Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“We should be safe,” The man Shu Yang had rescued said, breathing heavily.

Shu Yang looked into the distance. The sun was rising, and they had been running for hours.

‘I guess we should have gotten far enough away for now. Unless this man is more important than I thought, and they are determined to catch us.’

“Do you think they’ll continue chasing after us? Or will they give up?” Shu Yang asked.

“Maybe they sent a few people after us. They probably did. But the main force will definitely head back. They have the bodies of two Saint Beasts with them; they wouldn’t delay getting them back because of me,” The man answered.

“Two Saint Beasts? I only ever heard of one. The Qing Emperor managed to get them?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yes,” The man answered, his breathing easing slightly. He looked at Shu Yang with slightly narrowed eyes. “You said you only ever heard of one?”

“Yes. Why?” Shu Yang asked.

The man was silent for a moment before shaking his head, “Nothing. I didn’t know until recently either. We should keep moving. There’s still a risk they’ll catch up with us.”

“Wait,” Shu Yang said, “Were there any other prisoners there? Did you see anyone?”

“No,” The man said, frowning slightly, “I think I was the only one they kept alive.”

“Only one kept alive? There was a fight?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yes,” The man nodded, “My son and daughter were with me. I need to see if I can find their traces. Thank you for rescuing me. I will definitely repay you in the future. But I need to go now and look for them.”

“Hold on a second,” Shu Yang said, “I don’t care about any repayments. But tell me everything that happened before leaving. I’m looking for my son too. He should be out here somewhere.”

The man stopped and looked at Shu Yang for a moment. Shu Yang thought he looked more and more familiar, but he couldn’t quite place him.

“Have we met?” The man finally asked.

‘So we have met…’ Shu Yang tried to recall the face. He wondered why his daughter seemed to recall everything so well, but he was struggling despite having the same trait.

“You’re…that man,” Shu Yang said, finally remembering where he had seen the man, “You’re an Official. From the Yan Kingdom, right?”

“Yes. So we have met?” The man asked.

“Only briefly,” Shu Yang said, smiling slightly. He hadn’t known what to make of this strange Master before, but remembering their interaction from years ago when the man had helped look for the murderer in Baishu Village, Shu Yang gained a more favorable impression of him. “You came to my house years ago. Do you remember catching a criminal from the Wen Kingdom in a small village close to Chunsi Town?”

Hearing the words, the man’s mouth opened wide, and he seemed to recall the incident.

“What are the chances?” The man murmured, shaking his head, “So…you’re Tianhu’s father, right? You’re looking for him?”

“You know my son? How? Where is he?” Shu Yang asked hurriedly.

“Let’s walk and talk. He should have escaped alongside my children. Let’s go and see if we can find traces of them,” The man said.

“Alright,” Shu Yang said, breathing out a sigh of relief. He could feel Tianhu was alive, so he wasn’t worried about that. As long as there were traces he could follow, he would find him eventually.

The two of them continued on their way, Shu Yang following the man whom he found out was named Shen Ye. His leg hurt quite a bit, but as a Master, it wasn’t something he couldn’t handle.

Shen Ye told Shu Yang all about how he had met Tianhu and the scene they had encountered with the two Emperors facing off against each other. Some of which Shu Yang had already heard from the two guards.

‘Tianhu was actually in such a dangerous situation? How reckless can he be? Did he expect his 2nd-grade stage strength would be enough to protect himself in the Black Beast Mountains?’

‘But if so many Masters and Grandmasters targeted him, I can’t see how he would manage to escape. That means he was probably captured in the end. Presumably by the people from the Lishen Empire.’

‘It’s going to be tough to get him back…The Lishen Emperor is a Saint, after all. Hopefully, he is as unguarded as Shen Ye was.’

‘But I don’t understand why they would capture him?’

“Did you notice anything about Tianhu?” Shu Yang asked, “Anything unusual?”

“Not really,” Shen Ye said hesitantly, “I just thought it was strange for him to be so…well, weak. But other than that, there was nothing.”

‘So did his Bloodline Power increase after his capture? What could have caused it?’

“Speaking of which, how come you are so strong? As far as I remember, you weren’t even an Innate warrior back then. How could you have become a Master so soon?”

“I guess I’m pretty talented,” Shu Yang said with a shrug, “And my business has been doing well, I have access to a lot of resources these days.”

Shen Ye didn’t look like he believed it, but he didn’t question Shu Yang further either.

Shu Yang knew that his advancement was strange. If he really were talented, it would have shown long ago. No one advanced like he did, seemingly gaining talent after every advancement. You could be fast in advancing, but you should always show some sign of slowing down.

Shu Yang had thought about keeping his advancement a secret, but he didn’t see how it was possible. Someone would notice sooner or later unless he kept himself hidden in Baishu Village forever. But that was impossible. Not to mention the many advantages he and his family would gain from publicly having a Master in the family.

Shu Yang had simply bet that even if anyone was ever curious enough to investigate his rise to power, and if they were desperate enough to move against him to figure out his secret, he would have advanced further by that point.

