DKIE CH45: Blood Pool

A very high-end customized reward.

When Luka first heard it, he was indeed slightly startled.

Then he lamented that such a sinister idea could actually be thought of.

A blood pool baptism could completely divert the focus, making the public forget his efforts during the hunt.

“Just you wait,” Luka sneered.

If the enemy shifted the focus, he would shift the conflict.

Later, he would have to study carefully how to shift the cold reception he received in the capital to class conflict and the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, and then unite all the non-pure-blood demons that could be united.

The masses were the foundation. Let’s see who could shift better.

“Go,” the Demon King said lightly. “The longer you stay in the blood pool, the better the effect.”

The meaning of the Demon King’s words was different from that of the other nobles.

Luka narrowed his eyes.

Outsiders could not use the blood pool without permission. The other party was willing to cooperate with this farce, probably because he wanted to further confirm whether there were other existences on him.

The souls of the strong would occasionally attach themselves to some treasures. In the land of exile, he had tried to fish for Quill Pen with essential blood once but failed. Now he was trying to fish again.

The other demons did not know about the ten thousand schemes between this father and son.

After the initial silence, some unfriendly discussions began. Amidst countless greedy and jealous emotions, Luka was not at all intimidated and calmly stepped forward.

The blood pool was heavily guarded within ten thousand meters, and the surrounding surveillance and memory stones were even denser than in the palace.

He did not care about the impact of the live broadcast later. It didn’t matter even if he was blasted out of the blood pool. The most important part was to make a request under the Demon Ancestor’s statue.

What bloodline theory? It would be worthless in the face of future cultural invasion.

Due to the overwhelming pressure of the blood pool, it was only when he got close that Luka discovered there were also instructions for use, carved on a huge stone in the Demon Ancestor’s domineering handwriting.

[Instructions for use:
Step 1: Cut your palm facing the pool water (Those without demon blood, retreat quickly. No responsibility will be taken for death)
Step 2: Squeeze out two drops.
Step 3: Enter the blood pool with a “hehehe” laugh.]

Luka’s eyelid twitched.

The ancestor of the demon race was really a character.

Following the instructions, he used his finger as a knife and made a cut in his palm. He regretted it as soon as he finished.

Anyway, only two drops of blood were needed. Wouldn’t pricking a fingertip be the same?

Red blood beads fell into the boiling pool of pulp.

A baptism with impure blood had a certain probability of causing sudden death, but this probability was almost zero for Luka.

The faith in his body was often overloaded. He had long been able to skillfully discharge the excess energy.

Luka did not forget to wave at the onlookers behind him, “Come on, get closer.”

Maybe he could blow up two of them later.

Such a strange sentence. Everyone just thought he had gone mad with anger and was spouting nonsense in a state of panic.

Seeing that no one was approaching, Luka was a little disappointed. When he turned back, his originally indifferent face suddenly sharpened.

Was it an illusion?

The attraction of the blood pool suddenly deepened a lot, as if something was summoning him.

Luka couldn’t help but look down.

The color of the wound on his palm was strangely transitioning to black. In the dark, an invisible suction force was pulling at his flesh. While he was still surprised, his body suddenly lost its balance, and he fell headfirst into the blood pool.

What the hell.

He hadn’t even “hehehe” yet?

What’s the use of these instructions!

Luka fell in without any warning, but in the eyes of the onlookers, it was a completely different scene.

The seventh prince, who was waiting for Luka to make a fool of himself, said in a daze, “Did you… see that?”

No one around spoke. Such a big commotion, of course they saw it. They were just barely holding back the screams that almost escaped their lips.

Outside the palace, the demons who were watching the ceremony live didn’t need to worry about their image at all and shouted almost voicelessly, “It lit up! The Demon Ancestor’s statue just lit up!”

It was said that besides the essential blood of the heart, a wisp of the Demon Ancestor’s will remained in the blood pool. But wasn’t that just a legend?

At this moment, that wisp of light directly enveloped the thin figure below, showing that the Demon Ancestor’s will seemed to have responded to Iliad.

The lord of Red Banyan City, who was also concerned about the results of the hunt, frowned. He was purely surprised.

“How is that possible?”

A prince with only half demon blood, it would be good enough if he wasn’t blasted out of the blood pool. How could he possibly be favored by the Demon Ancestor’s will?

