In the territory of the beastkin race, one of the three great sanctuaries, the Imperial Sanctuary, was in complete disarray.
As one of the three principal sanctuaries, the priestesses of the Imperial Sanctuary were traditionally chosen from nobility, even those with the rank of 'princess'. However, the sanctuary’s priestess had suddenly fled.
A sanctuary without its priestess was nothing more than an empty shell, utterly ineffective in its purpose.
Desperation gripped the sanctuary elders, who immediately sent search parties to locate the missing priestess. If a new priestess wasn’t appointed within a year, the sanctuary would face complete colpse.
The fall of one of the three great sanctuaries wouldn’t just destabilize the remaining two, it could even jeopardize the beastkin race’s standing in the Ranking Order.
"E-Elder! Something terrible has happened!" shouted a beastkin with dog-like ears as he rushed toward the sanctuary elder in a panic.
The elder furrowed his brow, waving a hand dismissively. "What could possibly be so terrible? It can’t be worse than what we’re already dealing with"
The priestess’s disappearance was already an issue of utmost urgency, tantamount to a red alert for their entire race. Anything worse would mean an existential threat, perhaps even a war of annihition.
The dog-eared beastkin gulped nervously, pointing toward the sanctuary’s inner chamber. "E-Elder! The sacred crystal within the sanctuary... it’s started glowing with a reddish-purple light! You must come see it immediately!"
"What? A reddish-purple glow? Could it be...?" The elder's eyes widened in arm as he rushed into the sanctuary. Just as he feared, the sacred crystal at the heart of the sanctuary was radiating an intense, dazzling light.
Upon seeing the glow, the elder raised his arms in etion, his chin trembling uncontrolbly. Beside him, the dog-eared beastkin stood frozen in awe at the sight.
"E-Elder, are you alright?"
"Alright? I’m ecstatic! This is the 'Priestess Inheritance' Reaction! The sacred crystal has detected another beastkin with the potential to inherit the priestess position. This is extraordinary! Using the sacred crystal, we’ll be able to pinpoint her location" the elder expined, his voice trembling with excitement.
The other sanctuary members, overhearing this, exchanged looks of relief and exhiration. It was an unexpected ray of hope amidst their ongoing crisis.
"And that’s not all!" the elder continued. "Judging by the purity of this light, there’s no doubt, this person possesses the highest potential among all priestesses of previous generations. If we can find her, she might even elevate the beastkin race above sixth pce in the world rankings!" His joy was so overwhelming that all traces of worry vanished from his expression.
"Elder! Then locate her quickly!" the dog-eared beastman urged impatiently.
"Stop spouting nonsense! I’m already working on it!"
Despite his exasperation, the elder’s hands moved swiftly. As he accessed the sacred crystal system, a mist-shrouded region slowly began to materialize before his eyes.
"Is... this the pce?" The elder murmured to himself, taking a deep breath, his voice tinged with surprise.
"Where?"
Those around him turned to him with expectant eyes.
The elder gnced at them before replying gravely, "In human territory!"
In City S, a crimson crescent briefly illuminated the sky, visible within a radius of nearly 100 kilometers.
The [Demonic Species] Ziar, with a health bar exceeding 100,000 points, had been cleaved cleanly in two by Ye Lan's scythe. She stood atop the massive corpse, a few drops of its dark blood still clinging to her face.
[Congratutions to Pyer Ye Lan for defeating the ‘Demonic Species’ Ziar, Level 31.]
[Pyer Ye Lan has gained a rge amount of experience.]
[Pyer Ye Lan has leveled up from Level 6 to Level 10.]
[Congratutions to pyer Ye Lan for obtaining the the elite innate beastkin ability ‘Bloodthirst’]
Bloodthirst: Alongside [Blood Armor], [Sixth Sense], and [Beastkin Never Be Sves], this is one of the ten supreme innate abilities of the beastkin. For every enemy defeated, all attributes increase by 0.1%. This effect is cumutive and has no limit.
Ye Lan stood atop Ziar's corpse, her chest heaving as she caught her breath. Her health bar was dangerously low, reduced to just 51%, the lowest it had ever been.
The surviving humans stared at her in stunned silence, their eyes fixed on her bloodstained figure. But just when Ye Lan thought she might receive praise or gratitude for her feat, the opposite happened.
"Animal ears! She's not human, she's a monster, a monster!"
"Damn it! Were you the one who attracted the monster? Look at what you've done! Die!"
"But... she helped us defeat the monster!"
"Helped us? It was just a fight between monsters, and we got caught in the middle! Have you forgotten what the public reports say? The retionship between beastkin and humans is terrible! There's no way they’d help us!"
"Get out of here, monster!"
The crowd’s frantic shouts echoed around Ye Lan. In that moment, her heart seemed to plummet into an abyss. People's prejudices were like an immovable mountain, impossible to change by one's will alone.
Among humans, there was a well-known saying: "Those who are not of our race surely have different hearts." When faced with the unknown, fear often overpowered reason.
Ye Lan gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly. For the first time, doubt crept into her mind, had saving them been the right choice?
In the distance, Yan Xi stood with a cigarette in his mouth, observing the scene. He let out a derisive ugh as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
"They're too young. Humans, as a species, are mostly ignorant, which makes them easy to govern. But beastkin will never be able to break through human prejudice"
With those words, Yan Xi turned around and stopped watching.
From within the crowd, a man armed with a spear charged at Ye Lan, his teeth clenched as he aimed to strike her.
Swish!
"Xiao Lan!" Mu Xuetong cried out in despair, attempting to rush to her aid, but three people beside her quickly restrained her, holding her back.
[-30 HP]
Ye Lan took two steps back but caught the spear mid-thrust with her bare hand. With a single squeeze, she snapped it into pieces.
[Beastkin Never Be Sves ? ACTIVATED]
In an instant, Ye Lan’s health bar was restored to its maximum. The man who had attacked her, now overcome with fear, widened his eyes in shock before colpsing to the ground, sitting in a daze.
"Monster! You're a monster!" he stammered.
Ye Lan’s crimson eyes glowed fiercely as she raised her head, her expression cold and filled with disdain as she stared down at the trembling man.
Mu Xuetong, biting her lip, struggled violently until she managed to break free from the grip of the three people holding her back. She rushed forward, pcing herself between Ye Lan and the crowd.
"You! Are you even human? She saved us! Without her... you, you, you, and all of you! Have you even thought about what would have happened to us?" Mu Xuetong shouted, her voice trembling with fury as she pointed indignantly at the crowd.
At that moment, Ye Lan, standing silently behind Mu Xuetong, pced a hand on her shoulder. Mu Xuetong turned around, intending to say something comforting.
But before she could, Ye Lan’s fist connected with her, sending her flying through the air.
"Why...?" Mu Xuetong murmured weakly, struggling to comprehend.
"Don't come near me, human" Ye Lan said coldly, gring at her with disdain as she y sprawled on the ground. Then, she shifted her gaze toward the rest of the humans below.
"I hope you survive" she said, her voice icy and detached. "Because only then will you truly understand the pain of this world"
A crimson mist began to swirl around Ye Lan's body, its oppressive aura making everyone present instinctively tremble.
Without another gnce, Ye Lan turned her back on the crowd. Activating [Teleportation], she disappeared in an instant, leaving behind only silence, as if she had never been there in the first pce...
Suvn
