Chapter 70: The Trial

Upon witnessing this scene, Qian Ye was extremely astonished. At that moment, he suddenly recalled the dawn breaking forth as the ancient Song Scroll’s general principles disintegrated.

Suddenly, it felt as though the entire world had been struck by something. Qian Ye came to his senses, and all his perceptions gradually returned, pulling him out of that void. His hand was still on the bookshelf, but the black tome had vanished.

With a sense of awareness, Qian Ye inspected his inner self and indeed found a new consciousness space within his body. The “Black Book: Prologue” floated in the void.

Qian Ye took a deep breath, trying to calm his still-turbulent thoughts.

The world depicted in the Prologue differed greatly from the creation described in the ancient Song Scroll. Why did the dark races and humans have such differing perceptions of the same world?

And although the operation methods of the “Radiant” and “Mystic” chapters he had cultivated were vastly different, they now seemed not entirely unrelated. “The Radiant is the sun rising, spewing flames and covering the marsh.” “The Mystic is black with a hint of red.” Qian Ye felt as though he had grasped a clue, yet it remained elusive, like looking through a veil.

At that moment, a familiar, immense will swept over Qian Ye’s consciousness.

“Blood descendant of my origin, your ability to obtain the Black Book surprises even me. It seems the long passage of time cannot erase our ancient and sacred bloodline.”

Qian Ye frowned, remaining silent. He didn’t know why the Black Wing Monarch insisted on calling him a blood descendant, but denying it seemed pointless in this situation.

“It appears the purity of your bloodline is no less than mine, infinitely close to our common ancestor. Therefore, by the most ancient tradition of the Sacred Blood, you can now stand alongside me. Of course, you are still weak and unable to bear the responsibilities and obligations. Sadly, neither of us has much time left.”

Qian Ye asked, “Where are you?” He had no interest in the responsibilities and obligations of the blood race, but he faintly sensed that an uncontrollable event had already occurred, becoming irreversible. This made Qian Ye somewhat irritated.

“I am in the Primordial Wing and the Eye of True Sight. Fragments of my will are left there, and I will guide you on how to obtain them. But before that, you will face trials.”

“I think I’ve had enough trials.”

“That was an accident, not my intention.”

“Around the altar, I left some wealth, what mortals consider valuable. I intended to leave it for my loyal servant, Lu Jian’an. You can take some and give a suitable portion to his descendants. Excessive wealth is not good for mortals; it often leads to disaster.”

“I will visit his descendants,” Qian Ye agreed. Lu Jian’an’s descendants should be hiding in the Black Mud Town. Though it was difficult to find an elderly hermit, knowing the name might help, but the place had just been ravaged by war, making the hope very slim.

“I have a crystal key, divided into three pieces. Two pieces are with my loyal servant and guard. When the three fragments are combined, they can open another secret chamber. There, I prepared gifts for my lover during my human life, Nan Gong Yuqing. She may have passed away, so if that’s the case, find her descendants.”

Hearing this, Qian Ye was shocked. This was the first time Andua had personally admitted to living among humans, and the surname Nan Gong sounded familiar. Was Nan Gong Yuqing from one of the esteemed Nan Gong families in the empire?

Although deeply surprised, Qian Ye agreed after some thought. At that moment, two crystal fragments in his pocket suddenly vibrated, and a light shone through his clothes. He took them out and saw that the two fragments had automatically fused together, projecting a beam of light pointing in a certain direction.

That must be where the third fragment was located. It seemed the crystal key would only work if he agreed to Andua’s request. Qian Ye could only be awed by the Black Wing Monarch’s inscrutable power, unable to fathom how Andua had achieved all this.

Then, Andua said something, but his voice suddenly distorted, filled with interference.

Qian Ye was slightly taken aback and waited, but Andua’s will did not reappear.

He looked around, deciding to fulfill his earlier promise. The wealth around the altar was mostly gold coins, gems, and a few exquisite boxes. Opening them, Qian Ye found that most contained blood crystals, but their energy had dissipated over time, leaving only blank crystals.

These crystals could be recharged with fresh blood, but the blank ones could also be used as currency among the dark races.

The treasure around the altar was worth at least ten thousand gold coins, but with powerful enemies lurking outside, moving these heavy objects was impossible.

