Lu Fu's fingers brushed against a cracked tablet, tracing symbols worn smooth by time.
"The Conquest does not respond to strength," he said calmly. "Nor to willpower. Nor even to desperation."
Chen Yuan remained silent, attentive.
"It responds to blood."
Lu Fu turned, his gaze steady. "Not metaphorical blood. Lineage."
Chen Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean descendants."
"Not exactly," Lu Fu replied. "The Heavenfall Empire ruled through conquest, assimilation, and slaughter. Their bloodlines spread uncontrollably. Most diluted. Most meaningless."
He walked to the mural of the fallen empire and pressed his palm against the stone.
"But a few families remained… marked."
The air shifted.
Lu Fu rolled back his sleeve.
Along his forearm, faint sigils pulsed beneath the skin—old, restrained, and deeply unnatural. Not cultivation marks. Not formations.
Inherited echoes.
"I am one of them," Lu Fu said. "A collateral descendant of a Heavenfall marshal. My blood still resonates with the empire's remains."
Chen Yuan felt the system react instantly.
Bloodline Resonance Detected
Compatibility: Partial
Probability of Locating Target Increased: 61%
So that was it.
The Conquest was not lost.
It was hiding.
"And the sword?" Chen Yuan asked. "It allows descendants to approach?"
Lu Fu shook his head. "It allows them to find it. Whether it accepts them is another matter entirely."
He paused, then added with quiet certainty, "It never accepted my ancestor. He died trying."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Chen Yuan spoke. "Then why help me?"
Lu Fu smiled—thin, sharp, and honest.
"Because I am an archeologist," he said. "And because I have spent my life studying something I could never reach."
He stepped closer. "You are not tied to Heavenfall. You are not burdened by its pride. And whatever shadows follow you—" his eyes flickered, briefly, as if sensing something unseen "—they are not born of that empire."
Chen Yuan said nothing.
Lu Fu continued, "I will guide you to the threshold. I will decipher the signs. I will map what has never been mapped."
"And in return?" Chen Yuan asked.
"I study everything beyond that point," Lu Fu replied immediately. "The terrain. The residual formations. The influence of the sword on the environment."
He met Chen Yuan's gaze without hesitation.
"You keep the Conquest—if it chooses you. I keep the knowledge."
The system pulsed again.
Narrative Anchor Identified
Lu Fu — Key Auxiliary Role Confirmed
Volume Artifact Path: Active
Chen Yuan exhaled slowly.
This was dangerous.
Not because of Lu Fu—but because this agreement felt necessary.
"Very well," Chen Yuan said at last. "But understand this: once the sword is found, you obey my decisions."
Lu Fu inclined his head. "Naturally. I have no desire to die for curiosity."
They shook hands.
The moment their palms touched, the sigils on Lu Fu's arm flared faintly—then dimmed.
Somewhere deep within the Ascendant Grounds, something ancient stirred.
Not awake.
But aware.
And for the first time in centuries, The Conquest was no longer alone.