Chapter 427: Deep-Sea Grade High-Pressure Alloy

Victor perished in a sea of flames, and the stitched monster was laughing gleefully.

Qi Suian, who had gained the most, began to study the Spirit Staff and the so-called life-creation techniques.

His research on the Spirit Staff had only just begun. After copying the data on its True Name rules, he set it aside for the time being.

He was more interested in the life-creation techniques, but after reading through them, he realized the whole affair was fundamentally impossible to replicate.

At first, he had thought Victor was a mad scientist, or at the very least, an eccentric biologist.

But after finishing the box of books, he understood. Victor was simply unhinged.

The fact that he managed to create the stitched monster wasn't entirely unrelated to him; it was more like he stumbled into it by sheer luck.

If he hadn't obtained the Spirit Staff, one of the Blood Race Sacred Artifacts, his impractical and illogical fantasies would have had no chance of success.

"Researching the origin of life" was just a pretense. It was pure "I think, therefore I am"—he thought something would work, so he just did it.

He was lucky, though, in his choice of corpses as his primary material.

And the Blood Race *are* corpses. It was a perfect, if coincidental, match.

The might of the Spirit Staff, combined with the stimulus of lightning, was what allowed the stitched monster to reawaken.

The stitched monster was, in reality, a member of the Blood Race. It was simply an artificial one—a defective product.

By analogy, it was a clone.

It had no True Name and no corresponding dark power. If one had to classify it, it could be placed in the Thin Blood Clan.

However, this artificial member of the Blood Race was not without its merits. Like a second-generation Blood Race member, it did not fear sunlight, Holy Water, or other such deterrents.

Furthermore, its physical body was extremely tough, possessing a constitution that far surpassed that of a normal Blood Race member.

But in exchange, it had lost its powerful immortality.

It also needed to eat. It could eat anything humans could, but it had no sense of taste. And because of its powerful physique and terrifying bite force, everything it ate tasted like flavorless mush.

After dissecting the stitched monster, Qi Suian obtained a great deal of data that proved extremely useful for his research on the Blood Race.

'Its value... is average.'

'The three brides Dracula created are probably a similar case.'

'But as a second-generation Blood Race member, he wouldn't have such crude tastes.' Although Qi Suian had never seen the Blood Race brides of Villerlis Town, he had heard descriptions of them.

The Blood Race might be decadent, but their aesthetic tastes were generally aligned with humans. After all, their appearances and life histories were the same.

'No, wait. Dracula doesn't seem to be human at all. He's the son of the Blood Race Ancestor and the Red Sea Witch.'

'I have no idea what the Blood Race Ancestor is, but the Daywalker said that all offspring born of the Red Sea Witch are dragons.'

'That much can be confirmed to be true, based on the Blood Bath Queen.'

'So, is it highly probable he's also of both Blood Race and Dragon Race descent?'

'In that case, his tastes being a little peculiar isn't completely unacceptable, is it?' After some speculation, Qi Suian arrived at this conclusion.

Dragons, after all, whether Eastern or Western, are known for their lustful nature.

If they weren't, where would the "nine sons of the dragon" and all the various sub-dragon species come from?

'In that case, don't tell me the Red Sea is full of dragons.' The thought suddenly struck Qi Suian.

If it really connected to the present world, it might trigger a limited-time event in the Doomsday Game for a New World Pass.

'Then I'll have to find the Evil Key, that Blood Race Sacred Artifact, first. Without it, I can't open the Red Sea Witch's boudoir.'

As Qi Suian thought of this, an idea suddenly struck him.

He had been desperately searching for a way to bring about the apocalypse. He'd been so preoccupied with other matters that he hadn't considered this path before.

'Easy does it. No need to rush.' Qi Suian comforted himself, his gaze returning to his armor value.

'It's evolved again in this short amount of time.'

His armor value had now reached 155 points, granting him another module slot.

'According to plan, the next module should be for withstanding pressure.'

[SSS·Deep Sea-Level High-Pressure Alloy]

'The change still isn't that significant. It seems the stronger I become, the more raw power I'll need to accumulate to achieve a true qualitative leap.'

Qi Suian could feel himself changing, his strength improving across the board, but this improvement wasn't enough to bring about a breakthrough.

Just as he couldn't kill the Blood Bath Queen before, he still couldn't kill her now.

Only going from unable to kill to able to kill, in his view, was a qualitative change. Otherwise, what was the point of being able to take a few more hits?

'I just wonder if the Blood Bath Queen is enough to get me another module slot.'

'The power levels in the Blood Race World are all over the place.' Qi Suian muttered to himself, then began to pack his things, preparing to leave.

He had the Spirit Staff, and he had figured out the truth behind the so-called stitched monster.

Mary Town, therefore, held no more value for him. Why would he stay here?

He had to rush back to kill the Blood Bath Queen, according to the real-time intelligence sent by the Daywalker.

The resistance had successfully escaped the Transylvania Kingdom, which meant the Bone Zither had been secured.

