Chapter 258: The Bloodline Baptism Begins
In a void-like space, a sudden glimmer of light appeared. Immediately after, a vast surge of purple-blue flames began to rise, spreading in all directions, and in the blink of an eye, engulfed the entire domain. The endless flames resembled a sea of fire, rolling and raging.
At the center, Yao Yan sat cross-legged atop the sea of fire, like an emperor within the flames, ruling over this world of fire.
"Whoosh~"
A wave of invisible Hun power spread out from his brow, causing ripples to flow across the fire sea as it passed.
At the same time—
The figure of Yao Yan, who had originally been seated at the center, suddenly blurred as if melting into the space, transforming into a strand of purple-blue flame that vanished from where he sat. When he reappeared, he was already standing at the edge of the fire sea.
"Terrifying... As expected of a Celestial-tier combat technique created by a Dou Emperor," Yao Yan thought to himself. Though he had only just begun to grasp it, this ability, which bordered on spatial teleportation, was absurd. He suspected that those below the Dou Sheng level wouldn't even be able to perceive how he moved.
In fact, if he were fully prepared, even some of the weaker one or two-star Dou Shengs might not be able to track him.
However, the difficulty in cultivating this technique was indeed extremely high, and it required intense compatibility between the body, space, and flame. If the practitioner's body had even slightly lower affinity with fire or space, they wouldn't be able to teleport, let alone progress further—especially not to the level of Divine Flame Avatars!
Compared to the initial mastery of flame teleportation, the Divine Flame Avatar was the true core of this Celestial-tier combat technique. Once condensed, any attack aimed at the practitioner could be transferred to the avatar, which would take the hit in their place. The avatar had no physical form—so long as the incoming attack didn't exceed its limit, the user remained essentially invincible.
The most absurd part was that the number of Divine Flame Avatars was determined by how many flames the practitioner possessed. Theoretically, there was no limit. As long as their Hun power was strong enough and they had enough flames, they could condense millions of avatars!
And the stronger the flames, the more powerful the avatars would be, and the more damage they could endure.
That was the true terror of this technique. The teleportation ability was just an auxiliary tool, testing the practitioner's compatibility with flame and space. If you couldn't even master that, then cultivating Divine Flame Avatars was out of the question.
If not for having cultivated the Flame Decision and having devoured both the Flame Clan's and the Gu Void Dragon's essence blood, Yao Yan wouldn't have been able to get started so quickly.
Even so, it had taken him more than three months just to reach the threshold.
Compared to the Divine Flame Avatar, cultivating the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Change had gone far more smoothly. He encountered almost no difficulties and completed it directly. The boost it provided was massive, allowing Yao Yan's peak four-star Dou Zun strength to leap to peak eight-star Dou Zun. The increase was so large that it completely compensated for his shortcoming in clan mark usage.
Yao Yan shifted his thoughts, and the fire sea within the void space vanished. He then pulled out a jade tablet, and as he infused Dou Qi into it, a portal of light appeared in front of him. He stepped through it, and as the portal disappeared behind him, the void world once again fell into a strange silence.
...
After a moment of disorientation, Yao Yan returned to the alchemy room. He glanced at the jade tablet in his hand and put it away. It was the key to the seclusion space. That void world had been crafted personally by Hun Xuzi, completely isolated from the outside world. Without the jade tablet, even Dou Shengs stronger than Hun Xuzi wouldn't be able to enter.
Almost at the same time that Yao Yan walked out of the void, a middle-aged man wrapped in black flames emerged from a spatial portal nearby.
It was Hun Xuzi. He smiled faintly. "If you'd stayed in seclusion any longer, I would've had to barge in myself."
"Don't worry, Master. I've been keeping track of the days," Yao Yan said respectfully with a bow.
"Just making sure you didn't forget!" Hun Xuzi teased before looking Yao Yan up and down. "How was your seclusion? Any breakthroughs?"
"Pretty good... I should be able to handle him," Yao Yan replied modestly.
