[V6C83 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
The River of Blood was the fount of the vampire race’s power. However, it had started falling into a gradual silence at some point, especially in the thousand years that the humans had risen to power. Even the awakening of a primo could hardly produce any ripples on the Sacred River.
This was an extremely dangerous sign because, if the river were to fall into a slumber, the entire vampire race would suffer a gradual decrease in power. Although high-ranking vampires couldn’t see any obvious effects on the short term, the core characters of the race had already noticed some clues. For instance, the Queen of the Night’s hibernation periods were growing longer and longer.
Habsburg’s successful ignition of the Flaming Crown blood seal shook the entire world of darkness. The ripples of this incident had only just begun, and there were many undercurrents not only among the vampires but even in the Evernight Council. It was during this subtle period that the river of blood was actually activated again.
The Sacred River breaking its silence was good news to the entire vampire race. Moreover, those who had been recognized by the river would usually become a grand duke at least. However, there was some risk in this for the Sperger clan because it would be terrible if this person were from an enemy clan.
This was what Habsburg meant by good news and bad news.
Some keen people noticed that none of the dukes had noticed the Sacred River’s resonance this time, and even Prince Habsburg couldn’t discern this person’s identity. This was usually impossible. Just who was this person?
It was at this time that many people thought of a certain person—Edward of the Perth clan. If one were to ask who among the vampires had the greatest chance of gaining the recognition of the River of Blood, then the answer could only be the Holy Son who had inherited Lilith’s bloodline. The Perths had occupied the first place among the clans for ten thousand years—it wasn’t good news for the others if they were to produce yet another grand duke.
The hall gradually lapsed into silence as more and more people thought of this point.
Habsburg spoke again at this point, his deep voice reverberating in everyone’s blood core like the toll of a bell, “Regardless of who gained the recognition of the River of Blood, it means that the river is awakening, and this is good news for all scions of sacred blood. We have no reason to be afraid, whichever clan that person is from!”
Habsburg had always worn a mild demeanor in front of others, but his deep, magnetic voice tonight had stirred the bloodlines of everyone present. All gazes were filled with passion.
A duke walked out from the group and rushed to the throne in large strides. There, he knelt down on one knee with his head lowered and his hand on his chest. “Your Majesty Habsburg, the Zorma clan’s bloodline is at your command!”
The vampires in the hall were shocked because this was a ceremony reserved for great dark monarchs. Even if this duke had wanted to express his loyalty, it was still somewhat excessive.
Habsburg’s expression was calm. He had actually accepted the gesture!
Those qualified to attend this banquet were all important characters from the Sperger clan and its allies. Well-known experts from vassal and branch clans had also been invited. Many people realized, upon witnessing this spectacle, that this young, low-key prince was about to reveal his splendor from tonight onward.
Vampire elders who had a thousand years of experience felt a vague notion arise in their hearts. Could Habsburg’s acceptance of this gesture mean that his potential hadn’t reached its end? In their wildest imaginations, they wondered if the Flaming Crown could hope for their first ever great dark monarch? These thoughts caused their blood—which had been frozen by the erosion of the vicissitudes—to boil anew.
Habsburg remained on the throne for a while even after the guests had dispersed. Then, his figure flickered and vanished into thin air, soon reappearing in another part of the castle.
The sky of Twilight Continent was exceptionally beautiful. The intersection of the night sky and the continent wasn’t pitch darkness but a mixture of dark green, gold, and violet. The moon was gradually rising through their midst, leaving behind a trail of bright colors as it climbed into the sky.
Habsburg stood in silence as he gazed at the void millions of kilometers away. His perception had increased sharply during the brief moment of his resonance with the Sacred River. During this time, he discovered that only a mirage remained of his vague reaction to the darkness origin flame.
That wisp of darkness origin flame was an old injury he had given to the imperial marshal, Lin Xitang. But this abnormal reaction wasn’t because Lin Xitang’s wound had healed, otherwise, there wouldn’t be an illusory projection left behind. There was currently a significant rank-gap between him and Lin Xitang, and not much could escape his senses. The only exception was an all-out use of his heaven’s mystery.
During that short moment, Habsburg came into contact with the vast power that was obstructing his senses. It was a supreme might capable of drawing upon the stars, a profundity even great dark monarchs couldn’t exceed.
Just what was Lin Xitang doing?
A bad premonition came over Habsburg as he thought of the fierce battle on Evernight Continent. But whatever the empire’s plan was, it was already too late to do anything—that great power capable of blinding his senses had already taken form.
In the void outside of Evernight Continent, large tempests of origin power had covered up thousands of kilometers of the sky. The Lightless Monarch’s expression changed as he glanced subconsciously toward the distance. It was during this split second of distraction that a fine beam of starlight arrived from an unknown distance and stabbed at his forehead.
Greatly alarmed, Medanzo flashed sideways with blood energy pouring out around his body and barely managed to dodge this beam of starlight. The beam was so powerful that it easily pierced through Medanzo’s blood energy, destroying all that it passed by. A giant hole had soon appeared in the sanguineous cloud.
