Spirit Clan

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Spirit Clan
Original Name	灵族
Type	Clan
Location	Spirit Realm, a vast self-contained realm created for the clan's descendants; after its conquest, its formation became the foundation of Origin Return Manor's Origin Return Realm Grand Formation. 1019 1052 1206
Status	Its Spirit Realm was conquered by an alliance led by Xiao Yan and Yan Jin; surviving members were placed under a prolonged lockdown and purge process. Its former realm and defensive formation were subsequently incorporated into Origin Return Manor. It remains referenced in connection with a prior incident and a remnant soul fragment of its Dou Di ancestor. 1052 1061 1132 1206
Founder	Spirit Heavenly Emperor, the clan's Dou Di ancestor 1033
Bloodline	Dou Di bloodline, which grants descendants exceptional cultivation potential and can be activated through clan marks 546 827 1023

Background

The Spirit Clan was involved in an earlier matter that benefited from the actions of a mysterious figure within the Ancient Clan. Origin Return Manor has not ruled out the possibility that the Ancient Clan deliberately arranged the incident to achieve multiple objectives. 1132

The Spirit Clan is an ancient Dou Di descendant clan that lived in seclusion for many years before making a highly public emergence in Holy Pill City. Its vast resources, influential alchemists, powerful bloodline, and concealed high-ranking experts initially placed immense pressure on the Pill Tower and other Central Plains factions. 436 439 546

Although its members took pride in their Dou Di heritage, the clan had entered a period of decline. Supreme Elder Ling Haonan regarded the Spirit Clan as far weaker than the Soul Clan, Ancient Clan, and Thunder Clan, and sought drastic measures to restore its former prosperity. 503

By the time Xiao Yan discussed the ancient clans with Xiao Xuan, the Spirit Clan was considered the weakest Dou Di descendant clan apart from the depleted Xiao Clan. Nevertheless, its accumulated foundation remained beyond what the Pill Tower and the other defenders of Holy Pill City could overcome through a direct confrontation alone. 878

History

Rise in Holy Pill City

The Spirit Clan announced its participation in the Pill Convention and immediately began undermining the Pill Tower's influence. Over four days, the Ye, Qiu, Bai, and Cao Clans—four of the Pill Tower's five major subordinate clans—left the Pill Tower and became subordinate clans of the Spirit Clan. 436

The clan subsequently cooperated with the Heavenly Secrets Tower to establish the Heavenly Secrets Talents Ranking. By offering abundant soul techniques, pill formulas, medicine cauldrons, and other rewards, it sought to attract young alchemists and compete directly with the Pill Tower for future talent. 436 481

The Pill Tower eventually reached a temporary agreement with the Spirit Clan, allowing both parties to jointly supply the ranking's five major test questions. This arrangement gave the ranking the Pill Tower's authority while preventing it from being wholly controlled by the Spirit Clan. 436

Ling Zhuo emerged as the public face of the clan's rise. He dominated the Heavenly Secrets Talents Ranking, received the submission of the former Pill Tower-affiliated clans, and was widely identified as the Spirit Clan's heir. 439

The Dan Clan later also departed from the Pill Tower and pledged allegiance to the Spirit Clan. At this point, the Spirit Clan openly possessed six eighth-tier alchemists: Ling Zhuo, Elder Mu Gu, Yi Xu, Hua Qingyu, Cao Ying, and Dan Chen. 499 501

Yi Xu and Hua Qingyu were effectively acting under the Spirit Clan's command, although the Heavenly Nether Sect and Flower Sect had not explicitly declared their submission at that stage. 501

Ling Zhuo's performance at the Pill Convention ultimately secured the championship. Despite the Spirit Clan's manipulation of the surrounding circumstances, the Pill Tower's experts acknowledged that he had genuinely refined the winning pill himself and could not be denied the title. 582

Artificial Alchemist Creation

The Spirit Clan developed secret methods to artificially create exceptional alchemists. Dan Chen and Cao Ying were among the individuals created through such methods, which involved abnormal soul absorption and could place the subjects into comas before awakening them when needed. 477 478

