170: Chapter 170 Dark Moon Wolf

Early in the morning, the chirping of winter birds drifted over, and the rich scent of cooking smoke permeated the territory.

"Master Lister, your hot milk is ready."

"Thank you for your hard work, Thomas."

After drinking the hot milk that Thomas prepared every day, Lister strode to the training ground.

As soon as he stepped onto the training ground, he saw Red and Spartacus sitting cross-legged in separate spots, their eyes tightly closed.

The others consciously kept their distance; although they remained in a meditative state, their gazes drifted toward the two from time to time.

Seeing him arrive, the group prepared to greet him, but he waved his hand to stop them, preventing them from disturbing the two who were immersed in their cultivation.

After observing for a moment, he also went to an open area and took out the vial of Earth Dragon Fish essence potion that Red had given him.

Because the energy factors contained within the blood essence of a magical beast are quite volatile, they are generally mixed with various medicinal resources used for cultivation after extraction to neutralize the energy shock caused by consuming it.

The Earth Dragon Fish essence potion in Lister's hand was Red overall, but it wasn't the dark Red of human blood; rather, it was a bright Red with a purple glow, exuding an alluring beauty.

"I hope for a good result."

With that said, he drank it down in one gulp. The blood essence slid slowly down his throat; the texture was like yogurt, but not viscous, and it carried a faint, bloody taste.

A few breaths later, as the blood essence fully entered his stomach, a powerful, scorching energy instantly spread to every part of his body.

Although it had been neutralized with medicinal herbs, the volatile factors within were still fierce, making him feel as if his entire body was being roasted in a fire.

Before long, his body was scorched bright Red, emitting large amounts of steaming heat, forming a tropical zone around him that the cold air could not penetrate.

Just when he thought he only needed to endure this scorching energy, an intensely cold chill erupted, instantly spreading throughout his body and devouring the previous scorching sensation.

This situation did not last for just a moment; it was continuous, as the cold within his body merged with the already cold weather.

The icy sensation made him feel as if he were in the abyss of hell. His whole body trembled uncontrollably, and he even felt as if his soul were freezing.

The people watching from the side immediately showed expressions of concern upon seeing this, but no one stepped forward to interrupt his cultivation.

They knew that Lister must have entered some kind of cultivation state, rather than something going wrong.

As time ticked by, the cold air radiating from the inside out continued to wash over Lister's body.

He did not cry out, but instead gritted his teeth, doing his utmost to endure the cold.

"Moo~"

At this moment, two extremely oppressive bovine roars rang out, and intimidating Dou Qi Energy surged and impacted the entire training ground.

The gale caused by the shockwave made many of the tents flap violently, as if they were about to be blown away.

Seeing this, the others quickly rushed forward to hold down the tents, preventing them from being blown away by the strong wind.

Fortunately, the strong wind came and went quickly. As it dissipated, the shock of the Dou Qi Energy also slowly faded into the air.

In an instant, except for Lister, everyone's gaze involuntarily turned toward the two figures sitting cross-legged.

"Haha, that feels great!" Spartacus's hearty laughter rang out.

But as soon as he spoke, Sejin's ghost-like figure appeared beside him, interrupting his high spirits.

He had originally wanted to retort—not even letting him be happy—but upon seeing the gesture from Sejin's finger, he obediently shut his mouth.

Not far away, Red, who had also exited his cultivation, had eyes filled with intense excitement and joy, but he did not display the same noisy demeanor as Spartacus.

The next second, everyone's gaze turned once again to the young figure sitting cross-legged not far away.

At this moment, Lister's body was no longer just cold; it was a mix of cold and heat, with the two energies devouring each other, creating a literal world of ice and fire.

After an unknown amount of time, the two energies seemed to realize they couldn't devour each other, so they began to fuse and intersect, gradually forming a vortex of ice and fire.

As the rotation speed of the vortex continued to accelerate, Lister felt an inexplicable force being drawn out within his body.

That power was hidden very deep, like the roots of a thousand-year-old tree, deeply anchored in the soil.

Sensing the stubbornness of this energy, the ice and fire vortex seemed somewhat angry, accelerating its rotation once again, with the posture of "I am going to pull you out."

