Bloodline Rule

Chapter 28: Bloodline Rule

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was built among the mountain ridges outside the city.

It was different from the Crown Prince's Mansion.

The Crown Prince's Mansion emphasized rules; the Royal Academy emphasized grandeur.

The mountain gate was tall, the stone steps long, and the guards numerous.

Meow Meow crouched on a tree, watching the black cloth carriage below as it took a side path around to the academy's back mountain, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Gray Ear lay on another branch, his nose twitching.

He caught the scent of the white tiger cub.

And also the tainted, bloody smell from the pollution.

Meow Meow did not follow immediately.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was not the West Suburb hunting grounds.

There were Soul Master teachers here, noble children, and some guards sent by the Heavenly Dou Royal Family.

If he ran around recklessly here, the chance of being discovered was far higher than in the hunting grounds.

"Gray Ear."

Gray Ear immediately looked at him.

"You stay outside."

"Remember the smell of that carriage."

"If anyone comes out, you follow only to the mountain gate—do not enter the academy."

Gray Ear let out a low cry.

Seeing that Gray Ear wasn't staring at the roadside vendor's dried meat, Meow Meow felt somewhat satisfied.

It seemed the first lesson had been useful.

At least not every cat was as easily led astray by food as Numb Tail.

Meow Meow suppressed his aura and slipped through the tree shadows toward the back mountain.

The academy's back mountain had a Beast Garden.

On the surface, it was a place for students to identify soul beasts and learn their habits.

Inside were some low-level soul beasts, mostly under a hundred years, with a few thousand-year ones mixed in.

That wasn't strange in itself.

Many high-level Soul Master Academies had similar places.

But what was strange was that the black cloth carriage didn't stop at the Beast Garden's main gate. Instead, it circled around to a secluded stone house.

There was an underground entrance there.

Two Soul Masters stood outside the entrance.

One was a Soul Ancestor.

The other was a Soul Elder.

Meow Meow hid in the grass and watched as the Black Eagle family members carried the white tiger cub down.

The cub was still in its cage.

It looked even weaker than last night.

Its white fur had darkened, and the Nether aura along its spine was even more chaotic.

Jianbing suddenly woke inside the Calming Bell.

"It won't last much longer."

Meow Meow didn't reply.

He could see that too.

The white tiger blood and Nether aura on that cub had been forcibly mashed together, repeatedly stimulated by the Black Water pollution.

This wasn't raising a soul beast.

This was using a life for experiments.

A middle-aged Soul Master walked out of the stone house.

He wore a Heaven Dou Royal Academy teacher's robe, but on the wrist guard exposed beneath his sleeve was a small Black Eagle Crest.

Meow Meow's gaze turned cold.

"So there really is someone inside the academy."

The middle-aged Soul Master glanced at the cub in the cage and said in a low voice:

"Is this one more stable than the previous two?"

The Black Eagle Family's Soul King nodded.

"Steady it."

"But that white cat ruined things last night. Seven bottles of the third batch of medicine were lost."

The Middle-aged Soul Master's face turned ugly.

"White cat?"

"Mm. A very strange white cat."

"It can suppress Pollution and also store things."

"Like a soul beast, but not like an ordinary one."

The Middle-aged Soul Master was silent for a moment.

"Forget it for now."

"Send this cub into the Bloodline Chamber."

"Tomorrow, a Noble wants to see the results."

Meow Meow's ear twitched.

Noble.

Those two words were very useful.

There really was someone else behind the Black Eagle Family.

He crept forward a little more, wanting to hear more clearly.

Inside the Stone House, the two men carried the cage in.

The Soul Ancestor Guard at the entrance glanced toward the grass.

Meow Meow froze instantly.

Mimic Breath suppressed his soul beast aura to the extreme.

The Soul Ancestor Guard watched for a few breaths, found nothing unusual, and withdrew his gaze.

Meow Meow waited a moment before slipping in through a crack in the Stone House's side.

