Glorious Past

"So that's how it is. So that's the truth of it."

Wang Ping's gaze turned icy as he clenched his fists.

Back in the chat group, he'd heard Cai Yonglong talk about the Transcendent Realm and the Spirit Clan.

But he never imagined the Chi Clan members were Spirit Clan descendants.

No wonder the Li Family targeted the Chi Clan. No wonder the Sword Spirit Sect Leader went wild with joy after learning about Chi Village from him, then crippled him and force-fed him a Truth Pill to extract the information.

And no wonder Li Huai only killed adults, not children—it all came down to the Chi Clan being Spirit Clan descendants.

The bloodline of the Spirit Clan was too powerful and precious. It gifted them immense potential, but it also made them a prize. If their family fell from grace, with no strong members to deter predators, and news leaked out, they'd be swarmed by countless wolves, tearing into them to drain every drop of bloodline value.

"But if the Chi Clan are Spirit Clan descendants, why can't they break through to the realm above Innate Realm? Maybe there's more to it."

Wang Ping recalled other secrets about the Chi Clan and muttered to himself.

After all, the Chi Clan were Spirit Clan descendants. Even if their bloodline had thinned and their spiritual blood no longer manifested, they shouldn't have been reduced to being unable to reach the Spirit Origin Realm.

There had to be other hidden reasons he didn't know about.

"Could it be that some powerful figure placed a Bloodline Curse or something on them?"

Wang Ping pondered, suddenly hitting on that possibility.

This was a Xianxia world, after all. The Li Family had already gotten their hands on a mystical art like the Blood Demon Tracking Art, so it was perfectly normal for something like a Bloodline Curse to exist.

Based on his extensive reading, the odds of a Bloodline Curse being involved were over eighty percent.

No wonder the Village Chief had made that self-deprecating remark about only being able to offer a Profound Middle-Grade Cultivation Method.

Probably, the Chi Clan had once been mighty, but then something happened, their fortunes declined, and an enemy laid a vicious Bloodline Curse on them.

In the end, a handful of their clansmen were forced to migrate, ending up in Great Xia, where they developed into a second-rate family in White Moon City. Then the Li Family wiped them out, forcing them to hole up in Blackwind Forest, terrified of being discovered by the Li Family.

That explained everything.

"What a complicated past."

Wang Ping sighed softly.

No wonder the Village Chief always seemed so downcast. With a family history like that, constantly living in danger, it was only natural.

After Wang Ping showed enough potential, the Village Chief placed such high hopes on him, waiting for him to fully grow and reach the Transcendent Realm so he could protect the remaining clansmen.

Only a Transcendent Realm cultivator could truly shield Chi Village.

Otherwise, if their bloodline secret got out, any Spirit Origin Realm cultivator would go mad for it. Only Transcendent Realm experts wouldn't care.

They'd look down on Spirit Clan descendants with faint bloodlines.

Once they reached the Spirit Embryo Realm, they could spawn a powerful Spirit Clan of their own, becoming its founding ancestor and ruling a region.

"Now that I know these secrets, I can figure out how to avoid them. Finally, I can save Chi Village."

Wang Ping murmured to himself.

Next, he just needed to scatter the Chi Village people across different places. That way, the chances of them being found would drop to a minimum.

After all, the Blood Demon Tracking Art could only track a large concentration of similar bloodlines, not individuals.

"But that's a last resort. The real way to protect Chi Village is for me to grow strong enough, wipe out the entire Li Family, and get my hands on the Blood Demon Tracking Art to stop it from spreading."

Wang Ping clenched his fists, his gaze deep.

"Beyond that, the Sword Spirit Sect is an enemy to me too. I need to mentally prepare myself to face them."

"Bai Tianhong..."

Wang Ping fell silent again.

After so many simulations, he actually had a pretty good impression of Bai Tianhong.

The guy had astonishing talent—at just twenty-five, he was already at the Half-Step Spirit Origin Realm and had comprehended Sword Intent.

To save a million people, he'd gone head-to-head with a Seventh-Level Demon Beast, the Silver Moon Wolf, at the Half-Step Spirit Origin Realm, gravely wounded it, and killed it, driving back the beast tide.

That fight must have risked his life.

Later, he came out of seclusion for the common people, ended the war, overthrew the decaying Great Xia, and brought peace to the land.

He was a genius sword cultivator and a chivalrous hero.

But he was part of the Sword Spirit Sect.

Maybe he and the Sword Spirit Sect Leader weren't birds of a feather, but if Wang Ping clashed with the Sword Spirit Sect, a fight with him would be unavoidable.

"Forget it. No point overthinking. I can barely influence the Wang Ping in the Life Simulation—he's like a self-aware version of me, growing and changing his personality, like me without the simulator. I can't predict how things will turn out."

Wang Ping shook his head slightly and stopped dwelling on it.

Whatever happened, he'd find out through the Life Simulation. No need to stress.

With that, Wang Ping fixed his gaze on the screen again, eager to see how the story would unfold.

As he stared, text began to appear on the screen once more.

When anger burned in your heart, the Li Family Head expressed his hope that you would lead the clan's other Third-Grade Alchemists, using the Chi Clan members' blood they had collected to research the Blood Spirit Pill formula and refine the pill. To this, you outwardly agreed.

Next, you stated that you needed to go into seclusion to study the pill formula. A month later, you found an opportunity, gathered all the Li Clan's high-ranking members together, and announced that you had gained some insights. The Li Clan high-ranking members were overjoyed. You raised a toast in celebration, declaring that you would elevate the Li Clan to the pinnacle of Great Xia.

The Li Clan members cheered in agreement, their ambition laid bare, and all raised their cups with you, drinking them dry. But once the wine went down, they sensed something was wrong—too late, as they were already poisoned, unable to move.

The Li Family Head stared at you in disbelief, demanding why you had poisoned them. You had no intention of wasting words; you simply left in silence. Though Chi Village had shown you kindness, you had spent so many years with the Li Clan that you had grown attached to them, unable to bring yourself to kill them.

Next, you went to the underground chamber, euthanized all the Chi Clan members, and destroyed all the Chi Clan bloodlines the Li Clan had hoarded.

"Sigh."

Seeing this, Wang Ping sighed inwardly.

The version of himself in the simulation must have agonized for a long time before making that decision.

After all, the Chi Clan members kept captive had lost their humanity, living a fate worse than death.

And the simulated Wang Ping had no way to take them away.

As for helping the Li Clan refine the Blood Spirit Pill and continuing to lie low and develop, that was something he couldn't bring himself to do either.

Pretending the Blood Spirit Pill was too difficult to refine to buy time was also out of the question.

Besides, he couldn't stall for long anyway—because people have flesh and blood. He might briefly suppress his emotions and use the Chi Clan's blood to research the pill formula to avoid the Li Clan's suspicion.

But over time, the emotions he could barely contain might be detected by the Li Clan, and his own cultivation could fall into qi deviation.