I frowned when I heard Ellen’s words. Found a clan? That was something I hadn’t considered before. Cultivation clans were similar to sects in that each one had its own unique cultivation techniques, martial techniques, mystic arts, and so on. The biggest difference between a clan and a sect was that every member of a clan was tied together by bonds of blood.

  The details varied between each clan, but every single one had something that set it apart from the others. For example, Clan Wind Dance practiced the Dancing Wind cultivation technique and the Dancing Wind Blade fighting style. Its members sought to become as free and unburdened as a dancing wind. The members of Clan Wind Dance, both the men and women, were also famous for their beauty.

  “What do you think?” Ellen asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

  “I’m not sure.” I admitted. “It’s not something I thought about before.”

  Ellen nodded.

  “We figured as much.” She said. “Sister Willow and I wanted to wait until after your internal injury healed before bringing the matter up.” Her gaze turned sharp. “However, Branch Head Xavier ruined things.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her.

  “Don’t blame him.” I said. “You two…” I paused. “Including Elliot, you three were in the wrong for keeping me in the dark. I’m still angry at you about that.”

  Ellen gave me a seductive smile and bit her lip.

  “Ooh,” she said. “Does this mean that you’re going to punish me?”

  I knew that she was doing this to distract me. Unfortunately, despite knowing that, it still worked. The thought of… Punishing Ellen filled my mind. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

  “Stop that.” I said, giving her a stern look.

  Ellen covered her mouth and laughed.

  “Aw,” she said, “But it’s so fun to tease you.”

  I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Enough,” I said. “Let us get back to the topic at hand. You wish to found a clan?”

  Ellen looked thoughtful for a moment.

  “I think it’s a good idea,” she said. “Right now, things are fine as they are. However, as our family grows larger, this will change. Setting up a formal hierarchy and structure will prevent things from getting out of hand.”

  That was one of the biggest differences between a family that was a cultivation clan and one that wasn’t. The former was more formal and organized. There were rules and customs in place to determine the distribution of resources, rewards, punishments, and so on. Some also considered cultivation clans as the nobility of the cultivation world, which wasn’t without merit. Cultivators from a clan with high status enjoyed privileges that other cultivators didn’t.

  Several factors determined a clan’s status. Its size, its holdings, its connections, and the strength of its members. That last one was the most important. A clan led by a Nascent Soul cultivator would always have higher status than a clan with a Golden Core cultivator, no matter how wealthy or how large the latter was.

  This was one of the reasons why my uncle, Dominic, always called himself the acting head of Clan Wind Dance. He was just a Golden Core cultivator while my father, the nominal head of Clan Wind Dance, was a Nascent Soul cultivator. Everyone believed that my father was dead, and considered my uncle as the de facto head, but the pretense elevated Clan Wind Dance’s status.

  This infuriated me, now that I thought about it.

  However, an individual’s own talent and efforts mattered more than the clan they came from. In the end, status was just another tool to help a cultivator on their path towards immortality.

  “I don’t know.” I said, frowning. “I like how things are. If we found a clan, all the rules and customs may put some distance between us. I don’t want that to happen.”

  Ellen chuckled.

  “While I understand your fear, Darian,” she said, “I think it’s a bit silly. We’re the ones who get to make the rules and customs, and we’re the ones who determine how close or how distant we are with one another.”

  She made a fair point. Still, I couldn’t help but worry. I thought back to how I was treated back on Mt. Wind Dance. How my kin ignored me, how Zayne abused me, how my uncle suppressed me. It wasn’t all bad, thanks to Lucius, but he was the one bright spot from that time in my life. What if the same thing happened to one of my descendants? The thought of someone else going through the same pain and misery that I experienced filled me with unease.

  “Are you that opposed to the idea, Darian?” Ellen asked.

  My expression must have reflected my thoughts.

  “I’m not sure.” I said, an uncertain expression on my face. “You know how my kin treated me. What if the same thing happened to one of our descendants?”

  Ellen gave me a sympathetic look.

  “In that case,” she said, “We’ll have to put measures in place to prevent such a thing.” Her expression turned serious. “However, the world can be a cruel place and we can’t predict every possible opportunity.”

  Her words eased my worries, but didn’t eliminate them. Still, I was more open to the idea of founding a clan than before.

  “Let us suppose that I agreed to your idea,” I said, “How would we go about it?” I frowned. “Do we just declare ourselves a clan and that’s it?”

  Now that I thought about it, how did one found a cultivation clan?

