Yin Long's steps couldn't help but falter slightly as Xiao Yin Yu dropped her casual statement, his body coming to an abrupt halt. Attention was good, it would be great if his sister became famous and received all the recognition and respect in the world, he truly felt that she deserved it. But at the same time, attention could bring death.

This was an avenue that Yin Long had never really thought about, but one that he had to admit was quite important. It was just like Yin Yu said, the Lang clan only needed a single extreme powerhouse and it would be able to return to its old status, it would once again rule three provinces and expand its influence beyond just this planet. But a mountain could only house a single tiger, and just what tiger was willing to sit by and watch as a cub grew up to tear its throat open?

"The ones paying close attention to news about the Lang clan, especially about the matriarch, do you know them?"

Yin Long's eyes narrowed slightly as he questioned, the emotionless chill emerging in his chest competing with the hollow hunger for full control of his body. Yin Yu's gaze was still focused on the city ahead of them, the grand sight of it covering the entire horizon left her a little absent-minded as she responded.

"Hm, yeah? I know that Fang Yau's Fang clan, the Thousand Blades Hall, my Mountain Hermit's Abode, the Four Hearts Alliance, Spear Demon's Core, Leviathan's Fang, Grand Demon's Feast, Seven Souls Hall, and of course Province Emperor Sunsong pay extremely close attention to the matriarch. Of obviously, the Hungering Heaven Sect can't be...?"

Her words trailed off as she realized how peculiar the question was, her head tilting to glance at Yin Long. And she couldn't help but completely stop her sentence when she saw the look on his face, that cold and merciless gleam in his eyes that he hadn't even shown to Tao Tiankong. It would be an understatement to say that he was reacting strongly to the information that the larger organizations were keeping a close eye on the Lang clan's up-and-coming matriarch.

But perhaps it was due to how extreme the reaction was, how surprising it was, that it became a red thread that tied together all the information she knew about him. He hadn't been active in the Bloodgrass Territory for long, his rise there could even be called meteoric when you thought about how long it took him. He also called himself a wanderer so it was likely that the Bloodgrass Territory wasn't his home.

This second part was something Yin Long himself had just recently confirmed, he was originally from Wolfsoul city. He also said that he was going to meet up with someone inside the championship, but it clearly wasn't someone from their Starblood Province. Now, since she knew where he was from, she could somewhat reliably narrow down the number of candidates, of which there were only 180 to begin with since the one he was planning on meeting definitely wasn't among the 180 chosen secretly by the Province Emperors.

The 10 people participating from the Sunsong Province were the most likely ones, but exactly who among them he was looking for wasn't entirely certain. Until now that was. He reacted this strongly to the news so there was a good chance that the one he was aiming to meet up with was the matriarch of the Lang clan, Lang Huo.

But that led to the question, why would this up-and-coming matriarch know, and even want to meet with Yin Long? Who had been a nobody until his sudden meteoric rise? To figure that out, Yin Yu just had to look at the information that she had picked up as the Lang clan's matriarch started to rise and information about her spread out.

She had a brother. And while this brother couldn't cultivate, he had showcased great skill with the blade, he had been able to defeat cultivators using nothing but his own skill. But not that long ago, just before Yin Long first started to gain recognition in the Bloodgrass Territory, this brother was killed. He had been proven to be a traitor to the clan and forced the matriarch to fight him. And on that fateful day, she had used her sword to practically slice him in half, her blade going all the way from...his right shoulder to his left waist.

"You're Lang Yin, the Lang clan's traitor?"

All the pieces had fallen together unknowingly within Yin Yu's mind, she hadn't even been trying to pry into his identity, it just came to her. The fact that he had to hide his identity meant that he was extremely famous, or infamous, in this city, it wouldn't just be a handful of obsessive people who would recognize him. And who could be more infamous than the grand traitor that had tried to undermine his own sister, who had weakened his own clan and worked with the enemies of his own clan?

"...Is there some sort of hidden truth behind what happened back then? Or is everything that's been spread out true?"

She couldn't help but ask him when she reached her rather confident guess. She had spent a fair bit of time with Yin Long now, and if there was one thing she could say about him then it was that he was nothing but sincere and good to those he was close to. How could such a man betray his own sister and even try to kill her, what sort of sense did that make?

"...Of course there's a story, but it no longer matters. The deed has been done and it has already become the past, those who need to know it already know the truth. But I will say this, I would never and will never betray my sisters, their safety and happiness are paramount to me, so never try to imply anything contrary to that."

Yin Long had somewhat expected that Yin Yu would figure out his past identity, he had come to terms with that when he asked her if she wanted to follow him here. She had shown that she wasn't the type of person to use that knowledge for anything so there wasn't much harm in her figuring it out. But he hadn't expected her to piece it together like this, pulling in incomplete pieces to form the full picture, she had even guessed at the truth that the news about his betrayal wasn't quite accurate. Yin Yu shook her head lightly to Yin Long's reminder, shrugging her shoulders while looking like she didn't have the slightest care in the world.

"I won't, you don't seem like the type to engage in betrayal so I couldn't help but ask. And don't mistake my question for anything more than me confirming my guess. It is just as I said, your identity or the like no longer matter, I've thrown my lot in with you ever since you saved me from Tao Tiankong. If you end up being a great sinner then I'll end up accompanying you on the way to the Netherworld and if you're a great saint then I'll prance with you all the way to the impregnable gates of the Celestial World."

If she were to put it into his words then it would be that she had made her choice, her body and mind had reached an agreement on the fact that this man was the one she would follow. To the greatest heights and the lowest lows, she would accompany him to both of them, because he was the only one who reached out to her when she had reached the bottom of her dark pit. But perhaps it was because it was just as she said, it no longer mattered, but she changed the subject by circling back to the start of the conversation.

