Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

‘He’s dead? Gone?’

Shu Yang was stunned. Everything had happened so fast.

He looked around the room, and True Person Jiami was nowhere to be seen. He had been completely eradicated.

‘Was that the Bloodline Tree? It can kill a Golden Core cultivator?’

It might just have been a wisp of will left behind, but from that powerful aura, Shu Yang felt it wouldn’t have mattered even if True Person Jiami had been alive and in his prime.

‘Is there a way for me to make use of this power?’

Shu Yang had always known that the Bloodline Tree was mysterious, and incredibly powerful. But he thought that its power could only be manifested through himself, as his own strength increased thanks to his descendants.

‘No time to think about it now.’

Shu Yang looked down at the floor, where Song Hongchi was still staring in shock at the place True Person Jiami had disappeared.

He took a quick step toward her and grabbed the storage ring containing the inheritance from her hand.

“You!” Song Hongchi shot to her feet, seemingly prepared to fight him.

‘Fine by me.’

Shu Yang grabbed his sword, slightly excited. Killing Song Hongchi in cold blood would have felt wrong, but if she was willing to fight it out over the inheritance, Shu Yang was more than happy to oblige.

“Wait, I give up,” Song Hongchi called out immediately, clasping her hands in front of her, looking very innocent all of a sudden.

‘You’re really going to make me do this?’

Shu Yang frowned. He really didn’t have a choice in this. What had happened in this room could never be allowed to get out, or the consequences would be disastrous.

He firmed his mind and pulled out his sword.

“I can swear a Blood Oath!” Song Hongchi hurriedly said.

‘That might work.’

Shu Yang paused his actions. “Explain.”

“Killing me won’t do you any good. Those cultivators outside will break inside any moment, and when they find my dead body with no inheritance, they will know you have it. You will be hunted down and caught straight away.

“But if I go out there and say that the formation collapsed before anyone had a chance to complete the final trial, everyone will be busy searching through this place for weeks, maybe months, looking for the inheritance. I can even say your trial collapsed, and you died inside. Eventually, some people might suspect something, but by then, you will have made it far away from here.”

‘That’s…not the worst idea.’

Shu Yang frowned, thinking hard about whether there was a better option, but he couldn’t really think of anything.

Another big tremor swept over the room.

‘I don’t have time to hesitate. Let’s just go with it.’

“Fine, let’s do it your way,” Shu Yang said, letting go of his sword. “But you must also swear never to do me or my family harm in the future.”

“‘Your family’ is a bit unclear,” Song Hongchi said hesitantly.

“Anyone you know to be related to me,” Shu Yang clarified. The Blood Oath couldn’t work wonders and disallow Song Hongchi from harming anyone she didn’t know was Shu Yang’s family either way.

Song Hongchi was a bit too clever for Shu Yang’s liking, so he had to make sure she wouldn’t become a problem in the future either. Just to be safe.

“Fine. It’s a deal, then?” Song Hongchi asked.

“Go ahead,” Shu Yang said with a nod.

Song Hongchi cut her finger, and a drop of blood formed on it. She brought out a small formation plate of some kind, and placed her blood on it.

Shu Yang thought he could recall seeing one of those before. It should be what you normally used to make a Blood Oath. At least for people in the Qi Refining stage.

‘I wish I knew a bit more about these things.’

“I, Song Hongchi, swear on my bloodline that I will never reveal what has occurred in this room to anyone, in any form. I swear to assist in deceiving anyone asking by claiming…”

As Song Hongchi swore her Blood Oath, Shu Yang raised an eyebrow in surprise.

‘She actually does a pretty good job at making it airtight.’

‘I guess now isn’t the time to try to be clever. It’s good that she has that awareness.’

Time was ticking, and if Song Hongchi dawdled, or worded things poorly so they would have to start over, Shu Yang might have just killed her outright to avoid any complications.

Once Song Hongchi finished, her drop of blood sizzled and disappeared, and a hot gust of air blew across Shu Yang’s face.

‘That’s it?’

Shu Yang hadn’t actually seen a Blood Oath take place before, but he felt like it should be done.

“Done,” Song Hongchi said, placing the formation plate back in her storage ring. “Where do you want me to leave from?”

Shu Yang thought about it for a moment. There were actually some preparations he could do that would make him feel more assured. But that would take too much time.

‘I’ll just have Song Hongchi do it.’

“Here’s what you do,” Shu Yang said, “Go back to the trials we passed when we first got here and grab a body that somewhat resembles me. Bring it back and place it in the final trial corridor I entered. After that, collapse the corridor on top of the body, crushing it. It should be possible to do now that the formations there are deactivated.”

“A Golden Core True Person will see through it right away,” Song Hongchi said.

“I’m hoping they won’t care enough to even look properly,” Shu Yang said. “Either way, it should be less suspicious than me completely disappearing from under their noses.”

“Alright,” Song Hongchi nodded. “Can I offer a suggestion?”

“What?” Shu Yang asked.

