238. Sanguis Ascensus
[Year 7, the Redeemed Spirit consciousness is torn to just a remnant, and Lady Taurymne begins attempting to merge with it.]
[Year 18, Lady Taurymne successfully merges with the Redeemed Spirit consciousness.]
"Huh?"
I stared at the prompt that appeared and abruptly stopped, stunned by Lady Taurymne's efficiency.
I descended into introspection.
Within my sea of essence, the Redeemed Spirit had become nothing more than an empty shell.
I summoned Lady Taurymne.
She stood before me with clenched hands, her eyes betraying a hint of fear. After merging with the Redeemed Spirit's consciousness, she had inevitably been influenced by it.
In the Redeemed Spirit's memories, the assessment of the young man before her was quite concise: stingy and terrifying!
"Go in," I nodded slightly.
Lady Taurymne obediently entered my body, then merged with the Redeemed Spirit within my sea of essence.
The misty white Redeemed Spirit suddenly opened its eyes.
With a simple mental command, I gave instructions to Taurymne, and the Redeemed Spirit floated out of my body, transforming to human size. It radiated flowing white lights and bore a face somewhat resembling my own.
This phenomenon was an ability only a Seeker of Redeemer could possess.
After careful examination, I discovered both advantages and disadvantages.
The disadvantage was that there was an extra step in the process—I had to first give orders to Taurymne, who would then control the Redeemed Spirit, making it less responsive.
The advantage was—
I stood up and looked to my side.
The Redeemed Spirit looked back at me.
I can now mobilize a Ward of Nature and a Seeker of Redeemer simultaneously, with both acting independently. This will serve as an additional trump card when facing future opponents.
"My lord..."
Lady Taurymne instinctively bowed, but suddenly realized that this Redeemed Spirit body bore her master's appearance. She quickly straightened up, mimicking my posture, her expression growing calmer.
I withdrew my gaze. Though I possessed the abilities of a Seeker of Redeemer, I lacked the true power of one.
After all, when I shattered my crystal core, I relied on the Infant of Love.
The Redeemed Spirit had only absorbed the devotional power of a single county, making it at least ten times weaker than a true Seeker of Redeemer.
Nevertheless, this path had proven viable. The remaining challenge was how to acquire more devotional power.
I had no intention of depleting Cascadia's resources, as Albany Laurent truly needed the power of faith. If I recalled correctly, I was a registered disciple of the Martial Abbey.
Those people appeared rather idle.
"All right, come out."
I nodded, watching as the Redeemed Spirit retreated into my sea of essence while Lady Taurymne emerged, visibly trepidatious.
"Excluding the Redeemed Spirit, how much strength do you have remaining?"
"My lord, I have spent ten thousand years reconstituting my soul and have no vampiric power left to use. Yet ordinary Redeemed Spirits or other souls pose little challenge to me."
Lady Taurymne explained softly, which explained how she was able to dispose of the Redeemed Spirit consciousness so efficiently.
"Do you have any understanding of the Ward of Nature Realm?" I asked. Though Taurymne had already proven her value, I wanted to maximize the efficiency of the ten thousand years of lifespan I had invested in her.
"No. Most vampires rarely waste time studying the arts of martial practitioners. Forces like Fox Wonderland that study human training methods are ultimately in the minority," Taurymne said, shaking her head.
Compared to matters of the Infant of Love, Lady Taurymne should have more expertise in body tempering.
When she revealed her true form earlier, the bright red patterns on her body were clearly the blood gift I obtained during my eighth transformation of the Nine Cycles Sanguine Resurrection.
The reason I hadn't used sangrith blood to forge vampire bones and a vampire body was because it was a blood gift rather than a martial art, making it impossible to simulate with my panel.
The Blood Transformation Vampire Bull needed thousands of years to harness this blood gift and reach the height of a Vampire Emperor. Such a timeframe was far too lengthy for my taste.
It would be ideal to incorporate this blood gift into a martial training technique.
With this idea in mind, I immediately launched the panel and began simulating the training of Nine Cycles Sanguine Resurrection.
The panel displayed prompts once more.
As I had anticipated, Lady Taurymne could provide assistance even without the Mind Shard.
[Year 1, you described in detail the technique of Nine Cycles Sanguine Resurrection to Lady Taurymne, as well as your original goal when creating this method. She was surprised by your ingenious ideas and then explained to you how to use sangrith blood to forge a vampire body.]
[Year 9, as you pondered the commonalities between the two, you suddenly had a realization. Among the nine vampires captured within your body, the Blood Moon Vampire King and the Ascendant King were valuable assets, but the early-stage Crystal Realm Leviasaur and Mountain Lord had clearly grown too weak to be useful.]
[If the Infant could absorb sangrith blood, perhaps I could use it to empower these nine immortal beasts once more?]
[Year 107, Lady Taurymne meticulously helped you perfect this idea, completing the method of feeding sangrith blood to nurture the immortal beasts.]
[Initially, you captured vampires to transform yourself. Now that your nine transformations are complete, your next task is to strengthen all of the vampires.]
[Ward of Nature - Sanguis Ascensus: untrained.]
