Despite her young age, Huang Cixi had already thought about this. Up until now she had only been a young member of the side branch. As such, it wasn't that important for her to preserve the blood of the family. Moreover, her father had never talked about it once. But she knew that it would become a thing at one point in time. That being said, the deadline set by the matriarch was too short. Huang Cixi had a lot of ambitions and having a child was not part of it. For cultivators, pregnancy was almost always a time of stagnation. The mother had to be even more careful than before just to make sure that the child would not suffer from anything.

If a Mortal Warrior, or worse a Spirit Warrior, were to send even a tiny fraction of her Qi into her unborn child, it could kill him. Of course, the bodies of cultivators were more resistant than the ones of mortals. Thus, they could still live their life just like before. The problem was that they needed to be so careful that their progress were hindered to the point that they generally had to stop cultivating altogether. And Huang Cixi could not accept to lose nearly a year during her prime.

"I cannot go lower than 500 years old. I can swear that I will produce a child with a bloodline at least as pure as the one I have right now, before my 500th birthday. This is my bottom line. If you can't accept this, I'll have to change my request."

The matriarch hesitated for a while. Five hundred years meant that she would most likely be dead by the time Huang Cixi would give birth. But she had to admit that slowing down her cultivation while she was still young could be a problem. Her initial deadline was due to the fact that she wished to see the child while she was still drawing breath.

"Matriarch. There is no way to know for sure how fast my blood cultivation will advance. If my blood reaches an even higher purity, the bloodline of my children will be that much purer. And if you are worried that I will go back on my word, I can swear with my Dao Heart."

Swearing with one's Dao Heart was the most sacred vow of all for a cultivator. It was a rather abstract concept but the Dao Heart symbolized the pride and will of a cultivator. Breaking such a vow could create inner demons and lead to the downfall or even death of the cultivator. This wasn't just a simple promise.

"This won't be necessary. We are family after all. If I couldn't trust the words of my own relatives, what kind of matriarch would I be? The points you brought up are relevant." The matriarch thought about it some more. "I agree! In the next five hundred years, you will bear a child with a bloodline as pure as your current one. I dare hope that his bloodline will be even purer. Well, the best would be to bear a girl, but I will even be satisfied with a boy. However, this deal must not be made public. Only a handful of elders will be in the know. And if you fail to bear a child in time, then you will have to do so with the father I will have chosen for you beforehand."

The only answer of Huang Cixi was to bow down.

"Now, about the sacred grounds. They are currently available. Do you wish to go there right now?"

"Yes. Thank you, Matriarch."

"Once again, this must not be publicly known. Huang Liyue will accompany you and you must not take Elder Ying with you. First of all, his presence would betray your departure. More importantly, we need him in case some demonic beasts attack. The risk of stampede is not just a possibility. It will happen sooner rather than later. And only I and he can fight off a 9-core demonic beast without assistance. We cannot leave Baziyun City for now. Are you fine with this? By the time you go there and come back, it will almost be the day of your duel."

"Yes, Matriarch. I took this into consideration. I can still cultivate on the way. And even without the benefits from the sacred grounds, I am confident about my victory. This duel was not just an impulse."

The matriarch did not retort. She knew it already but after talking with Huang Cixi, the idea that she could have challenged Gui Bei and given him an entire month to train just out of impulse was preposterous. This young woman was always planning ahead. Most likely, she had other cards in hands to negotiate her entrance into the sacred grounds. It just so happened that those terms were agreeable to her. The matriarch was utterly convinced that even she could not force her to do something she absolutely didn't want to do.

"Then, please excuse my rudeness. I will depart immediately. I already took care of everything before coming here."

"Of course... Huang Liyue!" As soon as she spoke, the scarred bodyguard appeared in the courtyard. Although she hadn't been able to sense her, Huang Cixi knew that she was there all along. After all, she was the former bodyguard of the matriarch and her current one. She had no reason not to be here.

Without saying anything, Huang Liyue took something from her spatial ring. Some height above the ground, a tiny vessel appeared. There was nothing peculiar about it. It looked like a small boat one would use on a narrow river. Only one person could sit in it. Flying without an artifact was always slower for Spirit Warriors, even more so when they had to fly with someone else. Of course, they could use their spiritual powers to keep someone afloat alongside them and fly on their own. But it was always easier to control an artifact with their mind and just fly on it. And it turned out that it was also way faster.

Aware of such realities, Huang Cixi stepped onto the small boat. As soon as she was on-board, she sat cross-legged. During the travel, she would practice all her cultivations, Qi, blood and mind. Moreover, she could also imagine her martial arts. Unfortunately, she had not the same ability as Cao Yun, the 'Shen Visualization', but she could still imagine the movements in her mind. Lastly, she also had all the knowledge from the private library of Matriarch Huang Yufeng to meditate over.

The matriarch watched as her former bodyguard rose into the air with the small boat. Suddenly, they picked up speed and disappeared into the horizon. With her spiritual senses, Matriarch Huang Yufeng followed them until they left Baziyun City completely. The sacred grounds were not too far from the Huang residence. And they were not close to the mountains and the demonic beasts. This was a place they had sanctified. So, obviously, they had gotten rid of any threat around.

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-

In her private study, Huang Si was racking her brain. She had many reports in front of her. Apparently many of her active investments had been bought in a short amount of time. At first it didn't seem like something strange because the buyers were all from very different backgrounds. But now, she had an ominous feeling about this. Try as she might, she couldn't find anything fishy at all. However, Huang Si was a true businesswoman and her instincts would not let her rest in peace over this matter. Many of her shops had been bought outside of the Wu Province. Some trades she was involved in had also been partially overtaken by other investors. She even lost a few contracts she had almost finalized.

