Gulp..."So this is the power of a Soul Stage cultivator? Just one soul imprint—and it shattered a peak-tier Grade Four formation like it was parchment…"
"No wonder he's one of the top figures in the Dusk Empire."
"If I could reach that level someday… just once in my life…"
"Hah. You? Dream on."
With He Pingfan obliterated by the Firegrave King's soul imprint his body unraveling into nothing, the air in Flamecrest City grew tight with reverent silence. Then, like thunder rolling in from distant peaks, murmurs began to ripple outward, growing louder by the second.
They felt awe—then terror—then desperate devotion, towards the man whose single strike could end them all.
After all, in a city like Blaze where even Core Break experts were rarer than dragon scales, just witnessing the move of a Soul Stage cultivator was enough to send one's spirit trembling.
It was like a gutter-born street rat locking eyes with a god from legend where reverence, hunger, and an aching sense of smallness came all crashing down at once.
Across the Dusk Empire's sprawling 30 billion or more citizens, fewer than 200 Soul Stage cultivators were publicly known. The number of soul stage cultivators were so small that there was not even one in a hundred million.
Each of them a sovereign unto themselves and a deity walking the mortal plane.
So yes, the uproar from the people was inevitable.
Word of the battle in the Moltenfang Mountains spread across the city like wildfire catching dry thatch.
At the center of every retelling stood Princess Serena Firegrave: the noble who had risked her body and life to protect tens of thousands of innocent villagers. Her name was spoken with admiration in the streets, toasted in the taverns, and even praised in rival courts.
Her prestige soared. And with it, so too did the standing of the Firegrave Clan in the surrounding area as well as some distant lands.
But all of that…
Had little to do with the Leon Clan.
They played their part and secured the promised payment by the Firegrave Family, the Leon Clan quietly withdrew from the limelight and returned to the steady pulse of daily life.
Well—"steady," aside from one glaring exception.
Weddings.
So many weddings.
"Have the Leon Clan men lost their minds? Every last one's rushing to marry the moment he hits adulthood!"
"Heh. You must be new to Blazecity."
"Huh? How'd you—?"
"Easy. Because around here, everyone knows why they're in such a rush. Ask anyone local. Hell, if I had the same opportunity, I'd be scrambling harder than they are."
"Tch. Just having a kid in that clan can get you rewards. It's enough to make any man jealous."
"…"
Onlookers watched with naked envy as bridal caravans streamed into the Leon estate. Red-gold palanquins shimmered in the sun, elegant brides inside with veiled faces and lowered gazes. Music played, firecrackers roared, and an air of celebration soaked the estate's sprawling courtyards.
The Leon Clan, one of Blazecity's Three Great Clans was now the marriage destination for every person living in the city.
To wed into them was to rise overnight as they will instantly rise in status, get full protection, and unimaginable power in the city included with the dowry.
But the clan wasn't accepting just anyone.
Every union had been carefully arranged or rapidly negotiated. The younger elite in particular had their pairings examined for compatibility in both emotional and genetic department. At minimum, a groom needed low-grade cultivation aptitude. The more gifted among them had matched with women of high-grade potential.
Up in the secluded rear mountains of Leon estate, Leo stood beneath a pine-framed pavilion, watching the festivities below with a rare flicker of satisfaction on his face.
"At this rate… two generations, and the Leon bloodline's average talent will completely transform."
If he had to personally burn Destiny Points to sculpt every prodigy the clan produced, even with their rising fortune, he could afford maybe two Once-in-an-Era Genius geniuses at a time.
If he tried any more then their resources would fracture with cultivation funds tightening. Grumbling and even some hatred would spread among them. The stability he'd fought to build within the clan would crack at any moment.
And without unity… could it even be called the Leon Clan anymore?
No. For true longevity, he had to build from the roots. So making sure that the bloodline was pure and talented came first.
He needed a foundation so strong that it wouldn't just produce monsters by chance but it would create them on purpose.
Two months slipped by like falling petals.
The wedding storm subsided.
But a new wave crashed in.
Day after day healers, doctors, and even a few herbalists came and went from the Leon estate always busy, like ants on a dropped piece of fruit. Their white robes fluttered in and out of the gates never stopping and never slowing down.
The reason?
Pregnancies.
A flood of them.
Barely a month after the weddings, women across the clan began to show signs morning sickness, qi fluctuations, spirit pulses.
Within the clan:
"Hey… has your cultivation and body been weird lately?"
"Define weird."
"Mine's gone up. Like… noticeably. I don't even get tired anymore, especially in bed hehehe."
"Holy crap, me too! hehehe"
"Stop that weird laugh guys. But i have also noticed it."
"I did a test. It's real. I'm getting ten percent more qi flow. It's stable and Permanent."
"Wait. That kind of passive boost… shouldn't be possible."
"Not for Blood Stage cultivators and below."
"You'd need a Core Break… or higher. Maybe even Transcendent."
"But who would help us like that?"
"…Surely it wasn't an outsider."
"It was someone inside the Leon Clan."
A silence fell.
Then, they all murmured in perfect synchronicity:
"Ancestor Leo."
Realization dawned upon them like lightning across their faces. And then, uncontainable joy hit them as they thought about the man standing at the top of the clan.
"If our ancestor has reached the Transcendent Realm…"
"Then our clan's rise isn't a fantasy anymore."
"It's inevitable."
"With a cultivator at that level watching over us we're officially an upper elite clan!"
"Soon the nobles will have to recognize us. We'll be listed among the thousand-year families!"
"No more being caged in Blazecity. We'll spread across all of Redridge!"
"Only the ancient powers of Rivergate and Xuanmu could stand above us!"
"Haha! Long live Ancestor Leo!"
And so, from a whisper of doubt, a legend took root inside the clan.
Whether Leo had openly displayed his breakthrough or not no longer mattered.
In their hearts, he had already become something more than mortal, a guiding star in human form, leading them toward a golden age.
The Lin Clan estate rang with laughter, boasting, and celebration.
High in the mountains, beneath the whispering pines, Leo stood in stillness as he watched over the clan, waiting in a calm stillness. A quiet pride burned in his chest as the wind stirred the branches above. His gaze was fixed, not on what lay before him, but on what was yet to come. The pieces were set and the plan had only just begun.