10: Emperor Blood Awakening

“Old Ancestor…?” Tantai Qinghuang’s eyes were filled with surprise and confusion. The voice was as clear and cold as clashing jade, yet carried an undeniable authority.

She instantly snapped back to her senses — how extraordinary and transcendent was the Old Ancestor? He must have sensed her imminent death and was using a secret technique to save her.

The young girl’s shoulders trembled slightly, her pearly teeth gently bit her lower lip, and a complex blush spread across her face. In both her past and present lives, she had always been an innocent maiden, and now, having to undress in front of the “Old Ancestor” was utterly mortifying.

But the Soul-Devouring Black Flames had already spread to the core of her Sea of Consciousness; every inch of her soul felt like it was being thrown into a furnace and scorched. In her previous life, she had the protection of a Holy Land and her cultivation base to rely on, allowing her to resist. In this life, if she missed this opportunity, not only would her bloodline awakening fail, but she would also lose her life here.

After a moment of struggle, the young girl slowly raised her hand, her slender fingers hooking onto her soaked collar. As her arm gently lowered, her remaining clothes slipped off like butterfly wings, revealing a back as smooth as congealed fat. Her silver hair fell, obscuring half of her face, but it couldn't hide the blush on her earlobes. Her toes were tensed straight from shame and nervousness.

“The Old Ancestor must be a true gentleman… how could I have such dirty thoughts…” She squeezed her eyes shut, but the chaotic thoughts in her mind refused to dissipate. The black-robed young master in the portrait had a face like cold jade and an unparalleled demeanor, yet at this moment, he made her feel a heart-pounding sense of breaking a taboo.

At the same time, in the real world.

Su Chen, guided by the system, felt his fingertips seemingly cross the barrier of time and space, precisely touching the young girl’s warm skin. A delicate sensation came, but he had no time to spare, focusing entirely on performing the Nine Yang Meridian Opening Art — a faint golden glow rose from his palm, slowly pushing and pressing along the groove of her spine.

Tantai Qinghuang trembled all over, feeling a scorching warm current spread along her spine. Wherever it passed, the Soul-Devouring Black Flames melted like residual snow meeting the scorching sun. But when those hands reached near her tailbone, touching the most sensitive part, she still couldn't help but tense her body.

“Mm… not there…” The young girl let out a faint whimper, instinctively wanting to avoid it, but she was softened and powerless from being soaked in the spirit liquid, only able to let the warm palm wander over her skin.

The palm then moved upwards, along her body. The burning pain of the Soul-Devouring Black Flames gradually dissipated, replaced by an indescribable tingling sensation that flowed through her meridians and spread throughout her entire body.

“Mm-hmm~” The young girl couldn’t help herself.

“How embarrassing…” She bit her lower lip tightly, a burning flush spreading from her neck to her earlobes.

After her family was destroyed in her previous life, her heart was filled only with revenge, and she had never had such intimate contact with the opposite sex. Moreover, the other party was the highly respected “Old Ancestor,” and this sense of taboo made her heart pound wildly, like a drum beating against her chest.

Su Chen’s forehead was dotted with fine sweat. This Nine Yang Meridian Opening Art was extremely subtle, requiring precise control over the rhythm of spiritual energy injection, allowing no room for distraction. He could clearly feel the black flames within the young girl’s body retreating steadily, but they had condensed into a ball of black mist deep within her Sea of Consciousness, clearly the core of the curse.

“Focus and calm your mind, do not be distracted.” Su Chen’s voice, imbued with spiritual energy, entered the young girl’s ears, like a clear spring cleansing her heart.

Tantai Qinghuang took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the chaotic thoughts. When the palm pressed on her Danzhong acupoint, she suddenly felt her Sea of Consciousness violently shake — the black mist actually transformed into a hideous ghostly claw, trying to counterattack with all its might!

“Now!” Su Chen’s eyes narrowed, and the golden glow from his palms intensified. The Nine Yang spiritual energy erupted like a volcano, surging along her meridians directly to the core.

“Ugh!” The young girl let out a muffled groan, her entire body trembling violently, and wisps of black smoke seeped from her seven orifices. As the black smoke touched the golden glow, it made a “sizzling” sound of burning, turning into a pungent burnt smell.

The moment the core of the black flames was completely crushed by the Nine Yang spiritual energy, Tantai Qinghuang felt her soul break free from its shackles, feeling an unprecedented lightness. And the Imperial Blood within her body seemed to respond to the call, beginning to surge wildly, intertwining with the Nine Yang spiritual energy to form a dazzling net of light.

