Seven years ago, Zhao Yanhe had married his younger sister to a direct-line descendant of the Ran Lineage. By chance, she learned that a sacred artifact lay sealed deep within their grounds.
People of their standing had never even seen what a spirit artifact looked like, let alone a sacred artifact. Naturally, after hearing his sister's account, Zhao Yanhe was tempted.
But the Zhao Household was weaker than the Ran Lineage, so he thought of seeking outside help. Through the underground Black Market, the head of the Zhao Household made contact with an organization of killers. He paid a hefty sum to commission a deranged task: slaughter every member of the Ran Lineage.
The organization sent three people. During the slaughter, they discovered the Heavenly Origin Lock and took it along with them.
When Zhao Yanhe went to search the Ran Lineage's grounds afterward, he naturally found nothing. Furious enough to go mad, he went to the Black Market to confront the organization.
For some unknown reason, the organization's leader did not kill him. Instead, he told Zhao Yanhe that a sacred artifact was not something he could possess-even if he had one, he could never protect it. He then offered Zhao Yanhe plenty of other compensation, including the spirit stones he had spent commissioning the task.
None of this satisfied Zhao Yanhe. He wanted an advanced cultivation method, an attribute-less one that every disciple in his lineage could practice. To his surprise, the man agreed. However, he had no advanced methods for Dao cultivators, only ones for demonic cultivators. Only then did Zhao Yanhe realize that the people he had been dealing with were a band of demonic cultivators.
But the words "advanced cultivation method" had already blinded Zhao Yanhe. What did he care whether it was meant for