Chapter 410 : A Vow Broken, A Clan Revealed

"Fortunately, I possessed the Spirit Talisman [a magical paper inscribed with a spell] you bestowed, which allowed me to defeat and gravely wound her. Yet, in a moment of misplaced mercy, I spared her life."

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

"Ancient Verdant Beauty Gu?"

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

"She is a direct descendant of the Vast Sea Golden Core Immortal Clan Gu [a prominent cultivation clan from the Vast Sea region]," Silas Chen replied, then added, "They possess a Fourth Rank Low-Grade Spirit Mountain [a mountain peak imbued with potent spiritual energy, suitable for Golden Core cultivators] and have a cultivator at the Golden Core Early Stage [the initial phase of the Golden Core cultivation realm]."

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

Silas Chen shook her head firmly. "This matter requires no intervention from you. I shall handle it personally in the future."

"Very well."

Hearing her words, a faint smile touched Eldrin Chen's lips. This trial had tempered her spirit, forging significant growth in her resolve. For her to break through to the Golden Core [a major cultivation stage where one condenses their spiritual power into a solid golden core] on her own and then slay Ancient Verdant Beauty Gu would become a testament to her own conviction.

Silas Chen paused for a moment, then spoke again. "There is one more thing I should tell you." Dive deeper into the Dao at audio‑novel.com.

"Our Chen Clan ancestors have ties to the Chen Immortal Clan of the Vast Sea."

Eldrin Chen's eyes flickered with a trace of surprise.

Before he could inquire, the ancient Shattered Cauldron floated out. It spoke calmly, "Allow me to explain."

"It is a long tale..."

As the Shattered Cauldron narrated, a story from a millennium ago, set in the Vast Sea, gradually unfolded.

Long ago, a millennium past, the Chen Immortal Clan, overlords of the Vast Sea, ranked among the top thirty supreme Infant Soul Immortal Clan clans within the Eastern Region Great Wasteland.

In that era, the Chen Immortal Clan shone with unparalleled glory, boasting seventeen or eighteen Infant Soul True Lord alone. Their Clan Patriarch, 'Verdant Seal True Lord', had even successfully drawn upon his Earth Soul [one of the three spiritual souls, representing stability and foundation], reaching the pinnacle of the Half-Step Primordial Spirit Realm.

At that time, the Chen Clan had spent millennia tirelessly nurturing the water-element Earth Vein [a subterranean channel of concentrated spiritual energy] of the Vast Sea, aiming to cultivate it into the third Water Primordial Ancestral Vein [a supreme, foundational spiritual artery of immense power] within the Eastern Region Great Wasteland.

They nearly succeeded. Verdant Seal True Lord, a genius of his generation, created the 'Heaven-Seizing Vein Creation Art' [a profound art to seize and redirect spiritual veins]. His plan was to siphon the power of the Water Vein from the Vast and Misty Marsh and, in one fell swoop, elevate the Vast Sea into a true Sixth Rank Water Primordial Ancestral Vein.

Had this endeavor succeeded, Verdant Seal True Lord would have harnessed the Creation momentum [the foundational force of creation and establishment] fed back by the Ancestral Vein, allowing him to shatter the barrier and ascend to the realm of a Primordial Spirit Path Lord.

Yet this step was a desperate gamble. Verdant Seal True Lord sought to seize the power of the Water Vein [a subterranean current of concentrated spiritual energy] within the Vast and Misty Marsh, a transgression that Black Dragon True Lord could naturally never tolerate.

Therefore, before his breakthrough attempt, Verdant Seal True Lord had already divined that calamity was his inevitable fate. To survive it would elevate him to the pinnacle of this world as a Primordial Solar Path Lord [a supreme master of the Solar Path of cultivation].

With the Heaven-Seizing Vein-Crafting Art he pioneered, he might even have harbored a sliver of hope for achieving immortality. Failure, however, would likely doom the entire Chen Clan to perish alongside him.

Thus, before his final ascension at the Ancestral Vein [the primary spiritual artery of a region], he dispatched several hundred of his elite disciples, scattering them to hide in the surrounding nations.

