Another day began beneath the gray skies of the Yue capital. By early morning Luo He had already returned to the imperial palace to meet the emperor once more.
The palace atmosphere was celebratory on the surface. Officials smiled more easily, servants moved with renewed confidence and ministers spoke proudly of the swift destruction of the Nang faction.
Across the capital people praised the emperor's 'decisive justice' while the underground businesses once tied to the Nang family now flowed gold directly into the imperial treasury.
But Luo He knew better. The fall of the Nang family had solved only one wound among many. The empire itself was still rotting beneath the surface. The emperor sat inside his private chamber studying account records with visible exhaustion beneath his eyes.
Debt. Everywhere he looked, debt.
The empire owed enormous sums to the Trade Origin Society while additional loans from the Golden Bank continued to grow with interest each passing season. Even the wealth seized from the Nang family had already begun disappearing.
Soldiers required wages. Cities required rebuilding. Officials demanded rewards.
And the emperor desperate to stabilize morale after years of decline had spent lavishly on celebrations and public festivities to restore confidence in the throne.
Gold flowed out faster than it entered.
The empire was surviving but barely.
Luo He stood quietly beside the table while the emperor rubbed his temples.
To most men this situation would seem dangerous.
To Luo He it was opportunity. The weaker the throne became the more the emperor would rely on him. And the more the empire depended on Luo He's solutions the more influence he gained over the future succession itself. Eventually the emperor would have no choice but to favor whichever heir Luo He supported.
That was how power truly worked. Not through titles. Not through armies.
Dependence. And Luo He intended to deepen that dependence even further.
Because he already had another solution prepared. A dangerous yet revolutionary one.
Something capable of shaking the cultivation world itself. A Bloodline Evolution Catalyst as he called it. The thought alone would drive countless sects insane if they heard of it. A substance capable of refining and strengthening a cultivator's bloodline talent itself.
Not temporarily but permanently.
Originally Luo He had created it for Jin Mulan. Her Purple Bloodline was powerful far stronger than most ordinary cultivators could ever hope to possess.
It granted Jin Mulan exceptional affinity toward the fire element cultivation, sharp spiritual perception and physical abilities beyond normal humans.
But bloodlines were not equal beneath heaven. And cultivation itself was deeply tied to the quality of one's bloodline.
A cultivator's bloodline determined many things like
Their natural lifespan.
Their cultivation speed.
Their spiritual capacity.
Their compatibility with elements.
Even though it doesn't decide the limits of power someone could one day reach it severely affects it due to the limited time a worior has to live in their prime.
Those born with weaker bloodlines often aged faster, cultivated slower and eventually reached walls they could never overcome no matter how hard they trained. Meanwhile those born with higher bloodlines could progress with terrifying speed while also living far longer lives.
The difference between bloodlines was not merely talent. It was destiny itself.
And Jin Mulan's Purple Bloodline while rare and impressive among ordinary kingdoms still carried severe limitations compared to the truly monstrous lineages hidden across the world.
Its structure possessed an inherent flaw that would eventually slow her cultivation growth more and more as she advanced. Worse still her natural lifespan was significantly shorter than those born with Golden or higher-ranked bloodlines.
Without intervention time itself would eventually become her enemy. Luo He refused to accept that outcome. He did not want Jin Mulan to remain merely strong by mortal standards.
He wanted her powerful enough to survive the terrifying future he could already see approaching from beyond the borders of civilized lands.
Luo He had no intention of allowing that.
He wanted his wife strong. Strong enough to survive the realm of monsters beyond kingdoms and politics.
Strong enough to stand beside him against the horrors hidden outside civilization. Because contrary to what ordinary people believed humans were not the only monsters evolving beneath heaven.
If humans could awaken bloodlines,
why would animals be any different?
Most animals lacked intelligence and proper cultivation methods preventing evolution beyond instinct. But not all.
Once in perhaps ten thousand or so dormant animals one creature would survive long enough, adapt deeply enough or absorb enough spiritual essence to awaken a true bloodline evolution.
Those creatures became nightmares.
Ancient predators capable of destroying armies. Some gained intelligence rivaling humans. Others ruled isolated regions mountains, forests or oceans as kings of entire regions.
Because of their rarity most ordinary people never encountered such beings.