Inside was a narrow downward passage.

The smell was heavy.

Blood.

Medicine.

And the stench of soul beast fear.

Meow Meow endured the discomfort, moving along the corner downward.

Soon, he saw the so-called "Bloodline Chamber."

It wasn't like an ordinary Beast Garden.

Many animal bones hung on the walls, and several stone tables stood in the center.

Array patterns were carved into the tables.

On one of those tables, the White Tiger Cub just now was locked in an iron cage, with several bottles of red-black liquid beside it.

On another table lay a stack of Record Paper.

Meow Meow jumped onto a beam and looked down.

The writing on the paper was messy.

But he could make out a few lines.

[White Tiger bloodline stability insufficient.]

[Nether aura rejection is obvious.]

[Third batch attempt to use cub as vessel, avoiding exposure of human Soul Masters.]

[If stable later, can attempt transfer to Low-Rank Soul Masters.]

Meow Meow's gaze turned cold when he saw the last line.

These people weren't just testing on soul beasts.

They planned to use humans next.

Jianbing's voice tightened in the bell.

"They're going to put White Tiger blood into people?"

"More or less."

Meow Meow replied in a low voice.

"Or rather, they want to create an obedient White Tiger Martial Soul."

Jianbing didn't understand the tangled webs of Martial Soul Hall, Heaven Dou, and Star Luo.

But it could understand "obedient White Tiger."

It was quiet for a moment.

"A White Tiger shouldn't be like this."

"Mm."

Meow Meow nodded.

"It shouldn't."

Inside the Bloodline Chamber, the Middle-aged Soul Master took out another small Soul Tool.

The Soul Tool projected a pale blue light screen.

Several lines of names appeared on the screen.

Meow Meow couldn't see them all.

Only a few words.

[Star Luo Collateral Branch.]

[Hell Spirit Cat.]

[Age: Seven to ten.]

[Temporarily not entering Heaven Dou.]

Meow Meow's heart sank further.

This thread was very clear.

Someone had obtained materials related to White Tiger and Hell Spirit from Star Luo.

First testing on soul beasts.

If successful, then considering transfer to Low-Rank Soul Masters.

And Heaven Dou Royal Academy here was just a hidden testing site.

"Nobles really know how to play."

Meow Meow cursed inwardly.

"Treating soul beasts, children, and martial soul bloodlines all as materials."

He didn't linger.

He had seen enough.

Pushing deeper risked exposure.

While several Soul Masters inspected the Young Beasts, Meow Meow quietly used the Calming Bell to collect a trace of the Bloodline Chamber's aura, then tore a small piece of Record Paper from the corner of a table.

Then he quickly left.

After exiting the Academy Back Mountain, Gray Ear was still waiting in the tree.

Seeing Meow Meow return, it immediately jumped down.

Meow Meow glanced at it, saw no blood scent on its body, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad."

"You didn't run around."

Gray Ear flicked its tail with some pride.

On the way back to the Crown Prince's Mansion, Meow Meow didn't speak the whole time.

Jianbing didn't speak either.

It wasn't until they entered the Clear Radiance Pavilion and Qian Renxue looked up that Meow Meow placed the piece of Record Paper on the table.

After Qian Renxue read it, her face turned frighteningly cold.

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

"Black Eagle Family."

"Star Luo Collateral Branch."

"They really have no shortage of nerve."

Meow Meow jumped onto the table and sat down.

"Someone with little nerve couldn't do something like this."

"And this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"There are already complete records in the Bloodline Chamber. They've tested at least a few batches."

Qian Renxue looked at the piece of paper.

"Low-Rank Soul Masters..."

"Mm."

Meow Meow nodded.

"They're still testing on soul beasts now."

"Once it stabilizes, they'll move to humans."

Qian Renxue was silent for a moment.

"If this is verified, that teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy won't get away."

"The Black Eagle Family won't get away either."

"The problem is the one behind the scenes."

