"A fourth-grade talisman?"
"No… wait. A degraded one, more like a pseudo-fourth-grade, its power was mostly drained."
Deep within the Leonhart ancestral grounds, Leo's eyes slowly opened. His gaze though unmoving, seemed to pierce through layers of space itself, watching the distant battlefield unfold in perfect clarity.
When he saw the silver light surrounding Brandon Drake, even he raised an eyebrow.
After all, a fourth-grade talisman even a weakened one was a rare sight in a place like Blazecity. Even within the Dusk Empire, such items were extremely scarce.
Unlike alchemists, talisman artisans were fewer in number as well as less publicly valued, and their techniques far more obscure. Their crafts didn't spread as easily as pill refining did.
Leo leaned back slightly, thinking about the current scenario.
"We've got Lyra for alchemy… but maybe it's time I nurture a Talisman Master too."
If he was going to build the strongest clan in the Great World, then it had to be strong in every aspect—cultivation, healing, warfare, support.
Alchemy was only one pillar.
To rise above others, the Leonhart Clan would need them all.
DING—!
[Legacy System Notification]Congratulations, Host, for grasping the system's grand intention.
Mainline Challenge Mission Unlocked: Rise of the Sixfold Star
▶ Phase 1 Objective: Upgrade the Leonhart Clan to a certified Sixth-Rank power.
Requirements:
The clan (excluding Host) must have:
1 Transcendent Stage cultivator
10 Core Break Stage cultivators
A certified Grade-4 Alchemist among your members
A certified Level-2 Talisman Master
Leo blinked once. His fingers tapped lightly on the wooden table.
"…Hah. They're really not pulling any punches."
He exhaled slowly.
In the standard hierarchy, a Sixth-Rank clan only needed one Transcendent cultivator and ten Core Break realm elders to qualify.
No one ever mentioned needing a Grade-4 Alchemist or a Level-2 Talisman Master.
Even within the Empire, those two professions at that level were treated with more reverence than most high-level cultivators.
"And they're even excluding me," Leo muttered with a wry smile.
If he seriously thought about it the requirements are somewhat trivial.
He could become a Grade-4 Alchemist within a few months if he focused, and forging talismans was already within his grasp so becoming a Level-2 Talisman Master wouldn't be difficult.
But the system was strict as it already mentioned that Leo cannot be the one achieving the requirements. So there were really no loopholes.
This had to be a clan accomplishment, not just his own.
"Alright then…" Leo stood, dusting himself off. "No cutting corners. Let's do this right way."
His gaze turned serious as he began to think about what to do next.
"Time for real expansion of the clan."
He reached for a scroll and began drafting a comprehensive family growth strategy. Not just strength, but population, education, profession distribution, and generational training plans.
"Even if we have legacy methods and divine pills, without manpower numbers, we'll always be limited…"
With gleaming eyes and an emotionless face, he murmured."
"Time to encourage some serious baby-making."
He would create incentive programs for couples, allocate cultivation resources for new parents, provide pill subsidies for childbirth vitality, and draft tiered education systems for newborns.
If he wanted a perfect sixth rank clan, a fully balanced power then he'd need the foundation to match other similar clans or even to outperform them.
Meanwhile—
Back at the battlefield…
The duel between the two patriarchs had reached its own fever pitch.
On one side stood Leonhart Clan Head Leon, empowered by the Melded Unity Codex and a berserker-grade pill. His aura surged like a crimson inferno.
On the other side was Brandon, the seasoned and scheming Lord Drake, surrounded by a flickering silver light—the same talisman barrier his son had used.
For an hour, the two titans exchanged blow after blow.
Leon's raw power couldn't break through the silver shell. But Brandon couldn't land a single clean hit either, always one step too slow to match the berserk man's explosive momentum.
Leon felt his strength waning—muscles burning, breath ragged. Gritting his teeth, he forced his trembling arm upward."
"Withdraw."
The word cut through the air like a blade.
Behind him, the surviving Leonhart cultivators immediately moved into formation and began pulling back, covering their wounded as they went.
Before leaving, Leon turned to glare one final time at Lord Drake.
"You deliberately stirred up chaos in our clan market. This bloodshed, this destruction was your doing"
He pointed to the ruined district, where shattered walls and craters still smoldered.
"Start preparing compensation for every single piece of item that you destroyed. If your offer is inadequate…"
His voice grew cold as he clenched his fist and punched the air directly aiming at Brandon's face.
"I'll make the trip myself to the Forbidden Peak and invite Ancestor Leo to pay your clan a personal visit."
Brandon Drake's face drained of color hearing the name that had haunted him for past decades.
Leon didn't wait for his reply.
He turned, leading his people away while leaving the Drakes standing in silence behind him.
A silence filled the surrounding as others from Drake clan processed the words said by Leon.
The words "Ancestor Leo" echoed in their minds like a death sentence.
They all knew what it meant.
A cultivator at Core Break, Level 9.
The strongest man in Blazecity by a margin so large that even if they brought all their core break stage elders they cannot guarantee their win.
Back at the Drake clan's side silence still reigned.
Brandon Drake stood still, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Damn it…" he whispered.
This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
Everything had been calculated the timing, the bait, the battlefield location. He had even accounted for Leon's new rise in strength.
But none of them had expected the Leonhart Clan to have so many Core Break cultivators.
None of them had expected such reckless fury from their clan head and such absolute unity while fighting giving the impression that they were people who had trained all their life to fight in formations.
None of them had truly understood…
How terrifying Ancestor Leo's shadow had become.
"Withdraw," he muttered, his voice cold. "We will return right away."
Elsewhere in Blazecity:
Word spread like wildfire.
Within a single day, the events at the market reached every corner of the city and beyond. Traveling merchants, rogue cultivators, even nobles from smaller towns quickly carried the story.
And with it, the Leonhart Clan's reputation exploded.
"They went toe-to-toe with the Drakes and won!"
"Word is, their Patriarch even forced Brandon to retreat."
"Forget the old rankings. Leonhart is the new number one in Blazecity."
By evening, the phrase "Number One Clan" had already attached itself to their name.
In contrast, the Drake Clan became the punchline of a joke.
A clan that picked a fight, lost face, and got threatened into paying reparations.
All while their supposed ace Brandon had been forced to burn his best treasure just to survive.
"They'll have to pay compensation, right?"
"Of course! The Leonhart's brought up Ancestor Leo!"
"That old monster might be nearing his limit, but he's still Core Break Stage, Level 9!"
"I heard the Drakes' old patriarch is only at Stage 7. They wouldn't dare."
The taverns buzzed with speculation, but one thing was certain:
The Leonhart Clan had officially ascended.