All the warriors lifted their force guns, unleashing a fierce barrage at Qian Ye. Several grenades also soared through the air, arcing towards his position.
The continuous explosions nearly drowned out all other sounds. The insect hive, which had been cleaved in two by Qian Ye, finally succumbed to the onslaught, collapsing and crumbling into pieces.
“Stop, all of you stop!” Claudia’s voice pierced through the cacophony, echoing within the cavern.
After a moment, Kemal gave the order, “Cease fire.” With his command, the warriors finally stopped shooting.
Claudia strode up to Kemal, barking, “Why did you open fire without my command? I was almost done convincing him to surrender!”
“He’s just a lowly human, with no value whatsoever…”
Before Kemal could finish, there was a sharp slap as Claudia slapped him across the face. She spoke coldly, “I have no patience for your racial superiority nonsense. Don’t forget, I’m the commander here. If you dare to act on your own again, I’ll have my father kill you!”
Kemal touched his stinging cheek, eyes blazing with fury. He growled, “I am a pureblood noble! You dare strike me for a lowly human?”
Claudia’s voice remained icy, “Your blood isn’t any more exalted than mine; you don’t even come close to the twelve ancient clans. I didn’t hit you because of him, but because you disobeyed my orders. Understand?”
Kemal’s twisted face slowly returned to normal. He stepped back, bowing deeply and exaggeratedly, “Understood. My men and I will fully obey your commands.”
Standing upright, he turned and barked at the soldiers, “You useless scum, what are you standing around for? Go clean up the battlefield now!”
Claudia snorted, walking directly towards the remains of the insect hive. She didn’t believe that the barrage had killed Qian Ye; instead, it had likely given him a perfect opportunity to escape. Thus, she wasted no time searching for him, but instead, inspected the wreckage of the hive.
The hive had collapsed, with the pool at its base filled with debris. Crouching by the edge, she dipped her finger into the water, and immediately, a puff of smoke rose from her fingertip, leaving a small patch of charred skin.
Claudia frowned, tearing away the dead skin. Her flesh began to wriggle, and in an instant, new skin grew over the burn. She gazed at the water, her expression shifting.
Kemal approached, asking, “Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing,” Claudia snapped, recalling how Qian Ye had played with the silvery dragon blood, tossing it up and down in his palm.
Kemal, accustomed to her coldness, went to oversee the cleanup of the battlefield, searching for anything valuable. Occasionally, his gaze would flicker with a chilling malice as it passed over her back.
Meanwhile, Qian Ye was running through the passages, putting distance between himself and Claudia and Kemal. The Moonlight White Devils’ concentrated fire had been quite skilled, not only targeting him but also cutting off his escape routes. But this level of attack was useless against Qian Ye. After enduring two force bullets, he vaulted over a platform and escaped through the passageways, using the smoke and flames from the grenades as cover.
After sprinting for a kilometer, estimating that the pursuers wouldn’t catch up immediately, Qian Ye took the time to examine the silver orb in his hand. According to Claudia, this was the Dragon Blood. But if this was just a single “drop,” how terrifying and heavy must the full-blooded dragon be?
If a regular beast swallowed this drop, it would pierce their stomachs, killing them. Even Qian Ye didn’t dare to swallow it directly. His body was indeed powerful, but his flesh and bones were still not fully reinforced, and his organs were even more vulnerable.
If he couldn’t swallow it, how was he supposed to “consume” this drop of Dragon Blood?
As he pondered, holding the shimmering orb, he felt a stabbing pain and numbness in his hand, indicating severe erosion. He couldn’t hold it for long.
While thinking, Qian Ye suddenly felt the ground and walls trembling. Multiple sources of vibration were rapidly approaching from a distance.
Dragon Blood!
Qian Ye realized that it was likely the Dragon Blood attracting monsters. When the drop was hidden deep within the hive, it hadn’t emitted any aura. The Moonlight White Devils’ attack had caused cracks, revealing its presence. Now, with the Dragon Blood’s aura leaking out, more and stronger monsters were sure to be drawn.
For some reason, the Dragon Blood couldn’t be stored in Anduia’s space. Unable to store or swallow it, he couldn’t exactly carry it around. In the underground world, even with his arrogance, Qian Ye knew he couldn’t outrun the native beasts forever.