The clan also possessed a newer method capable of producing alchemists after birth, as demonstrated by Yi Xu of the Heavenly Nether Sect. These practices contributed to the Spirit Clan's rapid accumulation of high-level alchemists and threatened the Pill Tower's position in the alchemy world. 477

The Spirit Clan bloodline was also tied to the extraordinary speed with which Cao Ying and Dan Chen became eighth-tier alchemists. 546

Attack on the Pill Tower

Seeking to reverse the clan's decline, Ling Haonan devised a plan to use the Pill Convention as an entry point to destabilize and eventually assimilate the Pill Tower. The ultimate objective was to seize and refine the Pill Tower Ancestor, a ninth-grade Mystic Pill in human form. 657 658

During the preparations, Ling Yuan warned that internal disunity, the Pill Tower's resistance, and intervention by other Imperial Clans could endanger the entire Spirit Clan. Ling Haonan nevertheless gained the support of Ling Yuan and Ling Xuanmo by committing his own life to the operation. 655 657

The plan relied on rewards, coercion, and two agents planted within the Pill Tower twenty years earlier. The clan hoped to turn one of the Pill Tower's Three Giants, exploit its loose organization, and seize its resources and alchemists. Refining the Ancestor was expected to raise Ling Yuan to eight-star Dou Sheng, although the leaders recognized that even this would not guarantee protection against the Ancient Clan or Soul Clan. 657

Before the attack, Ling Haonan sent Ling Yu away to preserve the clan's bloodline in the event of disaster. Ling Yu concealed his identity, disfigured his own appearance, and settled at an inn near Sound Valley. 608

The Spirit Clan attacked Holy Pill City and deployed the Mother-Child Rune Grand Formation, the Heaven-Sealing Saint-Locking Grand Formation, and a spatial isolation formation. These formations trapped the Pill Tower Ancestor, Fire Cloud Ancestor, and Mu Yaoyin, while Spirit Clan forces sealed Holy Pill City to prevent escape or outside intervention. 653 659

Ling Haonan revealed himself as a six-star Dou Sheng and burned away his own life to power the operation. Despite the clan's preparations and the participation of six Spirit Clan Dou Shengs, the attempt to refine and capture the Pill Tower Ancestor failed. Ling Haonan died during the operation, and Ling Yuan ordered the surviving clan members to retreat to the Spirit Realm. 653 659 669 1025

The operation cost the Spirit Clan two Dou Sheng experts. Afterward, it rapidly contracted its territory, while the other Dou Di descendant clans failed to agree on punitive action because of the Soul Clan's ambiguous position and the subsequent destruction of the Flame Clan. 792 1020

Submission to the Soul Clan

Following the failed Pill Tower attack, Clan Chief Ling Yuan led the Spirit Clan into submission to the Soul Clan in an attempt to preserve the clan. As part of this submission, the Spirit Clan surrendered its Tou She Ancient God Jade. 832 833

The Soul Clan exploited the clan's vulnerable position. It used the Spirit Clan's attack on the Pill Tower to divert attention from its own planned assault on the Flame Clan, while also obtaining the Spirit Clan's Gu Yu after the failed operation. 833 1146

Later revelations established that the Spirit Clan had originally been the Soul Clan's intended first target for a surprise attack. The Soul Clan changed its immediate target to the Flame Clan after its ambush of Xiao Yan failed and Huo Zhi's return threatened to expose its infiltrator there. 1146

The Spirit Clan's subjugation deeply damaged the morale of many members, particularly Ling Fengzhui. Although he understood the need to preserve the clan, he could not accept living under the Soul Clan's control. 832 833 1025

Hun Mang was assigned to accept the Spirit Clan's surrender and oversee it on the Soul Clan's behalf. His apparent courtesy concealed an interest in eventually obtaining the Spirit Heavenly Emperor's remnant soul. 1026 1043