"But that's for the future, only time will tell exactly where you'll end up going. So, that knowledge, what are you planning on doing with it? Telling your sister to lay low isn't exactly a bad idea, she's been growing strong very quickly so she may be able to just cultivate until she reaches a stage where the other clans can't do anything. And of course, then there's also you hiding in the shadows."

Yin Long had asked her to specifically list out the organizations that were paying close attention to any news about the Lang clan, those who there was no telling what they might do if some big news came out. And if he did that, then it was clear that he was already starting to form some plans on how to deal with it. But contrary to her thoughts, Yin Long shook his head after a bit, his gaze returning to normal.

"I don't know yet. Hopefully, I won't have to do anything, and it would be a shame if she would have to hide her splendour just because others were afraid. But whatever the case is, the current me can't make much of a difference, so for the moment it boils down to my own strength and the need to improve it."

Yin Long didn't say it, but there were already some ideas floating about in his mind. Having Lang Huo lay low was indeed one possible option, but it may also just make the organizations spend more effort on digging out the truth. Another option was one that he was a bit more suited towards thanks to his time as the dark blade of the Lang clan, diversionary tactics. What if something so grand happened that the other organizations couldn't ignore it? What if something happened that forced them to focus all their attention on something else, rendering them incapable of paying attention to the decayed Lang clan?

But just as he said, the current him couldn't make much of a difference, he was even weaker than his sister. So he started walking again, the source of his memories was in that city, and if he could grasp something from them then he would be able to improve his strength, he would be able to take a great leap down the path to the strength and skill that he sought. Yin Yu didn't say anything else on the subject, Yin Long had yet to make his choice, but she had already made hers.

The city gate they were heading towards wasn't terribly far away from them so they managed to close the distance quite swiftly. But as they got closer to the large gate, Yin Long realized that there was one thing that had entirely slipped his mind, his gaze landing on Jin Wang.

"Sorry, but can you wait outside? I know that they won't be able to recognize you, but you draw a bit too much attention. It wouldn't be a problem if we were just going to move through the city, but since I plan on quietly visiting the estate and the underground lair it really would be rather troublesome if you followed along."

Jin Wang was a large golden lion, he would attract gazes no matter where he went. And they could forget about going quietly through the mansion of the Lang clan with Jin Wang following, just getting past the guards would be troublesome thanks to his frame and appearance. He would have liked to avoid this if he could, but it wouldn't be for too long so at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

But Jin Wang grumbled in response to Yin Long's request, his eyes darting around as he checked the surroundings. His lips seemed to twist somewhat, almost forming a displeased and bitter expression. But the fact that this act revealed all his sharp teeth made it hard to find it cute or endearing, calling it terrifying would probably be more apt. And then, after seemingly taking a handful of seconds to come to a conclusion, Jin Wang let out a low and rumbling growl.

A scene Yin Long hadn't expected took place as Jin Wang growled, a subdued golden light flashed beneath his fur, the creaking of bones echoing throughout the immediate area. Jin Wang's body started to quickly shrink, the subdued light growing stronger as it shone through his skin and fur. Before long, Jin Wang's large frame had shrunk down until he was about the size of a kitty, but he still looked like a lion so he was a rather peculiar sight.

"You...Since when have you been able to do this??"

It was no surprise that Yin Long was dumbfounded, if Jin Wang were able to do this then it would have saved them a bit of annoyance in the past. He could have just shrunk down and let Yin Long pick him up whenever they entered a city, they wouldn't have to attract so many gazes and create such a large empty area around them wherever they went. But when Jin Wang responded by clawing at the ground, clearly quite dissatisfied, Yin Long was only more dumbfounded.

"Since...Since you first grew to your previous size? Then why didn't you do it any of the other times when we had to move through cities??"

According to what Jin Wang said, he had been able to do this ever since he reached this adult-size of his, it was one of the benefits brought about by the Suanni Lion blood that flowed in his veins. But he hadn't mentioned it or done it until now, so there was clearly some underlying reason, something that held him back. But once again, his answer only left Yin Long all the more dumbfounded, even if he had expected it.

"Oh for pete's sake...Fine fine, it doesn't suit someone of your status, we'll go with that. But can I ask you to occasionally shrink like this so that we can move about more easily? I promise that it won't be often, and you can say no if you'll feel uncomfortable."

That was the simple answer, Jin Wang didn't want to do it since such a small stature didn't suit someone with blood like his, nor did it suit the entourage of the alpha that was Yin Long. But if the choice was between being left out here or following Yin Long, then Jin Wang could only swallow his indignation, nodding his head slightly in response to Yin Long's request.

"Thank you, really."

Yin Long smiled somewhat softly, Jin Wang was an extremely proud fellow so he could imagine that he wasn't quite comfortable shrinking down to this small size. He was a grand and proud lion whose maw could encompass the entire earth, there was no way he could accept being just the size of a kitty just to move around in a city.

Yin Long crouched down and picked up Jin Wang, he wanted to just hold him in his arms as they moved but Jin Wang squirmed out his grasp and hopped onto his shoulder. He was a bit too big to move about on his shoulder, but if it was just sitting or lying down then there was just about enough space on Yin Long's shoulder for him.

Yin Long didn't protest or try to pull Jin Wang down, the corners of his mouth almost forming a smirk when he saw the contrast between Jin Wang's adorable size and the proud yet sharp glint in his eyes. But he held it down since it was clear that Jin Wang was already uncomfortable enough, returning his gaze to the gates that rose up ahead of them.

"Alright, let's go. The underground lair will be a good starting point, I spent a fair bit of time training and learning there. I wonder if Jiu Meiyu has managed to get his hands on some new people."