Meanwhile, Harun had recovered from his nightmares and engaged the system in a heated debate.
"This is not possible! Absolutely impossible! Let's assume that her age is correct. If you aren't malfunctioning, how can a 17-year-old reach the peak of the Celestial Guard Realm? Only Double Pupil owners start higher than Celestial Kin. Even if she started cultivating from the womb, that's not possible!" Harun argued, and none could blame him. Although pills and the like could shorten breakthrough time, to say nothing of the peak of the Celestial Guard Realm, across the 33 Heavens' history, none ever reached the peak of the Celestial Kin Realm in less than 50 years.
Unless Jiyan started at a higher level than her peers, or received an inheritance that boosted her cultivation, the system's data didn't make sense. "Wait, inheritance?" Recalling his first meeting with Jiyan, Harun remembered that she inherited the First Emperor's memories.
In that process, who knows what other cultivation benefits she received? With all the mysteries surrounding the Heaven Warding Emperor, Harun wouldn't be surprised if his successor accomplished a few abnormal feats.
"You've guessed the gist of it. The girl inherited a rather terrible cultivation method from her ancestor. From the knowledge the Ancestral One granted me, I know that all Empyreans are linked to the clan's Ancestral Hall at birth. For most of them, the link will never matter. But when a peak-stage Empyrean Monarch or Demi-Emperor perishes, the link robs and seals their memories to prevent enemies from stealing the clan's secrets.
The First Emperor set that rule, but didn't apply it to himself. Instead, he built a mausoleum to not only store his inheritance, but test the Empyrean clansmen that attempted to obtain it. As long as they belong to the clan, whoever can pass that trial can claim his inheritance. Initially, the Imperial Mausoleum was meant to become the selection ground for the next monarch. But the First Emperor had to accept that none of his children could meet his criteria, and held a different trial to pick his heir," the system explained, and as Harun pondered his words, it pursued.
"So while the Second Emperor claimed the Seal, he couldn't receive his father's inheritance. Afterward, he banned female clansmen from taking part in the contest, believing that their participation went against all moral standards and endangered the clan's peace. Until Jiyan's birth, no Empyrean could inherit the ancestor's memories. Agiri could have, but rejected it to pursue his own path. Still, knowing that his death neared, and believing in Jiyan's talent, Agiri changed the rules to let her take part in the trial.
As the trial didn't care for cultivation bases, Jiyan effortlessly defeated her brothers and cousins, becoming the first inheritor to the First Emperor's Dao—she'd just turned 12.
Among other things, this enabled her to cultivate the Chained Sword Sutra, a cultivation method that transcends the limit of this world. Not only does it provide its cultivators with tremendous destructive power, speed and versatility, but it also multiplies their cultivation speed by 10 times their layer. With her Ancestor's complete Dao Inheritance, Jiyan started at the fifth layer, multiplying her already dreadful cultivation speed by 50. More importantly, since the inheritance enabled her to experience all relevant parts of her Ancestor's life, the assimilation didn't harm her foundation."
Judging from the system's words, Harun felt that the Chained Sword Sutra and his Art of the Decaying Flower should be of similar levels. However, Harun had never heard of a method capable of multiplying the practitioner's cultivation speed without drawbacks. Even his incomparably profound Art of the Decaying Flower couldn't accomplish that. And as if reading through Harun's mind, the system added:
"Still, this is not necessarily a good thing. The Chained Sword Sutra's extreme power comes at a matching price. When they start cultivating it, the practitioners must choose a condition for their strength, and pledge to never break it. As long as the chains deem their condition insufficient, they will never reach the First Layer. But once the chains approve, they bind themselves to the practitioner's heart and soul—ready to crush both at the slightest transgression. However, Jiyan never got to make her choice, and inherited the method with a preset condition: the First Emperor's condition. Knowing him, it should be fairly retarded."
Destabilized by the system's words, Harun forgot to note all the problems its speech manner and "granted" knowledge presented, focusing on one question only: "What could the condition be?"
…
As the system unveiled the source of Jiyan's strength, the latter resisted the pressure of the 12 Empyrean Elders. Too startled for words, the three True Dragon elders stared at their chained junior lord—or whatever remained of him—not knowing how to react. Each possessed a Heavenly God Realm cultivation base. Even if she were one hundred times more gifted, Jiyan wasn't their match. However, the decisiveness with which she massacred their young master's life and future put them on maximum alert.
From beginning to end, not an ounce of rage or killing intent fluctuated around her. Her moves came from nowhere, yet struck with surgical precision.
Besides building false momentum, screaming a couple "How dare you?" or "Today you must surrender your life" solved no problem. Even if they brought a top-level divine medicine to heal his physical wounds, with the psychological traumas he suffered today, their junior lord could give up on the cultivation road. And as his protectors, those elders would be the first to take the blame.
