· Possess orc, beastman, or demonic bloodline, with a purity of no less than 7%.
· Possess wind bloodline, with a purity of no less than 7%.
· Warlock rank ≥ Early 6th level
· Physical attribute ≥ 45
· Agility ≥ 55
· Hunt at least one 6th level sea monster (of the Leviathan clan) and perform a sacrificial ritual.
…
If all of the above conditions are met and the sacrificial ritual is completed, advancement is guaranteed!
Bloodline advancement is accompanied by bloodline purification.
After advancement is complete, all irrelevant bloodlines will be purified.
For example, Allen advanced to Behemoth with his beastman bloodline.
Beastman characteristics can be retained, but the poison demon and ogre wizard bloodlines, which do not belong to the same lineage as the Behemoth, will be purified.
Without the Poison Demon bloodline, Allen lost his bone spurs and venom glands.
Without the Ogre Wizard bloodline, he lost his regenerative physique and anti-magic barrier.
Especially his regenerative physique, which was his greatest strength in defeating the Kraken and the Sky Behemoth. Without it, he would be dead!
Alan absolutely could not accept losing these precious abilities just to advance!
From that moment on, his convictions were strengthened.
What bullshit advancement?
My bloodline is the original ancestor!
While retaining one's own unique characteristics, continuously integrating with external bloodlines, learning from their strengths and overcoming their weaknesses, is the true path of cultivation!
"System! Deducing the conditions and success rate for integrating with the Sky Behemoth bloodline!"
Alan whispered in his heart.
The Gluttony system immediately began to operate.
After a short while, the deduction results were delivered.
The conditions for bloodline fusion are roughly the same as those for advancement.
The only difference is that the final step, sacrificing a nemesis, is replaced by injecting at least one unit of the Blue Sky Behemoth's bloodline essence.
A careful analysis reveals a fundamental difference between the two.
The conditions for bloodline advancement are all hard constraints; failing any one of them will result in a complete failure.
The conditions for bloodline fusion are soft constraints; failing any one of them simply reduces the success rate of fusion.
The problem is that the success rate of bloodline fusion is much lower than that of advancement!
The higher the level of the bloodline, the harder it is to fuse!
Alan wants to fuse with the Blue Sky Behemoth's bloodline, but even if he meets all the advancement conditions, the success rate is only around 50%.
If the fusion fails, at best, the bloodline will weaken and lose its potential.
At worst, the bloodline will collapse, his cultivation will be completely wasted, and his life will end.
Not to mention that he hasn't yet met all the conditions! His rank isn't up to par.
He doesn't have any wind bloodline.
Attribute-wise, his physique and spirit are up to par, but his agility is lackluster!
Even with the 10-point bonus from his atavistic form, he's still 6 points short!
Given Allen's current state, if he were to forcibly fuse with the Sky Behemoth bloodline, the system's deduction would be...
The success rate is less than 20%!
Failure could lead to bloodline collapse.
Allen shook his head slightly.
He didn't want to gamble his life.
"System! Can I spend potential to increase the success rate of bloodline fusion?"
The system's answer was a mixed bag.
Yes, but the price was quite high, requiring at least 30 potential points!
He could afford 30 potential points, but he was reluctant.
To conserve potential, he had to meet the prerequisites as much as possible.
Reaching the required rank is too difficult, so I'll let it go for now.
As for attributes... they can actually be improved through "eating."
Special ingredients that increase agility are hard to find.
However, besides eating special ingredients, taking drugs can also achieve the same effect.
Having made up his mind, Alan stood up and went downstairs.
At the bar on the first floor of the castle, he ordered a drink and asked the butler:
"Mr. Miri, I'd like to discuss a deal with you."
"Of course I welcome business."
A lively smile graced the butler's mithril-carved face.
"Young man, what do you want from me?"
"Light Spirit Elixir, levels 1-3, one bottle each," Alan said calmly.
"Wow! Generous!" Miri whistled exaggeratedly. "Alan, I can provide the potion you need, but what can you give me?"
Alan took the blood collection bottle from his storage bag and placed it on the bar.
Alan picked up the blood collection bottle, his eyes flashing with a faint blue light, as if he was examining the three blood essences stored in the bottle.
"One high-grade winter wolf blood essence. Not bad."
