The lingering prestige of the San Remo Grand Auditorium hung over the fortress of House Morey like an unyielding shroud of gloom. On that bloody afternoon, Allen Morey had returned in a manner bordering on the divine, his ink-black radiance shattering not only the arm of the family prodigy, Zane, but also the delicate balance of power held by the elders. Authority had shifted in a silent, tectonic movement—a shift that, to the Old Earl, felt like a slow-motion execution.
Deep beneath the lavish halls of the manor lay a corner intentionally erased by the family’s official historians: the "Chamber of Silence." There were no exquisite bas-reliefs here, no crests symbolizing honor. There was only raw, unpolished grey stone and the persistent, metallic tang of blood that had dried over centuries.
The Old Earl had locked himself within this lightless tomb. His once majestic silver hair hung in disheveled strands. Due to extreme rage and acute anxiety, his eye sockets had sunken deep into his skull, his pupils mapped with sickly red veins.
"Traitor... beast possessed by a subterranean demon..."
His withered fingers trembled as they stroked a roll of yellowed parchment atop an altar. This was the deepest taboo of the Morey lineage—the 【Bloodline Rite: Ancestral Descent】. Only the reigning Earl was permitted to view this demonic pact, and only when the family faced total annihilation.
According to the doctrines of the Holy Cross Church, this was an act of supreme desecration. It required the caster to sacrifice the essence of their closest kin, forcibly tearing a rift in the planes to awaken the dormant, ancient fragments of souls hidden within the family’s genetic sequence. While it granted the user a terrifying explosion of power that transcended class, the cost was absolute: the caster’s soul would be shredded by the violent ancient spirits, leaving behind nothing but a hollow shell driven by an instinctive urge to slaughter.
"Allen... since you are no longer my son, your blood belongs to the family. It shall become the foundation of my power once more!"
The Old Earl let out a shrill, raspy cackle. He drew his ancestral short sword and sliced open his left palm without hesitation. Thick, dark-red blood, carrying a hint of corruption, trickled down the altar’s grooves and into a bronze tripod etched with twisted, writhing runes.
The Deep Core: The Gravity of Evolution
Simultaneously, in the deep silent room of the Black Wind City.
This was the area of the Meteor Mine where gravity was most unstable, and the site Del had chosen as his "Evolution Field." Del sat cross-legged amidst a forest of obsidian mineral crystals, his torso bare. Because the 【Siphon Seed】 had achieved its secondary evolution, the air within a three-meter radius of his body was visibly warped, shimmering like heat haze. This was his newly mastered domain: Heavy Pressure.
This power did not stem from traditional Combat Qi or magic. It was a manifestation of the Black Buddha Origin, which allowed him to forcibly alter the microscopic density of the surrounding space. At this moment, if a Low-Tier knight were to step into this range, their bones would instantly disintegrate into powder, unable to withstand the sudden surge in gravitational force.
Suddenly, Del’s eyes snapped open. Deep within his pitch-black pupils, two dark vortices spun violently, as if attempting to suck in every stray photon of light in the cavern.
[Chip Emergency Alert: High-energy planar rift fluctuations detected. Coordinates: Directly beneath the Morey Fortress, depth 45 meters. Energy Attribute: High-concentration biomass, mental-pollution waves, ancient genetic fragments. System Assessment: Detected optimal ‘Non-natural Evolution’ induction medium. This energy entity holds a 400% catalytic potential for the third stage of 【Black Buddha Origin】 analysis. Capture recommended immediately.]
"A Bloodline Rite?"
Del’s lips curled into a cruel, playful arc. Through the "Black Sand Anchors" within Allen, he could perceive exactly what the old man on the surface was attempting.
In Del’s eyes, the so-called "Ancestral Descent" was merely a crude form of necromancy. These "ancient hero spirits" were essentially highly concentrated mental energy clusters mixed with the accumulated genetic impurities of the Morey lineage over a millennium. To an orthodox western wizard, this was a lethal poison; but to Del, who practiced the Black Buddha Arts and sought only to strip and devour, it was the world’s most perfect "Biological Essence."
"The Old Earl is truly desperate. He is holding a grand 'Opening Ceremony' for my dinner."
Del rose smoothly. As he moved, the incredibly hard mineral crystals around him let out a series of dense cracks, crushed into fine powder by the invisible pressure. His silhouette flickered in the shadows and vanished into the winding mine shafts.
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The Grotto: The Crushing of the Past
In the grotto beneath the Morey fortress, the rite had entered its final, bloody stage.
The very walls of the underground chamber seemed to vibrate in time with the Old Earl’s chanting. Dark red light erupted from the bronze tripod, staining the air a suffocating crimson. A primal, savage, and bloodthirsty pressure began to coalesce in the air.
It was a blurry, gargantuan phantom, over three meters tall, wielding a grotesquely wide heavy sword. This was an ancestor from three hundred years ago—a commander who had famously devoured the flesh of his enemies on the battlefield.
"Kill him... kill Allen! Take back the North District!"
