The Three Branches of the Sun Lineage

Half a month later, the sky over Hongtian City bore the Sun surname.

The Ye and Lin residences had been razed to the ground, and their members had been reduced to immortal slaves, sent to Spirit Fields across the region to work as tenant farmers. The three-way balance of power that had once stood.

Had become the Sun Lineage's unchallenged dominance overnight!

The Rogue Cultivators and common people in the city were as silent as cicadas in winter. They even walked close to the walls, terrified of crossing the newly risen overlord.

Yet the architect of it all, the bear demon named Shi Jian, seemed to have truly been forgotten. Every day, he did nothing but breathe and cultivate at the entrance to the Spirit Vein on the back mountain. Apart from Sun Hangchun personally delivering spirit fruits and Spirit Cuisine every three days, no one else dared set foot in the area.

It was as though he really were just a "Buddha" invited back to watch over the house and guard the courtyard.

But the "Buddha's" eyes were everywhere.

"Ancestor, Sun Hangchun held another meeting in the ancestral hall today."

Under the cover of night, the gray-furred rat demon crouched beside Shi Jian's paw, his little eyes gleaming. His speech was a hundred times clearer than it had been half a month ago.

"A meeting to divide the spoils."

Shi Jian couldn't be bothered to lift an eyelid. He had little interest in that sort of thing.

"Sun Hangchun's branch, the Sun Clan's first branch, took all the pill and Law Artifact shops belonging to the Ye and Lin Lineages, along with a spirit iron vein."

"The one in charge of the second branch is Sun Bochang, the one skilled in pill refining. He took over the Ye Clan's talisman business. Add that to their existing pill business, and now seventy percent of the city's trade belongs to them."

"What about the third branch?" Shi Jian suddenly asked.

The rat demon paused, and a trace of sympathy crept into his voice. "The third branch is still only in charge of the Spirit Fields. Sun Hangchun said farming was all they knew how to do, so he gave them all three hundred mu of Spirit Fields."

"He ordered them to grow more spirit rice to provide for the whole Lineage."

"Heh."

Shi Jian laughed aloud. The three hundred mu of Spirit Fields had originally been divided equally among the three Lineages. Now they all belonged to the Sun Clan, yet the third branch, which knew only how to farm, could still do nothing but farm.

(Note: The three hundred mu of Spirit Fields accounted for seventy percent of the Sun Clan's principal income.)

As for the shops, mines, and businesses that could directly produce Spirit Stones, the third branch hadn't gotten so much as a hair...

"That old bastard is playing favorites." Shi Jian saw it as clearly as a polished mirror.

Back then, to invite a great god like him, Sun Hangchun had been willing to stake the entire Lineage. Now that the situation was settled, he had begun consolidating his own branch's authority and suppressing the others.

There was nothing unusual about that. It was only human nature.

But an ironclad, united Sun Household was not what Shi Jian wanted to see.

"Sun Hangchun said that from now on, the fifty percent tribute for you, Ancestor, will all come from the third branch's Spirit Fields," the rat demon added.

At that, Shi Jian finally opened his eyes a crack.

What a scheme!

He had shifted the entire burden of Shi Jian's tribute onto the weakest branch. That way, the first and second branches could enjoy the fruits of victory with clear consciences.

Meanwhile, the third branch would work themselves to the bone, only to hand over most of their harvest to him, the "evil bear."

Wouldn't their hatred be quietly redirected?

"Old bastard, pulling this trick on me. I gave you a chance, and you couldn't make use of it."

Shi Jian muttered to himself.

He had meant to let Sun Hangchun live a few more years as a well-behaved puppet. Now it seemed the old fellow wasn't one to behave either. He had dug his own grave ahead of time.

Compared with an uncontrollable old ghost like that, it really would be easier to prop up someone new, someone more obedient and sensible.

That was how people were. Once external pressure was gone.

The desires in their hearts were like a flood loosed from its gates...

"Go on. Keep watching." Shi Jian waved a paw.