Heavenly Tomb Gathering

Four years after the Pill Tower incident, the Spirit Clan attended the Heavenly Tomb gathering despite widespread hostility toward its previous actions. Ling Fengzhui led its younger generation, ignored Lei Jingxiao's provocation, and searched for Xiao Yan. The other Spirit Clan members appeared subdued and detached rather than openly confrontational. 792 793

Within the Heavenly Tomb, Ling Fengzhui initially fought alongside the Soul Clan against Xiao Yan and his allies. He later confronted Xiao Yan directly and activated his clan mark, raising his strength from the middle Half-Saint stage to the peak of the late Half-Saint stage. 809 827

After his defeat, Ling Fengzhui explained the Spirit Clan's surrender and revealed that the Soul Clan had used the Spirit Clan's name and Heavenly Tomb quota to infiltrate the tomb without attracting the Ancient Clan's attention. He suspected that the infiltrator's objective concerned Xiao Xuan. 832 833

Ling Fengzhui never returned from the Heavenly Tomb. Ling Yuan subsequently regarded his loss as the collapse of the clan's prospects for its younger generation, compounded by the despair caused by its failed resurgence and submission. 1025

Battle for the Spirit Realm

An alliance led by Xiao Yan, Yan Jin, Yao Lao, and the Pill Tower Ancestor later launched a surprise attack on the Spirit Realm. Yan Jin used the Mountain River Dragon-Trapping Formation to isolate the realm, while Mu Wei identified a weakness in the Spirit Clan's protective formation and enabled Xiao Yan to infiltrate it. 1018 1019

Mu Wei traced the weakness to a section receiving insufficient Dou Qi. Xiao Yan and Yan Jin considered this consistent with the clan having lost a major expert whose replacement could not fully sustain that part of the formation. 1018

The Spirit Clan revealed ten Dou Sheng experts in response to the invasion, exceeding the alliance's original estimates. Ling Yuan, Ling Xuanmo, Ling Cang, Ling Chong, Ling Qingbai, and several elders led the clan's resistance. 1020 1024

The clan's Half-Saint experts attempted to break the blockade around the Spirit Realm but were annihilated by a single crimson flaming strike from Yan Jin. In response, the remaining Spirit Clan experts activated their Dou Di bloodline clan marks, briefly reversing the battlefield's momentum. 1022 1023

More than twenty Half-Saints died in the failed breakout. The loss weakened the clan's battlefield support and inflicted a severe psychological shock. Ling Yuan's clan mark brought his strength infinitely close to seven-star Dou Sheng, while the other defenders also gained substantial increases in power. 1023

Ling Yuan requested assistance from Hun Mang and Hun Wu, the two Soul Clan Dou Shengs stationed within the clan's core territory. Their attempt to break the blockade failed, preventing them from opening a route for Soul Clan reinforcements. 1026 1027 1028

Ling Yuan also drew upon the clan's vast reserves of stored Dou Qi, allowing the Spirit Clan to replenish his strength and sustain its high-level combatants. 1030 1031

In desperation, Ling Yuan activated the core of the clan-protecting formation and summoned the remnant soul of the Spirit Heavenly Emperor. The ancestor's phantom fought Yan Jin with power supported by the Spirit Clan's accumulated Dou Qi and the strength of its members. 1033 1035

Ling Qingbai had already fallen by the time the ancestor was summoned, while Ling Xuanmo was under a coordinated assault from Zi Yan, Xiao Yan, and the Pill Tower Ancestor. The summoning redirected the formation's energy away from replenishing the clan's Dou Shengs and into the ancestor's remnant soul. 1033

The Spirit Heavenly Emperor's remnant soul was ultimately defeated, and the clan-protecting formation suffered catastrophic damage. The resulting shockwave killed many ordinary Spirit Clan members and destroyed a major portion of the formation's defensive nodes. 1043 1050

Nearly all of the clan's experts died in the battle, although Ling Cang survived. Yan Jin's intervention also prevented a large portion of the ordinary descendants from perishing in the massive explosion. Xiao Yan regarded the victory as pyrrhic and as further proof that even the weakest Dou Di descendant clan could not be underestimated. 1052