“Bear with it, it will be over soon.” Su Chen said in a deep voice, his fingertips rapidly tapping the major acupoints around the young girl’s body, dispelling the last trace of black flame embers.

As the last acupoint was unblocked, Tantai Qinghuang suddenly felt her Dantian explode — not with pain, but with an endless surge of power!

......

[Ding, treatment successful!]

[You have learned the Nine Yang Meridian Opening Art, proficiency 10%.]

Su Chen had no time to pay attention to the system prompt; instead, he kept staring at Tantai Qinghuang’s panel.

He knew this was the critical moment for the young girl’s breakthrough.

Tantai Qinghuang’s awakening progress bar rose again, slowly climbing from 90% to 99%, but at this point, it seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, unable to advance further.

Su Chen sighed softly, “It’s probably because she used a secret technique to burn her essence blood before. Although the Nine Revolutions Imperial Medicine has miraculous effects, it cannot fully compensate for the lost potential.”

“Never mind, I’ll give you another push.”

As his thoughts moved, a crystal-clear white jade treasure bottle appeared out of thin air. The stopper opened, and milky white liquid slowly dripped from the mouth of the bottle into the bathtub.

This was Su Chen’s other bottle of Congenital Dao Embryo Spirit Liquid.

The moment the liquid drops fell into the bathtub, they emitted a peculiar fragrance, and the liquid in the tub once again boiled like lava.

“Boom!”

In the Taixu Emperor Dragon Boat’s bedroom, the glazed lamp shattered in response. Countless dark purple spatial cracks appeared around the young girl, like pairs of eyes opening in the void, watching the birth of a new legend.

[Awakening successful! Current awakened bloodline concentration 10%.]

The spirit entity Little Girl appeared, treading on ripples of spiritual energy, the silver bells on her bare feet jingling. She clapped excitedly: “It’s spatial talent! Exactly like Emperor Tantai Kong! This momentum is even more astonishing than the most top-tier geniuses in the clan back then!”

“Little Girl, gather all the spiritual energy in the boat!” Su Chen commanded in a deep voice.

“Yes, Master!”

In an instant, the spiritual energy within the Taixu Emperor Dragon Boat converged like a tide, forming a visible vortex in the bedroom. Tantai Qinghuang bathed in the ocean of spiritual energy, feeling her meridians being widened by a gentle yet domineering force, and the spiritual energy in her Dantian began to condense wildly —

Spirit Sea Realm!

Ordinary cultivators entering the Spirit Sea Realm for the first time would have a Linghai only tens of feet wide. But Tantai Qinghuang’s Linghai expanded like a snowball, ten feet, a hundred feet, a thousand feet… finally settling at nine thousand feet! In the magnificent ocean of spiritual energy, even tiny star-like light particles could be seen, an anomaly of Imperial Blood merging with spatial laws.

Su Chen looked at the numbers flashing on the panel and couldn’t help but click his tongue: “This Empress, the investment was certainly not wasted.”

And in the real world, Su Chen felt a vast surge of cultivation feedback rush over him like a tsunami.

“Boom!”

His body floated in mid-air, spiritual energy swirling around him like a storm. The shackles of the Solid Spirit Realm shattered like paper, and the spiritual energy within his body instantly condensed into crystals — he actually broke through to the Solid Spirit Realm by virtue of this feedback!

Overnight, he spanned twenty-seven minor realms and three major realms. Such speed, if word got out, would shake the entire cultivation world of Blue Star.

“The sweat of hard work has finally paid off.” Su Chen stroked his chin, unable to hide his smile.

After an unknown period, the spiritual energy within the Taixu Emperor Dragon Boat gradually subsided. Tantai Qinghuang slowly opened her eyes, golden pupils gleaming with the joy of surviving a catastrophe. A nine-thousand-foot Linghai meant that her future as a Great Empress was promising.

However, what made her even more uneasy was that at the most critical moment of her breakthrough, the Old Ancestor had again unhesitatingly saved her, and even provided a precious Congenital Dao Embryo Spirit Liquid.

“I must cultivate diligently, revitalize the family, and only then can I repay the Old Ancestor’s great kindness.” The young girl clenched her fists, her eyes filled with determination.

But in an instant, she felt a little lost, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the cold jade pendant on her chest, muttering softly: “Why did the Old Ancestor leave without a word… Does he think there’s something wrong with my body…?”