Imperial Throne

Chapter 4: [Flame Hound]Bloodline

Ion's heart pounded violently several times. He took a few deep breaths before finally managing to calm himself.

Yet, his face still bore an expression of disbelief.

Just moments ago, he had suddenly awakened his bloodline power, acquiring an ability called [Blood Flame].

However, his face also showed confusion.

He clearly remembered that back in the days of the Kingdom Army, the instructor had mentioned that the bloodline abilities activated through the bloodline stimulation method originated from the [Violent Bear] bloodline.

The main traits of this bloodline leaned towards strength and endurance. The first-tier bloodline abilities typically manifested as either [Frenzy] or [Tough Skin], with only rare instances activating the [Berserk] ability.

But none of these three abilities bore any resemblance to this [Blood Flame].

“Father?”

A hesitant voice called out, bringing Ion back from his thoughts.

“Let's go!”

Regaining his composure, Ion quickly extinguished the flames burning on his body and said, “We can't stay here.”

“But…” Yam glanced back at the mountain fire that had begun to blaze fiercely, his face showing hesitation.

Ion remained silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at his wife and youngest son.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, “Go! We must leave! We can't save the people on the mountain. The lord wants us all dead.”

With that, he no longer looked at his second son's expression. Instead, he turned back to pull out the rusty sword still embedded in the knight's chest.

At this moment, since Ion was no longer holding the longsword, the flames had ceased burning on its blade, and it had once again appeared rusted and worn.

Had Ion not witnessed it with his own eyes earlier, he would have found it hard to believe that this sword was so extraordinary.

But when he looked at the knight's body again, his expression changed dramatically.

Most of the knight's body had withered. The blood seemed to have evaporated, leaving him dry and shriveled, resembling a mummified corpse.

Seeing this, Ion was deeply shocked, and his gaze towards the longsword turned to one of fear.

At this moment, even if he were foolish, he would realize that this sword was no ordinary weapon.

Moreover, he was not a fool.

Ion thought to himself, ‘No, we can't just flee. We must cover our tracks!’

So he hurriedly pulled out the sword. But as soon as he grasped the hilt, his face suddenly flushed.

The vast amount of essence blood absorbed from the knight's body surged into his own, causing his aura to swell rapidly in that instant.

He also suddenly comprehended many things.

However, at this moment, he had no time to sort through the sudden influx of knowledge in his mind.

He hastily activated his bloodline ability, using fire to ignite the knight's corpse.

Then, after quickly retrieving his broken iron knife, he left with his wife and children.

“Father, where are we going next?”

“To Tim…”

Ion initially intended to say they would go to Tim Village in the Red River Territory, but he suddenly remembered that the Iron Wolf Mercenary Group had long been on the baron's watchlist in the Gem Territory.

Therefore, the lord had likely already investigated their connection to Tim Village.

Now that a bloodline knight had been killed, the lord would probably search Tim Village next. Thus, the Red River Territory was no longer a safe destination.

Ion immediately changed his words: “No! We're going to the White Mountain Territory!”

…

Robin was quite disdainful of that knight's bloodline.

Previously, with only a single drop, he hadn't understood much.

But when Ion stabbed the longsword into the knight's body, and a large amount of essence blood was absorbed into the blade, some fragmented memories and inheritances were also accessed by Robin.

The knight's bloodline originated from a magical beast known as the [Flame Hound], which was of low rank and could only be cultivated up to the second tier.

According to the knight's incomplete memories, aside from those with high-ranking bloodlines, the [Bloodline Nobles], it was nearly impossible for ordinary people to achieve class advancement without several generations, even dozens of generations, of effort.

The [Flame Hound] was a second-tier magical beast, so its bloodline power could only allow cultivation up to the second tier.

To further enhance one's strength, one would either need to evolve the [Flame Hound] bloodline or consume stronger magical beast bloodlines to overwrite it. However, both methods hinged on a crucial factor: bloodline concentration.

The so-called bloodline stimulation training method was essentially a way to continuously stimulate and increase the concentration of the practitioner's bloodline.

The standard training method involved consuming specially formulated bloodline potions and then practicing the bloodline stimulation technique to resonate with the potion within the body.

This process gradually transformed and strengthened the practitioner's body.

