Chapter 803 - 284: Blood Oath Battle (Part 8)
As Eferot shouted loudly, the expressions of the young followers suddenly showed some panic.
At this point, Eferot was even more certain that there was a Lion Heart Ancestor instigating them. Although he had never met these Lion Heart Ancestors, with the pride of the Lion Heart Royal Family, it was almost impossible for them to willingly hand over the throne.
Now that Tai’e had been defeated, Barre had also voluntarily given up, and Prince Wu Jiang had vanished into the Extreme Demon Abyss without a trace. Among the vast Beast Race, the only one who could contend for the throne was Eferot himself.
Besides, these young followers of his basically lived in the secret realm of the Lion Heart Royal Family, within the Heavenly Realm, and without sufficient strength, Tai’e would not permit them to leave.
So, Tai’e definitely couldn’t have brought them to the Divine Grace, leaving only one possibility.
"Haha, truly deserving of the name Golden Lion." At this moment, the Fifth Ancestor clapped his hands, walked out from the inner hall, and came cheerfully before Lu Hong.
"Let them withdraw first, I want to speak a few words with your brother."
Having dismissed the group of Lion Heart Royal Family descendants, the Fifth Ancestor said, "Times have changed, never did I expect talent in our Lion Race to wither like this."
"This matter cannot be changed by human hands, does the Ancestor have any solutions?" Regarding the issue of the Lion Heart Royal Family’s low fertility rate, not only Eferot, but every member of the royal family was very concerned.
"I do."
The Fifth Ancestor’s words brightened Eferot’s eyes.
But then the Fifth Ancestor slightly shook his head, "Unfortunately, I am powerless to implement it."
Even the Fifth Ancestor of the God Realm was incapable?
"May I ask, Ancestor, where is the difficulty? Perhaps there might be alternative methods for solving it."
Upon hearing this, the Fifth Ancestor gave a wry smile, "Do you know why it is difficult for our Lion Heart Royal Family to reproduce?"
"Because we are too strong, thus subject to heavenly jealousy."
"Indeed, the stronger the bloodline, the more difficult to produce offspring. But during the Era of the Gods, our Lion Heart Royal Family had 800,000 males and over 750,000 females registered. This was just our family’s main line; with the branch lines, our royal family numbered close to 5 million, never having reproductive difficulties."
"Then... "
"The difficult birth of the royal bloodline actually originates from my generation." The Fifth Ancestor’s face showed a hint of pain, evidently a deeply memorable and painful recollection.
"During my reign, a powerful emperor arose from the Snowy Region, whose strength was nearly at the God Realm. He led troops from the bitter cold north, sweeping south with a momentum to devour mountains and rivers."
Acquainted with the history of the Beast Race, Eferot immediately understood what the Fifth Ancestor meant: Snow Realm Emperor - Xue Long! Known in history as the Snow-covering Emperor. Every inch of land in Divine Grace was overshadowed by snow, the most arrogant emperor from the Snowy Region, undefeated for three hundred years.
"At that time, the Snow Realm Emperor’s advance was threatening, suddenly launching an attack and surprising our Beast Race’s Garrison Valley. He then proceeded to slaughter a million of our Beast Race men. When I mobilized troops for the campaign, little did I expect Xue Long to have already reached within a thousand miles of the royal city, a swift military advance that astonished people.
The war was inevitable; I fought Xue Long for three days but was ultimately defeated, falling from my horse. Ten days later, the Beast Race’s lines collapsed entirely, and our vast territory fell into Xue Long’s hands.
The phrase ’the lips die, and the teeth get cold’ held true. The Human Race Emperor, seeing a reflection of his future in our Beast Race’s defeat, issued a holy decree for the entire nation to fight, launching an attack deep into the Snowy Region.
This was a strategy to relieve the besieged by besieging the besieged’s opponent, originally expected to proceed smoothly, causing Xue Long to be wary and retreat from the Beast Race. Unfortunately, Xue Long was no ordinary person and, despite the attack by a million humans on the heartland of the Snowy Region, he remained unmoved, determined to annihilate our Beast Race.
In desperation, I regrouped the troops for another showdown with Xue Long at Luohe Slope, but still lost and were captured alive by Xue Long."
As he spoke, the Fifth Ancestor’s expression became agitated, as if in regret, as if in pain.
