The night sky above Emberlight Valley shimmered with quiet majesty. Stars blinked like the watchful eyes of ancient beings, and the twin moons cast silver halos across the cliffside terraces.
The Sanctum of Inheritance, once a quiet meditation chamber, now pulsed with life, the very air thick with the scent of awakening bloodlines.
Lian Mu stood at the central dais of the Starbirth Pavilion, the heart of his budding dominion. Before him, dozens of jade tablets hovered in a quiet, rotating formation.
Each one carried the name of a descendant or partner engraved not in ink, but in spirit essence. The family tree was no longer a dream. It was forming, limb by sacred limb.
[Primordial Godseed System – Legacy Update]
— Total Bloodline Nodes: 6
— Descendant Resonance: Tier 1 Growth Achieved
— Feedback Efficiency: +19%
— Family Core Evolution: Approaching "Sprout Phase"
New Feature Unlocked:
Legacy Domain - Inheritor's Grove
— A metaphysical sanctuary accessible to all blood-bound family members.
— Allows shared cultivation gains, accelerated learning, and spiritual communion.
☼ Would you like to activate it now?
"Yes," Lian Mu answered silently, a warm flicker of pride blooming in his chest. "Let my family begin to feel the roots connect."
Activating: Inheritor's Grove…
Success. Connection Complete.
A low hum radiated through the sanctum as a shimmering gateway formed behind the dais a swirling portal of green-gold light, veined with the same runes that danced upon the jade tablets.
Somewhere beyond, a timeless forest awaited a place where legacies would intertwine and bear fruit.
Behind him, Yue Chan stepped forward. Her phoenix seed had not only stabilized it now glowed faintly on her back like a burning lotus, marking her as a Matron of Flame.
Since their soul resonance trial, her aura had shifted. No longer was she merely a guest seeking refuge she now radiated belonging.
"I felt the grove open," she said, glancing toward the portal. "It feels… familiar. Like something older than even the phoenix flame."
Lian Mu nodded. "It is. The Inheritor's Grove is born from the Godseed. A realm not built, but remembered crafted from ancestral intent and projected through our shared essence.
Every child, every bond it strengthens the roots."
"And yet" Yue Chan murmured, "your branches are still few."
"Not for long."
He turned toward the outer railing of the pavilion. Down the slope, several lights were moving. Messengers from the clans in the bordering regions.
Rumors of his bloodline growth had begun to leak intentionally, of course. The system advised that reputation cultivation was just as vital as spiritual.
Still, he knew this pace would not be enough. He required a breakthrough not merely another partner or heir, but a foundation stone. A connection to the ancient roots of the world.
And as if summoned by that thought, the system pulsed again.
[Primordial Godseed Alert]
— Hidden Bloodline Detected within Emberlight Valley
— Location: Old Shrine of Starfallen Jade
— Status: Dormant
Compatibility: Unknown
Risk: Elevated
Note: Anomaly traces linked to "First Ancestor Archetype." Caution advised.
Lian Mu narrowed his eyes.
The Shrine of Starfallen Jade had been sealed since before his arrival. Its inscriptions predated the valley's recorded history, and even the Qi around it resisted traditional probing.
He had assumed it was a remnant of some failed sect's ruin but if the system detected First Ancestor traces, then its importance was far greater than he had imagined.
"What is it?" Yue Chan asked, stepping beside him.
He gave her a sharp look, then gestured to the west.
"There's something in the old shrine. A bloodline the system can't classify. Possibly dormant. Possibly dangerous."
Her eyes gleamed with phoenix light. "Then we investigate."
"No." Lian Mu's tone was calm but firm. "Not yet. I go alone."
She frowned, her heat rising. "You forget"
"I forget nothing," he cut in gently. "But this is a foundational test. If what lies within that shrine has ties to the First Ancestor, it might respond violently to foreign flames. I need to go first."
Yue Chan held his gaze for a moment longer, then nodded.
"You will return," she said. It was not a question.
"I always do."
With a flick of his sleeve, Lian Mu vanished into a streak of golden wind, leaving behind only the whisper of ancient names on the breeze.
The Shrine of Starfallen Jade loomed like a buried wound at the base of a shadowed ridge, its outer layer overgrown with vines thick as serpents.
Runes etched into the stones flickered with faint light as Lian Mu approached, responding to the presence of the Godseed like moths drawn to a divine flame.
[System Prompt]
"Do you wish to break the ancestral seal?"
— Warning: Seal integrity compromised.
— Possible risks: Bloodline backlash, spiritual regression, or death.
Confirm?
He pressed a palm to the door. "I confirm."
The runes exploded with light, and the vines recoiled as if burned. A grinding groan echoed from within, and the seal shattered not explosively, but with a whisper, like the sigh of a slumbering ancestor exhaling their last breath.
Inside, the air was dense and cold. Not with death, but with origin. Everything inside smelled of forgotten beginnings earth before flame, silence before song.
At the center of the shrine, a coffin like sarcophagus of green jade pulsed once. Then again.
Then it opened.
Within lay a girl no more than fifteen by appearance but her body glowed with unnatural clarity, and her hair flowed upward, suspended in time.
Upon her chest, a spiral rune burned one that matched the center of Lian Mu's Godseed. And then she opened her eyes.
Not with fear. Not with wonder. But with recognition.
"You carry my seed," she said.
Lian Mu froze. "What are you?"
She sat up, her voice layered with countless echoes. "I am the memory of the First Ancestor's daughter. Cast into jade before the collapse. My bloodline failed to bloom… until you arrived."
He stepped back.
"You were preserved… for me?"
[Primordial Godseed Protocol Triggered]
Legacy Echo Detected: Ancestral Rebirth Pathway
— Fusion Potential: 92%
— Rebirth Integration Trial Unlocked
This trial may yield a true "Origin Matron." Proceed with caution.