In the end, Verdant Seal True Lord did indeed fail. Black Dragon True Lord, having lived for untold millennia, ranked among the top ten supreme powerhouses of this realm, perhaps already standing not far from immortality itself.

The wrath of such an ancient True Dragon [a primordial and immensely powerful dragon species] was unstoppable. Not even the Human Race Path Lord [a master who has comprehended a fundamental Dao Path] from the Eastern Region Great Wasteland could intervene. The several Fifth Rank Spiritual Vein [a location with a fifth-tier concentration of spiritual energy] within the Vast Sea were shattered and sunk, and the Chen Immortal Clan was obliterated in a single night.

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

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

By that time, the Chen Clan had lost all its foundational strength. Beyond a thread of bloodline, it retained almost none of the heritage from the Vast Sea Chen Clan.

Reaching the generation of Eldrin Chen today, the bloodline connection has grown quite distant. Yet, barring unforeseen circumstances, it remains one of the very few surviving branches of the Chen Clan lineage.

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 Region Great Wasteland."

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

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

Exquisite Jiang also revealed a flicker of desire. The legacy treasures of such a top-tier Immortal Clan would undoubtedly be of immense value. If they could find them, their future cultivation path would likely be smooth sailing.

However, the Shattered Cauldron trembled slightly and, after a moment, said, "Back then, the Celestial Dome Island was struck by the Black Dragon Demon Ancestor and sank into the Vast Sea."

"The hundreds of millions of living beings on that island, along with its millions of cultivators, all perished. Their deaths fermented into boundless resentment and hatred." Official source: audio-novel . com. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

"Coupled with the resentment from the severed nascent Ancestral Vein and nourishment from the Creation [the primordial creative force of the universe], it ultimately caused the Earth Soul [the earthly aspect of a cultivator's tripartite soul] of Verdant Seal True Lord to undergo a strange mutation, transforming into an existence that was neither human, nor ghost, nor god."

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

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

"A mutated Earth Soul?"

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

The Heaven Soul [the celestial aspect of the soul] wanders the farthest reaches of the Nine Heavens, while the Earth Soul [the terrestrial aspect of the soul] sinks deep into the Netherworld. As a cultivator's cultivation base continuously increases, these two souls ceaselessly draw upon the power of heaven and earth to grow stronger.

That Earth Soul, drawing upon the power of the great earth and the Netherworld, inherently carries a sinister nature. Should such an existence absorb endless resentment and the baleful energy and power of a nascent Ancestral 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 even foresee that it would certainly be deranged and senseless. Once it emerged into the world, it might very well unleash boundless slaughter.

No wonder, after the fall of the Chen Clan, the various great Immortal Clan [powerful clans of cultivators] of the Eastern Region Great Wasteland did not covet the legacy treasures of the Chen Clan.

With this thought, Eldrin Chen suppressed his desire to explore the ruins of Celestial Dome Island. He could only say, "Our ancestor fell a millennium ago, yet still cannot find peace in death. He drifts in a haze, transformed into an existence that is neither human, ghost, nor god."

"If one day I possess sufficient cultivation, I will guide him through the tribulation of reincarnation."

The Shattered Cauldron [a sentient artifact spirit] remained silent for a long moment before finally nodding. "You carry the bloodline of the Chen Clan within you. With your talent and foundation, if you can forge a Heavenly Path Infant Soul [the Nascent Soul stage aligned with the Heavenly Dao], 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, Verdant Seal True Lord had prepared a portion of the legacy treasures, intending to transfer them out as a foundation for the clan's seeds. Among them was even a strand of Heavenly Path Energy [a supremely pure and potent spiritual energy aligned with the Heavenly Dao].

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

If Eldrin Chen were to cultivate a Heavenly Path Infant Soul, then perhaps, relying on the bloodline of the Chen Clan within him, he could evoke a sense of kinship from that Earth Soul [the terrestrial aspect of a cultivator's spirit, tied to the land and lineage], allowing him to claim that legacy treasure.

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

Just as Silas Chen was able to obtain the legacy treasure, it was precisely because a strand of remnant consciousness from Ethereal Void True Lord was awakened by the Chen Clan bloodline flowing within her. Read the full novel exclusively on AUDIO-NOVEL.COM.