The old man heaved a heavy sigh, his voice brimming with frustration. “Young Master Qi has already hinted so clearly, yet those old fools in the family pretend to be deaf and dumb. That old scoundrel Song Zhongcheng keeps babbling about the dignity of the Song Family. Hmph! I see he just wants to make things difficult for Young Master, fearing that once you are free, you will marry into a great clan and gain a powerful ally. When the very foundation is crumbling, what use is dignity? Foolish, truly foolish!”
Song Zining let out a sigh, his voice barely above a whisper, “Heaven does not seek to destroy man; man destroys himself.”
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind burst through the window, chilling the room and scattering papers. Song Zining remained motionless, his heart heavy with melancholy.
Qian Ye continued his long wait. The giant beast’s heart seemed to have an endless supply of blood, converting dark energy without end.
In one corner, the purple blood energy was shrinking, motionless. It couldn’t partake in the massive amount of dark energy converted by Xuan Chapter; it was all absorbed by the dark gold blood energy. Today, for some reason, the dark gold blood energy was particularly overbearing. The purple blood energy had attempted to share some of the dark energy as usual but was forcefully driven away by the dark gold blood energy.
A fierce battle ensued between the two blood energies, resulting in a devastating defeat for the purple blood energy. It was nearly torn apart and devoured by the dark gold blood energy, leaving it severely weakened. No longer daring to compete, it retreated to a far corner, waiting for the dark gold blood energy to finish its meal, hoping for scraps.
This time, both the Book of Darkness and the Primordial Wings remained unusually calm, not even attempting to compete with the dark gold blood energy. Thus, all the dark energy was absorbed by the dark gold blood energy.
Time passed, and the dark gold blood energy finally reached a critical point. It began to release fine threads, attaching to Qian Ye’s heart, forming a dark golden cocoon, initiating its ascension.
Qian Ye did a quick mental calculation, and his eyes widened in shock. The dark energy absorbed by the dark gold blood energy was almost equivalent to the entire essence of a nobleman.
A complete nobleman, just enough for the dark gold blood energy to advance once? If Qian Ye still had a body, his eye would surely be twitching. In the past, he thought the Primordial Wings and the Book of Darkness were astonishingly draining, but now he realized that the dark gold blood energy was the true glutton.
The cocoon formed, but the dark gold blood energy did not stop absorbing. Instead, it accelerated. After a moment, a dark gold thread emerged from the cocoon, delving into Qian Ye’s heart. Another followed shortly after, repeating the process.
It was a lengthy process, with the dark energy continuously channeled into the blood cocoon. A sudden realization struck Qian Ye: the dark gold blood energy would form a blood core after this ascension!
This meant Qian Ye would take a step forward in the Evernight side, officially ascending to a third-rank viscount, equivalent to a ten-star general on the Empire side.
However, the sheer amount of dark energy consumed by the dark gold blood energy left Qian Ye in a bitter smile. Since the cocoon formed, it had absorbed as much as another nobleman. In total, at least the equivalent of two and a half noblemen’s worth of dark energy had been fed to the dark gold blood energy, just to form this nascent blood core. The next ascent would be a task without end.
Still, there was a common understanding in both the Evernight and Dawn camps: with fixed talent, the more invested, the more gained. The more talented, the harder the perfect ascension, but the firmer the foundation, the vaster the future potential.
Though Qian Ye understood this, he felt uneasy. The consumption was absurdly high, comparable to the likes of Zhao Yuying or Zhao Jundu. Even for them, such consumption was unreasonable.
Numerous dark red threads emerged from the blood cocoon, piercing Qian Ye’s heart, tightly linking them. As the dark gold blood energy evolved within the cocoon, Qian Ye’s heart slowly changed, strengthening. This process further consumed the equivalent of two noblemen’s essence.
At last, the dark gold blood energy completed its evolution and emerged from the cocoon!
