Chương 49: A Legacy of Ashes

The Tang Kingdom was divided into nine provinces. And the Heavenly Crane Sect stood as one of the supreme overlords of the Bing Province. Beneath the Bing Province lay nine prefectures. Langya County fell under the jurisdiction of Qingtai Prefecture, one of those nine. Blessed Sun Prefecture also belonged to the Bing Province. It was separated from Qingtai Prefecture by Guiyun Prefecture and Luoshan Prefecture. The straight line distance between the two prefectures exceeded one hundred thousand miles.

The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator whose lair was hidden within Green Ape Peak hailed from the Yun family of Blessed Sun Prefecture. The Yun family was one of the Purple Mansion Realm powers in Blessed Sun Prefecture. To put it plainly, the Yun family was the undisputed overlord of the Blessed Sun Prefecture. Not just any power could claim to represent the entire prefecture. Blessed Sun. The Yun family. In other words, the name "Yun" alone could stand for Blessed Sun.

This fallen perfection stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was named Yun Chaoge. He had been an Purple Mansion Realm Candidate for the Yun family. He possessed a Fire-Wood dual spirit root, which contained the principle of mutual generation (the attributes compliment eachother) among the five elements, making him far stronger than an ordinary dual spirit root genius.

At its height, the Yun family had boasted five Purple Mansion Realm cultivators, their dominance pressing down upon all of Blessed Sun Prefecture. Every twenty years, a minor beast tide swept across the entirety of Bing Province, indeed, the whole Tang Kingdom. Purple Mansion Realm spirit beasts served as commanders. Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beasts acted as generals. Qi Refining Realm spirit beasts formed the foot soldiers.

Led by a Purple Mansion Realm spirit beast, they would surge into human territory and attack. At such times, every cultivation force across Bing Province received a summons from the Purple Mansion powers. Together, they would stand against the tide, pushing back the spirit beast hordes. This was the way of things throughout the vast Eastern Region Great Wilderness. The Eastern Region Great Wilderness was boundless, a land where humans, demons, and monsters coexisted.

Within the Tang Kingdom, thanks to the Purge of Demons decades ago, demonic cultivators had all but vanished. Thus, the greatest enemy facing the Tang Kingdom's cultivation forces were spirit beasts. And the beast tides that erupted every hundred years were far more devastating. These were battlefields for Golden Core Realm cultivators. Sometimes, even Nascent Soul Realm spirit beasts would appear. For smaller cultivation forces, such an event was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Under the onslaught of the beast tides, some powers were wiped out entirely, their legacies severed. Others rose from the ashes, seizing fleeting glory. Life and death, joy and sorrow, these dramas played out endlessly, year after year. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Yun Chaoge had fallen forty years ago during one such beast tide, hunted down and killed by a herd of Azure Glow Spirit Rhinos. He had been convinced it was a setup.

Two Purple Mansion Realm Azure Glow Spirit Rhinos had cornered him, one of them at the mid stage Purple Mansion Realm. Even with his formidable strength and solid foundation, Yun Chaoge could not withstand them. They struck him down. Because most of the Tang Kingdom had been consumed by the beast tide at the time. Yun Chaoge, grievously wounded, had been chased for over ten thousand miles by those two Purple Mansion Realm Azure Glow Spirit Rhinos. He barely escaped with his life. His injuries were catastrophic.

He had lost his bearings, exhausted every talisman and pill on his person. With the greatest difficulty, he dragged himself to Green Ape Peak. And there, his wounds proved incurable. He passed away quietly, sitting in meditation. Before dying, Yun Chaoge recorded his origins and the full story on a parchment scroll. He even suspected that his death had been orchestrated by the Zheng family, a Golden Core Realm family in the Bing Province. Inside his storage pouch, he left behind several legacies.

