Chapter 122 - Pseudo Bloodlines

After taking their leave from Ho Ri-Na and Ho Yeon-Hong, Hei and Lian rented two rooms at the harbor tavern. Considering that the tavern was the meeting place for those who traveled in the ocean, Steam City’s taverna was even three times larger than those cities with large ports.

Ho Ri-Na knew that having an entertainment place was ideal for decreasing the dissatisfaction rate, so she spared no expense in building her city's tavern. Likewise, other entertainment facilities such as brothels were equally well cared for and owned large buildings.

"Master Hei, I spoke to various carpenters in the area. In particular, I have found one that has great experience in dealing with artifact ships. I made him look at the ship, and he says the damage isn't serious. The price is more than affordable, and he says he will give us an additional discount as we arrived together with the spirit soldier Sok Yeong-Gi.” Sitting on a table in the large tavern, Old Tohyon made a report regarding the ship’s condition.

“Excellent, before proceeding, however, ask him if it is possible to modify the structure of the ship, I would like to strengthen it. Also, ask him if we can also improve the propulsion system and consider whether it is possible to bring further effects to the formation engraved on the ship.” Hei gave orders as if he was talking about simple repairs.

Hearing what he asked for, Old Tohyon stood with his mouth wide open. It took a few seconds before he could reply, "Excuse me if I allow myself, Master Hei, but such changes to the ship are expensive. The artifact ship has made an excellent performance so far, how come this sudden change?"

"In truth, it was already something I had thought about. Only there was no occasion before, not to mention, as you said, the ship artifact has performed well so far. However, the fight against the whale has been too passive. We can't just rely on the propulsion system, and I can't waste my spirit power on blocking attacks. We must have at least one more card to rely on. It doesn't have to be an attack mechanism; I just need to have installed a shield mechanism. The price isn’t a problem. I have enough resources to absorb the costs.”

The fight against the whale had been really tough for them. Their salvation had been the artifact ship; without that, Hei and the others would have had no hope. But as he said, he absolutely had to upgrade it. If he were to clash with spirit soldiers and second-level spirit beasts, he had to be able to fight without too many worries of being hit.

Old Tohyon understood what Hei meant and nodded, "I will do my best to resolve this issue. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Old Tohyon. I bet you will be tired after all these events. I reserved a whole room for you, get some rest. Aside from what I asked you, you are free to do what you want. But the sooner we solve the ship’s issue, the better. I don't know when Ho Ri-Na will summon us, and when this happens, it is likely to be for the decisive battle against Hong Shin.”

Upon hearing the words 'decisive battle', Old Tohyon swallowed nervously. Although he was an experienced seafarer, it was the first time he would participate in such a big conflict - the dispute between two of the Four Pirate Generals, the greatest exponents of piracy in the Forgotten Ocean.

Old Tohyon took advantage of Hei's permission to go to bed. Indeed, even though his body was still full of energy, his mind was beginning to ache. As he was too nervous, he stayed awake most nights to steer the artifact ship in case there were other sudden attacks.

Left alone, Hei and Lian ordered large quantities of food to be brought to their room. Ye and Xing had stayed over, playing, since they weren't interested in hearing about the artifact ship's issues. However, it was inevitable that they would soon be hungry.

The day passed, therefore rather calm, resting almost the whole day in their room. Hei decided it was better to wait until tomorrow to scour the city. If Ho Yeon-Hong had guided them as she said, it was certainly more efficient than wandering at random. He had several things to do and wanted to see what the city, governed by one of the four Pirate Generals, had to offer.

*

The next day, as she said, Ho Yeon-Hong came knocking on their door. Regarding how she knew the number of their room, it wasn’t at all something so surprising. It was the city of Ho Ri-Na. It was, therefore, right to assume that she had eyes and ears on everything that happened in her territory, and nothing escaped her supervision.

"Hei, Lian. Good morning. I talked to her big sister, and she said that I could guide you. If you come downstairs, I've already had a breakfast table set up.” Ho Ri-Na said softly to the two.

From her relaxed and serene expression, it was clear that the conversation with her sister Ho Ri-Na had gone well, and she hadn’t been punished for her unannounced escape and for hiding without leaving messages to reassure she was okay.

"We'll get there right away," Hei replied briefly. Beside him, Lian was setting up the double bed on which the two of them had slept together with Ye and Xing.

When Ho Yeon-Hong shifted her eyes and noticed that detail, her serene expression had a strange change, but it was only for a moment. Quickly, she replied, "I'll wait for you below," and went downstairs again. Hei paid no attention to it and took his little sisters in his arms. Only Lian noticed Ho Yeon-Hong's change.

On the ground floor, a large table had been set up with dishes and drinks of all kinds. Although it was genuinely abundant as a breakfast meal, Ho Yeon-Hong had learned that Hei and his spirit beasts ate a lot. Even Lian, who didn't give such an impression, ate two or three times the amount of what Ho Yeon-Hong usually ate.

“Don't worry about the meal. I am the one who invited you. Think of it as a thank you for saving my life.” Ho Yeon-Hong bowed deeply. Her words were sincere.

