CHAPTER 10: BLOOD KING’S HEIR
741 Words
At the edge of Azure Dragon Sect, the clouds churned as a celestial crane descended from the heavens. On its back rode three figures clad in golden-white robes, each bearing the insignia of the Heaven Sect, the strongest righteous sect in the eastern provinces.
Their presence was a declaration.
The lead envoy, Grand Elder Wu Tian, descended with an aura that parted clouds and silenced the wind. His cultivation was at the Heaven Ascension Realm, a level that few in the Azure Dragon Sect had ever encountered, save for Sect Master Bai Zheng himself.
As the golden mist faded, Wu Tian’s voice rang out:
“By decree of the Heaven Sect, I call upon the Azure Dragon Sect to surrender the cultivator known as Ye Qing—whose aura bears the mark of the ancient tyrant, the Blood King!”
The entire sect trembled.
---
Inside the Hall of Judgment, the elders gathered once again—except this time, Ye Qing was no longer standing below them. He sat beside Sect Master Bai Zheng, equal in rank if not in title. The transformation in his aura had forced the entire sect to recognize him… or fear him.
Elder Wu Tian stood at the center of the hall.
“Your sect harbors a being whose bloodline once drowned the cultivation world in flames. Do you intend to protect him? Or has Azure Dragon Sect aligned itself with darkness?”
Bai Zheng replied calmly. “Ye Qing is a disciple of our sect. We do not abandon our own.”
“Even if he is the heir of the Blood King?”
“We judge our disciples by their actions, not by shadows of the past.”
Wu Tian scoffed. “The righteous world will not allow another blood war. If you will not surrender him, then prepare to stand against the Heaven Sect.”
Gasps echoed. This was not negotiation.
This was threat.
Ye Qing stood, eyes calm. “I have no quarrel with your Heaven Sect. But if you raise your sword against me... I will not kneel.”
Wu Tian narrowed his eyes. “Then you’ve chosen destruction.”
He turned, robes flaring, and departed with his guards in a streak of golden light.
But his words lingered:
“Three days from now, the Heaven Sect will return. With judgment.”
---
Later that night, many Azure Dragon Sect disciples debated in secret chambers and shadowed peaks.
Some feared Ye Qing’s presence would bring annihilation. Others revered him as a war god reborn. But the elders… they were divided.
Elder Wuxian whispered to Bai Zheng, “We cannot fight the Heaven Sect. Their power eclipses ours.”
“And if we hand over Ye Qing, what next?” Bai Zheng countered. “They will demand more. Our pride. Our future.”
“Then what do you propose?”
“I propose… we awaken the last legacy of our founder.”
---
Meanwhile, Ye Qing returned to the Skyfire Cavern.
He sat silently, the Dragon Abyss Sword beside him, and began to meditate again—but this time, his soul plunged deeper.
He was no longer afraid of what lay within.
And what he saw… was an ancient battlefield.
Thousands knelt in blood. A single throne stood amidst a mountain of corpses. Upon it, the Blood King sat—wielding the same sword Ye Qing now held.
“You are me,” Ye Qing said in the dreamscape.
“No,” the Blood King said, rising. “You are stronger. I forged the world through conquest. But you… can forge it through choice.”
“Why me?”
“Because you carry what I never did.”
Ye Qing looked down.
In his hand… was a second flame.
One of compassion.
The Blood King stepped forward. “The world will come for you, child. You can burn it down… or shape it anew. But first—awaken fully.”
With a roar, the Blood King thrust his palm into Ye Qing’s chest—and power surged.
---
Back in the real world, Ye Qing’s eyes flew open.
He had broken through again—this time to the Heaven-Slaying Core Realm. A realm beyond normal cultivation.
And from his back burst the image of a Blood Dragon, coiling into the sky, roaring toward the stars.
The entire Azure Dragon Sect trembled.
The war had not yet begun.
But its heir had awakened.
- Writer