"One deep-sea squid blood essence. Top-quality stuff!"
"Huh?! Why is there this..." The butler pushed his glasses. "Am I seeing things? Behemoth blood essence?!"
Alan secretly felt relieved at the butler's astonishment.
It had been a wise decision not to immediately offer the blood essences of the Kraken and the Sky Behemoth.
The butler's gaze shifted to Alan's face.
"Young man, would you mind telling me where you got the Behemoth Bloodline Essence?"
Alan took a sip of beer and replied with a smile, "Yes, but you'll have to pay for this valuable information."
The butler's mouth twitched.
He had always been the only one to charge trial-takers for information; this was the first time he'd done the opposite.
Alan Panthers, this guy is quite interesting, worth keeping an eye on!
"Young man, I'm asking you about this for no real gain; I'm simply satisfying my curiosity. You're charging me for it, isn't that excessive?"
Alan shook his head and chuckled, "Mr. Miri, it's precisely because of curiosity and exploration of the unknown that civilization has advanced. In my opinion, satisfying curiosity is quite possibly the most extravagant consumption in the world."
The butler's mouth twitched again.
"Okay, young man, tell me about this, add the three bloodline essences, and pay me 1,000 magic stones, and you'll have what you want."
Alan considered it for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
"Mr. Miri, your price is too high. It's unreasonable."
"Excuse me, you should know I don't bargain here."
The butler shrugged and spread his hands, a confident smile on his face.
"Young man, you have to think clearly. You can only buy those potions from me."
"Exclusive products, only available from one source. It's natural that the price is a little higher."
"That's not necessarily true."
Alan took back the blood collection bottle, undeterred by the profiteer.
"Mr. Miri, can I borrow your bulletin board?"
"Uh... what are you trying to do?"
The butler had a vague sense of foreboding.
"I'm going to post a notice tomorrow morning in the castle's first-floor restaurant, publicly auctioning these three blood essences to all trial-takers."
"The other trial-takers have been exchanging potions with you these days. They might be willing to trade their surplus potions with me for the blood essences of the Behemoth and the Deep Sea Squid."
"These two blood essences are only available to me. As Mr. Miri said, this is a one-of-a-kind deal. It's reasonable for me to set the starting price a bit higher, right?" "You brat..." The butler was at a loss for words. "Let's put the auction aside for now. There's something I can't understand."
"Behemoth blood comes from a hidden secret realm. No one but you can currently obtain it. And yet, deep-sea squid... any trial-taker can hunt them in the Polar Undersea Temple. How come they're your exclusive property?"
Alan took a sip of his wine and said with a smile, "That's a good question, but I can't answer it for free."
The butler took a deep breath, his index finger supporting his glasses trembling uncontrollably.
If it weren't for the Origin City rule prohibiting butlers from assaulting trial-takers, he'd really want to grab this brat by the collar and give him a good slap!
"Okay... Alan, let's talk about our previous business."
The butler forced a smile.
"Three blood essences for three potions, plus answer two questions I'm curious about."
"Besides that, you have to give me one thousand magic stones," Alan said, staring at the butler.
"Are you kidding? That's not what you said originally!"
Miri was so furious that he couldn't help but raise his voice, unable to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor.
"Too bad you rejected my original offer." Alan smiled faintly. "By the way, I want one thousand Wind Magic Stones. Don't try to fool me with ordinary stuff."
After fusing with the Sky Behemoth, Alan would gain a Wind Bloodline. Using Wind Magic Stones would aid his cultivation and meditation, making it more efficient.
Mi took off his glasses and rubbed his gemstone-carved eyes.
When he looked up, his expression had returned to composure.
"Young man, if you can satisfy my curiosity first and give me a satisfactory answer, we'll make the deal as you agreed."
"Okay!" Alan nodded readily.
"First, I discovered an orc ruin near the coast of the Monster Mountain Range. Inside, there's an altar that caught my eye."
"The Ogre Wizard ancestor spirit I merged with happens to be able to read the runes on the altar..."
"Second, I've killed all six deep-sea squid guarding the Polar Undersea Temple."
"If anyone else wants to hunt these sea monsters, they'll probably have to try their luck elsewhere."
