Starting with SSS-rank talent, I contracted the Forbidden Ferocity.

"Who will it choose?"

"It's not up to you."

Shen Ye finished speaking.

The blood of the Nine Nether King completely detached from Xue Li's brow.

That drop of royal blood, so dark blue it was almost black, streaked across the sky above the central pool.

Wherever it passed, the blood in the mirror automatically separated.

Like a subject yielding to the king.

Xue Li's expression changed drastically.

"No!"

She formed a hand seal, and the ancestral pool mark between her eyebrows lit up wildly.

The blood in the central pool surged back, transforming into nine layers of blood walls, attempting to block the drop of blood from the Nine Nether King.

But the blood flow did not stop.

It broke through the first wall of blood.

It broke through the second wall of blood.

The third level.

The fourth level.

The nine-layered wall of blood was easily pierced like paper before that drop of royal blood.

For the first time, shock and anger appeared in Xue Li's eyes.

"I am the guardian of the Ancestral Pool!"

"Why doesn't it recognize me?"

Shen Ye stepped forward, blocking Xue Li's path.

"Because you are not Jiuyou."

Xue Li's eyes turned cold, and she slashed down with her blood-red blade.

"Get out of here!"

Shen Ye met the attack head-on with his sword.

clang!

Swords clashed.

Shen Ye's chest wound reopened, and fresh blood seeped out.

But he did not back down an inch.

Behind him, Zhu Jiu had already emerged halfway out of the shadows.

Within the deep blue vertical pupils, the drop of blood from the Nine Nether King drew ever closer.

The king's blood fell.

It did not directly merge into Zhu Jiu's body.

Instead, it hangs three inches in front of its brow.

It's like scrutinizing someone.

The candle whistled softly.

The Netherworld opened behind it.

A dark, long river flows.

Countless shadows lay prostrate on the riverbed.

This is not submission to the ancestral pool of vampires.

Instead, they submitted to the true Lord of the Nine Netherworlds.

The blood of the Nine Nether King has finally stirred.

It slowly fell into the space between Zhu Jiu's eyebrows.

boom!

The central pool exploded.

A beam of dark blue light shot into the sky.

The scales on Zhu Jiu's body opened one by one, and then closed one by one.

On each scale, tiny patterns of the Nine Netherworld King appeared.

Its horn on its head began to lengthen.

The nine layers of shadow behind them transformed from illusion to reality.

The first level is the Nether River.

The second layer, the shadow of burial.

The third level is the Gate of the Underworld.

The fourth level is the Soul Rank.

The fifth level...

Just as the fifth layer was about to take shape, a cold will suddenly resounded from the depths of the central pool.

The blood of the King of the Nine Netherworlds must not leave the pool.

[Those who tame beasts from foreign tribes shall not serve the king.]

The entire central pool of blood pressed down on Zhu Jiu at the same time.

Hope rekindled in Xue Li's eyes.

"Zuchi doesn't recognize you!"

Shen Ye looked up and gazed into the depths of the central pool.

"It has already admitted it."

[The ancestral pond has not been recognized.]

Shen Ye said:

"Then let it recognize it."

He raised his hand and pressed it against his chest.

The Beast King's Contract lit up.

The black and gold beast pattern flowed down his arm and into Zhu Jiu's brow.

It's not about stealing the blood of the Nine Nether King.

Instead, it was to stabilize Zhu Jiu's bloodline.

A system notification sounded.

[The Beast Tamer Zhu Jiu absorbs the blood of the Nine Nether King.]

[Bloodline advancement in progress.]

[Current resistance: Suppression by the Ancestral Pool rules.]

[Do you wish to consume evolution points to break through external suppression?]

Shen Ye said:

"break."

[Consumes 30000 Evolution Points.]

[The Beast King's Contract assists in upgrading.]

[The determination of ownership of the Nine Netherworld King's bloodline is being rewritten.]

[Judgment completed. 】

[The bloodline of the Nine Nether King belongs to: Zhu Jiu.]

boom!

Zhongchi's will was forcefully shaken back.

Zhu Jiu tilted his head back and let out a low, long hiss.

The sound didn't resemble a snake.

It's more like the depths of the netherworld, where a slumbering king has opened his eyes.

Xue Li's face was pale.

"impossible……"

"How could the rules of the Ancestral Pool be rewritten by a human?"

Shen Ye looked at her.

"Your rules, vampire rules."

"My beasts are beyond my control."

The fifth shadow realm behind Zhu Jiu was fully formed.

The sixth layer also began to take shape.

The system prompt popped up again.

[Zhu Jiu successfully absorbed the blood of the Nine Nether King.]

[Bloodline Enhancement: Nine Netherworld Serpent King Seed.]

[Realm Advancement: Fifth Rank, Early Stage, Perfected.]

[Ability Enhancement: Nine Netherworld Shadow Burial.]

