My Core is the Boss

Qi Yuan ignored the stares and walked toward the Blood Jade Wall. He was genuinely curious how much the pill would boost him. According to the others, the stronger one's talent and the deeper one's fortune, the greater the enhancement.

I am so smart, surely the Primordial Seed body's Bloodline Ancestors will hold me in high regard? Maybe they'd even invest a little extra? Or even push me straight to the Martial God of Ten Thousand Paths?

As Qi Yuan made his way to the Blood Jade Wall, the others in the outpost followed. Knowing the mission reward, some had even waited for Qi Yuan and the others to finish so they could exchange for the pill. Clearly, that was no longer on the table.

The cultivation of the martial artists training against the special wall began to stir. When they caught sight of Qi Yuan, they grew alarmed. They could feel his overwhelming tide of blood qi right away. Upon noticing the crowd following close behind him, they quietly stepped away from the wall. Safety first, cultivation second.

Hence, by the time Qi Yuan arrived, the area had been cleared out entirely. He turned and glanced back at the crowd. "Did every single one of you curse me behind my back? Is that why you're keeping your distance?"

The people who had been holding their breath stiffened into a statue.

Thankfully, Lin Yeshan could still muster some words. "No, no, it's not that. We just don't feel worthy to stand beside you!"

The rest chimed in agreement. "Yes! We are too inferior!"

Qi Yuan said in a bored manner, "Honestly, you're all so old-fashioned. These days, it's all about equality."

Most of the people at this outpost hailed from an ancient era. Lin Yeshan himself had been an armed escort in ancient times. [1]Hence, calling them old-fashioned was pretty accurate.

Qi Yuan didn't bother arguing. He stepped forward and faced the Blood Jade Wall, swallowing the Ancestral Return Pill.

Soon, he found that roughly one tenth of his blood was glowing faint red, like fireflies scattered under skin. They were the blood he’d absorbed from the demons. Then, as if a teapot had broken, the red light seeped outward.

"He's already reacting with the Blood Jade Wall? His talent really is extraordinary. No wonder he is so strong."

"Who are his Bloodline Ancestors?"

"With talent like his, the ancestors’ gift is going to be massive."

Envy radiated from the crowd. Qi Yuan was already powerful on his own. If his ancestors favored him, his power would become unimaginable.

At that moment, the Blood Jade Wall lit up brilliantly. A thick beam of blood-red light shot out and sank into Qi Yuan's.

An elder watching the red light couldn't help but exclaim in disappointment, "Huh? It is just a dormant low-grade bloodline?"

Bloodlines were divided into grades, ranging from the lowest ranks to the titled bloodlines at the top. Beyond that, a bloodline's status depended on the fate of its ancestor: dormant if the ancestor was deceased, active if they remained alive.

Naturally, the more active and higher-grade the ancestor, the brighter one's future was. A dormant low-grade bloodline was the worst of the worst.

"A bloodline like that won't help him much. What a shame."

"Speak for yourself! Aren’t you only at the Qi Blood realm yourself? He's already achieved so much without any ancestral support. You will probably never achieve what he has."

That shut everyone up. True enough, the Ancestral Return Pill didn’t worth much for Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan closed his eyes. Somewhere deep within him, a single drop of blood briefly stirred before falling dormant once more. His strength had grown so little it barely amounted to much. As he focused on that drop of blood, a flood of information poured into his mind.

Through the vast expanse of time and space, he glimpsed a world the color of blood. Then, he saw a bone fragment. Following that bone, he traced his way back to its owner: a grotesque crawling demon beast with an enormous head and thin four limbs.

A Yin Spirit? Qi Yuan paused. Hmm... wait. Why does it feel like there's another me here?

With the Ancestral Return Pill in effect, his consciousness had briefly touched the place where his Bloodline Ancestors resided. And there, he noticed something unexpected: another version of himself.

No, it's a remnant of the Primordial Seed's soul. Strange. This remnant soul feels dormant. Is it the soul that died ten years from now?

His mind spun quickly. Before the world restarted, the version of himself born from the Primordial Seed had died and that soul had drifted here. Even after the world restarted, it remained.

His gaze flickered and he pondered quietly.

In the end, his eyes settled on the shattered bone lying on the ground.

You died at a ripe old age, yet you're still worrying from beyond the grave. Give me your blood. I'm a firm believer in respecting one's elders. Don’t worry, I'll give it back to you. And while I'm at it, let me add a little of my own blood as well.

The blood was originally from the demons anyway. Giving a bit back was nothing.

***

Outside, every person watching the Blood Jade Wall saw the same thing. A surge of blood light burst from Qi Yuan and flowed back into the Wall.

The crowd stared, baffled.

"What's happening?"

"Did he just send the blood back?"

"Did something go wrong?"

"Did he connect to the wrong bloodline?"

"Did the ancestor realize he wasn't actually the right descendant? Like a case of a green hat?"

None of them had ever seen anything like it.

Suddenly, another beam of blood light shot out from the wall and struck Qi Yuan.

Instinctively, the crowd all thought to themselves.

See, I knew there was a mistake. That's the genuine one.

Dormant mid-grade. Nothing exceptional, but not bad either.

Is this the real ancestor of Qi Yuan?

They didn't get long to wonder before the entire wall blazed.

One beam. Two. Three. Ten. A hundred. Streams of light poured forth like a river in flood, all rushing into Qi Yuan at once.

"How does he have so many ancestors?!"

"Low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade... Heck, there are even titled ones!"

"Is the Blood Jade Wall broken?"

"Maybe his maternal ancestor had been a total player, and all these ancestors had mistaken him for their own kid?!"

The mix of ancient souls and modern ones in the outpost meant that many wild theories were thrown out. If not for their fear of Qi Yuan, they would have already pulled out stools and sunflower seeds, eagerly spinning theories about scandalous ancient romances.

"Truly, we could make a drama out of this. Searching for Ancestors."

"Where did Grandpa go?!"

They watched with wide eyes.

"See, most of those lights went right back out. Look, over half the blood returned."

"So those ancestors just shook hands with the maternal line's founding ancestor and nothing else?"

"How sad."

1. A professional bodyguard of sorts in ancient China. These guys can be hired to escort goods or protect estates. ☜