Chapter 1038: 760: Merfolk
Below the deep sea, there is never a glimpse of the sun.
In the depths of the seabed cliffs, a secluded and pitch-black cave is concealed, its entrance covered by layers of seaweed and coral curtains.
Inside the cave, there is not a trace of light, yet it is adorned with pairs of deep blue eyes.
The owners of these eyes have human bodies and mermaid tails, delicate and transparent gill filaments sprouting beside their ears, gently moving with the seawater. Their tail fins shimmer with a glimmering luster, their skin is porcelain white and translucent, and each scale is lustrous like jade.
They are the former rulers of the land and ocean—Merfolk!!
At the very center of the crowd stands an elderly Merfolk Priest, aged through the ages, his tail fin’s luster dull and mottled, his face lined with the marks of time.
In his hand, he tightly grips a completely green staff, adorned with the imperial pattern of the Merfolk Race, emanating a weak light.
He lifts his gaze, looking towards the last remaining tribesmen in the cave, his old and hoarse voice echoing slowly in the enclosed cave:
“All Merfolk citizens, remember the glory of our ancestors!”
“In ancient years, our ancestors were Innate Divine Spirits born of heaven and earth, controlling the tides of the Four Seas, ruling the rivers of the land, establishing an unparalleled empire spanning mountains and seas!”
“At that time, the Four Seas bowed down, and the Ten Thousand Races came to pay homage, the entirety of the land’s territories fell under our jurisdiction, and the vast sea was our land, a true supreme race!”
The glorious and grand days of the past are the honor etched deep within the bloodline of all Merfolk, and their only solace now.
For excessive prosperity leads to decline, the heavens do not remain perpetually prosperous, no matter how great an empire, it will eventually decay and fall.
Not long ago.
The last Emperor of the Merfolk Race fell at the hands of Emperor Yu, and the various races saw the vulnerability of this enormous empire and took successive actions.
The Merfolk Empire subsequently crumbled apart…
The pursuing soldiers chased relentlessly, slaughtering continuously, the remaining tribesmen dying or scattering.
These Merfolk could only abandon the land, leave the shallow seas, escape to this deep sea sanctuary, hiding in a dark cave, struggling to survive.
The Priest glanced around, gazing at these scarred tribesmen beside him, his eyes full of pain:
“We might be the last spark of life for the entire empire!!”
The entire cave was silent, only filled with the sounds of suppressed sobs and the faint movement of gill filaments.
All Merfolk lowered their gazes!
Once rulers of the heavens and earth, now reduced to fleeing survivors.
The elderly Priest took a deep breath, suppressing the surging grief in his heart, his voice suddenly becoming solemn and serious:
“However, there is still hope for us!!”
“The foundation of the Merfolk Race is never in territory, not in power, but in our bloodline!”
“Our ancestors were Innate Divine Spirits, their bloodlines extraordinary and surpassing the ordinary, possessing the power to suppress the entire world!”
“Bloodlines have nine levels, Level One being the weakest, Level Nine the supreme.”
“The higher the bloodline grade, the stronger the talent, the greater the potential, the more capable of carrying the sacred power of our ancestors!”
“The empire’s downfall seemed due to external invasion, internal decay, but in truth the root cause was the gradual decline and weakening of our bloodline!”
“Through the ages, the divine bloodline of our ancestors kept diluting and degenerating, each generation the tribe’s grade gradually fell.”
“Our tribe exhausted innumerable secret techniques and spent endless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, yet still couldn’t stop the trend of bloodline decay!”
“For tens of thousands of years, we have not seen a high-purity bloodline of Seventh Level or above born!”
The last emperor was already the most talented emperor in nearly ten generations, with a Sixth Level bloodline, supporting the empire’s last glory.
If not for the Feather Race also producing a remarkably talented individual, the empire might not have crumbled!!
The elderly Priest slowly raised his hand, looking at a hidden stone platform at the innermost part of the cave shrouded in Spirit Light.