"Excellent. Let's go. Everyone else is nearly assembled. Just the two of us left," Hun Xuzi nodded with satisfaction. He raised his hand and teleported with Yao Yan, heading toward the plaza while explaining the details of the bloodline baptism.
"Our clan's bloodline baptism is different from those of the other imperial clans. A thousand years ago, after Lord Void joined the Hun Clan, he used his Heavenly Flame to create a world of blood sacrifice. All deceased Hun Clan members are sent there… After a thousand years, the bloodline power within it has become incredibly rich. That's the real reason our bloodline has never thinned."
"When you enter it, your placement will be determined by your strength. Each of you will also carry a sub-flame of the Void Devouring Flame. This sub-flame is a derivative of Lord Void's Heavenly Flame!"
He paused.
With a playful smile, Hun Xuzi glanced at Yao Yan and continued in a low voice, "Using the sub-flame in your body, you'll be able to kill others and seize their bloodline power... There's also a creature inside that you're quite familiar with. If you kill it, you'll obtain blood essence that contains bloodline energy."
"Your strength is at the Dou Zun level, so you'll be matched against the clan's top-tier talents."
"Familiar creature?" Yao Yan's eyes flickered with confusion.
But Hun Xuzi, true to his cryptic nature, said nothing more. After that, he took Yao Yan toward the imperial city's plaza. By then, it was already packed with people—an endless sea of figures, with countless powerful auras filling the space. The younger generation gathered for the bloodline baptism were all at least at the Dou Huang level, with many Dou Zuns among them.
In the outside world, these would be considered elite geniuses—but here, they were everywhere.
This was the depth of an imperial clan!
However, what caught Yao Yan's attention was that the Hun Clan didn't seem to have invited the other imperial clans to witness the event. But he quickly understood why: with the Hun Clan's reputation, even if invitations had been sent, the other clans might not have dared to come. If there were any opportunity to wipe them all out in one go, he believed Hun Emperor Hun Tiandi wouldn't hesitate.
"You go ahead," Hun Xuzi said halfway through the flight, then flew off alone toward the high platform.
Yao Yan nodded and turned into a streak of light, descending into the crowd. The moment he landed, a vacuum of ten meters formed around him, and countless gazes locked onto him—some respectful, some envious, some mocking, some filled with jealousy…
He ignored them all, closed his eyes, and rested. These Hun Clan juniors didn't interest him. Most weren't even Dou Zuns. According to Hun Xuzi, they wouldn't be assigned to the same area anyway.
The Hun Clan's bloodline baptism really did resemble a cruel selection process. Using the unique power of the Void Devouring Flame to plunder others' bloodlines until a true "demonic genius" was born!
But it fit the Hun Clan's style—brutal and efficient.
And even if one's strength was lacking, as long as they had ability, they could still emerge from the blood sacrifice world!
Compared to clans that focused only on bloodline purity, the Hun Clan's method did a better job of cultivating real strength.
As long as you didn't run into some cheat-level freak!
"Hmm?"
Yao Yan suddenly sensed three fairly strong auras locking onto him. He opened his eyes and saw three young men staring at him with playful smiles. Judging from their auras, all three were Dou Zuns. The strongest among them was a three-star Dou Zun, the other two were one-star Dou Zuns.
Realizing their strength, Yao Yan found the situation strange. When did he become the target for others to challenge across ranks? Typical Hun Clan—arrogant and absurd.
Getting too cocky, huh? These guys were supposed to be Hun Clan prodigies!
Yao Yan checked himself mentally and suppressed his drifting ego. Realistically speaking, this trio could indeed overpower a four-star Dou Zun. After all, they were top-tier talents right below Hun Feng . It made sense that they were acting arrogant.
"So you're the one who returned from the Medicine Clan? Didn't your name used to be Yao Yan? Since when could you change your surname so easily?" the leading young man sneered, his eyes filled with mockery.
