Bloodline: First Stage

Li Ye was deeply interested in this Inheritance Space.

Yet in the end, he discovered that his range of movement was limited to this Ancient Castle. The moment he went beyond it, he would be subjected to a terrifying pressure!

Forget taking another step—even standing still made him feel as if his entire body would be crushed into pulp!

"What terrifying gravity! What kind of place lies outside?"

He discovered that as long as he remained within the Ancient Castle, he was completely fine. But the instant he left its boundaries, it was as though he were bearing gravity multiplied a thousandfold. If a normal person had taken his place, they might have exploded to death the moment they stepped out of the Ancient Castle, if not for the Vampire physique being far stronger than an ordinary human's!

With no other choice, Li Ye could only abandon his plans to explore outside and return to the Ancient Castle.

Afterward, Li Ye spent half a day studying the so-called Blood Clan inheritance.

"Among the Blood Clan, the lowest rank is Baron. Above that are Viscount, Count, Marquis, Duke, and Prince."

Faintly, this ranking system seemed connected to the six great doors within the Ancient Castle. Yet when he thought of the golden giant door above those six doors, gleaming brilliantly with an incomparably terrifying aura, it seemed to confirm something.

"Above Prince, are there even higher-ranking members of the Blood Clan?"

Li Ye looked directly at the Inheritance Spirit.

"Yes. Above Prince, it is said that in the ancient primordial era, the Blood Clan originally had twelve True Ancestors. They were beings akin to gods, standing above all Blood Clan members. However, this is only a legend."

True Ancestors? Li Ye nodded, thinking, Then the door above those six doors should be one that only True Ancestors can enter.

By now, Li Ye had gained a rough understanding of his own situation.

The bloodline he carried belonged to a relatively noble kind among the Blood Clan.

A Marquis-rank Blood Clan member was considered upper-middle class even within this ancient race, and their bloodline rank was certainly not low. Once an ordinary Blood Clan member reached Count rank, their resistance to things like sunlight would greatly increase. At Marquis rank, they were almost immune to most dangerous items that restrained the Blood Clan.

"Master, you currently possess a Marquis-rank bloodline. You need not fear sunlight, garlic, silver items, and the like. You can also maintain your vitality through eating, just like ordinary people."

Li Ye had already confirmed this over the past few days.

"However, your bloodline has only just awakened, so you are unable to wield most of the abilities of a Marquis-rank bloodline."

Changing the subject, the Inheritance Spirit suddenly said this.

"Bloodline just awakened? What does that mean?" Could it be that he did not yet count as a true Marquis-rank Blood Clan member?

"That is correct. The bloodline within you has only just been activated and awakened. Strictly speaking, you are not yet a true member of the Blood Clan. Only after you have completely awakened all the power of your bloodline will you become a genuine member of the Blood Clan."

Li Ye frowned. Although he had long noticed that he was far stronger than an ordinary person, he was nowhere near as formidable as the legends described.

"What are true Blood Clan members like? How powerful is a Marquis-rank one?"

"I cannot answer that question completely. But at the very least, based on the power classifications of the world you are currently in, an ordinary Baron can utterly crush anyone below the Innate Realm King Tier. A Viscount would be difficult for even the so-called Innate Realm King Tier humans to resist. As for a Count-rank Blood Clan member, ordinary methods can barely kill them. Among humans, only martial cultivators of the Earth Profound Realm might be able to contend with them. As for the bloodline within you, once it is truly activated to its complete state, you could wipe out hundreds or thousands of Earth Profound Realm humans with a casual gesture."

Hiss!

Li Ye sucked in a sharp breath. He knew that the Blood Clan, as one of the ancient races passed down from the primordial era, along with all the legends he had heard in his previous life, was an incredibly powerful race. But he had never imagined they could be powerful to such an extent.

Wipe out hundreds or thousands of Earth Profound Realm experts with a casual gesture? Even within Jiangnan Circuit, which governed hundreds of cities such as Wuzhou City, Earth Profound Realm experts stood high above the masses like gods! Only terrifying super sects possessed such experts.

"Of course, only Marquis-rank Blood Clan members can possess their own blood servants! This is something low-ranking Blood Clan members cannot compare to!"

At this point, the Inheritance Spirit wore a proud expression, as though he himself were a noble high-ranking Blood Clan member.

"Blood servants?" Li Ye's heart stirred. He then asked, "What exactly are blood servants?"

"Blood servants are humans transformed into a high-ranking Blood Clan member's slaves through the member's essence blood. The slaves transformed into blood servants also become members of the Blood Clan!"

Hearing this, Li Ye suddenly thought of something. Did he now count as someone's blood servant? Otherwise, how had he changed from a normal person into what he was now?

"You mean only high-ranking Blood Clan members can transform ordinary people into blood servants?"

"That is right! At minimum, only Marquis-rank Blood Clan members possess such an ability. Ordinary low-ranking Blood Clan members cannot do it!"

Li Ye was eighty percent certain that he had become this way entirely because of that stunningly beautiful woman he had encountered that night.

"Then that woman should have been a rather high-ranking member of the Blood Clan?"

The thought that he might be someone's slave—and that blood servants could not resist their masters, who could reduce them to ashes with a single thought—made his scalp tingle.

"As a blood servant, one offers everything to one's master, including one's life! Naturally, if the master dies, the blood servant will die as well. Furthermore, even if a blood servant's bloodline rank rises in the future, it can only ever remain one rank below the master's bloodline, unless the blood servant devours the master's bloodline to forcibly break this restriction! Then the servant may turn the tables and become the master."

According to the Inheritance Spirit, the Blood Clan was an extremely cruel race. Even among themselves, they could devour one another's bloodlines to strengthen themselves. Some low-ranking Blood Clan members could even raise their own standing by devouring the bloodlines of high-ranking Blood Clan members.

"Then if there is a Blood Clan member with a lower bloodline rank than mine, they can completely devour me to strengthen themselves?"

"Yes! In theory, that is possible. However, high-ranking Blood Clan members are innately capable of suppressing low-ranking Blood Clan members through their bloodlines. When a low-ranking Blood Clan member faces one of higher rank, even if they differ by only one rank, they will be unable to resist. The greater the bloodline gap, the greater this suppression. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless it is a high-ranking Blood Clan member like you, Master—one whose bloodline has only just awakened but has not been completely activated. If you encounter a powerful low-ranking Blood Clan member whose bloodline has been developed to an extremely high degree, there is a great chance that you will be devoured by them!"

A chill ran through Li Ye's entire body. According to the Inheritance Spirit, he was now like an infant. Though his bloodline rank was high, its degree of awakening was extremely low. He could not exert enough suppression over some experts among the low-ranking Blood Clan, while the attraction and craving of bloodline would allow those experts to forcibly devour him!

"Then wouldn't the entire Blood Clan be constantly trying to devour one another?"

At that thought, Li Ye's stomach churned, and he felt a deep chill toward this race.

"That is right. That is why blood servants came to exist! High-ranking Blood Clan members develop their own blood servants, firstly as servants, and secondly as their guards."

"Then, with my Marquis-rank bloodline, can I transform some experts into my own blood servants to protect myself?" If that were possible, Li Ye could simply transform a few Innate Realm King Tier experts. By then, would not all of Wuzhou City be his to run rampant through?

"Master, your bloodline awakening level is insufficient. You must at least awaken to the third stage before you can transform blood servants. Furthermore, the strength of those being transformed cannot exceed yours by too much, or the transformation will fail."

Like a basin of cold water poured over his head, the Inheritance Spirit directly shattered Li Ye's wonderful plans.

"Third stage? Then what stage am I currently at?"

"Master, you only activated your bloodline not long ago. You can only be considered at the first stage."

The first stage! Li Ye was speechless, but he still asked, "How are the stages of bloodline activation distinguished?"

"Once Master's strength enters the Innate Realm, the second stage of awakening will begin."

Damn it! After all that, he actually had to cultivate to the Innate Realm before he could awaken the second stage of his bloodline! And from the looks of it, that was not even the end—there was also some third stage!

"How many stages must bloodline awakening go through before it is complete?"

"Based on the rank of Master's bloodline, there are four stages. Higher-ranking bloodlines require a greater degree of awakening."

After leaving the Inheritance Space, Li Ye found that two Combat Techniques specifically tailored for the Blood Clan had appeared in his mind.

"Shadow Assault—it is actually a Combat Technique for stealth and assassination!"

In nighttime or shadowed areas, he could directly conceal his body. Calling it a Combat Technique would be less fitting than calling it a stealth Movement Technique. Yet although its effect was outrageously powerful, its restrictions were also immense. In brightly lit places or during the day, it was basically useless.

"Demonic Bat Transformation, allowing transformation between human and bat forms!"

Just like in the movies, Vampires would suddenly transform into a sky full of bats and vanish without a trace. True Blood Clan members were not quite so absurd, but they could switch between human form and bat form. However, they could only do so at night or in dark environments, making its restrictions equally immense.

Although he had gained two Combat Techniques, Li Ye was not particularly satisfied. Combat Techniques with such severe restrictions could not greatly increase his current strength.

The Blood Clan's innate ability to recover from injuries by drinking the essence blood of others, however, made his eyes light up.

At the same time, under the night sky, the Blood Clan cultivated more than ten times faster than during the day! Li Ye finally understood why, whenever night fell, his sensitivity to the world's vital energy increased dramatically, and his cultivation speed became astonishingly fast.

"Simply put, the Blood Clan is born for the night. They are the kings of darkness."

Closing his eyes, Li Ye found that it was indeed late outside. His every sense had improved considerably, and even his affinity with the world's vital energy had increased severalfold.

Whoosh!

In an instant, his entire figure vanished within the room, completely blending into the darkness. When he appeared again the next moment, he was already at the door.