The Portable Clan Realm thrummed with newfound power, its skies painted in eternal twilight – gold and violet swirling like liquid ambition. The earth itself seemed to breathe beneath the feet of the Wen Clan, their awakened bloodlines singing hymns of forgotten glory. Yet beneath the triumph, something stirred.
Wen Wuxing stood at the edge of Patriarch's Peak, his obsidian eyes scanning the horizon. The System's alert had come without warning, its mechanical voice sharper than usual.
**Ding!**
**[Bloodline Anomaly Detected: Unregistered Clan Member – Location: Unknown]**
**[Priority: Supreme | Reward: Divine Revelation Fragment (???)]**
His fingers tightened around the jade talisman at his waist. Divine Revelation Fragment. The words alone carried weight beyond mortal comprehension.
"Patriarch."
Elder Wen Rong approached, his newly unsealed cultivation aura rippling like a storm given form. The recent bloodline awakening had shattered his centuries-old bottleneck, propelling him into the Mid-Nascent Soul Realm. Behind him, a dozen elders knelt, their faces alight with reverence – and unease.
"The scouts have returned," Wen Rong said. "There are no records of any Wen remnants in this land. If a lost member exists..."
Wuxing's gaze darkened. "Then they are hidden beyond even our divinations."
A flick of his wrist summoned Wen Qian from the mist, her form materializing like shadow given intent. As master of the Veil of Shadows Pavilion, she had become the clan's unseen dagger.
"Deploy the World-Seer Array," Wuxing commanded. "Scour the threads of fate. I want this anomaly found."
The array's activation sent tremors through the realm. Golden runes spiraled into the sky, forming a colossal eye that peered beyond space and time. Yet as the divination intensified, the runes didn't resist – they recognized.
The missing bloodline... was calling to them.
The Nine-Shadow Dynasty had watched.
From their floating citadel of obsidian and star-metal, the dynasty's Third Prince, Xue Ming, observed through a pool of liquid shadow. His lips curled as his spies reported.
"A newborn Hidden Family dares to settle near our hunting grounds?" His fingers traced the hilt of Duskfang, a dagger forged from a fallen star. "Let us... welcome them properly."
That night, the skies above the Wen territory fractured.
**Ding!**
**[Hostile Force Detected: Nine-Shadow Assassins – Realm: Peak Nascent Soul]**
**[Mission: Crush the Intruders | Reward: Guardian Beast Evolution Token]**
Wuxing stood unmoved atop his peak as twelve shadows darker than the abyss slithered past the outermost barriers. These were no ordinary killers – they were Soul-Eaters, their daggers capable of severing bloodlines with a single cut.
He did not raise a hand.
He did not need to.
"Xuanhu."
The Celestial Tiger answered.
A roar split the heavens as the guardian beast descended, its golden fur streaked with lightning. The assassins moved like living night – but Xuanhu was swifter. Its claws tore through space itself, ripping three assassins apart before they could blink.
Yet these were no mere foot soldiers. The remaining nine formed a Black Eclipse Formation, their bodies merging into a single entity of devouring darkness. The very air screamed as their combined power reached Early Soul Formation Realm.
Wuxing sighed. "Annoying."
His fingers flicked.
The Veil of Shadows Pavilion struck.
From nowhere, silver threads lashed out – 100% loyal operatives, each wielding daggers forged from the System's rewards. The assassins barely had time to react before their formation collapsed, their bodies pinned by threads that burned with golden fire.
One survivor remained – a messenger.
Xue Ming's laughter echoed through the dying man's lips.
"Patriarch Wen... you intrigue us. The Dynasty offers a choice: kneel as a vassal, or burn as prey."
Wuxing crushed the corpse's skull with a thought.
"Tell your prince this land already has a master."
Deep within the Tomb of the Eternal Monarch, where time itself hesitated, a figure stirred.
Chains of cursed iron groaned as she lifted her head. Her robes, once the crimson of Wen blood, had faded to ashen gray. Yet her eyes – golden, like Wuxing's own – burned with unbroken fire.
The System screamed in Wuxing's mind.
**Ding!**
**[Target Located: Wen Lian – Status: Sealed | Bloodline Purity: 99.9%]**
**[Warning: Hostile Seal Detected – Origin: Nine-Shadow Dynasty]**
Wuxing's breath stilled.
Wen Lian.
The Founder. The myth. The woman who should have been dust for millennia.
And she was alive.
Back in the clan's ancestral hall, the bloodline altar erupted in crimson light.
Disciples clutched their chests as their meridians burned with sudden resonance. Wen Zixuan, the young genius, collapsed as his Heaven's Pulse Meridian activated beyond his control. His scream echoed as visions flooded his mind.
A throne of stars.
A sword that drank realms.
A woman in chains, whispering his name.
Wuxing's hand clamped onto Zixuan's shoulder, stabilizing his qi. "What did you see?"
Zixuan's voice was raw. "She's calling us."
Meanwhile, the System updated.
**Ding!**
**[Clan-Wide Bloodline Resonance: All Members Gain +1 Minor Realm]**
**[New Mission: Free the Founder | Reward: Divine Revelation Fragment x1]**
Xue Ming's citadel trembled as he hurled a goblet of molten gold.
"He refused?" The Third Prince's voice dripped with venom. "Then we remind them why we devour bloodlines."
His shadow stretched unnaturally, revealing hundreds of suspended figures – each a captured genius from conquered clans, their bloodlines half-consumed by the dynasty's Hungering Shadows Art.
"Prepare the Eclipse Battalion," Xue Ming ordered. "And bring me the First Prince's seal. If Wen Wuxing wants war... we'll give him annihilation."
At dawn, Wuxing stood before the clan's assembled might.
"We walk into the viper's den," he said, his voice cutting through the wind. "The Nine-Shadow Dynasty believes bloodlines are meant to be consumed. We will show them what happens when the prey becomes the hunter."
As one, the Wen Clan roared.
The Storm Falcon screeched overhead, its wings casting shadows like blades.
The System's final alert flashed.
**Ding!**
**[War Mission Activated: Crush the Nine-Shadow Dynasty]**
**[Reward: Clan-Wide Bloodline Awakening | Penalty for Failure: Extinction]**
Wuxing smiled.
Finally, a worthy challenge.