Chapter 1782: Initial Blood Clan

Xiang Yin and the others had unintentionally come into contact with the core of Mount Fangcun, subsequently drifting into this world. The earliest among them could be traced back three hundred years, and even Wang Taisheng, the last to arrive, came a hundred years ago.

Regardless of their original race, once they entered this place, over time, they would gradually acquire certain characteristics and abilities of the Blood Race.

Yet, their appearance remarkably retained their original racial forms, which was undoubtedly quite strange.

Xiang Yin continued to explain, "We speculate that this place might have some connection to your race. Since you are a Blood Race member, you should know the Blood Ancestor."

Lu Ye didn't respond but simply said, "Go on." From Xiang Yin's words, it was clear she saw him as a true member of the Blood Race.

This misunderstanding wasn't surprising. The Holiness he had just activated was too intense, so Xiang Yin naturally drew that conclusion.

"According to legend, the origin of your race is the Blood Ancestor. After her death, for reasons unknown, her body transformed into various realms suitable for your race's survival and growth. Each of these realms is crucial to your race, serving as its foundation. Several such realms are currently known to the outside world. We suspect this place is one of them, though it has remained undiscovered. Although we know of it, we cannot leave once we enter, so information naturally cannot be transmitted outside."

Her speculation was clearly incorrect. This place was not a realm formed from the Blood Ancestor's body; it was the core of Mount Fangcun.

"When we arrived here, the environment of this realm greatly influenced us, which is why we gradually acquired some abilities of your race. To be more precise, we can be considered the first generation of Blood Race members!"

"First generation Blood Race?" Lu Ye showed a confused expression.

Xiang Yin gave a bitter smile. "The Blood Ancestor single-handedly gave rise to a race. With so many members, it's impossible for all of them to have been born directly from her. A more plausible theory is that the Blood Ancestor once invaded the realms of many races and, through her methods, corrupted those races, imbuing them with the abilities of your kind. Just like us now, the descendants born from these beings are the current Blood Race."

This was the first time Lu Ye had heard this theory, but after careful consideration, it seemed quite reasonable.

Lu Ye had always believed that the Blood Race originated from the realms formed after the Blood Ancestor's death. If that were the case, then during the Blood Ancestor's lifetime, the Blood Race wouldn't have existed as a species.

However, this wasn't true. When the Blood Ancestor attacked Mount Fangcun, she had many obedient clan members under her command. Where did these Blood Race members come from? As Xiang Yin said, they couldn't have been born from the Blood Ancestor herself, which meant her account might be the truth!

The Blood Ancestor had invaded some realms and, using her methods, corrupted the bloodlines of the beings within those realms, turning them into entities like Xiang Yin and her companions – the first generation of Blood Race members.

These Blood Race members still maintained the physical characteristics of their original races but had acquired the abilities of the Blood Race. Their descendants were the current Blood Race.

If this theory held true, then regardless of whether Xiang Yin and the others retained their original physical features, they could fundamentally be considered part of the Blood Race.

Consequently, they would naturally be suppressed by Holiness.

"Why do people become... first generation Blood Race members after living here for a long time?" Lu Ye asked again.

The information he had deduced was that the core of Mount Fangcun had been contaminated by the Blood Ancestor's Sacred Blood, which was why the core resonated with him from afar. When it pursued him earlier, it also exuded a Holiness that even he found astonishing.

However, this didn't explain the changes in Xiang Yin and the others.

This time, Xiang Yin offered no explanation. She simply looked up at the sky and said, "Dao Brother, please wait a moment; you'll know soon enough."

Lu Ye followed her gaze and saw that the already gloomy sky was becoming even more oppressive. Within the crimson haze, thunder rolled and boomed across the sky.

It looked like it was going to rain.

With another clap of thunder, a single raindrop fell from the sky.

Lu Ye, who was staring at the sky, focused his gaze on this raindrop, his pupils contracting slightly.

The raindrop falling from the sky wasn't a normal one; it was reddish, like blood!

Suddenly, a downpour began, filling the entire world with a crimson curtain of rain. Xiang Yin, bathed in the rainwater, gave Lu Ye a bitter smile. "Dao Brother, you should understand now why living here for a long time turns people into first generation Blood Race members, shouldn't you?"

Lu Ye did understand.

Because this blood rain clearly contained something miraculous, a Holiness similar to Sacred Blood, but very diluted. It was as if a single drop of the Blood Race's Sacred Blood had been diluted into this vast downpour, pouring over the entire world.

In fact, when Lu Ye was observing earlier, he had noticed something: when Xiang Yin and the others activated their Blood Sea Art, all of them exuded Holiness.

Of course, their level of Holiness wasn't strong, which was why they felt completely powerless when suppressed by Lu Ye.

