Chapter 868

Chapter 868: Bloodline Sealing

High legs, long and slender limbs covered in hooks, these spiders were terrifying at first glance. The terror stemmed from their structure, completely different from common organisms, and upon magnification, the peculiar limb structure challenged long-established common sense.

This structure, distinct from mammalian forms, always left people astonished and awestruck.

Lolan Hill slightly raised her head, gazing at the white spider swiftly descending from the sky. At such close range, even the tiny hairs on its long legs were clearly visible. Its gradually darkening fangs secreted liquid, shooting out like water jets, heading straight for her face.

In this brief moment, less than a second, several fast and agile spiders pounced towards the young lady. Seeing the fang-like venomous teeth about to bite her fair neck, the swordswoman finally moved.

The sword in her hand fluttered like a butterfly, emitting faint purple blades slicing through the air, cutting through obstacles without a sound. Her original standing figure seemed like a phantom, ‘sliding’ past the spiders’ sides before slowly lowering the blade again.

Soon after, a sparse ‘rain’ fell behind the young lady, as fragments of spider corpses struck fallen leaves and moss-covered ground, splashing yellow-green viscous liquid. The surrounding air also carried a faint sour smell.

Upon smelling this odor, many small spiders in the forest began to scatter, as if they had received some kind of warning.

Considering that letting these spiders go might harm more people, Lolan Hill took action once more. She swiftly moved through the forest with her sword, cutting down trees and chopping up escaping small spiders. Countless white and yellow-green limbs and acidic fluids were scattered on the ground, while the faint purple light arcs in the forest darted like lightning, clearing out the dangerous spiders.

After nearly half an hour, the forest finally quieted down again. Lolan Hill sat wearily on a large tree nearby for rest. This tree was now lying horizontally on the ground, with a pile of spider corpses a few dozen yards ahead.

“Finally finished,” she wiped the sweat off her forehead after resting for a while, then pulled out the sword planted in the ground.

Killing those large spiders was easy for her, but preventing the small ones from escaping was challenging. With only a Sequence 4 ranking, she still had to put in considerable effort.

After dealing with the spiders, Lolan Hill ventured deeper into the forest to see what else was hidden there.

In the web-filled jungle, silk threads and white cocoons were everywhere. Some were used to hatch baby spiders, while others contained dead beasts.

After cutting open some white cocoons with her sword, Lolan Hill carefully handled these things and unexpectedly found remnants of fish bones.

Could there be a river nearby? The young lady wondered, recalling the raccoon she encountered earlier. Such animals often lived near water.

After inspecting, finding no human remains, the young lady breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this place was too remote for anyone to visit.

She stepped out of the dark spider-infested forest, took out a small flask, and poured prepared kerosene along the forest’s perimeter.

She felt the wind direction with her finger, nodded, then threw a matchstick, igniting the small heap of grass below.

Immediately, a plume of green smoke rose among the fallen leaves and grass. In the rolling green smoke, a small flame flickered up, igniting the surrounding green smoke. Soon other parts caught fire, and the green smoke gradually faded.

Smelling the scent of burning plant ash in the air, Lolan Hill stood aside, watching the fire spread, reaching towards the spider-infested forest behind.

By dusk, the fire grew larger, sending waves of heat, striking the surroundings, making one feel the scorching sensation just by looking.

“I hope it doesn’t attract too much attention,” the young lady said worriedly as she watched the flames grow bigger.

It wasn’t because she feared the fire getting out of control; she had prepared firebreaks in advance. Rather, she feared others would see and rush over, mistaking her for someone setting the forest ablaze, though that was indeed what she was doing.

As night descended, the fire still burned brightly, especially noticeable in the darkness. The golden flames illuminated the surroundings. Lolan Hill sat a short distance away, with a few fish she had prepared skewered in front of her.

After completing her task, she surveyed the area and discovered a swift-flowing river behind the hill. So, she fished a few more for dinner.

Under the firelight, the swordswoman looked uneasily at the persistent fire, pacing back and forth. At this moment, the black-and-white raccoon ran over again, hiding in the grass, hesitantly looking at the burnt fish.

After a rustling noise, the raccoon came out and approached Lolan Hill, calling out to her a few times, then lifting its front paw toward the roasted fish.

It seemed to ask, “Can I eat?” The look was both pitiful and adorable.

