Have you had enough, Miss Vampire? It's time to get down to business.

76. True Ancestor's Dream

"Are we... already in a dream? Ha, what a boring dream."

Isabella frowned and muttered softly.

In front of me was a closed and dark space. A beam of light shone down from above my head, illuminating the woman with black hair and a black dress who was standing silently in front of me.

True Ancestor Lilith.

She closed her eyes, there was no expression on her melancholy and beautiful face, and her chest did not rise or fall at all.

"She looks like a standing corpse... and the surrounding environment is no different from a tomb."

Isabella commented, crossing her arms.

She tried to use disrespectful words to hide the almost instinctive fear in her heart.

"You're quite the rebellious child," Emmett shrugged and smiled. "You should be thankful that 'Mother' is completely unaware of our presence and can't hear your disrespectful words."

"Hmph, speaking of rebellion, you're no less capable than me, planning to help me kill the True Ancestor." Isabella curled her lips in disapproval. "So, what are you going to do next? You said you'd show me how to awaken and kill the True Ancestor."

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time."

Emmett replied:

"After all, this is a dreamland, and time flows at a different rate than in the outside world. Someone dozed briefly by the fire, but lived out their entire life in a dream... You've probably heard this story, right?"

"Hmph, I don't want to keep wasting time here with you." Isabella had a cold face. She didn't fully trust Emmett yet.

"Anyway, let's get closer to the True Ancestor."

Emmett took a step forward and motioned Isabella to follow:

"This is only the outermost layer of the dream. To use the metaphor of a house, it's just the steps in front of the door... To peek into the spiritual world of True Ancestor Lilith, you must be in tune with her.

"The good news is, it's not that hard for us who have her blood."

indeed.

As she got closer and closer to the True Ancestor Lilith, Isabella could clearly feel a certain spiritual "attraction", almost a kind of call.

"Feel it?" Emmett prompted. "Go with it. Don't resist."

"Well……"

Isabella was inevitably hesitant, but finally decided to take the risk.

Anyway, this is just an illusion. Even if something unexpected happens, my real self will not be hurt.

……

The scene before my eyes suddenly changed.

Isabella saw True Ancestor Lilith, standing under the scorching sun in a steaming desert. She always seemed so cold and distant, completely out of place in her surroundings.

"Great True Ancestor... I beg you, grant me eternal life." A ragged, frail man prostrated himself at her feet, begging in an extremely humble manner, "I... I don't want to die yet!"

"Okay." True Ancestor Lilith lowered her head slightly, glanced at the man with her tear-stained eyes, and agreed.

...You agree now?

Isn’t it too casual?

Isabella, as a bystander, complained in her heart.

"Wait, this man... is it you?" She suddenly noticed something, so she turned her head to look at Emmett and asked.

The man in the illusion was skinny and looked weak. At first glance, he looked completely different from the elegant and handsome Emmett... But if you look at him a few more times, you can find that their hair color is exactly the same, and their facial features are no different.

"Oh, I've let you see how ugly I am." Emmett curled his lips slightly, his expression a little embarrassed. "At that time, I was filled with fear of death and just wanted to survive."

"It's human nature to be afraid of death," said Isabella.

"Yes." Emmett nodded. "So now, having completely let go of this emotion, I'm no longer a 'human'."

At this moment, the scene before my eyes changed again.

The desert vanished, replaced by a city shrouded in darkness. Dim kerosene streetlights barely illuminated the road, and in the distance, towering Gothic spires pierced the sky like fangs.

True Ancestor Lilith walked slowly on the wide stone road. On both sides of the road, people with pale and sickly complexions bowed respectfully to her.

"This was the former capital of the vampires. If I remember correctly, you've never been there, right?" Emmett asked. "The True Ancestor shrouded the city in darkness, preventing sunlight year-round. Hence, it was also known as the 'City of Eternal Night'... Now, it no longer exists."

"Hmph, wouldn't that be better?" Isabella curled her lips. "How can you live in a place where there's no sunlight year-round? It's bound to be damp everywhere, and even the air would probably smell musty, right?"

"It's not that musty," Emmett said with a wry smile, "but, well, by human standards, it's certainly not a very habitable place."

Next, the scene in the dream changed several times.

A stormy sea, a city engulfed in war, a thousand miles of frozen snowfields... No matter where she is, there is never any expression on the beautiful face of True Ancestor Lilith.

"Are these all fragments of the True Ancestor's memories?" Isabella couldn't help but ask.

"Maybe it is, maybe it's not."

Emmett explained:

"Dreams and memories are not completely equivalent. I am not sure which of these things really happened and which are pure illusions.

"However, while the True Ancestor's dreams may seem fragmented and disorganized, there are certain patterns that can be observed. I've been here many times, so I'm certain that if we stay in this dream long enough, we'll encounter a specific scene.

"And the answers you need are right there."

"How long do we have to wait?" Isabella put her hands on her hips impatiently.

At this moment, a rather strange building suddenly appeared in front of me.

It was a pitch-black castle standing on the top of a snowy mountain. It was quite grand in scale but had a rather strange shape.

Its outline is tortuous and sharp, and the whole is made up of many irregular but tightly fitted huge stones.

At the front of the castle are two asymmetrical stone gates, nearly ten meters high... The steps under the gates are not even, and the height of each step is different, but even the shortest step is half a person's height.

"Huh? This place..."

Isabella suddenly remembered something.

They have strange shapes, huge sizes, and are usually located in places like snow-capped mountains and deserts that are obviously not suitable for human habitation... There is no mistake, the castle in front of us is one of the mysterious ruins of the "Aria Civilization"!

