Chapter 12: The Primordial Age

“Fine,” Tong San, the lion-man, could only suppress his curiosity. After all, he would know after dinner. He had the patience.

“Brother, I’m back!”

Qing Shi and Zong Ling returned riding a frosty steed, accompanied by a group of cavalry, making a grand entrance. Yi Shui City was, after all, the lowest-ranked county city in the entire empire. Within Yi Shui City, the Dongbo Family of Xueying Domain ranked among the top ten families, so every time Qing Shi visited Yi Shui City, he made a grand and imposing spectacle.

Seeing his younger brother happy each day was precisely what Dongbo Xueying wished to see.

…

After dinner, Qing Shi, worn out from a day’s play, quickly went to sleep. Dongbo Xueying, Zong Ling, and Tong San, however, all entered the study.

“Why have we come to Xueying’s study? Tong San, why do you look so excited? What exactly has happened?” Zong Ling was still completely in the dark.

Dongbo Xueying, on the other hand, was already smiling as he approached the bookshelf, searching for the book he had read before.

“I’ll tell you!” Tong San took a deep breath. “Xueying roasted today that three-tier magical beast weighing over ten thousand jin, and then he ate the entire thing—by himself!”

Zong Ling’s eyes widened.

One person eating over ten thousand jin of meat? Was he even human? That’s more like a dragon!

“His current strength could probably defeat both of us with a single move,” Tong San continued. “Go check the training ground later—the alchemical training dummies were shattered under Xueying’s spear in just three strikes. Even Xueying’s spear couldn’t withstand the force and snapped.”

“What!” Zong Ling was shocked.

Xueying’s spear weighed fifty jin and had been crafted by an alchemy master. Though not a tiered weapon, it was more than sufficient for a Sky-tiered knight. Moreover, the spear shaft itself was designed to store power. To break the spear—what kind of strength was that?

“What exactly happened?” Zong Ling asked.

“I’d like to know too. But Xueying said he would tell both of us together.” Tong San looked at Xueying, and Zong Ling followed suit.

Dongbo Xueying flipped through the books on the shelf and quickly found what he was looking for. He flipped through the pages rapidly until he found the passage he had previously read. He traced his finger over a particular sentence and handed the book to Zong Ling with a smile. “Uncle Zong, Uncle Tong, this is the biography. Read this passage carefully, and you should understand.”

“Oh?” Zong Ling curiously accepted the book, and Tong San leaned in to look as well.

Zong Ling first glanced at the book’s cover. The title was *The Firewood Knight*.

“It’s him—the Firewood Knight?” Both Zong Ling and Tong San were slightly taken aback. Though they weren’t big readers, they had heard many legends during their adventures. Among them, the tale of the Firewood Knight was widely known. This Firewood Knight was a knight from over five thousand years ago. He gained fame because of his immense strength.

Originally a humble woodcutter from a remote village, he later embarked on the path of knighthood. At the Title-tier, he had already slain an Exalted being with a single axe blow! When he himself became an Exalted, he remained unmatched among all Exalted!

His title was “Firewood,” a name he had chosen himself.

He was revered as the “Strongest Exalted” of his era. His strength was such that no Exalted being could withstand even a few axe strikes from him—it was that terrifying.

“You two read that passage first,” Dongbo Xueying said with a smile. In his childhood, he had greatly admired the Firewood Knight for a long time because of how awe-inspiring he was. The Firewood Knight loved chopping firewood, treating his enemies just like logs. Whether they were dragons or demons, they were all chopped down!

“Alright,” Zong Ling turned back to the passage, and Tong San stared intently.

“Right, the Firewood Knight awakened the legendary axe-bloodline hidden within his body at this moment. The author would like to explain here that all humans, including you and me, actually carry countless bloodlines hidden within our bodies.

At the time of its creation, the imperial plane was devoid of all life, and its environment was extremely harsh.

Gradually, after countless eons of cultivation, the plane finally gave birth to a group of mighty beings—the earliest lifeforms of the Primordial Age! Each of them possessed terrifying power capable of moving mountains and filling seas, running about carrying entire mountains, tearing apart dragons and drinking their blood, feasting on their flesh… even dragons were weak before them, and even deities from beyond the plane dared not descend.

These mighty beings continued to reproduce, giving rise to humanity! Thus, within every human’s body flows the bloodline of these Primordial Age beings.

And in the long ages that followed, deities did descend, leaving descendants among humanity.

As humanity multiplied, it is likely that any random human, traced back ten thousand years, would share a common bloodline.

Every human carries the bloodlines of these Primordial beings and deities. Of course, these bloodlines are extremely diluted.

Direct descendants possess stronger bloodlines. For example, our Longshan Empire’s founding emperor, the “Longshan Emperor,” had a son after becoming a deity—this is the legendary Twelfth Prince, born as an Exalted being! This was because his father was an extremely powerful deity, and the bloodline within him made him an Exalted from birth.

From the Primordial Age, the Remote Age, the Ancient Age, to the present—we are all merely mortals now, for the bloodlines of those mighty beings have become far too diluted.

