"Brother!"
A dark-skinned young man smiled and greeted another young man who was practicing swordsmanship.
The other young man, who had been silently swinging his sword on the training ground, heard the voice and looked back, and the tense features on his face finally relaxed into a smile.
Several large drops of sweat, following the turning movement of the young man swinging the sword, slid down his cheeks to his chin, and then dripped onto the ground.
At the feet of this young man, a small patch of ground was already noticeably darker in color compared to its surroundings.
"You're back?"
"Yes." The dark-skinned young man nodded, beaming, "Father finally bought the last ingredient when he went to town this time, so he can prepare a bottle of secret medicine for you."
As he said this, the dark-skinned young man kept his voice very low, so only the two brothers could hear him.
These brothers were Yaen's family, who had fled from Gem Territory earlier.
Three years had passed since their escape.
Now, the second son, Yam, was nineteen, and the third son, Yaka, was sixteen. According to the standards of the Terrila Kingdom, anyone sixteen or older was considered an adult.
For the past two years, Yarn had been running around White Mountain Territory, constantly collecting the secret medicine ingredients for the Flame Hound. He even personally ventured deep into the mountains with his rusty sword several times, all in an attempt to help his two sons become Bloodline Users. After all, the Bloodline inheritance he had obtained regarding the Flame Hound was truly complete.
Not only did it include the Bloodline Stimulation Method, but it even contained the formula for the corresponding Bloodline Secret Medicine!
But this also made Yarn increasingly realize that the rusty sword his eldest son had bought back was absolutely extraordinary!
Yam had gone out with his father a few times but had little success, so he simply focused on learning Kingdom Military Swordsmanship. He took over his father's position and became the militia instructor for this small mountain village, specifically responsible for the village's militia training.
It was unclear whether Yam had a higher aptitude for swordsmanship, but Yam always felt a sense of ease and efficiency when practicing Kingdom Military Swordsmanship. In just two short years, Yarn's mastery of military swordsmanship was already far inferior to his second son's.
And Yam had already made a decision long ago: if he couldn't gather the Flame Hound's secret medicine ingredients before he turned twenty, then he would join the Kingdom Army when he turned twenty. So, in the following days, he didn't follow his father to collect ingredients; instead, he practiced Kingdom Military Swordsmanship with even greater diligence.
He never expected to hear such good news at this moment.
Joy and excitement involuntarily appeared on Yam's face.
But very quickly, he couldn't help but frown and whisper, "Only one portion?"
"Only one portion." Yaka nodded helplessly, "Other ingredients are easy to find, and if worst comes to worst, Father can hunt them in the mountains himself. But the most important one, the Inferno Hound's heart, is truly hard to find. Especially here in White Mountain Territory, there are no Inferno Hound tribes. Father finally managed to buy one from a merchant caravan, thanks to the connections he made during his previous trips to town, but it cost a full ten gold coins."
Upon hearing this, Yam's face showed a look of shock.
Ten gold coins!
"How could it be so expensive? Didn't they say it was four or five gold coins at most? This is double the price!"
"For some reason, Red River Territory has been fighting with Gem Territory for the past two years, and several opened trade routes have been destroyed, so many merchant caravans no longer do business there." Yaka's face also showed some helplessness. "Recently, among the few territories, only Red Soil Territory has traces of Inferno Hounds, and to go to Red Soil Territory, one must pass through Red River Territory. I heard the leader of that caravan say that ten gold coins was already because Father had helped them before, otherwise it would cost at least fifteen gold coins. If transported to the more distant Ice Port, it could sell for at least thirty gold coins or more."
"It's Gem Territory again." Yam cursed with resentment, "Then what about you?"
"Hehe, Second Brother's swordsmanship is better than mine and Father's. As long as Second Brother succeeds, we can go to Red Soil Territory ourselves." Yaka chuckled, a hint of pride on his face.
Hearing his younger brother's words, Yam also smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He had always known that his younger brother was very intelligent, which was why he later supported his younger brother going to town with their father, while he took over his father's work.
"Haven't you ever thought about what would happen if I failed?"
"Then I'll join the Kingdom Army with you, Second Brother." Yaka smiled indifferently, "The Kingdom Army can also provide Bloodlines, and it's free."
Upon hearing Yaka's words, Yam immediately fell silent.
He knew that his younger brother had seen through his thoughts.
White Mountain Territory was not a rich territory. The land's fertility was insufficient, with only a few areas suitable for cultivation. Although there were many mountains, mineral resources were scarce, making the lives of the common people relatively difficult. However, fortunately, the Lord was a relatively benevolent person, without too many miscellaneous taxes or harsh policies. Aside from the two fixed seasonal taxes each year, the common people only paid a head tax for entering the city and a commodity transaction tax.
When Yaen's family fled here, they were taken in by the chief of Fisher Village because they had rescued several hunters who were out hunting. Later, because of Yarn's presence, Fisher Village survived a bandit attack, so the chief of Fisher Village simply invited Yarn to be the village's militia instructor. However, to this day, Fisher Village still does not know that Yarn is a Bloodline User.
But even so, Yaen's family could only save less than one gold coin each year.
This time, taking out ten gold coins meant completely emptying all the family's savings from the past decade or so.
Yam felt immense pressure.
"Brother, we are not a Bloodline Noble family. No one knows what a Bloodline truly is, and even Father became a Bloodline User inexplicably." Yaka shook his head and began to comfort his brother, "You don't need to feel so much pressure. If it really doesn't work out, we'll just join the Kingdom Army together. Or, going to the Lord of White Mountain Territory is also a good option, isn't it?"
"Mhm." Yam responded.
Seeking refuge with the Lord of White Mountain Territory was indeed a good option, and Yam had actually suggested it before.