"Mr. Miri, judging by your expression... are there only six deep-sea squid in the entire Trial Space?"
The butler raised his hand to his forehead, speechless for a long moment.
"Alan..."
"Mr. Miri?"
"Has anyone ever told me... that you're a wicked man?"
"How could that be possible?" Alan was stunned. "Everyone praises me as a kind person!"
The butler sighed deeply, as if giving up.
He took out the potions Alan needed, along with a thousand wind-attribute magic stones, and waved his hand, signaling him to get out!
Alan leisurely examined the potions, counted the magic stones, and stored them in his storage bag.
"Mr. Miri, I have a question about you. If you mind, or if you want to charge, I won't ask."
"Go ahead, ask, you brat! You're such a teaser!"
"If you want bloodline essence, why don't you go to the Trial Space and collect it yourself?"
"With your skills, a mere Behemoth bloodline essence shouldn't be easily obtained!"
Miri laughed.
"Alan, why do you think Origin City assigned a construct like me as its steward?"
"Because we constructs are more disciplined than you humans."
"Don't forget, I was created by humans. Even with my intelligence, I can't violate the prohibitions instilled by my creator."
"How can a cold golem like me benefit from trading with trialists and collecting monster blood essence?"
"It's simply my master's task."
"As for bargaining with trialists during the transaction process, that's not a pre-written rule."
"You can think of me trying to find some fun in my boring work, to make myself seem more like a flesh-and-blood, living person."
"I understand, Mr. Miri. Thank you for your free explanation."
The steward's words reminded Alan of the famous "Three Laws of Robotics" from his previous life's science fiction novels.
Enlightened constructs, as "intelligent robots" in this fantasy world, seemed designed to follow similar rules.
...
After bidding farewell to the butler, Allen returned to the second floor.
Pushing open the door, a glowing curtain appeared before him.
Passing through the curtain, he was transported directly to a secret space.
A manor nestled between a lawn and a stream.
Alan and his family and friends lived in the quiet manor.
They spent most of their days either meditating in their rooms or going out together for trials.
Alan returned to his bedroom and injected three doses of "Light Spirit Elixir," which increased his agility by a total of 6 points.
Including the +10 agility from his ancestral form, he had just reached the minimum requirement for fusing with the Sky Behemoth bloodline.
Now, Allen only needed to expend 17 potential points to achieve a 100% success rate in fusing with the Sky Behemoth bloodline!
In fact, there was still room for further improvement.
For example, he could first fuse with the bloodline of a wind-type creature to gain the characteristics of the wind elemental subspecies, and then fuse it with the Sky Behemoth, saving some potential.
However, everything must be done in moderation!
The wind-type bloodlines that Allen considers must be at least level five, and those that are compatible with his own bloodline are extremely rare.
Even if he finds a suitable one, fusing it with such a wind-type bloodline would still cost him potential!
Time is precious, and Allen is too lazy to bother. He would rather spend a few more potential and go all in!
…
Meditation World.
In a catastrophic era, the war between the gods and the ancestors is finally drawing to a close.
The Warlock World, once the main battlefield, has been ravaged by war.
For land creatures, including humans, the greatest threat comes from the drastic climate change brought about by the melting of polar glaciers.
Who was responsible for this apocalyptic catastrophe?
The gods and their followers pointed the finger at the Warlock Ancestors.
They accused them of using legendary magic to melt the polar ice caps, igniting countless volcanoes from land to sea, and opening portals to the elemental water in the sky. Torrential rain, like waterfalls, fueled the devastating flood that engulfed the world.
For floods are more terrifying than wild beasts, more effective in slaying the gods' followers and weakening the source of their faith.
Whether or not these accusations are true, the results show that natural disasters have indeed facilitated the Warlock Ancestors' overthrow of the gods' rule.
Today, the primary battleground between the gods and the Warlock Ancestors has shifted from the human world to the divine realm beyond.
Across the flooded land, surviving land-dwelling creatures continue to struggle.
However, not all creatures share the fear of the flood.
The sea monsters, led by the Leviathans, were overjoyed at the arrival of the Great Flood.
Thanks to the spreading flood, the sea monsters' territory stretched from the deep sea to the former continent.
In contrast, the Leviathans' mortal enemies, the Behemoths, were forced to struggle to survive before the catastrophe arrived.