  “To become a cultivation clan,” Ellen said, “We need to fulfill one official requirement and several unofficial ones. For the former, we need to register our clan with the local provincial authorities. In the Whispering Hills province, it’s the Dawn and Dusk Sect. They will then pass this on to the highest authority in the Northern Region, Clan Black Iron. Afterwards, we will become an officially recognized clan of the Azure Dragon Empire.”

  I nodded. That made sense. Clan Black Iron, ruled by the North King, governed the Northern Region on behalf of the Azure Dragon Emperor.

  “If that’s the official requirement,” I said, “What are the unofficial ones?”

  “First,” Ellen said, “For people to accept our clan, we need other clans and sects to acknowledge us. The ideal number is three. Also, the more powerful they are the better.”

  I mulled it over for a moment.

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  “So, if we registered our clan with the Dawn and Dusk Sect, would that count as them acknowledging us?” I asked.

  Ellen smiled.

  “Yes.” She said. “For us, I think this requirement will be the easiest to fulfill, given the number of connections you have.”

  Fair enough.

  “The second unofficial requirement is that we need a home,” Ellen said. “A place to act as the foundation of our clan and where our family can flourish.” She gestured to me. “A place like Mt. Wind Dance.”

  I nodded. While I despised my kin in Clan Wind Dance, I had to admit that they weren’t weak. Their strength came from several sources, including Mt. Wind Dance itself. It was a sacred mountain, a type of natural treasure that acted as a natural qi gathering array. Without it, I doubted that Clan Wind Dance would have reached its current heights.

  “The third, and most important, unofficial requirement is the clan’s core.” Ellen said.

  “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

  Ellen frowned in thought.

  “This one is a bit more difficult to describe,” she said. “The core is simultaneously the seed from which the clan grows, and also the pillar that supports it. If a clan’s home is the physical foundation, then the core is the mystic foundation. Take Clan Wind Dance for example. They seek to become dancing winds. That is the core of their clan.” She smiled. “Keep in mind that core is my word for it. Others may use different terms.”

  “Hmm, I think I know what you mean.” I said.

  The cultivators of Clan Wind Dance sought to become dancing winds. The Dancing Wind cultivation technique and the Dancing Wind Blade fighting style sprouted from this seed, or core as Ellen called it. It was the mystic foundation of Clan Wind Dance.

  “Only by fulfilling these three unofficial requirements can we found a true cultivation clan.” Ellen said. “One that will stand the test of time.”

  I looked at Ellen and gave her an amused smile.

  “You’ve thought a lot about this, haven’t you?” I asked.

  Ellen looked away with an embarrassed expression on her face.

  “It’s something I’ve wanted ever since I fell in love with you and decided that I wanted to build a family together.” She glanced at me. “Do you dislike it?”

  I shook my head.

  “No.” I said. “In fact, I rather like it. I’m glad to know that you have your own goals and ambitions.”

  Ellen faced me again and smiled.

  “Of course,” she said, “Family is important to me. It’s one of the things that you and I have in common. I’ve always wanted to build one of my own.” She shrugged. “Founding a clan is just an extension of that.”

  I nodded, before I looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

  “We’re nowhere close to fulfilling all of these requirements.” I said. “Assuming we decide to found a clan.”

  The first unofficial requirement, receiving acknowledgment from three other clans and sects, seemed like the easiest to fulfill. I could think of two off the top of my head: the Dawn and Dusk Sect and Clan Stone Pillar, Willow’s clan. We still needed to receive her grandmother’s approval, but I was confident in our chances. However, the other two unofficial requirements were much more difficult to achieve.

  “Yes,” Ellen said. “Which is why I wanted to start making preparations now.” She gestured to me. “I believe we should save most of the fortune you acquired and use it to invest in our family’s future. Each of the unofficial requirements is important, but we’ll need a large number of spirit stones for the second one.”

  “A place to settle down and build a home,” I muttered.

  Ellen nodded.

  “For us, the simplest solution would be to purchase land from the Dawn and Dusk Sect,” she said. “However, even a low-grade sacred mountain is expensive. Prices start at one hundred thousand spirit stones and go up from there.”

  I stared at her in shock. One hundred thousand spirit stones was a number that I could scarcely fathom. A sacred mountain costs that much? And it was the least expensive kind as well? How much did the most expensive sacred mountains cost? A million spirit stones? I shuddered at the thought.

  Ellen smirked at my reaction.

  “It’s a necessary expense,” she said. “A clan needs a place with lots of qi in order to support the cultivation of its members. Thankfully, the price also includes the lands around the sacred mountain. They are necessary to cultivate the many spirit herbs required to support and grow a clan. As you know, pills don’t appear out of thin air.”

