Chapter Forty-Two: Changes Among the Bloodline

Chapter 42: Changes Among the Blood Clan

Naturally, Xia Zheng longed for this powerful force. With it, he could realize some of his ideals. Yet, he also understood that nothing in this world came for free. If one desired such power, there would inevitably be a price to pay.

“I want it, but I’ll obtain it myself, not through charity,” Xia Zheng replied coldly. The man before him was unfathomable, claiming to have come specifically to meet him—he dared not offend him too deeply.

The man paused, then smiled. “Indeed, you are a promising talent. The fools at the military headquarters must be blind.”

“The military?” Xia Zheng immediately caught on and asked, “Are you with the military as well?”

“That’s right. When Song Xinghui failed to recruit you, you entered the upper echelon’s sights. Even the Marshal now knows your name.” The man put away his fishing rod, stuffing it into a leather bag on the ice. As for the slain monstrous fish, he ignored it entirely, as if it weren’t worth his attention.

Hearing the man mention General Song Xinghui in such a familiar tone, Xia Zheng was shocked. To refer to a Federation general so casually, and with such unfathomable strength, this man’s identity was truly impossible to gauge.

“Thank you for your regard, sir.” Xia Zheng said little else. The friction between himself and the military stemmed from Captain Dias and certain experts’ prejudices, escalating into a personal vendetta that could never be resolved. He would never forget the look in Captain Dias’s eyes that day—mortal enemies, with no possibility of reconciliation.

The man sighed, then patted Xia Zheng’s shoulder. “I’m not here as an envoy of the military, so don’t worry. You’ve come here this time to visit the Nalan family, haven’t you?”

“That’s right,” Xia Zheng admitted readily.

“Old Nalan has a keen eye, finding a son-in-law like you…” The man lifted his bag of fishing gear, made a phone call—seemingly summoning someone to pick him up.

Xia Zheng forced a smile, feeling he’d already broken his own resolve and was perhaps unworthy of Nalan Sheng. He considered using this opportunity to clarify things.

Before long, a military helicopter roared overhead. Just before boarding, the man asked him meaningfully, “Xia Zheng, what do you think fate is?”

“Fate?” Xia Zheng pondered, then replied, “Unfathomable. At least most of the time, we are subject to its whims.”

“If one day fate forces you down a path you do not wish to take, what will you do?” the man pressed, his eyes growing sharp.

Xia Zheng considered, then said, “Stay true to myself, and hold to my bottom line.”

“Good. You are a man of principle. I hope you can truly keep to it in the future.” The man asked nothing more. The helicopter hovered above, dropping a rope. He grasped it and ascended, quickly vanishing from sight.

Recalling the man’s questions left Xia Zheng unsettled. What was his true purpose in seeking him out? Xia Zheng could not fathom it.

Approaching the corpse of the monstrous fish that the man had slain with a single blow, he cut more materials from it and stuffed them into his backpack. These things, once sold at the hunter’s shop, would fetch no less than a million federal dollars. The words of the MIX Corporation’s vice president now seemed well-founded—an ability user could earn money, especially as their rank rose, far faster than even top professionals.

He continued along the Black Ice Lake, and after a day’s journey, finally saw a town, bidding farewell at last to the desolate, snowy wilderness.

By now his phone signal was restored. He first called Lina, Kevin, and the others, informing them of his status. Tu Xingxing had already recovered, though still healing from injury, and expressed her heartfelt gratitude over the phone.

Since Xia Zheng planned to stay in Ice Lake City for a few days, he had Tu Xingxing and the others go ahead to Portland to seek out the Skyblade Squad assessment.

He then tried to call Chu Yan but couldn’t get through. It was only after reaching Clare that he learned Chu Yan had taken most of the squad’s elites on a high-level mission to the south.

Rumor had it that there was unrest near Evernight City. Under Federation orders, ability user squads and military forces were headed south to prevent the blood clan from causing trouble.

“I must improve my strength as soon as possible.” The thought of battling the blood clan head-on sent Xia Zheng’s blood surging with excitement.

At that moment, he received a call from Nalan Sheng.

“Brother… it’s been half a month already. When will you come to see me?” Nalan Sheng’s voice was lazy and sweet.

“Actually… I’m already near Black Ice Lake,” Xia Zheng replied, and immediately heard her jubilant cheer on the other end.

He was in a small town about twenty kilometers from Ice Lake City, called “Ice Soul Town,” mostly populated by ability users, with few ordinary people.

Nalan Sheng insisted on driving over to pick him up, and Xia Zheng, unable to refuse, agreed to wait.