A tribe of Behemoths, led by a wise elder, embarked on a difficult escape.
The monsters' destination was a cave atop a mountain.
It was said that deep within the cave led to a secret realm.
Entering this secret realm would allow them to escape the rising floodwaters and find refuge.
Years later, when the floods receded, they would emerge and rebuild their homes.
The plan sounded reasonable, but to reach this secret realm, they first had to cross a strait that lay across the path.
Numerous sea monsters lurked within the strait, waiting for their nemesis to descend upon them and seek their doom.
The Behemoths lacked the technology to build arks.
Most could not swim, and even without sea monster harassment, crossing the strait, which stretched dozens of miles wide, would be difficult.
Fortunately, this tribe possessed a few elemental Behemoths in addition to ordinary Behemoths.
The elder himself was a Level 8 Earth Behemoth.
If he wanted to escape alone, diving across the strait wouldn't be difficult.
The Sky Behemoths in the tribe could also transform into great rocs and fly directly to the other side of the strait.
However, to save the majority of their people, the Elemental Behemoths were willing to stay and live and die with the tribe.
The key to the success of the cross-sea escape lay in the Glacier Behemoths.
Twelve Glacier Behemoths transformed into giant snow-white wolves and waded through the water side by side.
The cold currents from their mouths froze the seawater, forming a thick layer of ice.
The ice reflected the sunlight, creating a glittering path across the strait behind them.
The other Behemoths followed closely behind, moving along the ice.
The Tide Behemoth, a rare amphibious subspecies in the tribe,
transformed into whale form, escorting the icy path on both sides.
Block the sea monsters attempting to sabotage from approaching this lifeline.
The Sky Behemoth transformed into a giant roc, acting as a transport aircraft, snatching up the lighter young creatures and flying across the strait to the other side.
This back-and-forth was extremely exhausting.
But everyone persevered, racing against time to transport them back and forth.
By dusk, most of the Behemoths had successfully crossed the strait.
Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a dark cloud drifted in.
A terrifying atmosphere enveloped them.
The Leviathan clan, though known as sea beasts, actually had some amphibious subspecies.
High-level sea monsters could even fly out of the water!
Hovering high above the strait was a Level 8 poisonous dragon!
This monster resembled a giant purple-scaled python, devoid of limbs.
Its head resembled a vicious dragon, and behind its ears extended a pair of wings that occasionally fluttered.
The poisonous dragon didn't rely on these wing-like auricles to fly.
Riding the wind was an innate supernatural ability.
The poisonous dragon swooped down, easily shattering the ice avenue spanning the strait.
The behemoths, unable to reach the other side, fell into the water, struggling desperately.
Four sky behemoths hurried over and surrounded the poisonous dragon!
However, they were still too young.
Even four against one, they were no match for the terrifying poisonous dragon.
A blast of poisonous dragon breath instantly blinded its senses, blurring even its consciousness. It instinctively flapped its wings and circled.
Plop!
A sky behemoth, its wings torn apart by the poisonous dragon, fell into the sea.
In a blink of an eye, he was drowned by the waves.
He could no longer feel the cold water, suffocating in the whirlpool, sinking...
A sea serpent took advantage of the opportunity.
It wrapped itself around the drowned roc, its fangs sinking into its prey's neck.
In its final moments, the Sky Behemoth's consciousness was replaced by another.
The ancestral spirit's final resentment and pain were reflected vividly in Allen, causing his soul to tremble!
After merging with the ancestral spirit, the toxin resistance inherent in the "Gluttony System" took effect immediately.
Unexpectedly, even a level 8 poison resistance couldn't completely cleanse the body of toxins.
Level 9 poison?!
Alan groaned inwardly.
In the Leviathan clan, the higher the level of the sea monster, the more potent its toxicity.
A Level 8 poisonous dragon typically possesses a Level 8 toxin, permanently damaging the victim's five senses and being highly contagious.
Level 9 Leviathan toxin is not only more contagious but also deprives the victim of their "intuition" (sixth sense), rendering them like a vegetable.
Alan could already feel his intuition waning, his thinking becoming increasingly sluggish.
It seemed the poisonous dragon that attacked the Behemoth tribe was close to reaching Level 9, its venom particularly potent.