The Lord of White Mountain Territory, due to the scarcity of resources in his territory, could not afford to support many Bloodline Knights. He only had three family knights under his command, unlike Gem Territory and Red River Territory, which often had five or six Bloodline Knights.
Yam and his father, Yarn, had already inquired earlier. The Lord of White Mountain Territory, Mike. Aisen, treated his family knights quite well. Three of the five villages in his territory had already been granted as fiefs, so if Yarn were to seek refuge, he might even be able to obtain a village as a fief. However, considering the special nature of the rusty sword at home, they did not immediately seek refuge.
Although the three knights of White Mountain Territory had fiefs, they never resided in the villages but handed them over to the village chiefs for self-management, while they and their families lived in the Lord's manor.
If Yarn sought refuge, it would naturally be impossible to avoid, so the rusty sword would definitely not be able to be hidden.
The two brothers returned home with their thoughts, only to find their father, Yarn, already busy preparing the Flame Hound's Bloodline Secret Medicine.
...
Inside the sword, Robin quietly observed Yarn's actions.
After more than two years of recovery, he could now detach from the sword-bearer's perception and directly see the scene within a five-meter radius centered on the rusty sword.
Although the range was not yet very large, in Yarn's small home, he could already see things very clearly.
In an instant, he understood that Yarn was preparing the Flame Hound's Bloodline Secret Medicine.
Although he didn't quite understand what the Ten Thousand People Bloodline was all about, he had seen how Bloodline Users slayed gods before, and thus had some understanding of Bloodlines. Therefore, he understood even less why the path of Bloodline had degenerated to such a state now.
In Robin's impression, the former Ten Thousand People Bloodline was actually the activation of the potential within the people themselves, a manifestation of an ability similar to "innate."
But now, the Bloodline Stimulation Method and Bloodline Secret Medicine were almost indispensable.
Different Bloodlines each had a different stimulation method.
For example, the Violent Bear Bloodline primarily stimulated the Bloodline User's physical strength and power; whereas the Flame Hound stimulated breathing rate, blood supply speed, and so on.
Based on the fact that the Violent Bear Bloodline could manifest two different Bloodline abilities, Robin inferred that the Flame Hound should also be similar, and Blood Flame should only be one of the Flame Hound's abilities. As for the differences in Bloodline ability manifestation, Robin suspected that it might stem from differences in the proportion of secret medicine preparation and the use of substitutes.
For example, for the Flame Hound's Bloodline Secret Medicine, besides the main ingredient which must be the Inferno Hound's heart, three of the five auxiliary ingredients can be substituted, and all eight consumable ingredients have different substitutes.
All the ingredients Yarn had collected over the past two years, except for the irreplaceable ones, were all substitutable alternatives.
Otherwise, if he were to collect ingredients strictly according to the secret medicine recipe in his memory, it would be impossible to gather them all without at least a hundred gold coins—this is also why Bloodline Users are not something poor people can attempt.
Another difficulty that prevents ordinary people from advancing to Bloodline User is Bloodline compatibility.
Don't look at Yarn having already collected a set of ingredients for a Bloodline Secret Medicine; these ingredients can only be boiled into ten portions of Bloodline Secret Medicine.
If Yam fails to activate his Bloodline Power in conjunction with the Bloodline Stimulation Method before all ten portions of the Bloodline Secret Medicine are used up, it would not only mean that all these ingredients would be wasted, but also that Yam is not compatible with the Flame Hound Bloodline.
Just as Yarn failed to activate the Violent Bear Bloodline back then.
Although theoretically, everyone can try three to five different Bloodlines, for ordinary people, where do they have that much time in their lives to make these attempts? Just one portion of Bloodline Secret Medicine is almost enough to make them go bankrupt, let alone trying a second or third portion of Bloodline Secret Medicine.
This is also why among Bloodline Nobles, the saying "the descendants of Bloodline Users are not necessarily Bloodline Users themselves" circulates.
...
The two brothers, Yam and Yaka, returned home and immediately began to help their father prepare the Flame Hound's Bloodline Secret Medicine.
When they said preparation, it was nothing more than grinding all the ingredients into powder, then gradually adding them into a specially made vessel to boil.
The Flame Hound Bloodline is fire-attributed, fierce, restless, and wild, so six of the eight consumable ingredients are used to enhance its fire-attribute effect; while the auxiliary ingredients are, on the contrary, used to neutralize its fierce and restless nature, to avoid creating a poison that would make one go mad upon drinking it. Therefore, to achieve this refining effect, the boiling vessel must be made of water or ice-attributed minerals, and the igniting consumable material used for heating must be a wind-attributed consumable material capable of stimulating fire-attributed effects.
Yaka was responsible for monitoring the heat, while Yam continuously added consumable and auxiliary ingredients into the ice pot, and Yarn monitored the color changes of the boiling secret medicine.
This was the first attempt for the family of three, but with this division of labor, the three of them displayed great tacit agreement.
Before long, when all the consumable and auxiliary ingredients had been added and the wind-attributed consumable material serving as kindling had been completely used up, a soft "plop" sound finally came from inside the ice pot. The originally thick, pitch-black mass inside the pot suddenly cracked open, and then purplish-red liquid began to continuously emerge from within, emitting a pungent odor.
"It's a success!" Yarn exclaimed excitedly, looking at the purplish-red liquid that emitted a fiery sensation.
He knew that his efforts over the past two years had not been in vain; this Flame Hound's Bloodline Secret Medicine had been successfully refined!
Now, the real concern was whether his son would be able to successfully activate the Flame Hound's Bloodline.
"Father!"
Yaka's low cry of surprise suddenly interrupted Yarn's excitement and joy.
"Look!"