‘From what I know, my advancement is a little strange, but it shouldn’t be strange enough to be unexplainable. And not many people should be willing to make a move against a Master.’

‘Still, I need to be prepared. The best way to make sure no one makes a move against me is to become so strong that they can’t.’

“Is your family related to the old Shen family?” Shu Yang took the opportunity to ask a few more questions as they moved swiftly through the forest.

“Of course,” Shen Ye answered, “Most Martial families are. Unless they have someone like you. Then again, perhaps you have some of the old Shen bloodline inside you.”

‘I doubt it.’ Shu Yang thought. He knew exactly how common his bloodline had been before he started a family.

“What do you think about the war? Is it really coming? Does the Yan Kingdom have a chance?” Shu Yang asked.

“It seems likely, unfortunately,” Shen Ye answered, “But it’s not going to be easy for the Lishen Empire to swallow so much land. I don’t know their exact strength, but thinking about conquering all seven Kingdoms seems like a fool’s dream to me. Then again, I don’t know much about these things. Anything is possible. But the situation is definitely not hopeless.”

‘That’s good.’

Shu Yang had been pondering taking his family to escape. If the Lishen Empire was unbeatable, it didn’t make sense to stay behind and die. While Shu Yang had some amount of loyalty to the Yan Kingdom, seeing how he had grown up there, his first priority was definitely his family.

‘But I still need to make preparations in case the worst happens. Even Fugu City might not be safe in the long run.’

‘Perhaps I can find somewhere to hide everyone here in the Black Beast Mountains? We wouldn’t need to stay here forever, just long enough for me to reach the Saint stage.’

The idea took root inside his mind, and Shu Yang spent more of his time looking for a suitable location to hide his family while following behind Shen Ye.

…

The two of them kept traveling together for more than a week. Most of the time was just spent silently running, and besides asking a few questions when they were resting, they were both inside their own separate world.

Shu Yang could tell that Shen Ye was very worried about his children, so he didn’t bother him too much. Shu Yang was worried too, of course, but he at least knew Tianhu was still alive.

Not only could Shu Yang feel he was alive, but he had also felt that Tianhu advanced to the 1st-grade stage a few days ago.

No rush of bloodline feedback had ever felt so good to Shu Yang. Now he knew that even if his son was captured, he wasn’t starved or hurt. In fact, he seemed to be doing better than ever.

‘I wonder what’s going on with him? Was he really captured? What kind of prisoner is allowed to advance?’

‘But if he is free…That means he managed to escape from several Grandmasters. Could he really be so lucky?’

“We’re here,” Shen Ye’s words made Shu Yang focus. The place looked like a battlefield. It was obvious that a big fight had taken place here, not that long ago.

“This is where you were attacked?” Shu Yang asked.

“That’s right,” Shen Ye said, looking into the distance with a worried look, “My children and your son ran that way. They didn’t have much of a head start before three Grandmasters ran after them. I was already locked in battle with three people. I couldn’t stop them.”

“It’s okay,” Shu Yang said, putting his hand on Shen Ye’s shoulder, trying to offer some comfort, “I can feel that Tianhu is still alive. Your children should also be safe if he is.”

“I can feel it too. They’re definitely alive,” Shen Ye said with a determined look.

Just as they were about to follow the direction their children had escaped, Shu Yang noticed something in the middle of the grove.

‘It’s that black fox again. It actually followed us all this way? Why? And how come I didn’t notice?’

“What’s wrong?” Shen Ye asked.

Shu Yang looked from the black fox to Shen Ye, and then back to the black fox again.

‘He can’t see it?’

“Is that where it happened?” Shu Yang asked, pointing to the black fox.

“Well, that’s where the bodies of the Saint Beasts were, I guess. The battle was all over the place,” Shen Ye answered, slightly confused.

‘He really can’t see it.’

“Wait…” Shu Yang looked at the small black fox that had lain down on the ground, curling up its body, “Say, what kind of beast is the Black Beast? I never thought to ask before.”

“It’s some kind of fox, only slightly bigger and with black fur,” Shen Ye answered, “I have no idea where they came from, let alone the name.”

‘So that’s how it is.’

“Why don’t you see if you can find their tracks first? I want to look for something here. I’ll catch up,” Shu Yang said.

Shen Ye paused for a second before nodding, “Alright. Try not to take too long.”

Shen Ye went off on his own, and Shu Yang walked up to the small black fox.

‘Since this guy’s parents managed to become Saint Beasts, this one should also be able to, right?’

‘How amazing would it be to have a Saint Beast around, especially one with this kind of camouflaging ability.’

The black fox opened its eyes when Shu Yang approached, but it didn’t lift its head or react in any other way.

Shu Yang stared into its eyes for a moment, trying to see what kind of thoughts were brewing inside its head.

‘It looks really pitiful, lying on the cold ground where its parents were killed.’

“I don’t have parents either,” Shu Yang said, not really expecting the beast to understand. “If you want to, you can come with me from now on. I promise I won’t eat you.”