Morning

The Yin Clan City-State beneath the Blood Mist Barrier was shrouded in a faint veil of bloodlight.

Eastern palace-style buildings with bracketed eaves and upturned roofs stood jumbled together with towering pyramids of bizarre design. Strange and sinister as it was, the place possessed an indescribable sense of harmony. Great numbers of handsome and beautiful Yin Clan members, their bodies overflowing with yin energy and their faces deathly pale, moved through the streets. Whenever they saw Yin Xuege striding past in haste, they all wore silent, gloating sneers.

Countless cold smiles were like flying knives, chaotically stabbing into Yin Xuege's body. They chilled him to the bone and forced him to lift his head even higher. Enduring those hostile gazes and smiles, Yin Xuege hurried through the dark, profound Yin Family city-state. Only after a full quarter of an hour did he return to his residence near the Children's Hall.

The Children's Hall, also known as the Legacy Law Hall, was where the Yin Family taught its young and passed down all manner of strange arts, secret techniques, and cultivation methods. Every child in the clan under the age of eighteen, regardless of birth, had to live together in the dormitories near the Children's Hall.

Across a dormitory district more than ten li wide, several thousand identical two-story buildings crouched beneath twisted shadows of trees like blood-dripping monsters. Yin Xuege's building stood in the most remote corner of the district, farthest from the Children's Hall. It was also the most dilapidated-looking of them all.

Moreover, whether deliberately or not, dozens of buildings around Yin Xuege's residence had been left vacant. Even several of the nearest buildings had been razed to the ground, leaving his residence invisibly isolated from all the other dormitories of the Children's Hall.

Without looking around, Yin Xuege entered his residence, hastily wiped himself down, and changed into a tight-fitting leather outfit. Standing before the full-length mirror in the bathroom, he forcefully slapped his cheeks with both hands, then silently stared at his reflection.

He was thin and tall, roughly a fist's height taller than an ordinary eleven-year-old boy. His still-unformed face carried a trace of the grim, murderous air that no youth his age should have possessed. Even Yin Xuege himself found that handsome face somewhat unfamiliar.

His smooth long hair was tied behind his head with a blood-red ribbon, while two long strands drifted down before his forehead, conveniently concealing his faintly dark-red eyes. Yin Xuege lifted one strand of hair and narrowed one eye. His pupil rapidly expanded and contracted. After repeating this seven or eight times, his pupil abruptly shrank into a bright point of blood-red light.

That point of bloody radiance lingered in his eye for three seconds before swiftly vanishing without a trace.

Gritting his teeth, Yin Xuege gave a strange, tight-lipped smile, shook his head disdainfully, and spat hard onto the floor.

"A direct descendant of the Yin Clan? Who would covet blood like that of a monster? Yin Clan, Yin Clan, Yin Clan!"

Recalling Yin Xuejiao's arrogant, overbearing laughter from the previous night, and remembering the frenzied suppression and secret schemes he had suffered over the past few years at the hands of Yin Xuejiao, Yin Xueao, and the other direct descendants of the Yin Family, Yin Xuege's face grew ever paler until it was nearly transparent. The bloodlight in his eyes grew increasingly intense, and even the cramped bathroom gradually filled with a faint scent of blood.

"Monsters! The so-called Yin Clan is nothing but a pack of monsters! You are all nothing but monsters!"

At that moment, a low drumbeat came from the Children's Hall near the dormitory district. The war drum, said to be made from the hide of the Son of the Thunder God, sounded deep and heavy, yet like rolling thunder it blasted directly into the depths of his mind, shaking Yin Xuege's body wildly.

This was the first round of the three drum rounds sounded before lessons began at the Children's Hall. After the third round, any children who had yet to appear in the classrooms would suffer the Yin Clan's extremely harsh family punishment—a punishment no sane person would ever wish to experience.

Yin Xuege suppressed the bloodlight in his eyes, turned into a faint shadow, and charged fiercely toward the Children's Hall. The air was torn apart by his rushing body, producing a long, crisp hiss like silk being ripped apart.

The Children's Hall stood north of the dormitory district, an oddly shaped structure that was almost an unclassifiable mishmash.

