CH 13: Bloodline Essence

Early in the morning, Jansh and Luna stood in stunned silence before Rios, who still hadn’t awakened. Their eyes were wide open, their minds drifting aimlessly, their thoughts wandering into nowhere.

"Is... what I’m sensing actually real?" Luna asked in utter disbelief, unable to trust her own senses.

"Mmm! Mmm!"

Jansh nodded twice. He opened his mouth to say yes, but he was so shocked that not a single word came out.

"Did My Lord advance from level one all the way to level three in a single night?" Luna asked again, still unable to believe it.

"Mmm! Mmm!"

Jansh nodded once more, still incapable of speaking.

"Slap me. I need to know if this is real or just a dream."

Luna still couldn’t believe what she was experiencing and asked Jansh to slap her.

PAAANG!

The sound of the slap echoed through the area, and a bright red handprint appeared on Luna’s cheek.

"Hey! Did you seriously just slap me?!"

Luna shouted at Jansh as tears had already begun gathering in her eyes.

"Mmm! Mmm!"

Jansh nodded again, still unable to utter a word.

"What’s with all this noise? You guys are so loud."

Before Luna could retaliate and start cursing at Jansh, Rios’s sleepy voice rang out.

Rios slowly opened his eyes, and every trace of drowsiness and mental exhaustion instantly disappeared, replaced by inexhaustible vigor and anticipation for a future without limits.

"Good morning, My Lord! Greatest tree among all trees, finest lord among all lords, supreme genius of existence itself! If there were Immortals in this world, they would kneel before your roots to honor Your Majesty! If there were—"

"Alright, alright, old man. That’s enough flattery. You get weird sometimes."

Before Old Jansh could continue displaying his unmatched talent for bootlicking, Rios interrupted him, already feeling a little disgusted.

"As you command, My Lord."

Old Jansh stepped back with a smile, unable to hide his overwhelming excitement.

Rios paid them no further attention and opened his status panel.

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[Abyss System]

Name: Rios Astar

Race: Tree of Abyss

Roots: 8

Whip Branches: 22

Bloodline: Abyss (Immortal)

Level: Master (3)

Progress: 100%

Evolution Requirements: Comprehend the first level of a law + 100K points

Points: 90M

Skills:

Abyss Tomb (Immortal)

Power of Abyss (Legendary)

Flexibility (Legendary)

Armament (Legendary)

[New Skill: Abyss Cloud (Legendary)]

Skill Description:

You can summon the Abyss Cloud through your roots and ride it. The Abyss Cloud possesses extraordinary flight capabilities, exceptional maneuverability, and automatically provides tremendous defense against powerful or surprise attacks.

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Rios grinned foolishly as he looked over the status panel, especially after seeing his bloodline rank and Abyss Tomb, which he still hadn’t tested.

True, he had no idea what the Immortal rank actually meant, but he didn’t care. Since it had previously been concealed, it definitely had to be something incredible.

Then there was his new skill, granting him the ability to fly.

However, his brows furrowed when he saw the requirements for advancing to the next level.

"System, what exactly is a law, and how do I obtain one?"

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[Law is everything around you. Water is a law. Fire is a law. Wind is a law. Wood is a law. Strength is a law. There is nothing you can see or perceive that is not composed of laws.]

[The law belonging to Trees of Abyss is the cosmic law of Derivation. Therefore, the system advises the Host to pursue this law and avoid distracting themselves with other laws.]

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Rios studied the system’s words seriously and silently decided to follow its advice by searching for the cosmic law of Derivation.

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Ding!

[The Host’s progress has reached 100% at Master (3).]

[Bloodline Essence has been awakened!]

[Does the Host wish to undergo the Bloodline Trial?]

[Yes / Later]

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"Bloodline Essence? Bloodline Trial? System, what are those?"

Rios hadn’t even recovered from the avalanche of information he’d just received before the system dumped even more onto him.

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[Bloodline Essence is a memory that contains extensive information regarding the bloodline and methods for developing it. It was left behind by the ancestors and passed down to descendants through blood.]

[The Bloodline Trial is something unique to Immortal bloodlines. The descendant’s consciousness is transported to a subspace created by the ancestor after reaching a certain level of power. The descendant is then tested there.]

[The amount of inheritance obtained depends entirely on the descendant’s performance.]

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"Hold on! Stop throwing all this at me at once! I haven’t even finished my current quests yet! I still don’t fully understand what laws are, and now you’re telling me to take some trial designed by someone I’ve never even met? And how long is this trial supposed to last?!"

Rios shouted inwardly, a pounding headache forming from the flood of information assaulting his mind.

"Do you even realize I’m barely more than a week old? And you’re dumping all these responsibilities on me?!"

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[The Bloodline Trial continues until the descendant completes it or reaches Wis (5).]

[The Host must become stronger as quickly as possible. The system will not remain with you for long.]

[The Abyss bloodline, at the Immortal rank, is one of the three strongest bloodlines in the universe. Among the Abyss bloodlines, the bloodline of Trees of Abyss is one of the finest.]

[But such power does not come without a price.]

[The Abyss bloodline is forever accompanied by disasters and tragedies. Either overcome them and grow stronger... or fall, just like all those who came before.]

[Either glory... or death.]

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"W-Who... are you?!"

Rios was utterly shaken, an intense wave of terror washing over him.

It wasn’t the information that frightened him.

It was the voice.

It sounded nothing like the system’s usual mechanical or sarcastic tone.

It was deep... impossibly distant... as though it had echoed from the primordial past itself, carrying whispers like wandering ghosts.

The moment he heard it, Rios felt as though thousands of needles were piercing his soul.

He felt like nothing more than a tiny worm plunging into a bottomless abyss so vast that resistance itself seemed meaningless.

[...]

Just as Rios expected, the system gave him no reply.

After spending some time calming himself down, he finally regained his composure and asked angrily,

"If this bloodline is as cursed as you claim... then why did you give it to me in the first place?"