“The Thirteen Holy Stars? Perceived through bloodline in a distant world?” Qian Ye felt an indescribable sensation. After a moment of silence, he asked, “What are the Holy Stars like?”
“Each tribe perceives different Holy Stars. Our tribe’s Holy Star looks like this…” He drew a pattern on the ground.
Though crude, the pattern on the ground still resembled a flower, the fearsome Mandala.
The Mandala is the emblem of the Monro, one of the twelve ancient vampire clans, and the origin of both Nighteye and Qian Ye’s bloodline. The fact that the young warrior from the inner world perceived the Mandala as his Holy Star, and it ranked second among the Thirteen Holy Stars, was no mere coincidence.
Qian Ye lifted him up and set him down, examining his dark red eyes carefully. Then, he extended a finger, piercing a thin line of blood into the man’s body, drawing out a drop of blood.
With his eyes slightly closed, Qian Ye meticulously savored the taste of the blood. After a long while, he opened his eyes and asked, “What is your name?”
“Su Shi.”
“This name…”
“What about it?”
Qian Ye shook his head, “Nothing. Why did you choose this name?”
A puzzled look appeared on Su Shi’s face, “My father gave me this name. Is there something wrong with it?”
“I mean, why this particular style of naming?”
“Our Atuva clan has always used such names. Is there a problem?”
There certainly was. Su Shi’s name was typically imperial human style, while Atuva was a style from the Evernight. Mixing the two styles together felt awkward.
“Where do you usually live, and how do you live?”
“Our Second Holy Star tribe lives atop Black Mountain. The other tribes are scattered everywhere.” Su Shi then puffed out his chest, “Black Mountain is the sacred mountain of our Atuva clan. My tribe is the guardian of the holy mountain.”
“You are the guardian tribe? What about the First Holy Star?”
“You mean the Pas tribe? They are the weakest and live at the edge of the distant ice plains. Although their territory is vast, it is only filled with ice and snow beasts. They only venture out during the warm season to crack open the ice and catch some sea creatures for food.”
“How can this be?” Qian Ye was quite surprised.
“Of course! They are the weakest. In every generation’s tribal competition, they always come in last. How can such weaklings hope to occupy the most fertile forests and grasslands?” Su Shi said matter-of-factly.
“Why are they so weak?” Qian Ye asked.
Given the similarities in names, Qian Ye was now certain that the Atuva clan of the inner world had a deep connection with the Evernight vampires.
However, if this were the case, the weakness of the Pas clan seemed even more inexplicable. In the Evernight, even if the later generations of the Pas bloodline were weak, the presence of the Night Queen ensured that their position remained unshaken.
In the Evernight, the glory of the Night Queen’s prime was already lost to history, but even in her mostly dormant state, her power was unrivaled. Even the mighty Demon Emperor would only dare to move against the vampires when she was asleep, and even then, he would go to great lengths not to wake her.
From Su Shi’s blood, Qian Ye had already tasted the Monro bloodline. Though faint and distorted by the influence of the inner world, the deepest essence of the blood could not be mistaken—it was the Monro blood.
If there was Monro blood, then the blood of Pas, Spark, and others should also exist. But why was the Pas blood so weak?
Qian Ye asked in detail, but Su Shi could not answer. After asking repeatedly, Qian Ye had to give up and turned to inquire about the geography of the inner world.
At this, Su Shi’s eyes lit up, and he said proudly, “As guardians of the sacred tribe, our territory is naturally the most fertile. Centered around the holy mountain, our land extends for thirty days to the north, twenty-eight days to the south, and twenty-five days to the east and west.”
“What is a ‘day’?”
“It’s simple. A first-class warrior of our clan can run this distance in one day and one night.”
“And what is a first-class warrior?”
“I am a first-class warrior.” Su Shi puffed out his chest again.
Though Qian Ye had his suspicions, he was still startled. Su Shi’s strength was roughly equivalent to that of a marquis, but that was his overall power. In terms of speed, he was no slower than an Evernight duke. The Atuva of the inner world were incredibly fast, capable of running for thousands of kilometers in a day and night.
Calculating this, the distance between the northern, southern, eastern, and western boundaries, spanning over fifty days, meant that the Monro’s territory alone was larger than an entire continent in the Evernight. And with thirteen tribes, the inner world was truly vast.
“What lies beyond your territory?” Qian Ye was curious.
“Beyond our territory, naturally, lie the territories of other tribes.”
“And beyond those?”
“That I don’t know. I’ve heard that beyond the farthest Spark tribe, there is an endless sea of trees. They continuously expand into the forest, only to have the new lands seized by stronger tribes.”
