Blood Clan Inheritance

A miserable cry burst from Wu Hao's mouth. This time, he was sent smashing straight into the ground by a single punch, blood spraying from his lips.

"You brat, you're absolutely stunning! How did you do it?"

Li Yuan Jia could hardly believe it. That was Wu Hao! The Wu Family's second-ranked genius, sixth place at the previous Wuzhou City Genius Summit! Against such a powerhouse, even if he proceeded with utmost caution, his chances of victory would not exceed forty percent!

"Just luck. I didn't expect to break through at a time like this. Otherwise, I probably would've been finished too."

Li Ye spoke modestly, but Li Yuan Jia gave him a deep look and asked no further questions. Everyone had their own secrets; he was no exception. During the Inner Disciple battles before, Li Ye had already displayed a terrifying talent for fighting across tiers. Now, with Spirit Martial Tier Six cultivation, he had defeated a Martial Dao Master at the peak of the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm. Such a record was shocking not only in Wuzhou City, but even throughout the surrounding towns.

By then, Wu Hao had been helped to his feet by his companions. Blood covered his face, yet his eyes were like those of a wild beast as he glared viciously in their direction.

"Brat! What's your name?"

Clearly, Wu Hao appeared fine on the surface, but he had still suffered some injuries. His eyes were dark and gloomy as he asked in a low voice.

"Li Ye!"

"Good! Li Ye! I, Wu Hao, will remember you! At tomorrow's Genius Summit, I hope you won't be absent!"

They had originally come today to humiliate the Li Family, never expecting things to turn out this way. It was beyond the three men's expectations. Yet they did not dare do anything else. This was, after all, Li Family territory. Challenges and sparring matches were acceptable, and the Li Family elders would not interfere. But if the three of them made any other move, then even if they were from the Wu Family and the Yu Family, they would not leave through these gates today.

Just then, everyone's expressions changed as they sensed a powerful aura drawing near.

"Wu Hao!"

"Li Mo!"

The newcomer was Li Mo. He swept a glance over Li Ye and the others. He was slightly surprised to see Wu Hao's group, but his expression remained as arrogant and overbearing as ever.

"Hmph, I was wondering who had come to cause trouble in my Li Family. So it was you. Wu Hao, the Genius Summit has not even begun, and you're already so eager to come let me humiliate you?"

Li Mo sneered repeatedly, but when he noticed the blood covering Wu Hao's face, he was slightly taken aback.

He knew Wu Hao's strength better than anyone. A year ago, they had fought once at the Genius Summit. Though he had won that battle, it had not been easy. Aside from Wuzhou City's four great geniuses, Wu Hao was considered one of the leading talents of the next tier.

"Li Mo, you're still as arrogant as ever. Unfortunately, you don't possess the strength to match that arrogance. Don't forget, you weren't first last year! You were only third!"

Those words instantly changed Li Mo's expression, making it incomparably ugly.

Third! To many, that would have been an honor—the ranking of one of the four great geniuses!

But to the proud Li Mo, it was like a thorn lodged in his throat. For an entire year, he had waited every moment for the Genius Summit to arrive.

"Wu Hao! Even if I kill you here, what could your Wu Family do about it?"

A terrifying killing intent erupted from him, and Wu Hao's expression changed. Before this, although he could not defeat Li Mo, he had not feared him either. But now, he found the man before him to be like a terrifying beast lurking in a desolate wilderness, ready to devour someone at any moment!

"One of Wuzhou City's four great geniuses, Li Mo, is nothing more than this!"

Wu Hao sneered, unafraid.

Sure enough, after remaining silent for a while, Li Mo did not attack. Instead, he gave a cold laugh. "Wu Hao, I'll spare your dog life. At tomorrow's Genius Summit, pray you don't run into me. Otherwise, next year will be the anniversary of your death!"

"Let's go!"

Wu Hao called to his two companions and turned to leave.

Watching him depart, Li Mo made no move to stop him. Then he cast a cold glance over Li Ye's group, as icy as if he were looking at strangers. With a low snort, he said, "All of you are trash. So many of you, yet you let three people humiliate you! The Lineage has completely wasted its resources on you!"

Those words filled many people with rage, but before Li Mo, the Lineage's current favorite, they could only remain silent. Compared with Li Mo, even Li Yuan Jia, the second-ranked Inner Disciple, was separated from him by an immense gulf.

Spirit Martial Tier Nine, a Martial Dao Grandmaster! He stood almost at the pinnacle of power in all Wuzhou City! Apart from those King Tier experts rumored to have entered the Innate Realm, Martial Dao Grandmasters could practically walk sideways through Wuzhou City.

With Wu Hao's departure, everyone gradually dispersed as well.

The excitement that had arisen because of the Genius Summit slowly cooled.

Li Ye and Li Yuan Jia were among the last to leave. It was clear that today's battle had weighed heavily on Li Yuan Jia's mind. After all, his goal was to break into the top ten at the Genius Summit, perhaps even the top eight!

"Li Ye, I never expected your strength to rise so quickly. You even defeated Wu Hao. At this Genius Summit, you'll surely leave them utterly stunned!"

