Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling looked at the kneeling Ren Ooyung with dumbfounded expressions, uncertain how they should react in a situation like this. Ren Ooyung suddenly seemed to remember their current location and situation, hurriedly standing up and giving Liang Chen another quick bow.
"Forgive me for standing up without permission, but I don't believe this location is proper."
He turned around and waved his arm, the smoke covering the stage freezing and collapsing to the ground, allowing the spectators to finally see them again. Ren Ooyung faced the judge, who was still trembling slightly after hearing the roar that was a result of Liang Chen's bloodline fully awakened.
"I admit defeat, I am unable to beat them now that it's two against one."
A faint light flashed on Ren Ooyung's interspatial ring immediately after he announced his surrender, the Soul Oath flying out and hovering in the air for a short second before disintegrating. Now, Liang Chen and Yan Ling could try to kill Ren Ooyung as they pleased, they would not suffer any consequences.
Ren Ooyung turned back to Liang Chen after announcing his surrender, looking at him with quiet excitement as he awaited Liang Chen's next words. Liang Chen and Yan Ling locked eyes for a second, both of them raising an eyebrow while glancing at Ren Ooyung, who almost resembled a puppy at this point. After giving it a few seconds of thought, Liang Chen turned around and beckoned for Ren Ooyung to follow them as the two left the stage.
Ren Ooyung quickly nodded his head and followed the two of them, bending over and using a thin piece of cloth to gather up some of the blood that Liang Chen had spilled on the ground. He dropped the blood on a transparent claw-shaped crystal he took out of his interspatial ring, a dark gray light quickly spreading out from within the crystal. Upon seeing the gray light, Ren Ooyung grew even more excited, practically skipping after Liang Chen and Yan Ling.
Liang Chen occasionally glanced back at Ren Ooyung as they headed to the nearest empty house. Now that his bloodline had fully awakened, he no longer felt any faint thumping when he looked at Ren Ooyung. Instead, he felt what he imagined an emperor felt when he looked at his subjects, an overbearing sense of control. It was quite a strange sensation to Liang Chen, who had never really felt anything like it.
The three quickly reached an empty house, Liang Chen and Yan Ling temporarily taking it over while they were talking with Ren Ooyung. The moment they reached the living room and Liang Chen and Yan Ling had sat down on one of the couches, Ren Ooyung kneeled down again and bowed his head, his voice incomparably excited.
"Please forgive my earlier offenses, Crown Prince, I did not know of your esteemed status back then. Please enlighten me, are you one of the children that escaped the cleansing, or are you perhaps one of the time-shifted children? Oh, I am certain that the King and Emperor will be thrilled when they learn about you, as long as you have several children with the First and Second Princesses, maybe even the Queen, the future of our race will be all but guaranteed."
Ren Ooyung talked so quickly that it seemed like he wasn't certain where he should start and was trying to cover all his bases at once. Yan Ling's eyes narrowed faintly when Ren Ooyung reached the end of his sentence, a slight chill creeping down Liang Chen's spine. He gave a light wave of his hand, cutting off Ren Ooyung before he got to continue talking in his overly-excited manner.
"Calm down, I can't understand a word of what you're saying. Start from the top again, and make sure to properly explain everything you just mentioned, especially why you keep calling me a prince."
Liang Chen was slightly curious about the manner in which Ren Ooyung addressed him. First, he had called him Young Prince, but now it was suddenly Crown Prince, it was quite a step up in rank. Ren Ooyung quickly took a deep breath, nodding his head and doing exactly as Liang Chen had asked.
"As you wish, Crown Prince. Allow me to start by introducing myself properly, I am Ren Ooyung and I am a Captain of the Fifth Sky Devouring Army of the Sebettu race. I was stationed on this planet 300 years ago, shortly after the army was forced to withdraw from this part of the universe in favor of defending our main galaxy. I was stationed here to see if anyone from the White Orchid race, which can be considered a controlled mutation of our own bloodline, managed to purify their bloodline enough to become a Sebettu. Over these last 300 years, there has been one such case, and the cultivator in question has already been sent to our main galaxy in this universe."
Liang Chen had some suspicions that the White Orchid race might be connected to the Sebettu when he first heard about how they cultivated, it was simply too similar to the way a Sebettu cultivated. But having his suspicion confirmed only raised another question, how did one control mutations to the point that they practically created a new race? Of course, this question was only a minor thought of his, he didn't bother asking Ren Ooyung about it, continuing to quietly listen to his explanation.
"As for why I am calling you Crown Prince, it is very simple. We Sebettu value bloodline purity over everything else, it, alongside our age, is what decides our status. The hierarchy of our race takes the Emperor as the grand leader, the king and queen as the second in command, and the various princes and princesses as the third in command. Our current Emperor, Raviel, has the same bloodline density as you, one belonging to the third generation of Sebettu. The King and Queen are a bit lower, only having reached the fourth generation. None of the princes are close to you, the closest one only has the bloodline density of an 11th generation, as such, the title of Crown Prince is rightfully yours. The princesses have had better luck with their bloodline, the First Princess has the bloodline of a fourth generation and the Second Princess has the bloodline of a fifth generation. If you have children with any of them, considering the strength and purity of your bloodline, your children are likely to inherit the bloodline density of you or their mother."
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Ren Ooyung took out a claw-shape crystal as he spoke, a few drops of blood that Liang Chen recognized as his own currently running down the side of the crystal. The crystal radiated a dark gray light, especially around the areas touched by the blood it should be a device to check one's bloodline density.
