Chapter 814: Charging the Ranks
The temperature toward the continent’s edge fell sharply, and the storms grew even fiercer. Qianye’s blood core pulsed fast amidst the surging void origin power and unstable space, his heart filled with trepidation. This was an instinctive fear toward the environment. Even the ancient vampire race had to be cautious around void storms and unstable space. Qianye was only a count at the moment, and even by ancient vampire standards, exploring the void was for those at the duke rank. Even though Qianye had started his fire-forged physique early, he would need to wait until he was at least an honored marquis in order to make this attempt.
Little Zhuji woke up from her deep sleep at this point, having sensed the danger in the environment. By the time she opened her eyes, Qianye was scaling a tall peak and was hundreds of meters off the ground. This mountain pierced straight into the sky. Its walls were smooth and devoid of places to grab onto—it was almost as though they had been shaved down by a sharp blade. Qianye was only able to climb by relying on his powerful physique and stabbing his hand into the stone wall along the way.
This was already a land of peril for ordinary champions. These tall peaks had remained standing for so many years despite the constant battering of void storms. In truth, that was because the rocks had grown even harder than refined steel due to the invasion of void origin power. An ordinary human champion would be exhausted after digging ten or so times. They wouldn't be able to climb beyond some several dozen meters, let alone reach the peak.
Little Zhuji had just opened her eyes when she saw a fluctuating strip of black. Eyes wide and her long hair flying about, she immediately broke out in a loud scream.
This was a spatial tear. Although it wasn’t fully formed just yet, those swept by the tear would suffer as though they had been cut by a top-grade origin blade. Even little Zhuji, who could endure a punch from a divine champion, wouldn’t be able to escape being slashed.
“It’s fine.” Qianye moved several meters toward the side, evading the surging spatial laceration with great accuracy. Then, he kept moving upward and left the tear behind.
The changes in void origin power were clear as day in his True Sight, hence evading the spatial tear was all too easy for him.
“Is this our home?” The little girl’s face was pale, apparently shocked by the ordeal.
“Nope, we’re only here to look for something.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Something related to Nighteye.”
“Okay then.” Little Zhuji consented while biting her lip.
The restlessness in Qianye’s heart grew stronger as he kept on climbing. He was already feeling uneasy after getting here, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on the reason. At the mention of Nighteye, his blood core was wracked by a sudden pain, and the dark golden blood energy moved about restlessly. A mournful cry broke out from the depths of his ancient vampire bloodline!
Was this a call from the River of Blood or a response from his origin blood? Qianye had no way to confirm the knowledge passed through vampire inheritance; he knew vaguely, but that was the extent of it. He couldn’t understand why the River of Blood would call for him, or with whom his origin blood was resonating.
The current dark golden blood energy was refined via the Song Clan Ancient Scroll and had assimilated many kinds of blood energy from before. Strictly speaking, this was likely a new vampire bloodline that had never before appeared in history. After all, according to the Song-clan records, no one had cultivated these two chapters before.
Qianye put his mind to climbing—this peak was manifestly taller than the surrounding ones, several hundred meters more in fact. It stood proudly in the void and would afford an unobstructed vista to those who managed to climb it. Although it was said that the Evernight warship had crashed in the void, Qianye had some doubts after observing the environment here. At the very least, there was no way those mercenaries could’ve come to the border of this continent.
Additionally, vampire warships were exquisitely designed and second to none in the dark race faction. Even demonkin vessels were inferior to them, only managing to catch up when it came to those great-monarch-level airships.
Those mercenaries had likely seen the vampire airship falling after a fierce battle, but they couldn’t have confirmed whether it had really crashed in the void. With how the vampire warships were designed, it wouldn’t be too hard for them to land on the continent as long as they weren’t utterly destroyed.
The lone peak was tall, but after an unwavering climb, Qianye finally managed to put it beneath his feet.
Raging winds whistled on the summit, and the large snowflakes were like bullets as they struck the body. In truth, it wasn’t really snow that was flying about in the air but pieces of icy crystals. After being saturated in origin power, it could be said that these crystals had grown as hard as refined steel.
The peak was exceptionally flat, wide, and the ground was as smooth as a mirror. This came about due to the constant friction between the rocky ground and ice crystals, both of which had been reinforced by void origin power. The gusts here were so strong that even giant rocks weighing several tons would be easily swept away.
Not expecting such an environment, Qianye had just reached the peak when he was almost swept away by the raging winds. Fortunately, he managed to whip East Peak out and plunge it into the rocky ground to stabilize his footing.
He was better able to adapt with East Peak in hand and could soon move about freely in the environment.
The view here was indeed vast. Despite the flurry of wind and snow, he could see everything within dozens of kilometers. Qianye first gazed toward the continent’s edge but found nothing except devastating storms. As he was turning toward a different direction, he suddenly noticed several wisps of blood energy flickering briefly in the blizzard.
