Gu Qingfeng was instantly overjoyed: "If a dragon-scaled serpent is considered a demon, then since I possess the bloodline of a dragon-scaled serpent, does that mean I'm not human anymore? Am I also a demon? Wouldn't that mean I can strengthen myself by defeating myself?"
"Host, you are merely a human with a partial bloodline of a dragon-scaled serpent. Humans are inherently weak, so their bloodlines are also weak. However, weakness has its advantages—it means less aggression, greater compatibility, and higher plasticity. It allows you to integrate and absorb other bloodlines, effectively taking the best from both worlds.
The dragon-scaled serpent bloodline in your body likely comes from an ancestor who once consumed the blood of a dragon-scaled serpent and survived, thus acquiring its bloodline."
After hearing the system's explanation, Gu Qingfeng instantly deflated like a frostbitten eggplant.
"I was hoping to stop being human, alas. So, what's the point of this dragon-scaled serpent bloodline? Aside from improving my talent and strength, it doesn't have any other special abilities."
"Host, your dragon-scaled serpent bloodline has only awakened partially, which is why you currently only possess the strength of a dragon-scaled serpent. Once your bloodline concentration increases, you will gain other abilities."
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng finally understood that his bloodline could undergo multiple awakenings.
However, his bloodline concentration was entirely dependent on the Blood Divine Son's sponsorship. In the future, if he wanted to enhance it, he would have to continue collecting Blood Divine Son, which meant he was now fully committed to opposing the Blood Demon Cult.
As he pondered, Gu Qingfeng couldn't help but think of another matter. The so-called bloodline awakening was actually the awakening of demonic bloodlines. He had originally thought it was a human bloodline.
This was quite intriguing. First, the bloodline was inherited from ancestors, which meant that people with demonic bloodlines couldn't be limited to just himself. Moreover, the Demon Suppression Bureau had ancient records of bloodline awakening, which indicated that this phenomenon had existed for a long time. This suggested that within the Great Yan Dynasty, there must be a number of individuals with awakened demonic bloodlines, and these people were likely allowed to exist; otherwise, such books would have been banned long ago.
These individuals, due to their demonic bloodlines, were exceptionally talented and far more powerful than their peers. With such abilities, they could likely hold high positions within the Great Yan Dynasty, or even... the royal family.
At this thought, Gu Qingfeng suddenly understood why the Blood Demon Cult, despite being so powerful with the Blood Demon and the Seven Demon Generals being incredibly strong, was defeated by the Demon Suppression Bureau leading the righteous alliance.
The reason likely lay in these bloodline awakeners.
This was truly a case of learning from demons to counter demons!
While Gu Qingfeng was deep in thought, in the capital of the Great Yan Dynasty, within the ancestral temple of one of the four great families, the Gu family.
An old man on the verge of death suddenly opened his cloudy eyes. With a flip of his hand, a blood-red pearl appeared in his grasp.
He rubbed the blood-red pearl with his dry, tree-bark-like palm, and the pearl immediately emitted a blood-red glow that shot into the sky, pointing east.
The old man carefully followed the blood-red glow with his cloudy eyes for a moment, then waved his hand to disperse the glow.
"Go and summon the clan leader," a low, hoarse voice issued from the old man's mouth.
"Yes, Ancestor," a voice echoed in the room, though no one was visible.
A short while later, a middle-aged man with a stern and resolute face appeared before the old man.
"Ancestor, you called for me?"
"Mmm," the old man nodded faintly, then tossed the blood-red pearl into the middle-aged man's hands.
"The Bloodline Pearl just stirred. The source of the disturbance is five thousand miles to the east. It seems that someone from the scattered descendants of our clan has awakened the Dragon God Bloodline. Although the awakening is at a low level, the Dragon God Bloodline cannot be left outside. Send someone to bring him back."
"Yes, Ancestor," the middle-aged man replied respectfully. "Five thousand miles to the east would be within the Wutong Prefecture. It's likely from the cursed bloodline that was banished long ago. To think that after so many years, they haven't completely perished and even someone has awakened the bloodline. To awaken it without the clan's assistance shows some talent, though it's a pity it's only a low-level awakening. If this person had been born into the clan, perhaps they could have reached a mid-level awakening."
