Chapter 410 : A Vow Broken, A Clan Revealed

"Fortunately, I possessed the Spirit Talisman you bestowed, which allowed me to defeat and gravely wound her. I merely showed a moment of weakness and spared her life."

At this point, she gritted her teeth and continued, "I believed that with the oath she swore, this secret would remain safe. Yet, I never imagined she would rather violate the Heart Demon Blood Oath [a binding vow where breaking it invites torment from inner demons] than keep it, choosing instead to spread the news far and wide."

"Guinevere Gu?"

Eldrin Chen's eyes flickered with thought before he spoke. "What is this person's background?"

"She is a direct descendant of the Gu Clan, a Golden Core Immortal Clan from The Vast Sea," Silas Chen explained, adding, "They possess a Fourth Rank Low Grade Spirit Mountain [a mountain imbued with a mid-tier concentration of spiritual energy] and have a single Golden Core Initial Stage Cultivator [a cultivator who has recently formed their Golden Core, the third major stage of cultivation]."

"Then the matter is straightforward," Eldrin Chen nodded, his tone calm and decisive. "I shall go and eliminate them later."

Silas Chen shook her head, however. "There is no need for your intervention in this. I will handle it personally in the future."

"Very well."

Hearing her words, a faint smile touched Eldrin Chen's lips. This trial had tempered her resolve significantly. Forging her own path to Golden Core [the third major stage of cultivation, where one's spiritual energy condenses into a solid core] and then claiming vengeance on Guinevere Gu had become a point of personal conviction for her.

"Our Chen Clan ancestors are connected to the Chen Immortal Clan of The Vast Sea."

Eldrin Chen's eyes flickered, revealing a trace of surprise.

Before he could inquire, the ancient Shattered Cauldron flew out. It spoke calmly, "Let me explain."

"It is a long story..."

As the Shattered Cauldron narrated, a tale from over a Millennium ago, unfolding in The Vast Sea, gradually came to light.

Long ago, more than a Millennium past, the Chen Immortal Clan, the hegemon of The Vast Sea, was a Supreme Nascent Soul Immortal Clan ranked among the top thirty within the Eastern Wastelands.

In that era, the Chen Immortal Clan was at the peak of its glory, boasting seventeen or eighteen Nascent Soul True Lord. Its Clan Lord, 'Qing the True Lord', had even succeeded in attuning his Earthly Soul [one of the three spiritual souls], breaking through to the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm and standing as a pinnacle Nascent Soul cultivator.

At that time, the Chen Clan had spent several A Millennium Has Passed tirelessly nurturing the Water Essence Earth Vein [a spiritual earth vein rich in water essence] of The Vast Sea, aiming to cultivate it into the third Water Essence Ancestral Vein [a supreme-grade spiritual water vein] within the Eastern Wastelands.

In truth, they nearly succeeded. Qing the True Lord was a genius of his generation, having created the 'Heaven-Seizing Vein Creation Art' [a forbidden art to seize and transform spiritual veins]. He sought to drain the power of the Vast and Boundless Marsh's Water Vein [a major spiritual water vein] in one grand move, elevating The Vast Sea into a true Sixth Rank Water Essence Ancestral Vein.

Had this endeavor succeeded, Qing the True Lord could have harnessed the Creation momentum [the primordial creative force] fed back by the ancestral vein to shatter the barriers of the Nascent Soul Dao Lord realm in a single leap.

Yet this step was a desperate gamble. For Qing the True Lord to seize the power of the Water Vein within the Vast and Boundless Marsh, the Black Dragon True Lord would naturally be utterly intolerant.

Therefore, even before his breakthrough, Qing the True Lord had already divined that calamity was his inevitable fate. To transcend it would elevate him to the pinnacle of this realm as a Pure Yang Dao Lord.

With the Heaven-Seizing Vein Creation Art he pioneered, he might even have held a sliver of hope for Immortal Ascension. Should he fail, however, the entire Chen Clan would likely be buried alongside him.

Thus, before his final attempt to elevate the ancestral vein, he dispatched several hundred of his most elite disciples, scattering them to hide in the surrounding nations.

In the end, Qing the True Lord did indeed fail. The Black Dragon True Lord, having lived for untold tens of thousands of years, ranked among the top ten supreme powerhouses of this world, perhaps not far from achieving immortality himself.

The wrath of such an Ancient Primordial True Dragon was unstoppable, not even the Human Race Dao Lord of the Eastern Wastelands could intervene. The few Fifth Rank Spirit Vein within The Vast Sea were shattered and sunk, and the Chen Immortal Clan was annihilated in a single night.

After the clan's fall, most of those scattered elite disciples faced purges, with scarcely any surviving.

In truth, by now, all those departed disciples from that era have long since perished. Even tracing back to the Founding Progenitor of the Qi Nation Chen Clan eight hundred years ago, he was merely a descendant of one of those original Vast Sea Chen Clan disciples.

By that time, the Chen Clan had lost its Deep-Seated Foundation entirely. Beyond a thread of bloodline, they retained almost none of the Vast Sea Chen Clan's true heritage.

