huang Shi suddenly clenched his fist as his eyes started to redden. Even though he hadn't met this so-called mother before, considering that he was slowly becoming a combination between Kai, his previous identity, and Huang Shi through the mixing of their memories, he felt like he needed to find out the truth about this matter.
What really happened that day? Did someone… kill my mother?!
Huang Li tried to control his emotions as he continued to speak.
"One day your mother told me the truth about her identity. She told me that, in truth, she was not a member of the Li Clan. She was only an adopted member, taken in by Li Mei's mother out of pity. However, she loved your mother as her own child and raised her and Li Mei both as sisters!"
Huang Shi, who had thus far been listening silently, suddenly had his jaw drop in shock, as if he couldn't believe this information.
What the hell?! My mother and Stepmother aren't related? That means that I'm not related to my stepmother at all! This means that there was no need for the previous Huang Shi to be apprehensive about their relationship from the start—it wasn't taboo!!
After thinking about this for a couple more minutes, his expression suddenly changed a bit as he quickly made a decision with this newfound information.
Alright, since we're not related, I'll only call her mother to spice up our sex life; in truth, she is Li Mei and she is my woman!
After making up his mind about this matter, his heart suddenly cleared up, as if a boulder had been lifted from his shoulder, and he gave an inward smile.
Alright Mei'er, I can freely marry you in the future!
Huang Li, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the change in his grandson's expression as he continued to speak. This time, however, there was a look of awe and veneration in his eyes, as if what he had witnessed that day was something he could never forget for the rest of his life.
"Your mother met your father accidentally. Your father—your real father—was injured when she met Li Qian and had no cultivation base to speak of. Not only that, he didn't even remember anything about himself, and so your mother, out of the goodness of her heart, took care of him for months on end until they eventually fell in love with each other and your mother got pregnant.
However, eventually, your father finally recovered from his injuries and regained both his identity and his cultivation base. And let me tell you, I have never met a cultivator as powerful as your father in my entire life!"