Chapter 12

In the prison garden, by the ancient well.

On a cool morning, with a high sky and light clouds, the air was fresh, and the wind carried a slight chill.

The distant sky was vast like a blue sea, with leisurely passing white clouds, like a thousand sails at rest, hiding the shimmering ripples.

On the ground, the last taste of late spring lingered, tranquil and melancholic!

Lin Ji, dressed in black, stood quietly in the golden morning light, carefully observing the slightly greenish young man in front of him. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his gaze profound, "Young man, you are quite impressive."

Jun Wuming's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly muttered, fearing that the Supreme Elder had already detected his schemes.

"Thank you, Elder, for your support. I will never forget your great kindness. Please forgive my rashness."

"Enough, since the matter is settled, there's no need for such formalities." The old man in black nodded slightly and said, "I see the divine mark on your forehead, indicating that your bloodline power has awakened."

"The Elder's insight is sharp. My bloodline power awakened when I broke through to the second stage just now!"

Looking at the water-drop-shaped black mark on the young man's forehead, a hint of unusual light flashed in Lin Ji's eyes, and he let out a light hum.

"Don't try to show off your little cleverness in front of me. This time, it's me here. If it were someone else, you might be in mortal danger!"

The faint, mosquito-like voice fell into Jun Wuming's ears, like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, dousing the pride that had risen from his recent breakthrough.

Shivering with a cold chill, Jun Wuming realized that his so-called wisdom was laughable in the eyes of these old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years.

"Your own strength is the foundation. Wisdom and power must be balanced to be a true strong person!" He glanced meaningfully at Jun Wuming and shook his head. Seeing Jun Wuming snap out of his pride, he continued, "Our ancient continent is home to countless races, each vying for supremacy. There are currently known to be hundreds of thousands of types of bloodline powers."

"Bloodline powers vary, with different levels of strength. If cultivated to a high level, the great ones can change the world, while the lesser ones can move mountains and shake the stars. Bloodline powers also have different ranks. Can you sense the rank of your own bloodline power?" After saying this, he examined the mark on Jun Wuming's forehead again.

"Bloodline powers are as numerous as the stars in the sky, but few can truly awaken them. According to my knowledge, you are the first person in our Lianyun Fort to naturally awaken a bloodline in nearly a hundred years."

"Do you have any doubts?" The old man in black saw Jun Wuming frown and stroked his beard, asking.

"Elder, you said that I am the only one in our Lianyun Fort to awaken a bloodline. Although I don't pay much attention to clan affairs, I have seen many people with awakened bloodline powers."

"Indeed, you have seen many, haven't you?" The old man in black stroked his beard and laughed.

Jun Wu You, who had been sitting on the green stone all night, lazily lay on the stone and glanced at the old man. Seeing Jun Wuming's puzzled expression, he chuckled, "Brother Ming, I know about this. Sit down and listen to me."

"Only a small number of people with exceptional talent can awaken bloodline powers." As he said this, the young man in white, with his sword-like eyebrows, glanced enviously at Jun Wuming, who was kneeling.

"According to ancient texts, bloodline powers were passed down from the ancient strong ones. These ancient strong ones were born with great powers, not cultivating the mind or the will, but only the law, not understanding the timing of heaven, and not cultivating virtue. In the ancient era, they roamed freely, and conflicts were rampant. Later, a great demon god created the method of bloodline, using his own essence to derive a race. The strong ones of this race needed only to cultivate bloodline power to achieve great powers. The ancient strong ones intended to dominate the universe through this method, and the current myriad races are the descendants of the ancient strong ones."

"However, these demon gods later discovered that with each generation, the bloodline power of their descendants gradually weakened, and eventually, they found that the bloodline power of the later generations was only a fraction of the first generation."

The young man in white smacked his lips and said, "Therefore, the method of cultivating bloodline power became difficult to sustain and fell into obscurity. Only a few lucky individuals with exceptional talent can naturally awaken their bloodline. Of course, there is also a method to forcibly awaken the bloodline, but this greatly damages one's essence and blood, so few people choose this method."

The beautiful woman in green, sitting on the green chair, glanced at the young man in white with her bright almond eyes, smoothed her hair, and interrupted, "You are partly right, You'er."

Seeing the young man in white and the young man in green look at her, she smiled and said, "The method of forcibly awakening the bloodline is not common, but it is not rare. Besides the strong ones in the fort, who can forcibly awaken their bloodline after reaching a certain level of cultivation, their essence and blood are much thicker than ordinary people, so the damage can be minimized. For example, my grandfather, your great-grandfather, a certain irresponsible old man, also awakened his bloodline power." As she said this, the beautiful woman glanced at the old man by the ancient well, who looked uncomfortable.

