Chapter 132: Chapter 132: A Simple Choice
Castle of Elements, Lumin Dynasty.
The Lumin Dynasty was founded by the Qilin Progenitor.
It was said that he detested wars and unnecessary deaths, always maintaining a neutral stance in territorial conflicts between vampires, dragons, or any other supernatural races.
Unlike the Vampire Progenitor and Dragon Progenitor, the Qilin Progenitor didn't amass large forces.
He took a single wife, and the Noble Qilins existing today descended from that union.
As for the low-class ones, they emerged from the thinning of the bloodline.
Yuna Fulmine and the Fulmine clan were direct descendants of the Qilin progenitor.
In the Lumin Kingdom, he was its founder, and now, as his descendant, King Shun sat on the throne as the rightful ruler.
Inside the throne room, the elders of the Fulmine Clan, the patriarch, and city lords of the Lumin Kingdom were present.
<Assimilation of the Qilin Progenitor bloodline is completed.>
The codex notification flashed before Sam's closed eyes as he sat casually on the throne that belonged to the Qilin progenitor.
When he opened his eyes, they glowed bright green, and his hair, seemingly awaiting the completion of the bloodline assimilation, moved with the air, transforming into lustrous long hair shaded in dark brown.
A sudden chill ran down the spines of those present. The feeling of racial inferiority they had felt before intensified.
Oddly, it didn't affect Yuna. Even her father was influenced by this invisible pressure.
"Where has your respect for your progenitor gone?" An aura filled with friendly hostility emanated from Sam.
In an instant, the throne room, which seemed crafted from purple marble, turned green from the emitted aura.
Without hesitation, the Qilins present dropped to their knees, except for Yuna, who stood expressionlessly beside her husband like an obedient wife.
"This pressure... it's too much."
"H-how can anyone release such pressure?"
Some strong-minded individuals gathered the courage to try and use their lightning Qilin abilities to rise, but to their horror, their access to their powers seemed cut off.
At that point, some astute individuals realized who they were dealing with. King Shun was one of those people.
"The Progenitor... he is the Progenitor," he gulped, and an intense reaction rippled through everyone who grasped this revelation.
"We greet our progenitor," As everyone learned the truth, they greeted him with absolute respect and fear—respect for his status as the progenitor, and fear of the unknown.
The unknown being, Sam, who was once a noble dragon, suddenly turned into a progenitor of vampires, dragons, and now qilins?.
This was beyond the borderline of the unknown, but it was normal for someone like Sam, after he was called the beginning of Anomalies and the unknown.
Sam smirked in satisfaction and glanced at Yuna, as if asking for praise.
"You were good, husband," Yuna smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder, appreciating him.
Then Sam turned his attention back to the qilins. "So, where do I start?"
His gaze went toward King Shun, and he retracted his aura but still kept enough pressure to keep them on their toes.
"Honestly, I'm quite impressed with the qilins. You guys kept the qilin tradition going, never engaging in outside conflicts," Sam said, and the qilins felt boundless happiness that seemed to appear out of nowhere, like one would feel when appreciated by their father.
Suddenly, the pressure increased, and Sam's face grew intense. "But it doesn't change the fact that the branch family delved into devil arts... What's your opinion on this, Shun?"
"Sam... My king, please believe me, as you know the branch family and the main family have always been like day and night. They never got along. It's been too long since the main family interfered with any business concerning the branch family."
"And we certainly don't have a clue why or how the branch family joined hands with those corrupted men."
The incident with the corrupted ones made a huge impact on the cultivator society.
Yes, Sam purposely let this news spread to everyone, even to the normal citizens.
A lot of people had dissatisfied reactions to this event.
While there were some who even wanted to award those corrupted men with public execution.
Even those who were innocent were ridiculed just because they were related to those disgusting men, even though they did not have a clue about it.
"Hmm."
King Shun and the others were really uncomfortable seeing their progenitor silent, without any expression to discern.
"Where are you keeping the corrupted branch family members?"