Because of Li Hou Nian, the two had grown close. With no one else around now, Li Yuan Jia spoke without much restraint.

"It was just luck. If we had really fought all-out, Wu Hao would have defeated me completely."

Li Ye did not want to reveal too much about his strength. In his earlier battle with Wu Hao, he had clearly seen that Wu Hao had held back from beginning to end. Even when facing Li Mo, Wu Hao's composure showed that he possessed a powerful trump card.

Of course, Wu Hao had trump cards, but so did he. The Sword Control Technique was nearing maturity. Once he used it, he was ninety percent confident that he could instantly kill anyone below the Martial Dao Master level! Even against a Martial Dao Master-level expert, the all-pervasive Sword Control Technique would inevitably force them to hold back and move with tied hands.

Then there was Blood Eyes' mental illusion technique, his greatest trump card. At the very least, he had discovered that even Martial Dao Master-level experts would be greatly affected beneath Blood Eyes' gaze.

When he returned to the small courtyard where he lived, Li Ye did not know why, but he thought of that strange Ancient Castle he had entered before.

"The Blood Clan's Inheritance Space."

The instant that thought arose, Li Ye found himself back in that strange space with a flash.

Black skies, barren earth, and the Ancient Castle perched atop a steep mountain peak rising from this land.

Having experienced it once before, he quickly arrived at the room containing the Blood Clan Marquis' inheritance. Just as before, an elegant man resembling a medieval nobleman was waiting for him.

"Welcome, young Blood Clan member. How may I be of service?"

The man who called himself the Inheritance Spirit smiled faintly at Li Ye.

"What exactly is the Blood Clan inheritance you mentioned before?"

The Blood Clan—Vampires in the eyes of ordinary people. Li Ye had only learned a little about this race from films and the like.

Since he had become a Blood Clan member and an Inheritance Space had now appeared, he naturally wanted to understand it thoroughly. In particular, he was eager to know whether it could help his strength grow.

"That must begin with the origins of the Blood Clan..."

After listening for a while, Li Ye gained a general understanding. The so-called Blood Clan were actually humans as well, except they had undergone some sort of mutation. According to the Inheritance Spirit, the Blood Clan were an ancient and noble race, one of the many ancient races.

The Blood Clan drew their power from blood. This was why the Blood Clan gave people the impression of being Vampires: they obtained strength from blood! They could even live forever!

Of course, it was not true immortality. Their lifespans were merely far longer than those of ordinary people.

"Blood Clan members of different ranks possess different levels of power and longevity. Take the lowest-ranked Baron, for instance. They fear sunlight, garlic, and silver, and their lifespans are only around two hundred years."

"Of course, a Marquis among the Blood Clan such as yourself possesses a relatively noble bloodline among the Blood Clan. You need not fear sunlight, and garlic and silver are ineffective against you. If nothing unexpected happens, your lifespan can reach a thousand years!"

A thousand years! Li Ye's eyes widened!

One had to know that although martial cultivators of the Cloud Soaring Continent defied fate and changed their destinies, extending their lives through cultivation, even King Tier experts who entered the Innate Realm would not live beyond two hundred years! And how many people remained stuck at the Martial Dao Grandmaster level all their lives, unable to break through, only to die when their lifespans ran out?

"As noble Blood Clan members, you may raise your power by drawing the essence blood from other people's bodies. You may also transform them into your own bloodkin, strengthening your own forces."

"Drawing essence blood?" Li Ye recalled that it was precisely because of this that he had condensed a Blood Soul before! "What is essence blood?"

"Essence blood is what ordinary people call a Blood Soul. You may understand it as drawing the Blood Soul from within another person's body."

Blood Soul!

Li Ye nodded, growing increasingly expectant. This ability of the Blood Clan was simply the nightmare of martial cultivators on the Cloud Soaring Continent. Yet he knew well that this absolutely could not be discovered by others. Otherwise, he would easily be branded evil, and the pursuit of countless people would make any gains not worth the loss.

"How are bloodkin created?"

In the end, those Vampires in films could often turn someone into their bloodkin with a single sip of their blood. He suddenly thought of himself. Had he changed from a human into what he was now because he had also become that woman's bloodkin?

Unfortunately, the Inheritance Spirit could not provide an answer regarding this point.

Frowning, Li Ye also learned some other common knowledge about the Blood Clan.

It was broadly similar to what he had known before. The difference was that the Blood Clan did not need to drink blood to survive. Like ordinary people, they could replenish what they needed through other foods. His own experiences over the past days had already proven this: Blood Clan blood-drinking was more for gaining greater power.

In other words, unless the target was stronger than oneself or possessed a higher bloodline, a Vampire would not feel the urge to drink blood at all.

"What exactly is going on with these eyes of mine?!"

The Blood Clan did not possess so-called Blood Eyes! Though they did indeed have powerful mental strength capable of bewitching people's hearts, these eyes were absolutely extraordinary!

Yet faced with this question, the Inheritance Spirit was once again unable to answer. Li Ye did not know whether it had something difficult to disclose or simply did not know.