After an unknown amount of time, that energy finally could not withstand the pulling force of the ice and fire vortex and was completely drawn out.

In an instant, a majestic power spread to every part of Lister's body, as if he had been reborn once again.

Seeing its victory, the ice and fire vortex leaped with joy like a child, then quickly fused with the Dou Qi seed inside his body.

The next second—Awoo—!

A beast roar that sounded like a wolf's howl but was quite different instantly rang through the sky of the training ground and quickly spread throughout the entire territory.

In the Tianping Mountain Range to the southwest and the Blackwood Forest to the northwest, every creature that heard this roar felt a sense of fear that made them want to submit.

This was the intimidation and suppression of a magical beast with a powerful bloodline over creatures with lower bloodlines; it was a feeling from the depths of the soul and blood, leaving no power to resist.

The people in the training ground also felt this sensation, a feeling that made them involuntarily want to submit, even though they had already submitted to Lister.

"Master Lister, you, you succeeded!" Red's usually composed and calm face was now covered in indescribable joy.

Spartacus and the others, who reacted a beat slower, also immediately showed various emotions on their faces: surprise, admiration, reverence, and so on.

They knew that this was not as simple as just the three words "succeeded," but a true bloodline transformation.

At this moment, the bloodline within Lister was no longer the previous magical beast Silver Wolf, but a higher-level magical beast bloodline.

Of course, Lister was the only one who knew exactly what kind of magical beast bloodline it was.

Lister had finished his cultivation, but he did not open his eyes immediately; instead, he was carefully sensing the changes in his body, especially the power of his bloodline.

According to ancient records, every time a bloodline transformation leads to the awakening of ancestral power, one receives a memory inheritance imprinted within the bloodline.

Of course, the inheritance is only about the origin of the bloodline power; there are no memories regarding cultivation, serving as a sort of bonus manual.

Driving his mental power, Lister began to probe the origin of his bloodline. The moment his mental power touched the bloodline, three bright, clear characters appeared.

"Nether Moon Wolf!"

It was a very unfamiliar name; there was no information about this magical beast in his memory.

Although his predecessor was not a great scholar, he had read many rare books, and the books introducing magical beasts had long been worn out from reading.

"Am I truly ignorant, or does the Pedan Kingdom simply have no records of the Nether Moon Wolf?"

Lister was unable to determine this for a moment, so he had to continue probing the memory of the Nether Moon Wolf brought by this bloodline.

There wasn't much information in the memory, but he could clearly understand the general information about the Nether Moon Wolf.

The Nether Moon Wolf, its era of existence is unknown, it adapts to most survival environments, and by nature, it loves darkness the most.

In its adult stage, it is at least a Super-rank magical beast, equivalent to the Great Knight realm, and its upper limit can reach the King-realm magical beast.

Lister did not know how strong this King-realm magical beast was, nor had he heard of it, but he guessed it should be a realm for magical beasts.

Moreover, according to the blurry images in the memory, the Nether Moon Wolf at the King-realm magical beast level is enormous, and one cannot see its full appearance, but its every move seems capable of destroying the heavens and the earth.

He even saw a creature shaped like a giant dragon, as big as a castle, being torn apart alive by it.

"Hiss~"

Lister couldn't help but gasp. With such terrifying strength, even a Great Knight would likely have to leave their life behind to escape.

He didn't expect that the ancestor of his Silver Wolf bloodline would be such a powerful magical beast.

As expected, magical beasts that can survive until now all had wealthy ancestors.

Unfortunately, apart from the simple, brief memories, there was nothing else useful, which made him feel a little disappointed.

However, the next second, after he sensed his current realm, that trace of disappointment in his heart instantly vanished.

"Silver Fifth Rank!"

He had directly leaped two minor ranks, and he was only one step away from breaking through again.

He could have broken through directly to the Silver Sixth Rank, but under his intervention, he forcefully suppressed it.

Because according to the subconscious of the Nether Moon Wolf's bloodline power, it seemed not to want him to break through so quickly.

Although he did not know the specific reason, he thought it might be because it was afraid that if he broke through too quickly, it would lead to an unstable foundation and affect his future.

So in the end, he did not continue to break through, but prepared to polish his skills for a while longer.