As expected of vampire techniques—consistently crude and simplistic.
In a hundred years, a martial artist might barely master a Wave Realm technique, yet vampires had boldly created a Ward of Nature Realm martial art.
They showed no concern for whether it could be practiced successfully or what problems might arise. In their minds, as long as it was theoretically possible, that was enough.
"..."
I silently stared at the panel. The cost seemed suspiciously low, making me question its reliability.
Within my sea of essence, one hundred and fourteen drops of sangrith blood floated silently.
Sanguis Ascensus. I glanced again at the name of this new technique. With a sigh, I sank into introspection, gazing at the crimson, ferocious Infant. Even the nearby Redeemed Spirit seemed affected, emanating a hint of murderous aura.
How had I strayed so far from my imagined ideal of a gallant martial world hero?
White robes, a fine steed beneath me, sword at my hip, wandering the four corners of the world.
Back in Pinewood County, my life was in danger and I had no luxury of choice—I had to be grateful for any martial art I could practice.
I'd thought that after pulling myself out of my previous predicament, life would become easier. I could do as I pleased: right wrongs with my sword, meet a few valiant heroines, and leave behind romantic legends throughout the martial world.
But the moment I left the county, I plunged headfirst into Cascadia's vampire calamity.
Hero, romantic legend... only to have someone shout "This vampire is General Kane!" the moment I appeared.
I winced.
Now that I'd slain the Blood Moon Vampire King and Lady Taurymne, Cascadia was temporarily peaceful, but I'd made an enemy of Vampires Valley—clearly a formidable foe.
In less than a year, my opponents had escalated from an awakened black jackal to a Fifth Realm Vampire Emperor.
And I particularly loathed unpredictable risks.
Logically speaking, with my current strength, as long as I don't encounter a Vampire Emperor, I can protect myself and travel freely anywhere.
Besides, that Vampire Emperor currently had no time to deal with me.
But what if we happened to meet by chance?
With this thought, I gathered my focus, eyes fixed on the panel.
With no clear path forward, I could only strengthen my position where I stood!
[Ward of Nature: Sanguis Ascensus: untrained.]
I channeled the absorbed lifespan into the technique.
[Year 1, you mobilize the sangrith blood within your body, infusing it into your flesh and bones to nourish the celestial Leviasaur. It obediently consumes the blood, and a crimson vein—formed of vampiric energy—appears in its body. It begins to digest the sangrith blood.]
The Leviasaur was originally formed from the energy of a nascent crystal core.
The gap between the Leviasaur and a Vampire King was so vast that its contribution to my strength had become virtually negligible.
However, now that it was infused with sangrith blood, the aura surrounding the Leviasaur was strengthening rapidly.
[Year 52, the Leviasaur successfully absorbed one drop of sangrith blood. Its cultivation now approaches the Moonfeather's level. It swims unconsciously through your body, with the Mountain Lord and Toad Lord instinctively making way for it.]
I observed the panel, gaining a clear overview of the process.
Back then, Moonfeather, the weakest harmonizing vampire lord, yielded only a single drop of sangrith blood from its entire body. The Ascendant Vampire King produced eight drops, while the two true Vampire Kings generated forty-six and eighty-six drops respectively.
I couldn't help but wonder about the upper limits of the Leviasaur's potential.
The panel prompts flashed rapidly as the demonic lifespan diminished.
[Year 3,149, the Leviasaur has consumed fifty drops of sangrith blood. Its body is covered with crimson patterns that suddenly begin to glow. A rich, domineering aura instantly spreads throughout your body—even the wolf vampire must yield before this overwhelming presence.]
Still consuming?
I gazed inward, observing the continued depletion of sangrith blood.
[Year 5,816, after seventy-two drops of sangrith blood merged with its body, the celestial Leviasaur finally stops feeding. It appears increasingly ferocious, with the other eight beasts cowering in corners, no longer daring to approach.]
[Wade of Nature - Sanguis Ascensus: Apprentice]
[Remaining absorbed lifespan: 6,674 years]
From the weakest of all, it had leaped to become the strongest.
I felt a faint burning sensation on my shoulder. I pulled open my clothes to look and saw the originally dark gold Leviasaur patterns reappearing, now with a streak of crimson that seemed like flowing blood. The burning sensation came from the eye on the dragon's head, where the crimson color was most concentrated.
"..."
I stretched my arm. The enhancement from this simulation proved even more profound than when I had captured the Blood Moon Vampire King.
As expected of vampiric martial arts—strange as they might be, but undeniably powerful.
I had only forty-two drops of sangrith blood remaining in my sea of essence, which I decided to reserve temporarily for the Infant.
I put my clothes back on and released Lady Taurymne, allowing her to enter my Redeemed Spirit for further integration.
For now, I would observe her performance.
Should she underperform, or if I encounter more powerful vampires in the future, I could always reshape another vampire soul to replace her.
Summoning the Infant would cause too much commotion, and the Red Cloud was far too conspicuous.
I decided to use the Whispering Gale to return to Seattle. Though slower, this method wouldn't give people the impression that vampires were invading the city.