Chapter 66: Wrath Erupts

Ryan never expected this.

Julian had actually attacked without distinguishing right from wrong, completely disregarding logic or occasion. His behavior was simply overbearing.

Ryan was about to activate his Overlord Body Bloodline to resist when Elena, who was standing beside him, acted first, interrupting his movement.

"Julian, stop!" Elena’s delicate brows furrowed.

Her jade hand suddenly rose, and yellow Origin Energy surged between her fingers. In an instant, a crystal-clear, snow-white ice shield materialized in her right hand.

The surrounding temperature plummeted as though winter had suddenly descended.

Elena gripped the ice shield tightly and met Julian’s fierce palm strike head-on.

BANG!

Using the shield to block and divert the incoming force, she skillfully deflected most of the power behind Julian’s attack.

However, the remaining force still exploded violently against the surface of the ice shield.

Crack!

The shield shattered.

Countless ice fragments scattered through the air like fragments of starlight, revealing Elena’s slender, snow-white hand.

The tremendous force sent her blood surging violently through her body. Her face paled, and she staggered backward half a step.

Seeing this, Ryan immediately reached out and supported her slender waist.

The soft, elastic sensation beneath his palm surprised him for a moment, but he had no time to dwell on it.

"Are you alright?"

"Thanks. I’m fine."

After regaining her balance, Elena’s expression became extremely grim.

She suppressed the churning blood within her body before raising her beautiful eyes and glaring fiercely at Julian.

The anger in her gaze was unmistakable.

"Elena..." Julian stared at her in disbelief. "You actually blocked my attack for him?!"

Seeing Elena take the attack meant for Ryan, Julian was completely stunned.

Then his gaze shifted toward the two of them.

Ryan’s hand was still around Elena’s waist, and from Julian’s perspective, the two looked almost like a couple leaning against each other.

His expression instantly became twisted. A monstrous rage surged through his chest.

"You brat!" Julian’s eyes turned bloodshot. "How dare you touch my Elena?!"

"I’ll kill you!"

As his furious roar echoed through the corridor, yellow Origin Energy erupted around his body.

The two metal rings around his wrists suddenly trembled violently, releasing dazzling light.

BUZZ!

A clear, resonant hum rang out.

The two metal rings detached from Julian’s wrists and shot upward before rapidly revolving around his right fist.

Their speed increased with every rotation.

Light flickered continuously as an immense and terrifying force rapidly condensed within Julian’s right fist.

The surrounding air began to distort.

It was obvious that he was preparing to unleash a powerful charge-up combat skill.

At the same time, the plain-clothed attendant standing behind him quietly placed a hand on the hilt of the sword strapped across his back.

His cold gaze locked onto Ryan and Elena.

A faint, almost imperceptible killing intent radiated from his body.

It was like invisible blades cutting through the air, sending a chill through the soul.

It was clear that if the situation escalated any further, he would attack without hesitation.

The terrifying pressure emanating from the two men caused the decorative flowers hanging nearby to sway violently.

Several potted plants were knocked over, crashing onto the floor as soil scattered everywhere.

Seeing this scene, the surrounding Winters Tower attendants changed expressions drastically.

They immediately fled in all directions.

"Ten Rings Bloodline... Two Dragons Split Mountains?"

Ryan’s expression changed slightly when he saw the two extraordinarily mysterious metal rings.

He had encountered information about these rings in the archives detailing the major families of Ashfall City.

The Ten Rings Bloodline was an extremely comprehensive and domineering Object Control System Bloodline.

More importantly, it was the Vance Family’s Family Heritage Bloodline.

According to legend, once this Family Heritage Bloodline evolved to its highest form, the S-Grade Top Tier Ten Rings, it could control ten specially forged metal rings simultaneously.

These rings were forged from extremely rare metals.

They were impervious to fire and water, incredibly durable, and capable of freely expanding and contracting.

More importantly, each ring granted its wielder a different and powerful ability.

They could be used for offense, defense, or control, giving the Ten Rings Bloodline astonishing versatility and terrifying combat power.

Direct descendants of the Vance Family who possessed this Family Heritage Bloodline would awaken with a C-Grade Excellent Bloodline.

Such a starting point could be described as uniquely blessed.

The two rings currently controlled by Julian were both C-Grade Excellent.

They represented the initial form of the Ten Rings Bloodline.

Ten Rings: Two Dragons Split Mountains.

At this stage, the Bloodline granted two passive abilities.

One could significantly increase Julian’s physical strength, while the other greatly enhanced the hardness of his body.

Its active ability allowed him to freely control two specially forged metal rings for close-range and long-range attacks, defense, and restraint.

Each evolution of the Ten Rings Bloodline allowed its wielder to control one additional metal ring.

For example, when the C-Grade Excellent Ten Rings: Two Dragons Split Mountains evolved to the next C-Grade Top Tier, it would become.

