Chapter 46: The Ancient Tradition

William shook his head, saying, “In your eyes, all the Holy Blood races are the same, right? But in reality, the relationships among the four races are very complex. Take Nana for example; do you think she is busy with cultivation and therefore doesn’t often participate in battles?”

“Indeed,” Qian Ye nodded, his impression coming from the Empire’s military data.

William took a deep breath and said, “Actually, it’s not like that. Cultivation is not important to Nana. What truly elevates her is combat and slaughter. In the past ten years, she has spent most of her time fighting us. It is because of her that our ancient Silverback tribe is now on the brink of extinction.”

This was a surprising piece of information for Qian Ye.

The Silverback tribe was an ancient werewolf clan with a heritage over a thousand years old. In recent years, they had become increasingly low-profile, rarely seen on the battlefield, but it turned out they were on the verge of extinction due to their war with the Blood Race.

“Doesn’t the Summit of the Peaks interfere?”

William stretched his legs and changed his sitting position, sighing, “This is a feud between the Silverback tribe and the Mammon clan. We currently have no standing to intervene. If we get involved, it will also give other Blood Race clans a reason to interfere.”

This was the ancient tradition of blood feuds among the dark races, not only existing between different tribes but also within the same race. Qian Ye had just realized that the intensity of this hatred was no less than the conflict between the dark and dawn factions.

Therefore, werewolves could hardly tolerate the appearance of another Nana, even if the possibility of awakening an ancient bloodline through this method was very low. There were seven such purple blood crystals in total, and so far, none of the five used had produced an awakened one with Mammon’s blood. The one Zareen held was one of the two that had been lost.

Although Zareen’s innate bloodline power was ordinary, he was pure-blooded, and both his paternal and maternal lines were very powerful. Bloodline awakening and inheritance of power cannot be judged by common sense, and the werewolves absolutely did not want to take risks. Zareen, driven by greed and selfishness, had concealed his acquisition of the purple blood crystal from his clan, giving the werewolves an opportunity.

Qian Ye remained silent, quietly watching the campfire.

William asked curiously, “Why have you suddenly stopped talking?”

Qian Ye said calmly, “You’ve told me so many secrets, does that mean you’re going to kill me next?”

William raised an eyebrow and then grinned maliciously, “Yes, that’s exactly right. But I can give you a chance, to work for me. For example…”

He smiled radiantly and patted Qian Ye’s shoulder. Qian Ye didn’t move, but his gaze became extremely cold.

William continued, “For example, keep using the Twin Flowers! Ha, as long as these guns are in your hands, that old man Ross won’t be in a good mood. And as long as he’s unhappy, I’ll be in a particularly good mood!”

The tense atmosphere, like a punctured balloon, deflated immediately. Qian Ye felt a mix of laughter and exasperation, saying grumpily, “They’re just fourth-grade guns, I won’t need them much longer.”

William stroked his short beard and said, “Oh, you still don’t know how to use them!”

Qian Ye was slightly surprised but didn’t explain that using Blood Race weapons didn’t deplete his origin power differently. However, William’s words seemed to hint at something else.

William took the Twin Flowers from Qian Ye’s waist, and once again, a powerful aura surged, with the phantom of a giant golden wolf rising into the air. He brought the two guns together, and as soon as the gun bodies touched, an anomaly occurred!

Origin power arrays on the gun bodies lit up one after another, and the origin light sketched out two nearly enchanting bicolored flowers, each facing opposite directions. As they slowly turned to face each other, a layer of patterns appeared on the gun bodies, and each petal that fell lit up a symbol of unknown meaning.

Right before Qian Ye’s eyes, the Twin Flowers merged into a double-barreled pistol.

When the last petals of the two flowers fell, each barrel fired a blue origin bullet, which merged in mid-air and exploded into a massive tree a hundred meters away.

The earth-shattering origin explosion completely obliterated the tree, leaving a deep pit with a radius of over ten meters, and everything on the ground was swept away, revealing a deep brown soil with a hint of red.

This was the power of a sixth-grade gun! The original form of the Twin Flowers was actually a double-barreled pistol?

William’s aura gradually subsided, and the Twin Flowers separated again, becoming two short pistols.

William threw the Twin Flowers back to Qian Ye, saying, “See, that’s the true Twin Flowers. It’s an ancient relic of the Monroe clan, rumored to have belonged to a duke and hold some secrets.” William shrugged nonchalantly, “But all named guns are said to have stories and secrets.”