Alan's Level 8 poison resistance wasn't immune to Level 9 poison, but it still offered some protection.
In the end, he retained only his intuition and ability to think; vision, smell, hearing, taste, and touch were all lost!
Alan's five senses were completely lost, and he was entangled by the giant snake and dragged into the deep sea.
The sharp fangs pierced his neck, causing him to bleed profusely.
Anyone else would have closed their eyes and waited for death.
Alan didn't give up his fight for survival!
For him, intuition was all he needed!
Silently, he activated "Detect Poison"!
Qi Sensing!
Telepathy!
The three combined skills transcended the five senses, forming a clear, external image in Alan's mind!
Toxin Detection, replacing vision, informed him that he was being entangled by a highly venomous creature.
Qi Sensing, emanating countless threads of magical energy from his body, replaced hearing and touch, outlining the sea serpent's outline.
Telepathy detected the sea serpent's current thoughts.
Even if they were merely savage thoughts filled with killing and appetite.
"Bite hard!"
"Bite this bird that just came to my door!"
"Drain its blood and feast!"
Alan found the snake's thoughts amusing.
Instantly, he activated his three-phase illusion.
The severely wounded and dying blue roc transformed into liquid, pouring out of the snake's mouth.
Crack!
Its fangs missed, and the sea serpent was stunned.
The giant beast, Alan, transformed back into flesh and blood.
Using his Qi sensor, he precisely grasped the snake's head.
His electric claws, fused with broken bones, exploded, and he crushed them fiercely.
Boom!
The seawater exploded, lightning flashed.
The snake's head shattered instantly.
Alan transformed into liquid form, drifting with the current, reaching the beach.
At this point, he had fulfilled his ancestral spirit's wish, escaping death.
Concluding his practice here, he imagined achieving perfect meditation.
However, Allen didn't want to end it this way.
From the perspective of future generations, this exiled Behemoth tribe was doomed, lost in the dust of history.
Otherwise, why didn't Allen's ogre wizard ancestors know of their tribe's whereabouts, nor heard of their descendants leaving the secret realm and thriving in a world where the flood had receded?
However, Allen still refused to give up.
Even if he couldn't change his ancestors' fate, he at least wanted to witness with his own eyes how these Behemoths came to their end.
Blind and deaf, Allen transformed into a great roc and flew low.
Qi sensing, like countless cilia radiating from his body, detected air currents and obstacles, allowing him to avoid the oncoming mountain in time.
Of course, the range of Qi sensing couldn't match the sharp vision of the Great Peng.
Alan didn't dare fly too fast.
Along the way, he detected numerous toxin reactions.
There were sea monsters stirring up trouble, of course, but even more were poisoned Behemoths.
Again, behemoths, deprived of their five senses, lay doomed in the muddy salt marsh.
Using his telepathy, Alan sensed the behemoths' pain and despair.
He briefly considered descending to rescue them, but ultimately gave up the idea.
Along the way, his blood had been used to detoxify them, with unfailing success.
Now, unable to even clear his own toxins, how could he possibly save others?
Injecting Behemoths with his highly toxic blood would only exacerbate the damage.
Alan pursued the trail until he entered the cave where the secret realm lay.
At the end of the cave, the lingering scent of Leviathan toxins and blood lingered.
He channeled his Qi, eliminating the interference of the chaotic footprints on the ground and tracing the intricate lines and ancient runes carved into the stone.
These patterns and runes together formed a teleportation array leading to the secret realm.
Swish!
Alan swung his claws, slicing his palm.
Blood dripped onto the magic circle.
"Ancestral spirits, protect your descendants..."
Alan prayed silently.
Before the rise of the Church of the Gods, all races in the world—humans, orcs, behemoths, and leviathans—worshipped their ancestors as gods.
Those ancient times marked the first golden age of the Warlock family.
However, with the rise of various universal religions that transcended races, the clan system based on blood ties gradually disintegrated, and primitive ancestor worship declined with it.
Both the Behemoths and the Leviathans were among the very few ancient races that remained unconverted and adhered to traditional ancestor worship. This stubborn persistence earned them the right to side with the First Ancestors in the war between them and the gods.
Joining the same camp could only bring about a temporary compromise, but it couldn't completely resolve the feud between the two clans.
