Imperial Blood Appraisal Not Yet Verified

"Seal the wooden box."

Li Sanshun blocked the front of the imperial long table, not letting the Alchemy Alliance alchemists get any closer.

Bai Chongshan pressed his hand down on the wooden box.

"The blood appraisal disk has already been unsealed; why can't it be touched?"

"Because there is medicine inside."

Below the Questioning Dao Platform, hundreds of disciples looked toward them in unison.

Ji Jingyao walked over to the long table.

"Li Sanshun, the imperial blood appraisal disk is guarded personally by Venerable Bai and has never been opened since entering the sect. You want to interrupt the blood appraisal just because you say there is medicine?"

"Whether it's interrupted or not, we'll know after we check."

Li Sanshun leaned over and took a sniff of the Ancestral Blood Slot.

The medicinal scent was very faint, pressed deep into the recesses of the blood slot. Resin had sealed most of it; even an ordinary alchemist standing nearby might not have been able to smell it.

[Detected residual aura of Blood-Changing Pill.]

[Medicinal aura mixed with aged blood.]

[Residual time: no more than twelve hours.]

Old bastard.

He had coated the thing just last night, yet he dared to claim it had never been opened.

Li Sanshun straightened his back.

"Blood-Changing Pill, mixed with old blood. The time is no more than twelve hours."

Bai Chongshan withdrew his leather-gloved right hand into his sleeve.

"The blood appraisal disk hasn't been used for years, so it was cleaned with Spirit-Fixing Liquid before departure. It is normal for there to be some residual medicinal scent."

The Alchemy Alliance alchemist frowned.

"Spirit-Fixing Liquid is used to maintain the blood appraisal disk, not Blood-Changing Pill. This medicine is specifically used to dissolve the spirituality in blood, allowing two different blood samples to fuse in a short time."

Discussions broke out under the platform.

The triple blood appraisal was meant to prevent the delegation from tampering with the process. Now, before blood had even been drawn, old blood had been discovered in the imperial appraisal disk; everyone knew there was a problem.

Ji Jingyao looked at Bai Chongshan.

"Explain yourself clearly."

Bai Chongshan removed his leather glove, revealing a burned right hand.

"When the blood appraisal disk was handed to me, it was already sealed in the wooden box. Along the way, four scribes were responsible for registration, and eight guards took turns keeping watch. If someone really tampered with it, I want to investigate as well."

With one sentence, he tried to shift the responsibility onto the guards and scribes.

Gu Qinghe took out the blood appraisal regulations.

"From the moment the equipment is unsealed to the final verification, the entire process is recorded by the Image-Recording Array. According to the signing rules, if an abnormality is found in the imperial appraisal disk, it should be sealed and replaced with another set."

"The delegation only brought one blood appraisal disk."

Bai Chongshan closed the lid of the box.

"Since the Tai Xuan Sect does not trust imperial equipment, the blood appraisal shall end here today."

"You want to leave?"

Li Sanshun pressed his hand onto the lid of the box.

"You just had the old blood exposed, and now you want to take the disk back? Once we return to the Reception Courtyard, the medicine will be washed away, the blood scraped clean, and then you'll say I slandered you?"

Two imperial guards stepped forward.

The Law Enforcement Peak disciples also surrounded the edge of the Questioning Dao Platform.

Ji Jingyao raised a hand to stop the guards.

"The wooden box stays on the platform. Let the Alchemy Alliance check for medicine."

Bai Chongshan still wanted to block them, but Gu Qinghe had already taken out the major case seal and affixed it to the four corners of the wooden box.

Two alchemists put on thin leather gloves and scraped a layer of dark red medicinal grime from the edge of the Ancestral Blood Slot. They placed the grime into a jade dish, first dripping Spirit-Fixing Liquid onto it, then adding a leaf of Blood-Testing Grass.

The leaf quickly turned a dark purple.

The elder alchemist held up the jade dish.

"Blood-Changing Pill, no doubt. There is human blood inside as well, stored for over ten years."

"Why mix blood over ten years old into the appraisal disk?"

A Medicine Peak Deacon stood below the platform.

"As long as the old blood comes from the Ji clan, whoever drips their blood in, the disk will verify it as imperial blood, right?"

"It's not that simple."

The alchemist placed the Blood-Testing Grass back on the table.

"The Blood-Changing Pill can only disrupt the sensing of the ancestral blood. To make the disk identify a specific bloodline, the old blood must also match the Genealogy Seal within the blood appraisal disk."

Li Sanshun understood.

Bai Chongshan had placed the old imperial blood into the Ancestral Blood Slot in advance. Once his blood dripped down, the two blood samples would fuse.

What the appraisal disk would verify was not his origin at all.

It was the identity of the owner of the old blood.

"Venerable Bai is well-prepared."

Li Sanshun tapped the Ancestral Blood Slot.

"Did you even choose my ancestors for me?"

