Chapter 2 - An Ancient Relic?

The prestigious Yu family from which Yu Yin hailed from had a long history dating back almost countless years ago. This Yu family was known to be infallible in almost every way! Their reserves seemed to run deeper than the earth's core. Their arts and techniques were unrivalled across the world, and they even possessed a noble bloodline which granted them bloodline magic!

However, only male descendants of the family were born with this bloodline magic. In return, due to the nature of the ultimate Yu family arts, the arts could only be learned by the female members of the family which were blessed with extraordinary talent and physiques! In addition, only the offspring of female Yu family members could inherit either of these godly traits! Thanks to that, the Yu Family was known as one of the few matriarchal superpowers across the worlds, a hegemon of all lands!

The technique that Yu Yin had used earlier was the Yu Family's bloodline magic, known as [Acceleration]. In this world, only soul cultivators who can strengthen and train their soul to the pinnacle can be considered immortals. Bloodline magic or "blood skills" are fundamentally different from that. The main differences are that blood skills are limited to the descendants of rare noble heritages and draw upon the power of the flesh rather than the soul. This means that such bloodline magic users are few and far between, and are also very exhausting to use. However, blood skills, like the soul, can also be cultivated and developed. For example:

At [Level 1], the [Acceleration] bloodline skill could "accelerate" or enhance any tangible object that the user touches, including the human body itself!

At [Level 2], hosts of the [Acceleration] bloodline ability would gain the bloodline sub-skill [Deceleration]. This ability could "decelerate" or weaken any tangible object that the user touches!

At [Level 3], both [Acceleration] and [Deceleration] could be used at a range!

At [Level 4] .... As Yu Yin's blood skill only was at [Level 2] he didn't actually know what kind of changes occurred at [Level 4]. It wasn't that he hadn't done any research into his bloodline magic, it was that any information about [Acceleration] [Level 4] and onwards was a classified family secret privy only to its members of the highest standing. Thinking of his family caused Yu Yin to let out a small chuckle.

"I'm a good distance away from home, and Mother probably hasn't noticed I'm gone. It'll take her a while realise that I'm missing, probably two weeks!"

His eyes gleamed with a bright light!

"That means I have plenty of time on my hands!"

Yu Yin shook his head as to remove any thoughts of his family. He had much more exciting things to think about! He looked down at the ancient looking bamboo slip in his hand and headed towards the north, smiling contently. Every time he finished reading the bamboo slip he would giggle like a 12-year old girl. It was fortunate that nobody was nearby else they would have thought he was completely retarded!

"Hahaha, I really have struck it rich this time! Silver Qilin horns and information about a hidden plane! I, Yu Yin must be truly favoured by the Gods!"

Yu Yin had found this quizzical looking bamboo slip in the Yu family treasury as well. It looked really lonely so he thought it would be a good deed to keep it company - permanently!

According to the bamboo slip, nearby was a hidden plane which was actually the resting place of a [Solid Soul] cultivator. A hidden plane was a sort of pocket dimension so to say, and this hidden plane also supposedly also contained this cultivator's most prized possession. It described that there was no danger to be found in her hidden plane and that whoever found it first was destined to receive this good fortune! However, all that was said about its location was that it could be found on this very mountain range near the northern border of the beautiful country of Evergreen! Yu Yin let out a sigh and started searching the surrounding forest.

"If I only I had spirit sense, then this would be countless times easier"

Spirit sense was a sort of sixth sense that all soul cultivators had. With spirit sense at a high level, a person could read a book in seconds without opening it, or even search a huge forest without even moving! Unfortunately, Yu Yin hadn't even reached the lowest level of soul cultivation, [Rousing Soul]. Never mind spirit sense, Yu Yin couldn't muster the slightest bit of soul power even if he wanted to!

Yu Yin had never been interested in cultivation in the past. Part of the reason was that cultivation is well known as gruelling work, but the main reason was the shackles that came with his bloodline magic. In exchange for bloodline magic, males of they Yu family have abysmal talent for cultivation, whilst females have outstanding talent and a special physique all the while without bloodline magic. The Yu family lineage sure is strange.

As a man of the Yu Family, his only familial responsibility was to reach [Stage 2] in his bloodline magic before the age of 20, a feat which he had already accomplished by age 10. So long as he slowly developed his blood skill, his mother wouldn't bat an eyelid at any his life choices, no matter how much the rest of the Yu Family objected.

Notwithstanding the fact that he was a mortal with no cultivation, that didn't mean he was necessarily weak. It was truly no coincidence that Yu Yin had travelled over 500 kilometres from the Yu Family palace at the centre of the Frigid Enigma Continent all the way to its Northern border. With his wit, blood skill, and his dragon-like hoard of gold coins from his lifetime collection, Yu Yin had travelled this journey in less than 2 days with few to no mishaps.