In the early stages of the war, the two clans, pressured by survival, barely managed to unite for warmth.
By the end, victory was certain for each side.
With their common enemy defeated, Behemoth and Leviathan grew increasingly resentful of each other.
Old grudges surged in their hearts!
A vengeance lasting a hundred generations can still be avenged!
Adhering to ancestral worship meant avenging the ancestral spirits killed at the hands of their sworn enemies.
Vengeances continued to escalate, and the feud snowballed.
Until one clan was annihilated, the feud was finally resolved.
Blood and prayers activated the magic circle.
After a moment of trance, Allen was transported to a secret realm.
A full moon hung in the night sky, illuminating the distant mountains and casting gray silhouettes on the landscape.
The night breeze carried the faint fragrance of flowers, but no beasts' roars or insects' chirps could be heard.
The secret realm was utterly silent, the atmosphere eerie and strange!
Alan walked towards the valley ahead, simultaneously emitting a sense of Qi and activating his telepathy to detect movement around him.
As he walked, his mood gradually plummeted.
The birds and beasts that inhabited this secluded paradise collapsed to the ground, their breaths weak.
These fragile creatures had been infected with the Leviathan poison, their senses extinguished, and their ability to forage for food and survive had been lost.
The dying birds and beasts were filled with pain and despair.
All these negative emotions were fed back to Allen's mind through telepathy.
It was like a thickening haze, lingering.
Alan's will gradually failed.
To avoid a mental breakdown, he had to shut down his telepathy.
Alan couldn't see, but his heart knew.
The Behemoths had retreated into the secret realm, but instead of finding peace, they had brought disaster upon the creatures within.
With a last glimmer of hope, Alan entered the depths of the valley.
Aura sensing had detected hundreds of Behemoths.
To be more precise, it only detected the outlines of the Behemoths, not their emanating life force.
A large group of Behemoths sat, arms folded around their knees, at the foot of the cliffs on either side of the valley.
They had collectively transformed into cold stone statues.
Why was this happening?
Confused, Alan hurried between the two rows of Behemoth statues.
To the valley's end. The Behemoth clan's great elder sat alone atop a cliff.
This powerful Rank 8 Earth Behemoth had also been petrified.
Alan's heart sank! He staggered within a hundred feet of the elder's stone statue and immediately activated the "Devil's Mouth" mark upon it.
"Child, welcome home..." The great elder's deep voice emanated from the statue.
"What I'm going to say next is a message I leave for future generations."
Alan listened silently, his heart pounding. Many of the fleeing Behemoths were infected.
After entering the secret realm, the dormant Leviathan toxins within their bodies erupted one after another, spreading wildly! Now, the entire secret realm had become a toxin-infested epidemic zone.
The Behemoths, infected with the toxin and deprived of their five senses, sat waiting to die. In order to keep the flame of life alive, the Great Elder, while he could barely suppress the poison, resorted to a last resort.
Activating the ninth-level magic "Petrification Badge," he petrified his entire tribe.
Including himself.
The Behemoths, transformed into stone statues, ceased their physiological activities.
Freed from the torment of poison and thirst, they entered a long hibernation.
In the final paragraph of the Demon Mouth's message, the Great Elder prayed to the ancestral spirits with a glimmer of hope.
Hoping that by the time the flood receded, future generations would have mastered the cure for the Leviathan poison.
Arriving in the secret realm, he would undo the petrification and awaken them.
However, Alan knew there would be no descendants.
The Behemoths slumbering in the secret valley were the last documented Behemoth tribe in the history of the Warlock World.
Allen could hardly find any Behemoth ancestral spirits born later than the Great Flood in the Bloodline Galaxy.
The moment the Great Elder activated the "Petrification Badge," the Behemoth race had already become statistically extinct in the wild.
Including the ancestral spirit Allen had merged with.
In real history, it should have perished at the hands of a sea serpent long ago.
Alan reversed the fate of the ancestral spirit, but he couldn't save this doomed race.
The night stretched long.
The valley was silent.
Alan sat by a bonfire, arms folded over his knees.
Alone in the secret realm, accompanied by the cold stone statue of the giant beast.
He felt a deep sense of loneliness he had never felt before.