Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Hungry,” Xiaorong muttered, opening her eyes slightly.

“Xiaorong, you’re awake!” Shu Yang exclaimed, breathing out in relief, “How do you feel?”

“Weak,” Xiaorong said, blinking her eyes and looking around.

“Then eat. Eat as much as you want,” Shu Yang said, stroking Xiaorong’s head. He held her in his lap and hand-fed her some meat.

‘Looks like her life isn’t in danger at least.’ Shu Yang thought, relieved. 

After Xiaorong passed out, Shu Yang had panicked, not knowing what was wrong with her. He only heard her say she was hungry before losing consciousness, so he had tried feeding her the meat he had with him. But how could she eat in that condition?

Luckily, Shu Yang had another bottle of pills of the same type he had consumed while advancing. They were in his other storage pouch, and he hadn’t been thinking about them when he was desperate for something to help his advancement. 

Perhaps it was for the best, as the pills could be consumed by Xiaorong even while unconscious. 

After swallowing the whole bottle, Xiaorong indeed seemed to regain some energy.

‘But…how long until she recovers? Is it even possible to?’

Shu Yang hadn’t noticed while it was happening, but now that he had some time to think, he realized why Xiaorong was so weak all of a sudden. 

She must have noticed that Shu Yang was failing in his advancement and was in desperate need of some source of qi that could power the process of tempering his heart. 

So Xiaorong had spat out a drop of her own blood essence into Shu Yang’s mouth. That’s why his advancement suddenly became so easy. The blood essence of a Foundation beast was probably as optimal and precious a resource as you could dream of when advancing to the Foundation stage.

But blood essence isn’t something easily recovered. It’s not like regular blood, which can be created and refilled even after being lost. Blood essence is very finite, and it is the very source of one’s Bloodline Power. You were basically born with a set amount, and if you lost some of it, it was gone forever.

‘What a waste. Xiaorong’s bloodline is extraordinary; it seems even stronger than her parents’. But now, she might have become half-crippled, and advancing further might be really difficult.’

Shu Yang wasn’t clear exactly how blood essence worked, or just how bad it was to lose a drop of it, since it was not really something humans could extract from themselves. At least not without learning a special technique. 

“Do you think you’ll recover if I manage to extract some of my blood essence?” Shu Yang asked. He really felt he should be the one to pay the price for his recklessness, not Xiaorong.

“Don’t,” Xiaorong said, “Waste.”

“Then how will you recover?” Shu Yang asked.

“Rest,” Xiaorong said, her voice quite weak as she paused between taking a bite of meat.

“Will you recover what you lost through resting?” Shu Yang asked.

“Maybe,” Xiaorong said, “Long time.”

Shu Yang frowned, “How long is a long time?”

“100 years?” Xiaorong answered uncertainly

“Are you serious? That long?” Shu Yang couldn’t hear any dismay in her voice, but how could it not be crushing for her?

“Maybe,” Xiarong said.

“Are there any resources that could help?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yes,” Xiaorong said, sounding quite certain.

“Like what? What do you need?” Shu Yang asked.

“Not sure,” Xiaorong said, “Meat. Probably.”

Shu Yang sighed; he knew it wasn’t the kind of meat that could be found around here. It would need to be at least from a Foundation beast. 

“Don’t worry, Xiaorong,” Shu Yang said, patting her head, “I’ll help you recover as soon as I can, I promise.”

He certainly wasn’t going to let her wait 100 years.

“Not worried,” Xiaorong said.

Shu Yang smiled slightly, “Why? Are you really so unconcerned about losing your blood essence?”

“Unconcerned,” Xiaorong answered, her head bopping slightly.

‘I really can’t understand her. I guess humans and beasts are quite different in their way of thinking.’

“For now, let’s go back home,” Shu Yang said, getting to his feet and putting Xiaorong on his shoulder, “The spiritual qi there should be good for you.”

“Good,” Xiaorong agreed.

‘I’m once again unbelievably lucky to have Xiaorong by my side. Just how many times has she saved my life?’

‘This time it even came at such a great cost.’

Shu Yang walked home and went through the chain of events in his mind, trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

‘I managed to compress the mist of innate qi fairly easily, and there was a blessing released as it turned into liquid, just like I had deduced. But it was so inadequate! That’s despite me having a Founding Bloodline and great aptitude.’

Shu Yang shook his head; he knew he couldn’t figure it out in the short term. He had made a mistake somewhere and just couldn’t figure out where. 

