Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1428 Inheritor of the Imperial Bloodline!
Previously on Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100...
Her tone softened a bit, like she was sharing an ancient tale handed down over the ages.
"It's incredibly scarce, so much so that in many eras, nobody even detects its presence. Solely women from our family have shown any link to it, and even those ties are usually weak. It might take hundreds of years for a straight-line heir to emerge whose essence truly vibrates with the Imperial Bloodline. Individuals selected by it aren't just gifted. They receive recognition from the core intent woven into our forefathers' blood."
Max took in each syllable quietly, letting it sink in.
Lucia went on, "Selection by the Imperial Bloodline doesn't just boost cultivation pace. It bestows a natural command over dragon power. The dark fires of someone like that burn cleaner and fiercer. Their presence exerts a force that impacts fellow Black Dragon Clan members too. Legends say that a full Imperial Bloodline awakening stirs awe in other lines, like confronting the rightful successor of the ancient dragon."
Her gaze shimmered softly while she continued, "The Imperial Bloodline connects to the soul essence of our family as well. Certain elders think it holds pieces of old dragon recollections, even if proof remains elusive. One undeniable fact is that whenever a bearer of the Imperial Bloodline has surfaced in the past, the Black Dragon Clan has surged into a prosperous time of growth and supremacy."
Max's mind weighed down with gravity.
Should Isabella hold the Imperial Bloodline, the craving he sensed before wasn't aimed at regular blood clarity. It targeted the ultimate elevation in the Black Dragon heritage. This indicated his lineage had picked up on a higher essence.
A proud edge colored Lucia's returning grin this time.
"Isabella Lumin's selection by the Imperial Bloodline marked the biggest surprise and joyous occasion our family had seen in ages. Several years back, once the elders verified the harmony, the whole Black Dragon Palace threw a lavish feast. Envoys from the Thirty Six Halls assembled. Even partner groups offered their well-wishes. Everyone viewed it as proof that fortune had shifted our way."
Her stare fixed on Max straight away.
"Do you grasp the worth of a Saintess now?"
Max stayed quiet for just an instant.
The Saintess went beyond being a strong cultivator. She embodied the carrier of the Imperial Bloodline, an emblem of heritage approval, a guiding light for the family's destiny.
His lineage's urge toward hers pointed to just a single truth.
The essence in his body remained unfinished.
'Imperial Bloodline.' Max echoed the phrase inwardly without a sound, letting it land with sharp insight over raw feeling. 'The root of my lineage's craving is the Imperial Bloodline.'
This insight didn't stir him as it could have earlier. Rather, it honed his mind, shifting raw urge into careful breakdown.
He brought back Lady Virelila's past words on the ranks inside the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline. Per her account, the majority of clan's direct heirs bore the Source Bloodline.
This heritage earned broad respect as the mightiest baseline in the family, the cleanest line holding the ancestral dragon's core unchanged. Those who stirred the Source Bloodline counted themselves lucky past belief, with seniors viewing them as the coming supports for their halls.
Still, Lady Virelila had pointed out more.
The Imperial Bloodline rose higher than the Source Bloodline.
Due to its utter scarcity and the slim odds of seeing it show in one lifespan, the Imperial Bloodline got dismissed as myth over real rank.
With passing eras, the family came to see the Source Bloodline as the top, not from it being the absolute summit, but since the Imperial Bloodline stayed too remote, too rare for a benchmark.
Here in this enormous chamber, Max caught the twist in that reality.
He recalled vividly the moment Lady Virelila checked his lineage. Her face showed more than basic shock. It held bewilderment. She'd explained his heritage fit no familiar type in the Black Dragon Clan. It matched neither Source nor Imperial. It lacked the usual harmony signs tied to accepted lines.
It formed something different.
Due to that oddity, she'd made him ingest progenitor-grade lineage essence to steady and hide its special nature. This step wasn't rushed. It aimed to shield his heritage from too much elder attention, where interest might flip to doubt.
Max's eyes wandered shortly to Isabella again before snapping back.
'My lineage doesn't shrink from the Imperial Bloodline,' he mused. 'It boldly craved it.'
Fear and want held a fine line between them. When lineages met, the lesser one typically faced crush or respect. But his encounter brought no crush. It unleashed assault. A savage drive to consume.
Assuming the Imperial Bloodline topped the Source Bloodline, and his dared to yearn for it over bowing, what followed from that?
'Could that suggest my lineage surpasses the Imperial Bloodline's tier?'
This idea sparked a subtle spark in his gaze.
Yet a fresh query chased right after.
'If it does exceed the Imperial Bloodline, why the fierce longing? Full strength doesn't chase wholeness. Just the deficient reaches to mend its gap.'
With this idea rising, Max's thoughts calmed.
His lineage held no weakness, yet it stayed partial.
It responded not from dread, nor pure rule. It hunted what it missed. The Imperial Bloodline, through its polished clarity and straight link to the ancient source, probably bore a piece or trait his lineage needed.
Not for conquest.
But for wholeness.
A serene grasp filled him.
His lineage could only hit its real form by merging the Imperial Bloodline's essence.
This finding didn't drive him to rush. It kindled a profound spark.
'So I haven't unlocked further powers in my lineage yet.'
His gaze glowed softly as the truth embedded. The craving lost its wild drive. It became a hint. A marker that his inner strength hadn't hit its end shape.
Should his lineage truly be a singular force past known ranks, the road forward loomed vaster than he'd first pictured.
And maybe, along that road, hid the spark to rouse what had slept in him from the start.