[New Ability Awakening: Nine Nether Soul Cleansing.]

Shen Ye's eyes flickered.

The Nine Netherworlds cleanse the soul.

The black box vibrated in his arms.

Half of the life tablet glowed with a bluish light.

Lu Chenzhou's remnant soul seemed to sense something, and its soul light flickered.

The blood from the surrounding pool also began to converge towards the black box.

Xue Qianqiu stood outside the Zhongchi Gate and suddenly spoke:

"The Night King"

"We have obtained the blood of the Nine Nether King."

"It's not too late to leave now."

Shen Ye looked at him.

"What's the rush?"

Xue Qianqiu smiled slightly.

"I'm just offering a reminder."

"The Ancestral Pool is open for a limited time."

"If you delay any longer, you might not be able to take anyone with you."

Shen Ye ignored him.

He took out the black box.

The box lid is opened.

Half of the life tablet floated in mid-air.

The azure light of Lu Chenzhou's remnant soul swayed gently in the blood of the central pool.

Zhu Jiu walked to the life tablet.

The Nine Netherworld King mark between his brows lit up.

The Nine Netherworld Soul Cleansing is activated.

A deep blue light fell upon the fate card.

Strands of blood-red lock marks were forced out from the depths of the life tablet.

The first wisp.

The second strand.

The third strand.

Those blood locks were very thin, yet extremely deep.

It felt like I had been stuck in Lu Chenzhou's lingering soul for ten years.

Each time a strand of hair is plucked, the life tablet vibrates once.

The voice of Lu Chenzhou's remnant soul rang out intermittently.

"Blood Gate..."

"Inner pool..."

Shen Ye frowned.

"Don't speak yet."

Lu Chenzhou acted as if he hadn't heard.

"Don't come in..."

"Inner pool..."

Upon hearing this, Xue Li's expression changed drastically.

Shen Ye noticed it.

He looked at Xue Li.

"What's in the inner pool?"

Xue Li gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Shen Ye raised his sword.

"explain."

Xue Li sneered.

"You dare kill me?"

"I am the guardian of the ancestral pool."

"If I die, the central pond will collapse."

Shen Ye said:

"Then we won't kill them."

He unleashed a sword strike.

The sword's edge grazed Xue Li's brow.

The ancestral pool mark was forcibly cut in half.

Xue Li screamed and knelt halfway down in the mirror blood.

The middle pool trembled violently, but did not collapse.

Shen Ye looked at her.

"It can be slashed many more times."

Xue Li looked up, a hint of fear finally appearing in her eyes.

"The Inner Pool Conceals the Ancestor".

"The heart's blood of the first generation of the vampire king is inside."

"The coordinates of the Blood Gate are there too."

Shen Ye's eyes turned slightly cold.

really.

The blood gate was not an accident.

The Vampire Royal Court hid the coordinates of the Blood Gate in the deepest part of the Ancestral Pool.

The smile on Xue Qianqiu's face also disappeared.

"Your Highness Xue Li."

"Some things shouldn't be said."

Xue Li suddenly looked at him.

"When you led the Blood Gate into the Ancestral Pool, you didn't tell me that the Ancestral Pool would suffer a backlash!"

Xue Qianqiu said calmly:

"For the sake of the royal court, someone always has to pay the price."

Xue Li's face turned completely pale.

She only understands now.

She, the guardian of the seal, was merely a pawn.

Shen Ye withdrew his gaze.

"Zhu Jiu, continue."

The Nine Netherworld Soul Cleansing Technique descended once more.

The blood lock in the fate card was washed away inch by inch.

Lu Chenzhou's soul light gradually stabilized.

A system notification sounded.

[Lu Chenzhou's remnant soul blood lock is being cleansed.]

Progress: 31%.

Progress: 46%.

Progress: 63%.

Just as the progress reached 60%, a heartbeat was suddenly heard from the depths of the central pool.

thump.

The entire ancestral pool fell silent for a moment.

Xue Qianqiu looked up, a strange light appearing in his eyes.

Xue Li's face turned deathly pale.

"not good."

Shen Ye looked towards the inner pool.

There, in the depths that were originally shrouded in blood mist, a faint dark red light appeared.

The second heartbeat sounded.

thump.

The Beast King Contract on Shen Ye's chest felt slightly warm.

Jie Chen's Heavenly Punishment Eye suddenly opened on his forehead.

It stared intently at the inner pool, its fur standing on end.

The third heartbeat had not yet sounded.

Lu Chenzhou's remnant soul suddenly regained consciousness for a moment.

The life tablet shone with a bright blue light.

His voice was much clearer than before.

"Shen Ye."

"That drop of the ancestral king's blood in the inner pool..."

"They're calling for your royal blood."

next moment.

Deep within the pool, the third heartbeat fell.

thump.

The blood mist split open.

A blood-red path leading to the inner pool slowly appeared beneath Shen Ye's feet.