“Alright, I know you’re hungry, so I’ll give you one,” Lolan Hill laughed, squatting down to look at the little animal.

“But only one, I’m hungry too,” she petted the raccoon’s head.

—

On the other side of the mountain and forest, the lord’s castle back door opened again. Baron Moroz, the butler, and the young girl walked out.

“Let’s try again tonight. I don’t believe it won’t work,” said Baron Moroz, still not giving up after a day of frustration and anxiety.

“Yes, sir.”

The butler followed last, with the deep blonde-haired girl in between. Compared to yesterday, her clothes were much more tattered, likely due to being snagged by branches and thorns. Today, she still walked unsteadily behind Baron Moroz.

“You’d better hurry up. I don’t have time to wait for you,” Baron Moroz turned his head after walking a distance, looking at the girl sternly.

“Yes, sir,” the girl trembled in fear upon hearing his reprimand, then answered quietly and uneasily.

“Hmph.” Baron Moroz turned back around, and the three slowly headed towards a hidden spot in the forest.

Finally, they stopped under a large rock, about two miles from the castle, neither far nor near.

After stopping here, the butler stepped forward as commanded, finding a hidden corner beneath the rock, inputting some magic power. Soon, the stone began to slowly rotate, revealing a passage underneath.

Holding torches and lanterns, the three entered the dim passageway, and the stone slowly closed behind them.

Walking through the underground passage, the world seemed to quiet down, only the faint crackling of the torches and the whooshing of the flames cutting through the air could be heard.

The walls were relatively smooth, and the steps showed no signs of weathering, suggesting they were built in recent years.

After walking for a long time in this lengthy passage, the walls and steps transformed into a more primitive style, full of the marks of time.

These walls exposed gray-black bricks, already somewhat tilted, and the steps were broken and incomplete, filled with gaps and rubble. Walking on them, one could easily trip.

After traversing the long and silent staircase, everything around became increasingly silent and oppressive. At this moment, the world above seemed distant, and one’s own breathing was clearly audible.

“We’re here,” Baron Moroz’s voice echoed, lacking excitement and joy, only fatigue and anxiety.

He turned his head again, looking at the young girl in the firelight, remaining silent for a while before stepping aside to reveal what lay behind.

This was a small enclosed space, with a square-shaped passage ending in a stone wall. On the wall was a carved skull and a crescent moon entwined with vines, with wisteria flowers blooming in the center.

This was the symbol of the Mercury Dynasty, still in its early form. Although the square space was empty, reaching into it would feel a repulsive force and a sense of life being drained and corroded.

This was the sealing mechanism left behind by the Mercury Dynasty. To forcibly enter, one needed at least Sequence 8 power, which would also trigger a self-destructive spell, leaving the intruder empty-handed.

To resist the orc empire and elf nations during difficult times, the Mercury Dynasty established underground cities across various regions. These cities were unsuitable for living beings but had advantages for undead creatures, allowing them to resist fiercely.

If resistance failed and evacuation was necessary, they would seal away items that couldn’t be taken.

Through ten years of research and translation of ancient texts, Baron Moroz understood that this sealed space contained a ‘holy relic’ obtained during the Mercury Dynasty era. Unlike ordinary creations, ‘holy relics’ had extraordinary effects and were not made by humans or elves but were divine legacies.

Just as witches were considered fragments of deities, ‘holy relics’ were even smaller fragments, retaining some divine power despite being separated from the crown and unable to return.

Representing divine power, ‘holy relics’ were pursued by organizations and heroes for generations, enabling ordinary Sequence 9 individuals to temporarily withstand the witch’s terrifying powers. This was also why the Sage Council could balance numerous witches.

The Sage Council, which gathered legendary heroes, still possessed many ‘holy relics,’ although rarely used, they served as a powerful deterrent, maintaining the organization’s supremacy.

Grayish-white walls bore rusty red marks, seemingly caused by groundwater seepage. Under their reflection, the skull and crescent moon on the wall appeared more worn, as if abandoned by time.

“What a pity,” Baron Moroz murmured, looking at the unreachable stone wall, then feeling the resistance in the passageway again.

His hand felt a soft barrier, and in his extraordinary perception, a warm energy slowly drained from his body. Before any damage occurred, he withdrew his hand.

Now he only had Sequence 3 power, which was average among nobles and hadn’t improved in years.

