52: True Blood Nobles

“Buzz......”

Li Ke pressed his fingertip on the core of the giant black tree.

The Secret Art of Soul Searching operated at full power!

The complex and chaotic memories of the Ironwood Old Family Head from before his death,

Li Ke a bursting dam, surged into Li Ke's Sea of Consciousness.

Distorted scenes flashed through his mind.

Fragmented whispers echoed in his ears.

The countless pieces of information, knowledge, and Legacy from the Ironwood Family's nearly seven-hundred-year Legacy,

transformed into shattered fragments, which he quickly browsed, reviewed, and absorbed...

Through these memories,

Li Ke truly understood for the first time,

that among the so-called Bloodline Nobles, there were also distinctions between pure Bloodline and mixed Bloodline.

The Varnes Family and Henry Family he had previously annihilated,

and even most of the vassal nobles under the Oak Earl,

were merely “mixed-Bloodline” individuals with impure Bloodlines and low power.

Their Bloodlines were impure, their potential was low, making it difficult for them to advance to higher Realms,

and the Bloodline power they could exert was very limited, unable to truly display the power of the Bloodline Knight Legacy.

In the Oak Tree Territory, those truly standing at the pinnacle of power,

had always been the pure Bloodline nobles with pure Bloodlines and powerful strength.

They were also known as True Blood Nobles.

Many of these powerful True Blood Nobles were ancient Families with Legacies spanning over a thousand years.

The most powerful among them, naturally, was the Oak Family, the nominal Dominator of the Oak Tree Territory.

Besides them, there were several other ancient Families with thousand-year Legacies whose strength was not to be underestimated.

For example, the Claus Family to the north of Ironwood Fortress, and the Grey Rock Family to the east, were both true True Blood Nobles.

Because the Holy Radiance Empire's noble title system only divided into three ranks:

Duke, Earl, and Baron.

So some long-standing True Blood Families might nominally hold the title of Baron,

but their strength, compared to ordinary mixed-Bloodline nobles, was vastly different.

“Bloodline Disease...”

As Li Ke sorted through the memory fragments,

his gaze slightly narrowed.

He learned about a strange illness, the “Bloodline Disease,” from the Ironwood Old Family Head's memories.

No one knew when it began,

but all long-standing True Blood Nobles had strangely fallen into the predicament of “Bloodline Disease.”

Once their Realm advanced to a certain level,

they would gradually exhibit symptoms of mental derangement, even complete madness,

as if some incurable contamination lurked deep within their Bloodline.

This strange illness caused the Bloodline Noble forces, once the Dominator of the world,

to gradually dwindle over the past few hundred years.

Their influence over the secular world was gradually completely overshadowed by the Three Great Holy Sees.

Now, in the Holy Radiance Empire,

the Bloodline Nobles who could still retain high-level Clairvoyance power,

were those Families whose Bloodline Legacies inherently possessed extremely high mental resistance.

For example, Prince Augustus,

what he inherited was the ancient Black Dragon Bloodline,

known for its mental fortitude and powerful Physical Body.

......

The main hall was in a mess.

Hatties's figure walked in from outside,

his dark red tight-fitting suit stained with a lot of dust and blood.

“Master, the inside of the fortress has been completely cleared.”

He bowed slightly, his voice low.

“However, that young Clairvoyance of the Ironwood Family escaped through the pre-arranged secret passage. This subordinate is incompetent and failed to track him.”

Li Ke slowly came back to his senses.

He waved his hand, indicating not to worry.

If it were before, he might still be a bit worried,

after all, methods Li Ke zombies and paper figures, once exposed, might attract unnecessary trouble.

But after the Ironwood Old Family Head's knowledge supplementation,

he then realized,

that the Bloodline abilities of True Blood Nobles were inherently diverse and varied in form,

some even very sinister.

Many nobles would often trade with demons and devils,

what nobles truly cared about was always the continuation of their Bloodline and the Family's interests,

they did not care about the source or form of power.

As for the Radiant Light Holy Court,

they were more concerned with the spread of faith and the collection of tributes,

as long as their core interests were not touched, and the Holy See's authority was not openly provoked,

they were happy to see infighting and annexation among nobles.

Only forces Li Ke the Holy Meal Society and the Shadow Council,

who openly opposed the Holy See, would attract the Holy See's crackdown.

......

Next, Li Ke used the same trick again,

using the strange human organs obtained from the Henry Manor's underground vault as evidence,

he loudly announced to the public,

that the Ironwood Family had secretly colluded with evil forces and had been purged by Charles Manor!

Then, he naturally annexed all of the Ironwood Family's territories, mines,

and their vast wealth accumulated over several centuries.

With the complete demise of the Ironwood Family,

the territories of the Belford South Family, Harman Family, and Punk Family, which had originally been annexed by them,

all came under the name of the Charles Family.

At this point, all areas around Xilin Town had fallen under Li Ke's control.

Xilin Town, this important commercial town,

was surrounded by the Charles Family's territory.

According to the Oak Tree Territory's feudal rules,

the Charles Family had automatically obtained the lordship of Xilin Town,

becoming a true Dominator of the region.

......

The news of the Ironwood Family's complete annihilation,

quickly spread throughout the entire Oak Tree Territory.

causing an uproar in the Oak Tree Territory's noble circles.

No one expected that a rumored weakest rural minor noble,

could actually swallow the long-standing and strongest Ironwood Family in the region,

and become the ultimate winner.

Several True Blood Noble Families in the Oak Tree Territory were even more incredulous about this,

how could a mixed-Bloodline individual who gained his fief through military merit defeat the pure-Bloodline Ironwood Family?

Logically speaking, the Ironwood Family's Bloodline had decent mental resistance, and should have retained considerable Bloodline power...

For a time, various speculations and rumors grew wildly Li Ke weeds,

and countless wary and curious gazes turned towards Charles Manor.

However, Charles Manor surprisingly fell silent,

apart from routine asset management,

there were no other external activities.

......

As night deepened,

Charles Manor was brightly lit.

Li Ke sat quietly in the study, calming his Qi and focusing his mind.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes,

feeling that his state had been adjusted to the best.

“The time has come...”

Li Ke's mind stirred,

the Spirit boy and girl silently climbed in through the window, guarding him,

the severely damaged Spirit Boy had already been repaired by him,

but its spirituality inevitably suffered some damage and needed some time to slowly recover.

Behind the castle,

Thorne, Garrick, and the Ironwood Old Family Head's massive tree body,

the three Clairvoyance corpses, were all quietly placed outside the Soul Summoning Forest.

The shadows on the ground writhed, slowly dragging them into the darkness,

followed by a grating gnawing sound.

Three powerful Bloodline Knights, one of whom was even a Silver-tier True Blood Noble...

The life essence and Clairvoyance characteristics they had accumulated throughout their lives,

under the Bronze Armor Corpse's refinement, transformed into an unprecedentedly pure Corpse Qi Origin, continuously flowing into Li Ke's body.

Li Ke sat cross-legged,

black Devilish Qi rising in wisps from his body,

the Demon Summoning Scripture twisted, transformed, and devoured at an unprecedented speed...

A vast and pure energy, Li Ke a surging river breaking its banks, rushed through his body, washing over every inch of his flesh and bones.

In his Dantian Qi Sea,

the nine perfectly round and full, almost solidified black Devilish Qi droplets,

finally reached the critical point of complete Fusion into one, undergoing a qualitative transformation.

A black Spirit Pool had already revealed its faint outline...