Not just him, no force could figure it out.

The City of Darkness was silent. The rebellious Keli Sentry Tower was silent… Whether it was the central cities or the border towns, all fell silent at this moment.

In Mohe City, which was being developed into a tourist city, the dragons who were assigned to do infrastructure watched the live broadcast. For a moment, they didn’t know what to say.

After a long while, Grover broke the silence, “Could it be that Luka is the child of the Demon King with another demon behind the Saintess’s back?”

Rio: “Maybe he’s adopted.”

Then he could be legally adopted by the dragon race.

The demons of Mohe City: “…”

Underground City Palace, Blood Pool.

Luka, whose origin was being suspected, was in a red world, surrounded by exaggerated scarlet blood threads. They spread wantonly like vines, converging at the end like a spider’s web, forming a blood-colored throne.

It was strange.

Although it was not decorated with any luxurious treasures, it looked even more unfathomable than the Demon King’s throne.

At least in the palace, Luka could still snort in disdain. Now, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.

Suddenly, a blood shadow appeared on the throne.

Luka immediately took a step back, thinking about the possibility of using a space scroll to escape from here.

“Ah, you’ve finally come, my grand-grand-grand-grand-grand… son’s generation.” The blood shadow was almost half-lying on the throne, looking very casual.

After observing Luka for a moment, the blood shadow spoke in a deep voice, “It seems that in this era, the demon race has hope of prospering.”

What a high praise.

Luka became more vigilant, “I am just an ordinary junior of the demon race. You are overpraising me.”

“Ordinary?” The blood shadow seemed to have heard a huge joke. It ended up laughing and rolling on the throne. After laughing enough, it barely returned to its initial posture of crossing its legs and propping up its chin with its hand.

“A true atavist, a once in ten thousand years occurrence. How is that ordinary?”

Atavism was a special genetic phenomenon. The only existing atavist in the entire demon race was the Demon King.

However, he only had a certain ability to know things at birth and was not a complete atavist.

A complete atavist would inherit the distinct characteristics of their ancestors. Unfortunately, there were too few records about the Demon Ancestor, but many rumors. Things like different colored eyes, three horns, and even six pairs of wings.

Hearing this, Luka pondered and thought of something, muttering, “Black hair?”

He instantly shook his head again.

Black hair was very rare on the entire continent. If the Demon Ancestor had black hair, it was impossible that there were no clear historical records passed down.

As if knowing what Luka was thinking, the response to him was a sigh.

“Because I’m bald.”

Luka stood there in a daze.

The blood shadow let out another heavy sigh, “It’s related to the cultivation method. After I achieved great success, I wanted to make up for it, but unfortunately, my physical body was too strong and completely immune to high-level potions.”

The blood shadow’s tone was cold and sinister, not forgetting to speculate on others with the greatest malice:

“The Human Ancestor of the human race should be the same. Otherwise, why would he copy me and have his statue always be looked up to, never seeing the top of his head?”

Isn’t it because he’s bald!

The corner of Luka’s mouth twitched. So the reason why the strong couldn’t see the top of their heads was to prevent their baldness from being exposed?

He really didn’t want to discuss this speechless topic:

“An atavist has extraordinary talent, but I couldn’t even sense magical elements before.”

This time, it was the blood shadow’s turn to be surprised. He said, “Impossible,” and appeared in front of him the next second.

Luka was almost blinded by the red light that rushed at him. He saw the blood shadow sniffing him like a dog. Goosebumps rose all over his body.

The blood shadow returned to the throne, “Your mother’s.”

Luka: “…”

The blood shadow had already sensed the situation outside. This generation’s Demon King was a decent man, so the problem could only be with this generation’s prince’s mother.

“You have the aura of a human on you, which clashes with the atavist bloodline. If you’re not useless, who is?” A hint of interest emerged in the Demon Ancestor’s tone. “But the cultivation method you’re practicing is quite interesting. You can actually find another way. It’s a pity I’m already dead, otherwise I would have possessed you and picked up a ready-made one.”

After speaking, he began to sigh again.

One after another, it was clear that he was really regretful.

Luka: “…”

The blood shadow suddenly stood up again and paced back and forth, “The person who invented this cultivation method is a genius, and the one who can cultivate it is also a talent.”