"Look, Isabella."

Emmett gestured towards the foot of the mountain.

I saw the "True Ancestor Lilith" with black hair and a black dress, using her hands and feet to laboriously climb up the stairs that were clearly not built for humans... Her body was trembling in the cold wind, her face full of fatigue, but she was still gritting her teeth and persevering.

"Wait, her reaction..." Isabella was more and more surprised.

"That's right. The one you see now is Lilith before she became the True Ancestor of the Blood Clan." Emmett said dimly, "I've finally waited... This is what I wanted to show you, Isabella."

The process of the birth of the "True Ancestor of the Blood Clan".

77. God-made Instrument

Biting cold.

Lilith supported herself with her frail arms and struggled to climb the stone steps that were about half her height.

Her body was shaking, partly from fatigue and pain, partly from the cold.

Every muscle in her body was sore and swollen. The biting cold wind was like a knife, mercilessly penetrating her thin clothes and scratching her skin painfully... In addition, her originally white and slender hands had become bloody and mangled due to the long and difficult climb.

But she couldn't stop.

Because Lilith knew that if she took a moment to catch her breath, the accumulated fatigue and sleepiness would come flooding back like a tide...If she fell asleep on the top of this snowy mountain, she would definitely never wake up again.

not to mention……

The destination is already within sight.

She looked up at the huge black stone door in front of her, gritted her teeth, and continued to climb up the steep and twisting stone steps.

"As a mortal, I trespass into the realm of the gods and even covet their creations..." Lilith shook her head and muttered to herself, "If gods really exist in this world, I will definitely be punished by heaven."

But she won't regret it.

For some reason, Isabella, as a bystander, seemed to be able to read these words from the resolute eyes of "True Ancestor Lilith"... No, strictly speaking, she is not "True Ancestor Lilith" yet.

It's just Lilith.

Although her appearance hadn't changed, the woman before her didn't yet possess the terrifying, oppressive aura of a "Blood Clan True Ancestor." Seeing her shivering in the cold wind and struggling forward, Isabella felt a pang of heartache.

In addition, what Lilith said to herself just now is also very worrying.

"The realm of the gods..." Isabella crossed her arms, looking puzzled. "What do you mean? Could these exaggerated ruins really be left behind by the so-called gods?"

"That depends on how you define the word 'god'."

Emmett shrugged and replied:

"Normally, mortals have their limits. No matter how talented, lucky, or hardworking they are, they cannot break through the limitations of the hierarchy system... The ninth level is the limit humans can reach, but it is still classified as 'demigod-level'.

"In this sense, it's not wrong to call those beings that transcend the hierarchical system, those incarnations of the 'root', gods."

"Perhaps not?" Isabella frowned slightly. "The implication is that you don't seem to agree."

"If there are beings greater than the gods, then can these gods truly be called 'gods'? Isabella, have you ever thought about the 'source' of all these extraordinary powers and where they come from?"

Emmett turned his head to look at Lilith who was struggling to climb towards the huge door:

"Our mother, Lilith, achieved the impossible. She ascended from a mortal body to the embodiment of a transcendental source, becoming the 'True Ancestor of the Blood Clan'... All of this is due to something hidden within the ruins of the 'Aria Civilization'."

"Something?"

"You'll see it soon." Emmett winked, keeping it a secret. "Please wait and see."

……

The huge black stone door remained motionless.

Even though Lilith tried her best, she couldn't open even a tiny gap.

After trying for a long time without success, she showed a bitter smile and sat on the ground with her back against the stone door, as if she had given up completely.

"In the end, is everything just wishful thinking?" she murmured to herself.

The cold wind grew stronger, and Lilith's body temperature gradually faded away.

His bloody hands were completely frozen and unconscious.

Can't even feel the pain.

Those beautiful yet melancholy eyes gradually lost their luster...and became more and more like the "True Ancestor Lilith" in Isabella's impression.

"She... seems to have stopped breathing?" Isabella unconsciously clenched her fists and pressed them against her chest.

"Indeed, this is the end of Lilith as a 'human,'" Emmett said calmly. Having entered this dreamland many times, he wasn't surprised. "And then, Lilith, the 'True Ancestor of the Blood Clan,' will be born."

The voice just fell.

Some uniquely shaped luminous runes lit up one by one on the huge black stone door.

Isabella couldn't help but widen her eyes and hold her breath.

These words were not unfamiliar to her... Although she did not understand their meaning, she could tell that these were the same words engraved on the "Dark Moon Society Token" in Lor's hand!

Immediately afterwards, the originally closed stone door slowly opened.

A dazzling, ever-changing color of brilliant light flowed out from the crack in the door... Like a tangible object, it grabbed Lilith's already cold body and completely enveloped her!

The wind and snow suddenly stopped.

Even the air around them, and even time itself, seemed to have completely stopped.

Lilith's body jerked violently, rising to its feet like a puppet, in a posture completely contrary to the laws of human movement...

A large amount of blood flowed out from the corners of her eyes, ear holes, mouth and nose, and every pore on her body, spreading and spilling along the steep stone steps until the entire mountain was dyed a shocking crimson!

Then, as if time had gone backwards, in the blink of an eye, all the blood had flowed back.

...The wind and snow raged again, and everything returned to normal.

Lilith, who stood up again, has completely turned into the "True Ancestor of the Vampire Clan" that Isabella is familiar with, that powerful existence that is as cold as ice and as quiet as death!

A strong sense of panic suddenly struck Isabella's heart.

Even though she knew very well that everything she saw was just an illusion, an event that happened centuries ago, she could no longer suppress this almost instinctive emotion.