Five years had passed since Liora Voss entered the world with her fierce cry. The Voss clan has transformed like a carp into a dragon.
The Voss clan now stood as a true local powerhouse, with a recent breakthrough of Arcturus Voss to Nascent soul stage, two years ago. The entire continent now bowed completely to their banner, every settlement, mine, and essence vein secured through a blend of diplomacy and decisive force. Those sneaky little factions that used to cause trouble are gone. Wiped out or have sworn loyalty through shared dao(By abolishing their cultivation and starting new with Blood Dao). The borders are locked tight with new wards which gleamed with layered blood arrays, capable of repelling even early Nascent Soul intruders.
The Blood crystal mines are pumping out blood crystals like never before with their production doubled, Bloodheart Trees towered higher than ever, their fruits bursting with vitality that fueled rapid advancement of dao comprehension among disciples. The number of Blood Dao practitioner had increased exponentially due to various incentives of the Voss clan, increasing the quality of blood Dao on the continent and thus easing the comprehension with increased dao enhancement. The estate itself had expanded—new wings rising elegantly from the mountain, hidden halls delving deeper for advanced training, all funded by converted resources from careful trade before the trade slammed shut.
Disciples numbered in the thousands, their training grounds alive with the constant clash of blood techniques and shouts of encouragement. Branch families contributed willingly, their loyalty cemented by shared prosperity and the annual festival that had become a continent-wide tradition of feasts, hunts, and blood resource distributions.
At the heart of this ascent stood the siblings who embodied the clan's future.
Kairos Voss, eight and a half years old, is a monster in the making.Tall for his age, all lean muscle and that wild black hair that never stays tied back, framing a face sharp with determination and lit by violet-crimson eyes that shine like fire , with the build of a young warrior already hinting at broad shoulders and powerful limbs, he carried himself with the restless energy of someone born for adventure. He was perpetually in motion—charging through mist-shrouded forests on "exploration" runs, returning scraped and grinning with tales of battling spirit beasts or discovering hidden beast caves. At the peak of Foundation Establishment, he teetered on the brink of Core Formation, his Qi so dense it warped the air around him. Yet he couldn't grasp the destructive force that has always been with him since birth. He felt it—a primal urge to shatter, to unmake—but things remained foggy. During training, frustration would spark destructive ripples: a punch cracking stone, a breath splintering a dummy. "It's there," he would growl, fists clenched. "I can taste it, but it slips away!."
It have been like this since that day almost a year ago.
A year ago when he was watching a spar between core formation elders with Liora, who had a small breakthrough in their comprehension, a spell was thrown their way and collided with the array, as such spars always took place within a closed array nothing happens to the viewers. But that was not what Kairos saw, he saw liora engulfed by the spell, at that moment it was as if he was struck by a lightning, when he came through he was overwhelmed by grief and the urge to destroy everything tore through his heart and so he began to destroy everything, slowly at first, but soon he destroyed the whole planet when he came to his senses he was floating in the void with planet debris all around him and the feeling of destruction that came with it was extremely heavy and so he closed his eyes to rest. When he opened his eyes again he found himself sleeping on his bed, and to his side sat Liora with puffy eyes and snotty nose and to her side was his mother with misty eyes. Latter he learned that the spell didn't hit her and he had been unconscious for a week. After that during cultivations he had tried to grasp that feeling of destruction that he felt that day like his life depended on it but, it has eluded him since then.
Then there's Liora.
Liora Voss, at five, in some sense was his perfect counterbalance. Smaller and quirky, she moved with an innate grace that masked tremendous intensity, like a beast on the way to carnage. Her black hair was neatly braided, her piercing dark crimson eyes holding a calm that could shift to terrifying focus in an instant—like a tranquil sea hiding raging depths. She had reached the final stage of Qi Gathering, her meridians filling with Blood Qi at a pace that stunned elders. Her blood Dao leaned toward vitality extinguishing, but with an undercurrent of explosive violence—calm on the surface, ready to erupt with overwhelming violence when provoked.
The siblings are inseparable. Kairos drags her into his "adventures," and she follows with that cool confidence, ready to back him up when things get wild. The clan loves it—two prodigies, one all fire and charge, the other ice and violence. The future looks unstoppable.
…...
In the ancestral main hall, Patriarch Arcturus convened the core elders beneath the pulsing glow of blood crystal veins.
"We now fully control the continent," Arcturus declared, his voice resonant and lased with satisfaction. "Every potential threats have been removed—rogue elements purged, doubtful peoples with chances of betrayal brought to heel."
Harlan spread a map, grinning fiercely. "Disciples have all been recalled—their were some losses as few of them were attacked or found themselves in skirmishes and couldn't make through, a hundred souls across five years, but their blood bought unbreakable unity. We're more powerful now, and still climbing."
Valeria's divination sphere swirled. "Trades have halted for a year now—borders are sealed to avoid the madness. Though the skirmishes have ceased, but the tensions are rising as their resources are dwindling. The world is waiting for the first true strike."
Mira laid out ledgers. "Our stockpiles will hold for one more year of full rapid growth. After that, we would have to restrain our expenditure—or risk stagnation."
Harlan leaned forward, eyes alight. "Then we take! Iron Fang borders ripe for raiding—metal essence to convert, coffers refilled."
Valeria countered sharply. "Folly. Strike first, and we become the spark that ignites everything. Powerful forces are also watching if we strike first we may latter become an eyesore to them with our development. We wait—let others bleed first, then we will join the fray."
Arcturus's gaze hardened. "We prepare for both. If things does not escalate within a year we will strike first, if we become an eyesore latter on to any forces we will see what should be done then. For now keep our scouts deeply hidden, and our forces ready. We buy time for the children. When the storm breaks, Voss will emerge stronger."
Outside, the crimson mist hung heavy, thick with unspoken promise.
Five years of ascent.
The world held its breath.
And the true war loomed on the horizon.