"The Dragon Blood Warrior family?" Lin Lei felt his mind buzz with shock.
To Lin Lei, his family was just an ancient, declining house. How could it possibly be connected to the legendary Four Ultimate Warriors?
"You don't believe me?" A touch of pride showed on Hogg's face. "Lin Lei, you can step forward and look at those spirit tablets carefully. You know how to read now. On the back of every tablet is engraved the deeds of that ancestor. The top three tablets represent ancestors who were Dragon Blood Warriors!"
Hogg took Lin Lei's hand. "Come with me."
Hogg led Lin Lei to the very back of the side where the many spirit tablets were arranged. He lifted Lin Lei up. "Look closely at the inscriptions on the back."
Lin Lei widened his eyes to see—
The characters carved deeply into the back of the topmost tablet were very clear. Those ancient characters, weathered by five thousand years, recounted earth-shattering deeds!
"Baruch, the first Dragon Blood Warrior on the Yulan Continent. In the year 4560 of the Yulan Calendar, Baruch faced the Frost Dragon and the Black Dragon beneath the walls of Linnan City, ultimately slaying both and shaking the world. In the year 4579, Baruch confronted the Nine-Headed Snake Emperor along the North Sea coastline. The sea raged, cities crumbled, and after a day and night of fierce battle, Baruch finally cut down the Nine-Headed Snake Emperor... He established the Baruch Family, becoming the first clan patriarch!"
"Ryin & Baruch, the second Dragon Blood Warrior on the Yulan Continent. In the year 4690, within the Magic Beast Mountain Range, he defeated and subdued a Holy Domain Golden Dragon, becoming a Golden Dragon Holy Knight! In the year 4697..."
"Hazard & Baruch, the third Dragon Blood Warrior on the Yulan Continent. Born in the year 5360, his first battle took place in the Sunset Mountain Range against the Holy Domain magic beast 'Blood-Eyed Mane Lion.' He defeated the Blood-Eyed Mane Lion, forcing it to flee in terror, and his name resounded across the land..."
...
One great name after another, one stunning feat after another, made the hot blood in Lin Lei's veins surge and boil.
"My family... is actually a Dragon Blood Warrior family?" Lin Lei was excited for a long while.
Beside him, Hogg spoke in a low voice. "The first three generations of our Baruch Family had three consecutive Dragon Blood Warriors. Once one becomes a Dragon Blood Warrior, their lifespan becomes extremely long. The second patriarch, Ryin & Baruch, waited until he was over seven hundred years old before marrying and having children."
"What happened after that?" Lin Lei asked, confused. "Father, why don't we have any Dragon Blood Warriors in our family now?"
Hogg nodded. "To become a Dragon Blood Warrior depends mainly on the concentration of the Dragon Blood Warrior bloodline within one's body. The higher the concentration, the better. As it is passed down generation to generation, the bloodline concentration in later Baruch descendants becomes progressively more dilute. However... it's not absolute, because sometimes, amidst the passing generations, a descendant might suddenly manifest a relatively high concentration of the Dragon Blood Warrior bloodline."
"About a thousand years after Hazard & Baruch, our Baruch Family produced a fourth Dragon Blood Warrior. Then, after another fifteen hundred years and dozens of generations, our family produced the fifth Dragon Blood Warrior. But for the following thousand years up until now, not a single Dragon Blood Warrior has appeared."
Hogg shook his head and sighed. "The fifth Dragon Blood Warrior existed on the Yulan Continent for only about two hundred years before disappearing. Over a thousand years, our Baruch Family has completely declined."
Given enough time, even the most glorious family could fade.
"But there is still hope for our family. Perhaps in some future generation, a descendant's bloodline concentration will meet the requirements to become a Dragon Blood Warrior. As long as that condition is met, decades of bitter training will be enough to truly become a Dragon Blood Warrior. Our Baruch Family can then regain the glory of the 'Dragon Blood Warrior Family'!" Light shone in Hogg's eyes. "Lin Lei, you're already six and a half years old. According to tradition, the bloodline concentration test becomes fairly accurate at age six. Today, I am going to test you."
Lin Lei's heart shook. "Test the Dragon Blood Warrior bloodline concentration? Test me?" He understood perfectly what his father meant by this. This test would determine if he possessed the conditions to become a Dragon Blood Warrior.
"Lin Lei, wait a moment. I'll go get the 'Dragon Blood Needle'." Hogg said with slight excitement, then headed toward the secret chamber behind the ancestral hall.
"A Dragon Blood Warrior? Will I become a Dragon Blood Warrior?" Lin Lei's heart was filled with uncertainty.
Standing there, Lin Lei was in a state of inner turmoil, filled with anticipation and a trace of fear—the fear that his bloodline concentration wouldn't meet the requirement.
"If I fail, Father will probably be very disappointed," Lin Lei thought involuntarily. Having relied solely on his father and younger brother since childhood, Lin Lei didn't want to let his father down. But the concentration of the bloodline was not something he could control.
In just a moment, Hogg emerged from the secret chamber behind the hall, holding an extremely thin, transparent needle nearly twenty centimeters long.
"The Dragon Blood Needle?" Lin Lei looked at the long needle in his father's hand, guessing its name naturally.
"All right, Lin Lei. The needle tip will only lightly prick the skin. It won't hurt. Hold out your hand," Hogg said with a smile. Lin Lei nodded, took a deep breath, and nervously extended his right hand. The slight tremor in that hand revealed just how tense he truly was.
It wasn't just Lin Lei; even Hogg himself was very nervous.
"Try to bear with it." Hogg gently pricked the tip of the transparent Dragon Blood Needle onto Lin Lei's right index finger, easily piercing the skin. Lin Lei felt a sharp, piercing pain, and the needle changed from transparent to a vivid crimson.
Hogg immediately placed the Dragon Blood Needle before his eyes with trembling hands, observing it closely.