The Phoenixfield Clan was against it at first. They refused to tie their own clan’s fate to the Lan clan. But the Lan clan wasn’t easy to negotiate with—without military power, how could their emperor hold his throne?
After much negotiation, the Phoenixfield Clan was finally persuaded.
The two clans’ destinies became intertwined. It bound them together, but also guaranteed their people’s safety. The Phoenixfield Clan held all the armies now, but what about a hundred or a thousand years from now?
Their Wu-race bloodlines were growing weaker with every generation. They couldn’t afford any more infighting—even if they wanted to return to the Wu Continent, they had to cooperate.
So the Phoenixfield Clan accepted the Lan clan’s proposal: their fates would be linked, and half the armies would be handed over to the Lan clan. The Phoenixfield Clan would keep only half, defending the Nine Provinces Empire.
The Lan clan produced male shamans, so their heirs were always men—the future emperors.
The Phoenixfield Clan produced female shamans. Their heirs weren’t always women, but women were the most honored in the clan. The purest-blooded Phoenixfield heiress was always the best choice...
This brand was passed down generation after generation. If either side broke the pact, the side that ended it would lose its fate and face extinction.
The only way to break the curse was for the two branded heirs to marry and have children, merging the bloodlines of both clans...
But both the Phoenixfield Clan and the Lan clan longed to reclaim their ancestral Wu power. They wanted to use the array to keep the other side in check, so neither clan allowed their branded heirs to marry...
At first, the two clans forbade intermarriage because of bloodline inheritance. Later, it was all about self-interest.
The existence of the brand kept them in check. If the brand vanished, neither side would hold back, and who knew what chaos would follow...
As the Phoenixfield Clan and Lan clan rooted themselves in the Nine Provinces Empire, fewer and fewer people remembered this history. All they knew was that the Phoenixfield Heiress Mark determined a clan’s survival and had to be passed down, generation after generation.
Simon Sun didn’t just learn the origins of the Phoenixfield Clan and the Lan clan from the Phoenixfield Secret Realm—he also uncovered the roots of the Divine Temple and the Fuller Clan.
Both the Lan clan and the Phoenixfield Clan had lost their true Wu power; all that remained were a few secret Wu arrays. The fate-linking Wu array belonged to the Lan clan, while the Phoenixfield Secret Realm was the Phoenixfield Clan’s specialty.
Beyond that, they had little special power left in the Nine Provinces Empire. But then, the earliest children born of Lan–Phoenixfield unions began showing extraordinary talent for divination.
These people—whether in the Phoenixfield Clan or the Lan clan—were always outsiders. Both clans blamed them for the loss of Wu power, driving them out...
They survived in the margins, struggling every day, learning to read faces from childhood. Even with their gift for divination, they knew they could never challenge the two clans, so they chose to compromise...
They knew both clans were desperate to recover Wu power. Using their divination skills, they exploited this obsession, quietly building strength and, right under the clans’ noses, founded the Divine Temple.
Of course, the Divine Temple had no real autonomy. Even if they resented their situation, they could only serve the emperor. Time and again, the Divine Temple tried to escape the Lan clan and Phoenixfield Clan’s control, but they were simply too weak—divination alone couldn’t stand against imperial or military power.
Simon Sun’s explanation sounded like a fairy tale to Nolan Dongling and Serena Feng, but somehow, it also made perfect sense...
It explained why there was a shaman in the Wolf Tribe Forbidden Ground—the odds were, that shaman was connected to the Lan clan or the Phoenixfield Clan.
And that same-life-same-death curse, so much like the fate-linking Wu array of the Lan clan—it might have evolved from that very array...
“This really is a miraculous world.” Serena Feng let out a soft sigh. “So the Phoenixfield Heiress Mark has this power. No wonder the Lan emperors always wanted to marry the Phoenixfield heiress. I bet the last emperor knew something important.”
Serena Feng was full of emotion...
The Lan clan and Phoenixfield Clan survived in the Nine Provinces Empire because of the fate-linking Wu array—it made them fear to destroy each other. But at the same time...
That same array was also the reason for their downfall.
No one wanted to be shackled forever.
“Master, now that you and His Majesty have children, the old feud between the Phoenixfield Clan and Lan clan can’t touch you anymore.” Simon Sun smiled in relief at the thought.
“Exactly. That feud ended when the Former Dynasty fell—we have nothing to do with them.” Serena Feng squeezed Nolan Dongling’s hand and looked back at him...
Thank goodness she’d met him—otherwise, Serena truly didn’t know what fate would have awaited her.
“We’re both lucky.” Nolan Dongling’s cold, hard face softened a little.
They knew nothing, and yet by pure chance, they’d broken the fate-binding curse between the two clans. That was luck beyond belief.
“I’m the lucky one. Who knows how many years of life I’ve borrowed from you?” Serena’s nose stung as she remembered Destiny Cliff.
Maybe she’d wronged Nolan Dongling all along?
Nolan Dongling must have known something—that’s why he let go back then.
“It doesn’t matter how many years. We live and die together.” Nolan didn’t care how long he had left; as long as Serena was with him, he was satisfied.
“Mm.” Serena’s eyes brimmed with mist, but she didn’t let the tears fall.
No matter what, they were happy now—and that was enough.
Simon Sun snuck a look at the two of them and felt genuinely happy for his master.
Not wanting the mood to stay gloomy, Simon Sun changed the subject: “Master, are you and His Majesty planning to go to the Phoenixfield Secret Realm? That place seems strange—going there could be dangerous.”
Simon Sun really didn’t want Serena and Nolan Dongling to go. If something happened, it would be a disaster.
“We’ll go, but not yet. We don’t even know what’s inside the Secret Realm, or if we’ll make it back out. For now, Nolan and I aren’t risking it. We’ll wait until Rory can handle things on his own, then we’ll consider going to the Phoenixfield Secret Realm.” Serena and Nolan had come to Northlyn for the Secret Realm, but hearing Simon Sun describe its dangers, they had to think twice...
Serena was still wary of Wu arts—if she and Nolan Dongling got into trouble inside, it would be a disaster...
“There’s no rush.” Nolan Dongling agreed. To enter the Phoenixfield Secret Realm, they’d at least wait until Rory was crowned and Sweet Dumpling was married—then they’d have no regrets...
Still, even if Nolan and Serena weren’t going in themselves, nothing stopped them from sending others to scout the way...
With Nolan and Serena away in Northlyn, Rory and Sweet Dumpling were now the highest authority in the palace—no one dared interfere with them...
Rory was busy with affairs of state and had no time for palace adventures. Sweet Dumpling was different—she had plenty of free time to explore and hunt for treasures in the palace...
And on this particular day, Sweet Dumpling really did discover a hidden chamber in the palace...