The Ancient God's Summons

Just as the Su Family and the Blood Serving Sect were arguing heatedly, Li Yan had already absorbed a drop of ancient god's true blood from the Blood Pool.

[Host, you have absorbed a drop of true blood from the Bloodline Emperor Lord and gained an introductory understanding of [Bloodline Dao Runes].]

[From the Bloodline Dao Runes, you sensed that the ancient god known as the Bloodline Emperor Lord had fallen into slumber for some unknown reason.]

[It is calling to you from within its ancient tomb! Calling to every Blood Cultivator!]

The thoughts that suddenly flooded into his mind made Li Yan shudder. He awoke from the Blood Pool.

The entire pool of blood had also turned into clear, pure water.

Li Yan could no longer pretend to be asleep, so he slowly opened his eyes.

There was something puzzling him. By all rights, that Emperor Lord had absorbed an enormous amount of spiritual energy, bringing about the Dharma-Ending Era.

If he knew where Li Yan was, he would surely rush over at once and kill him.

Yet now, the Bloodline Emperor Lord needed to rely on these Blood Law Cultivators to carry out such petty schemes.

The Emperor Lord seemed to have vanished from the cultivation world, leaving behind only a vast number of Blood Cultivator followers.

Why was that?

By all reason, with spiritual energy in decline, no one in this world should have been able to stop that ancient god.

Yet Cloud City still existed, which meant something must have happened.

There were still many questions he needed to unravel.

Moreover, the useful information extracted from that drop of true blood left Li Yan eager to make a move.

The Bloodline Emperor Lord was gone, but the masses of disciples and descendants he had left behind could be put to Li Yan's use.

Why not seize this chance and turn every Blood Cultivator under heaven into his slave?

In the entire cultivation world, perhaps only one percent of cultivators were truly cultivating immortality.

The other ninety-nine percent were likely cultivators of blood laws.

If all of them became his slaves, then when the time came, who would be the true ancient god?

Such a monstrously rebellious thought surfaced in Li Yan's mind.

Competing with an ancient god for divinity seemed bold, carrying the air of staking everything on a single throw.

But only Li Yan knew that if he did not find a way in this cultivation world, the ancient god would kill him sooner or later.

As his strength grew, and as he appeared ever more frequently in ancient records—

Once a cultivator came into contact with too much of an ancient god's forbidden knowledge, death drew ever nearer.

The more you knew, the faster you died.

If he wanted to escape that law, then before the ancient god awakened, he could only turn the tables, occupy the magpie's nest, and strike first!

As Li Yan sat in the pool deep in thought, Sixth Elder Xu Mo beside him spoke.

"Holy Son, you are awake, aren't you?"

"Allow me to introduce her. This is Su Wang, head of the Su Family, known by the Dao title Saint Blood Fairy."

"The Su Family produced several Immortal Emperors in its ancestral line, who ascended to the White Jade Capital."

"During the Immortal Law Era, they were a renowned and prestigious clan in the cultivation world. After the Blood Law Era began, they wisely pledged allegiance to the Bloodline Emperor Lord."

Within the mirror, Su Wang, the Su Family head, wore a gauzy crimson dress. Her long, fair, tender legs beneath it were particularly eye-catching.

Su Wang lightly pressed her red lips together, her gaze fixed directly on Li Yan's handsome face.

"Su Wang greets the Holy Son."

"If the Holy Son does not find it beneath you, the Su Family is willing to devote everything we have to assisting you in ascending to the position of Dao Lord!"

As she spoke, Su Wang cast flirtatious glances from her eyes. "If the Holy Son wishes it, Su Residence may become your residence from this day forward. This little woman's bedchamber may also be given to the Holy Son."

Upon hearing this, the Blood Serving Sect's sect master in the other mirror stroked his thick beard and pointed at Su Wang as he cursed.

"Disgusting! Disgusting!"

"Disgusting knocked on Disgusting's door—it's home!"