Furthermore, the Wallachia Kingdom had also been occupied by the church, and the Ghost Lamp, used for brainwashing humans and creating undead servants, had also fallen into their hands.

So the Daywalker was also urging Qi Suian, if there was no news of the Spirit Staff, it would be best to return as soon as possible.

It was for one simple reason: the Blood Bath Queen had completely rallied the remnants of the Demon Faction's Blood Race and united them with the Neutral Faction.

The entire Transylvania Kingdom had entered a state of full-scale military readiness, waiting only for the command to launch an all-out war.

The Daywalker was urging Qi Suian to return quickly to provide support. He also warned him that the Blood Race had already learned of his whereabouts.

They had also dispatched a team of assassins, composed of third-generation Blood Princes, to eliminate him.

As for how his location had been exposed, the answer was simple: a mole.

The eternal life offered by the Blood Race was a timeless temptation. Everyone grows old one day, and not everyone is willing to face death with grace.

Not to mention, the ranks of the Discipline Priests were filled with the illegitimate and younger sons of nobles. The fact that the vast majority of them couldn't acquire Divine Techniques spoke volumes about the weakness of their faith.

But there was no way to solve it. The temptation of eternal life was simply too hard to resist.

Qi Suian finished packing his things and glanced into the distance. It seemed something was happening in Mary Town.

'The Blood Race is here to kill me?' Qi Suian glanced at the time. It was seven in the evening, and the sky had already gone completely dark.

Day and night made no difference to him. He didn't eat, drink, or sleep, and he could see perfectly clearly in the dark.

He wasn't just nocturnal; he was active twenty-four hours a day.

Countless bats were flying above the town, swarming toward Qi Suian's location.

In their talons, each bat carried a shriveled human head.

They were then dropped from the sky, raining down on Qi Suian.

'Can't beat me, so you resort to disgusting me, huh.' With a deadpan expression, Qi Suian unleashed a Great Hand Seal of polymorphic energy, instantly pulverizing all the shriveled heads.

The bats landed and transformed, one by one, into members of the Blood Race.

"Thief, how does it feel to see the civilians you saved turned into desiccated corpses by our hand?" the leading Blood Prince asked with a sneer.

Qi Suian was completely bewildered. He didn't understand what they were talking about. Why were they calling him a thief?

'The church's Sect Leader gets to be called the Daywalker, a much better-sounding title. But when it comes to me, I'm just some low-life thief? They're really underestimating me.'

"I'm curious. Why do you call me 'Thief'?"

"Did I steal something from you?" Qi Suian asked, genuinely curious.

"You stole the power of my Blood Race. If not a thief, then what are you?" another Blood Prince said with contempt. "Without the Daywalker's protection, we will flay you and use your skin as our banner."

"Oh, so that's what this is about." Qi Suian understood now. The Blood Race believed he had stolen their power, but the problem was, he was using one of their Sacred Artifacts.

'As for the Blood Race Sacred Artifact belonging to the Blood Race? So what? He didn't steal it; he just picked it up with auto-loot enabled.'

'By definition, that isn't stealing. At most, you could call it looting.'

"I don't really like this title. I suggest you change it," Qi Suian said sincerely.

"Thief, don't you dare think—" the leading Blood Prince began to say.

The next second, Qi Suian snapped his neck and ripped out his entire spinal column.

"I told you, I don't like that name." Qi Suian held the head and spine in his right hand while stomping his foot on the Blood Prince's chest, crushing the entire ribcage.

However, because he hadn't used the proper method to kill him, the Blood Race's powerful immortality prevented his death. Instead, the Prince began to recover at a frantic pace.

The remaining Blood Princes were startled. They had never imagined Qi Suian could be so fast and so strong.

"Damn it! We're the Blood Race, so why can this Thief draw more power from the Sacred Artifact than us?"

The Blood Princes, of course, didn't believe Qi Suian was acting on his own power. It was simply impossible for a human to master such immense strength.

The Daywalker? He wasn't a pure-blooded human.

"You just don't learn, do you." Qi Suian's expression darkened. He casually produced a wooden stake and drove it straight through the heart of the resentful Blood Prince from before, killing him on the spot.

So what if they were third-generation Blood Princes? Even the unique Son of the Dragon couldn't escape death from a stake through the heart.

He estimated that only second-generation members like the Piercing Demon and the Blood Bath Queen lacked such a weakness; all other members of the Blood Race were vulnerable.

"Attack! Attack now!"

One seriously injured, one dead. Only then did the other Blood Princes awaken as if from a dream, roaring for the attack.

Normally, a stake had to be driven in. The fact that Qi Suian could kill them just by throwing one posed an immense threat to their very lives.

They had thought the Blood Bath Queen was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was just a mere human, what kind of trouble could he cause?

In their eyes, the Daywalker was the great enemy. That was the enemy they should be dealing with, one befitting their status.

Yet they never expected an ordinary human could erupt with such incredible power. It was utterly astounding.

But unfortunately for them, the order came a step too late. Qi Suian was much, much faster.