“What lies beyond the sea of trees?” Qian Ye was very curious.
“I don’t know. No warrior has ever been able to cross it; it seems to have no end.”
The sheer size of the inner world was beyond imagination. After a moment of thought, Qian Ye had another question, “How many people are in the Monro tribe, and how many are warriors?”
“We have exactly ten thousand people! Seven thousand of them are warriors!”
Qian Ye was surprised. This number was shockingly small. Given the vastness of the Monro’s territory, Su Shi could have claimed tens of billions, and Qian Ye would not have batted an eye. But ten thousand—how could it be so few? Even though the Atuva were at the top of the food chain, how could there be so few?
Frowning, Qian Ye asked, “Why are there so few of you? With such a vast territory, why only ten thousand people?”
Facing Qian Ye’s question, Su Shi was equally astonished, “Few? We are the tribe with the most warriors! We are the strongest tribe! No other tribe has as many warriors or as much courage as we do!”
Realizing that this line of questioning would yield nothing, Qian Ye changed his approach, asking about the tribe’s marriage customs, average lifespan, reproductive cycle, and so on. After a while, he finally understood.
Like the vampires, the Atuva were long-lived, and even more so. Su Shi, recently of age in his tribe, was already over five hundred years old by Evernight standards. Each Atuva individual lived for approximately three to five thousand years, and the oldest elder was said to be nearly six thousand.
Such a long life span came with a terrifying reproductive cycle and a very low birth rate. A pair of Atuva could have, at most, six to seven offspring in their lifetime, and the juvenile stage alone lasted over two hundred years.
The Atuva could be seen as the inner world’s version of the ancient vampires, with individuals of great power, but their civilization was in a primitive state. The wolfmen of the ancestral faction, although also living in a tribal system, were not lacking in civilization and knowledge, similar to other dark races.
The Atuva, however, were in an extremely primitive state. Their history dated back hundreds of thousands of years, and it had stagnated since then, never changing.
Further questions would yield no more answers. However, after this round of questioning, Qian Ye developed a keen interest in the Atuva tribe itself.
He was now fairly certain that the Holy Stars the Atuva perceived were the emblems of the Blood River. The Blood River once illuminated thirteen emblems, each corresponding to a path of power and a bloodline.
The Blood River was profoundly mysterious, spanning the void. It was not strange for otherworldly races to sense its existence and summon its power. What was strange was why the tribe names were the same.
Qian Ye had received the favor of the Blood River multiple times, inheriting the knowledge of the ancient vampires. Yet, this knowledge did not include names. Even if Qian Ye’s inheritance was incomplete, the vampire clans had changed names in history, so how could even the changed names be the same?
But no amount of interrogation would yield any answers. After a moment’s thought, Qian Ye decided to release Su Shi, at least out of respect for the shared Monro bloodline.
Su Shi seemed surprised by his freedom, standing still for a moment before saying, “You really let me go?”
“Did you want me to kill you? Go now.”
Su Shi, however, did not leave. Instead, he tentatively extended his hand to Qian Ye, “Can… Can I shake hands?”
Qian Ye, not understanding but not fearing a trap, took Su Shi’s hand.
Su Shi’s hand was surprisingly smooth, and upon closer inspection, Qian Ye realized that by vampire standards, Su Shi’s features were rather delicate. It was only the extreme bodily proportions that made him seem monstrous to Qian Ye.
Setting aside the environmental influence, the Atuva’s appearance was somewhat similar to that of the vampires.
As Qian Ye grasped Su Shi’s hand, he suddenly felt an inexplicable focus on himself, as if some being had glimpsed his secrets.
“What are you doing?” Qian Ye shouted, tightening his grip and pulling, immediately sending Su Shi to the ground. A few shakes left Su Shi’s bones feeling as if they were about to disintegrate, leaving him paralyzed.
“I meant no harm, just to confirm if you are our kin from another world.”
Qian Ye raised an eyebrow, “You know?”
Su Shi nodded, “There are countless worlds beyond ours, but each is illuminated by the Thirteen Holy Stars, just to varying degrees.”
Qian Ye was even more surprised. This was not knowledge a primitive race should possess. This made the Atuva all the more mysterious.
Su Shi released his hand and slowly retreated, “I will return. After I go back, I will inform the other tribes that you are our kin from another world. Don’t harm our people.”
“Very well.”
Su Shi gave Qian Ye a deep look, “We will meet again.” With that, he leaped up and vanished into the night.
Qian Ye did not stop him or follow. He had a feeling that he would see Su Shi again, and uncover the true secrets of the Atuva.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage