“Confirm it once more. Every holding has been accounted for?”Lu Chen stood before the great hall, a collection of ledgers spread across the long table before him.Zhao Shuren bowed.“Yes. The eastern medicinal gardens, western storehouses, northern warehouses, resource sites, branch estates, and commercial holdings have all been accounted for. The remaining reserves hidden in the old internal affairs records have also been located.”“Any assets transferred beyond the region?”“Some goods were moved through commercial intermediaries, but their ownership has been verified. The Zhao Clan's property has been recovered or its whereabouts established. Nothing of substantial value remains unaccounted for.”Lu Chen turned another page.The old steward stood nearby, his hands trembling slightly. Zhao Ming remained silent beside the pillars. The surviving elders had gathered to hear the final accounting.For generations, the Zhao Clan had accumulated wealth through medicinal cultivation, resou

A golden palm imprint appeared above Lu Chen's right hand.A thin black fissure ran through its center, resembling a crack in the heavens themselves.He stared at it.The phenomenon lasted only a breath before fading, leaving no trace upon his skin.Lu Chen lowered his hand and looked toward the two manuals resting before him.The Zhao Clan's palm inheritance.And the Mountain-Sealing inheritance left behind by its Old Ancestor.He had spent hours examining both, yet the relationship between them had only begun to reveal itself.One inheritance emphasized the release of force through the palm. The other sought to gather overwhelming power and impose it upon everything beneath its shadow.Their movements were different.Their manifestations were different.Even the paths their original creators had followed were far apart.Yet beneath those differences lay a shared principle.The concentration of force.Lu Chen reached for the palm manual."Let's see whether my understanding is correct

The stone pillar shattered before Lu Chen could withdraw his hand.A sharp crack echoed through the mountain ravine.Golden light scattered across the broken stone, accompanied by several thin black fissures that lingered in the air before slowly disappearing.Lu Chen lowered his right arm.A faint ache traveled from his palm toward his wrist.He examined the injury without changing his expression."Too much force gathered at the final moment."The first attempt had failed.Not because Heaven-Severing Palm lacked destructive power, but because he had tried to release more force than his body could properly control.The technique's principle was simple to understand.Its execution was not.Lu Chen looked at the remaining half of the stone pillar.He had chosen this secluded ravine several hundred paces from his cavern. The surrounding cliffs were thick enough to withstand ordinary martial exchanges, and no settlement stood nearby.It was an ideal place to test his newly created inherit

A surge of spiritual Qi rushed through his body, gathering in his palm before he abruptly stopped its release.The force dispersed into the surrounding air.A nearby cliff face trembled. Pebbles rolled down its surface, and a flock of birds burst from the trees below.Lu Chen lowered his hand.He had nearly destroyed the entire rock formation with a single careless movement."Still too much."He examined his palm.There was no visible injury, but the spiritual Qi inside his body had responded far more fiercely than he had expected. Even the slightest movement could summon a force that his previous cultivation foundation would never have sustained.He stood at the mouth of the cavern where he had completed his breakthrough.The spiritual phenomenon that had covered the mountain was no longer as overwhelming as before. Its radiance had faded, and the enormous vortex that once gathered above the peak had dispersed. Yet the surrounding spiritual Qi remained unusually lively.It flowed thr

“Elder, you cannot seriously intend to let him enter Jadefall City with that kind of reputation.”Han Rui's voice carried across the mountain clearing.Gu Shiyan glanced at his disciple.“What kind of reputation?”“The one following him from the Zhao Clan territory. A destroyed regional clan, a bronze Dao Weapon, and an unknown cultivation inheritance.” Han Rui looked toward Lu Chen. “We know almost nothing about him. Yet you have already given him a recommendation token.”Lu Chen stood several paces away, the dark bronze Chaos Great Bell floating above his head.Its ancient dragon and cloud patterns caught the afternoon light. The bell remained silent, but the spiritual Qi around it flowed in subtle currents, as though the surrounding heaven and earth were responding to its presence.“I gave him a recommendation token,” Gu Shiyan replied calmly. “Not the authority to command my sect.”“That is precisely why I think we should test him first.”Lu Chen looked at Han Rui.“You wish to te