After sensing a little more, he slowly opened his eyes.

The people who had kept their distance but had been watching all the time immediately trotted over.

Various heartfelt congratulations and praises rang out in his ears.

When the voices died down, everyone looked at him with anticipation, wanting to hear him show off.

Regarding this, Lister naturally could not dampen their spirits, so he said: "Not bad. By borrowing the power of the Earth Dragon Fish essence, I have successfully activated the power of bloodline atavism within me."

Bloodline atavism is not a secret among all transcendents, so he had nothing to hide.

Moreover, the people who could come with him to the Iron Thorn Territory Branch were all very loyal to him, and telling them this would instead inspire more fighting spirit in them.

As soon as he finished speaking, even though it had already been said through Red's mouth, after receiving confirmation from the master himself, a burst of exclamation inevitably erupted from the crowd once again.

Bloodline atavism is something that all knights who have stepped into the path of knight cultivation dream of.

And that Lister could successfully complete this feat at the age of eighteen, one could not find many in the entire kingdom.

Furthermore, among the kingdom's knights, there has always been a saying: anyone whose own bloodline is not weak and who successfully triggers bloodline atavism through acquired means will have a high probability of becoming a Great Knight in the future.

Not to mention the powerhouses of the Pedan Kingdom in the past, even the current King, Charles Augustus VII, became a Great Knight powerhouse after successfully activating his bloodline atavism.

Of course, the Great Knight is no longer Lister's final destination. After seeing those blurry images in his memory, his gaze has already been set on a farther and higher place.

Since such powerful magical beasts could have existed in this world, or even still exist.

That means the Great Knight is far from the end of knight cultivation, and the same is true for other transcendents; otherwise, how could humanity survive?

As the various exclamations gradually died down, Lister looked at Red and Spartacus and asked: "How were your results?"

Although he already knew that the two had not successfully achieved bloodline atavism, he was not very clear about the other information, so he asked.

Upon hearing this, the two could not help but show expressions of shame, their tones full of self-reproach.

"I'm sorry, Master Lister, we have failed your expectations. We did not successfully activate bloodline atavism and only broke through two minor ranks."

If it were in the past, the others around them would think they were humble-bragging, but now they all felt extremely regretful.

After all, compared to bloodline atavism, breaking through two minor ranks really does not count for much.

Lister was all smiles and comforted them: "You two need not be like this. Bloodline atavism is not that easy to succeed at to begin with, otherwise, wouldn't it be everywhere in the kingdom?"

"Moreover, if it doesn't work once, then try a few more times. The records never said that if it doesn't work the first time, there is no chance in the future; it's just that the probability is reduced."

"When your strength is stronger and your realm is deeper, you can try to activate bloodline atavism again."

At this moment, even if Spartacus's brain was slow, he, like Red, understood the underlying meaning in Lister's words.

That is, after they become stronger, Lister will still provide them with help in activating bloodline atavism.

With that, what else did they have to be depressed about? The sense of loss in their hearts was once again devoured by burning fighting spirit.

Nodding with a smile, Lister immediately looked at Sejin and said: "Sejin, you also need to keep working hard; don't keep the Earth Dragon Fish essence waiting too long."

He hadn't given Sejin the Earth Dragon Fish essence before, not because he was stingy, nor because Sejin's contributions were insufficient.

It was because he felt that Sejin had just advanced to Silver not long ago and still needed to stabilize his realm.

Now, judging from the results of Red and the other, wanting to successfully activate bloodline atavism is clearly not that simple, so there is no need to rush.

"Yes, Sejin will definitely redouble his efforts and strive not to fail your expectations," Sejin said with an excited face.

As a newcomer who followed Lister later, he was always afraid that he would not gain Lister's trust, so he practiced hard every day, completing the tasks assigned by Lister.

Even the bestowal of the Earth Dragon Fish essence this time had made him feel a little disappointed in his heart.

But now, these words from Lister directly dispelled all the self-doubt in his heart; it turned out that the Lord trusted him.

A sense of shame suddenly arose, causing him to begin a profound self-examination.

Lister was naturally unaware of his thoughts; instead, he swept his gaze over the crowd and offered a few words of encouragement, which once again boosted everyone's enthusiasm.