  I stared at her for several long seconds.

  “Founding a clan is a more complicated affair than I expected.” I said.

  “Indeed.” Ellen said. “However, the choice is yours in the end. You are the one who acquired this fortune in the first place, and you are the head of our family. It is up to you to determine whether or not we become a cultivation clan.”

  I sighed.

  “I’ll need time to think about it,” I said. “This isn’t a decision I should rush.”

  In the end, when it came to founding a clan or not, I decided to hold off making a choice until after we returned to the Dawn and Dusk sect. I wanted to consult Big Sis Sidra. She was the oldest and most experienced member of my sisters and I valued her advice. Until then, I decided not to touch the fortune I acquired from the deceased Golden Core cultivator. Well, most of it. I took enough spirit stones from it so that I had a total of five thousand spirit stones on hand.

  Later that day, after my talk with Ellen, I talked with Willow about the matter of founding a clan. She was also in favor of the idea. This didn’t surprise me, since Willow grew up in a cultivator clan herself and hadn’t been ostracized by her kin. While there were downsides to founding a clan, in Willow’s eyes the benefits more than made up for them. However, like Ellen, she decided to leave the final decision up to me since I was the head of our family.

  With that, our time in East Mesa City drew to an end. Now that the Dawn and Dusk Sect and the Ancient Blood had reached an agreement, there wasn’t any reason for my companions and I to stay here. We had explored the Violet Desert hidden realm and there wasn’t anything else keeping us in East Mesa City. It was time to head back home.

  We spent a few days saying goodbye to the friends we had made during our time here, including Cultivator Rexanne and Cultivator Albin. When they heard about what happened to us, they felt guilty since they had also been part of the group that killed Cultivator Blood Petal. It took some effort on our part to convince them otherwise. We then warned them to be careful, since Cultivator Blood Leaf might target them in our absence. Afterwards, we shared one last meal with the pair since we didn’t know when we would see them next.

  When Brother Ross heard that we were leaving, he came by to visit me. To my dismay, his admiration and awe of me had only increased since we last saw each other. It felt burdensome, but I didn’t have the heart to dissuade him. However, I drew the line when he tried to swear fealty to me. I could handle admiration and awe. Servitude, on the other hand, was another matter altogether. While this disappointed Brother Ross, it was for the best.

  Branch Head Xavier came by to see me one last time, to deliver the high-grade shield magic item. It was a steel buckler this time. I hoped that it would last longer than the bronze buckler, since replacing it would be expensive. While I could afford it, I didn’t want to become a spendthrift and waste my spirit stones.

  As our group made preparations to leave, I bought several items that I needed. This included a new set of array flags since I left my previous set in the Violet Desert hidden realm. I even insisted on shopping for them myself. Ellen, Willow, and Elliot tried to convince me otherwise, but I refused to back down this time. There was only so much coddling that I could tolerate. They relented in the end, but only because I agreed to let Elliot accompany me.

  I bought an array flag set suitable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator called the Black Tortoise Array Set. As the name implied, it was suitable for defensive and utility arrays. I wasn’t an array master, and I didn’t plan on using arrays in an offensive capacity, so the Black Tortoise Array Set was perfect for me. The array plate, which served as the heart of the set, even resembled a tortoise shell. For some reason, this pleased me.

  While I was shopping, I also bought several items I needed, including a new alchemy furnace and a new treasure refining furnace. My old ones were for beginners and I had grown beyond them. My new ones were more suitable for my current proficiency in alchemy and refining magic treasures. However, I kept my old ones rather than sell them or throw them away. While I no longer needed them, I could give them to any children or disciples that I might have in the future.

  To my dismay, my shopping spree drained a majority of my spirit stones. I went from five thousand to just over one thousand. My heart broke when I saw this. I was almost tempted to dip into the fortune, but I held back in the end. If I decided to found a cultivation clan, I didn’t want my short-sighted greed to hinder me in the future.

  However, I did take a Golden Core magic treasure out of the fortune. Not for myself, since I couldn’t use it, but as a gift for Cultivator Black Sand. He played a key part in saving us from the Ancient Blood Sect’s attack. Without his intervention, we would have died. I knew he did it because the Dawn and Dusk Sect asked him to, but I wanted to thank him in person.

  I sent him a message requesting to meet with him. To my surprise, he replied right away. It was as if he had anticipated my message. We agreed to meet on the night before our group’s departure from East Mesa City. When the appointed time arrived, I took the Golden Core magic treasure and went to go see Cultivator Black Sand.

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  This chapter was edited by Radriel7