A nine-tiered, dark-red stepped pyramid, it was unmistakably an architectural style from foreign lands. The pyramid, nearly half a li tall, stood like a small mountain at the end of a plaza ten li long and wide. Majestic and imposing, it struck terror into all who saw it. The blood-red lamps scattered across it made the pyramid seem all the more demonic and sinister, so that no one dared approach it.

Originally, it should have been a purely foreign-style building. Yet at the pyramid's entrance stood a hundred-meter-tall statue of Empress Wa, the great sage of the Demon Race from Eastern myth and legend. With a human head and a serpent's body, Empress Wa stood proudly before the pyramid entrance. Her left hand gripped the blade of a strange longsword, while her right hand held up a completely dark-red bat.

The foreign stepped pyramid, the statue of Empress Wa, the great sage of the Eastern Demon Race, and the gigantic bat resting in Empress Wa's hand—all these things blended together into a feeling of strangeness and distortion. With the faint bloodlight cast down by the roiling Blood Mist Barrier in the sky, the Yin Clan's Children's Hall resembled a gigantic monster bathing in a sea of blood, ready at any moment to rise up and destroy everything around it.

Yin Xuege stopped before Empress Wa's statue. His little face taut, he bowed deeply to it.

Yet the direction of his bow was not Empress Wa, whose status was supreme among the Eastern Demon Race, but the gigantic bat held in her hand. That blood-red bat, several meters across, stood upright in Empress Wa's palm with its head held high. It was said to be an image of an avatar formed from a wisp of the Yin Clan ancestor's Essence Blood.

The drums of the Children's Hall had already reached the second round. Large numbers of Yin Clan children came rushing in from every direction. Like Yin Xuege, they bowed to the blood-red bat, yet paid no attention at all to Empress Wa.

After their deep bows, all the Yin Clan children transformed into streaks of shadow and darted into the Children's Hall like a violent gale.

The drums began their third round, and Yin Xuege had already reached the entrance of a spacious hall inside the Children's Hall. But from the side, a foot suddenly stretched out, unhurriedly sweeping toward his feet. Yin Xuege's steps instantly fell into disarray. He sharply drew in a breath and barely managed to evade that malice-filled trip.

But two figures suddenly crashed into him from behind, striking both his shoulders at once. The tremendous impact finally made Yin Xuege lose his balance. He flew forward in a miserable tumble, sailing more than twenty meters before smashing headfirst into the ground.

With a smack, Yin Xuege landed flat on the floor. The fall nearly turned his five viscera and six bowels upside down. His head buzzed, stars danced before his eyes, and he nearly coughed up blood.

Several dozen Yin Clan children were already standing in the hall. Seeing Yin Xuege fall into the hall in such a sorry state, everyone burst into laughter. "Hehe," "Haha," and "Heheh"—laughter brimming with endless malice poured down upon Yin Xuege like a tidal wave, making his face flush red and then turn green as he scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible.

Yin Jiying, the chief steward of the Yin Family Children's Hall, walked gloomily up to Yin Xuege and lightly patted his shoulder. Standing two heads taller than Yin Xuege, he shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"Xuege, your aptitude truly is the worst among all the children I have ever seen. Do you think there is any need for you to continue coming to the Children's Hall and wasting the Lineage's resources? If the resources wasted on you were given to any child of a collateral branch, their strength would now be at least twice yours!"

Yin Xuege clenched his fists. Raising his head to look at the solemn, stern, and dignified Yin Jiying, he barely forced out a few words. "Third Uncle, it was them!"

"Don't!" Yin Jiying hurriedly shook his head. He covered Yin Xuege's mouth with one hand and shook his head repeatedly in an exaggerated manner. "I cannot bear the title of 'Third Uncle' from you! When the others in this hall call me Third Uncle, naturally I am pleased! But you, Xuege... how could I possibly deserve it?"

The children burst into laughter again. They stood at a distance, exchanging looks and making teasing, giggling remarks.

"Exactly. Third Uncle Jiying is someone only we can call that."

"Yin Xuege, you are not a Yin Clan member. Are you worthy of calling him Third Uncle?"

"A bastard who does not even know who his father is—how could Third Uncle dare acknowledge that call?"

Those cold, vicious words were like countless blades, stabbing into Yin Xuege's heart again and again. At only eleven years old, Yin Xuege had already heard such venomous words countless times. He merely gritted his teeth and held his head high. He no longer looked at Yin Jiying, instead turning his gaze toward the walls of the great hall.

