Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“Hongchi? You’re back?” Xiaochen asked as soon as Song Hongchi arrived at the gates to the Song Family Mountain.

“Did anything happen to Tianyi?” Song Hongchi asked straight away.

“Tianyi? Who is that? And what happened at the inheritance? Everyone is talking about it. Were you really there?” Xiaochen asked, looking at Song Hongchi with stars in his eyes.

“Shu Tianyi! The girl we got from the Qing Family ten years ago? She’s learning formations from my aunt?” Song Hongchi questioned, but she saw no realization dawn on Xiaochen’s face.

‘Who let this idiot in charge of keeping watch over the gate?’

“Has anything of note happened in the past few days?” Song Hongci asked through gritted teeth. If Shu Yang had gotten there first and taken Tianyi with him, it was sure to have caused some kind of commotion.

“Not that I know of, no,” Xiaochen said, shaking his head. 

“Whatever, I’m going to see my aunt,” Song Hongchi said, entering the formation protecting their family mountain.

“Ah, wait,” Xiaochen called out. “The Family Head definitely wants to see you! Your parents have been coming down here lately too, waiting for you.”

Song Hongchi paused. “I’ll see them right after I see my aunt. Don’t go around telling people I’m back, or I’ll punish you once I’ve become an Elder.”

“That…” Xiaochen was left looking dumb as Song Hongchi hurried to her aunt’s mountain.

She wasn’t actually seeing her aunt, though; she was heading straight for the cave Tianyi lived in.

Unfortunately, her arrival seemed impossible to hide. Several people saw her heading up the mountain, and they were bound to spread the word.

‘What a nuisance.’

Song Hongchi, of course, didn’t mind seeing the Family Head, and she was looking forward to meeting her parents. But now wasn’t the time. She had a lot of things to prepare, and she couldn’t let anyone know what she was up to.

“You guys!” Song Hongchi called out to a bunch of girls she recognized as students of her aunt.

“Senior sister, you’re back,” The girls called out, running up to her with smiles on their faces. Even the ones several years older than Song Hongchi called her ‘senior sister’ now. That hadn’t been the case for all of them when she was home the last time.

‘I guess they know my advancement is inevitable, and they want to adjust their title beforehand to make sure they don’t slight me.’

“Hello everyone, long time no see,” Song Hongchi greeted them all with a smile. “Are you busy?”

“Not busy,” A young girl Song Hongchi had forgotten the name of answered.

“If that’s the case, I have a task for you,” Song Hongchi said, and pulled out a piece of paper from her storage ring. “See this man? He’s interested in a junior sister of mine, and he should be getting here soon in a flying ship from Chenqi Immortal City. Could you go out and look for any arriving ships and see if you can spot him? If you do, some of you should keep an eye on him, and someone should come and report to me. I’ll reward you all once it’s done.”

“Wow! A suitor? Who is he interested in?”

“Is it any of us?”

“He’s very handsome. What family is he from?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll answer your questions later,” Song Hongchi said, waving their questions down. “Go now; you don’t want to miss him. And remember to make sure he doesn’t see you; I want to catch him by surprise. And don’t tell anyone else. This is an internal matter of us sisters. I just want to vet him and make sure he is good enough for our sister, okay?”

The girls nodded their heads eagerly and took off running down the mountain.

‘Hopefully, he hasn’t arrived yet.’

Song Hongchi guessed that Shu Yang would want to make for Tianyi as quickly as possible, and the best way for that was definitely by flying ship. Since the inheritance was close to Chunqi Immortal City, Song Hongchi was willing to bet that he would head back there after leaving the inheritance site and hitch a ride from there. 

Without stopping to converse with anyone else, Song Hongchi made her way toward Tianyi’s cave.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hoping that Shu Yang hadn’t come to take Tianyi without anyone noticing.

‘I wish I knew what his Bloodline Ability was. True Person Jiami seemed to value it.’

‘Then again, True Person Jiami seemed to have been taken for a bit of a fool, and ended up getting erased by that strange power.’

‘Was it his bloodline? Has another powerful cultivator put a protection on it?’

To be honest, Song Hongchi had been scared witless when she felt the presence of that mysterious power back in the final inheritance room. She hadn’t even reacted when Shu Yang took her ring.

She still feared that powerful being that might be backing Shu Yang, but since when has cultivation been without risks? If Song Hongchi ever wanted a chance to reach the Golden Core stage, she had to get back that storage ring.

Perhaps she would have hesitated slightly if she actually had to become an enemy sworn to the death with Shu Yang. But she had no need for that. 

“Senior sister!” A young girl called out, and Song Hongchi felt someone crash into her arms. 

“Tianyi!” Song Hongchi called out with a smile, “Did you miss me?”

“I missed you so much! You’re so late! I heard you got stuck inside an inheritance site? Is that true?” Tianyi questioned.

“Yes,” Song Hongchi said. “Sorry about that.”

“No, no, it’s good that you’re safe. Did you get the inheritance then?” Tianyi asked, looking up at her with her pure but slightly piercing eyes. 

“I’m afraid not,” Song Hongchi said with a sigh. “Can I come inside?”

“Of course, I’ll make you some tea,” Tianyi said, running inside her cave dwelling.

Song Hongchi followed with familiar steps. She had visited Tianyi’s cave many times.

