“Aren’t you curious why the King Seed Bloodline appeared in me?”
The Old Ancestor was stunned.
He only had a superficial understanding of the King Seed’s appearance, knowing only that it wasn’t a simple matter of bloodline inheritance and that the King Seed was unique.
A new King Seed would only appear once the previous one had died.
However, to his knowledge, it had been 1,000 years since the last King Seed appeared.
“I am curious, but I don’t believe it’s necessarily relevant to our cooperation.”
Shen Ji shook his head and continued, “Let me be honest with you. We have plenty of this Blood Plasma. I just don’t know how much effort you’re willing to put in. My identity as a King Seed was merely a gimmick to lure you here.”
“You also understand that we are a family. Even if we send only one person, it affects the whole group. Besides, we’ve had many dealings with the Midnight Society here before, so…”
Seeing the Old Ancestor trail off, Shen Ji asked in surprise, “So what?”
“So we need you to act as a shield. You alone must bear the brunt of the Midnight Society’s subsequent retaliation.”
“No problem. When I decided to involve you, I was already prepared to fight them for the rest of my life.”
The Old Ancestor nodded slightly and added, “We’ll start with ten boxes of Blood Plasma this size. We can discuss the rest once the job is finished.”
“Fine.”
Shen Ji nodded and extended a hand.
The Old Ancestor was about to reach out to shake it when he seemed to remember something.
He shook his head with a smile and said, “No, there’s no need for that.”
Shen Ji was completely bewildered.
Although he didn’t understand what the other man meant, he withdrew his hand and said, “The Blood Moon will rise the day after tomorrow. The Midnight Society must be in their final preparation stages. Our next step should be to determine their exact location.”
“There’s no need. I know where their headquarters is. We’ll just go and kill them directly.”
“Exactly. You can rest assured, King. The Old Ancestor is incredibly powerful. Forget the Midnight Society—even Mu Qingxin wouldn’t be his match if he came here.”
Ye Xi sneered without any attempt to hide it.
“Who does Mu Qingxin think he is?”
Yun Xiaotao froze for a moment, then spoke up as if out of spite, “He has reached the Sixth Evolution and is the Captain of the Nanjiang City Investigation Team. Don’t think you can just look down on others just because you’re the King’s woman.”
“What if I told you Shen Ji already killed him?”
The Old Ancestor’s eyes turned dark.
“Little girl, you shouldn’t just say whatever comes to mind.”
“Mu Qingxin’s body is in the car downstairs. If you don’t believe me, you can go look for yourselves.”
Shen Ji scratched his head.
Mu Qingxin had indeed died at his hands, but the truth was that even he didn’t know how the man had died.
“Setting aside the fact that none of you have reached the Sixth Evolution, Mu Qingxin awakened the Barrier Talent. His survival capabilities were extremely strong.”
Shen Ji condensed a barrier out of thin air and gave a bitter smile.
“Are you talking about this?”
Yun Hai’s mouth hung open, his pupils shrinking violently.
“Isn’t that Mu Qingxin’s Talent?”
He asked in shock.
The Old Ancestor’s eyes remained calm, though he frowned slightly.
“You’ve completed the Third Evolution?”
Shen Ji nodded.
“How long were you in The State?”
“What?”
The Old Ancestor stared at him, enunciating each word.
“The State you were in when you killed Mu Qingxin.”
Shen Ji took a sharp breath.
It seemed the man definitely knew something.
He could only answer truthfully, “I don’t know.”
“During the peak of the King Seeds, they would choose a fellow clansman with a suitable Talent to serve as a Sacrifice for the King Seed. This allowed the King Seed to quickly pass through the Third Evolution.”
Ye Xi murmured, “Does that have anything to do with how long he stayed in The State?”
The Old Ancestor glanced at Ye Xi and continued, “Entering The State comes at the cost of one’s lifespan. Specifically, the conversion is 1 minute to 5 years.”
“How do you know that?”
“During the peak of the King Seeds, these might have been secrets. But since the King Seed has been gone for nearly 1,000 years, it’s not surprising that we, as the family closest to them, know these things.”
Shen Ji’s brow furrowed.
As expected, there was no such thing as a free lunch.
During the peak of the King Seeds, the Sacrifice was meant to help them quickly pass the Third Evolution, whereas he had simply been gambling with his life.
Before he could even begin to enjoy this world, he had already lost decades of time.
Fortunately, it had only happened once.
But then, the Old Ancestor’s next sentence made his heart leap back into his throat.
“When you reach the Fifth Evolution, you will fall into The State once more. So next time, you must prepare a candidate for the Sacrifice.”
Ye Xi patted Shen Ji’s shoulder and said calmly, “I’ll do it.”
“No!”
Shen Ji almost shouted.
Ye Xi gave a sly smile.
“What? Can’t bear to let your sister go?”
“N—no, that’s not it. Anyway, you can’t.”
Shen Ji lowered his gaze.
If he had to sacrifice Ye Xi to survive, he would rather choose another way.
“Xiao Jizi, why are you so silly? I meant I’ll help you find a candidate for the Sacrifice.”
Shen Ji stubbornly replied, ” I was just being polite. If you were the Sacrifice, it wouldn’t be out of the question.”
“Hmph.”
The Old Ancestor lit a cigarette and said calmly amidst the drifting smoke, “The prerequisite is that the candidate for this Sacrifice must be at least at the Fifth Evolution.”
“You mean for a King Seed to evolve, they must kill someone of a higher level?”
“Exactly. In the past, this might not have been difficult. But now, high-evolution members of the Blood Race are not only rare, but each one is a handful to deal with.”
“Or, you could choose to enter The State and…”
Ye Xi interrupted, “We won’t let him lose any more of his lifespan.”
“I hope so.”
Yun Xiaotao said indignantly, “Old Ancestor, why won’t you bow to the King? You were the one who taught us stories of the King since we were children.”
“Now that the King is in trouble, shouldn’t you do something?”
Yun Hai stepped in front of Yun Xiaotao and scolded her, “Does the Old Ancestor need you to teach him how to act? Apologize to him this instant!”
Yun Xiaotao’s eyes turned red, but she remained stubborn.
“Brother, I’m telling the truth. The King is right in front of us. What about the mission we’ve heard about since we were kids? What about our responsibility?”
“Xiaotao, that’s enough! How long are you going to live in a story? Do you honestly still think we can return to the past?”
Yun Hai slapped Yun Xiaotao across the face.
He knew that while Xiaotao was the Old Ancestor’s most beloved descendant, her actions were undoubtedly forcing the Old Ancestor to make a choice—one could even say she was constantly testing the Old Ancestor’s limits.
The tears that had been welling up in Yun Xiaotao’s eyes finally began to flow.
Yun Hai remained relentless, pulling Yun Xiaotao behind him as if trying to prevent her from doing anything else out of line.
“That’s enough, Yun Hai.”
“No, Old Ancestor. I apologize to you on Xiaotao’s behalf. I’ve spoiled her. I’m willing to take her punishment.”
The Old Ancestor let out a deep sigh, his posture appearing to slump. He said softly, “I’m the one who should apologize.”
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