Three days after the battle began, the alliance had taken control of the Spirit Realm and its clan-protecting formation. Xiao Yi Xian subsequently proposed a century-long restriction on entry and exit from the realm, followed by successive purges intended to eliminate hostile or uncontrollable Spirit Clan elements. 1052 1061

Post-Conquest Administration and Legacy

Mu Wei and Yan Jin cooperated to eliminate the immediate dangers in the captured formation and establish control over the Spirit Realm. The Mountain River Dragon-Trapping Formation remained active as a precaution, preventing contact with the outside world. Xiao Yi Xian and Xuan Yi then led a second group of alliance personnel into the realm to take over most administrative affairs and prepare it as the alliance's base. 1052

Xiao Yi Xian's proposed settlement extended beyond confinement to the dismantling and controlled absorption of the clan's remaining identity and inheritance. 1061

• Century-long lockdown — No Spirit Clan member would be permitted to enter or leave the Spirit Realm for one hundred years. 1061
• Three rounds of purges — The first would rely on clansmen reporting one another, the second on descendants serving as informants, and the third on alliance-led searches focused on bloodline concentration. 1061
• Bloodline control — Descendants would change their surnames and enter controlled marriages with alliance members, placing the Spirit Clan bloodline under alliance supervision. 1061
• Inheritance restrictions — The clan's cultivation methods and Dou Skills would be collected and restricted to the alliance's core members, preventing future Spirit Clan talents from independently reclaiming them. 1061

The captured formation knowledge and resources substantially advanced Mu Wei's understanding of formations. He later completed an upgrade of the Origin Return Realm Grand Formation, raising the defensive capabilities of the formation that had originally belonged to the Spirit Clan by another tier. 1206

Organization

Leadership

• Ling Haonan — Supreme Elder whose authority and prestige surpassed even that of the clan chief. He was a six-star Dou Sheng and sacrificed himself during the failed attack on the Pill Tower. 503 653 669
• Ling Yuan — Clan Chief. He later submitted the Spirit Clan to the Soul Clan and commanded the defense of the Spirit Realm. His cultivation was at the peak of the six-star Dou Sheng level when Ling Fengzhui entered the Heavenly Tomb. 655 834 1025
• Ling Xuanmo — Deputy Chief of the Spirit Clan and a peak four-star Dou Sheng. 655 1033
• Ling He — A Dou Sheng elder, Ling Zhuo's great-grandmother, and a major supporter of the clan's resurgence. 446 503
• Ling Zhuo — Former heir of the Spirit Clan and a leading young alchemist during the Pill Convention. 439 446 His pill-refining performance secured the convention championship. 582
• Ling Fengzhui — The clan's principal combat prodigy, renowned for his combat experience, Heavenly State Soul, and mastery of Spirit Fusion. 640 642 827 He opposed the clan's submission to the Soul Clan and never returned from the Heavenly Tomb. 833 1025
• Ling Yu — A clansman sent away by Ling Haonan under a concealed identity to preserve the Spirit Clan's bloodline and legacy. 608
• Ling Cang — A Dou Sheng who fought Yao Ming during the invasion and survived the clan's defeat. 1020 1052
• Ling Chong — A Dou Sheng who fought Yao Su during the defense of the Spirit Realm. 1020
• Ling Qingbai — A Dou Sheng who faced Xiao Yan during the invasion and fell before the Spirit Heavenly Emperor's remnant soul was summoned. 1024 1033

Military Forces

• The Spirit Clan fielded thirty-six elite Spirit Guards, who wore silver-black armor and were trained for coordinated battle formations. 608
• The clan also assembled at least eighty-one Dou Zun experts before its attack on Holy Pill City. 608
• During the assault on the Pill Tower, more than fifty Spirit Clan Dou Zuns formed a massive encirclement around Holy Pill City. 623
• At the Battle for the Spirit Realm, the clan deployed ten Dou Sheng experts, in addition to Half-Saints and other bloodline descendants. 1020
• More than twenty Half-Saint experts participated in the failed attempt to break the blockade and were killed by Yan Jin. 1023
• The Spirit Guards were substantially more capable than many ordinary Spirit Clan members. Xiao Yan found some bloodline-raised Dou Zuns deficient in practical combat experience, whereas Ling Fengzhui had clearly been tempered by repeated life-and-death battles. 613 620 640