Qian Ye gathered some rare materials and headed toward the third crystal fragment.

Unknown passages had appeared on the walls. Following the light from the key, Qian Ye entered the middle one. There were no traps or mechanisms, and he smoothly reached the end, where a side chamber lay.

Entering the chamber, Qian Ye understood why such an important place had no defenses. In the side chamber, a high seat made of black iron sat a noble blood race. By the crest and decorations on his black robe, he was a Marquis of the Munro Clan.

Instinctively, Qian Ye was on guard, but he soon noticed that the Marquis remained motionless, his eagle-like eyes fixed a meter in front of him, long devoid of life.

Approaching, Qian Ye saw a dark stain on the Marquis’s chest, blending with the black robe. It was the location of the blood core.

As he got closer, the Marquis suddenly crumbled into a pile of fine sand, half remaining on the seat and half falling to the ground.

This Marquis was likely one of Andua’s guardians. It was unknown whether he became a puppet-like guardian before or after death, or who had come to this ruin and killed him.

Qian Ye looked down and saw a crystal fragment on the ground before the high seat, next to a skull with a smooth, blade-cut neck bone.

At that moment, he heard the voice again: “You have found my skull. Good. Bring it to me, and you will receive a generous reward. Do not doubt Andua’s renown and integrity. Bring it to me, now!”

The voice had a magical quality, and Qian Ye instinctively reached for the skull. However, he sensed something was wrong. A slight mental nudge caused his purple blood energy to surge from his ability rune, spreading through his body, and the voice was immediately banished from his mind, becoming distant.

Two Anduas?

Qian Ye could now confirm that the immense will and the voice demanding the skull were not the same person.

The situation grew increasingly strange.

Qian Ye stared at the skull for a while, picked up the crystal fragment, and the three pieces fused into a crystal disk.

After a moment’s thought, he also picked up the skull and followed the directions on the disk, entering another passage that led to a bronze door.

In the center of the door was a depression, perfect for the crystal disk. The door’s original force array lit up and slowly slid open.

Beyond the door was another side chamber, unguarded except for occasional colorful lights floating in the air.

Qian Ye felt a great danger. After obtaining the Prologue, he gained some knowledge of space, recognizing these beautiful light bands as unstable spatial fissures. Touching one could cause part of his body to be lost to another dimension.

The most striking feature of the chamber was a series of weapon and armor racks along the wall, displaying items from daggers to full suits of armor, all of at least level five.

The chamber contained at least thirty to forty pieces of equipment, a vast treasure.

However, Andua specifically mentioned that the decorations in this chamber were the foundation of the hall and could not be moved. The gifts for Nan Gong Yuqing were on a table beside them.

Qian Ye turned his gaze to the round table in the center, where a primal force gun, two short swords, and two golden boxes lay.

The gun and swords were high-quality, designed for human use. The primal force gun was a level seven revolver, and the two short swords were level six. One golden box contained primal force solid bullets made entirely of mithril, a rare and highly effective method against dark races. The other box was filled with liquid mithril.

The value of the gun and swords was significant, but the mithril alone in the two golden boxes was worth more than a minor clan’s entire inventory.

These were Andua’s designated gifts for Nan Gong Yuqing or her descendants, and Qian Ye respected his promise, regardless of the recipient.

Qian Ye packed the items, and as he left the hall, the bronze door closed behind him, and the crystal disk popped out, landing in his arms.

Andua’s will reappeared in Qian Ye’s mind, “Congratulations on passing another test.”

The equipment in the chamber was indeed the foundation. If anyone tried to take them, the colorful light bands would expand, and the large spatial fissures would destroy everything, including Qian Ye.

Qian Ye felt very uneasy. Entering this place was like boarding a one-way flying ship. Once launched, there was no turning back. He disliked this feeling of being controlled.

Returning to the main hall, he heard the familiar voice again.

“Very well, you brought my skull as promised. Now, return it to its place, and you will receive the blessings and favor of the greatest Black Wing Monarch, Andua! You will establish a new family, whose name will rank alongside the ancient twelve clans. You may even inherit the name of the lost thirteenth ancient clan!”

These promises, which could stir a great uproar among the dark races, might excite a true blood race, but Qian Ye felt nothing. Even with Andua’s acknowledgment of his pure bloodline, he still avoided the issue.