The next morning, the Ao Clan discovered that Ao Longtian had developed a habit of appearing wherever he was least expected.
At dawn, he was seen walking through the eastern courtyard.
An hour later, he was in the ancestral hall.
Before breakfast, he had questioned three elders.
By midday, he had visited the clan's formation room, inspected the outer gates, and ordered every record concerning servants, guests, merchants, and physicians from the past five years delivered to his residence.
By afternoon, the clan had stopped asking what he was doing.
They had begun asking who would be questioned next.
Longtian found the reaction amusing.
He sat behind a wooden desk overlooking the eastern courtyard, a stack of records in front of him.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
He turned another page.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
His fingers stopped.
There.
A name had appeared twice in two different records.
A physician.
He had entered the clan three times during the pregnancy.
But according to the official records, he had only been hired once.
Longtian leaned back.
"Interesting."
A servant standing nearby lowered his head.
"My lord?"
"Nothing."
Longtian marked the page.
"Send this to Gu Ren."
"Yes, my lord."
The servant bowed and left.
Longtian continued reading.
The door opened without a knock.
He didn't look up.
"You know, most people knock."
"I did."
"You knocked too quietly."
"I knocked normally."
Longtian smiled.
Ao Lian walked into the room carrying a bundle of documents.
She dropped them onto his desk.
"You asked for these."
Longtian looked at the pile.
"What are they?"
"Clan finances."
"I didn't ask for finances."
"You should have."
Longtian raised an eyebrow.
Ao Lian pulled out a chair and sat opposite him.
"You've spent the entire day investigating servants and physicians."
"Yes."
"You haven't looked at the clan's money."
"I have Gu Ren."
"Gu Ren is good."
She leaned forward.
"But he can't be everywhere."
Longtian opened the first document.
Ao Lian watched him.
He read it.
Then another.
Then another.
His expression slowly changed.
"How much?"
"Enough."
"That's not a number."
"It's the number you need."
Longtian looked at her.
"Since when did you become the clan's accountant?"
"Since nobody else could balance the books."
He looked down again.
Ao Lian continued.
"Three merchant houses owe us money."
"Why?"
"Because the previous steward extended credit without approval."
"How much?"
"Enough to buy three decent estates."
Longtian looked at her.
"And nobody noticed?"
"They noticed."
"Then why wasn't anything done?"
Ao Lian smiled.
"Because everyone was too busy arguing about cultivation resources."
Longtian leaned back.
"And you fixed it."
"I collected the debts."
"How?"
"I asked politely."
Longtian laughed.
"You?"
"I can be polite."
"I've seen you threaten an elder with a teapot."
"He deserved it."
"He was eighty."
"He was annoying."
Longtian shook his head.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Then Ao Lian looked around the room.
"You've changed."
Longtian's expression became still.
"Again?"
"More than yesterday."
She pointed toward the records.
"Before, you would have ignored all of this."
"Perhaps."
"You hated paperwork."
"I still do."
"Then why are you doing it?"
Longtian looked toward the window.
Outside, the Ao Clan stretched across the mountainside.
Buildings were connected by stone paths.
Training platforms were scattered between gardens.
At the highest point stood the ancestral hall.
The Ao Clan had existed for centuries.
Longtian had never thought much about it.
It had always simply been there.
Now he understood something.
Power wasn't only cultivation.
Power was information.
Resources.
People.
Infrastructure.
Loyalty.
Fear.
And Fate.
His fingers touched the desk.
"I'm learning."
"Learning what?"
"How much power exists outside cultivation."
Ao Lian stared at him.
Then she smiled.
"That sounds like something you would have laughed at last month."
"I would have."
"What changed?"
Longtian's eyes darkened.
"Everything."
The answer silenced her.
Ao Lian looked away.
After a moment, she pushed another document toward him.
"There is something else."
Longtian opened it.
"What's this?"
"Household management."
He scanned the pages.
His eyes stopped.
Ao Lian noticed.
"The western residence?"
"No."
Longtian tapped a name.
"This."
She leaned closer.
A list of servants.
One name had been circled.
Mei Lan.
Longtian's expression became unreadable.
Ao Lian spoke carefully.
"She served you for three years."
"I know."
"She was registered under the eastern household before being transferred to you."
Longtian nodded.
"Who approved the transfer?"
Ao Lian pointed toward the document.
"The former household steward."
"Where is he?"
"Dead."
Longtian looked up.
"When?"
"Two years ago."
"Cause?"
"Illness."
"Convenient."
Ao Lian nodded.
"I thought you'd say that."
Longtian closed the document.
"Tell Gu Ren to investigate the steward."
"Already did."
Longtian looked at her.
"When?"
"While you were reading."
A smile appeared on his face.
"You've become efficient."
"I've always been efficient."
"I didn't notice."
"That's because you were too busy being important."
Longtian laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh Ao Lian had heard from him since the incident.
She watched him carefully.
Then she asked:
"How is the child?"
Longtian's smile disappeared.
"Sleeping."
"Still?"
"Most of the time."
"Has he spoken again?"
Longtian was silent.
Ao Lian understood.
"He has."
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
Longtian looked at her.
"Father."
Ao Lian's expression softened.
"That's not necessarily bad."
"No."
Longtian looked down.
"But he said something else."
"What?"
"He told me not to let the blood find him."
Ao Lian frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
She thought for a moment.
"Perhaps the child is afraid of the demon blood."
"Perhaps."
"You don't believe that."
Longtian looked toward the window.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the blood is afraid of something too."
Ao Lian's eyes narrowed.
"Something inside you?"
Longtian nodded.
She stared at him.
"How certain are you?"
"Very."
"What is it?"
Longtian looked at his hand.
"I don't know."
