Chapter 15: Awakening

Moments later, Song Zining stood before Zhao Jundu, his face weary.

Zhao Jundu’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, piercing into Song Zining’s eyes, not at all friendly.

Song Zining raised the black wooden box in his hand and said, “This is of utmost importance. A delay might bring about unforeseen changes. Is the Fourth Young Master going to continue this stalemate with me?”

Zhao Jundu did not step aside but remarked, “It’s rare to see the Seventh Young Master so exhausted. Isn’t your Thousand Leaf Technique supposed to be on par with the Great Derivative Celestial Art? How could such an oversight occur?”

Song Zining smiled bitterly, “The celestial art is fathomless. Who can claim to have mastered it all? Even Commander Lin occasionally makes mistakes. I am but a mere pawn, doing my best.”

Zhao Jundu’s eyes fell on the wooden box in Song Zining’s hand and asked, “What is inside?”

Song Zining replied, “With your current status, it’s best you don’t know. Just know that I consider Qian Ye a brother, and I will never harm him.”

Zhao Jundu stepped aside and said, “Yuying is inside.”

Song Zining nodded and walked in.

As they passed each other, Zhao Jundu suddenly said, “One of my… friends, died because of your oversight.”

Song Zining sighed lightly, “After this, I will thoroughly investigate where the flaw lies.”

Zhao Jundu did not speak further, nor did he turn back, allowing Song Zining to enter the deep and dark inner hall.

In a high and secluded side chamber, Qian Ye lay on a jade platform, his hands placed across his chest, his demeanor serene as if asleep. Only those at the level of Song Zining and Zhao Yuying could faintly sense the faint vitality within Qian Ye. Yet, it pulsed only rarely, and was extremely weak.

Zhao Yuying sat cross-legged beside the jade platform, her eyes deep and unfathomable, lost in thought. Seeing Song Zining enter, her eyes flickered with some life and hope.

Song Zining knelt before the jade platform, removed Qian Ye’s hands, and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his chest. His fingers brushed over Qian Ye’s chest, and he sighed, “Do you remember, when we were at the Yellow Springs Training Camp, Qian Ye had a terrible scar here. It’s completely gone now. Ah, it’s been years, but it feels like the training camp days just ended. In a blink, we’ve all grown up.”

Zhao Yuying remained silent, watching as Song Zining opened the wooden box, took out a blood-red, fist-sized crystal, and held it aloft with origin power, careful not to let it touch his skin.

At the center of the crystal, a strand of purple-black blood energy moved like a living creature, swimming freely.

Song Zining held his breath, hovering the crystal above Qian Ye’s chest, ready to place it.

“Wait!” Zhao Yuying suddenly called out, stopping him.

“What is that?” she asked, her eyes filled with fear. The self-aware crystal gave her a great sense of oppression, making her unwilling to even get close. And now, Song Zining was actually placing it on Qian Ye?

“The core of an ancient blood pool, the primordial source blood,” Song Zining answered calmly.

“Primordial source blood?” Zhao Yuying could not stay calm, “Primordial source blood has its own consciousness. But with Qian Ye in this state, how can he suppress its will? You’re giving him this, won’t it… turn him into a monster?!”

“I believe in Qian Ye.”

“Believe in Qian Ye?! It’s hard to say if Qian Ye even believes in himself! Song Seven, are you joking?”

“There’s no other way, is there?” Song Zining sighed, withdrawing his origin power, and the blood-red crystal fell onto Qian Ye’s chest.

“But…” Zhao Yuying wanted to stop him, hesitating.

As Song Zining said, Qian Ye’s condition was almost unsolvable, and even Zhao Xuanji, seeing it, could only sigh. Perhaps a major figure at the Overlord level would have a solution, but given Qian Ye’s special circumstances, who would dare show it to an Overlord?

In her hesitation, the primordial source blood landed on Qian Ye’s chest. Upon contact with flesh, it softened, instantly sprouting dozens of tendrils that pierced into Qian Ye’s body. Seemingly tasting the flesh, the primordial source blood roared like an ancient beast, turning into dozens of blood threads that quickly burrowed into Qian Ye’s body!

Zhao Yuying was startled, instinctively reaching out, but she was too late. The primordial source blood had already submerged into Qian Ye’s body, leaving behind only a few tiny red dots on his skin.

“This…” Zhao Yuying was at a loss. Song Zining, too, had not expected the source blood to be so fierce, his face pale. But with the source blood already in Qian Ye’s body, about to attack the blood nucleus, he could do nothing but wait.

Qian Ye’s body suddenly trembled, pain etched on his face. Inside him, dozens of blood threads pinned to his blood nucleus, trying to pierce through. Despite the countless small crystals in Qian Ye’s blood nucleus, they were still being slowly penetrated by the blood threads.

