sinovels Chapter 972 Year-End Competition
Chapter 972 Year-End Competition
He didn't need to send anyone to assassinate Lin Qiye, nor did he need to put a bounty on his head in the black market. He just needed to wait, until that day came.
Year-end competition.
All senior deacons are required to attend.
This is an ironclad rule that no one can be exempt from.
If Lin Qiye happened to encounter Lei Sha in that competition, then he had no one to blame but himself.
On the field, life and death are left to fate.
Even if the people at the Control Yuan wanted to protect him, they would have nothing to say.
Lei Sha reached into the back of the table and took out the jade slip containing Lin Qiye's combat data. He held it in his palm, feeling the cool temperature of the jade slip's surface, his gaze flickering in the candlelight.
Over the years, he has seen too many so-called geniuses.
Some people are exceptionally talented when they first ascend to immortality, and everyone says they are destined for greatness, but they die at the hands of some unknown gladiator in less than a year. Others rely on bloodline, talent, and luck to advance rapidly, but after hitting a certain bottleneck, they can no longer go any further.
Lin Qiye did surprise him many times, but he didn't believe that a human who had only been in the Origin Universe for less than two years could grow to the point where he could contend with him in such a short time.
He has lived here for tens of thousands of years, enduring countless battles to reach his current position. The trump cards he possesses far exceed the limits of what a newcomer could imagine.
"The year-end competition..." Lei Sha gently placed the jade slip on the table, a cold glint in his eyes. "There are still more than eight months left. Cherish your last days, kid."
……
For the first few days after Lin Qiye returned to his residence, everything was calm and peaceful.
What he does every day is very simple: adjust the fusion state of the blood demon power and the original cosmic energy in his meridians.
Lei Sha's side indeed quieted down.
Those faces that used to loiter around the tunnel entrance, training area, and trading area all disappeared overnight.
Even the lower-ranking gladiators in the arena, who usually loved to gossip, became noticeably more cautious when mentioning Lin Qiye's name. Their eyes flickered, and their voices were lowered, as if they were afraid of being overheard by someone.
Lin Qiye was fully aware of this.
Lei Sha didn't give up; he was just waiting for a better opportunity.
He doesn't care.
He now has enough pregnancy-stabilizing pills and Qi-stabilizing powder. Barbarian Princess's fetal breathing has stabilized a lot after these few days of recuperation and is no longer going berserk as frequently as before.
Luo Sheng and Shuang'er are recovering well after childbirth. The power of their bloodline feedback is continuously flowing into his meridians, slowly and steadily improving his foundation every day.
These days are as calm as a stagnant pool.
But Lin Qiye knew that this was just the calm before the storm.
……
A month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Qiye's internal energy circulated slowly along his meridians, completing a full cycle. He could feel the Blood Demon Power deep within his dantian further merging with the Origin Energy of the Primordial Universe, like two threads, one black and one red, intertwining, becoming increasingly tight and seamless.
Suddenly, a muffled groan came from inside the room.
The sound was short and heavy, as if something was being forcibly suppressed in the throat, but not completely.
Then came Shuang'er's cold voice: "The Barbarian Princess is about to give birth."
Lin Qiye suddenly opened his eyes, stood up, and strode into the room.
The Barbarian Princess was lying on the bed, her face flushed, her forehead covered in large beads of sweat, and her hands clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white.
Her abdomen heaved violently, and the energy within her body surged outward like boiling water, causing even the air in the room to hum.
Her ancient behemoth bloodline erupted completely at the moment of childbirth.
That aura was tyrannical and domineering, carrying a primal, bloodthirsty wildness, as if a ferocious beast sleeping deep within its bloodline was awakening, wanting to break free from the shackles of its mother and descend into this world.
The Barbarian Princess's eyes gleamed with a pale golden light, her pupils slightly slit, a sign of her beastly bloodline being highly activated. Her consciousness was teetering on the brink of collapse under the impact of her bloodline instincts.
"Hold her down!" Shuang'er shouted in a low voice, her hands moving swiftly to insert needles into the acupoints on the barbarian's abdomen. Each needle insertion was precise and steady, the tips of the silver needles trembling slightly under the infusion of source energy, emitting a soft buzzing sound. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but her expression remained calm as ice, and her hands did not tremble in the slightest.
Luo Sheng stood at the door holding her youngest daughter, her face somewhat pale.
She had given birth twice and knew the dangers of childbirth, but this was the first time she had ever seen a case like the Barbarian Princess's.
That was no longer ordinary production; it was more like a battle for bloodlines.
Lin Qiye quickly walked to the bedside, squatted down, grasped Manji's wrist with one hand, and placed the other hand above her lower abdomen. The power of the Blood Demon, like a warm, dark red stream, slowly flowed into Manji's body through his palm, spreading along her meridians towards her dantian and abdomen.
As soon as the Blood Demon Power entered the Barbarian Princess's body, she immediately sensed the violent beast bloodline.
