Bloodline Enmity

"Back in the ancient era, performing the ritual the way I taught never caused any problems. What went wrong?" Quick to correct her errors, the Immortal Fairy set to investigating the issue and seeking a solution so as not to repeat the mistake in the future. "I've got it! The Barbarians I knew back in antiquity were first-generation Barbarians. Their bloodlines were pure, and they were the direct beneficiaries of my blessing!" "After three hundred thousand years of passing it down, the proportion of an immortal's blessing in the Ancient Barbarian bloodline has dwindled. By this generation, it's already exceedingly low." "So when the concentration of my blessing is high, it has a suppressive effect on demon beasts, but when it's low, they seek revenge on me?" "Bullying the weak and fearing the strong! How on earth did Immortal Kirin manage his demon beasts? They're not giving me any face at all!" The more the Immortal Fairy thought about it, the more indignant she became. She resolved that once she tracked down Immortal Kirin, she would give him a sound thrashing. "Fairy, is there a way to put Man Gu's Ancient Barbarian bloodline back to sleep?" Lu Yang had already half-expected that awakening the Ancient Barbarian bloodline would draw aggro. After all, considering the outrageous, universally infuriating things the Immortal Fairy had done while she was alive, it was only natural that she had enemies. It was just that while she was still alive, she had the power to keep them in check. The moment she bit the dust, her enemies came sniffing around like sharks to blood. The Immortal Fairy pondered. "I hadn't actually considered that. Let me see... Hollering 'Immortal Kirin is a bastard' a couple of times... No, that might draw even more aggro." "Ah, right! We can have Man Gu yell 'May the Immortal Fairy live forever!' over and over. That'll awaken the bloodline further until it reaches the point where it can suppress the demon beasts!" Lu Yang felt that this idea reeked of utter unreliability. "Let's just fight. It's only six Golden Core demon beasts; the four of us can handle it." Lu Yang sighed, acknowledging that his cheat-code guide had failed him, and began laying out a battle plan. "Meng Jingzhou and I will each take on two Golden Core demon beasts. Junior Sister Tao, you and Man Gu each take one. Right—those two late Golden Core demon beasts are in your hands." The four of them had come to the dense forest looking for combat experience anyway. This was merely moving up the schedule a bit—no big deal. Tao Yaoye and Man Gu felt immense pressure; neither of them had ever fought a Golden Core demon beast before. Man Gu felt the most pressure of all. Helplessly, he said, "Brother Lu, I have no objections to your battle plan, but I do have one question." "What is it?" "All six beasts seem to be targeting me. How are we going to fight them?" Lu Yang: "...The three of us will charge in first and leave one for you." ... A patterned giant python, around ten meters long, flicked its tongue with a hiss. Its eyes were cold as ice, its body taut as it slithered rapidly across the ground, intent on coiling around Man Gu. It had never met Man Gu, yet the origin within its bloodline told it unceasingly that this person was dangerous and must be killed. Then kill him it would! He was merely at late Foundation Establishment! It constricted tightly around Man Gu until he struggled to breathe, his face turning pale. Suddenly, the python felt its coils go light—the Man Gu it was constricting vanished into thin air. The python's pupils contracted sharply as it realized something was wrong. Without even realizing it, it had fallen into an illusion! "Your opponent is me." A graceful figure stood behind the python, holding a red paper umbrella like a beauty stepped out of a painting. The python whipped its head around, but just as it moved to attack Tao Yaoye, graceful silhouette after graceful silhouette stepped out from behind her, encircling it completely. It had fallen into yet another illusion! ... Sword in hand, Lu Yang advanced toward two demon beasts step by step, the tip of his sword dragging across the ground to leave a straight furrow. Suddenly, Lu Yang flicked his blade upward, kicking up a spray of dust that stung and blurred the two beasts' eyes. The two demon beasts unfurled their divine sense, searching for Lu Yang. Yet they found no trace of him at all. In his place was a magnificent striped tiger, clamping a peerless sword between its jaws. Lu Clan Imitation Fist, First Form: Tiger Fist! Unprepared for such a development, the two beasts hesitated for a brief moment. In that instant of distraction, the striped tiger lunged forward with the sword, aiming to slit the throats of both demon beasts! The two beasts dodged in a panic. The Green Blade Sword grazed past, slicing open the pelts they were so proud of, blood gushing out. The two demon beasts were no pushovers either. Flexing the muscles around their wounds, they exerted force to clamp the cuts shut on the spot! Golden Core cultivators and beasts could command every part of their bodies! This was precisely why Lu Yang had noted that the combined combat method's vulnerabilities could only be patched at the Golden Core stage. The striped tiger's claws were already razor-sharp, capable of ripping away flesh and bone with a single swipe. Now, paired with the sword in its mouth, its lethality soared to another level entirely! Like a tiger growing a sword! The two beasts searched for the striped tiger, finding nothing. Where was it? One of the beasts reacted first, glaring at the ground. But just as it was about to spread its divine sense to investigate, the tiger surfaced from the earth, thrusting its sword forth! It severed one of the demon beast's front legs clean off! The two beasts tried to counterattack, only to watch the tiger dive right back into the earth. To Lu Yang, who had mastered the Shrinking the Earth technique, this ground was no soil—it was a swimming pool! ... Man Gu faced an armored demon beast as tall as a man. Its armor plates resembled fish scales, yet were finer, akin to the scales of a pangolin. Roaring, the armored demon beast charged toward Man Gu. Refusing to be outdone, Man Gu shouted at the top of his lungs, "Blessings of the Immortal Fairy!" and charged headlong toward the armored beast. The armored beast had never seen such a daring human. A mere late Foundation Establishment brat, daring to test his physical strength against it? Boom! Man and beast collided with a deafening roar. Both stumbled back several paces, unable to keep their footing, each crashing into a massive tree before finally steadying themselves. The armored demon beast treated him like a formidable foe. It had never imagined this human's body could be so terrifying, matching its own in strength. Man Gu heaved heavy breaths. He had come out worse in that collision, but as he kept shouting the Immortal Fairy's name, he felt his physical body continually growing stronger. "Blessings of the Immortal Fairy!" Bellowing once more, he charged at the armored demon beast again. ... Like Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou faced two mid-Golden Core demon beasts: a tiger whose bloodline traced back to the ancient great demon Luwu, and a lion descended from the ancient Nine-Headed Lion. Neither was an easy opponent. These two demon beasts were even more dangerous than the ones Lu Yang faced. Glaring hungrily at Meng Jingzhou, the power within their bloodlines urged them to eliminate this obstacle before killing Man Gu. This was an enmity born of bloodlines—irreconcilable, inextinguishable, ending only in death! "Tsk. Why is my luck always this rotten?" Meng Jingzhou muttered under his breath and fumbled inside his robes. The two demon beasts tensed up, focusing their attention and gathering their full strength. Whatever hidden weapon Meng Jingzhou pulled out, they were prepared to dodge it and strike back with a lethal counter. Such was the pride rooted in their ancient bloodlines! With lightning speed, Meng Jingzhou flung an object radiating a peculiar glow far into the distance, making no attempt whatsoever to aim at the two demon beasts. The lion demon possessed eyesight that ranked among the sharpest even in the Golden Core stage. The instant it made out what the object was, it spun around and sprinted after it. The tiger demon stood frozen in confusion. "Human, what did you just throw?" "A high-grade spirit stone." The tiger demon immediately whirled around to chase after the lion demon. Bloodline enmity didn't seem quite so important after all.