The girl stood, bare feet touching the ancient stone. Though young in body, her gaze bore the weight of civilizations.
"Will you finish what was once forsaken?" she asked. "Will you plant the true seed?"
And for the first time in a long time, Lian Mu felt something he hadn't expected. Awe.
The air within the Starfallen Jade Shrine grew heavy thick with the weight of an awakening no longer content to slumber.
Lian Mu stared into the eyes of the girl before him, her presence unraveling like a forgotten scripture etched across the heavens. She was not just a preserved heir. She was a keystone a node of ancestral resonance the Godseed had long awaited.
[Primordial Godseed System – Rebirth Integration Trial Initiated]
— Trial Realm: "Womb of the Forgotten Flame"
— Objective: Awaken the Legacy Core and establish the First Matron Link
— Success will unlock:
• Origin Matron Class (Bloodline Amplification Tier)
• Passive Feedback: 2x Inheritor Growth
• Permanent Bond with First Generation Echo
Begin trial?
Warning: Trial outcome is irreversible.
"Yes," Lian Mu replied without hesitation.
The shrine collapsed into light. In the blink of an eye, the stone chamber around them faded, replaced by a realm both alien and familiar.
They stood atop a massive, floating lotus its petals composed of celestial runes and ember touched memories. Below, a vast, luminous womb of golden mist stretched into forever.
It pulsed like a heartbeat not yet born, echoing the first moments of all cultivation. This was not just a test. It was a convergence of origin.
The girl floated beside him, her limbs glowing faintly, as if her body had yet to decide what age it belonged to. Her voice echoed with calm certainty.
"To claim the title of Primordial Patriarch, you must first pass through me. I am not a person. I am the echo of your ancestral desire the unfinished bloom of the First Ancestor's will."
"And what must I do?" Lian Mu asked.
"Bind me. Not with force. Not with conquest. But through resonance. Your seed must not overpower me it must nurture me."
The lotus began to spin slowly, petals flaring open one by one. With each opening, illusions unfolded: fragments of ancient times.
Lian Mu saw scenes of towering gods sowing realms into existence… a matriarch of stars forging descendants from light… and finally, a small jade seed untouched, unclaimed, cast into the void.
Her.
[System Notice: Trial Parameters Expanded]
— Mutual acceptance required.
— Descendant Flame must be kindled.
— Bloodline Root must intertwine.
The girl stepped forward. "Do you understand what that means?"
He nodded. "This is not just a trial of power. It is one of union. Of fertility of legacy."
She smiled faintly. "Good. Then let us begin."
First Phase: Flame of Recognition
Without warning, the trial realm erupted into golden fire.
The flames weren't hot they were ancestral. Made not to destroy but to judge. They swept across Lian Mu like waves of generational scrutiny.
Each flare seemed to ask him questions he could not hear but understood in his soul.
— Why do you sow your seed?
— Is it for domination… or preservation?
— Do you crave power, or do you wish to build a world where your family may never fall?
"I build so they may never be broken," he answered aloud.
The fire did not relent but it bent. Curled. Accepted.
Phase One Passed: Flame Recognized
Second Phase: The Matron's Core
The girl placed her hand over her chest. From within her flesh, a small orb emerged green and gold, wrapped in fractal runes of blood. It was her Matron Core not her soul, but the representation of her ability to carry and nourish the legacy.
"I offer this," she said, "only to a patriarch who sees his children as more than pawns."
Lian Mu knelt before her not in submission, but in reverence. He cupped the orb gently and, without hesitation, pressed it into his chest.
Their bloodlines collided like galaxies.
For a heartbeat, Lian Mu ceased to exist. In his place stood every version of himself: warrior, father, cultivator, king, lover.
And in front of him stood not just the girl but all the Matrons yet to come, spirits hovering behind her like the future written in stars.
One by one, they stepped forward and knelt to him not because he demanded it, but because he had earned it.
Phase Two Passed: Core Accepted
— Matron Bond Formed
— Bloodline Entanglement Initialized
Final Phase: The Bloom of the Grove
The lotus beneath them stopped spinning. Now fully open, it revealed a black seed at its heart. It pulsed weakly wounded by time.
The girl turned to him. "Now, together, we give it life."
She reached out and placed her palm over the seed. Lian Mu followed, placing his hand atop hers.
Their combined essence surged.
Golden vines burst from the lotus, each carrying traces of their fused lineage. From the soil of memory and the dew of shared purpose, a new sapling rose.
It bore no leaves, only glowing blossoms each a symbol of potential descendants yet unborn.
[Primordial Godseed Update]
Legacy Class Upgraded: Primordial Patriarch – Origin Tier
— First Matron Bond: Ancestral Echo Reborn
— Descendant Feedback Rate: +200% (per generation)
— New Function Unlocked: Sacred Conception
— Inheritor's Grove Now Fully Activated
Congratulations. The First Root has been planted.
Lian Mu opened his eyes.
The shrine had returned. The jade sarcophagus was now empty. The girl no, his first true Matron stood beside him in full form. Her name came to him not by sound, but through the system's whisper.
"Yun Zhi – Matron of Forgotten Flame"
Status: Bonded
Bloodline: First Echo Class
Role: Fertility Nexus, Legacy Accelerator, Heir Guide
She looked up at him and smiled, brushing a lock of ancient hair from her brow.
"You've planted the seed. Now grow the forest."
He stepped forward and embraced her not with hunger, but with reverence. This was no mere conquest.
This was the beginning of a dynasty that would one day blot out the stars with its branches.
And far above them, unnoticed, a new constellation shimmered into existence.
The Tree of His Bloodline.