"There's nothing to pity. As part of the cursed bloodline, being given the chance to return to the clan is already a great blessing. Now, go."
"Yes, Ancestor."
...
After awakening his bloodline, Gu Qingfeng put on his clothes and began the final task: cultivating the Primordial Essence Blood, in preparation for the technique of rebirth through a single drop of blood.
Once he cultivated the Primordial Essence Blood, it would be equivalent to having an extra life. No one would refuse such an alluring prospect.
Gu Qingfeng had already decided where to store the Primordial Essence Blood once he created it.
That would be the alternate dimension, a space unique to Gu Qingfeng. It was the safest place, ensuring that it wouldn't be discovered. In the future, if he were to die, he could safely resurrect in the alternate dimension and recover from the weakness period.
He got to work immediately.
Gu Qingfeng began to condense the blood energy in his body to refine the Primordial Essence Blood.
The process was extremely painful, as it continuously extracted the essence of his blood and qi. A significant amount of blood essence was required to produce just one drop of Primordial Essence Blood.
The sensation was akin to someone constantly draining your blood.
As time passed, Gu Qingfeng's complexion grew increasingly pale, with less and less color in his face, as most of his blood and qi were being used to refine the Primordial Essence Blood.
Fortunately, his physique was strong; otherwise, he would have already died from blood loss.
Primordial Essence Blood was not something that someone at the Body Tempering Stage should possess. It was only due to Gu Qingfeng's exceptional nature that he was able to forcefully refine it at such an early stage of his cultivation.
An hour later, his Primordial Essence Blood was finally refined and placed in the alternate dimension.
Having completed this, Gu Qingfeng's face was as pale as paper, looking as if he had indulged in excesses for three days and nights.
He quickly took out some blood-replenishing and qi-enhancing pills and swallowed them. After a while, his face regained a bit of color.
"Damn, just one drop of Primordial Essence Blood almost cost me half my life. That idiot Blood Demon had thirty-six drops. What a beast."
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.
"Lord Gu, Lord Gu."
It was Wang Fatty's voice.
"Come in," Gu Qingfeng said weakly.
Wang Fatty pushed the door open and saw Gu Qingfeng's pale face, which startled him. He quickly asked, "Lord Gu, didn't you say you were in closed-door cultivation? How did you end up like this?"
"Cultivation fatigue," Gu Qingfeng replied lazily, too tired to bother with a proper explanation.
Wang Fatty wasn't stupid. He had experienced cultivation himself and knew it couldn't leave someone in such a state.
The pale complexion didn't seem like the result of cultivation but rather... indulgence.
Could it be...
Wang Fatty suddenly realized the reason. After their last visit to the Heavenly Fragrance Tower, everyone had pent-up desires that needed release. He himself had indulged a few times.
But seeing Lord Gu in such a state, having locked himself in the room for three days, how many times had he indulged? Or had he been indulging non-stop?
No wonder he's Lord Gu!
Wang Fatty couldn't help but feel admiration for Lord Gu's incredible stamina.
"Hey, Wang Fatty, what exactly did you come here for?" Gu Qingfeng asked, noticing that Wang Fatty had been silent for too long, staring at him oddly.
"Oh, oh, Lord Gu, I came to inform you about heading to Yin Mountain County. You've been 'cultivating' for the past few days, and Lord He Fenghua is quite displeased. He wants you to report there as soon as possible."
"He Fenghua is displeased?" Gu Qingfeng sneered. "That old man is just upset he didn't get any credit."
Indeed, the credit for killing the Mirror Demon had been entirely claimed by Gu Qingfeng and his two subordinates. When they reported to Li Qianren, they hadn't mentioned He Fenghua at all, so naturally, he got nothing.
The credit for the Mirror Demon's death fell entirely on Gu Qingfeng and his two subordinates, with Gu Qingfeng taking the lion's share and Wang Fatty and Xu Daizi earning a few thousand merit points each.
The two of them, originally at the Qi Gathering Stage, 8th Layer, had used the merit points to exchange for Foundation Strengthening Pills over the past three days and had now reached the Qi Gathering Stage, 9th Layer.