A place one wouldn't think to look

Yang Qing poured a sliver of his spiritual essence into Bai Chen's jade slip, allowing its contents to play in his mind.

The first piece of information to hit him was Bai Chen's age and cultivation realm. At 1,086 years old, Bai Chen was a fifth-stage Palace Realm expert. Yang Qing's earlier estimation of his strength had been close—he had pegged him to be at the fourth stage from seeing him briefly in action at the ferry, which would have been accurate if the evaluation had been made a year earlier. Bai Chen had only broken through to the fifth stage nine months ago.

After noting his age, Yang Qing's interest shifted to the details of Bai Chen's formative years. The records of his early childhood, from infancy to the age of 12, were sparse. They only mentioned that he was the son of a merchant who had perished during a succession battle for control of the family business.