Free Web NovelChapter 32: Chapter 32: Divine Blood
"Have you run into anyone else?"
Selena took a bite of the Honeycomb. As the long-missed sweet taste filled her mouth, a satisfied smile spread across her face.
Selena hadn’t tasted anything sweet since entering the Secret Realm. For a Little Princess like her, it had been absolute torture.
Back home, Selena’s daily drinks were a blend of honey, milk, and fruit juice. She ate all sorts of delicacies. Her life could only be described as the height of luxury.
But after arriving in the Secret Realm, Selena finally learned the meaning of disgusting, terrible, and chaotic.
In her entire life, Selena had never experienced such a foul environment.
Whether it was the stench of the Secret Realm or the Magical Beasts that passed by her, it was all completely new to her.
In truth, Selena had been mentally prepared for this.
’If I just grow up in my family’s greenhouse, when will I ever mature?’
So, when news spread that Secret Realm No. 1 was about to open, Selena had proactively requested a spot to enter and train.
But what Selena hadn’t expected was that the environment in Secret Realm No. 1 was completely different from what she had imagined; it was like a primeval jungle.
If it were just that, it would have been one thing. It was understandable that there were many Magical Beasts; Secret Realm No. 1 had been sealed for 2,600 years, so of course their numbers would be high.
But what she truly couldn’t accept were the occasional indescribable scenes and filth she saw along the way.
These things completely shattered Selena’s expectations.
In Selena’s imagination, after the six of them entered the Secret Realm, they would not only complete their mission but also stumble upon a legacy left behind by the Wizards who created the realm.
But after ten days of walking, besides stepping in puddle after puddle of mud, Selena hadn’t seen any sign of a Wizard’s legacy.
Now, as she savored the familiar sweetness, a sense of pure bliss washed over Selena.
"Selena, have you met anyone else?"
Andre asked, taking a bite of the Honeycomb in his hand.
"No. What about you?" Selena shook her head and asked in return.
"I ran into Quint!"
"Then why isn’t Quint with you?"
Selena looked behind Andre but saw no sign of Quint.
At the mention of Quint, Andre heaved a heavy sigh and proceeded to tell Selena what had happened to him.
After hearing about Quint’s ordeal, Selena’s little face scrunched up.
"That’s horrible! Quint must have been hit with a Curse. There’s no other way he could be that miserable."
Selena’s conclusion about Quint’s situation was the same one Andre had reached before he’d received his Bloodline knowledge.
Quint had been cursed. Otherwise, there was no way that guy would be so unlucky.
"When we parted ways, I gave him a few Disguise Scrolls. I hope he’s found a place to hide."
Andre glanced back the way he had come. He had no idea what Quint was facing now.
Twenty kilometers away from where Andre and Selena were, near the very edge of the Secret Realm, Quint had found a stone cave. After cleaning it out, he had been hiding there ever since.
Although Quint had blocked the cave’s entrance and hung up the Disguise Scrolls Andre gave him, he could still hear Magical Beasts passing by outside every night, which made him too scared to take a single step out of the cave.
All Quint could do was wait quietly in the stone cave for time to pass.
Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise, but during his days holed up in the cave, Quint broke through a bottleneck in his Meditation Technique and became a High Level Wizard Apprentice.
If he hadn’t lacked the materials to construct a Magic Organ, Quint would already be a standard High Level Wizard Apprentice.
"I wonder how Jesse and the others are doing!"
Selena finished her Honeycomb. Her once-pale face was now flushed with color.
"They should be fine, right? They can’t all be as unlucky as Quint, can they?"
Seeing Selena bring up Jesse and the others, Andre stuffed the last piece of Honeycomb into his mouth.
"If the three of them end up with terrible luck like Quint, then we’ll have to ask the academy’s upper echelons to examine us."
When Selena heard Andre mention Quint, her brow furrowed in frustration.
She had never heard of anyone entering a Secret Realm and having their luck turn as bad as Quint’s.
"Let’s hope so. So, are we traveling together or splitting up?"
Andre crouched down and washed his hands.
"Let’s split up," Selena said after thinking for a moment. "We need to complete the mission as soon as possible. Our task is to record the conditions inside the Secret Realm. Now that Quint has run into trouble and is in hiding, we have to help him finish his part of the mission."
Andre nodded, stood up, and walked to one side.
Selena turned and walked in the opposite direction. And just like that, after their brief meeting, the two of them parted ways and continued onward.
Ten days later, Andre arrived at the center of the Secret Realm.
As he reached the center of the Secret Realm, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Vast quantities of golden particles surged from deep underground toward the center of the Secret Realm.
When all the golden particles gathered together, a beam of Golden Light burst through the ground, illuminating the sky.
At that moment, everyone except for Quint, who was hiding in his stone cave, saw the beam of Golden Light. Selena, Jesse, and the other two immediately rushed toward the center of the Secret Realm.
The appearance of such a phenomenon meant that a treasure had emerged in the Secret Realm—and an extremely precious one at that.
’Divine Blood,’ Andre thought. ’A single drop of blood coughed up by my ancestor at the moment of death, which merged with this Divine Kingdom Fragment and was preserved by its Power.’
Andre gazed at the glistening drop of Divine Blood and took a deep breath. He was looking at the greatest prize in the Secret Realm.
If this drop of Divine Blood were to fall into the hands of Selena and the others, the most they would do is take it back to be used as research material.
But in his hands, it would be an enormous help.
Without hesitation, Andre reached out and touched the drop of Divine Blood.
The moment his hand made contact, the Divine Blood instantly burrowed into his body.
Immediately, Andre’s body temperature began to skyrocket. His blood boiled, his heart pounded like thunder, and flashes of Golden Light flickered across the surface of his skin.
’I can’t stay here!’ fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Suppressing the changes in his body, Andre quickly left the center of the Secret Realm. After finding a river, he jumped in and let the current carry him away.
By the time Selena, Jesse, and the others arrived at the center of the Secret Realm, using the tools given to them by their family elders, Andre was long gone.
At that moment, Andre was hiding in the hollow of a tree, gritting his teeth and enduring the excruciating pain.
The Power of the Divine Blood was now enhancing his life’s essence.
Strange patterns began to appear on Andre’s body, finally converging over his heart.
Once the patterns were fully formed, the Divine Blood exhausted the last of its Power and vanished deep within Andre’s Bloodline.