All three sought the Empyrean elders' support, but met 12 cold, apathetic gazes focused on Jiyan. Instantly, the dragon elders realized that in the Empyreans' eyes, they weren't worth a pig's fart.
"This marriage was a scam. They never considered us as alliance material. Otherwise, if only for appearances, they'd be cursing her and appeasing us. Did they expect such a reaction and wanted to coerce her into open revolt, or just wanted to get rid of her in one way or another?"
"We overestimated ourselves. In the Empyreans' eyes, there are only two threats to their sovereignty: the Golden Crow Ancestor and the Serpent Domain. Those two aside, the rest are toys they can play with as they see fit. We don't even have a full understanding of their Dao Reserves, but rushed to accept their proposal—even bringing our junior lord into their walls…"
"Looking back, after the Immemorial War's end, all noble and hegemonic clans blamed us for courting the Serpent Emperor's fury and dragging them all into eons of misery. Since then, who dares marry their daughters into our clan? If we didn't snatch some here and there, there'd be no variety…"
"..."
As all three regretted accepting this assignment, clapping sounds came from the sky, and all eyes rose to spot Dilnaz and the supreme elder, who clapped with a hint of appreciation.
"Well done. This is impressive work, Jiyan. Your father would be proud," the supreme elder started. And seeing him stand beside her mother, Jiyan arched an eyebrow. As if ridden with guilt, Dilnaz avoided all eye contact with Jiyan. But better than anyone, Jiyan knew that guilt had no place in her mother's vocabulary.
Ignoring the dragons, the supreme elder landed before Jiyan and cast a sidelong glance at the junior lord.
"It's not that you're weak. She's just too strong. Blame your old man for not raising you better," the supreme elder said in a half-serious, half-jesting tone. As soon as his eyes returned to Jiyan's, the junior dragon lord imploded—reduced to a pile of dust. The three dragon elders suffered the same fate. Even if the situation had taken a sour turn, they didn't expect that the supreme elder���s ruthlessness would reach that point—it did.
"They have seen too much. While many hegemonic clan elders are aware of your inheritance, outsiders should never get the tiniest hint of the Chained Sword's mysteries." In the current Empyrean clan, no one understood the Chained Sword better than the supreme elder. As the First Emperor's eldest son, he knew many of the secrets hidden from the junior generations, and believed that in this era, no one could stop him from claiming his birthright.
Taking control of Jiyan's soul was merely the first step. If Dilnaz didn't show up with her Heaven's Will pill, after Jiyan joined the dragon clan, the supreme elder planned to rob her soul, take her body, and coordinate with his most trusted subordinates to exterminate the dragon clan.
A pity that even with his ancient life and knowledge, he failed to understand one thing—that thing sealed his fate.
With a gentle smile, the supreme elder stretched his atrophied hand toward Jiyan, condensing a pearl-white seal that flew toward her forehead. Before Jiyan could react, the seal struck, embedding itself in her soul. Her body shook, her eyes glazed over, and like a deactivated puppet, she lowered her eyes and dropped on her knees.
With a smile, the supreme elder walked toward her and whispered: "Activation."
Bright-white light surged from Jiyan's sea of consciousness. The supreme elder frowned, and Dilnaz's lips curled into a fiendish grin.
From Jiyan's slender body, the pressure of a complete Mandate rippled, crushed the supreme elder's seal, and brutalized his internal organs with a formless force.
BANG!
"NOW!" Dilnaz exclaimed in a mental message, and while the supreme elder flew backward, with blood pouring out of his eyes and lips, a pitch-black longsword appeared beside his cosmic pouch, as if tracking an item within, and pierced through his heart!
"A...Agiri? Damn son of a bitch. But...how?" More confused by Jiyan's Mandate than the sword ending his life, the supreme elder cursed his previous lord. With blood gushing from his chest and back, he crashed on the ground. The 12 elders regained their wits, but faced with their strongest's immediate defeat, didn't know who to support.
Dilnaz stepped forward, stopped beside the supreme elder and with a demonic smile, said, "Granduncle, granduncle, you don't look too good. Want me to call a doctor?" Seeing her gloating above his bleeding face, the supreme elder realized that from the moment he accepted that pill, Dilnaz somehow ensured his death. But how? The pitch-black sword soared to Dilnaz's side, and morphed into a burly armored man with bronze skin and a Guan-Yu-style beard. That man, the Commandant of the Imperial Guard, and master of the Divine Armament clan, bowed toward Dilnaz.
The supreme elder's trembling gaze went between his Cosmic Pouch, Jiyan, Dilnaz and the Commandant. At last, he realized the ploy.