Under Lin Qiye's guidance, the two forces did not clash, but flowed in parallel in an extremely subtle way.
The power of the Blood Demon was responsible for suppressing the rampaging source energy, gradually taming the violent energy that was trying to break through the meridians, while also diverting some of it to nourish the Barbarian Princess's excessive physical strength; the giant beast bloodline gradually calmed down under the soothing power of the Blood Demon, like a ferocious beast whose back was pressed down by a larger hand, still growling but no longer struggling.
Barbarian Princess's breathing gradually became more even.
She raised her head, the pale golden light in her eyes fading slightly, revealing eyes that were slightly red from the intense pain. She looked at Lin Qiye, a strained smile tugging at the corners of her lips: "This little brat… he's like me, has a terrible temper…"
"Don't speak, focus on regulating your breathing." Lin Qiye's voice was low and steady, and the output of the Blood Demon Power increased even more.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Barbarian's breathing stabilized, Shuang'er quickly inserted the last few silver needles into several key acupoints on the Barbarian's abdomen, and then gently guided the fetal breathing in the Barbarian's abdomen to slowly change direction with her source energy.
The whole process lasted for about half an hour. The air in the room became increasingly stuffy, and the flame of the oil lamp flickered gently in the corner, casting several shadows on the mottled wall, like a silent silhouette painting.
Finally, a loud baby's cry broke the silence in the room.
The cry was extremely loud, with a penetrating power completely different from that of an ordinary baby, shaking the dust off the roof beams. The barbarian princess was soaked in sweat, as if she had been pulled out of the water, her whole body drenched, her face as pale as paper, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
Shuang'er picked up the baby, examined him carefully, and a rare smile appeared on her lips: "It's a boy. Mother and child are safe."
The baby was tiny, with skin that had a faint, dark golden hue. Unlike the wrinkled skin of ordinary newborns, his skin appeared remarkably sturdy. His cries were loud and powerful, and his little hands and feet kicked wildly in the air with astonishing force, even causing the cloth wrapped around him to wobble precariously.
The Barbarian Princess lay on the bed, looking at the baby in Shuang'er's arms, a tired but satisfied smile appearing on her lips: "This little brat... he's even more troublesome than his mother..."
Lin Qiye slowly withdrew his Blood Demon power, stood up, walked to Shuang'er, and looked down at the newborn baby.
The baby seemed to sense his presence; his crying gradually subsided, his eyes, not yet fully open, narrowed slightly, and his tiny nose twitched gently, as if trying to recognize the presence. Then, he actually stretched out his little hand and groped around in the air, as if trying to reach for something.
Lin Qiye remained silent for a moment, then reached out and gently touched the small hand.
The baby's fingers immediately gripped his fingertips with surprising force, like a small pair of pliers.
[A new bloodline has been detected developing; the bloodline of an ancient behemoth has been fused. Blood Demon feedback has begun to flow in.]
The feedback was far more intense than the previous two. The feedback from the ancient behemoth's bloodline was like a surging river, carrying a primal, wild aura, washing over his meridians. He could feel his bones and muscles becoming more resilient under the impact of this feedback, the power contained within his flesh and blood multiplying, and even the speed at which the source energy circulated within his body increased significantly.
He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths, and slowly guided the surging power into the depths of his dantian, merging it with the blood demon power he had accumulated earlier.
When he opened his eyes again, the aura within him was nearly 30% stronger than before.
The combined effects of the bloodline feedback from the three children caused a qualitative change. The power of those feedbacks was no longer simply additive, but began to merge and catalyze each other deep within his dantian, forming a completely new and higher source of life.
He could feel that he was only a thin membrane away from breaking through that invisible barrier.
He just needs to accumulate more experience and then experience another surge of bloodline feedback to break through that bottleneck and reach a higher level of cultivation.
……
In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.
Under the care of Lin Qiye's Blood Demon Power and those high-level pregnancy-stabilizing medicines, Manji's body recovered quickly, and she was already able to get out of bed and walk around. After all, she possessed the bloodline of an ancient behemoth, and her physical fitness was far superior to that of ordinary cultivators. Her postpartum recovery speed was also much faster than Luo Sheng and Shuang'er.
That evening, Lin Qiye had just finished a full cycle of cultivation and was stretching his muscles in the courtyard.
A middle-aged man dressed in a gray-black butler's uniform walked in from the entrance of the passageway. He was of medium height and had an ordinary face, the kind of face that would be easily lost in a crowd, but his steps were steady and powerful, each step landing with an extremely regular rhythm.
Lin Qiye's gaze fell on that person, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man stopped about three zhang away from Lin Qiye, bowed slightly, and spoke respectfully yet humbly: "Steward Lin, I am Zhao Ping from the Management Office. The list of participants and the schedule for the year-end competition will be announced in three days. As is customary, all senior stewards need to confirm their eligibility in advance. The Management Office has sent me to explain the relevant matters to Steward Lin."