Abilities and Resources

• Dou Di Bloodline — The Spirit Clan's greatest inheritance is its Dou Di bloodline, which allows its descendants to cultivate far more quickly than ordinary practitioners. 546
• Clan Mark — Spirit Clan descendants can activate a cloud-shaped silver clan mark that greatly enhances their cultivation, Dou Qi, vitality, and combat ability. 827 1023 Ling Fengzhui used it to reach the peak of the late Half-Saint stage, while Ling Yuan's activation brought him infinitely close to seven-star Dou Sheng. 827 1023
• Spirit Fusion — A distinctive secret art that fuses Dou Qi and soul power. It can be employed by individuals or by coordinated groups such as the Spirit Guards. 611 827 Ling Zhuo used it to raise his strength to seven-star Dou Zun, while Ling Fengzhui combined it with externally supplied soul power to reach Half-Saint during the Pill Tower battle. 606 643
• Soul Techniques — The clan possesses a substantial collection of high-grade soul techniques and used these treasures to recruit and reward young alchemists. 481 Xiao Yan received a high-grade Earth-tier soul skill for taking first place on the Heavenly Secrets Talents Ranking. 524
• Clan-Protecting Art — The Spirit Clan's protective art grants its users exceptional endurance and includes the ability to bestow spirituality. 371 Known as the Myriad Spirit Enlightenment Art, it has five levels and uses the practitioner's own spirit to enlighten spiritual objects and develop a bond allowing them to be controlled like limbs. Even a Dou Sheng at its fourth level cannot simply appropriate an already spiritual divine object without refining it. 370
• Source Spirit Pattern Crystal — A Spirit Clan treasure especially suited to its members. It can improve soul strength and draw energy from medicinal herbs without consuming the user's own power. 503 601
• Space Imprisonment — Spirit Guards can use Spirit Fusion to form spatial runes and imprison or interfere with the surrounding space. 611
• Stored Dou Qi Reserves — The clan accumulated immense quantities of liquid Dou Qi within its formation, which could replenish combatants and sustain the Spirit Heavenly Emperor's remnant soul. 1031 1035 These reserves formed numerous condensed Dou Qi lakes distributed throughout the Spirit Realm. 1033
• Artificial Alchemist Methods — The Spirit Clan's secret techniques can create or modify alchemists through soul-related procedures, though these methods carry grave consequences for their subjects. 477 478
• Clan-Protecting Formation — The realm-wide formation combined defensive functions, protection for ordinary descendants, stored-energy distribution, and the core used to summon the Dou Di ancestor. Its surviving structure and records were captured by the alliance and later improved by Mu Wei. 1021 1033 1052 1206
• Bloodline Testing — The clan possessed methods for testing bloodline concentration, which Xiao Yi Xian proposed using during the final round of post-conquest purges. 1061
• Tou She Ancient God Jade — The clan originally held a fragment of the jade connected to the secret of becoming a Dou Di, but surrendered it to the Soul Clan following the Pill Tower defeat. 832 833

Xiao Yan absorbed Spirit Clan essence blood obtained through the Black Flame, acquiring its bloodline power despite not being a native descendant. He later demonstrated the Spirit Clan's bloodline aura alongside those of other clans, and Xiao Xuan judged that he could likely activate their corresponding clan marks. 546 613 892 893

During the later war against the Extraterritorial Evil Clan's empowered Heavenly Demon Phoenixes, Xiao Yan activated all five of his great clan marks, including the Spirit Clan inheritance among the bloodlines he had acquired, and raised his strength to the peak of eight-star Dou Sheng. 892 893 1251

Dou Di Ancestor's Remnant Soul

A remnant soul fragment belonging to the Spirit Clan's Dou Di ancestor was seized by Xiao Yan and incorporated into the West Dragon King War Puppet. 1132

