Blood suddenly boiled as if heated to a rolling state, and faintly, the sound of rushing fluid seemed to emanate from the vessels within his body.

To think it would rebel at this very moment!

Nie Kong snorted inwardly, preparing to retrieve the needle to force the inky green blood back into the Zhuochi acupoint. However, the mere thought had barely registered when Xiangxiang began to shriek as if injected with a stimulant, and Qing Yue floated out from his chest, gasping in astonishment.

What was going on?

Nie Kong’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively glanced around and realized he was standing within a luminous, oval space. It was easily ten times the size of the sphere atop the tree, resembling a colossal cocoon. As Nie Kong shifted his weight, a soft sensation met his feet, surprisingly like stepping on sponge.

“How comfortable!”

Qing Yue zipped down, bouncing joyfully on the green sponge. “No wonder I kept feeling like I was returning home; this must be the source. Hehe, Nie Kong, if I, your Granny, stayed here forever, while it might not help in solidifying my form, my soul power would absolutely surge rapidly. Breaking through to the Heavenly Spirit level would even be possible. Of course, that’s provided I can leave the Beast Tablet first.”

“Oh?”

Nie Kong’s heart stirred. Strictly speaking, Xiangxiang, the little fellow, should also fall under the category of a medicinal spirit, just like Qing Yue. Its excitement suggested it felt the same way Qing Yue did, but regretfully, the little thing couldn't leave his body at this stage.

Suddenly, Qing Yue let out a small gasp, looking at Nie Kong with confusion in her eyes. “Nie Kong, why are you only now willing to release that power?”

Without waiting for Nie Kong’s reply, the smile on Qing Yue’s face vanished, replaced by unconcealable astonishment. “That feels like bloodline power! Nie Kong, are you one of the Five Great Spirit Clans? No, wait—the Spirit Clans cultivate the heart-mind, yet you are clearly cultivating the Spiritual Apertures of the Spirit God.”

“Could it be that the Heavenly Spirit Continent harbors other spirit clans besides the Flower, Dragon, Feather, Snake, and Fish Spirits? I never heard that old fool Ni Ge mention them, nor have I seen them in any books. Stranger still, the power in your bloodline seems to share the same origin as mine! Among the Five Great Spirit Clans, perhaps only the Flower Spirit Clan shares a source with my bloodline. Could this newly emerging clan also originate from some medicinal spirit that achieved the Spirit God status?”

The more she murmured, the more doubtful Qing Yue’s gaze became.

“It’s not a Spirit Clan bloodline; it’s a Half-Spirit Clan bloodline.”

Nie Kong decided to hide nothing more. “My main purpose for coming to the Yin Ruins was to awaken my bloodline.”

“Half-Spirit Clan? What does that mean?” Qing Yue was astonished.

“I don’t know either,” Nie Kong replied with a wry smile.

It was true; he had only learned the term ‘Half-Spirit Clan’ from Hua Yan. As for the origin of this bloodline, he was completely ignorant. Since Qing Yue could sense a shared origin with her own power, perhaps the Half-Spirit Clan in the Yin Ruins truly did stem from some medicinal spirit.

“…”

Qing Yue was momentarily speechless, then frowned, tilting her small head in deep contemplation, seemingly still trying to puzzle out the so-called Half-Spirit Clan.

Nie Kong didn’t disturb her, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

This green space was sealed tightly everywhere; no exit or entrance was visible, nor were there any other objects. He couldn't fathom how the sphere had transported both him and Qing Yue inside. From the current situation, Nie Kong realized his earlier assumption was wrong: the sphere wasn't a passage away from the great tree, but the gateway into this unknown space. He just didn't know what purpose this area served.

“Whoosh… whoosh…”

The sound of flowing blood intensified, projecting outward from his body, echoing resonantly within this cocoon-like space, as if countless trickling streams were responding to each other.

Sensing the condition within him, Nie Kong’s brow furrowed. After a few seconds, he suddenly focused his mind and retrieved the nine Spirit Pattern Needles from his pet pack.

However, just as Nie Kong prepared to unfasten his robes to execute the ‘Nine Revolutions Needle Art,’ he changed his mind. He tucked eight needles back into his pocket, gripping only the longer Celestial Needle in his hand, prepared for the unexpected. He had a strange urge to see just how turbulent this blood would become.

“Boom!”

The blood vessels seemed unable to withstand the surge, fissures of small cracks beginning to appear.

Ripping pain erupted simultaneously across his entire body, causing Nie Kong to tremble slightly. Immediately after, Nie Kong watched as vast amounts of blood spurted out from his pores.

In an instant, Nie Kong became a fountain of blood, crimson fluid dripping continuously onto the ground. To Nie Kong’s surprise, the moment the blood touched the green floor, it spread out, forming threads of blood-red color that crept outwards in all directions like spiderwebs.

In the blink of an eye, the entire cocoon-like green space was covered with dense, crisscrossing crimson lines, resembling an intricate net.