“Leave behind the ring True Person Jiami left you. Perhaps you should even transfer some of the contents of my ring. I can pretend to find it, and maybe that will lead them to believe that that is all of the inheritance there is.”

“I thought about that, but I doubt it would work,” Shu Yang said. He didn’t believe those people would be happy with so little after spending so much effort getting into this place. They would probably question everyone who entered the trial and see if someone else had found something. It was better to let them find nothing, as that might keep them hoping to find something.

“Anyway, that’s it. I’m leaving. Good luck,” Shu Yang said, turning to the hidden exit.

“Wait,” Song Hongchi called out.

“What?” Shu Yang asked.

Song Hongchi pouted slightly, “Can’t you give me the second storage ring then? It’s of no use to you.”

Shu Yang shook his head, smiling slightly, “You never know when it might be useful. I think I’ll keep it for now.”

“You’re really going to leave me with nothing?” Song Hongchi asked, biting her lip and looking aggrieved.

“Why would I leave you something?” Shu Yang questioned. He felt she should be happy to be alive.

‘And shouldn’t she be a little more scared of me? I just killed a Golden Core cultivator.’

“Because this is unfair. I was selected as heir. I won the final trial. You just…just,” Song Hongchi’s face turned slightly flushed. It seemed that the shock had settled, and the reality of what she had lost had just washed over her.

“You didn’t figure it out yet?” Shu Yang asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Figure what out?” Song Hongchi questioned.

“You didn’t win the final trial. This room is the final trial,” Shu Yang said. “The winner is the one who kills the wisp of will left behind by True Person Jiami and grabs the inheritance. Wasn’t that obvious?”

“You!” Song Hongchi clenched her fist in fury.

Shu Yang laughed out loud and ran off. It felt great to finally gain the upper hand after months of putting up with Song Hongchi.

‘Now I should have all the resources I could possibly need. Enough for my family to prosper even south of the Desolate Mountains.’

Shu Yang clenched his fist in excitement as he rushed through the tunnel.

‘Now I just need to get Tianyi out of here as quickly as I can.’

Shu Yang knew that those Golden Core cultivators couldn’t be fooled forever. He needed to be quick.

If he was still in Yuanchi Immortal Land when those people started looking for him, it would probably all be over.

‘I have to forget about revenge for now. I just need to get Tianyi and leave.’

‘With these resources, I might be able to just ‘buy’ her freedom.’

Shu Yang would have, of course, liked to storm the Qing Family and crush their family mountain into dust for what they had done. But he was too weak right now.

‘It won’t be too late to come back and settle things in the future.’

The tunnel kept going, mile after mile, but Shu Yang didn’t wish for it to end anytime soon. The further away he surfaced, the greater the chance was that no Golden Core cultivators had their eyes there.

After almost two hours of running, Shu Yang finally reached the end of the tunnel.

A large door blocked his path, but it had a handle. Shu Yang figured it was worth giving it a try and pressed the door handle down.

‘It actually worked.’ Shu Yang thought, easily opening the door.

‘I guess this was never meant to trap me.’

Shu Yang stepped outside and breathed in the fresh air.

‘Sunlight. It’s been so long.’

He didn’t have time to enjoy the moment, though; he needed to keep moving.

‘Please, Xiaorong, know where to find me.’ Shu Yang thought as he shot off in the direction of Chenqi Immortal City.

There was nothing else he could do. If he went back to look for her right now, he would definitely be discovered by the Golden Core cultivators.

He could only hope that Xiaorong would think to go back to a familiar place, like Chenqi Immortal City. Shu Yang had told her his plans to ask about Tianyi at the Yide Pavilion, after all.

‘If she’s not in the city, I can only wait for things to settle before I head to the inheritance to search for her.’

Shu Yang had actually managed to catch a glimpse of her the last time he used his Bloodline Ability. He couldn’t tell where she was, though, only that she wasn’t locked up in a cage or something like that.

‘Perhaps I should tell her about my ability. That way she will know to be by something recognizable next time we get separated.’

Shu Yang kept moving on ahead at full speed, not caring if anyone spotted him. He didn’t have time to move cautiously.

But miraculously, only a few hours into his journey, he felt a familiar presence right before a weight settled on his shoulders.

“Xiaorong!?” Shu Yang called out.

The little black fox nudged his cheek happily, and Shu Yang grabbed her into his arms, giving her a big hug.

“How did you find me?” Shu Yang asked.

“Felt your aura,” Xiaorong answered.

‘From what kind of distance? She can do that?’

“Where were you?” Xiaorong asked.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Shu Yang said, snapping out of his thoughts. “We don’t have much time. But I have good news. You’ll probably be able to recover your missing blood essence soon.”

Shu Yang would obviously not forget about Xiaorong now that he had so many resources. Some of the spiritual plants he had gotten were sure to be useful to Xiaorong.

“Anyway, I was swept into the trial for the inheritance, along with all other humans,” Shu Yang began explaining, in a better mood than he had been in a long time.