• The fragment significantly increased the puppet's strength. 1132
• Despite the North Dragon King possessing a stronger body and having reached the five-star Dou Sheng level, the West Dragon King War Puppet surpassed it due to the Dou Di remnant soul fragment. 1132
• Xiao Yan regarded this result as evidence of the overwhelming power of a Dou Di. 1132

The ancestor was known as the Spirit Heavenly Emperor, the Dou Di who established the Spirit Clan. During the Battle for the Spirit Realm, Ling Yuan used the clan-protecting formation and its accumulated Dou Qi to summon the ancestor's remaining consciousness and power. 1033 1034

• The Spirit Heavenly Emperor's remnant soul retained fragments of Dou Di laws and could employ Heaven-tier Dou Techniques. 1035 1043
• The remnant soul was supported by the Dou Qi of the Spirit Clan's members and the clan's long-stored energy reserves. 1035
• After its defeat, the remaining power of the Spirit Heavenly Emperor became an object of intense interest to the Soul Clan, which sought to manipulate and control the soul fragment. 1043
• Hun Mang's interest in the soul fragment was a principal reason for his restraint and courtesy toward the Spirit Clan. He hoped to weaken the clan, seize its ancestor's remnant, and then summon Soul Clan reinforcements, but the alliance destroyed the clan's final trump card before he could complete this plan. 1043

Relationships

• Xiao Yan — seized the remnant soul fragment of the Spirit Clan's Dou Di ancestor and used it to strengthen the West Dragon King War Puppet. 1132 He also opposed the clan during the Pill Tower incident, defeated Ling Fengzhui in the Heavenly Tomb, and participated in the alliance's conquest of the Spirit Realm. 620 832 1019 Through absorbed essence blood, he acquired Spirit Clan bloodline power and the potential to use its clan mark. 546 892 893
• Ancient Clan — a mysterious figure within the clan aided the prior Spirit Clan matter; Origin Return Manor suspects the Ancient Clan may have acted with ulterior motives. 1132
• Pill Tower — the Spirit Clan's principal target during its rise in Holy Pill City. It poached the Pill Tower's subordinate clans, competed for its young alchemists, and later attempted to capture and refine the Pill Tower Ancestor. 436 657 659
• Soul Clan — the Spirit Clan submitted to the Soul Clan after its failed Pill Tower operation and handed over its Tou She Ancient God Jade. The Soul Clan exploited the clan's vulnerability and used its name and Heavenly Tomb quota for its own schemes. 832 833 Hun Mang and Hun Wu supported its defense during the invasion, although Hun Mang also pursued the ancestor's remnant soul for his own faction. 1026 1027 1043
• Flame Clan — the Soul Clan used the Spirit Clan's attack on the Pill Tower to help conceal its own assault on the Flame Clan. Flame Clan survivors, led by Yan Jin, later joined the campaign against the Spirit Realm. 833 1018
• Heavenly Secrets Tower — collaborated with the Spirit Clan to establish and administer the Heavenly Secrets Talents Ranking. 436
• Ye, Qiu, Bai, Cao, and Dan Clans — former Pill Tower subordinate clans that transferred their allegiance to the Spirit Clan during its campaign in Holy Pill City. 436 499
• Elder Mu Gu — a Soul Hall Venerable Elder whom a Spirit Clan Dou Sheng rescued and coerced into assisting the clan in exchange for a Heavenly Flame. 446
• Origin Return Manor — the successor organization to the conquering alliance, which took control of the Spirit Clan's realm, formation knowledge, and accumulated resources. Mu Wei used these gains to improve the former Spirit Clan formation into a stronger defense for the Origin Return Realm. 1052 1206
• Thunder Clan — regarded by Ling Haonan as vastly stronger than the Spirit Clan. Elder Lei Miao later dismissed Origin Return Manor's conquest as dependent on the opportunity created by the attack on the Stone Clan rather than proof that it could independently confront the Soul Clan and Ancient Clan. 503 1100

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