“Buzz!”

When the last small area was blanketed by the red threads, the “cocoon” began to undulate violently.

“Ah!”

A soft cry broke the silence; it was Qing Yue, snapping back to awareness. She shot over in a whoosh and landed on Nie Kong’s shoulder.

“Nie Kong, what’s wrong?” Because of the Life-and-Death Spirit Seal, Qing Yue and Nie Kong were linked in life and death. Seeing Nie Kong suddenly look so miserable made her heart pound with alarm.

“I’m fine!”

Nie Kong managed a strained smile on his blood-soaked face. Many of his blood vessels had already ruptured, and those cracks were continually widening. If this were before, Nie Kong would have already used the Celestial Needle to suppress the blood and taken out the other eight needles to begin the ‘Nine Revolutions Needle Art.’

But now, the changes occurring in that strange power within his bloodline made Nie Kong hesitate to act. At the very moment the vessels fractured, Nie Kong suddenly perceived a mysterious connection forming between the surrounding green space and the power in his bloodline.

“Bloodline awakening!”

At that instant, the words escaped Nie Kong involuntarily.

After entering the Yin Ruins, Nie Kong hadn't seen a single local, so he had no idea what a Half-Spirit Clan bloodline awakening entailed. But that didn't stop Nie Kong’s mind from racing. The current changes in his bloodline power were certainly worth the risk.

“Are you really okay?”

“Really.”

“Don’t you dare kill yourself!”

After sensing him, and seeing that despite his horrifying appearance, Nie Kong was not yet in mortal danger, Qing Yue was slightly relieved. She looked around with surprise, clearly astonished that this round space had undergone such a drastic transformation in such a short time.

“Boom!”

Accompanied by another violent surge of blood, more vessels ruptured in large sections, oozing more crimson drops from his pores. In that moment, it felt as if countless sharp blades were slicing beneath his skin, forcing Nie Kong to groan involuntarily. What comforted him was that his suffering was not in vain: the connection between the strange power contained in his blood and the surrounding space grew tighter, becoming like a single entity.

“Buzz!”

The space vibrated with increasing intensity; the humming noise was deafening.

“It’s shrinking!”

Qing Yue suddenly cried out in surprise, her small form slipping quickly into Nie Kong’s embrace before returning to the Beast Tablet. She wasn't scared, but the space had become rather bizarre; if some unexpected change occurred, keeping her too far from Nie Kong would surely harm them both.

Nie Kong had noticed it too: the space was shrinking rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the side walls of the space were less than two meters from his body. Then, even that small gap vanished; the walls pressed tightly against Nie Kong’s physique, leaving no space at all.

Soft, gentle, comforting.

A strange sensation washed over him from all directions, instantly purging the pain within Nie Kong’s body. At this moment, Nie Kong felt an exceedingly peculiar sensation, as if he had transformed from a fully formed adult back into an infant developing within a womb.

Not only was Nie Kong’s mind utterly tranquil, but Qing Yue inside the Beast Tablet had also quieted down. Even the little fellow bouncing inside the Zhuochi acupoint had stopped calling out, its tender body curled into a round ball, seemingly reverted to the seed form of the ‘Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense’ it once was.

However, this feeling of comfort lasted less than two seconds before another change occurred.

“Ah!”

The blood surged like an ocean tide, the bloodline power fluctuating violently. The surrounding space walls seemed to be pulled along, also undulating incessantly.

Nie Kong’s experience shifted drastically. His state seemed to transition from a baby in a womb to a silkworm pupa inside a cocoon, one that was being grasped by a giant hand and vigorously kneaded.

In a mere ten-plus seconds, Nie Kong’s muscles and bones felt as if they were being crushed into pulp.

“Hmph!”

Nie Kong groaned, biting down hard to endure, just barely preventing himself from passing out.

The spatial oscillations grew more intense. Gradually, Nie Kong’s bloodline power seemed to be extracted thread by thread, and the blood finally began to calm down. But just as the blood quieted, the bloodline power, which had intensified countless times, poured into Nie Kong’s body with destructive force.

“Boom!”

Like a clap of thunder, Nie Kong’s body exploded with noise. Streams of power drilled into his vessels, merging with the blood. It was as if a massive stone had been dropped into a placid lake: Nie Kong’s blood first rippled, the ripples turning into small waves over time, but as the incoming bloodline power grew stronger, these small waves escalated into towering swells whipped up by a hurricane.

Nie Kong grimly held on. Although pain relentlessly assaulted his nerves, he could clearly sense that as that power was separated out, the cocoon-like space around him was shrinking layer by layer. Perhaps the moment the space completely receded would be the moment his suffering ended.

“Boom!”

He couldn't tell how long it took, but the final surge of bloodline power flooded into his body. Yet, at the very instant the surrounding space vanished, every blood vessel inside Nie Kong simultaneously burst open, spraying vast amounts of bloody mist. Nie Kong’s vision went black, and he could no longer hold on, fainting into unconsciousness.