Bai Chongshan looked at the Alchemy Alliance alchemist.

"Based on the medicinal grime alone, it only proves that the disk was improperly maintained. The delegation does not have a second blood appraisal disk; if the disk is sealed today, the triple blood appraisal cannot continue."

"It can continue."

The elder alchemist took out a bottle of Spirit-Washing Water.

"The old blood is lingering on the surface of the Ancestral Blood Slot and has not yet seeped into the Genealogy Seal. If we scrape off the medicinal grime and clean it three times with Spirit-Washing Water, the disk can still be used."

Bai Chongshan spoke up immediately.

"Spirit-Washing Water will damage the equipment."

"Are you afraid the equipment will be damaged, or are you afraid the old blood inside will be washed away?"

Li Sanshun pushed the wooden box toward the alchemist.

Ji Jingyao did not give Bai Chongshan a chance to continue arguing.

"Wash it."

The witnesses from the three parties signed the documents again.

The medicinal grime was divided into two bottles; one was given to the Alchemy Alliance, and one was sealed in the Tai Xuan Sect's major case cabinet. The alchemist used a silver knife to scrape the blood slot clean, then poured in the Spirit-Washing Water.

The first wash produced a dark red medicinal liquid.

The second wash was only light red.

By the third wash, the water returned to a clear state.

Each batch of medicinal liquid was sealed separately, with six-sided seals affixed to the bottle mouths.

Li Sanshun stood by the table, taking two more breaths while the alchemist cleaned the disk.

The scent of the Blood-Changing Pill was gone.

The scent of the aged blood was also gone.

But a faint trace of cinnabar remained at the bottom of the wooden box.

Imperial equipment was engraved with the Genealogy Seal, so it wasn't strange to use cinnabar. He didn't speak up on the spot, only memorizing the location where the scent was strongest.

Near the left side of the base.

After the cleaning was finished, the three appraisal disks were set up again.

The disks of the Tai Xuan Sect and the Alchemy Alliance were both dismantled to check the base supports. When it was the turn of the imperial blood appraisal disk, Bai Chongshan blocked it with his hand.

"The disk surface has been checked; the base is engraved with the secret text of the Ji clan genealogy and cannot be shown to outsiders."

The Alchemy Alliance alchemist looked at Ji Jingyao.

Ji Jingyao flipped through the blood appraisal regulations.

The regulations only stated that the equipment should be dismantled for inspection; it did not state that the base must be removed.

"The genealogy secret text involves imperial internal affairs; the base does not need to be dismantled."

Gu Qinghe prepared to object, but Li Sanshun pressed down on the regulations first.

"Fine."

Bai Chongshan placed the appraisal disk back on the long table.

He had agreed too readily, which actually made Ji Jingyao take an extra look at him.

Li Sanshun rolled up his sleeves.

The Alchemy Alliance alchemist used a silver needle to draw blood, dividing it into six blood vials. The numbering on the bottom of the vials was drawn by the three parties on the spot; even Li Sanshun didn't know which vial would be sent to which disk.

The six witnesses checked the seals one by one.

Three vials were for verification, and three were kept for re-examination.

Once the blood was drawn, the three people responsible for opening the disks each took a vial and walked to the long table at the same time.

The Tai Xuan Sect disk received the blood first.

The blood bead entered the Ancestral Blood Slot, and two red lines lit up on the edge of the disk.

The Alchemy Alliance disk followed closely behind; a circle of tiny characters emerged from the jade disk, currently verifying the age of the bloodline.

The imperial appraisal disk was opened by Bai Chongshan himself.

He took the last blood vial and dripped the blood into the slot.

The old blood and the Blood-Changing Pill had been cleaned away; this time, no one could sneak an ancestor in ahead of time.

Li Sanshun, however, did not relax.

The scent of cinnabar in the base was still there.

After the blood bead fell, before the patterns on the disk surface had changed, a bit of red light leaked out from the left side of the base first.

It was fast.

So fast that the people below the platform didn't notice it at all.

Li Sanshun stared at that seam and memorized the location.

A few breaths later, the patterns on the Tai Xuan Sect disk continued to extend. The Alchemy Alliance alchemist also began to verify the characters floating in the disk.

The imperial appraisal disk, however, was the first to raise three pillars of blood-colored light.

Bai Chongshan took out the Genealogy Jade Book and flipped to a page that had already been marked with a bookmark.

The imperial scribe responsible for announcing the results took the jade book, but as soon as he saw the characters appearing in the disk, he accidentally knocked over the ink box.

Ji Jingyao took the blood appraisal result.

Everyone below the platform was waiting.

He checked it twice, then turned to look at Li Sanshun.

"The imperial blood appraisal disk has yielded a result."

Li Sanshun was still staring at the left side of the base.

Ji Jingyao placed the result in front of the six Image-Recording Arrays.

"Number fifteen, from the direct line of the Third Prince!"