Chapter 429 - 308: Demon Seed, Source Blood, and Steel, and the Eerie Thick Fog

[After that day.]

[My life changed.]

[Every morning, the maid would bring white bread and hot milk. At first, I didn’t dare touch it, fearing that the dream would shatter once I reached out.]

[But hunger ultimately overcame fear. I grabbed the bread and stuffed it into my mouth; the soft sweet aroma melted on my tongue, almost bringing heat to my eyes—so this is the taste of real bread.]

[Miss Delilah bought us new clothes again.]

[After putting on the new clothes, I was taken to a full-length mirror.]

[When the servant led me to bathe, I stared blankly at the pool of hot water. Amid the swirling mist, a strange face was reflected on the surface—]

[The youth in the mirror was as gaunt as a thin sword without its edge, yet his eyes were astonishingly bright, like the eerie glow of a wolf lurking in the dark.]

[I reached out to touch the mirror, fingertips trembling, unable to believe the person inside was me—the dirty little brat who rolled in the mud and curled up beaten by whips, now resembling a person.]

[I grinned, and the youth in the mirror pulled out a stiff smile, seemingly not used to such an expression.]

[So, this is what I look like.]

[For the first time, I saw what I looked like.]

[Just then, through the mirror, I saw the disdainful expression of the maid behind me. I was stunned for a moment, and suddenly a desire arose within me—I wanted to live differently!]

[My brother and I are very grateful to Miss Delilah, but we all know "there’s no such thing as a free lunch."]

[Two weeks later, my brother and I fully recovered.]

[Miss Delilah didn’t need any help from us for anything.]

[Over time, Lord Stableman seemed to have a lot of objections, often mentioning our affairs in Miss Delilah’s ear; the Black-eyed Race and Ancient Empire were at war, and nobles were very wary of these matters.]

[He looked down on Black-eyed People—this would undoubtedly affect Miss Delilah’s marriage situation as she matured; he promised Miss Delilah’s mother he would take good care of her.]

[But Lord Stableman didn’t know, in Miss Delilah’s heart lay ambition; she relied on others, saw everything calmly—without value, one would be abandoned, among nobles there was only interest, and those who spoke of civility held savagery tightly in their hands.]

[In nobility, the essence beneath the surface isn’t bloodline but—steel!]

[Her family rose from being Blacksmiths; her grandfather was a Pioneer Knight, established with three sets of Steel Armor, conquered the wilds, and now even the great nobles of the Ancient Empire cannot take Viscount Wilson lightly.]

[This is the power of steel!]

[Viscount Wilson himself is a Bloodline Knight who condensed Source Blood, backed by the Imperial Admiral, with a territory of five hundred Elite Knight Orders, three thousand Iron Thorn Corps as Heavy Armored Gunners, a command capable of gathering tens of thousands of army.]

[—Bloodline Knight.]

[With muscles and sinews of steel, impervious to knives and spears, with immense strength, mounted on Exotic Beast dragon horses, clad in eight hundred pounds of Heavy Armor, one swing splits both man and horse, that is—Silver Eagle Knight · Viscount Wilson.]

[Silver Eagle Knight · Wilson, his most famous battle was—charging solo into a ten-thousand-strong army, slashing generals and capturing flags.]

[It is said that his silver steel armor turned crimson, paving a road of glory, like a Death Knight returned from Hell.]

[A complete monster.]

[I always thought it was a story, but Miss Delilah asserted seriously that it was real, though not one person against ten thousand troops, but ten riders against a thousand troops, three Official Knights with seven Third Blood Preparatory Knights.]

[I wanted to say, what’s the difference?]

[Of course, a normal Bloodline Knight isn’t actually as powerful as the Silver Eagle Knight.]

[And the reason Miss Delilah sought loyal "blades" was because she had the resources to become a Bloodline Knight.]

[In Miss Delilah’s family castle, in the stone hall center, a tray holds ten crimson fruits gleaming with cloud patterns as if heartbeats, precisely—Demon Seed!]

[Instinct urged my body, wanting to swallow the Demon Seed in one gulp!]

[Miss Delilah said, the Demon Seed, called Red Jade Spirit Seed by Black-eyed Race’s Legendary Knight, is a higher-level seed than Pure White Seed.]

[But consuming the "Demon Seed" is exceedingly dangerous, causing blood to burn; either explode and die or transcend limits, surviving against odds.]

[Miss Delilah had only ten Demon Seeds, unlike the formal Pure White Celestial Gifted Seed, a gift from the heavens, a family foundation not handed to women, existing solely in her father’s hands.]

[Miss Delilah taught us seven blades—the "Thorn Breathing Method"]

[She didn’t expect us to refine blood through the "Thorn Breathing Method," only to swallow the "Demon Seed" to increase success rate slightly.]

[A year flew by.]

[The tallest among us, Qi, was the first to pounce.]

[At the moment he swallowed the fruit, I heard liquid bubbling from his scarred body. His eyeballs suddenly bulged, and magma-like bright red patterns emerged underneath his skin—then exploded like an overripe pumpkin.]

[Flesh and blood fragments splattered onto the ceiling, hissing and burning through dozens of scorched holes.]

[The remaining six of us were terrified; someone broke down crying. Our oldest was my brother, barely Sixteen, the youngest only eight.]

[In the distance, Miss Delilah frowned slightly, clearly a bit uncomfortable. She urged us to remember one thing—survival instinct!]

[If you can’t defeat the demon, you’ll explode and die!]

[The front blades trembled, swallowing the "Demon Seed," unsurprisingly exploding and dying.]

["Bang!"]

[Blood and flesh burst, fragments of bone and viscera scattered everywhere, hot blood mist permeated the air. Miss Delilah frowned subtly, quite disappointed with the outcome.]