Chapter 884 – The Family Rankings

For a time, undercurrents surged violently throughout the entire Verdant Depths Realm.

Almost everyone who received the dream revelation had the same first reaction—not to quietly digest or explore it on their own, but to immediately contact their family.

On the surface, the Verdant Depths Realm presented an eerie calm, as every family shut their doors to deliberate over the dream.

Once internal discussions concluded, the spokespersons of every major family adopted a remarkably uniform stance, whether in public settings or in dealings with other factions:

“This matter is far too suspicious. Forcing people into a dream at high noon—how could that be the work of the righteous path? It must be a ploy by extraterritorial demons to bewitch people’s hearts!”

“Spiritual energy receding? Spiritual roots ceasing to exist? Utter nonsense! Everyone must not panic and fall into their trap.”

“This so-called ‘Verdant Depths Society’ and ‘Magic’—their origins are unknown and their dangers immeasurable. Our family will absolutely not dabble in such things lightly. We shall respond to change with stillness and observe with caution.”

Their words rang with authority, brimming with skepticism and criticism toward the “dream revelation,” presenting a thoroughly rational, composed front—unmoved by external provocations.

However, within these very families, an entirely different scene was playing out.

Nearly every family of any notable size had secretly screened and selected a batch of juniors with poor spiritual roots or none at all, had them sign contracts with the mysteriously appearing Verdant Depths Covenant, and quietly join the Verdant Depths Society.

Hidden away in their families’ most secluded cultivation chambers or specially established secret bases, these juniors devoured the entirely new knowledge called “Magic” with ravenous hunger, tinkering with the various “cards” and their diverse functions.

The families’ upper echelons monitored these “seeds” and their cultivation closely, strictly forbidding them from leaking even the slightest detail to outsiders.

Time slipped by in silence.

At first, everyone seemed dismissive of the claim that “spiritual energy would recede and spiritual roots would cease to exist.” But after several months, the more perceptive high-ranking cultivators did indeed sense that the spiritual energy between heaven and earth no longer felt as abundant as before—and was thinning at an alarming rate.

By the end of the first year, every major faction was stunned to discover that among the new generation, truly not a single newborn possessed spiritual roots.

The prophecy from the dream was becoming cruel reality, one step at a time!

Panic spread silently through the hearts of every family’s leadership.

At this point, all wishful thinking was thoroughly shattered.

Almost simultaneously, every family and sect underwent a silent strategic pivot from within.

Outwardly, their rhetoric remained unchanged: “Fluctuations in spiritual energy are a normal phenomenon of heaven and earth. Fewer children being born with spiritual roots is likely just coincidence.”

“That ‘Verdant Depths Society’ remains suspicious. Our family has only sent a handful of people to make a tentative attempt, just as a precaution. We absolutely must not commit our full resources, lest we fall into a trap.”

Internally, however, it was a completely different story.

The direction of family resource allocation underwent a seismic shift!

The enormous resources originally devoted to training cultivators were quietly redirected to support “magic research.”

All family members were required to join the Verdant Depths Society, and the study of magic was elevated to the same strategic importance that cultivation had once held.

A fierce “magic rat race” erupted within the deep courtyards of every family across the Verdant Depths Realm.

Families guarded against one another, spied on one another, and desperately tried to establish absolute dominance in the age of magic before their rivals could react and commit fully.

The entire Verdant Depths Realm maintained a surface of calm, preserving the decorum and wariness of the old era, while underneath, a silent magical arms race—one that would determine the future order—was already well underway. Every family had become the most invested and most anxious contestant in this race.

When Mo Lan visited the Verdant Depths Realm intending to copy the world’s historical cultivation techniques and spell texts as supporting evidence for her magic research, every conversation she overheard about the Verdant Depths Society was entirely negative. Had it not been for the obvious fluctuations of Card Magic emanating from every single one of these people—clearly indicating they had already joined the Verdant Depths Society—she might have believed her promotional strategy had failed.

Once she understood that these people were all frantically studying magic within their families while loudly denouncing magic outside of them—trying to influence others’ perceptions of the Verdant Depths Society and magic so their own family could seize the advantage—Mo Lan had a sudden inspiration. She designed and released an entirely new set of “Family Series” cards.

First came the family version of the Status Card—the Family Member Card.

It could be bound to one’s affiliated family, serving as a personal identity credential bearing the family’s emblem.

Once bound, the cardholder’s mana rank, magic level, and status information such as “alive/fallen” would automatically sync in real-time to the Family Card held by the family’s leadership.

The Family Card was held by the family’s spokesperson or designated administrators.

This card clearly displayed the total number of members bound to the family, the overall distribution of members’ strength, and could immediately alert holders to casualties among members—essentially a “dynamic dashboard” of family power.

Additionally, there was the Personal Card Library, which recorded all card types and quantities owned by an individual, symbolizing one’s personal “wealth” and “collection.” And then the Family Card Library, which recorded all card types and total quantities owned under the entire family’s name, intuitively reflecting a family’s magical resource reserves and “financial power.”

The centerpiece, however, was the Internal Family Ranking and the Family Rankings.

The Internal Family Ranking automatically synced information from all Family Member Cards and Personal Card Libraries within the family, generating internal rankings of member strength and wealth.

The Family Rankings automatically synced the Family Card and Family Card Library information of every family that had purchased the card, generating comprehensive strength and wealth rankings of all families across the entire Verdant Depths Society.

By default, entries were anonymous, but cardholders could choose to remove their anonymous status and display their family name. However, if you remained anonymous yourself, then even if other families chose to reveal their names, you wouldn’t be able to see their identities either.

The moment this card set went live—especially when those strings of anonymous data appeared on the Family Rankings—the “surface calm” every family had tried to maintain was instantly blown to smithereens!

Everyone had been saying to join the Verdant Depths Society with caution and study magic with restraint, yet one look at the rankings showed magical power and card wealth that were absolutely through the roof!

Even if you couldn’t tell exactly which family was which, the strength and wealth changes of each “anonymous” entry were crystal clear for all to see.

Since anonymous users and anonymous families could only see other anonymous entries on the rankings, more and more individuals and families proactively removed their anonymous status.

In an instant, every family that had been scheming in the shadows was dragged into the open.

What had been covert rivalry transformed into naked, undisguised competition laid bare for all to see!

“The Wang family climbed to one hundred and fifth on the strength rankings without making a sound? Just yesterday I was drinking with young master Wang the Third, and he was still saying magic can’t extend one’s lifespan, and that if you have spiritual roots, there’s really no point in learning it!”

“Hurry! Gather every family member who’s begun learning magic, intensify their meditation, and convert all their recovered psychic power into Gem Coins! The Li family is about to overtake us on the wealth rankings!”

“The bottom ten in this month’s internal family rankings will have their resources halved! The top ten will have theirs doubled! Keep pushing, everyone!”

…(End of Chapter)