Soul Clan Blood Feast: Spirit Devouring Trial and Hun Dan's Path of Patricide

Above the Soul-Devouring Blood Pool in the depths of the Soul Realm, Hun Dan knelt before a blood-stained altar, his fingertips toying with a bone ring engraved with the word "System." Nine corpses floated in the pool water; they were his brothers and sisters, each dead from a different, yet eerily "accidental" cause—the eldest sister's heart meridian had been severed by a Soul-Devouring Insect, yet there were no signs of struggle; the third brother had fallen into the blood pool, yet his body remained bone-dry; the seventh sister's Woeful Poison Body had been reverse-controlled, leaving a smile on her face even as the poison took her life.

"Well done." The voice of Hun Tiandi drifted from behind the altar. He wore black robes, the totem of the Soul Clan—a design depicting the devouring of the stars—embroidered on his cuffs. "Using the System template to fabricate accidents; even I could barely detect the traces."

Hun Dan kowtowed, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. "Father once taught me that those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles. Besides..." He looked up at the blood pool, "their soul power will all become the nourishment I need to break through to the Dou Zun realm."

Hun Tiandi waved his hand, and the blood pool began to boil as nine ribbons of soul light drilled into the center of Hun Dan's brow. The latter's body shuddered violently, fine patterns of Soul-Devouring Insects emerging across his skin as his aura surged to the level of a Western-star Dou Zun—a power forcibly piled up using the souls of his own kin.

"But you shouldn't have used the System template." Hun Tiandi frowned. "That thing is a puppet string the Soul Clan uses to control mortals, yet you have let it crawl onto your own neck."

Hun Dan touched the flickering code patterns on his brow, a morbid smile curling his lips. "The System can help me tamper with the plot of the Douqi Continent and force the Xiao brothers into a passive position; what is this small price compared to that?" He suddenly coughed up black blood, the System code spreading along the stains onto the ground. "Besides, Father, are you not also using the System template to repair the origin of the Soul Clan's Nihility Devouring Flame?"

Hun Tiandi's pupils shrank. A soul whip flew from his sleeve and lashed across Hun Dan's face. As blood splattered, the code patterns were scorched into charred black. "Insolent! The Nihility Devouring Flame is our clan's sacred object; how dare you let the System lay a finger on it?" He stepped forward, his pressure weighing down like a mountain, causing Hun Dan's internal organs to ache. "If you dare use the power of the System to defile the clan's secret arts again, I will turn you into a new nest for the Soul-Devouring Insects!"

Hun Dan gritted his teeth to hold his ground, though a cold sneer rose in his heart—he had long since planted a backdoor in the System template, and the spread of the code just now was precisely to steal Hun Tiandi's technique for controlling the Nihility Devouring Flame. Outwardly, however, he feigned terror. "Father's reprimand is just; this child knows his mistake."

At the same time, the Xiao brothers were crossing the Black-Corner Region. Xiao Feng suddenly stopped, the Emperor Scale patterns on his body glowing with a warning red light. "There is a massive fluctuation of soul power from the direction of the Soul Clan... It's Hun Dan! He is devouring his own kin!"

Xiao Yan gripped the Heavy Xuan Ruler, the Flame Emperor Fire dancing along its length. "The System jade slip we seized at the Heaven Pill Pavilion mentioned that the Soul Clan's 'Soul-Devouring Trial' allows for fratricide, but to devour nine people at once... this guy has gone mad."

Xiao Feng looked toward the overcast direction of the Soul Realm, his voice as cold as a blade. "He isn't mad; he wants to use the power of the System to become the heir of the Soul Clan. Xiao Yanzi, we must be extra careful during our upcoming training in the Central Plains—Hun Dan will likely use the System template to set traps everywhere."

Three days later, the Soul Clan held the "Blood Soul Grand Ceremony." Hun Dan stood on the altar wearing a blood-stained crown, accepting the allegiance of the clan elders. Suddenly, a black-robed elder lunged forward, a dagger in his hand stabbing toward Hun Dan's heart. "You murdered your kin to seize the throne; you have violated clan rules!"

Hun Dan did not dodge or evade, allowing the dagger to sink into his chest. Instead, a swarm of Soul-Devouring Insects surged from the wound, wrapping the elder into a mummy. "Clan rules? In the face of the absolute power of the System, clan rules are nothing but waste paper." He waved his hand, casting chains of code to subdue the rebelling elders one by one. "From today on, there is only one heir to the Soul Clan—me, Hun Dan!"

Ding! Hun Dan has triggered the "Fratricidal Ascension" plot and obtained the title "System Heir!"

Reward: "Soul-Devouring Insect Tide (Modified)" skill, "Plot Kill: Kin" authority!

The System's notification echoed through the Soul Realm. Hun Tiandi sat on his throne, watching coldly, though he was weighing the pros and cons in his heart—even if Hun Dan was out of control, the System template in his hands could indeed accelerate the assimilation plan for the Douqi Continent. Besides... in the secret chamber beneath the throne, the origin of the Nihility Devouring Flame was gradually becoming complete under the repairs of the System code; that was the key to the Soul Clan's hegemony.

"From this day forward, Hun Dan will temporarily handle clan affairs in my stead." Hun Tiandi rose and left. "But if you let the power of the System contaminate the clan's secret arts again..." He did not finish his sentence, but it was enough to break Hun Dan out in a cold sweat.

Late at night, Hun Dan sat alone on the Blood Soul Altar, his fingertips gently stroking the code patterns on his brow. The System notification suddenly rang in his consciousness:

Ding! Detected that the host has completed the "Fratricide Achievement," unlocking the "Xiao Brothers Plot Kill" authority!

Next stage mission: During the "Three-Year Agreement" at the Misty Cloud Sect, use the System template to frame Xiao Yan as a "treacherous villain" and trigger a continent-wide manhunt!

A sinister grin curled Hun Dan's lips as he took out a wooden puppet carved with Xiao Yan's likeness. "The Xiao brothers? Nothing more than clowns in a System template. This time, I will make everyone on the entire Douqi Continent believe—that Xiao Yan is the murderer who killed Nalan Yanran!"