Meow Meow picked up the thread.

"Prince Xue Xing?"

"Perhaps."

Qian Renxue didn't jump to conclusions.

"It could also be someone using his name."

"But a place like the Academy Back Mountain—no one without status can enter."

"So no matter what, someone inside the Heavenly Dou Royal Family must be opening the gate for them."

Meow Meow looked down at the piece of paper, then suddenly thought of something.

These people, for the sake of so-called stable bloodlines, could forcibly mash together White Tiger, Nether, and Pollution.

If it failed, they swapped in the next batch.

If it succeeded, they tested it on people.

This was the complete opposite of the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat system he was building.

He was also changing bloodlines.

But what he wanted was to give cats more choices.

Not to treat them as materials.

Thinking this far, Meow Meow's tail stopped.

"Qinghe."

"Hm?"

"I want to set a Bloodline Rule for the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat."

Qian Renxue was taken aback.

"A Bloodline Rule?"

Meow Meow nodded.

"Not forcibly altering bloodlines."

"Not making all cats into one form either."

"But letting the descendants of the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat, at birth and during Spirit Ignition, more stably inherit the suitable talents from their parents."

"Like White Dew's calming presence."

"Charcoal Ball's stealth."

"Blue Tail's formation patterns."

"A Ju's..."

Meow Meow paused.

"Forget it, let's not mention A Ju's for now."

Qian Renxue almost laughed.

But she quickly composed herself.

"You're worried the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat bloodline will dilute later?"

"Mm."

Meow Meow said.

"With more cats, the bloodline will get mixed."

"Without guidance, the next generation might just be ordinary Spirit Ignition Cats."

"Some talents will be lost."

"Some cats might be clearly suited for calming, yet be sent on patrol."

"Those suited for formations might spend all day foraging."

"Those suited for foraging might—"

He paused again.

"In short, they need a way to naturally distinguish and pass down their talents."

Qian Renxue understood.

This wasn't like the Black Eagle Family forcibly stitching bloodlines together.

It was about establishing a direction of inheritance for the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat.

"Can you do it?"

"I'll try."

Meow Meow closed his eyes.

The Calming Bell chimed softly.

Ding.

As the bell's tone faded, a faint ring of sacred flame materialized within the Clear Radiance Pavilion.

White Dew looked up.

Jianbing also turned his gaze from within the bell.

Meow Meow's consciousness entered the Calming Bell's space.

There, sacred flame, moonlight, a clear spring, and the traces of White Tiger and Nether aura just brought back from the Bloodline Chamber all resided.

But this time, he didn't absorb that messy mixture.

Instead, he used the sacred flame to isolate the pollution, leaving only the part of the pattern that governed "how bloodlines diverge, how they reject each other, and how they merge."

This fragment was faint.

Like an incomplete picture.

But for Meow Meow, it was useful.

He didn't need to follow the Black Eagle Family's path.

He only needed to know which paths were dead ends.

"No forced fusion."

"No pollution."

"No sacrificing the right path for the sake of power."

Meow Meow sorted through it bit by bit.

A system panel surfaced.

code
[Consume Meow Wish Value to establish Sacred Flame Spirit Cat Basic Bloodline Guidance?]

Meow Meow glanced at it.

It required one hundred fifty points of Meow Wish Value.

Not cheap.

But worth it.

"Establish."

code
[Ding. Sacred Flame Spirit Cat Basic Bloodline Guidance is being established.]
[Current rules: Natural Inheritance, Talent Affinity, Pollution Rejection.]
[Description: When a Sacred Flame Spirit Cat descendant undergoes Spirit Ignition, they will more easily reveal a talent direction suited to themselves. If both parents' talents are compatible, there is a chance of inheriting dual affinity.]
[Note: This rule is basic level and only affects the Sacred Flame Spirit Cat system. It does not affect foreign spirit beasts.]

Meow Meow finished reading and breathed a sigh of relief.

Basic was fine.