"Xue Long knew that I bore the Beast Race’s destiny, so he sought out the priest; that True Spirit Kofatis’s grievances did not dissipate after death. Kofatis, possessing the ability to create life, was mysterious, and Xue Long used the resentful energy gathered on Kofatis’s corpse, instructing the Snowy Region priest to inflict disaster upon our Lion Heart Royal Family."
Upon hearing this, Eferot’s brow twitched. He roughly understood that Xue Long used the grievance of the True Spirit as a medium through the Fifth Ancestor, the Lion King of the time, to curse the entire Lion Heart Royal Family!
"I just regret that at the time, fearing death, I was captured by Xue Long. Otherwise, how could our Lion Heart Royal Family come to this! I am ashamed before the ancestors!" Saying this, the Fifth Ancestor was in tears, crying bitterly.
Eferot hurriedly said, "Ancestor, please do not grieve excessively. Isn’t there still a solution, after all? Only, please inform me of the difficulty so that I may help alleviate your concerns."
After recovering for a while, the Fifth Ancestor finally calmed down, speaking in a deep voice, "Actually, the method to solve this problem is simple. It is to delve into the source of the Lion King’s bloodline and break the curse and grievance of Kofatis."
"Delving into the source of the bloodline..." This statement stumped Eferot, the source of the bloodline? Where could it be? How could he find it? Was he supposed to transform into a small tadpole and swim upstream?
"And the source of this bloodline is impossible to find." The Fifth Ancestor shook his head, "It does not exist in the real world but resides within the rifts of time and space, flowing at the edge of our royal family’s blood."
"Is there a way to summon out our royal family’s bloodline?"
"I have searched extensively during my life for such secret techniques with no results, and regarding our royal family’s bloodline curse, to this day I have shared it with only you." The Fifth Ancestor redirected the conversation, "Eferot, do you know why I am pressing you to compete for the supreme position?"
Eferot frowned slightly, then replied, "For our royal family’s dignity, to continue the pride of our royal family."
"No, that’s too shallow." The Fifth Ancestor’s voice turned somewhat hoarse, "Since the Snowy Region’s curse upon our Lion Heart Royal Family, the reason we haven’t been completely cut off is not that the True Spirit’s resentful energy isn’t strong, but because of the suppression of the imperial destiny. If our Lion Heart Royal Family loses the Beast Race emperor’s position, we will have no chance of producing the next generation, and our Lion Heart Royal Family will be forever buried in the river of time, remembered only in books and lore."
The Fifth Ancestor’s words hit Eferot’s heart like a hammer. If the Lion Race lost the emperor’s position, would extinction follow?!
"But... Tukuru is my brother, with half royal family bloodline, isn’t that option possible?"
Confronted with Eferot’s struggle, the Fifth Ancestor frowned slightly, "He has half the Human Race’s bloodline. If he ascends the throne, the fortune will inevitably be shared with the Human Race. Can you risk our Beast Race’s half fortune to suppress the True Spirit’s grievance?"
In this sense, Eferot fully believed the Fifth Ancestor’s words. With a solemn expression, he cupped his hands and bowed to the Fifth Ancestor, "I have understood the Ancestor’s words. In the race for the Beast Race throne, Eferot will certainly exert utmost effort and never let our royal family end."
Upon hearing this, the Fifth Ancestor showed a satisfied smile, patting Eferot’s shoulder with a laugh, "That’s good, but you needn’t rush onto the stage. I see that young man is extraordinary; let him help you first by dealing with some tough opponents, wait for my signal, then the throne will not fall into his hands."
After another round of conversation, Eferot cupped his hands in salute, then turned and left.
The Fifth Ancestor watched his departing back, full of smiles.
Moments later, another ancestor appeared beside the Fifth Ancestor, saying, "Is the matter resolved?"
"Resolved."
The Third Ancestor glanced at him and continued, "What you said earlier, was it all true?"
"If it wasn’t true, how would Eferot have such determination?"
"So the decline in our Lion Race’s reproduction is true since your reign?"
"... Yes... "
As soon as the Fifth Ancestor finished speaking, the Third Ancestor grabbed his throat, lifting him into the air.
"You are bringing shame to our royal family!" The Third Ancestor’s expression chilled, permeated with killing intent, speaking slowly, and with each word uttered, his grip tightened further, nearly suffocating the Fifth Ancestor.
Although the Third Ancestor’s grip was exceedingly strong, the Fifth Ancestor still offered no resistance, "I... I... have long been... a man who should... die."
"Humph!" The Third Ancestor flung him forcefully, throwing him to break through three palace walls, "You truly are worthy of death! Await the punishment from the Second Ancestor!"