Chapter 1063: Bloodline Grade
Tiara, Rider, Bringer, and Bryan sat in absolute, suffocating silence; nobody dared to speak at the moment. Sound itself seemed to have become a taboo, an abomination that would wreak havoc upon the fragile stillness of the moment they had inadvertently created.
Four pairs of eyes slowly shifted towards Tiara, each gaze heavy with expectation as they all awaited her answer; her response in this very moment held the power to turn everything around within her life, this singular moment would determine not only her path forward but also the shape of her destiny and fate.
Tiara sat with a deep, unmistakable frown etched across her face; she, who had long been believed to never reveal her true thoughts or emotions so openly, found herself unable to maintain that composure at this moment. After all, this was her talent they were discussing, the very core of her existence.
What was a Royal Grade Vampire Bloodline to begin with?
It was a bloodline grade that guaranteed that a vampire would reach the Planetary level with relative ease; whatever level of power within the Planetary stage that the vampire later attained upon and after reaching it depended entirely on their own effort and capability, hence its absurd rarity and the reason why Tiara was treated as a treasured jewel, almost like royalty itself, in the eyes of many.
Now, how rare was the Royal Grade Vampire Bloodline?
The answer was simple, yet profoundly staggering: it was so rare that amongst the numerous billions of Vampires that existed within the vast expanse of the Vampire Domain, only four Vampires were known to possess such a bloodline grade.
The first was the Second Supreme Monarch, the second was the Blood Queen, Elara Bloodmoon, the third was her son, Drake Bloodmoon, and the fourth was Tiara Terpes herself.
Four amongst billions; that number alone required no further elaboration for its significance to be fully understood.
But above the Royal Grade Vampire Bloodline existed yet another grade, one that transcended all known limits: the Ancestor Grade.
This was precisely the reason the Blood Queen, Elara Bloodmoon, and her two-faced son, Drake, desired a child from Tiara, as both of them possessed a significantly higher possibility of producing offspring that could awaken this mythical bloodline grade.
Bryan’s words about Elara Bloodmoon devouring the blood of Tiara’s baby were not exaggerated; they were entirely true. That had always been Elara’s plan. They had once joked about it in passing, dismissing it as something uncertain, yet they had never realized just how disturbingly accurate Bryan’s words had been.
Of course, to ordinary people, such an act would be deemed grotesque, sickening, and utterly insane, but cultivators did not operate under the same moral boundaries as normal individuals. Many cultivators in Elara Bloodmoon’s position would not hesitate in the slightest to cross such a line, after all, the opportunity to obtain the Ancestor Grade Bloodline, a power that could elevate her talent and strength to an incomprehensible level, was far too tempting to ignore.
Naturally, one might argue that a grandparent should never commit such an atrocity against their own grandchild, but in this case, the child in question was one they had yet to even form an emotional bond with. To the Blood Queen, it was nothing more than a stepping stone toward greater power, a necessary sacrifice in her relentless pursuit of supremacy.
Of course, Elara Bloodmoon and her son, Drake, were not foolish; they fully understood that this was a monumental and uncertain endeavor. There was no guarantee whatsoever that a child born under such circumstances would inherit the Ancestor Grade Bloodline. In fact, the probability of success would only increase as Tiara herself grew stronger, which was precisely why Drake had never missed a single day over the course of five years in supplying her with rare and specialized blood designed to accelerate her cultivation speed to extraordinary levels.
Furthermore, there was no certainty that a child born from a Royal Grade Vampire Bloodline holder would inherit that same Royal Grade Bloodline, and this was a fact universally acknowledged among Vampires. Elara Bloodmoon had simply been fortunate that her only child, Drake, had inherited the Royal Grade Bloodline.
The same principle applied across other Domains as well: Bryan possessed the Royal Grade Bloodline, yet his brother Heinz did not. The Storm Brothers, on the other hand, both possessed the Royal Grade Bloodline due to being identical twins, a phenomenon that anyone with even a basic understanding of biology could easily understand.
Thus, there had never been any guarantee that an individual with a Royal Grade Bloodline would give birth to offspring of the same caliber.
And perhaps the most tragic and ironic example of this truth was none other than the Second Supreme Monarch himself, who could very well be considered the most pitiful Vampire in existence despite possessing the Royal Grade Bloodline.
All the descendants he had produced, all the time and effort he had invested in creating countless children and placing them across an entire planet, had never been driven by any sense of familial affection or love for kinship. He was no devoted parent or father, nor was he a being who cherished the concept of family.
No, his intentions had always mirrored those of Elara Bloodmoon, he too sought to give rise to an Ancestor Grade Bloodline of his own. This was the very reason he had commanded his descendants to continue reproducing under his authority, forcing an endless cycle in pursuit of that singular goal.
Yet, in a twist of fate, he had never learned of Tiara’s existence. Unlike others, he did not concern himself with the affairs of the Blue Planet, nor did he waste his resources monitoring it, as his influence and military strength were firmly established within Military Base Alpha-2.
Had he known of Tiara, a fierce and inevitable conflict would have erupted between him and Elara Bloodmoon, for neither of them would ever agree to share such an opportunity. Why would they? Cooperation would only diminish their individual chances of attaining the Ancestor Grade Bloodline. After all, while multiple individuals could possess the Royal Grade Bloodline, there could only ever be one bearer of the Ancestor Grade Bloodline... at least, according to their current understanding.
It was precisely because of this that the Second Supreme Monarch had demanded two litres of Anthony’s blood upon their first encounter. The very moment he laid eyes on Anthony, his own bloodline had resonated violently, crying out in evolution. To him, Anthony represented a potential pathway to achieving his ultimate goal, which was why he had been willing to risk offending the Null family.
If it had been entirely up to him, he would have chosen the far simpler route, killing Anthony outright and consuming his entire body to claim whatever potential lay within him. However, he had restrained himself, settling instead for two litres of blood. Even so, that decision ultimately led to his downfall; his greed had backfired catastrophically, leaving him trapped within the Abyssal Realm, condemned to remain at the very bottom of power regardless of how many times he attempted to cultivate.
Such was the brutal and unforgiving reality surrounding the pursuit of the Ancestor Grade Bloodline.
But this inevitably raised a haunting question: if Tiara Terpes were ever to give birth, perhaps beyond the influence of the Blood Queen and her son, Drake, and if, by some miraculous twist of fate, her child were to possess the elusive Ancestor Grade Bloodline, would she be capable of devouring the blood and flesh of her own child in pursuit of power?
Well... that was undoubtedly a future worth contemplating, for the Tiara who existed in the present might not remain the same Tiara a thousand years into the future, where time, power, and ambition could reshape even the strongest of hearts.