Deep in the Soul Realm, above the Soul-Devouring Blood Pool, Hun Dan knelt before a blood-red altar, turning a bone ring engraved with the word "System" between his fingers. Nine corpses floated in the pool, all his siblings. They had died in different ways, but each death carried the eerie mark of an "accident": his eldest sister's heart meridians had been chewed through by Soul-Devouring Insects, yet there were no signs of struggle; his third brother had fallen into the pool, but his entire body was dry; and his seventh sister's Woeful Poison Body had somehow been turned against her, leaving a smile on her face as the poison took hold.
"Nicely done." Hun Tiandi's voice came from behind the altar. Dressed in a black robe, he had the Soul Clan's star-devouring totem embroidered on his cuffs. "You used a system template to disguise the deaths as accidents. Even I almost couldn't spot the traces."
Hun Dan bowed his head, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. "Father taught me that those who accomplish great things needn't concern themselves with trifles. Besides..." He looked up at the blood pool. "Their soul power will become the nourishment I need to break through to Dou Zun."
Hun Tiandi swept a hand through the air, and the blood pool began to boil. Nine streams of soul light drilled into Hun Dan's brow. His whole body convulsed, and fine Soul-Devouring Insect patterns surfaced on his skin as his aura surged to four-star Dou Zun. This was power forcibly amassed from the souls of his own kin.
"But you shouldn't have used a system template." Hun Tiandi frowned. "That thing is a puppet string the Soul Clan uses to control mortals, yet you let it crawl around your own neck."
Hun Dan touched the faintly visible code patterns on his forehead, the corner of his mouth curling into a sickly smile. "The System can help me rewrite the plot of the Douqi Continent and put the Xiao brothers on the back foot. What's a little price to pay?" He suddenly coughed up black blood, and the System's code spread across the ground with it. "Besides, Father, aren't you also using a system template to repair the essence of our clan's Nihility Devouring Flame?"
Hun Tiandi's pupils contracted sharply. A soul whip flew from his sleeve and lashed Hun Dan across the face. Blood sprayed as the code patterns burned black. "Insolence! The Nihility Devouring Flame is our clan's sacred treasure. How dare you let the System meddle with it?" He stepped forward, his pressure bearing down like a mountain and making Hun Dan's organs ache. "If you dare taint the clan's secret arts with the System's power again, I'll turn you into a new Soul-Devouring Insect Nest!"
Hun Dan gritted his teeth and endured it, but inwardly he sneered. He had already planted a backdoor in the system template. The code spreading just now had been meant to steal Hun Tiandi's method of controlling the Nihility Devouring Flame. Yet on the surface, he said fearfully, "Father is right to reprimand me. Your son knows his mistake."
Meanwhile, the Xiao brothers were crossing the Black-Corner Region when Xiao Feng suddenly stopped. The patterns of the Emperor Scale glowed red in warning. "There's a massive surge of soul power in the Soul Clan's direction... It's Hun Dan! He's devouring his own people!"
Xiao Yan tightened his grip on the Heavy Xuan Ruler. Flame Emperor Fire flickered along its length. "The system jade slip we seized at the Heaven Pill Pavilion mentioned the Soul Clan's 'Soul-Devouring Trial.' It permits siblings to slaughter one another, but devouring nine people at once... That guy's gone mad."
Xiao Feng looked toward the Soul Realm, where dark clouds blanketed the sky. His voice was as cold as a blade. "He hasn't gone mad. He wants to use the System's power to become the Soul Clan's heir. Xiao Yanzi, we'll have to be extra careful during our upcoming travels through the Central Plains. Hun Dan will probably use system templates to set traps everywhere."
Three days later, the Soul Clan held the "Blood Soul Grand Ceremony." Hun Dan stood on the altar wearing a bloodstained crown, accepting the clan elders' allegiance. Suddenly, a black-robed elder sprang up and thrust a dagger at his heart. "You murdered your own kin to seize power! You've violated the clan rules!"
Hun Dan neither dodged nor flinched, allowing the dagger to sink into his chest. But a mass of Soul-Devouring Insects poured from the wound and wrapped the elder into a mummy. "Clan rules? In the face of the System's absolute power, clan rules are nothing but a scrap of wastepaper." He flung out chains of code, subduing the resisting elders one by one. "From today on, the Soul Clan has only one heir—I, Hun Dan!"
Ding! Hun Dan has triggered the "Kin-Slaying Ascension" plot and obtained the title "System Heir"!
Reward: "Modified Soul-Devouring Insect Swarm" skill; "Plot Kill: Kin" authority!
The System's notification echoed through the Soul Realm. Hun Tiandi sat on his throne, watching coldly, yet weighing the pros and cons in his mind. Though Hun Dan had become uncontrollable, the system template in his hands could indeed accelerate the Douqi Continent's assimilation. Besides... In the secret chamber beneath the throne, the essence of the Nihility Devouring Flame was gradually being restored by the System's code. That was the key to the Soul Clan's dominion.
"From this day on, Hun Dan will handle the clan's affairs in my stead." Hun Tiandi rose and left. "But if you let the System's power contaminate the clan's secret arts again..." He didn't finish, yet a cold sweat broke out across Hun Dan's back.
Late that night, Hun Dan sat alone on the Blood Soul altar, lightly tracing the code patterns on his forehead. The System's notification suddenly sounded in his mind:
Ding! Host has completed the "Kin-Slaying Achievement" and unlocked the "Plot Kill: Xiao Brothers" authority!
Next-stage mission: during the Misty Cloud Sect's "Three-Year Agreement," use a system template to portray Xiao Yan as a "treacherous villain" and trigger a continent-wide manhunt!
A sinister grin spread across Hun Dan's face. He took out a wooden puppet carved with Xiao Yan's likeness. "The Xiao brothers? They're nothing but jumping clowns in a system template. This time, I'll make everyone on the Douqi Continent believe that Xiao Yan is the one who murdered Nalan Yanran!"
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