[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-journey-to-become-the-zenith":3,"chapter-journey-to-become-the-zenith-journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-166":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Journey to Become the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1828503,2432,"Chapter 166: A Bloodline Hidden in Ashes","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-166",166,"\u003Cp>A Bloodline Hidden in Ashes\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor said in a calm, amused tone, his golden eyes carrying the kind of quiet certainty that made people doubt their own disbelief before they doubted him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...the true blessing of your inability to harness mana is that it is proof that you are part of the royal family.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words dropped into the chamber like a stone thrown into a still lake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the silence after them was violent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oil lamps crackled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere in the back of the hideout, a chair creaked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Victor said this, aside from Videl everybody looked at him dumbly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even ever-stoic Lane was actually showing a rare look of confusion, her dark eyes widened, lips parted just slightly as though her disciplined composure had been struck through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clara’s thoughts outright stalled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brinda blinked twice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eon stared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, as if they had somehow rehearsed it—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they all shouted in sync with each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"WHAT?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cry slammed through the room hard enough to make the air seem to tremble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the hardened gang members standing guard near the walls turned toward one another, faces stripped of their usual bravado, disbelief flashing naked in their eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shock felt too small a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was absurd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet... coming from Victor...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Impossible things had an infuriating way of sounding disturbingly plausible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same thought surged through every mind at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A relative?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eon... a relative of the Queen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man known as the Ox King... blood of the royal family?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The idea was so outrageous it should have been laughable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no one laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clara’s fingers unconsciously tightened against her lap until her knuckles paled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lane stared at Eon as though seeing him for the first time, trying to fit the brutal underworld king before him with the image Victor had just shattered into existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brinda’s purple eyes flickered sharply, no longer merely surprised but calculating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because if this was true...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not a buried family secret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a political earthquake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bomb dropped beneath the kingdom itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a heartbeat, the room seemed suspended in stunned silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Eon moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or rather—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>something feral rose inside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His breathing came rough, chest lifting heavily as if something violent fought to claw its way out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he finally spoke, the words came out almost like a beast forcing itself through human speech.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you kidding me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was less a question than a snarl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A growl wrapped in words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes locked onto Victor, murderous intent leaking from him so thickly even the room seemed colder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several men near the walls instinctively stiffened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lesser man might have flinched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Might have stepped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Might have feared that look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor did none of those things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He only sat there, unbothered, wearing that maddening composure of his as though Eon’s killing intent were no more than wind brushing past his shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he gave a faint shrug.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Casual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost insulting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you think I’m the kind of person,\" he said evenly, each word deliberate, \"who jokes around about these kind of things?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And somehow...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>that calm was more unsettling than Eon’s rage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was mild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But beneath it sat iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people present unconsciously began recalling every conversation they had ever had with Victor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His threats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His promises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His madness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His schemes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His strange brutal honesty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking for a while...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>they came to the same conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor did not tell lies of this kind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He manipulated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He provoked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He concealed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he did not fabricate truths this large for amusement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clara realized that with an odd chill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That somehow made this even harder to dismiss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eon’s jaw flexed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His hands opened and closed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Part of him wanted to laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Part wanted to punch Victor through the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And some deep hidden part...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>wanted desperately for it to be true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because if it were true—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then every humiliation he suffered for being ’broken’ had been a misunderstanding of blood itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brinda stepped forward slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her robe shifted in the lamplight, purple silk brushing her toned leg as curiosity overtook seduction for once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How did you figure this out?\" Brinda—asked, a bit excited. \"What’s your source?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice carried a different energy now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hungry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it was true Eon was an actual royal...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>then doors she once never dared dream of touching might open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment she was genuinely happy to have joined Victor’s group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lane noticed that gleam.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And frowned faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Videl noticed too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And smiled to herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor leaned back into the large chair as though presiding over some imperial court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, with deliberate slowness—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he lifted one hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And pointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This...\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...my love over here told me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed at Videl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a breath no one reacted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then all eyes turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Videl, who had looked almost serene till now, blinked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And actually flushed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint rose touched her cheeks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My... love?\" she repeated under her breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was surprise in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And unmistakable delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lane instantly narrowed her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Convenient way to introduce her,\" she muttered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course he heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small dangerous smile tugged at his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brinda laughed softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh? So that is how we are defining things now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lane shot her a look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clara, watching all this, felt a weird irritation she did not want to examine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor ignored all of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He kept his attention on Eon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Videl straightened and finally spoke, sapphire eyes serious again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>------------------------------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Authors Notes: Dear Readers, Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Your enthusiasm, feedback, and encouragement really keep me motivated to keep bringing *Journey to Become the Zenith* into existence. If you’re loving the Chapters, I’d love it if you supported my book with a Powerstone, review, or even a Golden Ticket—it helps me develop as a writer and lets more readers enjoy the story. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to share!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With love,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scorpio_saturn777\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creator of Journey to Become the Zenith\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>--------------------\u003C\u002Fp>",1009,"2026-06-09T06:06:36.928Z",1,"novelbin.me","894d1c0c61c3d6beca33439f65cee20f4682b357941c08d4db2993b0c253758a","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-167","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-165",253,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fjourney-to-become-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]