At this moment, the tall Jun Wu Wei, with a sleepy face, wobbled over to the green stone next to Jun Wuming and sat cross-legged like him. "Mother, didn't you say that our great-grandfather was assassinated by enemies long ago?"

The old man in black, with his back to the beautiful woman in green, remained calm, but his face turned a strange green.

The young man in white tried hard to suppress his laughter, his handsome face turning red.

Jun Wuming's face was expressionless, but the laughter in his eyes was hard to hide. He had met this old man in black when he was born, and from their conversation, he already knew about this. As for the young man in white, it was clear that he was also aware.

The beautiful woman in green, with her phoenix eyes shimmering, stared at the old man in black, who was facing away from them, and said, "We'll talk about this later. If you want to know, ask your maternal grandfather. But this old man is not a good person. He never took care of your maternal grandfather and left his wife and children to wander around."

"Cough, cough... Another method of awakening the bloodline is to place a newborn, whose bloodline is still thick, in a medicinal solution and use a secret method to awaken it. The herbs required for this method are extremely precious and cannot be easily gathered by ordinary forces." The old man in black, seeing the woman's words becoming more and more exaggerated, quickly changed the subject.

"Bloodline powers have various attributes, and it is difficult to rank them, but the method of cultivating bloodline powers is divided into levels."

"The first level is the awakening of the bloodline; the second level is the initial formation of the bloodline; the third level is the perfection of the bloodline; the fourth level is the refinement of the bloodline; the fifth level is the fusion of the bloodline; the sixth level is the integration of the bloodline with the world. Each level is progressively more advanced, and you should not underestimate them. In the future, when you encounter bloodline cultivators, you must be cautious."

After saying this, the old man in black did not wait for a response. A wisp of green smoke flashed, and he disappeared, leaving only a faint echo. "Young man in green, I just received a message that a fierce beast is causing trouble in the river near Taoshan Ancient Town. Your water bloodline power has just awakened, and you are like a fish in water. This task is assigned to you. Go quickly!"

The beautiful woman in green pursed her lips and coldly hummed, "Ming, this fierce beast is not something to be rushed. It is slippery and not easy to catch."

Jun Wuming looked at the beautiful woman in green with some doubt and said, "Aunt, I wonder what kind of fierce beast it is that only I can catch?"

"Catching that fierce beast is not difficult, but these old men are proud of their cultivation and are unwilling to act easily!"

The beautiful woman smiled helplessly and said, "It's laughable. This fierce beast has just awakened its intelligence, similar to you just entering the second stage. It is causing trouble in the Bibo River, destroying several boats. The fort has sent many strong water experts to capture it, but this fierce beast is extremely slippery, with excellent water skills and cunning. It often runs away before the fort's experts can act."

"The strongest experts in our fort at tracking and assassination are from your master, Elder Qing's sect. Your master is in a closed retreat, and your many senior brothers are either busy or traveling. This is actually the responsibility of that old man, but since you just took advantage of him, he is asking you to do it. However, with your innate water bloodline, it's worth a try."

"I wonder what kind of fierce beast is so slippery?"

"I don't know. You'll have to find it yourself, Ming."

The beautiful woman giggled, "But don't worry. This fierce beast has just broken through to the second stage. Although it is extremely good at escaping, it is not a significant threat to you. Besides, you are not an ordinary second-stage cultivator. I believe you won't have much trouble with such a fierce beast."

"Since that's the case, I'll prepare myself. I'll go and prepare something to achieve a feat." Jun Wuming smiled calmly and prepared to return to his residence.

The spiritual items he had prepared are now useful. He had prepared for years to break through to the second stage.

"Don't be in a hurry. From the divine mark on your forehead, it seems to be a water divine mark. Although our Lianyun Fort has only been here for a thousand years, we are a large clan, guarding a region in an ancient dynasty, and we are the lords of a state."

"When we fled, we were forced to abandon many valuable treasures to attract the enemy's attention, but the clan's foundation remains. Especially, the ancient texts in the scripture hall have not been lost. Since your bloodline power has naturally awakened, you should go to the scripture hall to receive the method of cultivating bloodline power. This will give you more means to protect yourself. Here is my token. Take it to the second floor of the scripture hall to receive a cultivation method."

The beautiful woman in green casually handed over a dark green token that was neither iron nor gold. Jun Wuming took the token, nodded, and smiled, "Thank you, Aunt. I'll go to the scripture hall."

He leaped, creating a gust of wind, and flew straight toward the scripture hall. At the second stage, he could control the wind, and at the fourth stage, he could control the air. This method of flying with the wind had been his long-held desire.

This time, at the second stage, he could control the air and fly, a skill he had long dreamed of. His body moved gracefully and naturally, protected by dark black magic power, and he rushed several miles in one breath.

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