Once the bloodline potion fully integrated into the practitioner's system and resonated with the stimulation technique, a bloodline user would be born.

However, not everyone could achieve this.

The vast majority of people would never become bloodline users in their entire lives.

Moreover, different bloodline potions required different bloodline stimulation methods, not a single method could be universally applied to all potions.

Back when Ion served in the Kingdom Army of Tyrella, the military provided [Violent Bear] bloodline potions and the corresponding stimulation method.

However, this bloodline, designed specifically to cultivate warriors, could only produce first-tier bloodline users.

So, to advance to a second-tier bloodline user, one had to earn significant military merits and then exchange them with the kingdom for higher-tier bloodline potions and stimulation methods.

This was also the method the Tyrella Kingdom used to control bloodline users within its army.

Of course, whether it was the [Violent Bear] or the [Flame Hound], these were all mass-producible low-grade bloodlines, this was precisely why Robin despised these bloodlines, even believing they emitted a foul stench.

To put it kindly, they were low-tier bloodlines; to put it bluntly, they were no different from domesticated livestock.

After all, he had witnessed a genuine [Universal Bloodline Power], the [Iron Mastery] used by that bloodline user who had once slain a god had left Robin utterly astonished to this day.

…

Two men and one woman stood beside a charred corpse, their expressions somber.

“Wasn't it said that this mercenary group had no bloodline users?”

“I checked their mission records over the past two years, there wasn’t a single trace of a bloodline user,” the young man under questioning retorted. “I even investigated Tim Village in the Red River Territory thoroughly. There’s no way a bloodline user was there.”

“Hughes’ bloodline is [Ghost Fox]. His sense of smell doesn’t make mistakes,” the only woman among the three spoke in defense of the young man.

“Then what are you suggesting?” asked the middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader, his voice low.

“I lean toward the presence of a bloodline user from a third party,” the middle-aged woman said slowly. “And more importantly… a Forager.”

Upon hearing this term, the expressions of the two men, previously tense, relaxed slightly.

“Indeed,” the middle-aged man nodded. “The other party destroyed Berman’s corpse, clearly trying to cover something up. The likelihood of it being a Forager is very high.”

“Then how do we report back to the Baron?” the middle-aged woman asked, her brow furrowed.

“Just tell the truth,” the man replied slowly. “Berman’s squad encountered a Forager during the mission and was killed. … Knowing our lord’s temperament, he’ll only want us to find this Forager and invite them to become a knight under his banner.”

These words rendered the other two silent.

The greed and generosity of the lord of the Gem Territory were known to all neighboring lords.

His greed lay in never granting any village in his territory as a fief to his retainers.

But his generosity showed in his willingness to lavish his knights and personal guards with the best weapons and rewards.

Thus, although the death of a first-tier bloodline knight might indeed enrage the Gem Territory lord, especially since he would mourn the loss of the exotic iron saber he had bestowed upon Berman, if he learned that someone with second-tier or near second-tier power was responsible, he would no longer care about how Berman died.

Instead, he would try everything possible to invite the killer to join his house.

“Can you track them?”

“No way,” Hughes shook his head. “The scent left behind by the [Flame Hound] bloodline ability is everywhere, confusing all surrounding scent traces. I can’t smell a second distinct scent. Besides, the other party was extremely cautious. They deactivated their bloodline ability right after killing Berman and even dispersed all other scents. I already checked carefully on our way here, I couldn’t even pick up the scent of the people who escaped from the mountain.”

“Those people definitely know what happened here. If we could find them…” the middle-aged woman began.

“Hughes, you might have to make a trip to Tim Village,” the middle-aged man said coldly.

“You think they’d still go to Red River Territory?”

“That bunch of lowborn scum from the mountain have only ever operated in Red River Territory over the years, they’re only familiar with that area,” the man replied. “These wretches rely on what they know. So if not in Tim Village, they’ll be in some other village they’ve visited before in the Red River.”

“And after questioning them?”

“Kill them,” the middle-aged man said coldly. “They’ve been named bandits by the lord.”

“Understood,” Hughes nodded.

“What about Berman’s body?”

“Take it back to his son. After all, we were once comrades,” the man said with a shake of his head. “From here on, we can only see whether his son has the talent to rise… Even the child of a bloodline user isn’t guaranteed to become one.”