Feeling the continued erosion of his flesh, Qian Ye made a quick decision and activated Vitality Plunder. As expected, the powerful ability based on blood qi immediately locked onto the Dragon Blood. Countless threads shot out, piercing the orb, breaking it into countless silver particles, which he then absorbed into his body.
In an instant, Qian Ye felt he wasn’t absorbing blood, but grains of fire! The moment the Dragon Blood entered his body, its weight cracked the surrounding flesh, gradually sinking downward. Even the flesh refined by the Gold Flame Blood could not withstand the Dragon Blood’s corrosive power.
Fortunately, the Dark Gold Blood Qi flared up, dividing into countless threads, each targeting a particle of the Dragon Blood. The two bloodlines immediately turned Qian Ye’s body into a battlefield, engaging in a frenzied battle.
Unexpected by this, Qian Ye endured the pain and quickly fled.
The underground tunnels were like a vast labyrinth, with countless interconnected passages. After running for a long time, Qian Ye finally managed to lose the pursuing beasts and found a quiet cavern to catch his breath.
By now, the internal battle had settled. All the Dragon Blood had been drawn to the blood core, forming a silver orb, tightly enveloped by the Dark Gold Blood Qi, slowly consuming it. The process was so slow it was almost imperceptible, with only a minuscule part of the Dragon Blood being peeled off and absorbed after a long while.
After resting for about an hour, Qian Ye’s internal injuries had mostly healed, and he regained some of his combat strength. He now understood why the Spider Emperor, the Moonlight White Devils, and the Wolf King had joined forces, even risking a war with Su Dingqian, to control the Port City.
The Dragon Blood’s bloodline power was incredibly strong, and most dark races revered such power. Advancement and enhancement came from the strengthening of bloodlines. Gaining the Dragon Blood and converting it into one’s own power would be a significant boost for the dark races, possibly even surpassing the benefits of innate talent. There might even be an extraordinary secret technique that could replace one’s original bloodline with the Dragon Blood, clearing the path to becoming a Duke in one fell swoop.
Of course, this was only a theoretical possibility. Qian Ye had already experienced the terror of the Dragon Blood firsthand; even the Dark Gold Blood Qi could only slowly grind it down. For most talented dark race members, ingesting the Dragon Blood would likely be suicide rather than a boon.
If a single hive contained one drop, then the amount of Dragon Blood should be substantial. However, capturing a hive wasn’t easy, especially with the silver-bodied insect king, which was extremely difficult to handle and could call for reinforcements.
The most terrifying aspect of the insects was their sheer numbers. Thousands of them swarming together could drive even a Divine General to retreat. However, for Qian Ye, who carried a supply of grenades from the entire Southgreen City, large numbers of weak enemies were not a problem.
Rising, Qian Ye continued to search deeper into the hive. Even if he couldn’t use the Dragon Blood, he couldn’t let it fall into enemy hands.
The underground world was dark and expansive. Having lost his sense of direction, Qian Ye continued to delve deeper. But as he walked, the terrain began to undulate, making it hard to gauge his depth.
Entering a tunnel, Qian Ye suddenly saw a flickering flame and faint voices. The sounds were so faint that only his keen senses detected them. Hearing the voices, his first instinct was to check for any traps.
Carefully searching, he indeed found several. Nimbly avoiding them, he cautiously approached. In the underground world, almost anything living was an enemy.
In a small central cave, a temporary camp had been set up. Several bonfires burned, warming the entire cavern, though the flames were dim, like a few candles.
Seeing the bonfires, Qian Ye’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
The camp contained dozens of people, with warriors grouped in threes, guarding the perimeter. Most were high-ranking members of the Moonlight White Devils, but a few were distinct. They wore dark, long trench coats, collars raised, and helmets hiding their faces in shadows.
Though the military ranks were removed, Qian Ye recognized the uniforms of the Empire’s elite task force. During the raid on the military garrison, he had taken down many similarly dressed foes.
With Nighteye’s departure, the Empire, the military, and the Zhao family seemed distant. Yet, in the Neutral Zone, he encountered the Empire’s secret task force once again.
Suppressing his aura, Qian Ye hid at the camp’s edge, intending to see what the Empire’s agents were up to.
At that moment, an old man emerged from a tent, his face lined with wrinkles, and his frail body seemed ready to topple with a breeze. He approached the fire, warming his hands, lost in thought.
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