Chapter 443: Auric Flame Blood (1/2)

[V5C150 – A Distance Within Reach]

Qianye once again shifted his attention to the blood core.

It was pulsing slowly just as before, the crystals on its surface reflecting an intermittent brilliance with every contraction.

The world within the blood core was revealed layer by layer as his True Sight zoomed in. Qianye saw that a drop of golden blood had appeared at some point within the depths of the blood core. It hovered in the air alight with a faint golden flame. When his blood flowed into this chamber, it would bring away specks of golden light from this drop of golden blood and transport them to various parts of his body.

Qianye could feel his body growing stronger little by little as the golden specks continued to circulate. Although the degree of strengthening was almost negligible, his constitution and strength were improving constantly. Moreover, it was a permanent upgrade that would grow to an impressive level over a long time.

A term emerged in Qianye’s mind when he saw the burning drop of golden blood.

Auric flame blood!

The auric flame blood would be born in a vampire’s blood core upon his ascension to the rank of marquis. The energy contained within every speck of golden light it released was hundreds of times richer than that of fresh blood, and with their presence, one’s origin power condensation and regeneration would increase by a significant margin.

Among two combatants with equal strength, the one who possessed the auric flame blood would easily emerge victorious over the one without. This was also the reason why a vampire’s rank and bloodline allowed them to exert overwhelming dominance over those inferior to them.

According to legend, those mighty marquis whose strength were above all other marquis had already transformed all the blood in their body to auric flame blood. Such vampires were different from others down to their innate vitality and could be considered a different form altogether. They already possessed a thread of hope to assail the threshold of a duke.

The dark race feudal ranks matched their strengths. They would escape the ranks of cannon fodder starting from the rank of esquire, and becoming a viscount was a sign that they had crossed into the realm of true experts. The rank of marquis was when they would touch the borders of the pyramid's summit.

However, the suppression exerted by a high-ranking dark race member on a low-ranking one was more obvious than the stratification of human champions. The benefits of Qianye forming the auric flame blood at the viscount rank were quite easy to see.

Qianye was happy about his increase in strength, but he couldn’t describe the feelings in his heart after recalling the origin of his blood energy. Moreover, despite the Song Clan Ancient Scroll, there was no telling when he would lose balance now that his dark side had advanced by leaps and bounds. He wasn’t willing to pay the price of falling into darkness even if he could obtain greater power.

Qianye thought of something at this point. With the auric flame blood’s strengthening effects on his constitution, he might be able to withstand more impact from the origin power tides than before—at least theoretically. That being the case, just how far would he be able to advance with the Combatant Formula?

Qianye had already cultivated the Combatant Formula to forty-nine cycles. Such a progress was only exceeded by Zhang Boqian within the century. But it was already quite difficult for Qianye to reach this stage, and he even had a feeling back then that the next stage of the Combatant Formula would produce a drastic transformation. As such, he didn’t dare take the next step forward.

But now that Qianye had condensed a blood core and produced the auric flame blood, his body strength now rivaled that of a dark race count. In addition, there was an urgent need to balance the darkness and daybreak origin powers in his body. This produced in him the will to advance once more.

Qianye calmed himself down, adjusting his physical and mental status to the optimal state as he gradually circulated the Combatant Formula. The activation of the Combatant Formula had already become second nature to him after cultivating it all this time, and the origin power tides quickly reached twenty without any extra effort on his part.

That was the cornerstone that allowed him to join the Red Scorpions. Recalling the past, it felt as though he were already worlds apart at the moment.

Qianye suddenly sensed a minute difference amidst the momentous tides poised to sweep away the entire world. In the past, there would always be some stagnant areas around his chest and abdomen. This time, however, it traveled unobstructed like a level-road, and it was as though the turbulent areas had never even existed.

His mind fluctuated ever so slightly but calmed down once again afterward. The Combatant Formula surged along his blood vessels like a rotating wheel as unending strands of origin power gushed out from his nine nodes. They all came together within the sea of origin power formed by the Combatant Formula and actuated the superposition of the tides.

Thirty, then forty cycles passed by in the blink of an eye. Qianye was easily withstanding the impact of the tides capable of ripping a human champion to shreds. Qianye’s body began to tremble only after reaching the forty-fifth cycle—he was finally feeling some pressure.

At this moment, he let go of all distracting thoughts, and there was neither grief nor joy as he continued to stack the origin tides atop each other, all the way up to the forty-eighth cycle.

At this moment, the blood core finally reacted to the increased pressure and started to pulse. The auric flame blood being discharged from the blood core also increased accordingly and replaced the ordinary blood energy of the past in protecting his organs from damage.

Qianye passed the forty-eighth cycle with relative ease and finally reached the peak of the Combatant Formula’s forty-ninth cycle.

At this very moment, the origin power within his body was majestic and finally took on the charm of an early origin sea. Many layers of tides rushed on the surface of the sea and finally accumulated into giant waves that reached the skies—the peaks of these waves almost touched the firmament.

Suddenly, Qianye sensed that the area above the sea of origin power wasn’t just empty space, but an invisible dome-shaped barrier. It blocked the giant tides and prevented them from pushing higher.