The underground chamber of the Huang family manor was bathed in an eerie silver glow, with runes lining the walls pulsing like a steady heartbeat. Huang Min knelt at the center, her body trembling as Su Yan's palm rested firmly on her forehead. A torrent of lunar qi surged through her meridians, igniting every nerve with a pain so exquisite it bordered on euphoria. Her veins shimmered with a silvery luminescence, casting ghostly reflections on the chamber walls.
"Focus," Su Yan commanded, her voice as sharp as ice. "The moon does not waver. Neither will you."
Huang Min gritted her teeth, her vision blurring as she fought to contain the energy that threatened to tear her apart. She envisioned moonlight weaving into a shield, but the barrier flickered weakly, like a candle in a storm.
" Again."
Sweat dripped from her brow as she poured her will into the technique. This time, the shield held—a translucent dome of moonlight that hummed with latent power. Su Yan's lips curled into the faintest hint of approval. "Better. But still inadequate."
Huang Min exhaled sharply, her chest heaving. "Why does it feel like I'm fighting myself?"
Su Yan's gaze darkened. "Because you are. The Heavenly Moon Spirit Bloodline is not just a gift; it is a legacy of vengeance."
"Now again."
"The shield forms from stillness, not force," Su Yan's voice cut through the haze of pain. "Like the moon reflecting on a placid lake."
Huang Min's breath hitched as another wave of energy threatened to fracture her concentration. Before her, the spectral barrier of moonlight flickered, wavering like a candle in a gale. The backlash sent a thin trickle of blood from her nose.
"Pathetic." Su Yan withdrew her hand, and the sudden absence of pressure made Huang Min sway. "Your control is that of a child splashing in a puddle while the ocean rages around her."
Huang Min wiped her nose with the back of her hand, glaring up at her mother's impassive face. "Maybe if you didn't pour a river's worth of qi into me at once—"
"The Xiao Clan won't care about your excuses when they come to carve the moonlight from your veins." Su Yan's robes whispered as she turned toward the chamber's far wall, where a mural depicted a celestial maiden weeping stars. "Again. Or would you rather die gasping when your own bloodline consumes you?"
"You always talk about the Xiao Clan, and bloodlines this and that. Why should I care? I'm already at the Visera Tempering Realm ahead of everyone my age on the eastern continent. Why should I fear the Xiao Clan? I can always join one of the major sects."
"Ignorance is bliss. Do you think I'm afraid of the Xiao Clan in this mortal world?"
"My daughter, I think it's time I tell you about my past. No, it's best I show you," said Su Yan. She then placed her hand on Huang Min's forehead, emitting a bright light as a scene unfurled in Huang Min's vision.
---
Twenty years ago…
The Su Clan's ancestral halls were adorned with jade and gold, their opulence a testament to their status among the elite of the Celestial Jade Immortal Realm. Su Yan, then a spoiled young mistress, lounged on silk cushions, her laughter ringing like chimes as servants rushed to fulfill her every whim.
"Lazy as always, little moon," her elder brother remarked, tossing a practice sword at her feet. "Father says you'll disgrace us in the upcoming alliance tournament."
Su Yan caught the blade effortlessly between two fingers, a sharp smirk forming on her lips. "Father worries too much. The Xiao Clan heir has already promised to let me win."
Then he appeared: Xiao Tianfeng, the genius of the Xiao Clan, adorned in midnight-blue robes embroidered with the sigil of the nine-starred Phoenix. His smile was like a blade wrapped in velvet, and his words were honeyed poison. The memory twisted to when he smiled as he handed her a comb made from phoenix bone, his fingers lingering on hers. "For my betrothed," he had murmured, even though no formal arrangement existed. The way his eyes tracked her every move in the ancestral hall was possessive and hungry—not for her, but for the power her bloodline held, which made the moonlight dance around her fingertips.
"You are the most radiant jewel in the realm, Su Yan," he whispered, tracing a finger down her cheek. "Together, we could eclipse even the heavens."
She believed him.
But that illusion shattered in a secret realm, where the air reeked of blood and betrayal. Trapped in a forgotten ruin, Xiao Tianfeng's façade slipped. His grip on her wrist was like iron, his breath hot against her neck as he hissed, "Did you truly think I wanted you? Your bloodline is all that matters."
She fought. She ran. In her darkest hour, bleeding and broken, she stumbled into a moonlit clearing where a strange portal awaited. Without a second thought, she jumped in, unsure of where it would lead. Seeing this, Xiao Tianfeng sent some of his men after her, unsure of the portal's dangers.
After jumping through the portal, Su Yan emerged above Blossom City. As she looked down at the bustling city, she decided to hide among its inhabitants, knowing that immortals who entered a lower plane would be suppressed. Should an immortal attack mortals within one minute of entering, they would be ejected from the realm by the heavens. Su Yan felt confident she could escape within that minute if any attackers harmed mortals.
She ran through the city filled with festival cheer, lanterns flickering merrily along the bustling streets. The joy in the atmosphere enveloped her as she heard the laughter of revelers ringing in her ears.
