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nTranslator: Xintuz Editor: Kurisu

n“Boom!”

nBefore Shangyang Ruo could run too far, two beautiful figures blocked her path.

n“You b*tch! Where do you think you’re going!?” A face emerged from the shadows—a white-eyed woman wearing a white veil. However, there was a sharpness in the woman’s look, clearly indicating that she wasn’t soft.

n“Ruoruo, go back. You must be punished for your mistake. Or, do you want to be thrown into that place by Madam Jiuli?” the other person spoke too, staring at Shangyang Ruo with a sliver of pity.

n“I… I…” A tear flowed out of Shangyang Ruo’s eyes as her body shook uncontrollably under the black cloak.

n“What happened today was decided the moment you leaked information about our formation to save your family,” the soft-spoken woman said lightly.

n“What’s going on here?” Lu Sheng walked out of his room.

nThe two women hurriedly curtseyed at Lu Sheng.

n“My Lord.”

n“Get up first,” Lu Sheng said casually. He actually only knew her face and situation because of Shangyang Jiuli, but this was their first meeting. The unsuccessful “date” they had together had left a really bad impression on him.

nHe never thought that the Shangyang Family would make her his “gift”.

nThe two women stood up slowly, and told Lu Sheng about the time when a caravan that should have retreated safely had suffered heavy casualties instead because of Shangyang Ruo’s leak.

n“Shangyang Ruo is merely a small token of apology. You don’t have to pity her. No matter what you do, she won’t resist,” one of the women said calmly.

n“That’s enough. Bring her away.” Lu Sheng waved his hand impatiently. To him, this felt like someone bringing a hamster in front of him and telling him “you can do whatever you want with it…”

n‘Pity? Pity my ass!’ He could squeeze her to death by accident! Lu Sheng guessed that Shangyang Jiuli heavily underestimated his power. Or, perhaps he was different from normal Divine Weapon Master.

nThe two women looked at each other and promptly held down the escaping Shangyang Ruo.

n“Snap, snap, snap, snap!”

nWith four crisp snapping sounds, the woman with a soft voice savagely broke Shangyang Ruo’s limbs.

nThe ensuing scream was muffled by the other woman the moment it started.

n“Put her in the dungeon. Her lineage is useless by now, she has no tricks left.” The two women again curtseyed at Lu Sheng before leaving with Shangyang Ruo.

nLu Sheng stood alone at the doorway as he watched the three women leave. Finally, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and walked back to rest.

n***

nThe border in the south.

nA dark turquoise-colored mountain hidden in clouds loomed under the sunlight.

nThe scouring sun stayed up within the dense fog, yet the mist showed no sign of fading.

nAt the top of the mountain, inside the deepest part of a cave and beside a pond, sat an old hag wearing turquoise clothing.

nThe old hag’s face was filled with wrinkles, and her back was slightly bent. Her entire person seemed to be emitting a cold, savage aura.

n“How many years has it been…? How many years…?” She grasped a dark turquoise sword made from jade, the blade shaking slightly.

nThe old hag closed her eyes as if she was trying to remember something.

n“Even now, I can remember when mother brought us away from home.”

nTwo more old hags walked out from the cave. Both looked about eighty to ninety at first glance.

nStaring at the old woman sitting cross-legged near the pond, the two’s faces reminiscent of an old tree’s bark showed concern.

n“Second Sister, can you confirm that the letter from home is legitimate? We three have been sworn sisters for hundred of years; are you really going to leave us because of a questionable letter from home now?”

nThey were the Three Witch Spirit Sisters. Although they weren’t well known in the south, they still possessed above-average power. The three of them lived in seclusion all-year-round in the Dark Cloud Gorge, always mysterious and always together, neither good nor evil. However, they wouldn’t have thought that their Second Sister Yuanguang Cheng would leave because of a letter from home.

nYuanguang Cheng sighed. She stood up beside the pond and stared at her First and Third Sisters.

n“Mother sent the letter to me for a reason. My bloodline has been awakened, and my line of family finally has another chance to return to our homeland. Be it me, my mother, or my other hundreds of sisters and brothers, we have all waited for this opportunity for much too long.”

n“But—” The Third Sister wanted to say more.

nHowever, the First Sister stopped her and sighed. “There is no feast without an end. Second Sister, you have to make your own decision regarding your family. But remember, no matter what happens, you have two sisters waiting for you in the Dark Cloud Gorge. This will always be your home.”

nYuanguang Cheng held back her urge to cry and nodded.

n“Even at this age, First Sister, you are still so emotional… It’s not like I’m never coming back.”

n“That is true.” The First Sister laughed with her. “You can’t just go back like this, right? What about your heirs that you left behind? Are you going to bring them back with you?”

n“Of course. My line doesn’t have a lot of members, so of course I have to bring them back to pay homage to their ancestors.” Yuanguang Cheng nodded.

n“Then… good luck on your journey,” the First Sister said heavily.

nYuanguang Cheng stared at her sisters, her eyes suddenly cloudy.

n***

nPhoenix Mountain Town, Northern Border

nPhoenix Mountain Town was located on the border of the Great Song, bordering the Dark Cloud Mountain Range. Everything around was desolate land, and aside from a few adventurers trying to find treasure, no one with power ever came around.

nThe hunters hunted for pelts in the mountains, while herbalists collected a good amount of herbs. Those two were the town’s main source of income.

