The Duke instantly recognized the newcomer.
All the black-robed figures chanting the ritualistic incantation turned their heads in unison, their icy, murderous gazes locked onto the incongruous figure.
In an instant, the air inside the cavern solidified.
Yet the man named Li Changqing in the corner still showed no trace of panic.
He deliberately put on an act of being startled, scratched his hair, and gave a lazy smile.
“Hey, hey, don’t react so strongly. You scared me.”
“But I need to make a correction here. It should be the youngest and most handsome Legendary Beast Tamer in Hua Kingdom!”
“Also, I’ve been waiting here for you all for a year now. Finally, you showed up.”
“It’s just that your timing is bad. Today was supposed to be my day off. I’m working overtime here with no extra pay. How about negotiating? Can you guys come another day? Come cause trouble when I’m on duty?”
The man straightened up, stretched his arms, and asked with a teasing expression.
Such frivolous words were nothing less than blatant provocation. A surge of bloody aura erupted from all the black-robed figures!
But that light, flippant statement struck the Blood Duke’s ears like a thunderbolt.
Staked out for a year.
The Duke’s cold, gloomy gaze locked onto the languid Li Changqing.
His plan could be said to have been meticulously polished to the extreme.
They had spent a year modifying the ancient S-Class Secret Realm fragment left by the Blood Clan, the “Bloodthirsty Domain,” using special technology to project a false space outside the Secret Realm, distorting the entire area of the Breeding Center.
No external detector could possibly identify the abnormality here, and any communication device would fail inside the Secret Realm.
The Primordial Divine Church had also sent people to infiltrate the distorted Breeding Center space to buy time.
Even if they were eventually discovered…
In a small third-tier place like Jiangcheng, the strongest was only a Master-level Beast Tamer. It was impossible for a stronger existence to appear in a short time.
Li Changqing should not have appeared here under normal circumstances, yet he claimed to have been staking them out for a whole year…
And a year ago was exactly when they discovered this anchor point!
A Legendary Beast Tamer, abandoning all his important duties, stationed permanently in Jiangcheng, just to wait for him to show up today and intercept his plan.
Unless there was a leak from within, there was absolutely no other possibility!
And the one who could leak the final activation time of the anchor point and its location…
Was very likely one of his trusted subordinates!
Shwoosh!
The Duke’s crimson, pupils suddenly swept across the entire scene.
That cold, suspicious gaze, as if it could pierce through people’s hearts, instantly swept across the face of every cultist.
The atmosphere in the cavern instantly became suffocatingly oppressive.
All the enraged Blood Clan members present immediately felt their hairs stand on end, their hearts sinking in unison, every one of them feeling as if they had fallen into an ice cave.
The originally orderly and solemn formation now held an invisible undercurrent of mutual wariness and suspicion.
The Duke’s face was ashen with rage.
The brutal Blood Clan Purge War thousands of years ago had not only caused his strength to plummet and his origin power to be damaged, but had also permanently trapped him at the Overlord Level, completely severing any chance of advancement.
Common heavenly treasures and Blood Clan secret arts were completely useless against his hidden ailment. He was almost trapped at his current level, with his lifespan gradually draining away…
Just as he was on the brink of despair, he accidentally stumbled into a Blood Clan Royal Forbidden Land. A crippled bone scroll left behind by the Blood Clan royalty completely changed all his plans.
That crippled bone scroll buried the ancient secrets of the Blood Clan—records left by successive generations of Blood Clan royalty. Every word and every sentence documented the true origin and power of the Blood Clan.
All Blood Clan in the world were descendants derived from the Primordial Blood Seed.
The Ancestor of the Blood Clan was not the ancient Blood Kings who had already fallen, but the Primordial Blood Seed born at the dawn of the world’s darkness, carrying all the origin power of the Blood Clan!
That was the source of all Blood Clan power, a Mythical Level existence that surpassed all other Blood Clan!
The broken text on the bone scroll clearly recorded that any Blood Clan descendant who could receive a trace of the Blood Source Baptism from the Primordial Blood Seed and be tainted by the Ancestor’s aura could wash away the impurities in their bloodline, break through the shackles and constraints.
This discovery drove him, who had lain dormant for a thousand years, completely mad.
To verify the records on the scroll, he spent several more centuries wandering the world, using his last strength to secretly perform the Blood Embrace, using the name of the Primordial Divine Church to establish a new Blood Clan force to investigate every clue. Finally, he locked onto this well-hidden Ancient Blood Source Anchor.
As long as he used this anchor point to open the Blood Source Passage, the sealed Primordial Blood Seed could reappear in the world!
This was his last hope—he had bet all his remaining foundation and remaining lifespan.
He absolutely would not allow anyone to destroy it!
“Hey, hey! At least acknowledge me, will you!” Li Changqing said, a bit embarrassed, answering his own question. “Why am I here? Aren’t you curious?”
The Duke’s black robe billowed wildly without any wind, strands of blood-colored demonic aura swelling endlessly, his cold killing intent permeating the entire cavern.
He stared fixedly at the lazily standing Li Changqing, his voice low and hoarse, carrying bone-chilling coldness. “A Legendary Beast Tamer stationed here… Hua Kingdom certainly has good methods.”
He paused for a moment, then cast another cold glance over all his subordinates, his tone intensifying with menace:
“Who leaked the secret? Your Duke will get to the bottom of it.”
The Vampire Duke then raised his hand and pressed down abruptly, his deep growl overpowering the restless commotion.
“The sacrifice must not stop! Everyone return to your positions and continue chanting the incantation to open the Blood Source Passage! Anyone who dares to be distracted or make a suspicious move will be considered a traitor to the clan and the faith! Executed on the spot as a blood sacrifice!”
The icy warning slammed down, causing the bodies of all the cultists to tremble in unison. No one dared to make any unusual move; they could only forcibly suppress the terror in their hearts and quickly return to their formation positions.
The obscure ancient incantation echoed again in the cavern, layers upon layers of bizarre syllables vibrating against the rock walls, making the crisscrossing dark red blood patterns on the stone walls grow even more dazzling and crimson.
“Eh? You managed to hold back? Actually, even if you found it, I’m confident I could rescue him under your siege.”
“But I’m still shocked. Most Blood Clan members should be foreigners, right? Your Grace, the Duke, even speaks Hua Kingdom language so standard. That’s really amazing.”
Looking at these frightened, mutually suspicious Blood Clan subordinates, Li Changqing’s smile deepened, and he applauded in admiration.
“How about really considering my suggestion? Come the day after tomorrow? My day off ends the day after tomorrow.”
The Duke, his eyes a mix of suspicion and rage, could no longer suppress his overwhelming murderous intent. “Do you think you, one man alone, can stop my Blood Clan’s thousand-year great undertaking?”
*BOOM!!
A majestic bloody pressure exploded, shaking the cavern’s rock walls, sending fragments of stone peeling off!
“Tsk, you wouldn’t listen to good advice. You’re forcing me to work overtime.”
The moment the words fell, the calm wind surrounding Li Changqing suddenly exploded!
*HUMMM!!
Seven completely different, overwhelmingly powerful beast auras erupted from the void around him!
Layers upon layers of overlapping wind fields instantly enveloped the entire underground cavern, locking down every inch of space and cutting off all escape routes!
The first to appear was a massive phantom perched in the void above Li Changqing’s head.
It was a Cloud White Wind Whale, its entire body shrouded in pale azure winds, its body spanning several meters in the cavern. Its eyes looked down from above, carrying an Overlord-level aura of dominance over all things.
Immediately after, six powerful Beast King figures stepped out from six Contract Arrays, forming a seven-star encirclement, instantly sealing all possible dodge angles for the Blood Duke!
Li Changqing gave the command with a tone of exasperation, as if scolding a child. “Hey, hey! Don’t just stand around watching! Go interrupt those black-robed bat-people chanting over there, got it?”
“Leave this place to me and Kun Kun!”
The moment these words landed.
The Blood Duke, who had been barely restraining his fury and enduring the confrontation, suddenly had his entire aura explode!
“Hehehe… to be looked down upon like this.”
He was the Supreme Duke of the Blood Clan! Even if his origin power was damaged and his realm was limited, he was still a powerful existence that could oversee an entire region!
It seemed the Blood Clan had been hiding for too long, to the point where many had forgotten the terror of the Blood Clan…
“Arrogance!!! “
A deep, savage roar, mixed with a millennium of accumulated grievances and fury, detonated throughout the entire underground cavern!
“Oh? How did you know that arrogance is one of my few virtues?”
*BOOM!!!
Before the words had even faded, the entire underground cavern was instantly filled with violent wind currents and brutal bloody energy!