Chapter 270 Mark Meets Zheng (Part-2)
Whether it is a beast or a human, one would always fear the unknown and wouldn't foolishly tackle it.
There's a reason why Mark arrogantly attacks the opponents that offend him. Why? It is because he knew that he would win for sure.
And at the same time, since he couldn't inspect the details of his biological mother, he proceeded cautiously with a different approach even after capturing a beast king of the eight-circle realm. Of course, that can be changed once he captures this demigod realm beast but the possibility appeared to be a little bleak, at the moment.
Similarly, Lan Ju could neither sense the strength of the visitors nor could he recognize the exact nature of the Protos energy present in the daggers held by Alina. Hence, it shouldn't be a surprise if he turned a bit wary of them.
Meanwhile, Mark, upon getting the taste of an absurdly powerful sound wave attack, decided not to underestimate its short temper. He also realized that there's some history between Lan Jing and the Zheng beast.
Continuing to stand behind Alina to protect himself, Mark then spoke loudly, "I don't know what happened but it's true that I'm the rightful heir of Lan Gengxin as I have inherited his bloodline. Whether you like it or not, I'll make sure that the Lan Sect will rise from the ashes. If you want to help me, then, I'll happily welcome it. If you don't want to, then, please don't stand in my way.
My grandfather once took you into his family and gave you his surname. So, I think you can do atleast that much for him, considering you are guarding his grave for so many decades."
Lan Ju furrowed his brows as he patiently listened to Mark. In fact, he became a lot calmer because of his soft spot for his master. As the latter was done with his request, he said, "Just now, you mentioned that you inherited his bloodline. Show me the proof."
Mark was elated to hear that the Zheng had cool down and is willing to talk. Seeing a hope to complete his quest, he felt that he did a good thing by trying to be civil instead of just directly going to the fight.
Taking a deep breath, Mark then raised his hand toward the Zheng that had its guard up. "Absolute Freezing"
-10000 EP
As he unleashed his bloodline technique, the surroundings started to freeze at a terrifying pace. In just a second, all of his 200-meter surroundings were frozen in ice except for Alina.
Surprisingly, Lan Ju managed to dodge the attack and quietly landed on the ice floor. He had his heartbeat skipped for a moment as his senses picked up the aura, "I can feel the aura of Blizzard Pegasus in the ice. And it is also very pure just like the master. He is a descendant of the Lan clan, alright. But, if I only consider the range and the temperature of this ice, then, he must be in the 6-circle realm. But, his face is the most suspicious."
*Ahem*
Clearing his throat, Lan Ju then said, "I admit that you have the bloodline but it doesn't prove that you are a descendant of my master. I only answer to Lan Gengxin, neither the Lan Clan nor the ancient Lan Sect.
And not to mention, you are too weak to revive the Lan Sect if I believe this attack is your strongest bloodline attack. So, I have no reason to let you do what you want. However, I will allow you to pay respects to your grandfather because of your bloodline."
Mark didn't take this into consideration when he journeyed to the Kunyu mountain range. Whether it is Lan Jing, Bai Xun, Emperor Shang, Lan Jingyi, or King Shen Niu, everyone told Mark that he strikingly resembled Lan Gengxin.
Then, how come this beast is failing to recognize him? Why does this Zheng still doubt his words? Perhaps, the other party wanted strong evidence to support his claim?
Then, that would only leave a DNA matching. It might appear silly but he can only enquire about the matter despite never reading such a thing in Xie Chen's manuscript.
"System, do the Spirit Beasts have any ability to recognize DNA?"
He expected either the correct answer or a reply something along the lines of 'Figure out yourself'. But, to his surprise, the system sent a different style of reply.
The system was already sassy in nature. As it leveled up, it became less sassy. Lately, Mark thought that the system turned a bit nice except for profanities that are aimed at it.
But, its latest reply made Mark change his opinion. Closing down the notification, he mumbled, "Great, now it turned sarcastic too. Anyway, I'm now on my own. So, what should I do? If I had that Shen Long bracelet with me, I would have made up a story of how I received it as an inheritance. Do I have no choice but to battle? If only the beast can analyze my blood just like the system did with Chang Bo… Hmm… wait a second…"
An idea popped up in his mind.