It was only after 2 hours of searching that Yu Yin finally came across a clearing in the forest. In the centre of the clearing was a large rock at least 3 meters tall and 2 meters thick. There was no sign of any nearby soul power or magic fluctuations to be found. This giant rock, other than its conspicuous location, looked completely ordinary in every way. However, thanks to the bamboo slip, Yu Yin knew this rock was anything but ordinary!

"As expected of the legendary [Solid Soul] realm! Unless told otherwise, nobody would ever suspect that there's something special about this place! Maybe even mother would be oblivious to this rock's significance! There also should be some sort of magical or runic mechanism around here used to enter, although I have no idea where it could be”.

Yu Yin walked up to the large rock and studied it thoroughly. As expected, the rock still looked completely typical from every angle, without revealing a single clue as to how the hidden plane could be entered. He continued to frantically search the surrounding area. Every individual piece of vegetation was checked and no stone was left unturned. Unfortunately, he still couldn't find anything that looked like at all like a magical mechanism. At this point, Yu Yin had furrowed brows and had a very impatient expression on his face.

"I refuse to believe I can't open this thing!"

He stomped over to the centre of the clearing, snapped his fingers, and slapped the large stone.

"[Acceleration]!!"

A white light appeared from Yu Yin's palm and entered the rock. Suddenly, rumbling sounds could be heard as the large rock inwardly collapsed, exposing a portal large enough for a single person to enter! It had to be known that [Acceleration] could be used on any tangible thing, and apparently, the entrance to the hidden plane was not exempt.

"Ah!"

Yu Yin let out a shout and jumped 3 steps back! Honestly, he had never expected his blood skill to have the slightest effect on the large rock. The only reason he tried it was due to a lack of any other idea! He blinked a few times at the newly materialised portal before letting out joyous laughter.

"The [Solid Soul] cultivator that owned this plane was definitely a kind and generous saint, leaving a treasure trove behind just for me! I should aspire to be more like them!"

Of course, he would never actually try to be such a person.

A garden full of chrysanthemum flowers could be seen on the other side of the rift with a timeworn cave located at the centre of it. Yu Yin entered the portal and revelled in the pleasant scent which then invaded his senses. He took his time enjoying the unique scenery around him before having a good look around the garden. After clarifying there was nothing there, he walked into the cave. A chilly breeze could be felt coming from the very depths of the cave which only seemed to get colder the further down he went.

"Achoo!!"

As he wandered down, Yu Yin couldn't help but sneeze because of the cold air. He rubbed his nose and looked around him to find that the cave walls could be seen slowly transitioning from stone surfaces to bricklayers. Unsurprisingly, the journey down went rather smoothly with no mishaps. The passage went down for at least half a mile until an open area was reached. The open area had a dome-like structure with murals of ferocious beasts depicted on the wall, with one particular mural of a giant black eagle being especially eye-catching! After searching around the room, Yu Yin found a sinister looking coffin at the centre of the dome with an altar set up on either side of it. On top of each of the alters, rested a locket made of what looked like bronze. The right-side locket had floral patterns etched into it while the left side locket had a dark tint to it. Upon seeing the two lockets, Yu Yin was more surprised than happy.

"Why are there two?! The bamboo slip only mentioned one ancient relic! Could the true prize be inside the coffin?"

He turned his head to look at the coffin. It was resting on a raised platform as to show the status of the hegemon sleeping inside. It was coloured with a deep purple hue and was decorated with exquisite golden borders. A large black cross could be seen covering the exterior of its lit and a silver emblem of a closed eye was visible at the centre of it. Yu Yun felt as if the departed expert that laid here could still see him through that silver eye. Overall, the coffin was releasing a very ominous aura.

"No No No!! That coffin spells death no matter how I look at it! I'd best leave it alone. No treasure is worth offending such a formidable person even if they are deceased!"

With that, Yu Yin turned his attention to the two bronze lockets. He wasn't sure if one of these items was the ancient relic he was looking for, but he sure as hell wasn't going to leave empty handed! He decided that since the locket decorated with floral patterns was more aesthetically pleasing, he would take that one first. He let out a happy yelp and skipped towards the altar on his right-hand side!

"Hello my treasures, your Daddy has come to take you home!"

Yu Yin's eyes flickered with a shining light and he was almost panting in his excitement. The closer he got to the bronze locket, the more extraordinary it seemed until he was absolutely sure it was a precious treasure! He looked at the locket in front of him amiably as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world. A happy expression could be seen on his face as he took out one of his Silver Qilin horns and stroked it.

"You see! I told you Daddy would find you a friend!"

With that, he reached out his left hand in a grasping motion to take the locket. But instead of the cold touch of metal that he expected to feel, he felt warmth instead. Yu Yin was startled and looked down at the locket. What he saw made his expression one of complete and utter shock. Instead of the bronze locket, his hand was resting on another small human hand. Its skin looked as smooth as jade, as white as snow, and more dazzling than the damn Qilin horns!

"The hell!!????"

He looked up and found himself face to face with an absolutely stunning black-haired beauty!