Chapter 160: Improve the bloodline?

"But wouldn't that be risky for you?"

"Although there is some risk, do you know how long I have searched for someone with the right bloodline? Do you think people with dragon god bloodlines are common? It's fucking hard to find even a single one. And then you even have to find someone who is willing to make a deal with you. Do you even understand how stuck up those bastards are?", Susan slowly talked herself into a rage. It seemed that she had truly suffered while searching.

They kept silent and let her rant.

"Sorry. Every time I think about it, I just get angry.", Susan apologized after finishing her rant. "So back to the topic.

If we have a contract then the risk is low and although helping you stabilize your bloodline will make me lose some of my power, it will be worth it in the end. And I can even recover it with hard work."

"Then about the method?", Celine asked. The only method she knew was the one mentioned in Ivan's quest and the ritual 'Bloodline Refining Furnace Ritual'.

"The easiest and most stable method is 'Inheritance', which is most likely the method you have been given. Then there are some rituals that can provide the same thing, by refining the bloodline. But both of these methods will only stabilize the bloodline. And although that makes it stronger it's not like it will improve the bloodline."

"So your method will improve the bloodline?"

"No. But it not only stabilizes the bloodline but also fulfills another condition for activating parts of the bloodline."

"Activating parts of the bloodline?"

"Yes. Dragons are one of the highest if not the highest race, so it is reasonable for them to have something that makes them stronger than other races. And since they are solitary, arrogant, and completely unwilling to work with other races, this something has to be themselves.

So that's why they have the ability to infuse traits from other bloodlines into theirs. I don't know how it works, but I know how to start the process."

"That sounds kind of overpowered.", Celine commented.

"It would be. But from what I have heard, there are severe restrictions on how many times it can be done."

"Then wouldn't it be a disadvantage for Ivan to infuse traits from your bloodline? After all, if it was that good, then wouldn't some of the other dragons you have met accepted your offer?", Celine asked suspiciously.

There was praise in Susan's eyes when she answered. "Maybe. I don't know for sure why they rejected me. It could be that they don't value my bloodline that highly, or it could be that they just didn't need the traits contained in my bloodline.

But I know that he can use at least one of my traits, which is 'Spiritual'. If he infuses this into his bloodline, then it should stabilize and even gain its effect."

"Still wouldn't it be better to use the ritual and then he could later find someone with a better bloodline?", Celine didn't relent.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But how long will the ritual need for it to be effective? And are you even capable of activating it?"

Celine knew that she was right. Although it wasn't mentioned in the description of the ritual she was certain that they were currently unable to activate it. And worse, there was no direct mention of how effective it is.

"So your method works directly? And it works faster?"

"I think so.", Susan seemed a bit unsure. "As I already told you that I don't know how it works, but I talked with someone who offered her bloodline and she told me that it took about half a year. She also told me that she couldn't tell me about the process since it would be different for every pair, but the duration should always be around half a year to one year."

"We will have to think about it.", Ivan told her. He wanted to talk about it with Lara first.

"Alright. That's all I can ask for.", Susan agreed. She didn't look dispirited. It seemed like she had already expected him to not directly agree. "Then I'll leave the contract here so you can read it.", she held out her hand with the contract, indicating for Ivan to take it, which he did.

"But could I still get a massage?", she let a pleading tone flow into her voice. Although they were sure it should be fake, it still managed to move them. Creating the instinct to directly agree.

Coughing lightly, Ivan caught himself. "If Celine is alright with it, then why not."

"Sure. It would be good to have someone to practice on before I massage you.", she told Ivan.

"What so I'm just going to be your guinea pig?", Susan asked with fake anger.

"Yeah. So do you want it?", Celine said while grinning at her.

"Even if you suck, a 'Heavenly Massage' is a 'Heavenly Massage'", she shot back.

"Well then remove your clothes and lie down on the table.", Celine ordered.

Hearing that she would have to remove her clothes, Ivan hurriedly wanted to leave, "Then I'll go outside. Call me when you are finished."

"Stop there.", before he even managed to reach the door, the cold voice of Celine stopped him. "It would be better for you to watch. Then it will be easier for me to massage you later on."

"But how hard can it be? Don't I just have to lie on the table?"

"Yes, but a good stimulus before the massage can increase the effect it has on your mental strength. And besides, you could use some training for your mentality. If you run away every time you see a girl naked, then how would you be able to fight? If you fight against a woman, then do you want to have to give up, since even cutting her clothes would make you want to run away?"

Although Ivan thought what she said was a bit far fetched, he couldn't deny the truth of the core matter she had mentioned. In battle there could be situations he would find uncomfortable and damage to clothes would easily be possible. So if his first reaction then was to look away or even run away, then this could spell doom.

"She is right, you know.", Susan agreed with Celine as well. "And let me tell you, there are some women who run around so sexily dressed, that the current you would definitely have a problem with it. Not to mention them using charms and other tactics. If you can't withstand them, then you will be in serious trouble.

There are even organizations, whose members charm a man and then get him to sell himself as

a slave, while the woman from the organization will count the profit."

"Urgh. That sounds bad. But still... Wouldn't it be enough to strengthen my will?", Ivan asked. He had gotten interested in the topic since he hadn't thought about it before. It touched a subject he was inexperienced with. He hadn't experienced a lot of variety of combat and life, so maybe he would be more susceptible to such things.

"Strengthening your will is only one point. Experiencing a multitude of situations is useful as well. Here people of this realm are far behind those of the upper realms. Although I can't say that it is a bad thing for those living here. Only when you leave, will you be in a disadvantage against those who have grown up in the cruel world up there."

"What do you mean?"

"In every known realm, besides this one, where the System exerts so much direct control, there is only one rule, the rule of the jungle. The strong eat the weak."

"But wouldn't that just create chaos?"

"Of course not. To the strong, a bit of order is good for their own development, since it makes the amassing of resources easier. So they impose their rule onto those weaker and create their own form of order.

There are kingdoms, empires, sects and many other organizations. And all of them strive to become stronger while using those weaker than them. So the world is filled with constant war and nobody is surprised when suddenly someone goes on a killing spree.

And then there is the difference between cultivators and mortals. To a cultivator, a mortal is in the best case a source of resources and in the normal only a speck of dirt, that can be ignored. Well, some just see them as their plaything."

"Wow. That sounds horrible."

"It is how it is. But although there is always some danger, it isn't like it is all bad. There is order and usually, nobody wants to waste their energy on things that benefits them. Together with a concept of pride and honor, it keeps some stability. Most of the time, those in the same cultivation realm would fight each other while those with higher realms would ignore them as long as they don't cross some kind of baseline."