Now, in the generation of Eldrin Chen, that bloodline connection has grown exceedingly distant. Yet, barring unforeseen circumstances, his lineage remains one of the very few surviving branches of the Chen Clan.

Speaking of the former glory of the Chen Clan, the Shattered Cauldron sighed and said, "The Chen Clan has been passed down for nearly ten thousand years, migrating all the way from the Central Ancestral Domain. At its peak, it was considered one of the top-tier powers within the Eastern Wastelands."

"Who would have thought that now the Celestial Vault Isle has sunk into the The Vast Sea, never to emerge again for all eternity."

Eldrin Chen's heart and mind were in turmoil. After a long while, he asked, "Since the Celestial Vault Isle has sunk into the The Vast Sea, is there any way to enter it and search for the legacy treasures?"

Lyra Jiang also showed a flicker of desire. The legacy treasures of such a Top-Tier Immortal Clan would undoubtedly be of immense value. If found, their cultivation paths would likely become smooth sailing from then on.

However, the Shattered Cauldron trembled slightly and, after a moment, said, "Back then, the Celestial Vault Isle was struck by a blow from the Black Dragon Demon Progenitor and sank into the The Vast Sea."

"The Hundreds of Millions of Living Beings on that island, along with several million cultivators, all perished. Their deaths fermented into boundless resentment and malice." This chapter appears courtesy of audio-novel-dot-com.

"Nourished further by the severed Nascent Ancestral Vein Grudge and the power of Creation, it ultimately caused the Earthly Soul of Qing the True Lord to undergo a strange transformation, becoming an existence that is neither human, ghost, nor god."

"Such an entity holds resentment and killing intent towards all things in heaven and earth. Releasing it would inevitably turn the The Vast Sea into a land of utter desolation."

"Even if you were to enter, you would likely face its attack."

"A transformed Earthly Soul?"

Eldrin Chen's pupils contracted sharply. Among a cultivator's Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Souls, the Life Soul [the soul of self and consciousness] is the soul of the self, the very core of all consciousness.

The Heavenly Soul [the celestial aspect of the soul] wanders the far reaches of the Nine Heavens [the highest celestial realms], while the Earthly Soul [the earthly aspect of the soul] sinks into the depths of the Netherworld [the underworld]. As a cultivator's cultivation base continuously increases, these two souls ceaselessly draw upon the power of heaven and earth to grow stronger.

That Earthly Soul, drawing upon Great Earth Netherworld Power [the profound and often sinister power of the earth's underworld], inherently carries a taint of malevolence. If such an existence were to absorb boundless resentment and the combined grudge and power of a Nascent Ancestral Vein [a newly formed, primordial spiritual vein], no one could predict what kind of bizarre and terrifying entity might be born.

Without the control of the Life Soul, Eldrin Chen could well foresee that it would certainly be deranged and senseless. Once it emerged into the world, it might very well unleash immeasurable slaughter.

No wonder, after the fall of the Chen Clan, the various great Immortal Clans of the Eastern Wastelands did not covet the legacy treasures of the Chen Clan.

With this thought, Eldrin Chen suppressed his desire to explore the Heaven's Canopy Island Ruins. He could only say, "Our ancestor fell a Millennium ago, yet still cannot find peace in the cycle of reincarnation. Lost and confused, he has transformed into an existence that is neither human, nor ghost, nor god."

"If one day I possess sufficient cultivation, I will guide him through his tribulation and send him onward."

The Shattered Cauldron [a sentient, damaged magical artifact] remained silent for a long moment before finally nodding. "You carry the bloodline of the Chen Clan within you. With your talent and Deep-Seated Foundation [an exceptionally profound and stable cultivation foundation], if you can forge a Heavenly Dao Nascent Soul [a Nascent Soul aligned with the Heavenly Dao, representing the pinnacle of potential], you might truly be able to rouse a sliver of His will."

"If you can awaken even a fragment of His will, perhaps you could retrieve a portion of the legacy treasures from the island."

The Shattered Cauldron spoke frankly, informing Eldrin Chen that back then, Qing the True Lord had prepared a portion of the legacy treasures, intending to transfer them out to establish a deep foundation for the clan's chosen seeds. Among them was even a strand of Heavenly Dao Qi [a wisp of pure energy embodying the Heavenly Dao itself].

Regrettably, due to interference from enemies, it ultimately was not delivered and sank into the The Vast Sea along with the Celestial Vault Isle.

If Eldrin Chen were to cultivate a Heavenly Dao Nascent Soul, then perhaps the Chen Clan bloodline within him could foster a sense of kinship with that Earthly Soul [one of the three souls constituting a being's spiritual essence], allowing him to claim that legacy treasure.

This was not a baseless conjecture by the Shattered Cauldron. High-level cultivators possess extraordinary means. For an existence like Qing the True Lord, who had one foot already in the Nascent Soul realm, the revival of a mere wisp of remnant consciousness could briefly dominate the will of the Earthly Soul.

Just as Silas Chen was able to obtain the legacy treasure precisely because a strand of remnant consciousness from the Ethereal Void True Lord was awakened by the Chen Clan bloodline within her. This content originates from audio-novel[dot]com. Please respect copyright.