Even so, it was still Holiness, something all Blood Race members yearned for. Only Blood Race members who had refined Sacred Blood possessed Holiness, and such individuals had an unparalleled understanding of their race's secret arts, promising a broader future and brighter prospects.

Based on Lu Ye's experience, the Holiness possessed by Xiang Yin and the others was roughly equivalent to having refined one drop of Sacred Blood.

This was quite remarkable. While there were many Blood Race members in the starry sky, the amount of Sacred Blood was limited, making it incredibly difficult for an ordinary Blood Race member to acquire it.

The fact that all four of them possessed Holiness was clearly abnormal. Lu Ye had found it a bit strange earlier but hadn't thought much of it, but now he understood.

The reason for everything lay in this blood rain.

Such blood rain had surely fallen more than once. By bathing in it, Xiang Yin and the others could easily refine the extremely weak Holiness, thereby improving themselves.

While this refinement efficiency wasn't high, it was undoubtedly much safer than directly refining an entire drop of Sacred Blood!

Lu Ye raised his hand to catch a raindrop and found that he barely needed to refine it. The faint Holiness contained within the drop flowed into his body like a living thing, strengthening his own Holiness.

Of course, this enhancement was negligible for him, but over a long period, it would still result in a decent improvement.

Wang Taisheng's voice chimed in at this moment: "The blood rain covers the entire realm, and even the spiritual plants and jades born within it have been corrupted. Unless one avoids contact with the blood rain and refrains from using the spiritual plants and jades from this realm for cultivation, becoming like us is only a matter of time."

Hearing this, Lu Ye said, "Are there people in this realm who are different from you?"

Having witnessed this blood rain firsthand, he had assumed that all cultivators who fell into this place were like Xiang Yin and her companions. However, listening to Wang Taisheng's implication, it seemed that was not the case.

Wang Taisheng nodded. "Yes, the people from the Red Talisman Society are different from us. They... are quite lucky!" As he spoke, Wang Taisheng revealed a bitter smile.

The Red Talisman Society... Lu Ye's heart stirred upon hearing this name. It sounded like it was intentionally conveying some information!

If he wasn't mistaken, this Red Talisman Society was likely founded by the Moon-level cultivators from other races sent by the Little People. The reason for such a name was undoubtedly to provide guidance to newcomers. Over the years, even if the number of Moon-level cultivators sent by the Little People wasn't vast, there were always a dozen or so. These pioneers entered this place and established such an organization, so if a newcomer like Lu Ye arrived and heard about the Red Talisman Society, they would certainly investigate and then rendezvous with them.

Of course, this was merely Lu Ye's speculation, and its accuracy still needed to be verified.

"Lucky?" Lu Ye noticed Wang Taisheng's unusual choice of word and looked at him inquiringly.

Wang Taisheng explained, "If cultivators like us, upon entering from the outside, are found and taken in by the Red Talisman Society immediately, we can avoid being corrupted by the blood rain and be accepted by them. However, if our luck is poor, like ours, and we are first corrupted by the blood rain or acquire Holiness through other means, they will absolutely not accept us."

"Does the Red Talisman Society resent people like you?" Lu Ye asked.

"It's not that they resent us; it's just that their resources are limited and they can't support too many people. Furthermore, they are constantly contending with Sacred Blood Peak. Even if we sincerely defected to them, we wouldn't be of much use."

Lu Ye's eyes flickered. "Tell me about Sacred Blood Peak."

As a newcomer, his priority was naturally to gather information. It now seemed his previous conjectures were correct: over the years, many cultivators had inadvertently fallen into this world, but because there was a barrier sealing off this realm, no one who entered could leave. Consequently, information could not be transmitted outside, leading to the outside world being completely unaware of this strange realm.

The Red Talisman Society was most likely founded by Moon-level cultivators connected to the Little People, so what was Sacred Blood Peak? Why was the Red Talisman Society constantly clashing with it?

Xiang Yin's soft voice chimed in: "Sacred Blood Peak is the name of a spiritual peak and also the base of one of the two major powers in this realm. If the cultivators of the Red Talisman Society are those untouched by Holiness, then all who have been touched by Holiness have the opportunity to join Sacred Blood Peak. Sacred Blood Peak is also very willing to recruit such cultivators."

Lu Ye immediately understood. Whether one was touched by Holiness was the primary criterion for recruitment by the two major powers. However, it seemed implausible that this alone would lead to the animosity between them.

Most likely, there wasn't enough room for two dominant forces.

"Are all of you from Sacred Blood Peak?" Lu Ye asked.

Xiang Yin shook her head. "No. If we were to seek refuge there, Sacred Blood Peak would certainly accept us. But we've never gone because once you join Sacred Blood Peak, you have to contend with the Red Talisman Society, which is quite dangerous."

"But it won't last much longer," Zhou Ran, who had been silent, suddenly interjected, a bitter expression on his face.