Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1428 Inheritor of the Imperial Bloodline!
Previously on Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100...
Her tone softened just a touch, as though she were sharing an ancient tale inherited across countless eras.
"It's incredibly scarce, so much so that in many lineages, nobody even detects its presence. Solely women from our family have shown any link to it, and even those bonds tend to be weak. Ages might elapse before a pure heir emerges whose essence can genuinely harmonize with the Imperial Bloodline. Individuals selected by it aren't just gifted. They receive recognition from the essence itself, woven deep into our forefathers' lineage."
Max took in every syllable without a word, letting it sink in.
Lucia went on, "Selection by the Imperial Bloodline goes beyond merely boosting cultivation pace. It bestows a natural command over dragon essence. The dark fires of someone like that burn cleaner and fiercer. Their presence exerts a force that impacts fellow Black Dragon Clan members too. Legends claim that upon full awakening of an Imperial Bloodline, lesser lines naturally sense awe, like confronting the rightful successor to the ancient dragon."
Her gaze shimmered softly while she continued, "The Imperial Bloodline links directly to the soul essence of our family. Certain elders suspect it holds pieces of old dragon recollections, even if proof remains elusive. One undeniable fact stands: whenever a bearer of the Imperial Bloodline has surfaced through the ages, the Black Dragon Clan has surged into a prosperous age of growth and supremacy."
Max's mind weighed down with the implications.
Should Isabella hold the Imperial Bloodline, the craving he sensed before wasn't aimed at basic blood purity. It targeted the ultimate pinnacle in the Black Dragon heritage. This suggested his own lineage had detected a superior essence.
A proud edge colored Lucia's smile this time.
"Isabella Lumin's selection by the Imperial Bloodline marked the greatest astonishment and joy our family had known in hundreds of years. Several years back, once the elders verified the harmony, the whole Black Dragon Palace threw a lavish feast. Emissaries from the Thirty Six Halls assembled. Even our allies extended their greetings. Everyone saw it as heaven's signal that fortune now favored us."
She fixed her eyes on Max directly.
"So, do you grasp the worth of a Saintess now?"
Max paused in quiet for just an instant.
The Saintess wasn't simply a formidable cultivator. She embodied the living carrier of the Imperial Bloodline, an emblem of heritage approval, a guiding light for the family's destiny.
And his lineage's thirst for hers pointed to just one truth.
Whatever coursed through his own veins remained unfinished.
'Imperial Bloodline.' Max echoed the phrase quietly to himself, letting it land with sharp insight instead of raw feeling. 'The root of that thirst in my lineage traces back to the Imperial Bloodline.'
This insight didn't stir him as it could have earlier. Rather, it honed his mind, transforming gut reaction into careful reasoning.
He brought to mind the lesson Lady Virelila had shared about the tiers in the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline. As she described, the majority of pure heirs bore what was called the Source Bloodline.
That heritage was broadly seen as the mightiest baseline in the family, the cleanest offshoot preserving the core of the founding dragon unchanged. Those who roused the Source Bloodline were already deemed blessed far beyond the norm, and seniors frequently viewed them as the coming supports of their various halls.
But Lady Virelila had pointed out more.
Surpassing the Source Bloodline loomed the Imperial Bloodline.
Still, due to its utter scarcity and the slim odds of seeing it in one lifetime, the Imperial Bloodline got dismissed as myth more than real rank.
In the end, the family came to regard the Source Bloodline as the summit, not from it being the absolute top, but because the Imperial Bloodline stayed too remote, too infrequent to measure against.
Here, beneath this enormous vault, Max sensed the twist in that reality.
He recalled vividly the moment Lady Virelila probed his lineage. Her face hadn't shown mere shock. It held bewilderment. She explained his bloodline fit no familiar mold in the Black Dragon Clan. It matched neither Source nor Imperial. It lacked the usual harmony signs tied to accepted lines.
It was different entirely.
Due to that oddity, she made him ingest the core of a founder-tier lineage to steady and conceal its peculiarity. Such a step wasn't taken casually. It aimed to shield his bloodline from too much elder attention, where interest might swiftly shift to doubt.
Max's eyes wandered toward Isabella for a second before snapping back.
'My bloodline doesn't shrink from the Imperial Bloodline,' he mused. 'It boldly craved it.'
A fine line separated dread from longing. When lineages clashed, the lesser usually endured restraint or respect. But what struck him wasn't restraint. It was assault. A savage urge to consume.
If the Imperial Bloodline indeed topped the Source Bloodline, and his own dared to yearn for it instead of yielding, what did that suggest?
'Could that place my bloodline above the Imperial Bloodline's tier?'
That notion sparked a subtle spark in his gaze.
Yet a fresh query arose right after.
'If it surpasses the Imperial Bloodline for real, why the fierce craving? Full strength doesn't chase wholeness. Only the deficient hungers to mend its gap.'
With that idea rising, Max's thoughts calmed.
His bloodline wasn't lesser, yet it stayed partial.
It wasn't driven by terror, nor just by supremacy. It pursued what it missed. The Imperial Bloodline, with its polished clarity and straight tie to the primal root, probably held a piece or trait his own needed.
Not for conquest.
But for fulfillment.
A serene grasp filled him.
Only through merging the Imperial Bloodline's essence could his lineage attain its genuine form.
That finding didn't spur him to rush. It kindled a profound spark.
'So I've still got untapped powers in my bloodline to unlock.'
His eyes glowed softly as the truth embedded. The craving shifted from wild drive to hint. To signal that his inner might hadn't hit its ultimate shape.
Should his bloodline prove a singular force outside known ranks, the road forward dwarfed his first visions.
And maybe, along that road, waited the spark to rouse what had slumbered within him forever.