The walls of the hall, built from black boulders, were densely carved with countless reliefs glorifying the great achievements of the Yin Clan's ancestors.

For example, the origins of the Yin Family—at the beginning of the Era of Dharma Decline, the laws of heaven and earth collapsed, spiritual energy between heaven and earth dispersed, and the path to immortality for cultivators was cut off, leaving no hope of eternal life. The Yin Family's ancestor, Yin Tianjue, brazenly betrayed the Dao and entered the demonic path. As an Eastern cultivator, he led the elders of the Yin Family's Heaven Generation in a surprise attack on the Blood Demon Temple, seizing Blood Demon Saint Blood from the Upper Realm and forcibly transforming himself into a Blood Demon Physique!

Relying on the tyrannical and sinister Blood Demon Physique, in the Era of Dharma Decline when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had completely vanished, Yin Tianjue led his clansmen in raising Blood Slaves and seizing the endless vital essence of human blood to gain eternal life, continuously strengthening the family's power. After several centuries of vertical and horizontal alliances, he had forcefully developed the Yin Clan into a supreme and formidable power in both East and West.

These were the glorious achievements every member of the Yin Clan knew by heart, the immortal merit belonging to Yin Tianjue alone, the ancestor of the Yin Clan. Ever since Yin Xuege had become aware of the world, he had heard Yin Tianjue's brilliant deeds countless times. As for the lifelike reliefs on the hall walls, he remembered even their tiniest details with perfect clarity.

Whenever vicious words assailed him, whenever the Yin Family children knocked him to the ground, whenever stewards like Yin Jiying from the Children's Hall mocked and ridiculed him, Yin Xuege would silently look at those reliefs and encourage himself again and again.

If that dead old man Yin Tianjue could do it, then he would be no worse!

If Yin Tianjue could do it, then he could certainly do it too!

Within this cold and heartless Yin Family, among these bloodless demons, Yin Xuege had encouraged himself countless times. Only then had he struggled on and survived amid this cruel environment and merciless oppression. So long as he lived, there were infinite possibilities. If he died, no one would stand up for Yin Xuege!

He did not know who his father was. That was the chief reason he was called a "lowborn bastard"!

He knew who his mother was, but he had never placed any hope in that unreliable mother of his! Although Yin Xuege still harbored a trace of warm expectation toward her in the depths of his heart, he had never pinned his hopes of survival on her!

What could one possibly expect from a woman who was pregnant yet did not even know who the father of her child was?

The third round of drums quietly faded away. Having habitually used words to provoke and suppress Yin Xuege for quite some time, Yin Jiying let out a heavy breath, contentedly wiped the spittle from the corner of his mouth, and gave a heavy cough.

The hundred children in the hall, Yin Xuege included, almost instinctively formed a neat square formation. Even Yin Xuege, who had been lost in thought as he silently admired the wall reliefs, entered the ranks without the slightest mistake through sheer habit. Last row, last position. Given the suppression and exclusion Yin Xuege endured within the Yin Family, he could only stand in the farthest corner of the formation.

Yin Jiying unwillingly glanced at Yin Xuege. This wild brat had grown increasingly "cunning." In the past, he would arrive at the Children's Hall before the first round of drums, allowing Yin Jiying to freely vent his venomous, snake-juice-like mockery upon him. But now, Yin Xuege arrived almost every day just in time for the third round of drums, costing Yin Jiying far too much enjoyment.

With a displeased snort, Yin Jiying beckoned toward a doorway in the corner of the hall.

A group of girl Blood Slaves in pale-red robes, with graceful figures and lovely faces, silently entered the hall carrying trays. Keeping their heads lowered, they approached the Yin Clan children standing in the hall with trembling fear. They respectfully knelt before them and raised their trays high.

On each tray sat a small white jade bowl. The fist-sized bowls were filled with bright-red, viscous liquid.

The children smiled as they picked up the bowls and drank the liquid in one gulp. A dazzling flush suddenly rose on their pale faces, after which the skin over their entire bodies turned red as though they had been scorched by fire. Fine beads of sweat seeped from their skin. The children all exhaled in extreme comfort, and a rich medicinal fragrance immediately filled the hall.