Song Zining’s expression grew increasingly tense. At that moment, an ancient and desolate aura filled the chamber, giving them the illusion of being in a desolate continent that had not seen life for millions of years. A shadow of a thick black book appeared above Qian Ye, and as the ancient book materialized, a faint, mournful cry of a dying ancient beast echoed in the air.

After the cry, the shadow of the ancient book gradually faded, and the pain on Qian Ye’s face turned to calm.

“What was that?” Zhao Yuying asked, her nose beading with cold sweat. The thick black book gave her a more terrifying feeling than the primordial source blood.

Song Zining shook his head, “How should I know? But it doesn’t seem harmful. Maybe it’s one of Qian Ye’s secrets.”

Qian Ye’s face returned to serenity. Moments later, a deep, thunderous drum sound reverberated in the chamber, and Qian Ye’s chest began to rise and fall, his eyes slowly opening.

“You’re awake!” Zhao Yuying cheered, throwing herself at Qian Ye, patting him down, and exclaiming, “Tell me, is anything else wrong? Oh, right, are you hungry?”

Qian Ye managed to free his face from Zhao Yuying’s grasp, struggling to sit up, looking around with a dazed expression, “Where am I? Is the battle over?”

“Long over! You’ve been unconscious for almost a month!” Zhao Yuying glared at Qian Ye, angrily, “What were you thinking, pushing yourself so hard?”

Qian Ye composed himself, slowly recalling the battle, and, seeing no one else in the chamber, said, “I didn’t intend to push myself, but I’m different from you. The Demoness’s strike might not have killed me, but Jun Du would have been certain to die.”

“Sure, ‘might not have killed’…” Zhao Yuying wanted to say more but ended with a sigh. Qian Ye’s bloodline made his body far stronger than an ordinary human. Even though Zhao Yuying’s origin power was higher, her physical strength was far inferior. Without the Eight Trigrams Seal, Zhao Jundu’s body was also weaker. However, his mastery of the seal was almost perfect, and breaking the field force was needed to harm him.

Another deep drum sound echoed in the chamber, as if the entire hall quivered.

Song Zining looked at Qian Ye and asked, “Can’t control the primordial source blood?”

Qian Ye shook his head, “No, its consciousness has been erased. I just need to adapt to the new power. Wait, you mentioned primordial source blood? Where did it come from?”

Qian Ye inherited much knowledge from the River of Blood, knowing that the primordial source blood was the core of an ancient blood pool. There were two sources: one from the River of Blood, which was extremely difficult to obtain even in the times when the river was visible. Only a few strong clans, like the Pas and Monros, possessed such blood pools. The other was using a bit of primordial source blood as a catalyst, with higher bloodlines continuously adding their own source blood, purifying it over years, evolving it into primordial source blood. Most ancient blood pools today originated this way.

Regardless of the method, primordial source blood was the most precious treasure of the bloodline, priceless. So why did Song Zining have it?

Qian Ye sensed his blood nucleus, which had absorbed the primordial source blood, its consciousness erased. The crystals within the nucleus had grown to the size of fingers, and the entire nucleus had transformed into a cluster of flesh and crystals, with power increased tenfold. The lingering ancient aura confirmed that the absorbed was indeed primordial source blood.

Song Zining’s face was odd, “It’s a long story. Let’s talk later. Check your body first.”

Qian Ye looked at Song Zining, puzzled, and lay back on the jade platform. After absorbing the primordial source blood, the blood nucleus had drastically changed, and the body would follow. Qian Ye needed time to adapt.

As Qian Ye activated his blood nucleus, golden blood flowed from it, surging through his body. Wherever the golden blood went, muscles and bones grew wildly, while old tissues died off. Qian Ye’s entire body was transforming, almost reborn.

Strands of dark gold blood energy began to seep from Qian Ye, his skin undulating like snakes crawling under it. Qian Ye’s brows furrowed, teeth clenched, clearly in pain, yet his aura steadily rose, becoming more and more terrifying.

Zhao Yuying stared at the blood energy emanating from Qian Ye, her expression complex. She had slain countless blood kin in her life, killing them on sight, almost an instinct. But now, her dear brother was displaying such a terrifying blood energy. Though she knew the truth, seeing it unfold felt like reality shattering.

Song Zining looked at Zhao Yuying and firmly said, “Qian Ye is human. In his heart, this has never changed!”

Zhao Yuying nodded, suppressing her despair.

Sunrise and sunset, day and night passed. When Qian Ye awoke again, he seemed normal, his eyes deeper. He activated his bloodline, drawing all external blood energy back into his blood nucleus, erasing any trace of his bloodline.

Qian Ye rose, stretching, and said, “Sister, tell me what happened during this time?”