Chapter 169: What Is The Price?

"If you agree, I can grant you a powerful Apex Grade Bloodline."

Liam’s mind went blank for a second when he heard William’s words, and he stared at him in a daze.

But soon, he came back to his senses and asked in confusion.

"How are you going to grant me a Bloodline? Moreover, is it really that easy to acquire an Apex Grade Bloodline? From the way you spoke earlier, Apex Grade seems to be very powerful, but now you are saying I just have to agree and you will give it to me."

"It’s not easy for anyone to acquire an Apex Grade Bloodline..." William shook his head. "Let’s put aside the matter of how I am going to grant you an Apex Grade Bloodline for now."

William stood up from the bench and walked toward the fountain beside it.

"You must have heard about the Stellar Family, right?"

Liam nodded and spoke in an obvious tone.

"Everyone in the Silver Wing Kingdom knows about them. After all, they are the Royal Family that rules over our kingdom."

"Correct..." William nodded before asking again. "Then do you know what grade of Bloodline the true descendants of the Royal Family possess?"

"That..." Liam frowned slightly and thought for a moment.

He thought about how William had said he could grant him an Apex Grade Bloodline and felt that although rare, it might not be difficult for powerful families to acquire items that could grant powerful Bloodlines.

So after going through every detail in his mind, he spoke in a hesitant voice.

"Origin Grade."

William couldn’t help but chuckle at Liam’s answer.

"Is it wrong?" Liam scratched the back of his head.

"Let me tell you something." William stopped laughing, and his eyes turned serious.

"An Origin Grade Bloodline... represents the Bloodline of a Progenitor or the Bloodlines of powerful gods. Do you think a mere Royal Family that is itself under the rule of the Eastern Empire can possess such a powerful Bloodline?"

Liam’s pupils contracted when he heard William’s words, and his breath hitched.

Even if he did not know how strong a Progenitor could be, the words "Bloodline possessed by powerful gods" were enough to shock him.

Especially when he had heard countless stories about the God of Light since childhood.

Just then, he thought about William’s Bloodline, and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

"Since you possess an Origin Grade Bloodline, does it mean..." He asked while gulping down his saliva.

"Progenitor’s Bloodline..." William nodded.

"I have the Bloodline of a Progenitor. You can say I am a new Progenitor of the Vampire Race, different from the Blood Ancestor, who is the Progenitor of all the Vampires that currently exist across the multiple realms."

It was the first time Liam had heard about the Blood Ancestor, but just the fact that he was someone who was the Progenitor of every single Vampire across multiple realms was enough to give him goosebumps.

And William was saying that his Bloodline was on the same level as that guy.

"Because I am a new Progenitor, I have the privilege of creating a new lineage of Vampires for myself. Moreover, to make my lineage more powerful, I can grant two people a portion of my Bloodline, allowing them to awaken an Apex Grade Bloodline."

"Only two..." Liam was once again stunned. "You mean you can grant an Apex Grade Bloodline to only two people?"

"Yes," William nodded. "You might not understand, but an Apex Grade Bloodline is really very rare. The Royal Stellar Family I spoke of earlier only possesses a Royal Grade Bloodline. And believe me, the descendants of the Royal Family very rarely inherit a Royal Grade Bloodline. Most of the time, they are born with Mortal or Mystic Grade Bloodlines."

William paused before adding.

"The reason every king marries so many women is so that they can have many descendants, as it increases the chances of someone inheriting a Royal Grade Bloodline. Every king has hundreds of children, but only one or two among them possess a Royal Grade Bloodline."

"This... This was something I really didn’t know about," Liam spoke with a wary smile before falling silent.

He looked at William silently for a few moments before asking.

"Why do you want to give me this opportunity? I mean, since you can grant only two people an Apex Grade Bloodline, shouldn’t you give it to your brother or parents?"

William shook his head.

"My brother already has a Bloodline. As for my parents..." He paused before speaking.

"I have different plans for them. This Bloodline is not suitable for them."

Liam fell silent upon hearing him and scratched his head.

"Why choose me? We have known each other only for a short time, and I have noticed that you are too kind to me. Whether helping me with my cultivation or choosing skills. Even that cultivation technique that you gave me..."

He stared at William and asked seriously.

"Tell me honestly, William. What do you want from me?"

William wasn’t surprised by Liam’s question, as anyone would feel uneasy if someone kept throwing things at them without asking for anything in return.

Although he couldn’t tell Liam about the original timeline, William had long since prepared how to handle this situation.

"I am going to create a faction soon, Liam," William spoke calmly. "And I want you to join it."

"A faction?" Liam frowned slightly. "You mean factions similar to those nobles?"

William shook his head.

"No, it won’t be like them, where they essentially take away your freedom."

He stared at him seriously.

"Our faction won’t have that kind of bullshit where you have to sign a magic contract or anything. It will just be a faction of us friends helping each other. In fact, instead of a faction, you can even say it’s just a group of friends coming together to improve their lives and take care of those damn nobles who jump around all day in the academy."

"A group of friends..." Liam’s eyes flickered slightly. "Have you thought about who else you want to invite into this faction of yours?"

"I have a few candidates in mind," William nodded. "But you are the first one I am inviting. Moreover, you will be the vice leader of the faction and will have to manage it while I am away."

"Vice leader..." Liam shook his head.

"It sounds so troublesome. Even if I join, I will just be an ordinary member. I am not suited for things like managing a faction."

"It’s up to you..." William shrugged. "I also know how incompetent you are. I was just saying that to give you some face."

"You..." Liam’s eyes twitched slightly, but before he could say anything, William spoke again.

"By the way, I am asking you about the Bloodline, not the faction. I never gave you a choice about whether you want to join my faction or not, because I am going to drag you into it even if you don’t want to. So you better think carefully about whether you want the Apex Grade Bloodline or not. If you don’t get it, you will have a really hard time in the faction because there will be a lot of monsters who will join it."

Liam looked speechless after hearing that William would make him join his faction whether he wanted to or not, and he didn’t know what to say.

In the end, he sighed, and his expression turned serious.

"I have no problem joining your faction, but the Bloodline... Is there any price I have to pay for it? Although it’s not long since I started cultivating, even I know every easy power comes with a cost."