Ten Rings: Three Points of the World.

At that stage, the user could freely control three specially forged metal rings while also gaining a significant increase in movement speed.

This continued until the Bloodline reached its final form.

At that point, the user could control all ten rings.

The Ten Rings Bloodline would then transcend from an A-Grade Top Tier Bloodline into an S-Grade Top Tier Bloodline.

Its power was truly terrifying.

This was also one of the reasons the major families could maintain their status for generations. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Aside from their ancient heritage and enormous financial reserves, every major family possessed a special Family Heritage Bloodline.

These Bloodlines were inherited directly through one’s bloodline and usually possessed a complete and fixed evolutionary path, from their initial form all the way to their highest form.

According to the records, the first patriarchs of these families had developed the potential of their Bloodlines to an extreme level.

Some had even entered mysterious forbidden places and obtained the blessings of unknown powers.

Through these extraordinary circumstances, they had completely established the evolutionary path of their Bloodlines.

As a result, their Family Heritage Bloodlines became extremely stable, and their descendants possessed a high probability of inheriting their initial forms.

The greatest characteristic of a Family Heritage Bloodline was that as long as the user absorbed and refined Bloodline Essence of the same grade and type, the specific ability contained within that Essence would not cause the Bloodline’s evolutionary path to deviate.

The evolutionary route was already fixed.

It was unified, stable, and far less troublesome.

Every Family Heritage Bloodline was astonishingly powerful and renowned throughout the world.

After all, the first patriarchs capable of establishing such powerful families were all extraordinary individuals.

However, ordinary people who were fortunate enough to awaken a Bloodline faced a completely different situation.

Their evolutionary paths were not fixed.

Everything was unknown.

If they absorbed and refined Bloodline Essence of the same type but with different abilities, their Bloodline would gradually evolve in different directions depending on what they absorbed.

For example, an Enhancement-Type Bloodline Fighter who primarily absorbed Bloodline Essence focused on physical toughness might gradually evolve toward an increasingly hardened body.

If they instead absorbed Bloodline Essence focused on flexibility, their Bloodline might gradually develop in that direction.

And if they absorbed Bloodline Essence indiscriminately, mixing various abilities without any clear direction, their evolutionary path could become extremely chaotic.

They might eventually develop strange or impractical Bloodlines.

This also meant that the next evolution of an ordinary person’s Bloodline could vary greatly in strength.

Its evolutionary path was filled with uncertainty and heavily dependent on luck.

Because of this, members of major families with Family Heritage Bloodlines sometimes mockingly referred to the Bloodlines awakened by ordinary people as "Mongrel Bloodlines."

Of course, Sect Heritage Bloodlines were somewhat different from both Family Heritage Bloodlines and Mongrel Bloodlines.

Sect Heritage Bloodlines were not inherited through blood.

However, they did possess a relatively fixed evolutionary formula.

A sect would select youths with specific talents and, at each Bloodline Grade stage, carefully arrange for them to absorb and refine Bloodline Essence of the same type that met certain predetermined requirements.

In other words, the sect had already established a formula based on generations of experience.

Through this acquired method, they could gradually cultivate a person toward the initial form of a Sect Heritage Bloodline.

Afterward, according to the Bloodline’s established evolutionary path, the cultivator would continue absorbing and refining Bloodline Essence that met the required conditions.

This process would continue until the Bloodline reached the highest form recorded by the sect.

Of course, because Sect Heritage Bloodlines were cultivated through acquired means, the process was not completely foolproof.

A slight mistake, such as absorbing the wrong type of Bloodline Essence, or some unforeseen circumstance could cause the entire process to fail.

Once the evolutionary path deviated, all the previous effort could be wasted.

This uncertainty was the greatest characteristic of Sect Heritage Bloodlines.

It was also one of the main reasons the strength of cultivators from the same sect could vary so greatly.

At this moment, however, Julian’s combat skill was nearing completion.

WHOOSH!

The two metal rings transformed into streaks of light, rapidly revolving around his right fist.

They moved so quickly that the naked eye could barely capture their trajectory.

It was as though a miniature tornado had formed around his fist.

An immense and terrifying force was continuously compressed within his right hand.

The surrounding airflow was torn apart, producing sharp, chaotic currents that seemed ready to erupt at any moment.

Seeing this, Ryan’s expression darkened completely.

He had already silently activated his Overlord Body Bloodline.

At the same time, the Devouring World Art was ready to unleash its power.

He was simply waiting for Julian to make his move.

Ryan didn’t know whether he could defeat someone who possessed such a powerful Family Heritage Bloodline.

But one thing was certain.

He wasn’t the type of person who would simply stand there and allow himself to be bullied.

If Julian wanted a fight...

Then Ryan wouldn’t back down. The atmosphere became increasingly tense.

A great battle seemed to be on the verge of erupting.

***

A/N:

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