Clearly she couldn't turn a blind eye to all this. Right now, she couldn't be sure of the total amount she had lost. If this continued, she could lose more than half of her business venues. And just to prevent that, she had to spend from her personal assets. Right now, she was ready to sell some fine pieces of arts. In a last resort, she would cut off her patronage of artists altogether. Huang Si was not into the Five Imperial Arts just for the public recognition, she was a true aesthete. Thus, her resorting to such measures showed how desperate she was.

Until a few days ago, she had no idea that such an attack was being instigated against her. Now that she was, she couldn't stay idle by while doing nothing. Considering how late she had been to notice these unusual events, she only had bad solutions at her disposal. She had no time to think. She needed to act quick.

-

After a few days, Huang Cixi and Huang Liyue arrived at the sacred grounds of the Huang family. Gigantic walls had been built around the area. They were as prestigious as the Ageless Marble walls of the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. Just this showed how much those grounds were valued. Those mere walls were almost as valuable as the entire mansion of the Huang family in Baziyun City.

As they were sacred grounds, flying into it was out of the question. The moment Huang Liyue got too close to the wall, she sensed a presence gathering around her. Immediately, she received a telepathic message.

"Senior Huang Liyue, what is the reason of your visit?"

"Matriarch Huang Yufeng ordered me to bring someone into the sacred grounds. This must stay absolutely confidential. Open the gates."

Given her authority, the guard did not try to pry any further. Huang Liyue landed her small boat right in front of one of the entrances. An instant later, the gates opened and let Huang Cixi through. Her bodyguard stayed outside of the gate and retrieved her small boat. One last time, she sent a telepathic message to Huang Cixi.

"When you are done, the gates will open once more and I will take you back. Until now, I'll stay in the vicinity, just in case."

After crossing the threshold, the gate closed behind the young woman. For the first time in her life, she witnessed the sacred grounds. To say the least, they were not exactly what she was expecting. The land was barren, burned to a crisp. Nothing could live around her, and an aura of death and grief saturated the air. There was not an ounce of Evil Qi, but a looming sadness all over the place. Near the walls, nature was thriving with many grasses of all kinds. But there was a perfect boundary beyond which no life seemed to dare venture.

According to the legends, this was the place where Ancestral Matriarch Huang Baifeng had received the blood essence of the True Fiery Fenghuang. During the Blood and Dirt Era, Huang Baifeng had fought alongside Emperor Nuwa to free mankind from the demons. When she was cultivating in a far-away land, she met a legendary beast from another world, a True Fiery Fenghuang. The legendary beast helped her fight against the armies of demons. But during the war, she was struck down by their king. And this place was supposedly the location of her death.

In her last moments, the True Fiery Fenghuang proved her total loyalty to Huang Baifeng by gifting her her own blood essence. She burned all of her being, body and soul included, to turn everything that she had into raw power that could flow in her friend's veins. After that, Huang Baifeng became one of the most powerful cultivators after Emperor Nuwa and she turned the tides of the battle, forcing the king of all demons to retreat before the reinforcements could arrive. That was one of the most important battles of the Blood and Dirt Era and a pivotal moment for mankind, and the Huang family of course.

But this place was not just important for historical or emotional reasons. Although the legendary True Fiery Fenghuang had burned everything that made her, a part of her will still lingered around. And since that day, it always recognized the blood of her friend. Thus, this will helped out all the members of the Huang family according to the purity of their blood. But this also meant that the will was slowly getting depleted. And after more than twenty thousand years, there shouldn't be much left. That was just a wisp of will, not even the soul of the beast had survived the burning after all. Even the fact that her will partially survived was a miracle.

It went to show how much she had cared for her friend, and how much Huang Baifeng had cared for her in return.

Knowing the story, Huang Cixi became somewhat emotional when she saw the burned place. She could almost make out the silhouette of the giant bird. The legendary beast should have been four times bigger than Elder Ying. She wasn't sure of the actual power level of the beast but according to the legends, she should have been way beyond the Sage realm. Probably, that beast alone could destroy the entirety of the current Hongchen Kingdom. This showed how far both mankind and the demons had fallen.

Fully embracing those emotions, Huang Cixi sat right in the middle of this charred earth. She activated her True Fiery Drops to obtain a response from the lingering will of the legendary beast.

For almost an entire day, she felt nothing at all.

Then, ever so slowly, a tingling sensation appeared in her heart. Circulating her mind cultivation, Huang Cixi tried not to lock her intent on this sensation, fearing that it may go away. Instead, she looked at it as though it didn't concern her. At the same time, she controlled her True Fiery Drops as best as she could. Gradually, she felt a deep emotion penetrating those two drops. All over her body, her blood was becoming hotter and hotter. It was also flowing slower and slower. Within her blood, some tiny particles were even flowing backward, going back into her heart.

Those minuscule particles of blood seeped through the walls of her heart and entered her Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir right in its center. That was where the two True Fiery Drops were residing right now. Those particles first condensed on the surface of those two drops before leaving. Then, they coagulated beside them. Huang Cixi was even thinking for a moment that she was condensing a third True Fiery Drop. But this was beyond fast. Even in her wildest dreams, she couldn't imagine condensing another drop so soon after the second one.

And she was right, she realized that this coagulation of tiny particles of blood was not a True Fiery Drop. But she couldn't make out what it was.

All of a sudden, she was jolted out of her thoughts. A voice echoed in her mind.