The Stronghold Is Formed, a New Chapter Begins; Blood Merges, Genes Are Taken

Blood is the oldest medium for carrying life and heritage.

When the blood droplets containing Mizuki Han's extreme cold power met Haku's warm blood—which represented life and the future—at the wounds on their pressed-together wrists, a long-premeditated ritual of plunder officially began.

[Detected: Host has initiated a deep fusion ritual...]

[Genetic channel is being established...]

[Warning: This process will cause immense pain and irreversible bloodline alteration to the fusion target 'Haku'. Do you wish to continue?]

"Continue."

Mizuki Han whispered in his heart, his voice devoid of a single ripple. His will was like cold iron tempered for a thousand years: hard, frigid, and beyond question.

However, just as the system confirmed the command and the invisible genetic channel was fully opened, and Han prepared to begin his overbearing and bloody devouring—a sudden mutation occurred!

"Hum—!"

A third-party bloodline power, one that belonged to neither of them nor even the Mizuki Clan, and was filled with a savage, ancient, and tyrannical aura, suddenly awakened and erupted from the depths of Haku's seemingly pure blood, like a fierce, ancient beast lurking in the deep sea!

That was not chakra!

It was a more primal, more pure power of "blood"!

At their overlapping wrists, the blood gushing from Haku's wound instantly deepened in color, shifting from bright red to a dull, dark purple-black! Strands of black, visible to the naked eye like ink diffusing in clear water, followed the newly established genetic channel and, with a brutal posture, defiantly surged backward, crazily eroding toward Mizuki Han's body!

This was not fusion; this was reverse contamination and devouring!

Mizuki Han's pupils contracted sharply!

He clearly felt a savage, overbearing, and unreasonable will rush into his meridians along with the black blood, attempting to completely disrupt and assimilate his Ice Release chakra, which had been purified and ordered by the system!

Within that will, there was no intelligence—only the most primitive, tyrannical, and arrogant desire to reign over all!

In an instant, Mizuki Han's pathological "persecutory delusion" was triggered to its limit. The first thought in his mind was to immediately sever the connection and isolate this unknown, out-of-control power!

But this thought lasted only 0.01 seconds before it was completely crushed by an even larger, more scorching greed and ambition!

Risk? Loss of control?

In this world, what risk is greater than handing one's fate over to someone else? What loss of control is more absolute than being weak oneself?

Although this power was unknown, the "quality" it contained was far superior to any bloodline limit he had ever seen!

This was a trap, but it was also a heaven-sent opportunity!

[Warning! Detected: Unknown High-Tier Bloodline Fragment (Attribute: ???)!]

[This bloodline possesses extreme aggression and assimilation! It is attempting to reverse-erode the host!]

[Fusion risk increased to 90%! Success will lead to exponential gains! Do you wish to abort?]

The system's warning sounded frantically in his mind, its cold mechanical logic trembling.

Abort?

A near-psychotic, crazed sneer curled the corners of Mizuki Han's mouth.

In his life's dictionary, the words "abort" and "retreat" had never existed!

"Devour it!"

In his heart, he issued a command even more overbearing and unquestionable than the previous "continue"!

Since you wish to devour me, then I shall chew up your origin, your will, and everything you are, turning it all into the sustenance for my path to hegemony!

Boom!

As his will was issued, the galaxy of chakra flowing docilely within Mizuki Han's body instantly rioted! The pure Ice Release chakra, representing the ultimate "stillness" and "cold," transformed into the sharpest blade, actively meeting the black bloodline power that represented "motion" and "violence"!

Blue and black, two completely different forces, engaged in the most silent and dangerous war at their pressed-together wrists and within Mizuki Han's meridians!

"Ugh..."

Haku, in her deep sleep, arched her body violently and let out a muffled groan of extreme pain. Tears spilled uncontrollably from her tightly closed eyes, and her small face turned blue and purple, as if she were enduring the agony of her soul being torn apart. Strange, black, ice-crystal-like patterns began to emerge on her skin, radiating an ominous aura.

She had become the battlefield for this bloodline war!

Mizuki Han's situation was equally grim.

Those black bloodline forces, like venomous snakes with a life of their own, spread crazily along his meridians. Wherever they passed, his vessel walls were stretched to the point of bursting, and waves of bone-piercing, heart-wrenching pain surged from within his body.

Even more terrifying was that the savage will was assaulting his sea of consciousness, attempting to completely erase his ego and claim this body as its own!

Yet, Mizuki Han's expression remained as cold and inhuman as ever.

His flesh was enduring excruciating pain, but his spirit had transformed into a ten-thousand-year-old iceberg standing firm amidst a raging storm!

Let the wind blow and the rain lash; I remain unmoved!

"Is this all you have?" he even mocked the ancient will on a spiritual level. "A remnant that has slumbered for who knows how many years, daring to act insolently before me?"

He condensed his entire willpower into an invisible ice needle and ruthlessly pierced the core of that tyrannical will!

At the same time, under his forced stimulation, the Ice Release chakra within him stopped defending and instead transformed into countless tiny, freezing vortices, beginning to crazily shred, decompose, and crush those black bloodline forces!

This was a contest of will against will, and even more, a duel between predator and predator!

I do not know how much time passed, but that ancient will finally began to show signs of collapse in the face of Mizuki Han's near-perverted, pure "self." In the end, it was merely a remnant instinct, while Mizuki Han was a soul possessing complete self-awareness and vast ambition!

As the balance of power shifted, the scales of victory began to tilt slowly.

That savage aggression was gradually suppressed and weakened.

Those black veins of power were no longer vicious vipers, but prey with their fangs pulled and bodies bound, forcibly dragged, dismantled, and then... absorbed by Han's vortex of chakra!

[Will of the unknown bloodline fragment has been suppressed.]

[Parsing, devouring, assimilating...]

[Deep fusion (mutation) officially initiated...]

When the system's cold notification sounded once more, it signaled the preliminary victory in this war of bloodlines.

Mizuki Han had won.

He had not only defended his own body but had also brought an unexpected and far more precious "supplement" into his hunting range.

An unprecedented sense of power began to sprout slowly from the genetic level. He could feel his Ice Release bloodline undergoing some indescribable, qualitative change toward a higher level of evolution.

However, just as he was savoring the fruits of this victory, a pain a thousand times more terrifying than the splitting of his meridians or the assault on his will erupted without warning from every cell and the depths of every genetic chain in his body!

It was not tearing, not burning, and not freezing.

It was a... "formatting" agony!

It was the forced rewriting of his life form, the shattering and restructuring of every cell, the violent tearing of genetic chains, and the splicing of entirely different codes—an extreme, agonizing pain originating from the very source of life!

"Crack!"

A faint, crisp sound echoed.

Mizuki Han, who had been clenching his teeth, had actually cracked one of them from the sheer force of this sudden, excruciating pain!

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, yet he could not even manage a muffled groan.

He had won the war, but now, he had to bear the cruelest price of victory alone.

The true agony of this bloody ritual, which he had initiated with his own hands on the path to hegemony, was only just beginning.