Chapter 385 – The Sunmother’s Firstborn, Harvesting Ancestral Seal Seed, Erasing a Ghost Domain - Part 3

Early April arrived in Cloudpeak Province.

The ice thawed, the snow vanished, and the cold-shy Xue Ning finally left her room, spinning tales for the children in a sunny courtyard.

The grandkids adored a grandmother who had wandered half the world and collected stories the way others collected stamps.

Their laughter floated across the grounds.

Deep inside the manor, Li Yuan shut himself in the vault to examine his haul.

“The Emperor and Lotus Cult sure work fast... Over 800 seeds in one haul, and there should still be more to come.”

Without another word, he pressed every seed into his ancestral seal.

Each seed was a blade, every disciple shaping a different edge, and all them now gathered in one place, part of him.

Several days later, Li Yuan opened his eyes and let out a long breath. His ancestral seal had become a night-black lotus of blades, the sort of dense pattern that would give a trypophobe nightmares.

“856 blade ancestral seal, complete.”

He glanced at his own combat power. The old range of 4,530~64,496 had swollen to a ridiculous 4,530~104,572.

It was an impressive figure, but he felt nothing. Transcendent powers still stalked the world; so what was there to gloat about?

“Harvesting seeds like this really is...

overpowered

. Sitting back and reaping rewards for free.” Li Yuan couldn’t help the sigh. “They slave away for every scrap of progress. I just need to wiggle a finger and harvest the fruits of their labor. I grow stronger; they regain their sanity. They might even be grateful to the unseen benefactor who saved them.

“More and more people are practicing my cultivation technique. I imagine the only reason it wasn’t possible in the past was that resources were lacking back then.

“The story is different now. Ghost domains are growing stronger, and so are the meat fields accordingly. The Grand Union of Yin and Yang is approaching. The Lotus Cult and Emperor are investing all their resources into the preparation, and The Bladeseekers are the first to benefit.

“All the better for me.

“But on principle, I should sabotage them. More resources mean more high ranking martial artists, which means more souls for the transcendent powers to harvest. Stronger ghosts make the world less safe, unless, of course, Yan Yu ends up as the ultimate winner...”

Putting away the thoughts, Li Yuan rose and stretched. Flame coursed through him; for a moment he touched fourth rank, only to feel the barrier snap back.

“I have plenty of seeds now. Their power, my flame, and my flesh are almost equal, but the balance hasn’t settled. That’s probably why I haven’t fully entered fourth rank.

“An ordinary martial artist, with no flame to balance and far fewer seeds, might have broken through ages ago. But what ordinary fourth rank could still face me?

“What I need is a fight. Not an equal duel, just a battle fierce enough to make my seeds, fire, and blood find their rhythm,” he thought deeply.

It would be a real test, with handicaps of his own choosing.

“But first, I need a suitable arena.” With that, Li Yuan left the vault.

The courtyard outside the secret chamber was unusually quiet; everyone seemed to have gathered elsewhere. He extended his senses and soon heard a midwife shouting and a woman in labor crying out.

A baby was on its way.

He hurried over and found a crowd outside Ping'an’s courtyard.

Yao Jue spotted him, broke into a run, and called, “Master, you’ve got another grandchild on the way. Miss Xiang’s giving birth!”

Li Yuan remembered her, the expectant mother he’d brought back to Cloudpeak Province along with Ping’an and his two other wives. He smiled.

Jing Shuixiang eyed him and suddenly asked, “What cultivation realm are you in now, exactly?”

“The same as you,” Li Yuan said.

The three women exchanged helpless looks. Though he was telling the truth, they simply refused to believe him.

Just then a healthy baby’s cry rang out, followed by Ping'an exclaiming in delight.

Everyone filed inside.

Eventually, all the faces turned to Li Yuan.

“Dad,” Ping'an said, “do you want to give him a name?”

Li Yuan laughed. “He’s your son with Miss Xiang; you two should choose.”

“Right.” Ping’an huddled with his wife and settled on a name. Whatever it was, Li Yuan didn’t mind too much. He would dote on the grandchildren, yes, but never as fiercely as on his own children.

It was different for him. Ordinary folk, with barely a century to live, saw grandchildren as proof life went on; they rejoiced.

But he was ageless.

In an endless, chilly life, only spouses and his own children could warm him.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The same evening.

Cui Huayin drew the short straw and spent the spring night with him.

The next morning Li Yuan rose refreshed, donned mask and cloak, flexed his fingers, and stepped through to Gemhill County, heading straight for a deserted stretch of countryside.

He found a dilapidated fishing hut, inhaled, summoned the power of the carpenter’s workshop, and opened the door.

Nothing happened. He saw only the hut’s interior.

“I knew it. Just as expected,” Li Yuan muttered to himself.

This was a simple test. If the carpenter’s workshop had fused with a stronger ghost domain it would open; the fact it didn’t meant it was still a single-entity ghost domain.

Satisfied, Li Yuan set off for Flowerpath County.

There he entered a razed quarter. Every house leveled but one ancient shack standing alone. The ruin reeked of sinister miasma, and a blood-red sign a few hundred paces out warned

KEEP OUT

.

Li Yuan moved like wind, landed at the door, pushed inside, and shut it behind him. Acrid sawdust stung his nose, and iron chisels clanged. He was greeted by the familiar sight of the crimson racks, the roaring fire, and the face of the twisted carpenter with dead, venomous eyes.

Memories all flooded back.

He strode up, yanked the hammer and chisel from the carpenter ghost’s hands. The tools were cold; his palms burned hotter.

The carpenter clutched at air, eyes boring into the intruder.

Li Yuan kept smiling, pouring the chaotic power of his ancestral seal into his heart, not even using his Yang flame.

The carpenter ghost shuddered as if struck by lightning. He was helpless. His tools had already been stolen.

Li Yuan slapped his palm.

BOOM!

The carpenter exploded. Then he instantly re-coalesced behind a rack.

Li Yuan glanced at the wooden dolls, scooped them up, and tossed them out the window, then vaulted over the rack, dragged the carpenter out, and this time unleashed his flame.

Crack!

A flaming hand whipped out.

The carpenter blew apart again, every fragment ablaze. The entire workshop shook like an earthquake, then dissolved into a wisp of black smoke.

Deep underground the Yin energy still whirled, hinting the carpenter’s workshop would reform someday.

At the moment the shop vanished, the hammer and chisel vanished too since they were a part of the ghost domain.

Li Yuan tugged his finger and slipped back to Dawn Manor.

Even Qing Hancheng needed constant effort to suppress a single-entity ghost domain.

Li Yuan had just scattered one with a casual slap. Smashing a childhood nightmare with his own hand put a spring in his step; he practically floated as he walked.