Seeing Qian Ye trying to merge the two guns, William laughed and said, “It’s useless. Do you think Ross’s descendants don’t use it? Without the right bloodline, at least the strength of a general is required, not just any general. You might be able to do it in a few years.”

Before William finished speaking, a layer of crimson mist rose from Qian Ye, with golden lights floating and burning brightly, extending a pair of light wings that expanded to their fullest.

The Twin Flowers, instead of withering, had each petal ignite, merging into a single gun, firing two crimson origin bullets that merged in mid-air and exploded into a large thicket nearby.

After the explosion, a deeper and larger pit appeared on the ground.

“This, this is not normal,” William stammered, scratching his head, muttering. He began to scrutinize Qian Ye, “Your bloodline…”

Qian Ye was also taken aback; he had only wanted to try without expecting success. The reason why Ross’s descendants didn’t use the Twin Flowers was likely due to the lack of a suitable bloodline. If one had to force it with origin power, someone at William’s level would have more cost-effective options.

Initially, Qian Ye felt that the origin power needed to merge the guns was too overwhelming, far beyond his current capacity. Just as he was about to give up, the small wings on his dark golden blood qi suddenly expanded, eliminating the barrier, and the resulting blast was enough to severely wound a general.

But the power came at a cost; this shot drained a large portion of Qian Ye’s origin power, and the expansion of the dark golden blood qi significantly reduced his blood qi. This was still with his origin power being far stronger and purer than his peers. Anyone below the rank of a general would likely be drained dry without success. Despite this, Qian Ye was pleasantly surprised by the power of the shot.

As Qian Ye came back to his senses, he saw William staring at him thoughtfully, and his heart skipped a beat.

William shook his head, “When I first saw you, I thought you were a newborn from some Blood Race family. Human bloodlines are even more complex than the ancient clans of the Holy Blood. It’s a strange thing.”

His last statement was a consensus among all factions since the Dawn War, with the dark races constantly plundering, buying, and breeding human bloodlines, partly to study this phenomenon.

“Did you spare me because you thought I was a Blood Race?” Qian Ye asked.

“Oh, no, it’s because you were too weak, even killing you would have been troublesome,” William admitted straightforwardly.

Qian Ye frowned, “You’re really direct.”

William turned his gaze to the grill over the campfire, where the ribs and pork leg were turning golden, almost ready. He took a deep breath and said with a smile, “Of course, food is also very important.”

Qian Ye paused, then said, “Liking cooked food is a strange habit for a werewolf.”

The smile on William’s face froze.

That night, the two of them camped there. The next day, Qian Ye was a bit surprised to find that he had fallen asleep. With William around, the beasts in the wilderness dared not approach, and he had a particularly peaceful night.

He opened his eyes and saw that the she-wolf Aya had returned and was talking with William not far away.

After their conversation, William walked over and said, “I’m heading to the Tulip Market. If you’re going in the same direction, it’s best to go together.”

The so-called Tulip Market was actually a gray city on the border between the Zhao clan’s territory and the Dark Domain. Such cities were scattered along the borders of other continents, differing only in scale and content, where anything could be traded, and there were no laws or order.

Qian Ye asked, “What happened?” There were many issues with Zareen’s corpse, the most obvious being his manner of death and the extraction of his essence blood by a blood-sucking weapon. After the she-wolf reported back, it was impossible for William not to be suspicious, but it seemed like something else had happened?

William thought for a moment and then told him, “When Aya arrived in the area, the Evernight Council already had people there.”

Qian Ye nodded and frowned. It was a good thing William hadn’t discovered his secret, but with the presence of the Evernight Council, he wasn’t sure if his methods of erasing traces would be enough. Regardless of the girl’s true identity, Qian Ye didn’t want to bring her trouble.

“I remember seeing a red crystal pendant among Zareen’s items, right?”

Qian Ye found the item, and after William examined it for a while, he found an inconspicuous mark on the base of the red crystal, saying, “It turns out to be a work of Master Weber. Qian Ye, give it to me, and I’ll trade you for this.”

William threw a deep blue velvet bag to Qian Ye, who opened it to find a pile of blood crystals, about twenty or so. For a werewolf to have so many blood crystals, it seemed William’s goal in coming to this mountainous area wasn’t just Zareen.

“Who is Master Weber?” Qian Ye was curious.

“A divination master of the Evernight Council,” William smiled, “This should be a map. Although I can’t open it, someone who can will know what they came here for. But this is an internal matter of the Evernight nobility, so it’s best to pretend you never got it.”