This blood energy was the power of Medanzo’s grand origin and could hardly recover once destroyed. He would need to gradually restore them through cultivation in the future. How could it be a simple matter to destroy the blood energy born of Medanzo’s grand origin?
The starlight practically brushed past Medanzo’s body and left a small hole on his swallowtail coat. The monarch’s expression was beyond unsightly. It looked as though he wasn’t injured, but in truth, his losses were in the destroyed blood energy.
An old man with long, floating brows walked out from the void. “Medanzo, you actually dare become distracted while fighting me. Isn’t that a bit too conceited? That blow just now is probably worth a decade of cultivation.”
Medanzo broke into a laugh. “The River of Blood suddenly awakened just now and caused me to become distracted. This means one more from our race has gained the power of the Sacred River. A grand duke at the very least is about to appear, or perhaps even a prince. Pointer Fogey, are you still happy about that little advantage just now?”
The Pointer Monarch’s expression was solemn because if Medanzo’s words were true, it wouldn’t be as simple as the vampires gaining a grand duke. Among all the dark races, humans and vampires were considered natural enemies because low-level vampires and blood-thralls consumed humans as food. In comparison, there was no such natural hostility with the other three major races.
The River of Blood turning silent was merely a conjecture since humans knew next to nothing about it. Even in the Evernight Council, only those in the inner circle and the powerhouses on the sacred mountains could sense the changes. The two consecutive resonations of the River of Blood proved that the source of all vampire bloodlines was very much still active. Just like how the empire had produced numerous talents during its resurgence, the River of Blood would bring about a comprehensive increase in the vampire race’s overall strength.
But someone of the Pointer Monarch’s status wasn’t so easily affected. He immediately pushed his worries aside and said with an indifferent smile, “The River of Blood is a thing for the future. Sending you into hibernation for three hundred years will do for now.”
Medanzo’s expression turned frosty. “That depends on whether you have that ability!”
The battle in the void resumed once more. Meanwhile, in the sky above the Evernight castle, Zhao Jundu and Li Kuanglan had also reached the end of their patience. Zhao Jundu’s aura was already suffused with killing intent when Li Kuanglan suggested, “Let’s go down together, I’ll go first and you follow.”
“Fine,” Zhao Jundu replied without any hesitation.
Cold Moon’s Embrace lit up in Li Kuanglan’s hand. She was just about to charge into the ruins when the chaotic aura below transformed sharply. A dark golden beam of light pierced through the rubble and shot straight into the sky, resonating with the unfathomable aura of the River of Blood.
Fortunately, Li Kuanglan reacted quickly and managed to halt her movements. That beam of dark golden light brushed past her forehead and severed a few strands of her hair in complete silence.
Even someone like Li Kuanglan who had experienced the wind and waves of this world was drenched in cold sweat. Everything happened so suddenly that she didn’t have the time to discern what that light was.
Zhao Jundu’s expression shifted ever so slightly. The dark golden light had appeared without the slightest bit of warning—he neither sensed its approach nor learned of its nature. He shot a glance at Li Kuanglan before walking past her and leaping down into the ruins.
The latter’s expression was solemn as she jumped down after Zhao Jundu. The likelihood of an extraordinary expert in the depths of the ruins prompted the two to put their personal dispute and familial enmities aside.
At this moment, in the depths of the ruins, Qianye’s consciousness had just exited the River of Blood. The countless memory fragments in his mind caused him to feel dizzy.
Things were different from when he had seen the River of Blood via the Book of Darkness. The contents of the current memory fragments contained the inheritance and knowledge of the vampire race. Many of them were discordant with the common knowledge Qianye knew. One mysterious piece of information caught his mind especially.
Amidst the countless inheritances in the shape of scarlet blood drops, only one was dark golden in color. Upon contact, this drop of blood immediately transformed into numerous pieces of information which merged into his consciousness.
This was an ancient vampire rank system, one that was quite different from the one Qianye knew. For instance, in this system, the auric flame blood was a characteristic of the viscount grade. Only those who possessed auric flame blood could be considered true vampire nobles. Without it, one couldn’t cross the threshold of higher ranks regardless of blood energy levels.
As for counts, all the blood in their body had to be in the form of auric flame blood, and marquises were required to have a fully-crystallized blood core.
This system was of a much higher level, especially regarding the differences in the quality of blood energy. According to this classification, most of the vampire viscounts and counts Qianye had seen in the past weren’t even nobles. They were merely upstarts with some authority and status.
Even according to this strict ranking, Qianye had become a second-rank viscount after absorbing the demonkin’s essence blood and was only one step away from becoming a first-rank.
One drop of demonkin essence blood was actually enough for him to cross one major rank. This was no small matter! Qianye had never killed such a high-ranking demonkin before. He wasn’t quite sure if this was just a coincidence or if all demonkin essence blood had such great effects for vampires.
If that were the case, the relationship between vampires and demonkin had just gotten that much more interesting. It was definitely not as simple as things seemed on the surface.