Chapter 383: The Origin of the Blood Clan and the Name Gurlad, Farewell [Lord of Dawn]

—[As an ancient and mighty existence that has endured through ages, the Blood Duke’s spirituality radiated across many worlds. Legend says that the reason life has blood, and the reason blood flows, are intimately connected to the Blood Duke.]

—[Blood flowing equals life, blood still equals death, and because of this there are rumors that the Blood Duke controls the very definitions of “life” and “death.” Countless beings across many worlds, out of reverence for blood and life and out of fear of death, regarded the Blood Duke as a god.]

—[Because of ancient worship of the Blood Duke, in the many worlds touched by his spiritual radiation, countless legends about his followers spread. For example, the notorious cruel ruler—Queen Mary I, whom people prefer to call “Bloody Mary.” Or the “Bloody Countess” Elizabeth, who bathed and drank the blood of maidens daily to preserve her youth. Or the “Witch of the Night” Lilith, who drank infant blood every day. These legends filled many with terror and dread. But today’s protagonist is one who became the progenitor of the vampires—Vlad III. He not only created an entirely new vampiric civilization, he later rose to be a great being on par with the Blood Duke. Thus, his mortal name faded into the past, just as the name “vampire” was buried. This race’s official name became the Blood Clan, and the great Blood Clan progenitor’s name was changed to—Gurlad.]

[Vlad III originally served under the Blood Duke as a Silver-rank follower, fighting alongside the Blood Duke across many world civilizations. In the battle with the Lord of Dawn’s world, Vlad III earned the Blood Duke’s favor by killing one of the Lord of Dawn’s glorious angels. The Blood Duke then promised his most beloved youngest daughter, Lilith, to Vlad III. But on a blood moon, Vlad III murdered Lilith and devoured the “Blood Energy” civilization shard within her. Using the incomplete “Life” civilization shard he had obtained from killing an angel under the Lord of Dawn, along with a “Slave” civilization shard, he condensed a brand-new Civilization Core and created the undead race of vampires that shocked many worlds...]

[The vampire race exists between life and death. Their blood no longer flows, their hearts no longer beat, yet they possess near-immortality and the trait of restoring strength by drinking blood. But what other civilizations most envied and feared was the vampire-exclusive Embrace ritual and the ability to convert others into blood slaves. These powers gave higher-ranking vampires absolute control over their progeny and blood slaves, making the vampires one of the most promising civilizations in many worlds...]

[Vlad III’s betrayal made the Blood Duke hate him to the bone, not only because his beloved youngest daughter was killed, but because the Blood Energy civilization shard within Lilith had been a gift from the Blood Duke and one source of his power. With the loss of that Blood Energy shard, Blood Energy ceased to be exclusive to the Blood Duke; Vlad III became the Blood Duke’s greatest threat and rival in Blood Energy, and the two became mortal enemies. At that time Vlad III had just absorbed Lilith’s Blood Energy shard and had only recently created the vampire race—he was at his weakest. If the Blood Duke had struck then, he likely could have killed Vlad III. But Vlad III had planned everything. Just as the Blood Duke found the world where Vlad III was hiding and prepared to eliminate the threat, the Lord of Dawn, who had lain in ambush for a long time, attacked the Blood Duke. Vlad III used the chaos to escape and hide. The Lord of Dawn’s ambush triggered a massive war between worlds that dragged on. In the end the Blood Duke’s vital force was grievously wounded, and many formulas and blueprints related to Blood Energy were lost or scattered across the heavens. As payback, the Lord of Dawn also suffered heavy injuries...]

[When Vlad III reappeared, he had already risen to lead a Golden-rank civilization. He returned forcefully with the race he had created—the Blood Clan—under the name Gurlad...]

Yu Yuan gently set down the book Blood Duke and the Secret History of the Blood Clan.

His eyes lowered, his thoughts a thousandfold.

Mie Mie, curled by his chair, opened one eye, confirmed nothing was amiss, then went back to dozing.

After a long while.......

“Vlad III... Gurlad... what a sly bastard! My head hurts...”

From Yu Yuan’s perspective, the vampire progenitor’s whole sequence of actions was simply astonishing.

Vlad III had obviously planned everything long in advance, otherwise how could he have prepared the incomplete “Life” civilization shard and the “Slave” civilization shard ahead of time?

Not only did he successfully kill Lilith and seize the Blood Energy shard within her, he also anticipated the Blood Duke’s attack and tipped off the Lord of Dawn in advance, thus neutralizing his crisis.

Every step had been meticulously calculated.

Calling him a ruthless hero would not be an exaggeration.

Truly worthy of a Golden-rank being.

What surprised Yu Yuan even more was the Blood Duke’s enemy—the Lord of Dawn.

He had heard the name Lord of Dawn before; in fact, the name left a deep impression on him.

There was a Lord of Dawn church in the Northern District of Green Forest City.

One of the materials for crafting the Silver Projectile, the Faith Gold, was scraped off the gilded holy emblem in that church.

Moreover, a newspaper pinned to the magazine display stand had recorded the time when the Lord of Dawn statue shattered before the wasteland fell.

At that moment in every city in this world, any Lord of Dawn statue in the churches had shattered and collapsed at the same time.

Yu Yuan had guessed then that this Lord of Dawn might also be a great being, and the statue’s collapse might be related to his fall.

He even suspected that this world becoming a wasteland could be connected to that fall.

Back then these were just Yu Yuan’s wild conjectures.

But now his suspicions seemed confirmed.

There really was a great being called the Lord of Dawn.

Yu Yuan had experienced the terror of the Blood Duke firsthand.

Just a faint spiritual imprint carried in knowledge nearly turned Fang into a bloodthirsty monster.

A being who could stand on equal footing with the Blood Duke and nearly slay him—how could such a being be weak!

His fall must have been earth-shattering, but Yu Yuan simply could not access those hidden records.

Still, this revealed many mysteries to Yu Yuan and gave him more understanding of the wasteland game.

Just as Yu Yuan prepared to return the book to the magazine display stand,

Zhi Zhi, who had been lying on his shoulder reading this secret history together, showed a slight change.....