As the three approached, a vacuum of hundreds of meters formed around them. The weaker clan members clearly feared a battle might break out.
"My father was from the Hun Clan, my mother from the Medicine Clan. Whether I use the name Yao or Hun, I think both are fine," Yao Yan replied calmly, not even slightly provoked. There was no need to be angry with a dead man.
"You're quite good-looking, very much my sister's type. But you made a huge mistake going after the Young Clan Leader position. Just because your teacher is Lord Hun Xuzi, you think you can do whatever you want? This is the Hun Clan, not the Medicine Clan. Words here have consequences," a seductive young woman in black tight-fitting clothes added coldly.
"Your strength seems decent, but let's see how you actually fight. Hopefully, you're not just another pill-popping weakling," said a tall, burly young man in a grim tone.
"So the three of you are here to provoke me?" Yao Yan's voice didn't change, calm as ever.
"Not a provocation. Just saying hello... I'm Hun Ya. I'll likely be your opponent soon," the first youth said with a soft smile.
"Opponent?" A strange look flashed in Yao Yan's eyes as he gazed at the three-star Dou Zun before him. The killing intent he had felt vanished. There was no point in talking to a fool.
Not knowing the weight of your opponent was the most dangerous thing.
To come straight up and provoke someone without knowing how strong they were—these Hun Clan geniuses really were overprotected. It was nothing like the grind Yao Yan had gone through. This so-called bloodline baptism was starting to feel like child's play.
The strong stay strong. This world of blood sacrifice would only become his feast.
Understanding that—
He smiled, brightly and confidently. "I'll be waiting."
"The blood sacrifice world is huge. Finding someone won't be easy. Why don't we exchange Hun auras? That way it'll be easier," Hun Ya said with a smile. His slightly pale and thin face looked sly. It seemed the earlier provocation was all for this moment.
"Sure~" Yao Yan had never seen such a thoughtful "opponent." He took out a jade slip from his storage ring, imprinted his Hun aura on it, and tossed it over.
Hun Ya did the same, throwing his own jade slip to Yao Yan.
"See you in the blood sacrifice world!"
"Sure!"
After the exchange, Hun Ya and his two companions walked away. They had come just to say hello. The real fight would be in the blood sacrifice world. And if three of them couldn't take down a single four-star Dou Zun? Well, they could just call for two more. They had to make sure this newcomer to the Hun Clan understood what it meant to be a Hun Clan member!
"Interesting," Yao Yan said, twirling the jade slip in his hand. He smirked with interest.
...
Atop the distant high platform, over a dozen figures sat in silence. With their strength, nothing that happened below could escape their senses—especially Yao Yan, who was a key focus of this bloodline baptism. Hun Ya's provocation made several of them chuckle. They had found their entertainment.
"I recall Hun Ya is the descendant of that elder. His strength isn't bad. With his teammates, they might reveal a bit of that kid's power."
"Hard to say. That kid's constitution is outrageous—far beyond ordinary Dou Zuns. Among this generation, only Hun Feng might match him... Still, it'll be fun to watch. This year's baptism should be much more interesting than the last few."
...
As the elders conversed, four enormous portals suddenly rose from the edges of the square. Chains clanged as thick killing intent surged out from within. The instant they appeared, a soul-crushing pressure swept the crowd, suffocating all the juniors.
Yao Yan included. The aura of death was so intense it felt like his very Hun was about to drift away.
"Enter—"
An old voice echoed through the plaza. The portals rippled, then transformed into blood-colored whirlpools that led to another world.
As the voice fell, everyone surged toward the nearest portal.
Yao Yan chose the closest one, turning into a streak of light and flying into it. Just before entering, he felt a sharp gaze fall on him. That single look gave him a faint sense of danger. He turned toward the source and locked eyes with a young man.
There was a strange black mark on the young man's forehead.
Hun Feng?!
Yao Yan was puzzled—then his figure disappeared into the blood-colored vortex...
(END CHAPTER)
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