Chapter 377: Threads of Fate

It looks like I successfully fooled him. Vincent hid a sigh of relief as he didn't have to do another demonstration and lowered his hand. While he had made it look impressive, a lot of work had gone into killing that Nascent Soul Realm shadow titan, and it started way before he drained the blood from one of his Elders. In fact, the draining of the Elder was more for show than anything else. A classic misdirection to draw attention away from the truth.

Since the moment this Ashfallen Sect showed up and summoned those two Nascent Soul Realm shadow monsters, I knew I had to take the opportunity to get rid of one of them. I'm just glad the illusion I conjured of Elder Morrigan Voidmind being tortured managed to obscure my powering up of the grand blood-gathering array below the city.

Vincent's spiritual senses were spread across the city, and he had detected the presence of the strange silver cloud ages ago. Noting its divine nature and cultivation level, he allowed the vaguely spider-shaped cloud to devour some of his family members to gauge its strength and to see if it would be a better target for the grand array.

I can't stop this one. Vincent concluded as he eyed the divine monster cautiously. The shadow titan had been an easy target due to its size, and as a shadow affinity monster out during the daytime, its defenses were considerably weaker for its cultivation level. Meanwhile, this spider seemed impossible to stop. All Vincent could do was burn his gravity Qi to lock it in place for a while, but that wasn't a permanent solution.

I have no idea who this Ashfallen Sect is, but they are too dangerous to fight head-on for now. I need to reach Monarch Realm, and then nothing in this layer of creation can stop me, not even this divine spider. Vincent's eyes flickered to the horizon. All I need is to absorb the Crestfallen bloodline. With access to their ancestral knowledge, I can comprehend the laws of all three of my affinities, form my Inner World, and become unstoppable.

Devouring Stella Crestfallen's bloodline was all he cared about now. He had been unsure if she had awakened the truly ancient variant of her bloodline that gave her access to the knowledge of the Crestfallen family until he provoked her enough earlier while posing as Demetrios Skyrend. Once Stella declared her full name, the overwhelming presence of her bloodline had almost broken his blood clone apart.

That was when he knew without a doubt that she possessed the absolute pinnacle of bloodlines. The one that rules over all others. Descendants of the Crestfallen family were already rare enough, but unless they awakened the ancient variant, their bloodline provided nothing but the ability to focus and learn quickly. While useful, it was nothing compared to the version Stella had.

Vincent had tried to replace the demoness standing beside Stella with a clone to capture her, but while he had been setting his trap, Stella had unexpectedly turned and stabbed him.

I still don't know how she noticed. Maybe the leader of the Ashfallen Sect informed her with telepathy? Vincent squinted at the remaining Nascent Soul Realm shadow Ent, which the Ashfallen Sect's leader was now using as a proxy. Right now, he would lose a fight to it as his capabilities were considerably reduced when fighting through a blood clone, and the array under the city would need days to recharge.

Vincent cleared his throat and addressed the strange skeleton made from bamboo. "First of all, we should forgive each other's transgressions. While I did destroy your shadow titan to prove a point, you killed many of my Elders. It would be improper for us to start off an alliance with grudges. What do you say?"

He didn't believe for one second that the shadow titan had been a weaker servant. Even for a Divine level sect, anything in the Nascent Soul Realm was a considerable asset. It hadn't acted like a sentient monster. Instead, it seemed like a created being similar to a golem some earth cultivators use to fight. Such a creation had likely been incredibly costly to make. More expensive than the entire Blood Lotus Sect could afford. If not for the fact there was a second one, he could be convinced it was one of a kind.

In comparison, the death of my family members is inconsequential. I cannot afford to enrage this Ashfallen Sect for now. What I need is to buy time. While under their protection from the Celestial Order and the beast tides, I will find Stella Crestfallen, bathe in her blood, and ascend to heights unseen.

For too long, he had been trying to advance all three of his affinities to the level of Monarch Realm, but the path before him without the help of the Crestfallen ancestral knowledge was looking slimmer with every passing year. Getting useful information on obtaining laws in an affinity was terribly difficult. All he could find was texts saying to contemplate heaven's whispers for centuries. But he didn't have centuries to spare anymore. Enemies, new and old, were breathing down his neck, and he wasn't getting any stronger.

"I can agree to that," A hundred voices overlaid reverberated out of the shadowy skeleton. Vincent felt the words buzz against his mental defenses as if trying to worm their way in, but he resisted by weakening his link to the blood clone. There was no way he was letting anyone get a look inside his head.

"Great. I'll release the spider," Vincent didn't want to admit it, but the spider had devoured his gravity Qi, and he was moments away from losing his grip on it. His Elders, who were still cowering on the rooftop, yelped as the ashen spider lurched forward and engulfed them.