"You're already so old, yet you're still calling yourself a little woman... Pah! You hypocritical old hag."

The Blood Serving Sect's sect master spat on the ground, his face full of disdain.

"Holy Son, don't listen to that old demoness."

"That old demoness is definitely trying to drain you dry!"

"Holy Son, heed this one word of advice from me, Yan Po Shan! The farther you stay from that old demoness, the better."

"That woman is no good!"

Faced with Yan Po Shan of the Blood Serving Sect slandering her, Su Wang gave a cold snort.

"I'm not a good person? You, a wild upstart who began as a bandit—how can you compare to my Su Family, an immortal sect for generations?"

From the bottom of her heart, Su Wang looked down on Yan Po Shan. The history of his rise was a history of arson, murder, looting, and plunder.

He had started out as a petty mountain bandit. By luck, he gained the favor of an ancient god and learned the Bloodline Method.

From then on, Yan Po Shan went from a mere bandit to gathering a force of his own, steadily expanding his power.

One mountain stronghold became a blood law sect.

In the cultivation world, where seniority was ranked and lineage was prized—

For a bandit like him to transform into the patriarch of a sect, his status was not even equal to that of a stray dog by the roadside.

Even Rogue Cultivators held higher status than Yan Po Shan!

When Yan Po Shan heard Su Wang's mockery, the rough man stroked his beard and threw back his head in laughter.

"Didn't everyone turn to blood laws because they could no longer stomach the cultivation world's obsession with seniority and its stubborn refusal to change?"

"Those cultivators who constantly prattle on about righteousness and morality scour the land for heavenly treasures, utterly heedless of the suffering of ordinary people!"

"The immortal herbs covering the mountains and plains have all become the property of cultivation sects. If common folk want to gather a little medicine to take home and treat illness, those cultivators will even kill them for it!"

Having said that, Yan Po Shan pointed at Su Wang. "You cultivation clans stand high above the world, untouched by worldly affairs, living beyond the dust of mortal life."

"But why aren't you cultivating immortality now? Why have you turned to blood laws instead? Hypocritical—hypocritical to the extreme!"

"I, Yan Po Shan, was born a bandit, but the people I robbed were cultivators! The people I killed were Daoist priests, monks, and the like."

"I robbed the Buddha lords of their gold and jewels, robbed the Dao lords of their herb gardens, and distributed it to the poor. If you insist on calling me a bandit, then I'll accept it!"

Li Yan listened from the side without a word, but inwardly, he was greatly shaken.

What?

Yan Po Shan cultivated blood laws, but the people he robbed were all cultivators?

That utterly wicked bandit chief was actually a good man who robbed the rich to aid the poor and led impoverished commoners in cultivation?

It sounded absurd, but this world itself was absurd.

Su Wang glared through gritted teeth at the thick-browed, big-eyed, bearded Yan Po Shan. She clenched her fists and held it in for a long while, unable to say a single word.

In the end, she retorted.

"Yes, Yan Po Shan, you are a saint."

"But you look so filthy. Your daughter probably... would not catch the Holy Son's eye."

When Su Wang said that, Li Yan instinctively looked at Yan Po Shan.

With that face full of sideburns, that dark, round face, he gave off the impression of a Black Whirlwind Li Kui.

How could such a rough man possibly have a beautiful daughter?

The moment someone questioned whether his beloved daughter was ugly, Yan Po Shan burst into laughter.

"My precious daughter has always been raised deep within the sect's mountains. I have never let her show her face in public."

"Today, to give the Holy Son some face, I'll let my precious girl come out and make an appearance!"

Watching them quarrel, Li Yan could not care less.

No matter how beautiful Yan Po Shan's daughter was, it had nothing to do with him. His heart held only the desire to grow stronger, with no other distracting thoughts.

Yet when that young girl appeared before the mirror, Li Yan rose straight out of the Blood Pool.

"How is that possible?"

Li Yan stared dumbfounded at the girl in the mirror, his face filled with disbelief.