Absolutely!
Imperial-grade bloodline!
Qing'er had completely transformed from the lowest trash-tier mortal bloodline into an imperial-grade one, defying the bloodline taboo rules set by the Jia Lan Clan for hundreds of thousands of years.
Even more... the purity of Qing'er's bloodline was no weaker than that of the princess herself—in fact, it was slightly stronger.
This left the usually arrogant and prideful Jia Ling'er utterly dumbfounded.
Jiang Che hadn't been bluffing—he truly had a way to elevate a mermaid's bloodline. So... didn't that make her, the princess, seem utterly ridiculous?
Kill that little mermaid! Kill her... and your bloodline will still be the strongest. You’ll still be the noble princess!
A dark thought suddenly surfaced in Jia Ling'er's mind.
That’s right. A treasure capable of refining bloodline purity like this must be unique—Jiang Che surely didn’t have another. If she just eliminated Qing'er...
But Jia Ling'er violently shook her head, horrified by her own twisted idea. How... how could she harm one of her own kin?
Yet... she truly didn’t know what to do now.
Her noble bloodline had been her greatest pride, but now even that was gone.
Her mother was trapped in the Nine Heavens and couldn’t descend to the mortal realm. When she was bullied, no one stood up for her. And now, the one thing she could still take pride in—her bloodline—had been overshadowed by Qing'er.
"Jiang Che, young master... what... what’s happening to me?" Qing'er threw herself into Jiang Che's arms.
"You little rascal, put some clothes on first!" Jiang Che glared at her.
"Hehe~" Qing'er giggled, flashing her adorable little fangs, before changing into fresh attire.
"Young master Jiang Che, you’re amazing! My bloodline really improved so much! I feel like... like... I could even become the princess of the Jia Lan Clan now!"
Qing'er puffed out her chest, brimming with pride.
Unbeknownst to her, those words became the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
"Waaahhh~~~ waaahhh!"
Jia Ling'er completely lost it and burst into tears.
Just moments ago, it was Qing'er crying—now it was Jia Ling'er's turn.
Except, when Qing'er cried, someone comforted her. When Jia Ling'er cried... would Jiang Che bother to console her?
Hah! Even if you’re born a princess, that doesn’t mean you get to act like one!
This Jia Ling'er needed to be taken down a peg.
"Uh..." Qing'er glanced awkwardly at Jia Ling'er.
"What? You wanna be the Jia Lan Clan’s princess too, little one? I can help you with that!" Jiang Che scooped Qing'er up in his arms.
And honestly, after her bloodline upgrade... holding her just felt different.
Bloodline, status, talent—these things might matter elsewhere, but to Jiang Che... their greatest use was just boosting his attack speed.
"No way! I don’t want to be any princess. Whoever wants it can have it... I’d rather stay by young master Jiang Che’s side." Qing'er smiled sweetly.
"Waaahhh~~~" Jia Ling'er wailed even louder, feeling the sting deep in her heart.
Human joys and sorrows are never shared—this was a world where only Jia Ling'er suffered!
No matter how loudly she cried, not a single soul stepped forward to comfort her.
"Alright, alright!" Jiang Che clapped his hands.
Jia Ling'er instantly looked up, teary-eyed. Was there hope? Surely this man wouldn’t just leave her sobbing like this.
"What are you staring at? I wasn’t calling you—I meant Xue'er and the others!" Jiang Che’s tone was downright hostile.
"You... waaahhh! You’re so mean! Waaahhh~~~" Jia Ling'er couldn’t stop crying. Her teardrops, as large as beans, hit the ground and instantly crystallized into lustrous pearls, scattering everywhere.
Cry, cry, cry—the more, the better. More tears meant more mermaid pearls, and imperial-grade mermaid tears were quite valuable.
Ding! Host has successfully trolled Jia Ling'er, earning 3 million trolling points.
...
"Young master Jiang Che, what is it?" Xue'er and the others gathered around him.
"Qing'er, congratulations! You’ve got an imperial-grade bloodline now. We’ll all have to rely on you from now on, hehe~"
Yun'er and the others teased Qing'er playfully, showing no trace of jealousy or resentment over her bloodline breakthrough. Even if they did feel envy... they’d never let it show, especially not in front of Jiang Che.
"Young master Jiang Che, do you have any more ways to improve bloodline purity? Chun Chun wants it too~" Chun Chun nestled obediently against Jiang Che’s leg, her little face full of longing.
If you want something, just say it—no need to hide it.
If an ugly person said this, it’d be called greed. But when a pretty girl says it... it’s called honesty!
"Chun Chun, don’t talk nonsense! A treasure like this is one in a million—don’t trouble young master Jiang Che!" Tong Tong scolded lightly.
See? These girls were masters of manipulation. A double act was scary enough, but with four of them?
Poor Jiang Che was completely at their mercy.
"Haha, young master here has plenty to go around! Stick with me, and every one of you will have a shot at imperial-grade bloodline in the future!"
With a grand flourish, Jiang Che summoned dozens of shimmering multicolored scales!!!
That’s right—dozens of Immortal Cloud Heartguard Scales, any one of which could elevate bloodline to imperial-grade!
The little mermaids had never seen anything like it. They were utterly stunned.
They knew exactly what each of these tiny scales represented—
A chance to defy fate!
Just one scale could elevate their bloodline to imperial-grade, even surpassing the princess herself. And Jiang Che had dozens in his grasp? This was beyond insane.
"Wow, young master Jiang Che, you’re incredible!"
The girls swarmed him, clinging so tightly it was like they wanted to swallow him whole.
Everyone claims to hate gold-diggers—but that’s only when their pockets aren’t deep enough. When you’re rich... are they gold-diggers?
No, they’re just your honest, loyal sweethearts!
"Easy now, easy! There’ll be enough for everyone. But you can’t use these scales yet—you’ll need to reach Martial God stage first. Only then will the effects be perfect."
Ahem. Jiang Che wasn’t just stringing them along—he merely had a measly 4.2 billion trolling points left...
After all, you can’t just fulfill a woman’s every wish immediately. Sometimes, it’s better to keep them wanting more.
"Hah... hahaha... what a joke."
Jia Ling'er’s composure shattered completely when Jiang Che pulled out those dozens of scales.
She even laughed at herself. "So... so my proud imperial-grade bloodline was just a joke to you all along."
"What nonsense! It’s all lies! I refuse to believe it! Mother, you lied to me... even the ancestors of the Jia Lan Clan lied to me! You said I was the noblest bloodline of our clan, so why... why is this happening?!"
Jia Ling'er was beyond hysterical—one moment sobbing into her hands, the next laughing bitterly at herself.
Every last shred of her pride had been crushed, leaving her fallen into the dust.