Chapter 1142: Bloodline Suppression

In addition to the jade token, Lu Ye also received a map of the Blood Refining World from his senior brother. This map was the result of many years of exploration by numerous elders in the Blood Refining World. Although not as detailed as the ten-tenths map of the Nine Provinces, it was generally sufficient. At the very least, it was much more detailed than the map Lu Ye had previously obtained from Lan Qiyue.

Ready to depart, he exited the main hall and immediately saw a burly figure standing dumbly outside.

It was Dao Thirteen. As someone with a Soul-Controlling Divine Rune implanted by Lu Ye, he could, to a certain extent, sense Lu Ye's presence. Upon seeing Lu Ye again, he squeezed out an extremely stiff smile, then trotted over with cheerful steps, looking exactly like a lost stray dog that had finally found its owner.

“Stay here!” Lu Ye commanded, and soared into the sky. The smile on Dao Thirteen’s face instantly vanished. He lowered his head, dejected. When Lu Ye had returned to the Nine Provinces last time, Dao Thirteen hadn't been able to follow. Now that they had finally reunited, Lu Ye wasn't taking him along again. He was a little unhappy!

His figure swept out of the Holy Island, crossed the Divine阙 Sea, and headed straight north. Last time, Lu Ye had set out from the Thousand Streams Blessed Land, traveling through mountains and rivers, eventually arriving at the Azure Blood Holy Land. The journey had taken several months. He had only coincidentally met Jian Guhong and others, who then guided him into the Azure Blood Holy Land; otherwise, it would have taken even longer. This demonstrated the vastness of the Blood Refining World.

At that time, however, he was only at the True Lake realm. Now, he had reached the fifth-layer Divine Sea realm, making his speed incomparable to his former self. Lu Ye quietly calculated. At his current pace, if he were to travel in a straight line, he should be able to reach the Thousand Streams Blessed Land from the Divine阙 Sea in less than two months.

However, he was now tasked with placing Heavenly Mechanism Pillars throughout the Blood Refining World. Naturally, he couldn't travel in a straight line. After a brief planning session, he decided to take a winding, zigzag route. This way, he could maximize his chances of finding suitable locations along the way to set up the Heavenly Mechanism Pillars. When war erupted, cultivators from the Nine Provinces could use these pillars to directly teleport to various parts of the Blood Refining World, enabling them to spread out and attack from multiple points. Time might be tight, but he could only do his best now.

With the plan set, the first thing he needed to do now was to capture a suitable Blood Race member, implant a Soul-Controlling Divine Rune on them, and turn them into his soul slave. His human identity was ultimately inconvenient for operating in the Blood Refining World, unless he constantly activated his Concealment Spirit Rune to hide himself, but that would be too troublesome. Therefore, the best method was to emulate his previous operation where he used a Blood Race member to facilitate his movements.

The area within 100,000 li around the Divine阙 Sea was devoid of any living beings. When the Holy Land was established, his senior brother and the others had relocated all the humans within a 100,000 li radius into the Holy Island. These humans were also the current foundation of the Azure Blood Holy Land. It could be said that throughout the entire Blood Refining World, the 100,000 li area around the Divine阙 Sea was the most sparsely populated.

Only after exiting the 100,000 li range did Lu Ye begin to see signs of human activity. There were human villages and Blood Race cave dwellings, but they were very sparse. The map provided by his senior brother didn't mark too many blessed lands or heavenly caves. However, such places didn't require deliberate searching. One simply needed to follow the direction where the world's spiritual energy converged, and they would naturally be found.

Three days after leaving the Azure Blood Holy Land, Lu Ye flew high in the sky. From a distance, he saw several streaks of bloody light passing by his side. The other party had clearly spotted him as well. Almost simultaneously, they tacitly changed direction and rushed towards each other. Lu Ye was looking for a suitable soul slave. Among these streaks of bloody light, there was a Divine Sea realm Blood Race member, which was a good choice. As for the Blood Race members, they had clearly detected Lu Ye's human identity and intended to harm him.

The escape light of the Blood Race was different from that of humans. Due to their Blood Arts, the Blood Race's escape light was crimson, making it extremely easy to distinguish. Under normal circumstances, when Blood Race members encountered high-flying humans like this outside, they would usually avoid them. This was because the Divine Sea realm powerhouses from the Azure Blood Holy Land had recently been causing trouble everywhere. Those human powerhouses were not something ordinary Blood Race members could contend with; only Saint Seeds could resist them.

However, the spiritual energy fluctuations Lu Ye displayed at this moment were clearly only at the fifth-layer Divine Sea realm, obviously not belonging to a peak powerhouse. This made the Blood Race members change their minds and plot against him. With both sides having their intentions, the distance between them rapidly closed. When the Blood Race members clearly saw Lu Ye's appearance, they visibly relaxed. Because he was too young, the peak powerhouses of the Azure Blood Holy Land couldn't possibly have such a youthful face. They naturally assumed Lu Ye was just an ordinary Divine Sea realm cultivator.