The Old Earl felt a wild, uncontrollable surge of Combat Qi within his body. His withered muscles began to bulge unnaturally, veins crawling beneath his skin like vipers. His aura had forcibly smashed through the threshold of a High-Tier knight, even grazing the edges of the legendary "Grand Knight" rank.
However, just as he prepared to lead the ancestral spirit out of the grotto and begin a bloodbath, a flat, magnetic voice shattered the silence of the chamber.
"To use such a fragment of residual consciousness to forcibly raise your rank... your understanding of power is almost childishly naive."
The Old Earl spun around in terror. Standing in the darkest corner of the room was a figure draped in a voluminous black miner’s cloak. It wasn't Allen. It was an entity that made his soul shiver with an instinctual dread.
"Who are you! How dare you trespass in the sacred grounds of House Morey!" the Earl roared. His voice was layered with the resonant echo of the ancestral spirit, the sound waves causing stone fragments to shake loose from the ceiling.
Del didn't bother to answer. He didn't even look at the Earl. His deep, abyssal eyes were locked onto the coalescing phantom in the air.
"Chip, deploy the Heavy Pressure Field."
【Black Buddha Art: True Extreme - Gravity Hell】
Without warning, the physical laws of the chamber were forcibly warped.
THOOM—!
A dull, ultimate thud echoed. The Earl’s unnaturally swollen body let out a sickening sound of fracturing bone. The thick paving stones beneath his feet turned to dust instantly. He was slammed into the floor as if by the hand of an invisible god, unable to lift even a single finger despite his frantic struggling.
The once-arrogant ancestral phantom emitted a shrill, pained wail under the terrifying density of the gravitational field. Its heavy energy-sword disintegrated inch by inch, and its massive body was compressed into a distorted, unrecognizable shape.
"This is the foundation you take such pride in?"
Del walked casually toward the altar. With every step, he left a footprint several inches deep in the solid rock. The absolute nature of his dominance turned the Earl’s final shred of fanaticism into a bottomless pit of fear.
"No... what kind of demon are you... spare me... I can give you the entire Earldom..." the Earl’s voice was muffled and desperate as his face was pressed against the dirt.
Del ignored the plea. He reached out with a pale, nearly translucent right hand and pressed it directly onto the scalding-hot bronze tripod.
The 【Siphon Seed】 within Del let out a roar of absolute gluttony.
The "ancestral essences," upon contact with Del’s aura, reacted as if they had found a true black hole. Streams of pure, blood-red light surged into Del’s palm. Ink-colored meridians mapped themselves across his skin. In this moment, Del wasn't just stripping energy; he was using the Chip’s analysis to forcibly peel away the ancient "war intent" contained within the Morey bloodline.
"AHHHHHHHH—!!!"
The Old Earl let out a final, agonizing scream. His Combat Qi, his life force, and the power he had just stolen were being siphoned away through the altar’s connection, flowing into Del without end.
[Attribute Update Report: High-tier bio-energy source captured. 【Black Buddha Origin】 Phase 3 analysis progress: 15%... 35%... 60%! Host Strength attribute increasing: 7.5... 8.2... 9.0 (Critical breakthrough warning)! Derived Skill Acquired: 【Bloodline Resonance】—Allows the user to suppress the Combat Qi circulation of all Morey bloodline individuals within a certain radius.]
The Aftermath: A Grave in the Black Wind
Five minutes later, the red light in the grotto was extinguished. The blistering heat was replaced by a cold, silent darkness.
The Old Earl lay crumpled near the altar like a piece of wood that had been dried out for decades. He wasn't dead, but his meridians were shriveled, his pupils unfocused. Because his life essence had been drained, he had become a total vegetable.
Del withdrew his hand, the black vortex in his palm fading. He closed his eyes, savoring the explosive power within him. The war intent of the Morey ancestors had been pulverized by his Black Sand Qi, filtered into its purest form, and used to fill his expansive Dantian.
He picked up the blood-stained parchment, rubbed it between his fingers, and watched as it turned into a handful of black ash, which he let fall into the Old Earl’s vacant eyes.
"Allen will provide you with a dignified reason for your 'resignation due to illness'."
Del turned toward the exit. His steps were light, his heavy pressure field now perfectly controlled. "As for the 'savings' House Morey has accumulated over these centuries, I shall accept them. In return, I will ensure your family name is given a place for a tombstone in the future City of Black Wind."
That night, an urgent report spread from the Morey Fortress: The Old Earl, overcome by grief for his eldest son and exhausted by labor, had suffered a sudden, paralyzing stroke while paying respects to the ancestors. After an emergency council meeting, it was officially announced that Allen Morey would succeed as Earl and take full responsibility for the defense of the territory.
Del returned to his throne in the Black Wind City. He sat in the darkness, feeling the massive energy within him nearly bursting his meridians. The third phase of his evolution had begun. He was no longer just the King of the Depths; he was the true puppet-master of the entire Earldom.
The black wind was no longer merely circling the tunnels. It was preparing to blow across the surface, toward the Holy Cross Church that claimed to be sacred.
