I Awakened The Ancient Vampire System

Yichen exploded from the dust.

His partial dragon transformation had intensified beyond anything the tournament had seen from him before. His golden eyes were slitted pupils burning with killing intent.

"ROOOAAAR—"

He charged directly at Lucian.

Lucian moved.

Light Steps. Flicker. The grass beneath him barely bent under his feet. Yichen’s clawed fist swung through the space where Lucian had been standing, tearing through a tree trunk like paper.

Crack.

The tree toppled. Timberrrrr. It crashed into a lake, sending water spraying in every direction.

Lucian reappeared twenty meters to the left. His crimson eyes tracked Yichen’s movements with Primordial Sight, every muscle twitch, every shift of weight, every change in breathing pattern. He was reading Yichen’s attack patterns before Yichen himself knew he was going to attack.

Yichen swung again. Lucian ducked. Whoosh. Clawed fingers tore the air where his head had been.

Whoosh. Another swing. Lucian sidestepped. Whoosh. Whoosh. A flurry of clawed strikes that destroyed everything they touched. Trees exploded. Rocks shattered. The grass around them was being reduced to mulch.

Lucian weaved through it all with Light Steps, his body flickering like a broken hologram.

His physical stats rival mine. Maybe even exceed mine slightly in raw strength. But he’s predictable. Every attack follows the same pattern — right claw, left claw, overhead strike. I’ve mapped all twelve patterns in under thirty seconds.

Yichen roared and activated his bloodline to the maximum. Flames erupted from his scales. The air around him shimmered with heat so intense that the lake nearby began to steam.

He charged a punch, the flames around his fist igniting the air itself. The punch aimed at Lucian’s head.

Lucian dodged.

The fist hit the massive rock formation behind him.

BOOOOOM.

The explosion was devastating. The rock formation vaporized. A mushroom cloud of fire and dust rose into the sky. The crowd gasped. Screens flickered as safety barriers activated to protect the closest spectators.

Lucian stood fifty meters away, hair blowing in the shockwave, his crimson eyes unblinking.

As expected of a Heaven Grade bloodline. It’s simply wonderful. But unfortunately, he’s still not my match.

He made eye contact.

Yichen was still charging, flames wreathing around his body, eyes locked onto Lucian with pure hatred.

Lucian murmured a spell. "Mind Spike."

Yichen dropped to one knee in mid-charge. His hands went to his head. A spike of pure mana drove directly into his consciousness.

"Aaaaghhh—"

Pain. Disorientation. His dragon transformation flickered, scales receding partially as his concentration broke.

Lucian appeared in front of the kneeling Yichen using Light Steps.

He kicked him hard in the ribs.

CRACK.

Yichen flew into the air — a streak of flame and scales spiraling through the evening sky. Blood misted from his mouth.

Lucian launched himself upward. He caught up to Yichen at the apex of his flight. The dragon-blooded fighter was still stunned, eyes unfocused, body tumbling end over end.

Lucian placed his palm against Yichen’s chest and fired a point-blank Light Bolt.

PEW.

The bolt hit Yichen in the sternum. The kinetic force launched him downward like a missile.

BOOOOM.

Yichen crashed into the ground. The earth caved in. A massive dust cloud rose around the crater, expanding outward, swallowing trees and rocks.

Lucian dropped near the crater on his feet, landing silently in the dust.

From across the battlefield, a scream cut through the chaos.

Liang Feng shouted, her voice echoing across the terrain. "Yichen!"

She abandoned her position near the crystal and sprinted toward the crater. Earth shifted beneath her feet as she ran — walls rising and falling, reshaping the terrain to slow Mickey’s pursuit.

Mickey appeared in front of her with a fire-augmented kick.

Crack.

Liang crossed her arms. "Earth Cube."

An earth cube formed around her body — dense, compressed stone closing around her like a coffin. The fire kick hit the cube and shattered the outer layer, but the inner layers held. The cube itself flew through the air with Liang inside, carrying her toward Mickey’s position.

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "You really should focus more on yourself. It seems you have quite the intimate relationship with the lizard."

He raised both hands and fired lightning bolts at the crystal behind the cube’s trajectory. Pew. Pew. Pew.

Liu Jiang raised her free hand. Barrier after barrier materialized around the crystal — shimmering golden shields layered three thick. The lightning bolts hit the shields and dissipated harmlessly.

Mickey lowered his hands as he looked at Liu Jiang. "Well. You’re an annoying one."

Liang Feng emerged from her broken cube, earth reforming around her body like living armor. She raised both hands and launched earth spears — whoosh, whoosh, whoosh — a barrage of stone spikes that screamed toward Mickey.

Mickey met them with fire and lightning.

Crack. Bam. Boom. Sizzle.

Fire and lightning clashed with stone. The spears shattered. Dust and debris filled the air.

They clashed across the ruined terrain, exchanging blows at extreme speed — Mickey’s fire and lightning against Liang’s earth and stone. Fire melted stone. Stone crushed fire. Lightning cracked earth. Neither gave ground.

From the dust cloud where Yichen had fallen, a massive dragon fire blast shot toward Lucian.

WHOOSH.

The blast was enormous — a cone of white-hot flame that vaporized everything in its path. Trees became ash. The ground turned to glass. The air itself ignited. The temperature in a fifty-meter radius hit eight hundred degrees.

Lucian raised both hands. "Solar Flare."

A sphere of concentrated light erupted from his palms, expanding outward to meet the dragon fire. Light against fire.

CRACKLE. HISSSS. CRACKLE.

The two forces collided. The Solar Flare held for four seconds before the dragon fire broke through.

Lucian activated Crimson Vessel at the last second.

A crimson sheen spread across his skin. His blood circulated at extreme pressure. His body refused to burn. The dragon fire washed over him.

The fire faded.

Lucian stood in a circle of scorched earth, steam rising around him. His clothes were gone. His skin was red. His regeneration disguised itself as blood manipulation — the superficial burns healing before anyone could see them. His expression was calm.

Yichen walked out of the dust. He was injured — scales cracked, blood running from his mouth, one arm hanging.

Lucian smirked. "You’re one tough bastard, aren’t you?"

Yichen spat blood. "Was that all?"

He charged.

Lucian raised his hand. "Blood Needle Rain."

Hundreds of crimson needles materialized in the air and rained down on Yichen. The needles were thin — designed for speed, not power. Against a dragon-blooded body with Heaven Grade durability, they could only leave light scratches.

But that wasn’t the point.

The needles that missed Yichen and hit the ground sank into the earth. The blood from those needles moved. It slithered through the soil like living things.

Yichen took three steps forward.

The blood from the needles and Yichen’s own blood turned into chains. Thick, crimson chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around Yichen’s ankles, his knees, his waist, his chest. They pulled tight.

Yichen looked down. His golden eyes went wide.

"No," Lucian said quietly, standing in the scorched earth, steam rising around him, his naked body barely visible through the haze. "That’s not all."