“How’s your cultivation going?” Song Hongchi asked.

“I finally managed to break through to the 3rd stage of Qi Refining,” Tianyi said, pouring some tea for Song Hongchi as she took her seat. “But it’s becoming very difficult to refine spiritual qi for me. I don’t have your talent.”

“You don’t even have low-grade spirit roots; it’s amazing to advance at the pace you have been,” Song Hongchi said.

“That’s because you have given me so many good things,” Tianyi said with a bright smile. “Did you bring me any more good stuff this time?”

Song Hongchi smiled. She didn’t know why she gave Tianyi resources every time she returned. It wasn’t really like her.

When Tianyi first arrived at the Song Family and started learning from her aunt, Song Hongchi had felt a certain fondness for the girl. Song Hongchi was 16 years old then, and Tianyi was only 9. Perhaps she just felt that Tianyi was different from other people. Her upbringing was completely different, as she wasn’t from a cultivation family, so it wasn’t strange. 

Somehow, Song Hongchi couldn’t quite remember how, she and Tianyi had gotten close, almost like sisters. Even after Song Hongchi left for the Green River Sect, they had kept in touch.

Song Hongchi had always been talented. Her spirit roots were among the best in the family, at the 4th grade. Because of that, she was used to people treating her a certain way. It was like every interaction she had with others carried the shadow of her brand as a young genius. 

Even her own parents didn’t treat her as just their daughter, someone to love unconditionally. They loved her, of course, and were very kind. But their interactions had always been tainted with their expectations for her, their pride over her talent, and their hope for her success to bring them up in status along with her. 

Tianyi, however, didn’t seem to understand that Song Hongchi was special. She just liked that Song Hongchi talked to her, and that she listened to her stories about her homeland, and the stories her father used to tell her. 

It was the first time Song Hongchi had someone in her life who seemed to view her completely without the halo of a genius.

As the years passed and Tianyi grew older, Song Hongchi was a bit worried that things would change. She was bound to figure out Song Hongchi’s status in the family sooner or later, and then everything would change. 

Song Hongchi had taken the initiative to ask Tianyi once, why she never asked for any favors or resources from her. She had prayed that Tianyi would answer that she didn’t care about any of that stuff, and just liked to spend time with her.

Instead, Tianyi had answered, ‘Senior sister, do you have good stuff? Give me some!’

Song Hongchi didn’t know why, but she really liked that answer. She liked it even more than the one she had hoped for. It was greedy, sure, but it was undisguised greed. Completely pure without hidden motives.

Since then, Song Hongchi always made sure to bring back some resources for her junior sister every time she returned home. 

“Here, the usual stuff. I also figured you’d need something to push you to the 4th stage, so I brought you a Breakthrough Pill,” Song Hongchi said, handing a storage ring to Tianyi.

“Great, thank you!” Tianyi said, grabbing the ring. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring you a lot of good stuff in the future. I have a niece who is amazing at finding treasure. When you become a great cultivator, we can go back to my homeland, and I’ll make her take you around.”

Song Hongchi smiled and shook her head. “Sounds good. By the way, your family is only a small family of body cultivators, right? There is no Foundation expert?”

“No, but my brothers are all really strong. Especially Tianhu; I heard he cut the heads of several Grandmasters with his sword intent when he first left home. Amazing, right?”

“Amazing,” Song Hongchi said, nodding. She had heard a lot about Tianyi’s family already, but she had never heard the name Shu Yang being mentioned.

‘I’ll just ask.’

“Do you know anyone named Shu Yang?” Song Hongchi asked.

Tianyi paused. Her eyes flickered slightly, and she answered in a bit of a daze, “That’s my dad’s name. How did you know that?”

Song Hongchi’s mouth dropped open.

‘Her dad? No way, right?’

“How does your father look?” Song Hongchi asked in a slightly dry voice.

“Why? What’s going on? Have you heard something about him?” Tianyi asked, getting agitated.

“Maybe,” Song Hongchi answered. She then explained how she had encountered a man in the trial who went by the name of Zhuo Zhangye, and that he was a body cultivator at the Foundation stage with a powerful sword intent.

She took out another picture she had made of him for the people looking out for his arrival and handed it to Tianyi.

“It’s…it’s really him,” Tianyi said. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, and she looked up from the picture to Song Hongchi. “He came here? He came for me?”

Song Hongchi felt a little affected by the moment herself. “Yes. It seems like he did.”

“Where is he?” Tianyi asked, rising to her feet.

Song Hongchi hesitated slightly. 

‘Should I just abandon my plan? Maybe Shu Yang will give me my inheritance out of gratitude?’

‘No. There’s no way.’

‘Besides. I’m going to reunite them, aren’t I? I just want back what’s mine first.’

“Well, he might be in a bit of trouble at the moment,” Song Hongchi then explained how he had probably gotten the inheritance, and that a lot of powerful people were looking for him. 

“But don’t worry, he should still have some time. I have people looking for him in the city. When he gets here, I’ll know straight away, and I can get you together,” Song Hongchi said.

“Really?” Tianyi asked, anxiously shifting around the room.

“Yes. Just listen to me, and I’ll make sure you can meet up with each other. I’ll take care of everything,” Song Hongchi promised.