At this moment, Qian Ye could hardly feel excited. The total cost was at least equivalent to five third-rank noblemen. In other words, five Stuka noblemen together would be required for Qian Ye to form a blood core and ascend to a third-rank viscount.
Outside this small space, the giant beast’s heart was almost depleted, leaving only a thin layer. Qian Ye could only marvel at the robustness of the chaotic life’s essence, which far exceeded that of ordinary creatures.
Now, the formation of the blood core was natural. After the dark gold blood energy emerged, the threads piercing Qian Ye’s heart did not retract but instead drew fresh blood, forming a small blood clot outside the heart.
Seeing the clot, Qian Ye finally relaxed. He had feared the dark gold blood energy might directly convert his heart into a blood core, like all nobles.
If so, Qian Ye would be half-immersed in the Evernight camp. Moreover, human generals relied on their hearts as the source of power for many techniques and skills. For divine generals, the heart was indispensable.
From the start, Qian Ye had instructed the dark gold blood energy to form a new blood core. He didn’t know if it would obey, as he had never truly controlled it.
Fortunately, the dark gold blood energy was obedient, forming a new blood core outside the heart as Qian Ye wished.
The clot pulsated, continuing to absorb dark energy until the giant beast’s remaining essence was nearly gone, and a new blood core appeared beside the heart.
Looking at the core, Qian Ye was stunned. Was this really his blood core?
He had slain many viscounts and seen their cores, even ducal cores in the Red Scorpion Legion’s array room.
This new blood core was the size of a fist, far exceeding a normal viscount, nearly matching a first-rank viscount. Given the vast amount of essence consumed during the ascension, it was expected to be stronger. Yet, this core was unique, embedded with several dark golden crystals.
Legends said when a noble transcended the ducal rank, becoming a prince, their blood core would undergo a qualitative change, crystallizing into what was called Blood Amber. However, few had ever seen a prince’s core.
Noble princes were immensely powerful, just below a grand duke, with nearly infinite lifespans. Renowned princes often outlived empires. Who could kill them and examine their cores?
What category did Qian Ye’s semi-crystallized core fall into?
Putting aside the question, the successful formation of the blood core allowed Qian Ye to restore his body. The core’s presence was crucial for rebirth, which was why destroying it was necessary to kill a high-ranking noble.
As the blood core pulsed, the dark gold blood energy, seemingly exhausted, sank into it. The purple blood energy, cowering in the corner, began to move, circling the core but not entering. It returned to the heart, dormant once more.
When the core’s first pulse reverberated, Qian Ye’s consciousness anchored itself, falling into the core. With a thought, hundreds of fine threads shot out, piercing the remaining essence and flesh, absorbing and reconstructing his body.
Qian Ye focused on rebuilding his body.
Outside, in the Black Forest, the encroaching flesh that had been devouring everything suddenly halted, then began to retract, leaving behind desolate wasteland. Strangely, the ground, now slightly raised, filled in the trenches.
New green shoots sprouted, growing rapidly, reaching tens of meters high in a day before turning brown and withering, the branches twisting and blackening into a sinister form.
The retreating flesh dried up, turning into deep gray stone.
After an indeterminate time, Qian Ye tore through the blood membrane covering him, standing. First, he touched his chest, feeling two hearts beating, one of which was the new blood core.
He looked at his hands, now slender and flawless, with an unhealthy pallor.
These seemingly delicate hands held immense power. Spotting a broken sword nearby, he summoned it. The blade, once used by Nanguo Jiancheng, had been corroded by the chaotic beast, but the remaining edge was its essence.
Qian Ye twisted the blade, easily deforming it. This strength far surpassed that of his peers, capable of rending iron.
He discarded the blade, examined his hands, and then surveyed his surroundings. He stood in a barren area, covered in strange gray stone, with An Duoya’s necklace lying at his feet, undamaged. Qian Ye picked it up, placing it around his neck.
His attention was drawn to a peculiar crystal, palm-sized, glowing faintly nearby.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage