Bloodline evolution

The cabin was thick with the pungent smell of medicine and a faint trace of blood.

Liu Qian's consciousness broke free of the chaos, and he slowly woke.

Instantly, his entire body felt as though countless red-hot steel needles were stabbing into it. Pain crashed over him in waves, drawing a muffled groan from his lips.

He turned his eyes with difficulty, and his vision gradually cleared.

He had been wrapped almost like a mummy, layer upon layer of coarse linen bandages covering him. Pale red bloodstains seeped through in several places, tracing the outlines of the vicious wounds beneath.

Every shallow breath tugged at his chest and abdomen, while waves of dull, burning pain radiated from the wound on his back, which had cut deep enough to expose bone.

"Creak-"

The cabin door opened, and Janice's small figure appeared in the doorway.

When she saw Liu Qian's open eyes, overwhelming joy burst into her azure gaze. "Liu Qian, you're awake?!"

Her voice trembled with tears as she practically threw herself toward his bedside.

Liu Qian forced a reassuring smile, his voice hoarse. "Yes. I'm all right. Sorry for worrying you."

That was not entirely an attempt to comfort her.

While he was unconscious, his vast reserves of magic power had gathered again like countless trickling streams, instinctively prioritizing the repair of lethal damage to his internal organs and major bones.

Although his skin was still torn open in horrifying wounds, most of the deeper injuries-the ones that could truly kill him-had been healed by his magic power.

Of course, the process had also drained most of his reserves.

With a slight mental impulse, he called up the system panel that only he could see:

Host: Liu Qian

Age: 13 (Maximum lifespan: 304 years)

Magic power: 41300/223000 (Passively absorbs magic power from the air, or actively absorbs magic power from magical items and living beings)

Passive skills:

Dragon bloodline (Bloodline purity: 22.3%. Dead magical units have a chance to yield dragon spirits. 100 dragon spirits = 0.01% bloodline purity. Bloodline purity increases maximum magic power, lifespan, body size, dragonfire power, number of Flame Knights, and number of Dragon Spirit Guardians)

True dragon physique (Bloodline purity increases the physical strength of the true dragon form)

Fire wielder (Bloodline purity increases affinity for and immunity to the fire element. Fire immunity consumes no magic power)

Active skills:

Dragonfire Breath (Human form: 3-meter-diameter fireball/7-meter range/1 magic power per second; dragon form: 15-meter-diameter fireball/92-meter range/5 magic power per second)

Wildfire (Human form: 3-meter-diameter dragonfire armor/2 magic power per second; dragon form: 15-meter-diameter flame domain/10 magic power per second)

Dragonblood Pact (Forms a dragonblood pact with a human, turning them into an absolutely loyal Flame Knight, granting them dragon blood, and reshaping their body. Bloodline purity increases the number of dragonblood pacts. Flame Knights can resurrect the dead as Dragon Spirit Guardians. Bloodline purity increases the number of Dragon Spirit Guardians. Current maximum number of Flame Knights: 3. Cost: 1000 magic power per use)

Dragon-rider bloodline (Drip dragon blood onto a dragon egg and infuse it with magic power. The dragon hatched from that egg and its descendants become bound by blood to the host. The host and his descendants gain a dragon-rider bloodline. Cost: 10,000 magic power per use, or 70,000 magic power per use for a fossilized dragon egg. Maximum number of eggs that can be activated: 4)

Ultimate skill:

True Dragon Descent: Transforms into a true dragon 67 meters long. Bloodline purity increases body size. Cost: 1000 magic power to activate, 1 magic power per second to maintain.

During his battle with those monsters, Liu Qian had first killed a purple-feathered avian chimera, a Bat-Winged Serpent Lizard, and a white-feathered Cockatrice with fleshy wings. He had then used the dense fog to weave through the monsters, fighting on the move and causing them to strike one another by mistake, resulting in the deaths of two Griffin Monsters and three chimeras.

The serpent lizard and the Cockatrice had each yielded ten thousand dragon spirits. Both had been around thirty meters long.

The two ten-meter-long Griffin Monsters had yielded a total of ten thousand dragon spirits. The purple-feathered avian chimera had yielded none, while the three chimeras with lion, goat, and snake heads killed by the Sphinx had been less than ten meters long and yielded twenty-five thousand dragon spirits in total.

Liu Qian recalled the chimera kept by the Blood Warlock. It, too, had possessed lion, goat, and snake heads and had been a similar size, yet the difference in the dragon spirits obtained was enormous.

He became even more certain that this was the result of evolution caused by that piece of black stone.

The total of fifty-five thousand dragon spirits had brought his bloodline purity to 22.3%.

Once his bloodline purity passed 20%, several changes had appeared on the system panel.

The fire immunity granted by his [Fire wielder] talent no longer consumed magic power, which would greatly improve his endurance in battle.

His newly acquired [Dragon-rider bloodline] skill was even more significant.

It meant not only the possibility of reviving and controlling dragons, but also the chance to establish his own hereditary line of Dragon-Riders-a dragon family like those of the Valyria Dragonlords.

The thought set his heart ablaze.

Just then, Jelena entered as well, her concern softened by relief. "My lord, you're finally awake. We've been sailing west throughout these past few days while you were unconscious..."

Inside the cabin, Jelena reported everything that had happened during the voyage to Liu Qian, leaving out no detail, however small.

When he heard about the terrifying moment when Teres had taken Janice hostage, Liu Qian turned his gaze toward the little girl nestled beside her sister.

He reached out and gently ruffled Janice's long hair, bright as molten silver, with approval and tenderness. "Janice, you did well."

That affectionate touch and direct praise instantly lit up Janice's violet eyes. A sweet warmth welled up in her heart, and twin blushes bloomed across her fair cheeks.

Janice lifted her small face, her voice carrying a determination he had never heard before. "Whenever we faced danger before, you and my sister always protected me. Even then, I kept thinking that one day, I would stand up for you when you were in danger, too. I've already asked my sister to train me to fight. I don't ever want to be a burden who can only hide behind you again."

The girl's sincere, courageous words stirred Liu Qian deeply.

He, too, possessed strength but lacked combat skills.

So he turned to the poised, valiant Jelena. "Jelena, count me in for those training sessions."

The warrior nodded solemnly.

Then, her expression grave, she presented a longsword to Liu Qian with both hands.

Its scabbard was plain, but as Jelena slowly drew the blade, a cold gleam seemed to light the cabin.

The blade was a deep, almost pitch-black shade, etched with countless intricate, eerie whorls of runes that seemed to flow with a dark red luster.

Unlike the splendor of Bright-Roar, the ancestral sword of House Lannister, it exuded an

air of mystery and danger.

"This was Teres's sword. It's an excellent Valyrian steel sword," Jelena said in a low voice.

She paused before adding, "I've also kept his armor safe. I can hand it over to you whenever you wish."

Liu Qian kept his eyes fixed on the Valyrian steel sword covered in blood runes and nodded, his thoughts churning.

He raised his head again and met Jelena's questioning gaze.

"My lord, where do we sail next?"

Where?

Liu Qian's thoughts raced.

As someone transported from another world, he had started out in a hellish place like Valyria. Survival had been his first priority.

Now, with the system's help, he had fought his way out of the Valyrian Ruins. With survival no longer an immediate concern, nothing mattered more to a transmigrator like Liu Qian than conquering the world.

And conquering the world required formidable power.

Although he had a system and could transform into a dragon to fight or hatch dragons, both transformation and hatching dragon eggs required considerable magic power.

Outside Valyria, he no longer had a constant supply of magic power. All he had brought were some ghost grass seedlings, and he did not even know whether he could keep them alive.

Even if he used his dwindling supply of ghost grass to fill his reserves to their maximum of over two hundred thousand, it would only sustain a few dozen hours of combat in dragon form.

Under these circumstances, his most urgent task was to claim a territory, research ways to replenish his magic power, and build an army at the same time.

After all, dragons alone could not conquer the world-unless he had enough to station one at every castle to prevent rebellion.

Where should I establish my territory?

In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, Liu Qian's greatest advantages were his system and his knowledge of the story.

He did not know what year it was after Aegon's Conquest, but regardless of the year, he would have to go to Westeros to make use of his knowledge of the plot.

Yet Westeros no longer had any land available for a foreigner like him to claim.

He needed to find an unclaimed, easily controlled foothold near Westeros where he could build his power.

The Stepstones immediately sprang to mind.

That archipelago at the meeting point of the Narrow Sea and the Summer Sea was riddled with pirate and smuggler dens. Tyrosh and Lys competed there, and the chaos held endless possibilities. It was the ideal place for Liu Qian to begin laying his plans.

But he could not go there directly.

Liu Qian glanced at the Lannister lion banner fluttering outside the window.

Sailing into the Stepstones beneath such a conspicuous banner would only invite unnecessary trouble.

"We'll go to Volantis first," Liu Qian decided, his voice leaving no room for argument. "We need to change ships there, replenish our supplies, and buy some slaves along the way. Then we'll set sail for the Stepstones."

Volantis-the place where Liu Qian's fate had begun.

It was there that the mad Gerion had bought him, setting him on the road into Valyria's abyss of destruction.

At the thought of returning to that city, at once familiar and foreign, Liu Qian's mind could not help wandering.