"The Melded Unity Codex has officially become the clan's primary cultivation method. The current training phase is still in its early stages, but once it settles in and the clan members familiarize themselves with the cultivation method… a period of explosive growth is inevitable."
Standing atop a quiet peak behind the Leonhart Clan's estate, Leo Leonhart cast his gaze across the rolling rooftops below.
Sunlight glimmered off tiled eaves. Training fields echoed with movement. Pill smoke drifted from alchemy pavilions. All of it - every voice, every motion was under his quiet watch.
He smiled slightly seeing the clan come together and try their best in their own way.
"The elders are progressing. The younger generation is growing stable and now the foundation has finally begun to solidify."
It had taken patience and careful nurturing, but the results were clear. Leonhart was no longer a wandering clan clinging to prestige of a single cultivator, it was rising on its own legs, brick by brick.
"They've done well," Leo murmured, a flicker of admiration in his voice. "Not bad at all, The clan is finally coming into a better shape."
He was referring to Leon his alleged descendant and current clan leader who had clearly put in real effort managing things in his absence. Leon was not his real descendant but someone who was born to a loyal member of Leonhart's previous generation and was cherished a lot due to his efforts and care for the clan.
The plan Leo put in place were working thanks to Leon and other elder's effort.
There was, however, one small frustrating part.
"Shame the Guardian Corps doesn't count toward our faction upgrade mission," he said with a sigh.
The Guardian Corps, though not of direct bloodline like Leon and other elders, were hand-picked and trained by Leo himself. Some of them had even reached the Blood Stage Ninth Layer—barely a step from Core Break.
Their talent was immense perhaps greater than the elders. But due to the system's rules, they didn't count toward the "Ten Core Break bloodline cultivators" required to push the Leonhart Clan into the 6th-rank classification.
As the rule only allowed the main members of the clan who had been loyal to the clan from previous generations able to be part of the system.
"Still… I suppose that's fair. If I could complete the system's mission with honorary members and external hires, there'd be no challenge to it."
Leo turned from the peak and stepped forward.
With a shimmer, space rippled around him and he vanished.
He reappeared a moment later in his secluded courtyard, landing softly next to a shaded recliner in the rear garden. A porcelain teapot sat steaming beside a small stone table.
He poured himself a cup and leaned back, enjoying the serenity.
For a fleeting moment, the world was still.
But peace rarely lasted long.
—
Far to the south, at the edge of the Blazecity borders, chaos stirred.
Within a towering estate surrounded by black stone walls the City Lord's Manor a small group of elite cultivators stood atop the watchtower. Their gazes were sharp, all fixed toward the distant horizon, where wild peaks rose like fangs from the ground.
The Beastbone Mountains loomed in silence.
A tall man in flowing robes gripped the stone railing tightly, his voice low and bitter.
"The order from above has come down. We have seven days to capture the criminal who desecrated the royal tomb and recover every artifact stolen from the Firegrave Mausoleum."
His tone darkened thinking about the people above who did nothing themselves and only knew to bark orders.
"This matter has spread through all of Redridge Province. If we fail... the blame will not fall on you alone. I'll be the first to burn and all of you guys will follow me."
The speaker was none other than the City Lord of Blazecity, his face pale with worry.
His city once a peaceful frontier hub had been thrust into turmoil overnight.
A few weeks ago, during a high-profile ceremonial opening of the ancient Firegrave Mausoleum a tomb sacred to the Firegrave royal line a hidden chamber was found open. Its contents had been looted.
Panic swept through Firegrave Province.
The current ruler, Prince Firegrave, flew into a rage and summoned the best fate diviners in the realm. Their readings revealed the culprit: a chubby young man in his mid-twenties, cultivation somewhere between Blood Stage Seventh to Ninth Layer.
But just as they began tracking the man down, the readings turned chaotic.
The target had used some sort of high-grade artifact that disrupted fate-tracking erasing his presence like a shadow in fog.
That left only one option: deploy search parties across all possible hiding spots.
And so, Blazecity a known neutral zone near the outskirts became one of three focal points for the search.
The City Lord, who had been relaxing in relative peace, was suddenly given an impossible mission:
Find the tomb thief. Seven days. No excuses.
He gritted his teeth as he remembered the words that followed through after the mission orders.
"Just my luck…"
One of the officials beside him spoke up. "My lord, even if we mobilize every elite we have, the Beastbone Mountains are huge. Seven days just isn't enough to search every party of the mountain range."
"Father," added a young officer beside him. "Even the Firegrave Palace couldn't find him immediately. Now they give us this deadline and don't even send reinforcements? It's honestly absurd."
The City Lord didn't reply.
He simply stared ahead, expression grim.
They had appealed for aid already. The answer they got though had been a cold one as they were denied any sort of help. Apparently, the Beastbone Mountains had the lowest likelihood of success for finding the culprit. The two other potential regions Molten Ridge and the chaotic borderlands to the west were more probable.
And so, the best trackers had been sent elsewhere.
They had received only three "helpers".
Currently resting in the central courtyard of the manor was a beautiful young woman dressed in phoenix-silk robes and two seemingly unassuming middle-aged attendants.
The attendants might've looked like simple aides…
But the City Lord had sensed it.
Those two were stronger than him.
And the woman between them? She was a Timebomb wrapped in silk as they had to be very careful dealing wiht her.
Her name: Chu Siting the beloved daughter of Prince Firegrave himself.
Her fame was nearly as high as her beauty. Rumors swirled across the empire of her Heavenly Talent Ranking: Ninth in the entire Dusk Empire.
With her current cultivation at Blood Stage, Ninth Layer, she stood a breath away from breaking into the Core Break realm. Some even say had she cared more for cultivation, she might've long since claimed a top-three position in the ranking.
But what few knew was why she never pushed harder.
Her body carried a terrible blessing.
Extreme Yin Constitution.
Rare beyond belief as well as powerful beyond measure. But for a woman, it was a slow death sentence.
Thirty years.
That was all the time a female born with the Extreme Yin Body had. By her thirtieth birthday, her spiritual pathways would implode from within due to it being frozen by her own energy.
Only one path was available for her to live for more years and that was to find balance.
Yet balance required a compatible force.
A man with an equally rare Extreme Yang Body, or a cultivation method designed to stabilize her very soul.
And so far... none had been found.
—
Back on the rooftop, the City Lord sighed.
He looked down at the courtyard, where Chu Siting sat beneath a cherry blossom tree, her eyes closed in silent meditation.
"She might not live to see her thirtieth year," he whispered. "But her presence here... means this matter is more important than we realized."
He clenched his fists.
"Do everything we can, whatever happens we must not fail this time."