Chapter 313 : Bloodline Advancement
Chapter 313: Bloodline Advancement
This time, the reason Janna spread Tulans Snowlotus all around the magic circle during the Blood Exchange Ritual was to isolate the surrounding death aura.
Although Tulans Snowlotus was highly resistant to cold and frost, it would rapidly wither when encountering death aura. And in the process of its withering, the invading death aura would be consumed entirely, leaving only the remnants of the Snowlotus behind.
Initially, Janna had considered cooperating with the Celestial Sparrow to cast Light of Purification to repel the death aura. However, the extreme cold of the Extreme Cold Secret Realm far exceeded the Celestial Sparrow's tolerance. As a result, the task ultimately had to be carried out by Janna alone, who held the Sun Medallion.
Unfortunately, Janna's mastery over the Purification Law Fragment was still lacking. Unless she directly cast Light of Purification on Vivianna’s body, she had no way of dispersing the death aura on a large scale.
Thus, Janna had to adopt Hellman-Rose’s original suggestion—to use the power of the Growth Law Fragment, which she was most skilled with, to counteract the death aura. In this way, she could prevent it from contaminating the Blood Exchange Ritual circle.
"Fwoo—"
As the Blood Exchange Ritual officially began, a thick stench of blood erupted from the crystal ice coffin, blowing like a bloody, cold wind, causing the surrounding Snowlotus to sway wildly.
"Crack—crack—"
While watching the crystal coffin closely, Janna also kept an eye on the Tulans Snowlotus around her.
Sure enough, under the dual invasion of death aura and extreme cold, the Snowlotus on the outermost edge began to wither and break one after another.
"Growth—"
A green light continued to surge from Janna's palm. Just as the first wave of Snowlotus began to wither, a second batch quickly grew in its place, continually resisting the omnipresent death aura.
"Bang—" Just as the Blood Exchange Ritual was still ongoing, suddenly, the lid of the ice coffin was flung off by a blood-soaked snake tail and fell to the ground.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
After flinging off the lid, Vivianna’s snake tail thrashed wildly in all directions, as if venting some unbearable pain, making Janna involuntarily turn her head away.
"The bloodline of the Cochin Viper, even if it could dull the pain of Vivianna’s flesh, the soul-tearing agony still had to be endured by her alone."
Moreover, aside from the soul-tearing agony, when the Blood Exchange Ritual reached its final stage, one of the participant’s negative emotions would be magnified infinitely.
Whether it was jealousy, regret, irritability, or loneliness—any one of them could drag the already tormented participant, who had endured physical and spiritual pain, into an emotional vortex from which there was no escape.
In the worst cases, it could even result in a disorder where the participant could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion—falling into permanent delusion.
Precisely because of these so-called "fatal" flaws of the Blood Exchange Ritual, Janna had strongly opposed Vivianna’s decision to take the warlock’s path in the first place.
After all, the later stages of a warlock’s bloodline advancement no longer depended on determination and resources—but on luck.
"Growth—"
Deliberately forcing herself not to focus on the Blood Exchange Ritual, Janna redirected all her attention to resisting the death aura.
As time dragged on, Janna noticed that the withering cycle of the Tulans Snowlotus seemed to be shortening.
"Has the death aura weakened?"
Looking at the continuous influx of death aura, Janna immediately dismissed the idea and shifted her gaze to the nearest Snowlotus.
"It’s not that the death aura has weakened, but that through my sustained application of the Growth Law Fragment, the three forces have reached a relatively balanced state—"
Upon reaching this conclusion, Janna’s breathing quickened with surprise.
For three months, Janna had meditated in the Extreme Cold Secret Realm.
Though she never meditated for more than an hour a day, that was already the limit for a plant-based apprentice who could not withstand cold.
During those three months, Janna repeatedly used the Growth Law Fragment in hopes of discovering the resonance point where the forces of Frost, Death, and Growth converged to form the Withering Law.
Even though she had come close several times, she had always fallen short by just a step—
Until today, as she observed the increasingly harmonious energy field around the Tulans Snowlotus, Janna couldn’t believe it—she had stumbled upon the energy field of the Withering Law.
Fwoo—
Exhaling a long breath, Janna, after confirming that the Blood Exchange Ritual was proceeding normally, allocated some of her attention to casting the Phantom Perception spell on the Tulans Snowlotus.
"The order is Growth, Frost, Death—and their energy resonance frequency is—this must be the power of Withering—"
Thanks to her wealth of failed attempts over the past three months, Janna took less than a minute to completely record the energy resonance frequency and magnetic field state produced by the Withering Law.
Janna believed that if given more time, she would be able to simulate the power of the Withering Law again in the Extreme Cold Secret Realm.
And at that moment, it would mark her success in comprehending the Withering Law Fragment.
"Bang—"
As time continued to pass, after the lid of the ice coffin had been flung off by Vivianna’s snake tail, the coffin itself also exploded under her violent struggle.
"Roar—"
Seeing this, Janna immediately cast Flourishing Guard to shield herself from the flying shards of ice.
On the other side, a frost-white serpent, as thick as a water barrel, its forehead embedded with an Ice-Blue Gem, and covered in blood-soaked wounds, suddenly appeared at the center of the ritual circle.
"Is that... a Cochin Leech Viper? No—that gem on its forehead is far too large, and it shouldn’t be capable of making sounds..."
Watching the frost-white serpent writhing in agony within the ritual circle, and seeing Hellman-Rose’s pale and bloodless face due to excessive blood loss, a shocking idea formed in Janna’s mind.
"Could this be—the Cochin King Serpent!?"
"Roar, roar—"
Painful howls echoed from the serpent’s mouth as immense frost aura radiated tangibly from the Cochin King Serpent, rapidly freezing the surrounding Tulans Snowlotus into sculptures.
"What terrifying frost power..."
Even Tulans Snowlotus, which could survive the bone-chilling cold of the deepest canyons of the Extreme Cold Secret Realm, was instantly frozen to death by the frost emanating from the serpent.
This only further confirmed Janna’s suspicion—that Vivianna’s bloodline had indeed advanced to that of the Cochin King Serpent.