Yin Xuege also picked up a white jade bowl. Though fist-sized, the bowl had been carved as thin as a sheet of paper. The red liquid inside looked unremarkable, yet this tiny bowlful weighed a full two jin!

The Yin Clan raised countless Blood Slaves. Every morning, the bowl of red liquid consumed by these children required the Essence Blood taken from the hearts of a full hundred vigorous Blood Slaves. Only after being refined through complicated secret methods and mixed with various medicinal herbs could it be made.

The Blood Essence refined from a bowl of Essence Blood was exceedingly valuable and costly. It was a necessity for the cultivation of Yin Clan children and even Yin Clan members! Only Blood Essence containing such immense vitality could disperse the yin and evil energy within Yin Clan members, allowing them to live, cultivate, and even bear children normally.

Closing his eyes, Yin Xuege drank the Blood Essence in the bowl in a single gulp. He felt a scorching current flow into his stomach before swiftly transforming into a gentle, hazy current of qi that circulated through his entire body. Some of the yin and evil energy accumulated within him was rapidly dispersed, leaving his entire body warm and indescribably comfortable.

Every cell in his body cheered with joy, eagerly absorbing the miraculous life force contained in that bowl of Blood Essence. Yin Xuege felt like a blade of grass that had received ample sunlight, rain, dew, and fertilizer. His body was rapidly growing.

Over the past two years, Yin Xuege had lost the chance to absorb the essence of the full moon on nights of the full moon, and thus lost the chance to fuse with the trace of Innate Taiyin Qi within that essence to rapidly increase his strength. Every month, on the morning after the full moon, this bowl of Blood Essence infused with powerful medicinal properties, which everyone received, had become Yin Xuege's sole external aid in improving himself.

Setting down his bowl, Yin Xuege turned to look at Yin Xuejiao, who stood first in the first row of the formation. The bowl of Blood Essence distributed after every full moon was an unshakable benefit of the Yin Family. With Yin Xuejiao's level of strength, he was still incapable of depriving Yin Xuege of it.

Sensing Yin Xuege's gaze, Yin Xuejiao heavily set down his white jade bowl, bared his teeth in a grin, and stretched out his crimson tongue to forcefully lick a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. Before Yin Jiying and all the children, Yin Xuejiao grabbed the beautiful blonde girl in front of him. His two canine teeth suddenly grew more than three times longer, and he viciously bit into the girl's carotid artery.

The blonde girl's body trembled slightly. She suddenly dropped her tray and, utterly intoxicated, wrapped both arms around Yin Xuejiao's body. Her face swiftly flushed crimson. She let out an enraptured moan, her curvaceous body rubbing hard against Yin Xuejiao.

Yin Xuejiao greedily gulped down the girl's blood. Only when her face had turned utterly pale and her body began convulsing from severe blood loss did Yin Jiying lightly cough from the side.

Yin Xuejiao reluctantly released the dying girl in his arms and casually tossed her to the floor as though throwing away a piece of trash.

With half his face smeared in blood, Yin Xuejiao giggled and spread his hands toward Yin Jiying.

"Third Uncle, your nephew successfully broke through his bottleneck last night, but too much yin energy accumulated in my body. I truly could not restrain myself this morning! Please forgive me, Third Uncle!"

Yin Jiying acted as though he had not heard Yin Xuejiao's request for "forgiveness." With exaggerated surprise, he cried out, "Xuejiao, you actually broke through? Good! Among the children of the main family, you are the first! Hm, it seems the Yin Clan's boundless future rests entirely upon you all!"

He coldly glanced at the expressionless Yin Xuege, then suddenly laughed.

Yin Xuege's heart violently clenched. Next would come a perfectly justified malicious beating, wouldn't it?

Sure enough, just as the external affairs steward had said, Yin Jiying clapped his hands and announced the day's lesson.

Since Yin Xuejiao had made a breakthrough, surely there were many others who had as well!

Since everyone had made breakthroughs, today's lesson would naturally be practical combat!

Looking at Yin Xuege's deathly pale face, Yin Jiying smiled with boundless grace and kindness.

"The Yin Clan's hopes rest upon all of you. In today's practical combat lesson, Third Uncle hopes you can bring out your true strength!"

During the new book period, remember to add it to your collection and cast plenty of recommendation votes!

Updates will be sparse during the new book period, so I'm counting on everyone! (To be continued)