Chapter 2949: Father-Son Match

When taking the logical route, stopping halfway was the greatest taboo. Otherwise, it was better to just go with your gut.

The paradox Serana had mentioned was a prime example.

Was it truly a contradiction? Or had she simply fallen into a fixed mindset?

"Let me redefine 'offspring'." As the architect of the offspring concept, was traditional generational lineage still an immutable law before the Progenitor of the Blood Clan?

"It isn't that my children are exceptional, but rather that the exceptional are my children." Why couldn't it be designed that way?

As for the members of the Blood Clan themselves, their dynamic was a "father-son match" in the truest sense—whoever lost became the grandson.

Excellency Serana had evidently made progress; she caught on very quickly this time.

Fu Qian had indeed meant exactly what her puzzled question implied.

"Besides, although I don't have concrete proof, this might not be limited to Tier 2."

He even offered a further reminder.

"Are you saying the actual bloodline relationships within the entire Blood Clan might have nothing to do with their superficial order of descent?"

Building on their earlier deductions, Serana's logical thinking evolved yet again. She visibly shuddered at the realization.

"It's a baseless guess," Fu Qian said. "I just figured that since the concept of offspring plays such a core role in your Divine Path, it might run through the entire sequence from top to bottom."

Yet Professor Fu's words remained ruthless, casually painting a picture that truly "violated human ethics"—

A son's son wasn't necessarily a grandson. In terms of actual seniority, he might be the grandfather.

The Blood Clan's superficial Rose Vine represented nothing more than a trace of flesh-and-blood heredity.

On the transcendent level, the offspring lineage was a chaotic mess where seniority was determined entirely by Rank.

For instance, as a "Divine Child," Excellency Serana was theoretically a true first-generation vampire, directly descended from Annalise.

"How could it be like this..."

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to appreciate this sudden elevation in status, merely murmuring to herself.

"I actually think it's quite an inspired idea. Don't you think it makes the title of 'Divine Child' far more fitting? In theory, it even makes naming every Rank below it incredibly easy."

Fu Qian didn't see the problem, offering high praise for Annalise's groundbreaking innovation.

...

How would they name them... Divine Grandson? Divine Great-Grandson? The perfectly somber atmosphere shattered in an instant. Judging by Serana's expression, she had clearly caught Professor Fu's drift.

And she couldn't even refute it.

If a Blood Clan member's Rank truly depended solely on their degree of integration with the concept of offspring, then the entire Godhood Sequence was simply a shuffled and rearranged bloodline genealogy. Addressing each other by seniority wouldn't be wrong at all.

"As much as I want to refute that... I should have expected this from you. To think you could extrapolate so much just from a title."

Fortunately, she wasn't completely derailed into obsessing over the "grandson" issue. Serana ultimately sighed softly, implicitly agreeing with Fu Qian's judgment.

"Even internally within Gulade, we've always believed this title represents favor rather than a direct literal meaning."

She then dragged her entire faction into it, indicating that they shared her level of understanding.

"Why the prejudice? Do higher entities rarely have children?"

Though it had been meant as a passing remark, Professor Fu took it rather seriously, furrowing his brow as he pressed the issue.

"...Unfortunately, it isn't a prejudice."

A bit puzzled as to why Fu Qian would ask such a thing, Serana thought for a moment before answering.

"Perhaps the concept itself isn't rare. I even know of more than one case where humans have been impregnated with evil god progeny for various reasons...

"But that is precisely where it gets strange. For thousands of years, I've barely heard of any Divine Child leaving a name behind in history or growing into a formidable entity."

Frowning slightly like Fu Qian, she seemed to find her own words deeply perplexing.

"I'm not sure if their gestation is just inherently difficult, or if they face some form of extreme targeted eradication, but their survival rate seems incredibly low."

...

"I see. Thank you for sharing."

Although her conclusion relied somewhat on circumstantial intuition, Serana's explanation was detailed and logically sound. Fu Qian adopted the posture of a receptive student.

It truly was strange.

There were frequent cases of evil god progeny attempting a Descent, and he had even handled a similar incident during his second mission. Yet, their survival rate seemed abnormally low.

As for the idea of targeted eradication, the Warehouse naturally played a leading role.

The exact reasons might still be unclear, but from everything he had seen so far, it was evident that the Warehouse actively targeted ancient higher beings. Eradicating every progeny they spawned made perfect sense.

But there were two lingering questions. First, across such an immense span of time, could the Warehouse truly hunt them all down? If it had managed to leave zero survivors over thousands of years by sheer brute force, it was understandable why it had worn itself down to its current near-depleted state.

Second, was there another possibility? Even without the Warehouse exterminating them, what if the evil god progeny simply couldn't leave their names behind in history?

Yes, the Order of Blood.

A specific authority, verified by Excellency Patches, that all ancient higher beings shared.

Though it superficially resembled human reproduction, during his time in Ehm Palace, Luyi—a core member of the Primordial Council—had explicitly shared that "the essence of the Order of Blood is self-metamorphosis."

What the gods birthed were actually themselves—their metamorphosed selves.

For example, the Primordial Moon and the First Generation Dark Moon, or even the First Generation Dark Moon and the Witch.

Therefore, the grand scenes Serana envisioned—like a father-son duo of evil gods, or a single lineage boasting three supreme entities—were practically impossible to begin with.

As for the "noble daughter of the Mother of Gospel," that did appear to be a counterexample.

However, due to his previous close encounter, Fu Qian knew that the Mother of Gospel's position within the transcendent system was inherently rather unique.

Their brief clash had given him a firsthand taste of what it meant to be the "Mother of Transcendents," a being playing "mother to all things."

For such an entity to possess a "noble daughter" could easily be classified as a special anomaly. In short, the reason Fu Qian had immediately deduced that this "Divine Child" was different from the conventional concept was precisely because he knew the distinction between the two.

And Annalise had stated in the Lullaby that she intended to do things differently from the gods.

Under these circumstances, in a Divine Path crafted by her own hands, it was only natural for the title of "Divine Child" to revert to its literal meaning.

The historical trivia Serana shared simply served as further proof.

"You have less than two hours left..."

Serana didn't show much of a reaction to Fu Qian's gratitude. After a brief silence, she simply reminded him of the time.

"It is getting late."

Fu Qian didn't feel like she was trying to shoo him away, but he glanced out the window anyway and offered his farewells.

"Are you sure I should stay here? Is there nothing else I need to do?"

Seeing him leave so decisively, Serana hesitated for a moment before asking one last question.

"There is... Stay here."

Seeing her sincerity, Fu Qian gestured to their surroundings. He indicated that Shangjing was an auspicious geomantic land, and that she should consider staying to quietly cultivate and stabilize her state rather than rushing to leave.