Chapter 127: Heartfire
“That’s your bloodline, lying to you.”
Jiang Jian looked at her and continued.
The young lady’s expression froze.
Jiang Jian asked: “This pulse from your bloodline—did it only appear after the aftereffects were cured?”
Jiang Zhao’s silver light faded; after a moment of silence, she said: “Yes.”
“Then that’s it.”
Jiang Jian said, “Your illness was cured, and your dormant bloodline awakened with it.”
“You must control your bloodline—not let it control you.”
Hearing this,
Jiang Zhao paused, recalling carefully.
Only then did she realize in horror.
Without noticing, her thoughts had been influenced by the bloodline’s tremors.
All she could think about was finding the aircraft and leaving this place.
Only now, awakened to the truth, did she realize this wasn’t her own intention.
It was a mad, ceaseless pulsing from the deepest depths of her bloodline.
Jiang Zhao came back to herself; the silver glow vanished completely. She murmured: “How could I have had such thoughts just now?”
She reached up and pinched her temples hard.
Black strands of hair tangled between her fingers; her knuckles turned bone-white from the force.
After several seconds,
she lifted her head and looked at Jiang Jian: “My personality… has truly been affected.”
“Control the bloodline. Don’t let the bloodline control me.”
The young lady whispered to herself: “Can I really do this? This bloodline instinct… seems impossible to suppress.”
Jiang Jian nodded: “I believe you can.”
“Really?”
Jiang Zhao asked.
“Really,” Jiang Jian said calmly, “you’re my sister.”
“If I can do it, so can you.”
As he spoke,
the sky-ship pierced through the clouds and descended.
Guangling City, Shenzhao District.
Zhao family estate.
“What is that!”
“Look at the emblem—it’s a government warship!”
“A warship!?”
“Why is a government warship coming to our Zhao family!?”
“Such overwhelming pressure!”
Many Zhao family members looked up, watching the approaching sky-ship, their faces filled with shock.
BOOM!
The sky-ship landed; its bottom array flared brightly, absorbing most of the impact.
“Still looking for an aircraft?”
Jiang Jian asked.
Jiang Zhao smiled faintly and shook her head: “No need. Let it stay underground.”
Jiang Jian nodded and said: “Do you remember that man? The subordinate of the old Zhao patriarch who impersonated my guardian?”
“Aside from the treatment details.”
Jiang Zhao stepped out of the array’s glow: “I remember everything—from childhood to now.”
“Jiang Jian, your Level 5 resource package is safely secured.”
“As long as that man hasn’t died.”
As she spoke,
the young lady walked over to Zhao Jianxue and smiled: “Zhao Jianxue, hello.”
Zhao Jianxue stood up, meeting Jiang Zhao’s gaze; gazing at her pale, exquisite face, she felt momentarily dazed.
After a few seconds,
she came to herself and extended her hand: “Hello, Jiang Zhao.”
A moment later, Zhao Jianxue added: “You’re truly beautiful.”
Jiang Zhao smiled lightly: “So are you.”
She walked ahead: “All inspection troops, follow me.”
Captain Yang glanced at Jiang Jian.
Jiang Jian nodded: “Listen to her. She can find the clues.”
“Yes, Inspector!”
Captain Yang saluted, then sharply waved behind him: “Follow!”
“Yes!”
A squad of fully armed inspection troops marched in perfect formation behind Jiang Zhao.
As the government’s primary combat unit,
inspection troops were equipped with highly advanced—and extremely expensive—technology.
Even against Foundation Establishment cultivators, they possessed specialized countermeasures.
Under Captain Yang’s command, with dozens of inspection troops firing at full power, they could even kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator outright!
Foundation Establishment cultivators were exceedingly rare.
In Guangling City, with millions of people,
there were no more than a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The Zhao family were merchants.
Naturally, they had no Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Faced with the ferocious government inspection troops, every Zhao family member panicked.
“What’s going on!”
“Why are government inspection troops here?”
“A government warship, inspection troops—what’s happened to our Zhao family!?”
“Where’s the patriarch? Go report to him at once!”
The Zhao family members were in chaos, murmuring frantically.
Until a few seconds later,
someone spotted Zhao Jianxue on the gangway and cried out: “Zhao Jianxue! How is it her!”
“Isn’t she the second young lady who cut ties with the patriarch!?”
“Zhao Jianxue is a student at Linjiang Academy—wasn’t she participating in the Two Provinces Dao Debate? How is she on a government warship!?”
“Why is she here!?”
“Wasn’t she at Linshui Cliff? I saw her live-streaming just recently!”
