"What did the Jian Clan promise you?"
This time it was Tian Hong Zhēnzūn who posed the question to Jian Dan.
"The Jian Clan has agreed to become allies of my Heavenly Sword Sect, to stand together against the insect horde. This was personally promised by Jian Mingyong Zhēnzūn. Whether they will truly honor that promise, we will see in time."
"You sound quite confident."
Jian Dan smiled faintly.
"I already rooted out their black armored insects, I gave them a cultivation art, and I have no intention of interfering in their clan affairs. How they proceed from here is their own matter. I have already fulfilled my duty to the utmost."
Tian Hong's eyes gleamed as he asked, "From what you say, you really are an offshoot of the Jian Clan. Why not acknowledge your ancestors and return to the clan?"
Jian Dan thought carefully before answering. She understood that in the cultivation world, family lineage was often held in high regard, so she weighed her words.
"My parents chose to remain in the mortal world rather than return to the Jian Clan. There must have been a reason for that.
Though they left me not a single word, from what I saw in the Jian Clan's ancestral land this time, the truth is clear. I am the true direct heir of the Jian Clan, possessing the complete cultivation art. As for them, they are only collateral.
Even if I were to confront them face to face, they would still insist that they are the direct line, while I am the branch. What a colossal joke. How could a collateral line possess the complete art, while their so-called direct line has none? For nearly a thousand years they have struggled even to advance in cultivation because their art is incomplete."
Her tone was detached and cold, leaving no doubt that she held little affection for the Jian Clan.
Sitting at the head, Tian Yun Zhēnzūn shot a reproachful glance at Tian Hong Zhēnzūn. Matters of family were not to be entangled with the sect, and his junior's question had indeed overstepped.
Tian Hong spread his hands helplessly. He had asked idly, but had not expected such a tangled past to lie beneath.
"The truth of the matter does not vanish simply because they remain silent. The reason your parents never spoke of it was because they hoped such matters would end with their generation. They wished you not to bear that burden. I trust you will not betray their expectations."
"Enough, it was my fault for prying. So long as you did not suffer any loss, that is enough. You are a disciple of my Heavenly Sword Sect, and the acting head of the Law Enforcement Hall. You do not need the Jian Clan as your foundation. More importantly, your name is no longer Jian."
Tian Hong's words were his way of smoothing over the matter.
Jian Dan smiled again, her eyes bright as she declared to both Zhēnzūn,
"You need not worry, Zhēnzūn. In this life, Jian Lu will only ascend within the Heavenly Sword Sect!"
Her voice rang with conviction. Both Tian Yun and Tian Hong nodded in satisfaction, smiling as they watched her leave.
Once the restriction closed again, Tian Hong Zhēnzūn leaned lazily against the jade table and said to Tian Yun, "The Jian Clan is truly blind. To cast aside such a remarkable junior, they will regret it one day."
"Now you feel wronged on Jian Lu's behalf?"
Tian Yun produced a small flask of spirit wine, poured his junior a cup, clearly in good spirits.
"Jian Lu, as one who surfaced only midway, has never been nurtured by the Jian Clan. And looking at her current cultivation, if she were to return and investigate the truth of the past, the Jian Clan would surely be thrown into bloody turmoil."
"You are right, Senior Brother."
"So the Jian Clan is caught in a dilemma. They want her to acknowledge her ancestry, so they can rightfully reclaim the art, yet they also fear her return would bring disaster. From her words, she is in fact the true direct heir, and in clans the struggle between direct and collateral has never ceased."
"Indeed. Jian Lu's way of handling it was the cleanest. She gave them the cultivation art, yet refused to return. She would not let herself be shackled by the clan. And I would wager that art is incomplete. With her nature, she would never give away the full thing."
Tian Yun only smiled and took a sip of wine, tacitly confirming.
In truth, Tian Hong had guessed correctly. The art Jian Dan gave only extended to the Unity stage. The Mahayana level had not been included.
Long ago, the Jian Clan's first Patriarch, Jian Qingyue, had transmitted the Primordial Chaos Art to Jian Dan through a spatial soul fragment. The art had been sealed directly within her sea of consciousness.
Each time Jian Dan advanced, the art automatically revealed another layer. Now that she was only at Unity stage, the Mahayana portion remained sealed.
With her perfected Mahayana divine sense, Jian Dan could have forcibly unsealed the final layer. But why would she waste her strength on behalf of a so-called clan's direct bloodline?
So she held back. If the Jian Clan wanted to ascend through this art, they would eventually have to come to her.
In the Jian Clan's Bamboo Stream Ravine
Jian Mingdi had gone to investigate the clan, while Jian Mingyong handed the sealed art left by Jian Dan to Jian Shangxi.
"Shang Xi, you are a Chaos Spirit Root. Try to unseal this. When Jian Lu sealed it, she used Chaos spiritual power and even engraved our clan's crest."
"Yes, Ancestor. I will try."
Jian Shangxi respectfully accepted the jade slip, placed it before him, then circulated his Chaos power. His hands formed seals, sketching out the five elemental crest. Once completed, he aligned the floating Wheel of Fate with the mark upon the jade slip.
The two crests overlapped. The jade slip flickered, but remained sealed. Growing anxious, Jian Shangxi increased the flow of Chaos energy.
From the side, Ming Yong Zhēnzūn reminded, "Infuse a drop of your essence blood."
Immediately Jian Shangxi pricked his brow, drawing a drop of essence blood into the Wheel of Fate. The jade slip blazed with radiance.
But before they could celebrate, it dissolved into a streak of white light and shot directly into Jian Shangxi's brow, entering his sea of consciousness.
"Shang Xi, are you unharmed?"
Ming Yong Zhēnzūn frowned.
Jian Shangxi steadied himself, then sat cross-legged in the hall.
"Ancestor, the jade slip has entered my sea of consciousness. Allow me to examine it."
Receiving permission, he sank into meditation.
Half an incense stick later, Jian Shangxi opened his eyes, filled with joy. He rose and bowed deeply.
"Ancestor, the art is flawless. It resonates perfectly with my current cultivation. But I am only at the Divine Transformation stage, so the art has only manifested up to this level. The later layers remain sealed, only to be revealed as I advance step by step."
Ming Yong Zhēnzūn nodded, though still uneasy.
"Shang Xi, now that you possess this art, can you guarantee to reach Divine Soul stage within a hundred years?"
Jian Shangxi hesitated, then after careful thought, answered earnestly,
"Ancestor, if the clan provides sufficient resources, I am confident I can break through to Divine Soul."
Ming Yong nodded, then said, "Good. From now on, you and your sister must devote yourselves to closed cultivation. You heard what Jian Lu brought. This art was not given freely."
"Yes, Ancestor. Shang Xi will not disappoint."
"There is another reason. I wish to confirm whether the art in your sea of consciousness will indeed unseal further upon your advancement."
Jian Shangxi frowned. "Ancestor, do you suspect that Jian Lu Zhūnshàng only gave us a partial art?"
"Precisely. If she truly intended to give it, she would have long ago. Why did she personally come now, delivering it so ceremoniously? Last time when you and Ming Rui went, you brought nothing back."
"This…"
Jian Shangxi could not deny the logic.
"Never mind. Truth cannot be hidden forever. If the art is false, it will show in time. With us here, you need only focus on cultivation."
"Yes, Ancestor."
Just as they finished speaking, Ming Di Zhēnzūn returned, his expression dark.