Before the world changed, he had Sequence 4 power. But after everything changed, cultivation seemed harder, and now he had stagnated at Sequence 3.

Thinking this, he shook his head again and took out the holy white sphere from his pocket, holding it in his palm before extending it again.

At this moment, the thick resistance in the air seemed neutralized, becoming weaker, and he could slowly move forward, eventually touching the skull on the wall. Some stone chips and dust fell into his hand. He cautiously tried to input magic power or drip blood, but there was no response.

Seeing this, he turned to the girl nearby.

“You, come here.”

The girl lifted her face, nervously touching her hand, then walked over hesitantly.

Compared to Baron Moroz, the girl faced less resistance. Even so, her face turned pale, and her body swayed.

When she approached the stone wall, Baron Moroz grabbed her hand, scratching a small cut to let blood flow.

Dark red drops fell onto the mottled skull, causing it to tremble, and a cracking sound came from behind the stone wall.

Baron Moroz and the butler watched intently, waiting for something to happen.

But after a few minutes, the movement slowly subsided, returning to silence.

“It’s the same as yesterday,” Baron Moroz frowned, tapping the wall irritably.

What could be the problem? He pondered, recalling the information he had gathered over the years.

This clearly was a bloodline verification mechanism, only usable by specific bloodlines. Though rare today, such mechanisms were once prevalent in the distant past.

Tracing the origin of this secret technique led back to the era of the first human empire, the Crimson Empire.

In that empire, skilled in demonic sequences, various blood-related secrets flourished. Initially, nobles took pride in their bloodlines, inventing ways to verify their descendants’ lineage.

Unfortunately, this secret technique declined during the Mercury Dynasty period. Unlike empires ruled by bloodline inheritance, the Mercury Dynasty resembled a union of necromancers, valuing apprenticeship over bloodlines. Thus, this secret technique was used less and less until the Mercury Dynasty’s collapse, when these ancient secrets were lost in war and calamity.

Now, he found this device again in the ruins, and after extensive examination and experimentation, he concluded that the target must be a descendant of the Mercury Dynasty’s remnants.

After the collapse of the Mercury Dynasty in the Second Era, many families’ bloodlines were exiled to the Perpetual Darkness Island, a situation continuing until the chaos of the Third Era’s Cataclysm.

During the Cataclysm, necromancer wizards played crucial roles again. The human elite no longer suppressed this small sequence, and some descendants of the Perpetual Darkness Island returned to the mainland. Many were assigned to the barren and desolate Northern Region, with the most notable being the Trei family, known for their grey raven emblem.

Led by this family, the necromancer army conquered the indestructible magic city of Ozm in the war between the Verdant Empire and Oz Country.

After the war, the descendants of the Perpetual Darkness Island returned to the barren North, but some bloodlines remained in the South. Perhaps they were the result of wartime love or perhaps they simply loved the warmth of the South. A few stayed secretly.

Baron Moroz spent considerable time searching, finally locating this girl about to be executed in the Dragon Wing Province prison.

According to her ancestor’s cryptic records, she was a descendant of the Perpetual Darkness Island, thus carrying the bloodline inherited from the Mercury Dynasty.

Why did the mechanism stop rotating after the initial reaction? Could it be due to an incompatible bloodline?

Baron Moroz pondered, but dismissed this idea. The girl’s bloodline was genuine. After hundreds of years on the island, intermarriage had mixed the bloodlines, ensuring she had at least a trace of the Mercury Dynasty’s blood.

Perhaps the purity was insufficient? Maybe, but where could one find pure-blood descendants of the Mercury Dynasty now? Even the Trei family, after centuries of intermarriage, could not claim absolute purity.

Baron Moroz pondered, looking at the blood-stained skull on the stone wall motionless.

After a long while, he slowly withdrew his hand from the wall, putting away the small holy sphere, and exited the square passage.

“Sir?” the butler asked in confusion.

“Let’s go back,” he looked at the blood residue on his palm, thoughts of past information surfacing.

Legend has it that during the Crimson Empire era, there was a secret technique to purify bloodlines, originally used for extracting blood from demonic beasts to make potions. Perhaps this could be tried now.

The only obstacle was recalling where he had seen this information.

It seemed another thorough search of the family’s library was inevitable.

Thinking these things, Baron Moroz walked silently ahead, returning to the surface as the sky’s edge gradually revealed a cold white light.

Another new day had begun.