Chapter 1021: Holy Seed

How did Lan Qiyue become a Blood Race member? Did she originally possess the bloodline of the Blood Race? That shouldn't be the case. The Blood Race bloodline is incredibly powerful; when a Blood Race member mates with a human, the offspring will always be Blood Race. Therefore, in the Blood Refining World, no human should possess Blood Race bloodline.

In a surprisingly short time, Lan Qiyue's cultivation shockingly advanced from the Spirit Stream realm to the Cloud River realm, and she slaughtered True Lake realm Blood Race members as easily as butchering chickens and dogs.

Several True Lake realm Blood Race members were impaled by her long, sword-like fingernails, completely devoid of any strength or courage to resist.

An inexplicable aura of power emanated from Lan Qiyue. Though not overwhelmingly strong, it was purer than that of ordinary Blood Race members.

Feeling this pure power, and recalling everything he had witnessed, a title suddenly leaped into Lu Ye's mind:

Sacred Seed!

In the Blood Refining World, humans refer to the Blood Race as the Sacred Race, and the Blood Race also refers to themselves by this name.

However, within the Blood Race, there exists an extremely unique entity: the Sacred Seed!

Sacred Seeds are a purer form of Blood Race. They hold an endlessly revered status within the Blood Race and possess an innate bloodline suppression over ordinary Blood Race members.

If ordinary Blood Race members are supreme in the eyes of humans, then Sacred Seeds are equally supreme in the eyes of the Blood Race.

Moreover, compared to ordinary Blood Race members, Sacred Seeds possess various incredible mystical abilities. For instance, just now, Lan Qiyue's long, sword-like fingernails pierced those True Lake realm Blood Race members, and in a short time, she completely drained them of their blood, turning them into withered corpses.

With a casual flick of her hand, the withered corpses fell to the ground. Her long fingernails retracted as if alive, their tips blood-red, almost dripping with fresh blood.

The Blood Race enjoys consuming human blood, but they never consume the blood of their own kind. This is both a tradition and an instinctive act of self-preservation, as consuming the blood of fellow Blood Race members would make their internal power impure and chaotic. On the other hand, consuming blood crystals poses no such risk, so Blood Race members only consume blood crystals among themselves.

However, Sacred Seeds are uninhibited by such taboos. Human blood is useful to Sacred Seeds, and Blood Race blood is equally useful. In the eyes of a Sacred Seed, all living beings in the Blood Refining World can be transformed into nourishment for their own growth. In other words, even the highly esteemed Blood Race members in the Blood Refining World are merely blood sustenance for Sacred Seeds.

They can even enter the blood pools to cultivate at any time and anywhere, without worrying about their lives being in danger.

Therefore, the cultivation of Sacred Seeds advances incredibly quickly, as they never have to worry about insufficient cultivation resources. Lan Qiyue herself possessed a natural Dao Body. Under Lu Ye's guidance, she advanced from the third level of the Spirit Stream realm to the seventh level in just one month—a truly astonishing pace. Yet, compared to her current achievements, that was nothing.

Because she was a Sacred Seed, her cultivation in the blood pool over the past month had brought about earth-shattering changes in her strength.

How did Lan Qiyue become a Sacred Seed? Lu Ye couldn't understand, but he surmised it must be related to what lay deep within the earth.

In the Blood Refining World, some Blood Race members are born Sacred Seeds, while others are transformed into Sacred Seeds during the process of entering certain deep pools or delving into specific locations. Lu Ye was unclear about the exact mystical nature of this transformation.

Even the Blood Race themselves were largely unaware of the specifics. This was because the number of Sacred Seeds was extremely small; even in this vast Blood Refining World, most Blood Race members had only heard the name "Sacred Seed" and had never seen a true one in their entire lives.

Thus, when a Sacred Seed suddenly appeared on the battlefield, both the Blood Race members from Qianliu Blessed Land and the three allied armies halted their actions.

Under the unique bloodline suppression of the Sacred Seed, every Blood Race member felt profound dread; their blood boiled within them, and they instinctively felt as if they were witnessing a divine being, making them yearn to bow down and worship.

“Hmph!” A soft sound escaped Lan Qiyue's nostrils.

At that, the numerous Blood Race members could no longer bear it. Whether on the ground or in the air, they all knelt on one knee, performing the grand Blood Race obeisance. Every Blood Race member lowered their formerly proud heads, their gazes even cast downwards.

This was the bloodline suppression of a Sacred Seed. Lan Qiyue's current strength might not have been remarkable—any True Lake realm Blood Race member was stronger than her—but under that innate bloodline suppression, no Blood Race member dared to act presumptuously in her presence.

She flashed forward, landing in front of Lu Ye. All her previous majesty vanished. Just as she was about to speak, Lu Ye raised a finger to his lips, signaling her to remain silent.

Lan Qiyue understood immediately and nodded. A fierce battle concluded with Lan Qiyue's arrival. The numerous Blood Race members were terrified and restless. Before Lan Qiyue spoke, not a single one dared to stand up freely; they remained kneeling, heads bowed.

Lu Ye put away his Sword Gourd and walked deeper into the Blessed Land. Lan Qiyue followed closely behind.

This was not the place to talk.

Dao Shisan looked around for a moment. Seeing no remaining opponents, he puffed hot air from his nostrils in annoyance.

