CHAPTER 213: BLOODLINE

Chapter 213: Bloodline

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In the underground training area of the inn, Ye Ning was cultivating while a small, furry beast circled around her, as if trying to examine something.

Its expression seemed curious, yet cautious, as it watched its master immersed in cultivation.

Coco had spent many days training with his master, and whenever she wasn’t practicing herself, she would focus on training him.

By nature, spiritual beasts did not need to refine or store spiritual energy the same way humans did. They absorbed and processed it naturally through hunting and consuming foods rich in spiritual energy, such as other beasts, spiritual fruits, or herbs.

Their bodies metabolized everything and refined it automatically. But lately, Coco had noticed that his master seemed capable of something similar.

In particular, ever since that incident some time ago, something strange had occurred within her, something that had changed her both externally and internally, something he could clearly feel.

It was hard not to notice, since at that time he had sensed an extremely powerful presence emanating from her, one that stirred a primal fear and an instinctive sense of submission within him, something oddly familiar.

Among spiritual beasts, a hierarchy existed, not only within each species but also among all beasts in general.

That hierarchy wasn’t determined solely by cultivation level, as it was for humans, but also by bloodline.

Every beast had an ancestor from which it descended, and every one of them carried a trace of that original bloodline’s purity.

However, that purity was no longer present in large quantities. Like all living beings, they had evolved and drifted far from their origins. Over countless generations, even the purest bloodlines of the spiritual beasts had gradually diluted, leading to offspring whose traits, powers, and strength were increasingly different and weaker in some ways from their ancestors.

And it was here that the bloodline came into play for all beasts.

Although most possessed diluted blood with only a faint trace of the original purity, occasionally, a beast would be born with a higher percentage than others, something that directly influenced their strength and their status, both among their own kind and in the natural order of all races.

They could also increase the purity and grade of their bloodline through cultivation and by consuming rare and beneficial cultivation resources.

Of course, that was easier said than done, as whenever such resources appeared, conflict inevitably broke out. Not only among members of the same race, but also between different species, all fighting to get their hands on those treasures.

That said, bloodlines also had their own hierarchy, one that transcended strength or cultivation status.

It was determined by the species itself.

The more powerful the ancestor species of a particular beast, the greater its innate dominance over others, a dominance that could be felt through presence alone.

When Coco had sensed that sudden change within Ye Ning, he had perceived the awakening of a very peculiar bloodline, something that had once been faint and nearly imperceptible, but had since become far more distinct after that incident.

He remembered vividly the terror he had felt when that bloodline first awakened, a fear far beyond anything he had ever experienced, even when facing the strongest members of his own pack. It was a feeling that told him the species behind that bloodline was far superior to his own, an instinctive realization that had sent him fleeing without hesitation.

Later, when everything calmed down, he had noticed that although the bloodline’s presence was still there, it was no longer as oppressive as before. That confused him, but it also kept him on edge. Each time his master cultivated, he stayed close, alert, and ready to flee at the first sign that bloodline might awaken again.

Needless to say, this also increased the respect and admiration he felt toward Ye Ning, who now, in his eyes, was more than worthy to have him as her battle companion.

It made him feel proud, in a way.

For a divine and magnificent creature like himself, only someone like her had the right to command him.

He thought this with a proud, heroic expression on his face, but just as he was lost in his fantasies, he suddenly stopped, looking ahead with a confused and irritated expression.

He had just bumped into someone.

Even if he had been daydreaming, there was no way he wouldn’t have sensed them approaching. He quickly turned his gaze, and saw a tall young man looking at him calmly.

It was Zhu Rong.

Upon seeing him, Coco became slightly alert.

He recognized who it was, despite his altered appearance. Yet the presence he now felt from him was... different,

vastly different from before. It made him think something was off, so he tried to probe him.

That was a mistake he’d soon regret.

The instant he did, his animal instincts went wild, overwhelmed by an immense, crushing pressure that instantly swept over him.

It was so powerful and sudden that it completely drowned him. In the blink of an eye, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Zhu Rong, who had just appeared and was now staring at the fallen cat, blinked in confusion as he watched the scene.

"What the hell’s wrong with this little furball?" he thought, watching Coco faint for no apparent reason.

In the end, he decided to ignore it and focus instead on the figure ahead, the one at the center of the training area.

Zhu Rong could tell she was doing well in her cultivation. Even now, at the fourth stage, her progress hadn’t slowed down in the slightest.

If she had focused on a single element, she could probably already attempt a breakthrough. But since she had chosen a path similar to his, she was still at this stage, pushing each of her elemental cores to their peak before advancing.

Though she was cultivating, that wasn’t a problem for him, because the one he had come to meet wasn’t her, but the one residing within her sea of consciousness.

Soon, he sent out a thin spiritual thread, which Ye Ning’s consciousness did not resist. Moments later, he materialized inside the dark space of her sea of consciousness.

There he saw her, the elf with the youthful appearance who was anything but young.

"Hey," he said, smiling slightly, "look what I’ve brought you."

As he spoke, a sphere of light appeared in his palm, the one containing the fragment of that weapon’s consciousness.

Lin Xian, who had just been wondering what he’d come for, saw the sphere, and her eyes instantly widened.

She stood from her throne in disbelief, muttering,

"Don’t tell me... is that what I think it is?"