Chapter 328 – Life 77, Age 73, Martial Emperor Peak

My brow furrowed. “Bloodfire?”

Everyone at the table looked at Ning ZeKun as we waited for an explanation.

“I… can’t share the details…” ZeKun’s face twisted in annoyance.

Recognizing the effects of an Oath at play, I wanted to pull ZeKun into my inner world so that he could explain things more freely. Unfortunately, since he was a Sovereign, that wasn’t possible. We would just have to work with whatever limited information he was able to provide.

“You should already know that the Sovereigns use the Nine Rivers Sect as a way to draw the most talented cultivators on the continent into their clans, correct?”

I nodded.

ZeKun paused to carefully think through what he could say. “Sovereigns must only cultivate energy generated by blood members of their clan. So, normally, this kind of adoption would be impossible. However, the Bloodfire can allow you to create ‘Su Clan’ blood essence. After cultivating this blood essence, a person will become a true member of your Su Clan, no different from any of your direct descendants.”

ZeKun let out a puff of air. “The Bloodfire is the only way to bring new talent into a clan. And since the size and prosperity of one’s clan determines how much Sovereign-level energy it generates, the Bloodfire is, by far, the most valuable item on the entire continent.”

Something about ZeKun’s statement seemed… off. I was aware that fire seeds and spirit fires could burn one thing to produce something else. For example, the Cold Mountain Fire could burn qi to produce a combination of granite and water. But blood essence… How would this Bloodfire be able to create a form of essence that was connected specifically to the Su Clan?

Also, what had the Sect Master said back on the Summit of the Nine Rivers Sect? “The Jiu Clan’s blood essence is not so worthless that we can squander it on untalented disciples.” If blood essence was created by a spirit fire, why would it be in short supply? There had to be another layer to all of this.

Thinking of a possibility, my gaze locked onto Ning ZeKun. “This Bloodfire… It’s a type of spirit fire, right? One that produces this blood essence? What… What does it burn?”

His mouth set in a grim line, and he just shook his head in silence, unable to answer.

That told me all I needed to know. The ‘fuel’ that this Bloodfire consumed had to be something that possessed a deep connection with a given clan. And because essence was rare, it had to be something precious. A few ominous possibilities floated through my head, but without ZeKun being able to tell us anything more, it was impossible to know which was true.

To my right, GuiAi was focused on a different aspect of ZeKun’s information. “You just need to grow your clan, right? Why not just… you know… have more babies? Why go through all the trouble of setting up a sect, searching for talented outsiders, and dealing with some Bloodfire? What’s the point?”

ZeKun shook his head. “Just having more children will only dilute the bloodline. How many of them will even be able to ascend to Master? What percentage of those will be able to reach Grandmaster? Encouraging a pair of untalented Disciples to have children is meaningless. The talent of whatever children they have will be limited. We don’t just need our clan to have more members—we need it to have more members with talent.”

GuiAi’s frown deepened. “But—”

I waved her off. “Set what you know about the current Su Clan to the side. Try to remember back to when you were in the Su Clan’s training camp. How many of those children were hopeless? How many of them were destined never to cultivate? Such children would never be able to generate meaningful amounts of Sovereign-level energy.”

I turned back to Ning ZeKun. “You’re saying that ‘talent’—the ability to cultivate—is genetic, right? That the clans are, essentially, working to breed better cultivators?”

A hint of confusion appeared on ZeKun’s face, but he pushed past it. “I…don’t know… Yes? Talented parents are more likely to have talented children. As they say, ‘a tiger father doesn’t have a dog son.’ With each generation, we nurture the most talented individuals while the untalented ones are cut away. This makes our growth slower than it could be, but it ensures that our limited resources always go to those who can make the best use of them. It ensures that every member of our clan is of the highest quality possible.”

What Ning ZeKun was describing… The Ning Clan might have been more successful, but this was the exact same mentality the Su Clan had displayed: Nurture the most talented children of the highest-ranked members of the clan. Toss everyone else away.

Hearing that the continent’s most powerful clans subscribed to this same philosophy shouldn’t have surprised me. While they might have had more resources, they also had more people fighting for those resources. This entire continent shared a common language and culture, so it wasn’t too shocking that everyone also had the same idea for how to solve the issue of resource scarcity.

Still… It was such a waste.

I tapped on the table as I thought through everything I had learned. “So, the Sovereign clans use the sect to recruit new, talented cultivators. These cultivators are then used as breeding stock to improve your clan’s overall level of talent. Is that it? Didn’t…”

I looked over at Yan. There was a deep scowl on his face, but he was forced to hold himself back from making any comments. Thinking back, I tried to remember what he had told me long ago.

The Sovereigns want to absorb the most promising cultivators on this continent into their Bloodline. That is what is above the Ruler Tier. The Bloodline Tier. Sovereign, Spirit, Ancestor. At that level, one must steal the future potential of people from their own Bloodline. That’s what it means to cultivate karmic energy, to steal karmic potential from people. The clans harvest cultivators from this continent and use a ceremony to induct them into their bloodlines to fuel their advancement.

Was recruiting people from the sect really just about pulling talented cultivators into one’s clan, or was something more sinister going on? How much of what Yan said was true? How much of it was just the ravings of an embittered youth?

“Sovereign Ning, Zhuge Yan once told me that to cultivate as a Sovereign is to steal the karmic potential of the people in one’s bloodline. Can you share any insights into this?”

“That is… possible.” ZeKun closed his eyes, and his grim expression darkened even further. “Before my ascension, the Ning Clan was growing at a steady rate. Each generation saw the birth of an ever-increasing number of geniuses. After I ascended to Sovereign, however, this changed. Each year, the number of geniuses born into my clan has steadily dwindled. Now, like the other Sovereign clans, the Ning Clan must rely on outsiders to bolster its numbers.”

He held up a hand before anyone could reply. “Personally, though, I do not believe that this has anything to do with my cultivation–at least, not directly. It is hard to be certain, but I believe that the decline is simply tied to the generation of Sovereign-level energy, not the use of it. Once a clan is powerful enough, and once its acknowledged leader reaches Peak Emperor, Sovereign-level energy is generated. I know of no way to stop this from happening. It is automatic. If a clan’s karmic potential is being drained, it’s not the Sovereigns who are doing it–it’s the world itself.”

My eyes instantly narrowed.

Was he right? If so, did that mean that this theft of ‘karmic potential’ was due to meddling by the Earthly Dao? If so, why? Wouldn’t this just cause the world to stagnate? Wasn’t that what the Earthly Dao was fighting against?

Reframe the question: Why would the Earthly Dao push the world down a path of stagnation?

I thought through everything I had learned about this world and could only come to one answer: There was no other way.

There was no other way to what? There was no other way to advance.

I had done a lot of research on advancing to Martial Lord, and over a century ago, I had put a large bounty on finding a way to break through without the use of karmic energy. So far, no one had been successful.

I had once theorized that the Sovereign Clans were breeding and buying a large number of demon beasts because they had a method for creating a core that used wu instead of karmic energy, but was that actually true? Even if it was, demon beasts that advanced to Rank 4 with qi were far weaker than those that used karmic energy, so wouldn’t cultivators who advanced to Lord with wu be far weaker than their counterparts?

Even if such a person could successfully ascend to Martial Lord, would they have a foundation strong enough to reach all the way to Saint? Would they even be able to reach Sovereign? If a wu core wasn’t as ‘solid’ as a karmic core, would it be able to contain the vast amount of energy necessary for that breakthrough? Probably not.

Was ascending to Saint, ascending beyond Saint, simply impossible without the use of karmic energy? Had the Earthly Dao known this and implemented a system of karmic theft as a shoddy workaround?

In the past, I had tried to purchase information on this topic, but I had always been denied. The price ‘wasn’t possible to calculate at that time.’ What about now?

I leaned back in my chair and began to subvocalize.

“System, is it possible to make a true advancement to Martial Lord without the use of karmic energy?”

Processing… Cost 1 million credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 2,329,374,660,747 credits remaining.

Yes.

My upper lip twitched in annoyance. What did I really want to know? What, exactly, was I looking to find out?

“System, considering the state of the Nine Rivers Continent, considering the state of the entire domain under the control of the Earthly Dao, is it possible to make a true advancement to Martial Lord without karmic energy and without the assistance of beings or powers from beyond this world?”

Cost 10 million credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 2,329,364,660,747 credits remaining.

Yes.

That… wasn’t the answer I had been expecting. Had my guess been wrong?

I thought back through my phrasing and found my mistake.

“System, considering the domain under the control of the Earthly Dao, if someone were to make such a ‘true advancement,’ would they be able to continue advancing further? How far? Sovereign? Saint? Beyond Saint?”

Cost 100 billion credits.

“Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 2,229,364,660,747 credits remaining.

Excluding potential interference from beings or powers from beyond this world, there are currently no viable paths for a cultivator who constructs their core from anything other than karmic energy to ascend to the level of Martial Sovereign.

While this answer seemed definitive, I couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that someone in this world would find a way to ascend without karmic energy anyway. After all, ‘beings or powers from beyond this world’ should include the ability of blessings empowered by the Heavenly Dao.

But… the Earthly Dao controlled these blessings. The Earthly Dao shaped them. What did that tell me?

“System, did the Earthly Dao implement this system where people steal the karmic potential of others? Was this done as a means of sending people into upper worlds? Was this done so that we, so that I, would bring back the means of ascending without the need for karmic energy?”

Cost 50 million credits.

My jaw clenched. “Purchase.”

Purchase confirmed. 2,229,314,660,747 credits remaining.

Yes.

Note: You owe me a debt.

I nodded. “Very well.”

Coming back to the conversation at hand, my eyes focused on Ning ZeKun. “I understand the situation.”

I looked at Yan. “We have three targets. The Li Clan, the Zhuge Clan, and the Nine Rivers Sect. Our primary objectives are the essence cultivation techniques and the Bloodfire. Secondary objectives include the sect’s methods for harvesting and storing both karmic energy and essence. Killing the Sovereigns and taking a firm grip on this continent is a tertiary objective. Let’s not allow that goal to distract us from completing the others.”

Yan bowed his head. “Understood.”

The Su Clan didn’t need to absorb outside talent as much as the other clans did. Through the use of memory orbs, we had somehow gotten around this limitation. Even Liang, someone who hadn’t been able to read even the most basic of technique manuals, had been able to reach Martial King without issue. While I had needed to give him a comprehension boost to help him reach Emperor, that was only because we didn’t yet have the necessary memory orbs for him to do so on his own.

Still, getting our hands on this Bloodfire would be extremely helpful.

My Revered Elders weren’t from my clan, so how were people like Bao and SuYin supposed to ascend to Sovereign? They could start clans of their own, but that could get complicated. It would be better if I could simply induct them into the Su Clan.

So, yes, while we didn’t need the Bloodfire for the same reasons as other clans, it was still invaluable for our long-term development.

I looked around at the group. “We have 11 months, but each day we delay, we give our enemies more time to prepare. Let’s figure out what we need to do and get it done as soon as we can.”