nIn a run-down black stone house within this small town that had at most one thousand residents, a woman with a white face and freely flowing hair sat in the darkness.

nThere was no candle, no sunlight… not even a window.

nThe woman’s face was dirty and her hair was a mess, but it was still obvious from her figure that she used to be beautiful.

n“Creak!”

nSuddenly, the door opened a crack, and a sliver of white light slipped in, going straight toward the woman’s face.

n“Snap.”

nThe woman caught the light and set it in front of her.

n“This… this is…!?” Looking at the thing in her hand, the woman’s figure started shaking as she tried to contain her happiness and excitement. She locked her eyes on the thing—a short sword made out of jade.

nA tiny scroll was bound to the blade of the short sword. The woman carefully took it off and unwrapped it, then started reading.

n“I have been awakened, bring the men back!”

nThere was only one short sentence on the paper, but to the woman, it was like a giant bell had rung in her head. Her brain started ringing, and all other sounds seemed lost to her.

nAfter a good while had passed, she finally calmed down. She wiped her face, and suddenly noticed it was wet from tears.

n“After half a lifetime of aimless wandering and pain… Finally… Finally…”

nHer actual name was Yuanguang Chexing, one of Yuanguang Cheng’s three daughters. Her mother, Yuanguang Cheng, was among backup seed dispersed by the Yuanguang Family a long, long time ago. In simpler terms, her grandmother was but a back-up seed of the family, while her mother was one of the hundred bloodlines that had expanded on their own.

nThe Yuanguang clan was a powerful yet strange family.

nAside from those that were in the direct bloodline and born with potential, the rest were all released from the family and encouraged to produce as many heirs as possible. They would remain isolated until a certain number of awakened heirs had been reached, at which time the main family would summon them back for further development.

nHer mother, Yuanguang Cheng, was one of the many heirs her grandmother left behind in the Great Song Empire.

nThere were hundreds of other bloodlines like hers spread throughout the Great Song.

nYuanguang Chexing was so excited because her mother Yuanguang Cheng had awakened, which meant that her line of heirs had a chance to come up on top of the other hundreds of brothers and sisters and return to the main family. This painful and pointless life was finally over.

n“Hisss.”

nThe jade sword suddenly shattered, burnt in a blue ball of flame, and disappeared.

nYuanguang Chexing stood in place, dumbstruck.

n“Ten years… it’s been ten years… I thought there was no hope…” She was a kind-hearted person, but the Yuanguang Family was anything but.

nThe way they produced heirs wasn’t simply having a husband and wife give birth. They would instead steal unborn babies from other families.

nThe Yuanguang Family had a secret art that could switch the blood of an unborn baby without a trace of evidence. This way, they could inject their own blood into the baby, making it one of their own.

nWith this secret art, they could produce vast amounts of heirs by stealing other unborn babies. It didn’t harm them much, but would cause irreparable damage to the baby’s original mother.

nYuanguang Chexing only used the secret art four times in tens of years, each time being pressured into doing so.

nShe was a good-hearted person, and using the secret art four times led to her suffering from massive guilt. She gave up eventually, and hid in this isolated town on the mountain to live out the rest of her life. Who would have thought that life would throw her a bone like this.

nHer mother somehow managed to win against hundreds of other heirs, and successfully awaken her bloodline, reaching the threshold that awakening required.

nYuanguan Chexing’s heart was filled with guilt and joy at the same time.

nShe felt guilty because of the four families she stole from using her secret art, and her four sons and daughters she “bore” with her blood. How could she even explain all this to the sons and daughters? Would they even forgive her? And then go back with her?

nShe didn’t know how other bloodlines dealt with this problem, but she didn’t have a solution at all.

nIn the dark, Yuanguang Chexing slowly stood up and lit up the lamp.

nIn the yellow glow of the lamp, she walked to the only bed in the stone house, reached under it, and tapped on a brick in the floor.

n“Whoosh.”

nA dot of green light spread out on the floor. The brick slowly rose, revealing a stone box.

nYuanguang Chexing slowly took out the box and opened it.

nThe red silk sheet inside held a small piece of paper with four names clearly written on it.

nStaring at the four names, Yuanguan Chexing’s face turned white. She bit her lips, her eyes simultaneously showing guilt, weariness, regret, and many other complicated emotions.

nAmong the four names, one stood out as Sun Yan from the Lu Family.

n***

nLu Sheng stayed for a few days in the Scarlet Boiling Palace, and reached an agreement with Shangyang Jiuli and the other four leaders. He left in a hurry to return to the Prime Devil Sect to prepare to move to Falcon City.

nBut at this time, a letter from from his family in the north made it into his hands through the Shangyang Family.

nCovered in black mist, the Prime Devil Sect at night was quiet.

nLu Sheng stood in front of his cave. He unfolded the letter in his hand in candle light and started reading in detail.

nThe letter was written personally by his father, Lu Quanan. Not much was said, but after reading it, Lu Sheng’s casual face turned solemn.

n“This kind of thing… can happen…?” Even earlier on, he had doubted his origin.

nEven though he was definitely a talentless and mediocre person, the sliver of power from bloodlines after cultivating Prime Devil Secret Arts couldn’t be faked.

nThe sliver of power, though weak to the point where it would probably disappear in the next generation and barely strong enough to light a pipe, was still bloodline power.

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