However, occasionally, some individuals awaken their Primordial bloodlines—some awaken the axe-bloodline, some the archer-bloodline, some the bloodline of swift runners… some can teleport, some can control lightning, some are said to be capable of a thousand transformations, some nearly immortal…

However, according to the author’s records, those who awaken their Primordial bloodlines often make a stunning debut… but later fade into mediocrity, almost all failing to cross into the Exalted realm. Why do I praise the Firewood Knight so highly? Because he calmly accepted his bloodline and ultimately became the strongest Exalted of his era!

After the Firewood Knight awakened the Primordial bloodline—the axe-bloodline—he then encountered the most important woman in his life. How exactly this unfolded, let the author now recount in detail…”

The entire thick biography contained only this much regarding the Primordial bloodline.

What followed was the Firewood Knight’s legendary life.

“Primordial bloodline?” Zong Ling and Tong San both looked at Dongbo Xueying.

“Yes, I must have awakened a Primordial bloodline,” Dongbo Xueying said.

“What kind of bloodline?” Zong Ling asked curiously.

“Can you teleport?” Tong San was even more excited. “Show us some lightning control? Or maybe some fire?”

“No.”

Dongbo Xueying replied helplessly.

Primordial bloodlines came in many forms, after all, since there had been a group of Primordial beings in the earliest days of the plane. The one he had awakened was relatively ordinary.

“The book said Primordial bloodlines each have their own specializations?” Zong Ling said.

“My special ability is just one—doubling my strength in a burst!” Dongbo Xueying explained.

“Doubling?” Both Zong Ling and Tong San were filled with excitement.

They wished they had such a power too.

What knight wouldn’t want to double their strength? Though it lacked the glamour of teleportation or shapeshifting, doubling one’s strength was still extremely practical.

“However, once I activate this power, my stamina depletes much faster,” Dongbo Xueying added. “Normally, I can fight for an hour without tiring, but if I go all out, I might collapse from exhaustion in just a short time. So my time for fighting at full power is very limited.”

“What’s your current strength?” Zong Ling asked curiously.

“In normal combat, I’d estimate myself at the level of a Meteor Knight!” Dongbo Xueying replied.

“So with doubled strength, you’d be at the Silver Moon Knight level?” Both Zong Ling and Tong San were excited.

“That’s just in terms of strength. I’m still a step behind Silver Moon Knights in speed. And the duration is short,” Dongbo Xueying smiled.

“Even so, you’re now the strongest in Yi Shui City!” Zong Ling said eagerly. “Haha, I always knew it! Xueying, you’ve trained so diligently with the spear techniques for nearly a decade without showing any noticeable Mana Rage—it was very strange! Sure enough, you didn’t erupt until now, and when you did, it was astonishing!”

Dongbo Xueying smiled.

Actually, during this awakening, Dongbo Xueying had his own thoughts.

Every human carried hidden Primordial bloodlines. After countless generations, these bloodlines had become very diluted. So why were some individuals able to awaken theirs?

Dongbo Xueying didn’t have many examples to refer to, but from the Firewood Knight, he could see a clue. That guy loved chopping firewood all his life… and eventually awakened the axe-bloodline! As for himself, he had trained the spear techniques so intensely that every day he pushed the strength of his arms and fingers to the limit, needing medicinal baths just to recover.

Perhaps this daily relentless training was the trigger for awakening his strength bloodline!

Dongbo Xueying didn’t know exactly who the towering, roaring giant he had vaguely seen during awakening was, so he simply named his Primordial bloodline the “Strength Bloodline.”

“This is just the beginning,” Dongbo Xueying said. “Like a normal body growing stronger with Mana Rage nourishment, I can feel my body becoming stronger with Mana Rage nourishment.”

“Hahaha…” Both Zong Ling and Tong San laughed heartily.

They were so happy today.

Originally, they had thought the young child’s vow had been just a child’s wishful thinking. At the time, no one else present had believed it… that Dongbo Xueying could truly rescue his parents. It had seemed too difficult!

But today, they both saw hope!

“Oh, by the way, starting today, I won’t need medicinal baths anymore,” Dongbo Xueying smiled. “Though my body isn’t immortal, my healing ability is far stronger than any medicinal bath.”

Saying this, Dongbo Xueying picked up a small carving knife from the desk and cut his palm, creating a wound. Normally, with a medicinal bath, the wound would heal completely by the next day.

But now, the wound on his palm rapidly healed, vanishing entirely in just a single breath.

Actually, the stronger one’s body, the more astonishing the recovery ability.

For example, a Silver Moon Knight’s internal organs and organs transform under the nourishment of Mana Rage, giving them astonishing recovery abilities. Title-tier Knights, whose bodies are cleansed by the forces of heaven and earth, possess nearly immortal bodies—far more so than Dongbo Xueying’s. Though it’s often said that a Title-tier Knight could be worn down by ordinary humans, that’s only theoretically possible.

The cost would be too great.

In reality, if an army were truly sent, a Title-tier Knight would have already fled, never giving the chance to be surrounded.

To kill a Title-tier Knight, one would usually need another Title-tier opponent or an Exalted being.

“Oh, there’s one more important thing. In a couple of days, I plan to go to Yi Shui City,” Dongbo Xueying suddenly added.