Seeing Zhao Jianxue descend, the Zhao family grew even more confused.
Zhao Jianxue ignored them and turned to Jiang Zhao beside her: “Shall we go find my grandfather’s relics now?”
“No.”
Jiang Zhao shook her head, scanning the Zhao family crowd, frowning: “He’s not here.”
Zhao Jianxue asked: “Jiang Zhao sister, when you say he’s not here, what do you mean?”
Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow and turned around: “What did you just call me?”
Zhao Jianxue froze: “Jiang Zhao sister.”
She looked at Jiang Zhao, slightly embarrassed: “You’re so beautiful—I unconsciously thought of you as my little sister.”
Jiang Zhao stared at her silently for several seconds, then looked away: “It’s fine.”
She turned back to the Zhao family, her voice cool: “Inspection troops!”
Captain Yang and the others responded in unison: “Present!”
Jiang Zhao said: “Contain these people for now, then follow me into the Zhao family estate!”
“Yes!”
The inspection troops, fully armed, flanked from both sides and immediately fired their weapons at the Zhao family!
Brilliant beams of light erupted from their array rifles!
BOOM!
A sealing array manifested, flipping the Zhao family members upside-down within its bounds, immobilizing them!
Many struggled desperately—but could not break free.
More people glared with bloodshot eyes, fixed on Zhao Jianxue: “Zhao Jianxue, what are you doing?!”
“You traitor!”
“You’ve brought outsiders to unjustly provoke our Zhao family!”
“The Zhao family raised you through hardship—this is how you repay them? Unfilial daughter!”
“Zhao Jianxue! What exactly are you planning?!”
“Let us out!”
“Let me out!”
Inside the sealing array, the Zhao family members turned crimson-faced, wailing like ghosts and wolves.
“Jiang Zhao sister,” Zhao Jianxue sighed, “they haven’t committed any crime.”
“Don’t worry.”
Jiang Zhao waved her hand. “I’m only looking for someone. I won’t harm them.”
She led a squad of inspectors through the perimeter of the array, entering the Zhao clan grounds.
Zhao Jianxue hesitated a moment, then followed.
On the Sky Vessel.
Jiang Jian stood before the viewport, gazing silently outward.
He did not go down.
The strength of the inspection squad was sufficient to suppress the Zhao family.
In his own memories, he could not clearly recall that person’s appearance.
Secondly.
It was what Jiang Jian wanted to know.
Was his sister still his sister?
Or
Had she become another kind of life, controlled by bloodline?
After all,
Humans and such beings were not of the same life tier.
Their modes of thought differed vastly.
At this moment,
Jiang Jian himself was an Earth human.
His sister’s bloodline had begun to awaken.
If her essence of life changed completely,
then her mode of thought would change drastically too.
When that time came,
Jiang Zhao would no longer be Jiang Zhao.
She would be a being of another tier—bearing Jiang Zhao’s memories, yet possessing entirely different thoughts, behavior patterns, and existence.
But
If Jiang Zhao, here and now, could wield powerful conviction and terrifying willpower,
master her bloodline, and harness its power,
then
she would still be an Earth human, still his sister.
In that case,
the bloodline would merely be a tool.
“Jiang Zhao, you can do this.”
Beside the viewport, Jiang Jian meditated quietly, murmuring to himself.
The Zhao clan grounds.
“Insolent!”
The Zhao patriarch trembled with rage, pointing at Zhao Jianxue. “You ungrateful daughter!”
Zhao Jianxue bit her lip. “Father, we’re only looking for someone.”
“Unfilial! Don’t call me father!” The patriarch’s face turned ashen as he stared at the dozens of inspectors. “What are you doing?! I’ll report this to the city government! You’ve illegally breached a private residence!”
“Make him quiet.”
Jiang Zhao stood before a stone tablet, studying it closely. “It’s interfering with me.”
Instantly,
several inspectors stepped forward, surrounding the Zhao patriarch.
The patriarch, furious enough to spit blood, glared at Zhao Jianxue: “I worked my fingers to the bone raising you, feeding and clothing you—this is how you repay me?!”
“First, the one who raised me was Grandfather, not you, Father.”
Zhao Jianxue said calmly, “Second, you never provided me with food or clothing.”
“After Grandfather died, I worked part-time jobs—I never took a single coin from the Zhao family.”
She extended her hand, pointing to her clothes.
A plain white dress, pilled and worn.
Old, but clean.
Even her shoes were a pair of scuffed white sneakers.
Aside from the standard Linjiang Academy uniform, she owned only a few garments—extremely frugal.
“Lastly,”
Zhao Jianxue said, “we are acting under the direct order of Jiangfu’s Regional Military Commissioner.”
“Father, don’t fear. No Zhao family member will be harmed—not even you.”
“Is that clear enough?”
Hearing this,
the Zhao patriarch clenched his teeth, lips quivering, yet unable to speak for a long while.
Every word Zhao Jianxue spoke was undeniable fact—he had no rebuttal, no words left.
As they spoke,
Jiang Zhao had already led the inspectors deep into the clan grounds.
Here stood the former residence of the old Zhao patriarch.
Rarely visited in daily life.
“Stop right there.”
A gloomy voice echoed.
Captain Yang’s expression turned grave. He halted. “Little Inspector, there’s a powerful expert ahead.”
Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow. “And how did ‘Little Inspector’ come about?”
Captain Yang looked utterly reasonable. “You’re the Inspector’s sister. Calling you ‘Little Inspector’ is perfectly natural.”
“Jiang Zhao sister. Little Inspector.”
Jiang Zhao sighed. “Why are there always such strange titles?”
Boom.
Dust billowed as a heavy, creaking door opened.
A hunched figure emerged slowly.
“Whether you’re an Inspector or Jiang Zhao sister,”
the old woman, her hair ashen, leaning on a cane, her expression dark, said, “go back whence you came.”
Though hunched and frail-looking,
the aura of spiritual energy around her was immense!
Captain Yang’s face darkened. “How dare you obstruct an official inspection? How bold!”
Boom!
A twisted vortex of wind erupted, hurling Captain Yang into the air and slamming him dozens of meters away!
The gray-haired old woman sneered. “I’m a Level Two Artisan.”
On the other side,
Captain Yang lay on the ground, covered in dust, looking disheveled.
“Captain!”
“Captain, are you alright?!”
Several inspectors rushed to help him up, expressions filled with concern.
“I’m fine.”
Captain Yang, clad in luxurious gear, was unharmed.
He brushed off the dust, activated his identity device, and his face turned icy. “All of you—gather here!”
After fifteen seconds,
the entire inspection squad filed in, standing in unison behind Captain Yang, radiating deadly intent.
During this time.
The gray-haired old woman said nothing, only leaned on her cane and watched coldly, exuding an air of a high cultivator.
She lived deep within the Zhao family’s territory in the Shenzhao District of Guangling City, rarely stepping outside.
The technological equipment she encountered in daily life were all outdated models from decades ago.
Thus, from beginning to end, she never believed these soldiers with low spiritual energy cultivation could harm her.
Opposite her, Captain Yang waved his hand sharply!
You openly resist a supervisor officer and defy the government office’s laws. I hereby declare, according to government office statutes, that you are to be suppressed immediately!
Captain Yang sneered repeatedly, “Act!”
A squad of inspection troops immediately activated their technological gear, their bodies glowing brightly!
Array guns, purification lamps, spirit-lock cannons—all hurled at the gray-haired old woman!
BOOM!
Her cane flew from her hand, shooting dozens of meters away!
The gray-haired old woman lay sprawled on the ground, dirt caked in her mouth and nose, brutally suppressed!
Multicolored light flared across her back, crushing force pinning her down so hard she could barely breathe.
“Ease up.”
Jiang Zhao said, “She’s about to suffocate—I still need to question her.”
Captain Yang waved his hand: “Didn’t you hear? Ease up!”
Click.
Click.
The light streams faded; the suppression seal was mostly lifted.
The gray-haired old woman’s face was pale; she struggled to sit up, vomiting violently while frantically digging dirt from her ears and nose.
“You all step back.”
Jiang Zhao said.
Captain Yang looked worried: “Young Inspector, is this safe?”
Jiang Zhao smiled: “Her spiritual energy cultivation might even be lower than mine.”
Captain Yang hesitated a moment, then waved his hand, leading the inspection troops to withdraw and temporarily leave the area.
“It really is you.”
Jiang Zhao stepped before the gray-haired old woman, studying her for a moment. “You’re likely the last person who knows about this matter.”
Hearing this,
the gray-haired old woman froze as if struck by lightning, trembling, instinctively turning her head to glance behind her.
There lay the Zhao family’s forbidden zone.
She guarded it.
Even the current Zhao family head could not enter.
Before his death, the old Zhao family head had given orders.
Only when the gray-haired old woman was near death could this matter be revealed to the current Zhao family head.
“Could you possibly be the other child from inside there!?”
The gray-haired old woman stared fiercely at Jiang Zhao, voice hoarse.
“You guessed right.”
Jiang Zhao smiled lightly, “But there’s no reward.”
The next second,
the gray-haired old woman suddenly calmed, speaking with confidence: “Dare you lay a hand on me?”
She pointed to the hidden storage room behind her.
“Don’t forget your true identity!”
“That flying device behind you—shouldn’t it be yours?”
“If I blow this wide open without hesitation,”
“you two are finished!”
Hearing this,
Jiang Zhao’s pupils shimmered with silver light, calmly saying, “Then go ahead. Do it now.”
“Why aren’t you moving?”
“Blow the whistle.”
“Need me to help?”
The girl reached out, touching the gray-haired old woman’s identity device.
“What are you doing!”
The gray-haired old woman’s face changed; she hastily pulled away.
Jiang Zhao sneered: “Your greed, your hesitation, your desire to hoard the treasure—it’s laughable!”
“The Zhao family’s array business thrives so well, and grows ever more popular,”
“because the old Zhao family head sat daily beside the damaged flying device, studying its patterns, until he finally grasped a sliver of array theory!”
“Before that, he was nothing but a waste!”
“Seventeen years ago, what was the Zhao family? Just a low-tier clan, unable to pay fixed taxes, about to be expelled from Shenzhao District!”
“Let’s call him the old Zhao family head, for now.”
Jiang Zhao stepped back half a pace, gazing at the trembling gray-haired old woman with a mocking smile: “With that sliver of theory, he began crafting arrays, entering the array business—and that’s how the Zhao family rose.”
“Now, if you report this, there’s no problem.”
Jiang Zhao spread her hands, “It’s just a bloodline test.”
“But whether or not I’m a being from the Earth-Moon Four Realms,”
“it has nothing to do with you.”
“But what’s behind you,”
“will no longer belong to the Zhao family.”
The government office might give you a few thousand Alliance Coins and a few congratulatory banners—that’s already generous.
“So,”
“you know better than I do: the Zhao family cannot survive without it, without this vast profit.”
Jiang Zhao smiled, “Now, do you still have any leverage to threaten me?”
On the contrary, I can threaten you by reporting the presence of an extraterrestrial object here to the government office.
“Guess whether I’d dare to do it, once I confirm I’m of Earth bloodline?”
Each of the girl’s words struck the gray-haired old woman’s heart like a hammer.
Her face turned deathly pale, nearly devoid of all color.
In the end,
the gray-haired old woman collapsed helplessly to the ground, her face ashen, as if drained of all spirit: “What do you want?”
Jiang Zhao pointed to her identity device: “The abandonment-of-guardianship certificate from eighteen years ago, and the complete video recording of your contract with the old Zhao family head.”
After a dozen seconds,
the gray-haired old woman’s trembling fingers finally surrendered, opening her identity device.
She lowered her gaze, but her eyes revealed a venomous glint.
Though she didn’t know why Jiang Zhao possessed memories from age one,
she knew even better:
the Zhao family’s possession of the extraterrestrial flying device must never be revealed.
It was their foundation, their treasure that made them prosper.
Guarding it was like guarding a money tree.
“Here is the video recording.”
The gray-haired old woman lifted her head, holding out the identity device with a false smile.
Beep!
A notification sounded.
Jiang Jian received a file.
She opened and glanced at it.
It clearly showed:
the gray-haired old woman holding Jiang Jian, the old Zhao family head holding Zhao Jianxue, signing the contract in the Prayer Hall.
Afterward, Jiang Jian was abandoned in the public care center.
By normal standards,
the Prayer Hall should have retained these surveillance records.
But Guangling City was too poor, its laws poorly enforced.
The city’s Prayer Hall database had been wiped clean multiple times.
“And the abandonment-of-guardianship form you signed when you delivered Jiang Jian to the public care center.”
The girl spoke.
The gray-haired old woman nodded meekly: “Found it!”
She raised the identity device again.
The Shenque spiritual essence, however, remained taut, poised to strike.
Dum!
A warning tone sounded.
Jiang Zhao opened the identity device, about to check it.
A sharp wind blade tore through toward her!
It formed with astonishing speed, nearly instantaneously.
In the blink of an eye, it pierced the air with a sharp crack and struck right before Jiang Zhao’s eyes!
“Die!”
The gray-haired old woman, already envisioning Jiang Zhao’s brains splattering, wore a manic grin.
Jiang Zhao stood frozen, pupils contracted, staring at the wind blade mere inches away.
The next instant.
The wind blade would slice open her eyeballs, spraying blood and flesh, mingling yellow and white.
A prickling pain had already begun to creep in.
Time seemed to slow.
The wind blade spun toward her, the divine wind arriving first, lifting her jet-black hair.