Vincent raised a brow as the silver cloud expanded in size and dispersed to reveal an empty rooftop beside blood stains on the tiles. "Do we not have an alliance?"

"I simply agreed to forgive past transgressions." The skeleton laughed, "Besides, I promised my divine pet a feast. Wouldn't it be unfair to deny him such a delicious meal? Don't you agree?"

Vincent ground his blood clone's fake teeth. He had never experienced such humiliation in all his life. How arrogant could this Ashfallen Sect be to refer to his family members as a delicious meal and devour them when he is standing right here?

Once I reach Monarch Realm, I'm going to find this bastard and skin him alive right after slaughtering nine generations of his bloodline.

"That would be quite unfair," Vincent agreed with a strained smile. "Now that your pet has had his fill, what do you think about halting the bloodshed?"

He turned to the spider and conjured more fake shadow tendrils. Draining all the Qi left inside the blood clone, he unleashed an onslaught of blood tendrils disguised as shadows upon the spider. To his surprise, the spider actually struggled to maintain its size as his tendrils knocked out a large chunk of it.

Why didn't it grow in size like it had when devouring the blood techniques from my Elders? Vincent wondered. He had actually damaged it... if he had more Qi to work with, maybe he could even kill it. Was it because I layered my affinities, and it couldn't decay my attacks fast enough?

Vincent's mind wandered as the spider recovered its general shape and charged at him. He didn't even have the strength left in the blood clone to raise his hand, and he experienced being decayed alive. His world went dark as his connection to the blood clone was cut.

***

"I really need to get ahold of the Echoheart bloodline again," Vincent groaned as he sat up from his bloody coffin and felt his consciousness spread through this new clone. "Tsk, I can feel my control over my blood clones weakening with each one that gets destroyed by the Ashfallen Sect."

Not only were the bloodlines he absorbed inferior versions, but they also weakened over time like an unused muscle if he didn't keep absorbing the bloodline. This is why he founded the Blood Lotus Sect, the largest bloodline farm on the 9th layer of creation.

"But it's all falling apart," Vincent climbed out of the coffin with a deep frown. "I seem to have lost control of too many families while focusing on advancing my cultivation as much as possible before wasting months relocating."

Vincent looked at the ceiling and pulled on his recently acquired Starweaver bloodline. Using it took a lot out of him and corrupted the bloodline quickly. I estimate I can call upon the threads of fate only three more times before I need to bathe in the blood of a starweaver again. Who was next on my list? Celeste, right?

His eyes glowed gold, and the bare stone ceiling was replaced with a sea of stars. Hints at innumerable futures flowed into his mind as he was strung along the threads of fate. He wasn't sure how clear or coherent these futures were to those with the ancient bloodline, but his inferior version proved quite useful.

"Let's see... tell me threads of fate, where should I go from here."

Every thread of fate he followed seemed to lead to the same result. Over and over, every thread was cut short, meaning he died. He didn't know how exactly he died, just that almost every choice he could make from here ended in his demise. The only decision that seemed to give him a glimmer of hope was running for the hills as fast as he could to the Celestial Empire.

"What if I manage to absorb Stella Crestallen's bloodline—oh." Vincent winced as he went down that thread. It was by far the longest, as he lived long enough to reach the peak of power. But it resulted in far more than his death. While the other threads of fate would keep going despite the lack of his presence in them, this one was different. He got a vision that the divine being that would devour him would go on to destroy the nine realms as well.

"The collapse of the nine realms? What does that have to do with Stella?"

Vincent was perplexed. These visions didn't make sense. Before today, he had used this power, and his future had seemed more optimistic. All that had changed was the arrival of the Ashfallen Sect, and now he was doomed to die?

"What about right now?" He latched onto the shortest thread and was surprised to get a vivid vision of him dying in the corridor to a vague darkness. Dismissing the bloodline, his eyes returned to normal, and he supported himself on the coffin's edge as his head pounded. If he was to believe the threads of fate, he was destined to die.

"Nonsense, I'm a man-made god." Vincent straightened his back and got control of himself. "Let's see if these threads of fate tell the truth. If I open this door, I should die."

Opening the door slowly, he couldn't feel the presence of anything with his spiritual senses. "Maybe the inferior version isn't totally accurate?" Vincent mused as he stepped into the corridor. "Perhaps they are possible timelines rather than guarantees—" Vincent coughed blood. Confused, he slowly looked down and saw four claws wreathed in void Qi impaling his chest. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a headless abomination. It ripped out its arms and swiftly tore him apart a second later, once again cutting his connection to another blood clone.

As his world went dark once again, all he could think of was the Ashfallen Sect's leader declaring that he would be hunted to the end of the realm. If all paths lead to death, then he would pick the one that gave him the longest chance at life.

To hell with the nine realms.

He would get his hands on the Crestfallen bloodline if it was the last thing he did.