novelraw Chapter 167 - 165: I Thought We Were Going To
Chapter 167 - 165: I Thought We Were Going To
Yolanda’s beautiful purple eyes widened. "Huh? Brother... you need my cooperation?"
Westheid: "Of course. You’re the most suitable person."
Hearing this, Yolanda pressed her lips together. After a long moment, she seemed to make up her mind and replied:
"For the sake of our family’s revival, this is my duty. Bro... Brother, when do you plan to start? I need to clear my schedule."
Westheid took off his outer coat directly. "We can start the preliminary work right now."
"R-Right now? In front of our ancestor? In the Holy Land?!"
A blush instantly spread across Yolanda’s pretty, fairy-like face. She looked at Westheid and the Pure Holy Spirit.
The former nonchalantly revealed his muscular, masculine torso, while the latter suddenly perked up, sitting ramrod straight and watching her with sparkling eyes.
Based on her understanding of her brother, this was indeed something Westheid was capable of doing.
Yolanda bit her lip. She rested a hand on her heaving, full chest before slowly undoing her shawl. Her slender fingers moved to the hem of her skirt as she said, filled with trepidation:
"...Now isn’t... impossible, but can you give me a moment to prepare myself mentally?"
Westheid: "Every second counts, sister. If this is successful, I hope to have nearly a hundred new members in a few years."
"Nearly a hundred?!"
The platinum-blonde girl’s eyes widened further in disbelief, and she stammered:
"Th-That’s impossible! Leaving aside the issue of conception rates, even if I tried my absolute hardest, I could never give birth to nearly a hundred children in just a few years!"
"...That’s not it. Who said anything about you giving birth?"
Westheid raised an eyebrow, only now realizing they weren’t on the same page.
After a moment’s thought, Westheid said in a peculiar tone:
"Yolanda, you didn’t actually think I was planning to get you pregnant, did you? Tsk, tsk... You’re totally crushing on me."
Yolanda realized her mistake, but she didn’t act overly shy. A flush remained on the girl’s pretty, cool face. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, turned her head slightly, and explained:
"I merely thought it was something you were likely to do. It was a reasonable assumption based on your character. If you had truly requested it for the sake of the family’s revival, I would not have resisted."
"Aww, so that’s not it? I thought you two were going to mate."
The Pure Holy Spirit sounded greatly disappointed upon hearing this, sighing as she said:
"I really wanted to see if West’s children would be as good-looking as him."
’Don’t you worry, your turn will come.’
Westheid glanced at the White-haired Holy Spirit, his eyelids drooping slightly.
"In any case, increasing our population through conventional reproduction is appallingly inefficient. I’ve been thinking, perhaps we can graft the bloodline to link people to us."
As Westheid began to explain his plan, he precisely let his own blood and removed one of his ribs.
While the wound healed at a visible rate, he crushed the rib, grinding it into a fine powder. He collected the flowing blood, refined it, and handed it all to Yolanda.
"After this, use these as materials for an Enchantment on yourself. I recall there’s a branch of Alchemy called Human Body Refinement."
"Isn’t... Isn’t that a forbidden experiment?"
Yolanda was stunned for a moment, then said angrily, "Besides, directly altering a bloodline makes it impossible to pass down the Talents of the Qinghui Bloodline!"
Westheid nodded. "I know. This isn’t about cultivating heirs, but about creating a brand new path. The boundaries of our family can be broadened. I believe that as long as they are Purity People, we can absorb them as one of our own through a grafting ritual. Why should the Qinghui Clan be bound by such inconvenient rules?"
Since Extraordinary Power can be transmitted through bloodlines, someone must have considered using clever tricks to exploit loopholes.
But unfortunately, this world is fundamentally idealistic. Whether through in-vitro fertilization, cloning, or any other method, the results are always inferior products. Life not born according to the Law of nature can never inherit the power passed down through a bloodline.
"Brother... you are truly a bit too open-minded."
Yolanda crossed her arms. "If they do not inherit the Blood of Qinghui from birth, I will never recognize them as part of the family."
As a highly traditional noble Elite, Yolanda’s thinking was extremely conservative, especially on matters related to the family. She wouldn’t compromise one bit.
Westheid: "I don’t need your recognition, just your cooperation. I can only say that if this succeeds, the benefits will be enormous, and it will be crucial for the family’s rise."
The platinum-blonde girl looked at Westheid. Seeing that he was serious, she hesitated before saying:
"If that’s the case... I suppose it’s not out of the question to try."
The Qinghui Patriarch’s previous actions had already built up a great deal of prestige. When Yolanda heard something that went against her instincts, she no longer questioned it immediately, but instead responded with trust.
"It’s just that... I don’t know anything about Human Body Refinement."
Westheid asked in surprise, "What? You really don’t know how?"
"Why would I?"
Yolanda said, puzzled, "It’s neither a Combat Technique nor a political stratagem. I’d be better off studying Heraldry than this obscure branch of Alchemy."
Westheid had always assumed that as the Glowing Blade, his sister, who could make the most of her abilities, must be a hidden master of Human Body Refinement. He never expected that she didn’t know it at all.
"Then go learn it. I think you have a great Talent for it."
Westheid thought for a moment, then said freely:
"In short, try to complete the experiment as quickly as possible, then report back to me."
"...As you command. But I can’t guarantee a timeframe. I can only say I’ll do my best."
Yolanda’s strength was her loyalty—her absolute loyalty. As long as she was given a proper explanation, she was like a loyal hound who hung on her brother’s every word.
"Alright, we’ve stayed long enough. It’s time to go back. I’ll establish a base next to the Holy Land later. With our backs to the Barrier, the incursions from the Chaos Army will no longer be an issue."
Westheid clapped his hands and then warned the Pure Holy Spirit:
"Also, since you’ve performed the blessing, you should be very weak right now. Focus what little power you have left on the Barrier. As for this garden of yours, just leave it for now. Nothing will happen if it goes untended for a while."
At this point, Westheid’s voice was tinged with irritation:
"Your precious Holy Spirit Power isn’t for you to squander like this! If you really want to maintain your little paradise, I’ll find a group of Transcendents from the Holy Tree Path to exclusively tend to your garden. The results will be just as good, if not better, than your own efforts. Do you hear me?!"
The Pure Holy Spirit sensed Westheid’s intense resentment and didn’t dare to object. She shrank back and said:
"I... I get it!"
"You’d better."
Westheid shot another distrustful glance at the ancestor who looked like a white-haired girl before leading Yolanda away.
On the way back, Duke Qinghui discussed the current situation with his sister. They realized that even with the Pure Holy Spirit rescued, the great task of reclaiming the Qinghui Territory was still incredibly difficult.
Their forces were simply too depleted. Even with the Pure Holy Spirit’s Barrier, the defensive pressure was absurdly high, to say nothing of launching an offensive.
In the end, the reclamation of the Qinghui Territory had been too swift, and the development of their rear areas hadn’t kept pace at all.
Westheid couldn’t help but think of Reiya. The Silver-haired Princess had said she would prepare an Army of Light to reinforce him. He wondered what the situation was now and how much longer it would take for them to arrive.
This made Westheid sigh with emotion:
"Ah, if only Reiya could appear here now. How wonderful that would be!"