At least there was a foundation now.

He could refine it later.

Within the Calming Bell, a very light pattern of flame spread outward.

The flame pattern quickly connected to the East Side Courtyard.

Then to the Qian Family Villa.

Finally, it settled on White Dew.

White Dew blinked, seeming to sense something. The sacred flame mark on her forehead glowed faintly.

Far away in the East Side Courtyard, Little Flame suddenly raised his head.

Charcoal Ball, Snowball, Swirl, and Blue Tail all sensed it too.

A Ju was near the back kitchen waiting to be fed when he suddenly twitched, nearly dropping the meat from his mouth.

Through the long-range bell transmission, Meow Meow contacted Da Hei.

[How are the newborn kittens in the clan recently?]

Da Hei responded quickly.

[Stable.]

[A few kittens have clearer auras than before.]

Meow Meow's heart stirred.

[Watch for two-way affinities.]

[Like Calming and Stealth, Array and Message, Sacred Flame and Herbs.]

Da Hei paused.

Clearly processing those words.

Then replied seriously.

[Understood.]

Meow Meow thought for a moment, then added another line.

[If A Ju's line produces any that are especially good at finding food, record that too.]

Da Hei was silent for a moment.

[Understood.]

Meow Meow felt a little guilty.

That counted as a talent too.

Couldn't discriminate.

After withdrawing from the Calming Bell, Meow Meow opened his eyes.

Qian Renxue was watching him.

"Did it work?"

"Sort of."

Meow Meow flicked his tail.

"It's just basic guidance."

"It makes it easier for Sacred Flame Spirit Cat descendants to show their suitable direction."

"But it won't forcibly alter bloodlines."

Qian Renxue nodded.

"That's better than the Black Eagle Family's method."

"Of course."

Meow Meow's gaze turned serious.

"They're clan members, not materials."

Jianbing heard those words, and his form trembled slightly.

He looked down at his own faint, translucent claws.

After a moment, he spoke quietly.

"I'm not a material either."

"Of course you're not."

Meow Meow looked at him.

"You're Jianbing."

"Once you're healed, you'll still have to settle accounts with the White Tiger Sample line."

Jianbing's eyes brightened a little.

"Mm."

Qian Renxue watched this scene, and her expression softened as well.

But soon, she tucked away that piece of Record Paper.

"The bloodline guidance counts as progress on your end."

"But Heaven Dou Royal Academy can't be left alone."

"I know."

Meow Meow nodded.

"But we can't make a direct move right now."

"First, investigate that teacher."

"Then, look into Prince Xue Xing's approval documents."

"And the Star Luo Caravan."

Qian Renxue said:

"I'll have someone investigate quietly."

"As for Ning Fengzhi, maybe we can try again."

Meow Meow thought for a moment.

"We can."

"But only have him look into the West Suburb's beast bones and herbs."

"Don't mention the White Tiger Sample, and don't mention Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

Qian Renxue nodded.

"Mm."

Just then, Gray Ear leaped in from the window.

He held a small Copper Token in his mouth.

The token carried the scent of soil from the Academy Back Mountain.

And a very faint trace of a White Tiger Cub.

Meow Meow took it and looked it over.

On the back of the Copper Token, a line of small characters was engraved.

[Three days later, transfer to Practical Test.]

Meow Meow's eyes darkened.

"They're getting serious."

Qian Renxue also looked over.

"Practical Test?"

"They must be using the White Tiger Sample for more dangerous experiments."

Meow Meow looked up.

"Or maybe Low-Rank Soul Masters."

The Clear Radiance Pavilion fell silent for a moment.

White Dew let out a soft cry.

Jianbing clenched his claws.

Meow Meow looked out the window.

The mountain ridge where Heaven Dou Royal Academy sat was hidden by the night.

But the lights over there were still faintly visible.

"Three days."

"Enough time for us to prepare."

Meow Meow put away the Copper Token.

"This time, we can't just watch."