251. Floridian Harvest
I rode the crimson cloud to a desolate slope. The land lay bare, its surface carved by ancient erosion and scattered with jagged stones resembling broken teeth.
Among the stones, I spotted a mountain of flesh—a grotesque pile of vampire corpses.
According to Taurymne's report, Florida's cities weren't particularly large, but the state had numerous county towns—one hundred and two of which were controlled by vampires.
Across these towns, she had eliminated a total of 757 vampires. Unable to store so many corpses in the white pouch treasure, she had temporarily piled them here.
Unlike the Blood Moon Vampire King, the Red-Eyed Vampire King had firmly established his territory and built a reputation, commanding the loyalty of nearly a thousand vampires.
The majority were First Realm or below, though there were twenty-six Crystal Realm vampire lords and over a hundred Wave Realm vampires.
It's notable that this substantial force remained even after their conflicts with H.A.R.M. and another Vampire King.
Typically, Vampire Kings have little tolerance for lesser vampires and don't allow them to hunt in their territory. However, the Red-Eyed Vampire King was different. He needed the devotional power of the citizens, so he maintained a vampire army to control the population. He permitted his subordinates to feed regularly—just enough to keep people in perpetual fear for their lives.
Without this unusual arrangement, Florida might have been completely devoured long ago, unable to survive until the present day.
Indeed, a nobody stays a nobody.
Though I possess power far beyond ordinary human imagination, I still can't achieve the detached tranquility of the Martial Abbey masters. They view the world as merely a chessboard and see the suffering of living beings as nothing more than losing interchangeable pieces.
During my previous battle with the Red-Eyed Vampire King, each punch I threw transported me back to Tukwila, where I had repeatedly plunged my silver dagger into that jackal vampire's heart—each blow releasing the smoldering anger within me.
I shook my head gently, bringing my emotions back under control.
My gaze turned cold as I opened my mouth, transforming the towering mountain of flesh before me into a river of blood. The remains of over six hundred vampires quickly collapsed into empty husks.
The river of blood gathered in midair, condensing into sangrith blood at a visible rate.
The crimson that filled the sky gradually darkened... and only eight drops of sangrith blood entered my mouth.
"..."
Barely enough to fuel a single full-power battle with a crystal-born Infant.
However, their true value lay elsewhere.
I glanced up at the panel, and the extraordinarily large number made my pulse quicken.
[Remaining Absorbed Lifespan: 114,637 years.]
Of this total, I personally claimed only about eighteen thousand years—eleven thousand from the four harmonizing Crystal Realm vampire lords and seven thousand from the Red-Eyed Vampire King.
The rest all came from Lady Taurymne's efforts.
I summoned her soul, and a yellow-dressed woman appeared ethereally beside me.
"Search Florida's borders for any vampires that might have escaped our sweep." I instructed.
"Yes, at once." Lady Taurymne's face was pale, yet she offered no resistance, bowing respectfully before reverting to her Redeemed Spirit form and drifting away.
I collected the vampire cores and crystals scattered across the ground, then retrieved the corpses of the four vampire lords from the recently liberated cities, along with the Red-Eyed Vampire King's remains.
I activated my blood transformation gift once more.
A moment later, twenty-three drops of sangrith blood floated out from the four vampire lords.
Judging by the quantity, their strength was only slightly inferior to Ascendant King. Those who could survive the fierce battles indeed had some skills.
The Red-Eyed Vampire King, however, was somewhat disappointing, yielding only fifty-seven drops of sangrith blood—far less than Lady Taurymne had produced.
"Hmm?" I noticed a black wooden box beneath the empty husk of the black bear.
After depositing the sangrith blood into my sea of essence, I retrieved the box with a wave of my hand. Inside lay a collection of neatly arranged envelopes.
I opened and read them one by one.
All of the letters came from the same faction.
The content was remarkably consistent—nearly all letters contained inquiries about a cultivation method.
The signatures came from individuals belonging to an organization I recognized.
Fix Wonderland.
In these letters, they referred to the Red-Eyed Vampire King as their "honored consultant."
After collecting all the letters, I discovered a thick manual of cultivation techniques underneath.
"..."
I quickly flipped through the contents of the manual.
After a moment, a line of text appeared on my panel.
[Seeker of Redeemer - Great Divine Cultivation Method: untrained]
I recalled how the black bear's body had manifested treasure armor and weapons, transforming intangible incense offerings and spiritual energy into visible, physical objects.
Now I understand why this vampire suddenly sought to reinvent itself as a divine lord.
It turned out it had received teachings.
"I'll keep this for the time being."
Yet, I didn't plan to use lifespan to learn this technique.
While I had acquired a substantial amount of vampire lifespan, Florida's situation was unusual. If such conditions existed everywhere, New Terra would have collapsed long ago.
Save whenever possible, spend only when necessary.
Martial Abbey already possessed numerous techniques for the Path of Redemption—why waste time on one created by vampires?
Moreover, Lady Taurymne currently lacked the ability to control an even more powerful Redeemed Spirit.
If only I could chance upon a Fifth Realm Vampire Emperor...
I should first return to Martial Abbey to discover what advanced techniques I can learn.
As for the Red-Eyed Vampire King's connection to Fox Wonderland, I wasn't particularly concerned. Fox Wonderland was already on my enemies list—this connection merely reinforced my existing opinion.
"Combining my previous reserves with this new acquisition, I now have one hundred and thirty drops of sangrith blood—that should be sufficient."
I stored the wooden box and gathered all the vampire cores. These cores could supplement sangrith blood, making them too valuable to waste.
I settled into a cross-legged position and channeled the vampire lifespan into the Sanguis Ascensus Method.
This time I directed my focus toward feeding the Tiger Vampire.
[Year One: You infuse the sangrith blood into your limbs and body, feeding it to the Mountain Lord, which begins to consume it unconsciously.]
The same transformations I had witnessed previously now manifested on the Mountain Lord.
I lifted my clothes to examine the tiger patterns that had subtly emerged across my skin. The sangrith blood had fused with these markings, transforming them into a unnaturally vivid red.
At the same time, a tremendous surge of power coursed through my body.
The amount of sangrith blood rapidly decreased.
Before long, over seventy drops were gone, yet the Mountain Lord continued to absorb.
[Year 4200: The Mountain Lord's absorption rate begins to slow. Its aura has reached a certain peak, causing the nearby Leviasaur to sense its position being threatened. The striped tiger glances nonchalantly at its counterpart and swallows another drop of sangrith blood.]
[Year 7426: The Mountain Lord has consumed 113 drops of sangrith blood. Both the Blood Moon Vampire King and the newly-ascended Celestial Leviasaur now prostrate themselves before it, overwhelmed by its dominating aura.]
[Remaining Absorbed Lifespan: 107,211 years]
"..."
As the simulation ended, my entire body burned with stabbing pain, yet the enhancement was undeniably significant.
Previously, I had only managed to extract about eighty drops of sangrith blood from Lady Taurymne's body.
The Mountain Lord had barely reached full Crystallization before, but now it had undergone a complete qualitative transformation.
This exemplifies the characteristic efficiency of vampire body-tempering techniques.
The method may be crude, but it delivers exactly what you pay for.
After the tiger patterns receded beneath my skin, I dressed myself, stood up, summoned the crimson cloud, and retrieved Aurelio Barragan's aura that I had previously collected with my silver bell.
Following the aura's trail, I mounted the crimson cloud and disappeared into the horizon.