Even so, the leading Divine Sea realm Blood Race member showed no carelessness. He had cultivated to the sixth-layer Divine Sea realm, one layer higher than Lu Ye. Although his subordinates were all True Lake realm Blood Race members, because the Blood Arts cultivated by the Blood Race were all of the same lineage, they could provide him with considerable assistance. If he wanted to capture Lu Ye in one go, he would have to use his most powerful Blood Art and create a suitable battle space. Otherwise, if the human on the opposite side sensed danger, they would very likely escape. In an instant, the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member had a plan.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye was also considering how to capture this Blood Race member. Killing him would certainly be effortless, but killing an enemy and capturing one alive were two different matters. The former was much simpler. Especially after capturing him alive, he would still need to find a way to break through the opponent's soul defense and implant a Soul-Controlling Divine Rune in their Divine Sea.

A few years ago, when he traveled south, although he had implanted Soul-Controlling Runes on many Blood Race members, they were basically all Fortune Lord-level Blood Race members, meaning they were at the True Lake realm. Only by chance had he enslaved a Divine Sea realm Heavenly Venerate Blood Race member. Soul control was powerful, but it wasn't easy to execute. Therefore, he had to ensure that after revealing his powerful strength, the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member wouldn't escape. Otherwise, given the Blood Race's exquisite Blood Escape Art, pursuing them would be difficult. He needed to finish the battle quickly, to avoid attracting the attention of other nearby Blood Race members.

As they each calculated their moves, they both, by coincidence, activated a certain technique: Blood River Art!

As a supreme secret art among Blood Arts, the Blood River Art integrated both offense and defense. It was especially effective in trapping enemies; once an enemy fell into the Blood River, if they couldn't break free, they would be at the mercy of their opponent.

The Divine Sea realm Blood Race member's body trembled, and blood energy surged. Instantly, a Blood River spread out. At the same time, several True Lake realm Blood Race members under his command also activated their Blood River Arts simultaneously, merging their Blood Rivers with his to increase its volume. Almost at the same moment, the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member witnessed a shocking sight. The human flying towards him on the opposite side was also enveloped in a bloody mist, and a Blood River spread out from him. How could a human also cast the Blood River Art? He couldn't understand.

Moreover, the Blood River Art unleashed by this human appeared even more refined than his own, despite him being a pure-blooded Blood Race member. Especially the sheer volume of that Blood River; it was enormous. Even with the assistance of his few subordinates, their combined volume was nowhere near comparable. In comparison, it was like the difference between a small snake and a giant python.

Lu Ye was also somewhat surprised, because when he had previously activated the Blood River Art, it hadn't possessed such an immense volume. However, considering that after counterattacking the Great Insect Secret Realm, he had refined the vast life essence of the Insect Race, it was normal for the Blood River to have grown. After all, the foundation of this technique was life essence. The stronger the life essence, the greater the power unleashed. Since leaving the Great Insect Secret Realm, he hadn't activated the Blood River Art again. He hadn't realized it would undergo such a change. For him, it was a good thing.

But for the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member, it was a terrible misfortune. If it were merely a matter of his Blood River's volume being inferior to Lu Ye's, it would have been fine. What made him even more terrified and uneasy was that Lu Ye's Blood River actually emitted an invisible pressure, causing his bloodline to tremble and his mind to be disturbed. This was... bloodline suppression! The opponent was a Saint Seed!

The Divine Sea realm Blood Race member was greatly alarmed. He only managed to exclaim, “Holy Venerable, please calm your wrath,” before the two surging Blood Rivers collided. Like a large fish swallowing a small one, Lu Ye's Blood River directly enveloped the opponent's Blood River. His figure moved through the Blood River, and with a few flashes of blade light, the True Lake realm Blood Race members were already dead.

What puzzled Lu Ye was that both the True Lake realm Blood Race members and the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member were now utterly terrified. Combined with the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member's earlier exclamation, a thought struck him, and he suddenly had some conjectures.

His Mountain-Shattering Blade rested on the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member's neck. Spiritual energy pulsed erratically, licking the Blood Race member's skin like a venomous snake. A low voice came: “How do you wish to die?”

The Divine Sea realm Blood Race member trembled all over, offering no resistance from start to finish. He stammered with a trembling voice, “This humble one was unaware of Your Holy Venerable's presence and offended you. I beg Your Holy Venerable's forgiveness!”

Lu Ye's eyelids slightly lowered. He rebuked, “Open your Divine Sea!”

The Divine Sea realm Blood Race member stammered fearfully, “What does Your Holy Venerable intend to do?” Although he was facing a Saint Seed who held natural bloodline suppression over him, opening his Divine Sea still triggered an instinctive repulsion.

Lu Ye said nothing, but slightly applied more pressure with the Mountain-Shattering Blade at his neck. The Blood Race member immediately cried out in pain. A minor flesh wound certainly wasn't enough for a Divine Sea realm cultivator to make such a fuss. It was because the Mountain-Shattering Blade, ever since it merged with the Soul-Cleaving Blade, had gained the ability to cleave souls. Even if the wound was tiny, it caused some impact to his soul; the feedback from his soul body felt as if it had been directly struck by a blade.

Realizing that if he didn't comply, he would truly die here, the Divine Sea realm Blood Race member no longer dared to hesitate. He hastily opened his Divine Sea. Lu Ye sensed this and quickly activated his Soul-Controlling Divine Soul, constructing the Soul-Controlling Divine Rune deep within his Divine Sea.

A short while later, Lu Ye withdrew his Mountain-Shattering Blade. The surging Blood Rivers filling the air also separated, returning to their respective owners.