On the stone platform.
A pregnant Merfolk woman lay quietly.
She was the consort of the last Merfolk King, the fetus within her womb, the last hope of the entire Merfolk Race.
“Azure Heaven will not abandon the Merfolk Race!”
“The unborn heir of the emperor has already inherited the royal lineage, possessing a Fifth Level bloodline!”
“This is the Merfolk Race’s hope, the opportunity to revive the empire!”
The elderly Priest’s eyes suddenly brightened, he lifted the green Spirit Staff high, the top of the staff emanating light that pierced the dark cave.
“With our remaining bodies and bloodline, continue the Prince’s bloodline!”
“Initiate the blood ritual!!”
In an instant.
Throughout the dark cave, ancient sacrificial sounds faintly echoed.
In the center of the cave.
An ancient and mottled White Jade Blood Pool suddenly lit up with crimson rays, radiating a sinister yet sacred blood-colored halo.
All the Merfolk nobles present had solemn expressions, their eyes resolute.
They were the tribe’s last pure-blooded members, the final nobles of the empire, and the last sacrificers of the tribe.
“For the empire!”
“For the emperor!”
“Hope the Prince can revive our race!!”
A line of Merfolk stepped forward resolutely, plunging into the warm blood pool without hesitation.
Pfft—pfft—
Countless dense blood-colored patterns rose from the array within the blood pool, a forceful extracting power instantly enveloping every sacrificer.
Bloodlines, visible to the naked eye, continuously separated and ascended from the Merfolk’s bodies along the array pattern, turning into a sky-full blood-red stream, converging into a rainbow connecting heaven and earth.
The blood rainbow penetrated the void, gathering towards the mother on the stone platform, slowly pouring into the unborn fetus.
Burning themselves out, sacrificing their bloodlines!!
After the sacrifice, the Merfolk’s skin rapidly lost its luster, the lustrous scales dimmed layer by layer, shed, and their bodies decayed and died visibly fast!!
The survival of a race, the rise and fall for ages, at this moment rests entirely on the unborn child.
With the lives of countless tribesmen, burning the blood of the last nobles, gambling on a faint chance of regeneration for the race.
Watching the tribesmen in the blood pool continuously burn out themselves, the pure blood light all pouring into the fetus,
The elderly Priest stood beside the Spirit Staff, his old body trembling slightly, silently praying repeatedly with all humility:
“Sixth Level is enough.”
“Just a Sixth Level will suffice.”
“Ancient ancestors, have mercy and protect our remaining Merfolk bloodline!!”
Having overseen rituals for centuries, he knows better than anyone the limits of this blood ritual.
The higher the bloodline grade, the heavier and more impassable the barrier, the gulf impossible to cross.
Even if the entire empire’s countless bloodline origins are drained, a Seventh Level divine blood might not be birthed, let alone with only the remaining parts hiding in a deep-sea cave.
“I dare not wish for Seventh Level!!”
He doesn’t dare to covet higher grades, his only thought is for the unborn heir to steadily reach a Sixth Level bloodline.
Sixth Level is the level of the last emperor, the pinnacle of combat strength in the current age.
With this foundation, given time to accumulate strength, it might not be impossible to find an opportunity, to revive the Merfolk Empire.
Yet despite one batch of Merfolk nobles after another diving into the blood pool to sacrifice, the sky full of blood-colored torrents washing the fetal origin, the bloodline grade remained firmly at the peak of Fifth Level.
That barrier leading to the Sixth Level remained unmoved, stubbornly blocking the way forward.
The Priest seeing this, glanced at the woman on the stone platform, his eyes showing some hesitation.
The Merfolk Imperial Consort lying on the stone platform opened her eyes at this moment, sighed silently, then spoke softly:
“The Priest need not worry!!”
“My vitality, bloodline is already connected with the child, I will fulfill my duty!!”