A knock interrupted them.
Gu Ren entered.
The old butler bowed.
"Young Master."
"Report."
Gu Ren placed several documents on the desk.
"We investigated the physician."
Longtian immediately became attentive.
"What did you find?"
"He is dead."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
"Cause?"
"Poison."
Ao Lian frowned.
Gu Ren continued.
"However, we found something unusual."
He produced a small metal token.
Longtian picked it up.
A symbol had been carved into its surface.
Three curved lines surrounding a circle.
The same symbol.
His eyes hardened.
"Where?"
"Hidden inside the physician's residence."
"Anything else?"
Gu Ren nodded.
"We found evidence that he had been receiving payments from an unknown organization."
"How much?"
"Enough to make a physician wealthy."
"Names?"
"None."
"Records?"
"Destroyed."
Longtian stared at the token.
"Anything else?"
Gu Ren hesitated.
"Yes."
Longtian looked up.
"The physician had a daughter."
"And?"
"She disappeared."
"When?"
"Three months before the child's birth."
Silence settled over the room.
Longtian's fingers tightened around the token.
Ao Lian noticed.
"Do you think she's involved?"
"I don't know."
Gu Ren spoke.
"There is another matter."
"Speak."
"The clan elders have requested your presence."
Longtian sighed.
"What do they want?"
"They want to discuss your behavior."
"Which behavior?"
"All of it."
Ao Lian laughed.
Longtian looked at her.
"You find this funny?"
"A little."
Gu Ren added:
"They also want you to stop investigating the clan without their approval."
Longtian smiled.
"Do they?"
"Yes."
"Then I suppose I'll have to disappoint them."
Ao Lian stood.
"Come."
"Where?"
"The ancestral hall."
Longtian raised an eyebrow.
"You're coming?"
"Someone has to make sure you don't insult everyone before lunch."
"I make no promises."
"I know."
The ancestral hall stood at the highest point of the Ao Clan.
Its stone steps were ancient.
Hundreds of names had been carved into the walls.
Ao Clan ancestors.
Generations of cultivators.
Generals.
Formation masters.
Alchemists.
Clan leaders.
The hall smelled of incense and old wood.
Seven elders waited inside.
At the center sat the clan patriarch.
Ao Longtian's father.
His expression was stern.
"Longtian."
"Father."
"Sit."
Longtian sat.
Ao Lian stood behind him.
The patriarch's eyes narrowed.
"Do you understand why you are here?"
"Because you've run out of things to complain about?"
One elder slammed his palm onto the table.
"Watch your tongue!"
Longtian turned toward him.
"Your name?"
The elder froze.
"What?"
"I asked your name."
"You know who I am."
"I don't."
The elder's face reddened.
"I am Elder Ao Ming!"
Longtian nodded.
"Good."
He turned back.
"Now I know."
Ao Lian covered her mouth.
The patriarch's expression twitched.
"Enough."
Longtian looked at him.
"What do you want?"
"You've been investigating clan members without authorization."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because someone infiltrated the household."
"Evidence?"
Longtian placed the metal token on the table.
Every elder became silent.
One elder leaned forward.
"Where did you find that?"
Longtian noticed the reaction.
Interesting.
"You recognize it."
The elder immediately leaned back.
"I've seen many symbols."
"Not that one."
The patriarch's expression changed.
"Longtian."
"Father."
"Give me the token."
Longtian smiled.
"No."
The room went silent.
The patriarch stared at him.
"You refuse me?"
"I said no."
"Do you understand who you're speaking to?"
"My father."
"And the patriarch."
"Also true."
"Then show some respect."
Longtian picked up the token.
"I respect you."
He stood.
"But respect doesn't mean obedience."
The elder who had shouted earlier rose.
"Arrogant!"
Longtian turned toward him.
The elder released his cultivation.
A wave of pressure filled the hall.
Ao Lian immediately moved forward.
"Stop."
The elder ignored her.
Longtian remained still.
The elder stepped forward.
"You think because something happened to your body, you can—"
Longtian raised one finger.
A thread of black-red energy appeared.
The elder's cultivation pressure collapsed.
The man's eyes widened.
Longtian looked at him calmly.
"I don't think I'm powerful."
He lowered his finger.
"I know I'm dangerous."
The hall became silent.
Longtian turned toward his father.
"Someone placed the demon blood inside my child."
He held up the token.
"Someone inside this clan helped them."
His eyes swept across the elders.
"And if any of you know who it was…"
His smile was gentle.
"…I suggest you remember before I start asking questions."
He walked toward the door.
Ao Lian followed.
Just before leaving, Longtian stopped.
Without turning around, he said:
"One more thing."
The elders watched him.
"If anyone touches my sister…"
The black-red energy around his body flickered.
"…I will consider it a declaration of war."
He left.
Ao Lian caught up with him in the corridor.
She was smiling.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"You really don't know when to stop."
Longtian looked at her.
"I stopped."
"When?"
"When I left."
She laughed.
Then her expression became thoughtful.
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"You said something strange in there."
"What?"
"That you'd help me."
Longtian stopped walking.
She looked at him.
"You said it like you had already decided something."
Longtian studied his sister.
The crimson ring around his pupils appeared for the briefest moment.
Then vanished.
"I have."
"What?"
He smiled.
"You'll find out."
Ao Lian frowned.
"That answer usually means trouble."
Longtian continued walking.
Behind them, inside the ancestral hall, the elders remained silent.
The metal token still rested on the table.
None of them dared touch it.
Because one of the oldest elders had finally recognized the symbol.
And he knew something the others didn't.
That symbol had not appeared in the mortal world for nearly eight hundred years.
Until now.
And if the records were correct—
wherever that symbol appeared…
the heavens eventually followed.