"In the underground prison, my king. Cultivation destroyed and poisoned to keep them paralyzed," Patriarch Fulmine replied, still looking down.
"Execute them in public, except the head of the branch family. You understand?" Sam's order held no place for negotiation.
Everyone was aware of that and wouldn't raise their voice even if they wanted to say something unrelated to it.
They definitely didn't have a death wish, and certainly didn't want to be ostracized.
"As you wish, my king."
"Also, make their death more excruciating, like hitting one's ballsack a thousand times," Sam thought for a second and said with a small, innocent smile.
...
"How did things go with the clan, Nora?" Adriana was currently having an important meeting with the leaders of the other dragon clans.
As per Sam's orders, Nora became the new leader of the Solheart clan.
Not everyone welcomed it, especially the elders, but what could they do? If they tried to suppress Nora, that would mean rebellion against the king, the progenitor.
No one wanted to intentionally or accidentally offend the progenitor, especially someone who was beyond common understanding, even by supernatural standards—an anomaly.
Currently, with him being the progenitor of dragons, vampires, and qilins, it was already known to the public.
He didn't care about keeping this a secret because the more people knew about it, the better.
He didn't mind what kind of absurd theories people would make about him; he figured that any absurd theories might very well be within the scope of possibilities when it comes to him.
The only problem they faced, not Sam and his wives but others, was the reaction from other supernatural races.
The Azure Dragon Continent was the territory of dragons, vampires, and qilins.
Now, all of them had a progenitor, which meant their forces would grow substantially from now on.
It might not seem like it, but as stories about him spread, it would make the other supernatural races nervous.
Sam wasn't the least bit bothered about this, though.
"It's going well, I guess," Nora answered in a low voice. "Not everyone is happy about this new arrangement, but they can't refuse my order since they are afraid of the progenitor."
After a moment's pause, she continued, "Mm... Where is the progenitor?"
"The underground prison."
...
The underground prison, the Balaur Castle, the Drakulon City.
"Just kill us and end our pitiful lives, why don't you?" Patriarch Solheart, or rather, the ex-patriarch of the Solheart Clan, bit his lips, which were drenched with a black liquid.
His gaze raised as the figure of a tall man emerged from the veil of darkness in the prison that seemed like it had never met light in its life.
Patriarch Solheart may not have seen his face, but he knew who he was.
He was the meddling kid who thwarted his plans for eternal life, the boy whom he hated more than anything in the universe.
"I will give you two options," the figure approached him, letting them see his face.
"You can either tell me how you got involved with the devil arts and die a painless death or live a painful life, wishing that a death ten thousand times over is an easy way out."
Patriarch Solheart and his partners felt a chill run down their spines when they looked into those lifeless eyes, staring at them as if they were mere ants.
"Are you going to do that to every one of us? Even to your own father?"
The figure, the Dragon Progenitor, briefly glanced at William, who was tied up from head to toe against the wall with chains, crippled, some of his bones shattered into pieces.
William looked like he had no soul left in his body.
Disregarding him as if seeing a stranger, Sam returned his gaze back to ex-Patriarch Solheart. "Yes, no choice."
"Now, choose," his voice resounded again, this time mixed with a bloodthirsty pressure that made them feel like they were in the presence of an Ashura.
"A painless death or a torturous, painful life inside this very prison room with no food or water."
Solheart and the others, at this point, had already given up everything.
They were going to die; it was just a matter of how they were going to die.
Seeing them silent, the Dragon King narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Look, I can just extract your memories from your head, but it will hurt like a witch. I'm just giving you a choice."
After a few minutes, dozens of heads rolled down lifelessly, and the prison room was painted in red and black blood.
There stood a single figure, holding the Astral Ascendant sword, which was drenched with red and black blood, looking at the bodies with a calm expression.
The Dragon King raised his hand, and the souls of those dead men gathered, turning into a ball of bluish-black energy.
With a wave of his hand, the souls went towards the figure and merged into his body.
...
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