After the call, he visited the hunter’s shop and sold all the high-grade blood beast materials from his backpack. The profit was substantial, totaling 1.3 million federal dollars. Yet, compared to his initial excitement, he now cared much less for money.

Additionally, after completing his mission, he smoothly advanced to C-rank. In nearly four months, he’d risen from an E-rank novice to a C-rank ability user—a meteoric ascent that had already made him somewhat famous within the Alliance.

He then found a restaurant in town to wait, figuring Nalan Sheng would arrive within an hour—just enough time for a proper meal.

Checking the news on his phone, he saw that trouble had indeed erupted in the Federation’s south.

The Evernight Outpost had been struck by a massive blood clan assault, suffering catastrophic losses—over ten thousand casualties. Of these, more than three thousand were military personnel, and over seven thousand were ordinary ability users. The majority were B-rank, numbering over nine thousand, with more than a hundred A-rank, several dozen A+, and even two S-rank, first-tier ability users killed. The news even provided extended reading, explaining the classification of high-level ability users.

Below S-rank, ability users were simply divided into regular and elite levels: C and C+, B and B+, A and A+. But at S-rank, they were tiered from 1 to 9. Above that was SS-rank, also 1 to 9, and at the peak, SSS-rank, ranging from 1 to 3. Only the military’s top generals and the sole Federation Marshal had reached this level, equivalent to the emperor-level elites of the blood clan.

The S-rank ability users lost at the Evernight Outpost were all first-tier; losing even one was a heavy blow to humanity’s forces.

Moreover, the blood clan had not even sent their emperor-level members in the attack, yet inflicted such devastating losses. It was said that the President was furious, gathering more ability user forces for a counterattack on the blood clan.

Some reports went even deeper, drawing intelligence from the incident. One piece revealed that, among Evernight City’s twenty million residents, the number of humans who had defected to the blood clan had reached a shocking proportion—conservatively estimated at over 50%, numbering in the tens of millions.

At least ten percent of these defectors had become new members of the blood clan, and their strength was considerable. After all, those recognized by the blood clan were mostly from prominent families or human elite circles. Thus, the blood clan had expanded from their original ten thousand to perhaps a million or several million, placing the Federation in an extremely passive position.

Since these new blood clan members were familiar with the Federation’s military tactics, their impact was severe. This was why the outpost suffered such a crippling blow.

Other news further analyzed the Federation’s defeat, all pointing to one conclusion: the blood clan was no longer a pure blood clan, but one that had assimilated humanity. The pact between the blood clan and the Federation might break at any moment.

Just then, Nalan Sheng called again, her excited voice telling Xia Zheng that her car was already outside the hunter’s shop in Ice Soul Town.

Xia Zheng quickly finished his meal, paid the bill, and headed for the shop.

Sure enough, a sleek black luxury car was parked by the entrance, likely worth over four million federal dollars. Though the Nalan family was now only a branch, they remained extremely wealthy. After about a decade of development, they had fully absorbed the main line’s resources and gained a firm foothold in the northern territories.

A number of ability users milled around the car, speculating about the occupant’s identity. As Xia Zheng approached, many assumed he was just gawking at the luxury car for the first time. But to their astonishment, the car door soon opened and a young woman in white stepped out—beautiful beyond compare, noble and striking. The family name “Nalan” was emblazoned on the back of her robe, immediately revealing the owner.

“Brother, you’ve finally come,” Nalan Sheng said sweetly as she approached. She was noticeably more cheerful than before—though, unknown to Xia Zheng, she was still cold and aloof with others.

He nodded. Though they’d only been apart for half a month, it felt like ages—was this the proverbial “one day apart feels like three autumns”?

“Sorry, I was delayed a few days after being chased by blood beasts,” Xia Zheng explained as he let Nalan Sheng take his arm and got into the car. The driver, a stern-faced man of about thirty, glanced at Xia Zheng in the rearview mirror.

As the car drove off, the surrounding ability users, men and women alike, felt a sense of resignation. How could Xia Zheng, a newly promoted C-rank, possibly win the favor of a Nalan family heiress?

“That young woman looks like Nalan Sheng.”

“What? The future head of the Nalan family?”

“No way. Who is that young man that she took a liking to?”

“I heard he’s someone of note. The Professional Alliance recently announced plans for a live broadcast of the first ability user tournament next year, all because of a match between him and Nalan Sheng.”

“Oh, so that’s it. I’ve heard of that. Both of them are well beyond E-rank, and both are psychics.”

“Psychics? No wonder…”

“And apparently that young man ranked in the Federation’s top fifty in the professional exams.”

“Impressive…”

Speculation swirled among them, sighs and exclamations abounded at fate’s unfairness. Yet none of them knew that Xia Zheng had once nearly been cast into utter ruin.