Either he would have to try to connect to the Bloodline Tree and see if he could deduce something from his continued practice, or he would have to wait until he went north of the Desolate Mountains and see if there was an answer there. 

‘I need to warn Xiaoshi that she can’t rush things. Advancing to the Foundation stage without the proper resources to help you is suicide.’

As he walked, Shu Yang gradually felt the changes in himself. He had been so concerned about Xiaorong that he hadn’t had much time to think about it, but now he realized just how amazing the Foundation stage was.

He felt like he could soar into the sky with a single jump, crush a whole mountain with his fist, and he felt the presence of the people back in the settlement miles earlier than on his way out. 

It was like he was an entirely different league of existence.

Shu Yang briefly closed his eyes and focused on his bloodline.

[ Bloodline Power: 14.18 (Founding - Low) ]

[ Bloodline Ability: Piercing Gaze ]

[ Founding Traits: Sword Bone ]

[ Common Traits: Great body cultivation aptitude, Trash-grade spiritual roots, Sharp Mind, Lucky, Charming, Long-lived ]

‘Incredible! I think this is the first time my Bloodline Power has increased so much in a single day.’

‘I feel like my Bloodline Ability should have gotten a bit stronger as well. I’ll need to test it later.’

‘I guess my lifespan should have increased to 250 years as well. I wonder if I look any different?’

Shu Yang touched his face but couldn’t quite tell. He was 52 years old now, but he had always looked young for his age. His ‘Charming’ trait had affected his appearance even as a mundane trait, and now that it had advanced, it was even more effective. Not to mention that Shu Yang was a Grandmaster before, with a lifespan of almost 150 years, along with his ‘Long-lived’ trait that made him live 10-15 years longer than the ordinary person. 

So even before his advancement, Shu Yang didn’t look a day over thirty.

‘I’m quite happy staying like that. I hope I haven’t gotten the face of a teenager again. That would be too strange for my family to adapt to.’

“Dad!?” Tianyue called out as soon as Shu Yang entered the settlement. She seemed to be on her way to Shu Yang and Qianyue’s home.

Shu Yang looked over at his daughter, who was staring at him with his mouth open.

‘Looks like I might have changed a bit.’

“What happened to you?” Tianyue asked, running up to him and scrutinizing his face.

“Something on my face?” Shu Yang asked.

“You…you look so…so different,” Tianyue said.

“Different how? Do I look younger?” Shu Yang asked.

“I don’t know. Yeah, a little,” Tianyue said, “Strange. What did you do?”

Tianyue seemed to think of an answer before Shu Yang had time to answer.

Her eyes opened wide, and she asked in a low voice, “You didn’t…advance again, did you?”

“You guessed it,” Shu Yang said, smiling.

“But you were already a Grandmaster,” Tianyue said, her mouth drying, “So…”

“So I’m a Saint,” Shu Yang finished for her. 

Tianyue didn’t respond. Her eyes lost focus, and she seemed to be in a daze. 

Shu Yang patted her head with a smile and walked past her. He wanted to share the news with his wife. 

He took a quick look at his reflection in the mirror in the hallway as he walked past. Luckily, he didn’t look 15 again, more like 25. But his face still looked a bit different, not more handsome necessarily, but a bit more harmonious. 

“Husband?” Qianyue called out. She seemed to have noticed him from inside the house, and came over. “What are you doing in the hallway?”

Shu Yang turned to look at her with a smile.

Qianyue stopped, and she noticed something was different, just like Tianyue had.

But unlike his daughter, Qianyue just smiled happily, not very surprised, “You advanced?”

“How about it? Your husband is a Saint now,” Shu Yang asked, lifting his head proudly.

“Of course, my husband is amazing,” Qianyue said. She pulled his head down to hers and gave him a kiss. 

Shu Yang had told his wife long ago that he would be advancing, so there wasn’t much shock. If anyone was more confident than Shu Yang before his breakthrough, it would probably be Qianyue. 

Shu Yang had no intention of telling her how close of a call it had been, though.

“Dad!” Tianyue came running from outside, apparently having processed the news slightly. “How did you become a Saint? When did you do it? Did you find some treasure or something?”

“Just now,” Shu Yang said, “Anyway, I’ll answer your questions later. Go get your brothers. We’ll have a small family meeting.”

“Meeting? Not a celebration?” Tianyue asked.

“We can celebrate later. We should discuss some things first,” Shu Yang said, “After being at the mercy of someone else’s whims for so long, it’s time for our Shu family to have a say in how things are run around here, don’t you agree?”