“You don’t need to thank us. It was our mission, after all. Thanks anyway for the meal.” Hei thanked her briefly as he put Ye and Xing down, leaving them free to eat finally.

Once seated, Hei, therefore, asked Ho Yeon-Hong how things had gone with his sister, "So, is everything settled between you and your sister?"

"Yes, we cleared that up. She forbade me to do such an action in the future. But she allowed me to join her crew officially. She said I could even fight in the decisive battle against Hong Shin. However, I have to find a reliable ship on which I can board. That's why I was wondering if- "

"If you could join us for the battle?" Lian finished the sentence for her.

Ho Yeon-Hong quickly glanced at Lian, a little annoyed that Lian had anticipated her, but continued, "Yes. My big sister will never let me join ships with a sixth stage spirit apprentice or lower as captain. It must be at least a seventh stage. Since yours is also an artifact ship, in case of danger, we have more chances to escape. What do you think about it? Can you accommodate my request?” Ho Yeon-Hong asked hopefully as her big eyes looked at Hei's.

Hei met her gaze and thought it over carefully, “Okay. However, I won’t do it for free. You should know it.”

Hei's answer wasn’t what Hon Yeon-Hong had expected, but he had accepted anyway. Lian looked doubtfully at Hei as if she wanted to ask him the reason for this.

'It's not just for receiving a reward. If necessary, we can use Ho Yeon-Hong if things go wrong.' Hei sent a spirit message to answer Lian's doubt.

It was correct. He hadn't accepted just for the reward. If he intended to fight for the fragments of the treasure map, he was sure he would have to cross arms against the General Pirates. At the time, Hei and Lian weren’t the opponents of the four Pirate Generals. However, Ho Ri-Na had a weakness - she was a generous person and loved her sister very much. Although it was an abominable action to kidnap one person for blackmailing another, for the survival of his family, Hei would do such heinous acts.

"Ho Yeon-Hong, apart from Sok Yeong-Gi, what other spirit soldiers are in your sister's crew?" Hei asked a question that interested him very much.

"Why? Are you curious? I guess so. After all, it is one of the questions that is often asked by those who join us officially. In addition to Yeong-nim, there are Won‌ ‌Byung-Chul‌-nim ‌e Ryuk‌ ‌Gyeong-Su‌-nim."

"And compared to Sok Yeong-Gi, how are they?”

"In terms of strength, do you say? I shouldn't tell you openly, but in the end, they aren’t such secret things. Gyeong-nim is a second stage spirit soldier, while Byung-nim is a fourth stage spirit soldier. They both also have a pseudo bloodline, so they are stronger than normal spirit soldiers with an equal stage.” Ho Yeon-Hong explained proudly. She seemed happy to brag about her sister's crew.

"Pseudo bloodline?" Hei asked, perplexed. He was amazed at the cultivation stage reached by the other two spirit soldiers, especially Won Byung-Chul. However, it was the 'pseudo-bloodline' words that caught his attention.

“Don’t you know it? yet you and Lian also have a bloodline… wait. Don't tell me you have a pure bloodline?” Ho Yeon-Hong exclaimed in amazement. She had seen Hei and Lian activate their bloodline during the fight against the whale, but she didn't believe it was a pure bloodline.

"Calm down and explain what you mean." Hei tried to get the meaning of those terms explained.

“Basically, with the disappearance of the divine beasts, it has become impossible to acquire new bloodlines. You must know that when the owner of a bloodline has a child, the child doesn’t necessarily end up owning that bloodline. There is a probability of success that depends on several factors. However, the more you go on with the generations, the more the bloodline becomes less present in the body until it disappears. There may be exceptions in which after generations without owners of bloodlines, there is someone who awakens a bloodline, but they are rare occasions.

Those who are called owners of a Pseudo Bloodline are martial artists who have a bloodline with only the active effect. Therefore they don’t have the passive effect of assisting them in understanding Elemental Laws. Pure Bloodlines are those that have both passive and active effects. I also heard there is another definition called Royal Bloodline, but it is something that concerns the Continent. I don't know precisely how they differ from Pure Bloodlines.” Ho Yeon-Hong finished her explanation as she looked in amazement at Hei and Lian.

'Owners of pure bloodlines! It's something you don't hear about who knows how long here in the Forgotten Ocean.' Ho Yeon-Hong thought to herself.

'Shit, I inadvertently ended up revealing something I shouldn't have.' Hei regretted it.

It wasn’t strange that Hei didn't know this. The information he had was mostly derived from his mother, Bao Bei. Bao Bei had lived in the period when the divine beasts were still alive, and therefore the phenomenon of pseudo bloodlines wasn’t present. It wasn’t so strange, therefore, that she knew nothing about it and hadn’t warned Hei about the pseudo and pure bloodlines.

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, so he couldn’t go back. Asking Ho Yeon-Hong not to report her sister would have been very suspicious. After all, if they were really owners of a pure bloodline, they would have been seen with even more value than now. He could only rejoice that he had discovered it now and that there wouldn’t be too severe as a consequence.

“Ah, for information as we are revealing our secrets. What stage of cultivation has your sister Ho Ri-Na reached?” Hei asked the question that interested him most of all.