While Lan Ju is almost losing his patience because of Mark's silence, the latter opened his mouth with a smile, "You have lived with my grandfather for more than two decades. As someone loyal to Lan Gengxin even after his death, you shouldn't have forgotten his scent or the taste of his blood, correct?"
As Lan Gengxin didn't use the Spirit Beast Contract and neither has any system supporting him, he would have used his blood to form a contract with the beast. Mark believed that a beast emperor like the Zheng would be able to remember it.
Confirming Mark's assumption, Lan Ju admitted it, although being, although being momentarily confused about what the guy is implying, "Yes, so?"
Mark raised his hand once again. But, this time, he didn't attack. Instead, he said, "You can have my blood to check whether I have any relation to Lan Gengxin or not."
"Blood?" Lan Ju was visibly surprised by Mark's confident expression. It began to wonder whether this guy is really his master's grandson or not. In the end, he nodded, "alright."
Mark let out a satisfactory smile, seeing that his plan was successful to an extent. He then ordered the Android, "Alina, cut my palm and extract blood."
"Big Brother?" Alina's eyes widened as she looked at him in shock. Even in her dreams, she can never harm her beloved master.
Mark understands the reason behind her hesitation but he neither has any sharp weapons nor does have high strength stat to draw blood out of himself. Hence, he has to depend on this busty android to do the job.
After much deliberation, Alina finally raised her hand and gently sliced at his right palm before taking out a soup bowl from Mark's inventory and squeezing about 10 ml of blood into the bowl. He tried his best to bear the pain, thinking about the quest reward.
After collecting the blood, Alina then tore off a bit of the right sleeve of her robes and tightly wrapped it around the wound as she lacked the healing skill and Mark lacked any healing ointments in his inventory.
Mark didn't care much as he will use the peak potion. Once he enters the Supreme Realm, he could easily heal his wounds with ether energy. All Exalts (7-circle) and above realm experts have that ability. So, the wound is no big deal for him. But, he didn't stop Alina either as it felt good to receive care from a beautiful woman even if that woman is an Android.
Anyway, soon, the Android left her master's side and walked forward, eventually handing it to Lan Ju.
Over the course of several decades, he had eaten several animals and adventurers. So, he wasn't unfamiliar with tasting the blood of a human. The only problem is whether he will be able to control his urge to eat Mark after drinking the blood.
But then again, if Mark's blood tastes really different from Lan Gengxin, killing him should not be a problem as it would imply that the visitor was lying about his relation to the late Patriarch of the Lan Sect.
"Okay, here we go." Lan Zhen raised the bowl and drank the blood. His eyes lit up instantly and his first thought was, "Woah, such purity. It tastes very rich to invoke my hunger." But, in the next second, he let out a deep sigh upon remembering one of the memories with his master. "Gengxin…"
In a wasteland, an injured young man was carrying a leopard cub while battling a bunch of assassins. He was bleeding from head to toe but never once did he put it down or gave it away to those assailants from the Church of Nuwa who termed a beast emperor as an ill omen to the world.
Eventually, all the assassins were killed and the young man who strikingly resembled the current Mark collapsed on his knees. Caressing its back, he said with a smile on his face, "Lan Ju, don't worry about them. As long as I am alive, I won't let anyone hurt you."
Being touched by his actions, the cub let out a cute roar before it initiated the Spirit contract after 18 months of acquaintanceship.
<strong>Back to the present;</strong>
Seeing that the middle-aged-looking fellow went into trance, Mark assumed that his gamble turned into a success. However, he showed his patience and waited for the other party to speak.
Lan Ju then looked at Mark and said, "I guess you are telling the truth. However, I cannot trust a weakling to inherit the sect. Prove that you are worthy."
These words were the ones Mark was waiting for. Feeling that his patience paid off, he threw a challenge in reply, "Will you accept the Spirit Beast Contract and become the guardian of my Lan sect if I stay undefeated for 5 minutes?"