Yet, within this vibrant scene, shadows lurked. Five figures moved through the crowd, their presence warping the very air around them. Clad in midnight-blue robes adorned with the sigil of a purple phoenix encircled by nine stars—the mark of the notorious Xiao Clan from the Celestial Jade Immortal Realm—they radiated an aura of lethal refinement. Despite their realm being suppressed to Void Venerable, their power pulsed like a hidden storm just beneath the surface.
Amid the jubilant atmosphere, Su Yan, who was running, let out a panic-stricken gasp that sliced through the air and reached Bai Feng's ears with stark clarity. He turned to see a figure in tattered white robes staggering into an alley, her pursuers closing in with unsettling grace. Even weakened, her eyes blazed with a defiant light that struck a chord deep within Bai Feng. The unmistakable glow of the Heavenly Moon Spirit Bloodline flickered like a beacon, and behind her, a bloodline shadow with seven moons trembled.
"The Celestial Jade Emperor's mercy ends here," the lead hunter hissed, his voice laced with an oppressive weight that crushed the festive atmosphere. Su Yan tried to run but knew that doing so would endanger the mortals. Just then, a lone archer stood up, his bow gleaming like a sliver of the cosmos itself as it absorbed the moonlight.
Bai Feng had appeared.
He didn't speak; he didn't need to. His arrow loosed with a sound like the splitting sky, and an enraged scream echoed through the city as she fled.
Bai Feng surged forward; in a fluid motion, his bow materialized in his grip, and an arrow of light hurtled through the air, piercing the first hunter's throat before the man could comprehend the threat.
"Sky Piercer Bolt: Luminous Purge."
The arrow left his bow before the hunters could react. It was not a physical shaft but a lance of condensed moonlight, forged from the unseen arrow technique that Long Huang had just mastered. The projectile pierced the lead hunter's chest, and for a heartbeat, the man froze—then his body disintegrated, unraveling into silver embers.
The remaining two Xiao cultivators snarled, drawing curved daggers that dripped with soul-severing venom. Bai Feng moved like wind given form.
He stood perfectly still as the second assassin lunged, then vanished, reappearing behind him. A second arrow, humming with Soul Resonance, buried itself in the hunter's spine. The man screamed as his spirit was marked, making his movements visible to Bai Feng even when he attempted to blur into shadows.
The remaining hunters spun around, their immortal senses finally catching up with reality as they sought the source of this unexpected intervention.
"You dare interfere with Xiao Clan justice?" the taller one snarled, drawing a blade that seemed to sing with a haunting melody, its edge shimmering between dimensions like a flickering flame.
"And so what if I do?" Bai Feng responded.
Then he drew all the Xiao Clan members into a barrier and killed them one by one. Su Yan witnessed all of this, but the mortals remained unaware. As she watched the battle unfold, she was eternally grateful to the archer who saved her. She then saw Bai Feng turn to the last attacker.
The last attacker's eyes widened in horror as he registered the reality of his situation. "You're not of this realm," he breathed, recognition dawning as fear seeped into his voice. "That technique... the Sky Piercer?"
Bai Feng's final arrow struck true, embedding itself deep in the hunter's heart. As the man fell, his last words echoed with a chilling warning: "They will come for you now. The Devourer always finds its prey."
Su Yan stared at Bai Feng, her chest heaving. "Who are you?"
"A dead man," he replied. "Run."
And then the memory ended.
---
Huang Min gasped, the memory receding like a tide. Her mother's eyes, usually unreadable were now pools of shared pain. "You see now," Su Yan murmured. "The Xiao Clan hunts me for my bloodline. Not for power, but for subjugation."
Huang Min's fists clenched. "And Father? How does he fit into this?"
Su Yan's expression softened, just for a heartbeat. "Huang Peng found me half-dead in the mortal realm. He didn't care about my past. He saw me." A bitter smile crossed her lips. "And he was unknowingly reckless enough to defy an immortal clan for a stranger."
The weight of the revelation settled over Huang Min. Her father's absence and her mother's secrecy—it was all connected.
That night, Huang Min retreated to her chambers, where the jade bed that Long Huang had gifted her radiated a faint, soothing glow. Exhausted, she lay atop it—and the world dissolved.
A vision engulfed her: a celestial maiden, her form woven from moonlight, standing atop a battlefield of shattered stars. "Daughter of the Su bloodline," the maiden intoned, "The Nine Moons Cradle Technique awaits. Will you bear its weight?"
Before Huang Min could answer, the vision shifted to a towering figure clad in obsidian armor, her eyes twin voids.
She woke with a start, her skin slick with sweat. The bed's glow had intensified, its surface now etched with intricate symbols. A legacy hidden in plain sight. As dawn broke, Su Yan stood atop the manor's highest tower, her robes fluttering like a ghost's shroud. Far below, Huang Min trained with renewed fervor, her movements as fluid as moonbeams.
"They will come for her," Su Yan whispered to the wind. "Just as they came for me."
But this time, they would find not prey, but a storm, as Su Yan was willing to sacrifice herself to save her daughter.
In the shadows, the jade bed's runes pulsed once, as if sensing Su Yan's thoughts.