Those blood energies were fairly distant and hidden within a tempest of wind and snow. If it wasn’t for Qianye’s extreme sensitivity to blood energy, he would very likely have missed it. These wisps of blood energy were released by vampire experts in battle. The blood energy originating from the twelve ancient clans was pure and ancient, a stark difference from the diluted mixture of the neutral lands.
Vampires had appeared here and were even locked in combat. Needless to say, they were likely related to that vampire warship. Qianye jumped down the peak without any hesitation. Sliding and flying, he borrowed the force of the wind to quickly approach the battlefield.
Qianye finally landed on the ground after a period of wrestling against the storms and turbulence. There was a small hill several kilometers ahead of him, and the battle was taking place therein. From where he stood, he could clearly see ten or so blood energies weaving through the area. Some among them were practically surging into the skies and, quite shockingly, at the marquis level.
Every marquis was a core power for the vampire race, the skeleton propping up the ancient clans. The mobilization of marquis always signified something important. Now, three of them had appeared here at the risk of being discovered and killed by the Throne of Blood. What exactly was here that they would pay such a steep price for?
Qianye’s vampire-aspect at the moment wasn’t at all inferior to an ordinary marquis, but his chances of victory were slim at best against three such experts and a dozen other ranked warriors.
Under the cover of the snowstorm, chaotic origin power, and fierce battles, none of the combatants actually noticed Qianye’s arrival. Sneaking toward them wasn’t difficult, either.
But Qianye had just retracted his aura when a wisp of blood energy erupted on the battlefield. It wasn’t that powerful, yet it was filled with imposing grandeur. The appearance of this blood energy dimmed the dominant blood energies rampaging through the area. Even those belonging to the three marquises were crippled, let alone other vampires.
This wisp of blood energy erupted thrice and tore through the skies during its final burst! Following its eruption, one of the marquis’ blood energy suddenly went dark and almost vanished completely.
Qianye was shaken upon sensing this blood energy. His blood core pulsed rapidly and his dark golden blood energy was fully awakened. This wasn’t just a monarch’s bloodline readying itself to fight another’s, but a familiarity etched into his bones and heart.
The one fighting the Evernight vampires on the snowy mountain was Nighteye!
Hadn’t she gone back to Evernight to find her place on the sacred mountain? Why was she here fighting desperately against the Evernight vampires? Nighteye was only a count, yet she was being attacked by a large group of vampires led by three marquises. Even though the awakened ancient consciousness had pushed her blood energy utilization to the peak, there was no doubt that she was in grave danger at the moment.
Qianye had no time to think about all those things at the moment. There was only one thing on his mind: Nighteye was under siege!
A wisp of dark golden blood energy shot from above his head and into the skies. The earth-shattering whistle filled the entire heaven and earth, even suppressing the snowstorm for a moment!
Qianye left countless afterimages as he charged straight into the battlefield.
The surprised vampires in the field looked over at the same time. A pale marquis looked shocked at first, but then his expression turned to one of disdain. Qianye’s blood energy was indeed powerful, but it was merely at the virtuous-count level. That one step between a count and marquis was akin to the gap between heaven and earth. As for his dark golden blood energy, the marquis had never seen it before, so he merely thought Qianye to be a hybrid descendant from the neutral lands.
Such a weak bastard dared to charge their ranks?
Qianye came rapidly, arriving beneath the hill in the blink of an eye. Instead of slowing down there, he actually sped up and made for the peak with peerless momentum.
The marquis’ wrinkled eyelids twitched several times, and the down-curve of his lips became even more obvious. He waved his cape back, placed a hand on his sword, and proceeded to stare at Qianye.
Two viscounts took the initiative to charge at Qianye, their long blades aimed at his vitals below the ribs. The attacks were ruthless and agile, clearly the style of elites.
However, Qianye was in no mood to get entangled with these insects. With a loud roar, he unleashed his blood energy without restraint and slashed out horizontally. A ring-shaped sword radiance shot thirty meters out, cutting the two third-rank viscounts into two.
A third-rank count was holding the rear and preparing to launch an attack. Shocked after witnessing this scene, the step he was just about to take remained nailed to the ground. He merely looked on motionlessly as the target dashed past.
Qianye was in no mood to pay him any attention. He passed by like the wind and charged straight for the hilltop.
The third-rank viscount only came to after Qianye’s departure, puzzled as to why he was so afraid just now. Despite being a core member of a famous clan, he was actually sapped of all courage while facing Qianye.
That pale marquis was livid. He flickered into Qianye’s path, roaring, “Where did this mix-breed come from!?”
Qianye shot a glance at the insignia on the old man’s collar. “Medanzo’s descendants? Scram if you don’t want to die!”
The old man broke into a laugh, but his mouth remained down-curved all the while, making for an expression that was inexplicably sinister and frightening.