He had just been trapped in the Blood River and, now freed, had intended to kill some Blood Race members to vent his frustration. But with things turning out this way, he felt a sudden suffocating sense of anger with nowhere to release it.

In the rear courtyard of the Blessed Land, where Lu Ye resided, he stopped, turned, and looked at Lan Qiyue, who had followed him.

There were many things he wanted to understand, but the most crucial was to ascertain Lan Qiyue's allegiance.

Now that she had become a Sacred Seed, could she still remember that she was once human?

Lan Qiyue suddenly reached out, gestured above Lu Ye's head, then moved her hand to her own chest, smiling playfully: “Senior Brother, you've gotten shorter.”

Lu Ye's hanging heart settled.

That single address, "Senior Brother," confirmed that Lan Qiyue was still Lan Qiyue. However, becoming a Sacred Seed had undoubtedly had a significant impact on her disposition; the old Lan Qiyue would never have acted like this in front of him.

The current Lan Qiyue was undoubtedly more confident than before.

“You're the one who got taller,” Lu Ye replied, looking at her somewhat speechlessly.

This was a disadvantage of the Blood Race: they were generally taller than humans. This was also why Lu Ye had never considered using his Thousand Faces disguise to impersonate a Blood Race member; their various external characteristics were not something Thousand Faces could replicate.

“Heh,” Lan Qiyue giggled happily. She used to look up to Lu Ye, but now the situation was reversed, which gave her a little boost of satisfaction.

“I went down to look for you but couldn't find you. I thought you must have died.”

“I was swept away by the undercurrents beneath the blood pool and didn't know where I ended up. Of course, Senior Brother couldn't find me. You don't have to blame yourself; I'm much better now than before.”

“What happened?” Lu Ye asked. Lan Qiyue fell into thought for a long moment before shaking her head: “Honestly, I don't really know what happened. I thought I was about to die, but somehow I grabbed onto a ball of golden light. After that, I was completely disoriented, and by the time I woke up again, I had become like this.”

“Golden light?”

“It should have been something from inside the Blood River, but when I woke up earlier, I specifically looked for it and couldn't find any more golden light.”

This was indeed strange. It appeared that the birth of a Sacred Seed was directly linked to that mysterious golden light within the Blood River, though it was unknown what kind of existence that golden light was.

“I only woke up two days ago. After leaving the Blood River, I went to Bright Moon Cave Dwelling, but there was no one there. I didn't know how to find you, so I just wandered around until I came to this vicinity.”

The rest of the story became clear. The battle here was intense, and Lan Qiyue sensed it, so she came to check the situation. By a fortunate coincidence, she discovered Lu Ye's whereabouts, which could be considered an unexpected gain.

“It's good that you're alright.”

His self-reproach of over a month finally vanished at this moment.

“It's just that with your current Sacred Seed identity, you probably can't revert to being human.”

“This is quite good; I don't have to live in fear every day,” Lan Qiyue said, taking it in stride. Although her appearance had greatly changed and no longer conformed to human aesthetics, she had endured too much suffering as a human. She didn't mind adopting a different way of life. She softly snorted, “Now, it's their turn to be fearful! Senior Brother, how do you plan to deal with those guys outside?”

When she asked this, Lan Qiyue's killing intent was palpable.

“How do you want to deal with them?” Lu Ye counter-questioned.

Lan Qiyue said, “Kill them all!”

She had no hesitation in killing Blood Race members. Which of those Blood Race members hadn't taken human lives? They regarded humans as livestock to be slaughtered and exploited at will; naturally, their deaths would be no pity.

Furthermore, she had even been able to dispose of her own blood-fetus immediately after birth. While accompanying Lu Ye, she had dealt with several blood-fetuses, indicating a deep-seated ruthlessness within her.

If Lu Ye had uttered a single "good," she would have, without a blink of an eye, slaughtered every single one of those Blood Race members outside.

She wouldn't even need to act personally; merely by activating her Sacred Seed power, those Blood Race members would be utterly incapable of making any waves in front of her.

Perhaps Blood Race members of the Divine Sea realm could resist her bloodline suppression, but True Lake realm Blood Race members certainly had no such ability.

The stern expression on her face vanished, replaced by a radiant smile: “But I know what Senior Brother wants to do, so killing them all wouldn't work. It's better to let them live.” With this instantaneous change in attitude, the numerous Blood Race members outside were spared their lives.

She looked at Lu Ye earnestly, her expression sincere: “Senior Brother, I'll help you from now on!”

“Good,” Lu Ye said, nodding gravely.

“Then, Senior Brother, rest for a while; I'll go take care of things outside,” Lan Qiyue said, and with a flash, she was gone.

Until her return, the Blood Race members outside remained kneeling in place. Not a single one dared to make a move, each sweating profusely, their expressions terrified, unsure what fate awaited them.

Lan Qiyue's slender figure stood in mid-air, overlooking everything below. A chilling voice rang out: “From now on, I will be in charge here!”

Only when these words rang out did the numerous Blood Race members feel as if they had received a great amnesty, and they all cried out: “We pledge our loyalty to the Sacred Venerable!”

Regardless of their cultivation level, Sacred Seeds are all referred to as Sacred Venerables in the Blood Refining World. This is a special honor and the Blood Race's highest form of respect for Sacred Seeds.