But few Explorers, Hunters and powerful martial artists knew the truth well. Beyond the borders of civilization existed entire regions humanity barely seen or understood.
Ancient artifacts. Forgotten civilizations lost knowledge. Forbidden lands. And monsters powerful enough to destroy cities. The eldest First Princess of Yue was one such person who walked that world.
Unlike the other children of the emperor, who specialized in politics and palace combat the First Princess was a true worior. One of the strongest martial artists in the entire region.
She possessed a Golden Bloodline an exceptionally rare lineage famed for explosive physical ability, swordsmanship, terrifying spiritual compatibility and monstrous growth potential.
Combined with the resources of the imperial family her talent had become frightening. But even that was not the true source of her power. The real reason she stood above most cultivators her age
was the First Trade Society.
Unlike the Trade Origin Society which specialized primarily in commerce and finance the First Trade Society operated on an entirely different level. Ancient relic recovery. Forbidden artifact acquisition.
Exploration funding. Mercenary support.
Beast material trade.
They controlled wealth, information and influence across multiple kingdoms.
And the First Princess had earned their support personally through years of successful expeditions into dangerous lands.
Rumors claimed she had fought evolved beasts alone. Others claimed she had discovered ruins older than the current dynasties themselves. Some even whispered she possessed relics no kingdom could afford to purchase.
Luo He smiled faintly while thinking about her. Interesting. Very interesting.
Because if his Bloodline Evolution Catalyst truly worked on a larger scale
then people like the First Princess would become easy to ignore. And once that happened the entire balance of power across the region would begin to change.
But Luo He had absolutely no intention of selling the truly perfected versions of his Bloodline Evolution Catalyst. That would be stupidity. No. What he planned to release to the public was only a heavily weakened variation.
A diluted product carefully designed to appear incomplete, unstable and most importantly natural. He would market it as a rare essence refined from the blood of some ancient beast discovered in forbidden lands. Perhaps a mutated dragons blood or something. The exact story did not matter.
What mattered was belief. People feared creations. But they trusted treasures harvested from heaven and earth.
Especially in a world where evolved beasts and ancient relics genuinely existed. So Luo He simply intended to blend his lies into existing truths.
The catalyst sold publicly would only be capable of evolving bloodlines by one level under normal circumstances two at most for exceptionally compatible individuals. And even then only among low-ranking bloodlines.
Dormant bloodline users and ordinary White Bloodline cultivators would gain the greatest effects. Some might rise from White to Yellow. A rare few from dormant Yellow. But it won't go any higher despite the amount. Same for higher blood lines they won't experience any changes as well.
Yet even that alone would be enough to shake the entire region. Because a single advancement in bloodline could alter a person's fate completely. A longer lifespan meant decades more time to cultivate, scheme, and rise above others.
Faster cultivation speed allowed talents once considered mediocre to suddenly rival geniuses. Greater status meant noble clans and powerful sects would begin treating a person as an investment instead of a burden. And with status came opportunity.
Better techniques. Better resources.
Better marriage alliances. Doors once sealed shut would suddenly open on their own. Even the body itself transformed alongside the bloodline.
Higher bloodline cultivators possessed stronger vitality, sharper senses, greater physical beauty and an almost unnatural level of endurance and vigor.
Their presence alone became more attractive, more commanding, more difficult to ignore. In the cultivation world bloodline was not merely talent. It was life itself. It decided how high a person could climb how long they could survive and whether they would rule others or spend their entire existence beneath them.
Which was exactly why Luo He knew the moment his catalyst appeared the world would go mad for it. Entire clans would fight wars over such a treasure. And Luo He intended to control all of it.
As for the truly powerful catalysts the ones capable of creating monsters with Golden Bloodlines. Those would never enter public circulation. At least not freely. Luo He was ambitious but he was not foolish.
A world overflowing with high-tier bloodline cultivators would become completely unstable. Kingdoms would collapse constantly. Sects would wage endless wars. Resources would disappear faster than the world itself could replenish them. The balance of heaven and earth could not sustain limitless powerful cultivators.
Even nature itself imposed restrictions for a reason. If every second-rate noble could suddenly become a Golden Bloodline cultivator the world would drown in chaos within a generation.
No. Power had to remain controlled.
Distributed carefully. Like feeding meat to wolves without allowing the pack to grow large enough to devour the hunter himself. And Luo He fully intended to remain the hunter.