Liang Chen remembered when he first learned that he was a Sebettu, the remnant spirit told him that he had the bloodline density of a fourth generation Sebettu. But now it seemed like his bloodline density had increased, could it be because of the Storm God blood and Rot Dragon blood that had fused into his bloodline? Could he fuse more and more bloodlines into his own, eventually making it just as strong as the original Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline? Could he make it even stronger? The questions swirled in his mind, but there was no way for Ren Ooyung to answer them, so there was no point in asking him. Ren Ooyung continued to talk, his expression sinking slightly.
"The cleansing is what we call the great decline of our race, it has been going on for countless years already. We have lost more and more of the universes we once controlled, our territory growing smaller and smaller. By the time I was stationed here, the only bases we still had left were the Verdant Triangle Galaxy in this universe and our own Rahu Universe, everything else has been stolen away by other cultivators. As for time-shifted children, it is the title given to children who have been sent to the future by their parents or elders, either to spare them a gruesome fate or to leave a beacon of hope for our race. A beacon such as you."
This was the first time Liang Chen ever heard about other people from the Sebettu race being sent to the future, but upon giving it a bit more thought he realized that it wasn't too strange. His parents were most certainly not the only ones that could use the law of time, so of course there would be others that could send people into the future in case there should be a need for it. This, of course, raised another question, just how many people had been sent into the future by the Sebettu?
Ren Ooyung still had his head lowered, so he didn't see Liang Chen's eyes rolling as his thoughts wandered. Ren Ooyung placed his forehead against the floor of the house, his voice choked with emotions.
"Crown Prince, please come with me to the Rahu Universe! The Emperor and the King will certainly give you every commodity that you wish for!"
In Liang Chen's dense bloodline, Ren Ooyung saw hope for the future. The current Emperor had the same bloodline density, but he was old and decrepit, approaching death's door, he could no longer have children. It was hard for people with such a dense bloodline to have children, but Liang Chen was young, he had plenty of time to try with the various princesses and the queen. Sooner or later, he would end up getting children, their bloodline density so strong that they could secure the future of the race. There was also the fact that Liang Chen himself was strong and still had plenty of room to grow, he could be the savior that the Sebettu needed. Liang Chen didn't give Ren Ooyung an immediate response, changing the subject with a quick question.
"Tell me, this planet, does it have a connection to the Sebettu race?"
Since they would station someone like Ren Ooyung here, rather than just abandon it completely, it stood to reason that they had something they wanted here. He said that he was stationed here to see if any of the White Orchid race could become Sebettu, but since there had only been one case in the last 300 years, there was a chance that there was something more to this planet. Ren Ooyung was eager to please Liang Chen, so he quickly responded, listing everything he knew.
"It does! The creator of this planet was a dear friend of our Progenitor. According to some of our ancient records, the creator of this planet left behind his legacy here on this planet, keeping it safe for his future descendants or the descendants of his dear friend. But we were forced out of this galaxy before we managed to find this legacy, and the records don't say anything about just what this legacy is."
The Progenitor he spoke of could only be one person, the original Heaven Devouring Dragon. Just what sort of person did the creator of this planet have to be, for an Origin Beast like that to be considered a dear friend? Liang Chen already had some guesses about the actual legacy, he guessed that it might just be the full Ocean God technique, hidden away at the top of these three towers. After digesting all the information, Liang Chen stood up from the couch and shook his head.
"I see, thank you for telling me, but I'm sorry, I have no interest in heading to the Sebettu race. At least not yet, I have my hands full with my own matters right now. As for having children with any princesses or queens, you can forget about it, that's not happening."
He still had to increase his own strength so that he could kill Qing Lan Yong and Yan Ling's mother, he also had to look for ways that he could revive his parents, there was no way he could just drop all that and go to the Sebettu. Especially considering the fact that the Sebettu were currently being hunted down and forced back, going to them now meant that he would have to devote all his time to focus on their problems. As for having any children with some princesses or a queen, that was even more out of the question, he had Yan Ling after all. Ren Ooyung quickly raised his head, looking at Liang Chen with imploring eyes.
"But... Crown Prince, I beg of you to reconsider!"
Ren Ooyung tried to stand up, but he felt his legs go soft when his eyes met Liang Chen's, his blood nearly growing stagnant under the terrible suppression that came about from the difference in bloodline density. It had been present earlier, but it only fully materialized itself now, acting on Liang Chen's will and emotions. Liang Chen repeated himself once more, resolutely rejecting Ren Ooyung.
"No. I may head to the Sebettu race in the future, but it won't be for quite a while, not until I finish dealing with all of my matters first. I'm sorry, but to be perfectly honest with you, I have practically no connection with the Sebettu race. I may have your blood in my veins, but I was raised by humans, as a human. And that is what I consider myself, a human."
Liang Chen had never once considered himself a Sebettu, nor did he consider himself connected to them. He was the son of Qing Feng and Qing Lan, a human through and through. He might visit the Sebettu in the future if he found the time for it, but he could not be the person they wanted him to be, he could not be their savior.
Liang Chen stretched out his arm, presenting his hand to the still sitting Yan Ling. She grabbed onto his hand and stood up, a radiant smile on her face. The two left the house, leaving behind a still immobile Ren Ooyung. Once Liang Chen left the area and the bloodline suppression vanished, Ren Ooyung took out a star-shaped piece of metal from his interspatial ring, quickly inserting his Qi into it.
"I must report this to the general, she will know what to do."