The rat demon vanished into the night in a flash.

Silence returned to the cave abode. Only Shi Jian's steady breathing remained, like the working of a bellows.

He knew the fish would soon bite the hook of its own accord.

Another three days passed.

In the courtyard of the Sun Clan's third branch, the atmosphere was so oppressive one could wring water from it.

"This is too much! They've gone far too far!"

A dark-skinned middle-aged man slapped the table, making the teacups rattle. His name was Sun Bo'an, a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator and the current head of the Sun Clan's third branch.

"Big brother, keep your voice down!" a woman beside him hurriedly urged. "If the first branch hears you, we'll suffer for it again."

Sun Bo'an's chest heaved with anger. "Our third branch has worked the Spirit Fields for the Lineage for generations. Even if we've earned no merit, we've still labored hard!"

"Now that the Lineage is flourishing, why can't we get even a mouthful of the soup from the Ye and Lin Lineages' businesses? From now on, even our branch's Cultivation Resources will be in question."

"And on top of that, they expect us to shoulder all of Senior Shi's tribute!"

"Even if we work those three hundred mu of Spirit Fields day and night, after deducting all the costs, thirty percent of what remains has to go to the Great Wei Immortal Dynasty."

"Of the seventy percent left, we still have to give half to Senior Shi and hand another thirty percent over to the Lineage. What will we have left for ourselves?"

"If this goes on, the younger generation of our third branch won't even be able to afford Qi Gathering Pills for cultivation!"

Everyone fell silent, their faces full of resentment and helplessness.

They knew only how to farm.

In this world of immortal cultivation, where the strong were revered, knowing only how to farm meant having no say. Even among those who shared the same surname, some were closer than others.

"Why don't we... go and plead with the Ancestor?" someone suggested quietly.

"Plead with him?" Sun Bo'an gave a bitter laugh. "The Ancestor's heart has long since tilted all the way into his armpit! He only has eyes for the younger generation of the first and second branches. Where is there any room for our third branch?"

Deathly silence fell over the courtyard once more.

After a long while, Sun Bo'an seemed to come to a decision and abruptly stood up:

"We can't wait any longer." He gritted his teeth, his gaze sweeping over the Lineage members present. "If the Ancestor won't leave us a way to live, we'll find one ourselves!"

"Big brother, what are you going to do?"

Sun Bo'an took a deep breath and said, enunciating every word, "Go to the back mountain and plead with Senior Shi!"

The words shocked everyone present.

"You're mad! You've gone mad, big brother!"

"That's a Demon Beast who eats people without spitting out their bones! Even the Ancestor nearly lost his life inviting him. Wouldn't going to him be throwing your life away?"

"Exactly! If you make him angry and he swallows you in one bite, our third branch will have even less hope!"

Despite everyone's attempts to dissuade him, Sun Bo'an remained exceptionally resolute.

"Fortune is found in the jaws of danger!"

"Do you think we still have a way out? In another ten years, once the younger generation of the first and second branches have all grown up, our third branch will become nothing but their hired hands who happen to share their surname, their slaves!"

"Going to Senior Shi means seeking life in the midst of death."

"But staying here means we'll never see the day we rise above them!"

He pushed past the others and strode out of the courtyard, his retreating figure resolute.

"Even if I, Sun Bo'an, have to die, I'll still seek a chance for my own descendants to turn their lives around and become their own masters!"

The Sun Clan had thirty-seven cultivators.

The first branch had eighteen cultivators and possessed the Lineage's most complete inheritance. With many cultivators and the best cultivation resources, it was the branch that sat back and reaped the rewards.

The second branch had twelve cultivators, skilled in pill refining and commerce. Although its status was lower than the first branch's, it controlled the Lineage's economic lifeline.

Only his third branch had the fewest cultivators, a mere seven, and their cultivation was generally low and their aptitude poor. If they still didn't find a way to strive for a better position.

Sooner or later, they would perish!