Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 1428  Inheritor of the Imperial Bloodline!

Her voice lowered slightly, as if recounting a legend passed down through generations.

"It is so rare that in most generations, no one even senses its existence. Only females of our clan have ever displayed any connection to it, and even then the connection is often faint. Centuries may pass before a direct descendant appears whose blood can truly resonate with the Imperial Bloodline. Those who are chosen by it are not merely talented. They are acknowledged by the very will embedded within our ancestral blood."

Max listened in silence, absorbing every word.

Lucia continued, "Being chosen by the Imperial Bloodline does not simply enhance cultivation speed. It grants an innate authority over draconic energy. The black flames of such a person are purer and more domineering. Their aura carries a pressure that affects even other members of the Black Dragon Clan. It is said that when an Imperial Bloodline awakens fully, other branches instinctively feel reverence, as though facing the true heir of the primordial dragon."

Her eyes flickered faintly as she added, "The Imperial Bloodline is also tied to the spiritual core of our clan. Some elders believe that it contains fragments of ancient draconic memory, though no one can confirm this. What is certain is that every time an Imperial Bloodline descendant has appeared in history, the Black Dragon Clan has entered a golden era of expansion and dominance."

Max's thoughts turned heavy.

If Isabella possessed the Imperial Bloodline, then the hunger he felt earlier was not directed at an ordinary purity of blood. It was directed at the highest possible refinement within the Black Dragon lineage. That meant his own bloodline had sensed something superior.

Lucia's smile returned, though this time it was tinged with pride.

"The fact that Isabella Lumin was chosen by the Imperial Bloodline was the most shocking and celebratory event our clan has experienced in centuries. A few years ago, when the elders confirmed the resonance, the entire Black Dragon Palace held a grand banquet. Representatives from the Thirty Six Halls gathered. Even allied forces sent congratulations. It was treated as a sign that destiny had turned in our favor."

She looked directly at Max now.

"Now do you understand the value of a Saintess?"

Max remained silent for a brief moment.

The Saintess was not merely a powerful cultivator. She was the living vessel of the Imperial Bloodline, a symbol of ancestral acknowledgment, a beacon for the clan's future.

And for his own bloodline to hunger for hers meant only one thing.

Whatever flowed in his veins was not yet complete.

'Imperial Bloodline.' Max repeated the words silently in his mind, allowing them to settle with clarity rather than emotion. 'So the source of hunger in my bloodline is the Imperial Bloodline.'

The realization did not agitate him the way it might have moments ago. Instead, it sharpened his thoughts, turning instinct into analysis.

He recalled the explanation Lady Virelila had once given him regarding the classifications within the Black Dragon Chaotic Bloodline. According to her, most direct descendants of the clan carried what was known as the Source Bloodline.

That lineage was widely acknowledged as the strongest standard within the clan, the purest branch that retained the essence of the ancestral dragon without deviation. Disciples who awakened the Source Bloodline were already considered fortunate beyond measure, and elders often treated them as the future pillars of their respective halls.

Yet Lady Virelila had also mentioned something else.

Above the Source Bloodline stood the Imperial Bloodline.

However, because of its extreme rarity and the near impossibility of witnessing its manifestation within a single lifetime, the Imperial Bloodline was often treated as a legend rather than a practical classification.

Over time, the clan gradually accepted the Source Bloodline as the peak, not because it truly stood at the highest point, but because the Imperial Bloodline was too distant, too scarce to serve as a standard.

Now, standing within this vast dome, Max felt the irony of that truth.

He remembered clearly the day Lady Virelila had examined his own bloodline. Her expression had not been one of simple surprise. It had been confusion. She had told him that his bloodline did not fall into any known category within the Black Dragon Clan. It was neither Source nor Imperial. It did not display the typical resonance patterns associated with the recognized branches.

It was something else.

Because of that anomaly, she had forced him to consume the essence of a progenitor level bloodline to stabilize and mask its uniqueness. That measure had not been taken lightly. It had been done to prevent his bloodline from drawing excessive scrutiny from the elders, whose curiosity could easily turn into suspicion.

Max's gaze drifted briefly toward Isabella once more before returning to the present.

'My bloodline does not fear the Imperial Bloodline,' he thought. 'It dared to hunger for it.'

There was a subtle difference between fear and desire. When two bloodlines encountered one another, the weaker often felt suppression or reverence. Yet what he had experienced was not suppression. It was aggression. A violent intent to devour.

If the Imperial Bloodline truly stood above the Source Bloodline, and his own bloodline dared to covet it rather than submit to it, then what did that imply?

'Does that mean my bloodline is beyond the level of the Imperial Bloodline?'

The possibility caused a faint gleam to appear in his eyes.

However, another question followed immediately.

'If it truly stands beyond the Imperial Bloodline, then why does it crave it so intensely? Power that is complete does not seek completion. Only something lacking yearns to fill a void.'

As that thought surfaced, Max's mind grew still.

His bloodline was not inferior, but it was incomplete.

It was not reacting out of fear, nor was it acting out of dominance alone. It was seeking something it lacked. The Imperial Bloodline, with its refined purity and direct resonance with the primordial origin, likely carried a fragment or aspect that his own bloodline required.

Not to overpower it.

But to complete itself.

A quiet understanding settled within him.

Only by integrating what the Imperial Bloodline represents could his own bloodline reach its true state.

That conclusion did not push him toward immediate action. Instead, it ignited something deeper.

'That means I have yet to awaken more abilities of my bloodline.'

His eyes shone faintly as the realization took root. The hunger was no longer a blind impulse. It was a clue. A sign that the power within him had not yet reached its final form.

If his bloodline was indeed a unique existence beyond established classifications, then the path ahead was far greater than he had initially imagined.

And perhaps, somewhere within that path, lay the key to awakening what had remained dormant inside him all along.