From the perspective of demon race culture, Luka felt he was being scolded.

However, the next second, the blood shadow stared at him intently, “It’s still incredible that you actually succeeded.”

“…Cultivating with faith as the foundation is harder than ascending to heaven. The faith of the weak is of little use, and the strong will not believe in the weak. It would be better to cultivate negative emotions, but the effect and progress would be greatly reduced.”

The saddest thing about this cultivation method was that even the one who invented it might not be able to master it.

“It’s just a fluke,” Luka was a little impressed now. As expected of the Demon Ancestor, he could immediately hit the nail on the head.

“Forget it, it’s fate,” the blood shadow shook his head. “I can probably guess that you don’t have much sense of belonging to the demon race.”

A half-human hybrid, a cultivation failure. One could imagine what kind of treatment he would receive. It would be purely perverted to have a sense of belonging.

Luka silently agreed: He’s really good at reading people.

“But the demon race is my life’s work, after all.”

“How about this, I, your ancestor, will give you a good fortune. In the future, remember to be grateful to your ancestor.”

“There’s no need for good fortune,” Luka was about to tear open the scroll without changing his expression. He couldn’t guarantee that this good fortune wasn’t a trap.

However, before he could finish his words, his body instantly lost its ability to move. Countless blood bubbles clung to his back like maggots on a bone. A sharp pain began to radiate from his entire spine. After the pain, it became incredibly itchy.

The sea of blood surged towards him like a tsunami. Luka couldn’t help but want to reach out and scratch, but he touched an irregular protrusion.

The horror brought by this moment almost made him forget the itching.

The itching was still intensifying, layer by layer, like millions of ants crawling.

“Why are you running? In a blood pool dominated by my will, can you escape?”

Even when giving benefits, the blood shadow still had the tone of a great villain.

His color became lighter and lighter, until at the very end, a rare trace of a senior’s concern for a junior appeared, “Don’t forget to ‘hehehe.’ Laugh more for good luck.”

Luka gritted his teeth, “…I, refuse.”

He endured the itching and opened his mouth, “Jie… jiejie.”

The blood shadow was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and completely disappeared.

In the sea of blood on all four sides, Luka curled up alone, fighting against the discomfort in his body in a daze. A few times when he was about to pass out from the pain, he vaguely heard the sound of bones cracking, seemingly accompanied by a strange rustling sound, like a willow tree sprouting branches, or like wild grass sprouting from the soil.

Time slowly passed. The scarlet world gradually faded, and even the color of the Demon Ancestor’s statue dimmed a lot. Outside, it was already starting to get a little chaotic.

Princess Mary’s overly long nails pointed angrily at the blood pool, her words unchecked, “What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and find a way to get this little half-breed out.”

Alicia looked at Princess Mary, whose emotions would go out of control from time to time, with a hint of gloom in her expression, her thoughts unknown.

Among the many guests, Prince Nordin suddenly had a particularly ominous premonition. He bowed directly to the Demon King and said, “Your Majesty, the blood pool absolutely cannot have any mishaps. We must find a way to interrupt this blessing of a bath.”

“That’s right,” the other high-ranking nobles and dignitaries also quickly agreed.

“Your Majesty can travel freely through space. Why not bring His Highness out first?”

They all used the blood pool as a pretext, as if they didn’t know at all that special moments like enlightenment, breaking through a bottleneck, or a blessing, if interrupted, could easily cause irreversible effects.

The Demon King narrowed his eyes and looked at the blood pool, taking a step forward.

However, at this moment, the boiling blood pool suddenly calmed down. The world returned to its usual appearance, leaving only a faint layer of light.

In the center of the light, the youth with tattered clothes was curled up by the statue. A pair of wings containing mysterious power were hanging down on both sides.

In the midst of the unbearable itching and the pain of breaking out of the ground, Luka gritted his teeth.

The red light in his vision became weaker and weaker. The blood pool would probably return to normal soon. He desperately moved forward, centimeter by centimeter.

If you have wings and don’t show them, the fun is halved!

What kind of pose should he strike later?

He knew a few yoga poses. Or should he be more philosophical and strike a thinker’s pose?

Luka was too focused on image management, which indirectly distracted some of his attention, successfully reducing the pain by one point.

