Chapter 433: Opportunity (2)

Priam remained as motionless as a statue, concealed in the dim shadows of the upper floor, observing every fraction of a second of the ritual through the spying rune. He remained vigilant, alert to even the slightest change.

The hours passed in a dense, suffocating silence.

An entire day went by in the outside world without anyone in the hall making the slightest sound.

Then, exactly as the twenty-four hours came to an end, the twelve young people immersed in the crimson pool opened their eyes in unison.

"The 27th cycle has been completed with absolute perfection," the elderly Elder’s cold voice echoed from the edge of the pool, breaking the silence. He stepped forward and asked in a solemn, stern tone, "How did your bloodlines react during the absorption?"

The twelve let out heavy breaths, causing the blood mist around them to drift. They briefly exchanged glances, and then one of the men, with haughty features and a domineering gaze, replied indifferently, "There was no notable positive or negative reaction."

The Elder nodded slightly, showing no surprise. "Excellent. Everything is proceeding normally. There are still 13 cycles left before we complete the basic refinement. After that, we’ll begin the extraction and refinement of the Primordials. That’s the stage at which your bloodlines will awaken and trigger a defensive reaction."

One of the women in the pool let out an annoyed sigh as she adjusted the blood-soaked strands of her hair. "So much work, and so damn slow... I sincerely hope this will all be worth it in the end. If your sect has made us waste our time, don’t blame me for showing no mercy."

The Elder hurried to respond, offering a restrained bow.

"There is no reason to doubt us. The Karmic Curse Bloodline you possess acts as the essence of Yin, while the Celestial Nature Physique would be akin to pure Yang. Under normal circumstances, these two attributes repel each other with absolute violence. However, through this proper refinement method, the two will merge in perfect harmony, amplifying your body’s power to unimaginable heights."

"Pfft... It had better be worth it. The Sovereign’s blood flowing through our veins is pure, supreme, and invincible, but if this process can grant us even finer control over that power, then the effort will have been worthwhile," another commented in a frigid voice.

The Elder looked at them with a serious expression. "You are numbers 31 through 43 throughout history to have successfully ignited your Sovereign bloodlines and been brought to this sacred chamber. It has been a long time since we last received successors of this caliber, but all your predecessors reaped immeasurable benefits from this place. This entire castle was designed exclusively to serve you, so we guarantee that it will work."

The twelve merely nodded haughtily, taking high-grade medicinal pills from their spatial rings and swallowing them to recover their depleted spiritual energy.

After a few brief minutes of recovery, they all turned their gazes back to the Elder.

The old man gave a faint smile and nodded. "I’ll begin the 28th cycle. This stage will last for 48 uninterrupted hours, so please keep your minds focused."

After giving his instructions, the Elder took a gleaming golden emblem from inside his robes, and it shone faintly. At his command, the inscriptions engraved into the black stone floor pulsed, and the bloody water in the pool began to bubble vigorously.

The twelve closed their eyes at the same instant, sinking once more into a state of absolute focus and trance.

On the upper floor, Priam absorbed every word spoken in the underground chamber as his mind processed the information.

Those twelve definitely didn’t belong to the Pure Lotus Sanctuary Sect. The Elder himself—a figure who would naturally command overwhelming authority—was carrying out the process with visible caution and a barely concealed sense of apprehension in the presence of those young people.

’Karmic Curse Bloodline? Awakening a Sovereign bloodline?’

Priam pondered the matter seriously, certain that he had stumbled upon something truly significant.

However, the Elder’s words continued to echo in his mind: This entire castle was designed exclusively to serve you.

Considering that concealing that place required the spatial manipulation of an Immortal, Priam began putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Could the Pure Lotus Sanctuary Sect be directly connected to a Sovereign? No... perhaps not to the entity itself, but certainly to the bloodline of its descendants.

The more he analyzed the situation, the more coherent his theory became.

’Hmm... Did I just stumble upon the best possible bloodline to steal?’ Bold, greedy thoughts began to emerge in his mind.

The entire structure of that castle had been built from a rocky mineral that radiated a signature remarkably similar to the curse embedded in his black branch. Those twelve individuals carried the direct blood of a Sovereign. The picture before him was perfectly clear.

’So, the curse I received from the Sovereigns in the past actually belonged to the power of just one of them.’

His past self hadn’t possessed the means to discern whether the curse had originated from one Sovereign or all of them. Now, however, he understood that the curse itself had originated from a single Sovereign.

Perhaps the others had merely helped construct the purgatory, but the essence of that power belonged to a single bloodline.

’I really need this bloodline. I’m extremely close to breaking through to the next Rank. Once I do, I’ll be able to assimilate it completely.’

Priam refocused his attention on the underground hall.

All he needed was a single opportunity.

The intense absorption and chaotic fluctuations generated by the refinement had plunged the twelve into a deep meditative trance, completely sealing off all their senses. At that exact moment, they were utterly defenseless.

’If I kill these twelve, the Pure Lotus Sanctuary Sect is going to be FUCKED, right? Excellent.’

Priam didn’t have the power to destroy that sect just yet. But they would definitely be in serious trouble if something tragic happened to those twelve.

At the moment, the only deadly obstacle was the Elder.

He was a Level 7 Exalted Sage. The power accumulated by someone of that caliber was colossal, and Priam knew he wouldn’t stand the slightest chance against him in a direct contest of brute strength.

Furthermore, at the slightest sign of trouble, the Elder could alert the sect.

However...

’My abilities have always been naturally geared toward turning me into an assassin. It’s been that way from the very beginning, and I even recently acquired a new bloodline specifically specialized in that very thing...’

Over the years, he had spent time studying; he had thoroughly explored the full potential inherent in the Vekil bloodline.

Besides granting him an exceptionally high level of control over the lightning element, the true strength of this race lay in its offensive potential: the ability to compress and channel energy to unleash a devastating, instantaneous bolt of lightning.

Naturally, this technique had clear flaws and disadvantages. The raw power of ordinary thunder wasn’t infallible, and an experienced warrior like that Elder could easily survive the impact.

However... Priam possessed a trump card in his arsenal that no member of the Vekil race had ever even dreamed of mastering.

The Thunder of Destruction.

And he had plenty of it stored within the Heart of Life and Destruction.

’That Elder mentioned forty-eight hours... He’s certainly not going to stand in the exact same spot and keep watch the entire time, is he?’

Priam almost prayed for the Elder to move.

Minutes passed.

Hours.

Then...

The Elder let out a restrained sigh, pivoted on his heels, and began to move.