He hoped that whoever found them would take his remains back to the Yun family. To let his bones return home. After reading this, Zhang Huaijin felt a deep, crushing sorrow. He also believed Yun Chaoge's suspicion was not without merit. Bing Province had two great Golden Core Realm powers: the Heavenly Crane Sect and the Zheng family. Of Bing Province's nine prefectures, the Heavenly Crane Sect ruled five. The Zheng family ruled the remaining four.

The Yun family had five Purple Mansion Realm cultivators and a deep, accumulated heritage. With capable successors rising within the family, it was only natural they would want to cultivate a Golden Core Realm Cultivator of their own. The Zheng family had a clear motive. And more tellingly, Yun Chaoge's battlefield had been at the Foundation Establishment level. How could two Purple Mansion Realm Azure Glow Spirit Rhinos suddenly appear? Someone must have leaked his location. The Yun family was already powerful.

If left unchecked, they would soon produce a sixth Purple Mansion Realm cultivator. And Yun Chaoge had been a tier 2, upper grade alchemist, the most dazzling talent among the Yun family's Foundation Establishment generation. Yet in the end, he had met his doom in the godforsaken wilds of Green Ape Peak. The cruel irony of fate. The restrictions on his storage pouch had weakened considerably over forty years.

The original Foundation Establishment Realm Green Ape that had occupied this mountain had tried to open it, but failed. Eventually, it giving up. Most of the flesh on Yun Chaoge's corpse had been gnawed away by that very ape. Zhang Huaijin spent thirty minutes breaking the remaining restrictions. Then he took out the contents.

"An alchemy Inheritance…" A slow smile spread across Zhang Huaijin's face. Inside the storage pouch were several dozen pill formulas. Exceptionally comprehensive, everything from Tier 1, Lower Grade to Tier 2, Upper Grade pills. Including a Foundation Establishment Realm Pill formula. Fearing that whoever discovered his body might refuse to fulfill his request, Yun Chaoge had left behind numerous legacies as he lay dying. Beyond the pill formulas, there were jade slips on the art of crafting technique manuals.

Records of the Heart Demon Oath. Knowledge of spirit plant cultivation. And cultivation manuals he had collected over the years. Six complete cultivation manuals in total. Every single one was at the Foundation Establishment level. They included the five element techniques Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, plus one Ice attribute technique. In addition, there were over a dozen Qi Refining Realm techniques, all part of Yun Chaoge's personal collection. Each one was a upper grade cultivation manual.

The pill formulas Yun Chaoge left behind were all common varieties found on the open market. Most alchemy families already possessed them. As a tier 2, upper grade alchemist, Yun Chaoge had been quite wealthy. A few cultivation manuals meant little to him. But for cultivators from small families or for independent cultivators, they were priceless treasures. He had counted on this fact. That was why he left so much behind. And every legacy came with a Heart Demon Oath.

Whoever inherited his teachings would be bound to help return his remains to the Yun family. But unfortunately, in the forty years since his death, no one had discovered him. Zhang Huaijin carefully organized these legacies. His smile grew brighter by the second. This was an enormous boost to the Zhang family's foundation. The jade slips on crafting cultivation manuals would allow the creator to embed their own cultivation experiences directly within the text.

This would help clan members cultivate more effectively and break through bottlenecks with greater ease. The documentation of the Heart Demon Oath would allow the Zhang family to fully open its technique library to all members, minimizing the risk of leakage to outsiders. This way, clan members would have far more choices in their cultivation path. And the family would no longer have to worry about its core heritage being stolen or exposed. Even more important were the pill formulas.

These would complete the Zhang family's alchemy heritage. Enough to support them all the way to the Foundation Establishment Realm. This trip to Green Ape Peak had been incredibly lucrative. Zhang Huaijin had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining Realm. Now he simply needed to steadily polish his cultivation, pushing his realm to the very peak of Qi Refining Realm. Then he could break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Even without the Realm-Breaking Pearl, Zhang Huaijin's current foundation was more than sufficient to advance to Foundation Establishment. As for the Foundation Establishment Pill… he would not need it at all.