After an unknown amount of time, he heard low gasps of surprise.

In the distance were a group of high-ranking demons led by the Demon King.

Their usual pride and elegance were now tainted with a twisted shock. Although they didn’t know what had happened, those wings showed that the baptized had received a great benefit.

The demon race was known for its conspiracy theories, and their ability to imagine was very strong! Some had even begun to imagine whether Luka had inherited the power left behind by the Demon Ancestor.

Yes, just like that.

Gasp, admire, let your pupils tremble.

“Is he still him?” Under the influence of the grandmother’s story, Alicia’s first reaction was possession.

The surroundings were suddenly filled with horror, but they quickly felt it was impossible. The number of baptized was not small. If there was going to be possession, it wouldn’t have waited until now.

All the domain residents who witnessed this scene through the live broadcast were also anxiously waiting for an answer.

But Luka was destined to disappoint them.

After seeing the light of day again, he did not make any response. He barely stood up and maintained his stability. Luka faced the statue again.

He adjusted to a thirty-degree angle and stared at the Demon Ancestor’s face for a long time, his tone light and solemn:

“I will definitely do what I promised you.”

What did you promise? Just say it!

Gradually, the onlookers thought of a possibility.

The era of the Demon Ancestor had long passed. What the deceased cared about most was nothing more than their foundation. The most reasonable guess was that the Demon Ancestor wanted Iliad to protect and revitalize the demon race.

Luka tilted his head from thirty degrees to forty-five degrees. Keep imagining.

Having been ordered by the Demon Ancestor, he was the orthodox, the mystery, and the authority.

At a critical moment, a spoilsport voice interrupted the public’s divergent thinking.

The Demon King brought the topic back to the right track, “As the winner of this hunt, besides the established rewards, you can make one more request.”

He slowly added, “Since the Demon Ancestor has high hopes for you, I will consider your request as much as possible.”

The Demon King was obviously starting to value Iliad!

All the benefits came at once, making the other princes extremely jealous. The wavering nobles began to exchange glances, thinking about whether their attitude towards Iliad should change in the future.

But Luka’s eyes darkened.

The cut on his palm was burning hot. On it was a line of extremely small characters:
A teleportation array is hidden at the bottom of the blood pool. Activation spell: ▇囗.

This was an escape route left by the Demon Ancestor. Even the Demon Ancestor believed that the current Demon King might kill him.

However, Luka did not feel any killing intent from the Demon King.

This old bastard definitely had some bigger scheme.

Who cares? Luka chose to get the benefits first, “My request is—”

The scene fell into extreme silence, listening with bated breath.

An army? Land?

But these were already included in the rewards. Too much would be difficult to defend.

“All my future artistic works can be distributed and circulated in the demon domain, forever without any obstruction.”

Just this?

The nobles who were waiting for a lion’s mouth to open looked at each other.

The Demon King raised an eyebrow. For the first time, he asked the same question twice, “Are you sure?”

Luka, holding on to his original intention, nodded.

This was his fundamental purpose for participating in the hunt. The seemingly unrestricted reward had many limitations.

For example, if he wanted to become the Demon King, he would probably be killed the next moment he took the throne.

On the contrary, the ‘smaller’ the request, the more it could be protected by the rules.

However, regarding this hope, the Demon King did not immediately agree.

Not long ago, he had watched that True and False Young Master. That was not cultural transmission, it was spiritual pollution. To a certain extent, it was no different from a plague.

Luka stood gracefully. Whether the Demon King was willing or not, he would eventually have to agree.

About half a minute passed. The Demon King silenced the surprised and talking onlookers and said in a cold voice, “With the starry sky and the rules as witness, I will grant the winner the freedom to spread their works.”

His goal achieved, Luka trembled his wings slightly and, for the first time since entering the palace, bowed.

He was not bowing to the Demon King.

Turning his body slightly, Luka faced the surrounding surveillance and live broadcast, and gave a standard noble’s bow to the countless witnessing demon race masses.

“Thank you for your support.”

He was still in the shadow of the tall Demon Ancestor statue, his red lips and black eyes, and his newborn wings were very dazzling, exuding a smile that could buy the hearts of demons.

__

Author’s note:

Excerpt from Luka’s diary:
So when I first saw the statue, what was I lamenting about?

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