The icy, razor-sharp blade hovered just against the girl’s cold, clear eyes.
Time slowed further.
Within even shorter units of time.
A cold, silver-white light quietly surged from within her pupils.
In an instant.
Silver light spread, soaking into the wind blade.
In an impossible moment, it came to a sudden halt!
Countless time units passed in the blink of an eye.
The gray-haired old woman still wore a smile.
But the next second.
Jiang Zhao stepped back half a pace and said softly: “You want to kill me.”
As she saw the scene before her.
The gray-haired old woman’s smile vanished, her face turning ashen!
She stared at Jiang Zhao as if seeing a ghost, her eyes rolling white, fingers trembling as she pointed at the wind blade, suspended motionless in midair: “You… I…”
The girl swept her sleeve.
The wind blade instantly fell, dissolving into dust carried by the wind.
Jiang Zhao’s expression was icy, eyes lowered, gazing at the gray-haired old woman on the ground.
A torrent of silver-white light surged forth!
The gray-haired old woman froze completely in place!
The next moment.
Her entire body—clothes, hair, flesh, and cane—
Was riddled with countless strange cracks, crumbling into fragments within the silver light.
When she looked again.
The gray-haired old woman had been utterly pulverized into specks of light, erased without a trace.
Even her identity device vanished with her.
Not even the postmortem alert triggered.
“Data complete.”
Jiang Zhao opened the identity device and murmured with a faint smile, “This woman is from the Zhao family. Her identity records are clear—more than sufficient.”
She shut off the holographic screen, about to leave.
A terrifying tremor suddenly surged from deep within her bloodline!
Silver-white light surged through Jiang Zhao’s pupils like a roaring tide, threatening to burst forth!
She turned and walked deeper into the storage chamber.
The closer she drew to the storage chamber,
The colder her gaze became!
In the end,
Her pupils had turned entirely silver-white, cold and unfeeling!
This was the bloodline Jiang Jian had severed from himself to cure her soul-loss illness and given to her.
“Can I do it?”
“I believe in you. You’re my sister.”
A barely audible voice rose from deep within her spirit.
“Can I do it?”
“I believe in you.”
“Sister.”
“You can do it.”
…
The moment this voice appeared,
It was extremely faint.
But in an instant,
It became a wildfire, a star illuminating the night, sweeping across heaven and earth, rising in a towering wave!
Instantly,
The voice had become a deafening roar, thundering wildly within her spirit!
“Master your bloodline.”
“Do not let your bloodline master you.”
Her brother’s voice was calm and clear.
In Jiang Zhao’s silver-white pupils, a streak of black suddenly appeared.
This black carried calmness, carried resolve.
With unstoppable, radiant force, it tore through the silver-white!
…
After an unknown length of time,
The girl closed her eyes, then reopened them.
Her gaze was calm and cool.
“It’s time to end this.”
Jiang Zhao whispered.
Deep within her pupils, silver-white light surged forth!
Boom!
The storage chamber before her was engulfed in white light.
Without a sound,
The massive structure, along with its broken contents,
Turned to dust, collapsing silently.
When she looked again, ahead lay only flat ground.
Jiang Zhao opened her eyes gently, the silver light fading from her pupils: “Master my bloodline—I am myself.”
A few minutes later,
Jiang Zhao returned to the stone tablet.
“Sister Jiang Zhao, did you find any clues?”
Zhao Jianxue asked.
“Of course,” Jiang Zhao smiled. “Solved easily.”
“Good,” Zhao Jianxue exhaled in relief. “Let them release my father.”
Jiang Zhao turned her head toward Captain Yang.
Captain Yang said sternly: “Release him!”
The Zhao family patriarch gasped deeply, nearly collapsing.
He glared at Zhao Jianxue, teeth clenched with hatred—but with the inspectors nearby, he merely shot her a furious look and said nothing more.
Zhao Jianxue did not look at him. Instead, she frowned in confusion and asked: “Sister Jiang Zhao, what clues did you find? Are we going to the city government or the Public Care Center next?”
"Return to the Skyship first."
Jiang Zhao walked forward without looking back, "Nowhere else needs to go."
Zhao Jianxue, sensing her certainty, did not press further and replied, "Alright."
Skyship.
"Jiang Jian."
The girl stepped onto the gangway, activated her identity device, and transmitted the data, "Your Level 5 resource package."
Jiang Jian raised an eyebrow, examined the two documents carefully, and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Jiang Zhao found a seat and sat down.
She pressed her identity device, raising a partitioning light screen.
Within her pupils, a faint silver glow flickered.
"I did it."
"I didn't let you down."
Her sister whispered.
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
