Reunion

A quarter of an hour later, a hundred miles outside the towering walls of the Great Berlin City-State.

Ever since the spiritual ley lines had converged once more and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had gradually grown denser, the plants and trees of the world had also become increasingly lush and vigorous. Take this black pine forest stretching three or four hundred miles, for instance. The shortest pines within it were nearly a hundred meters tall, while the tallest century-old pines had already reached over two hundred meters.

The trunks were so thick that several people had to join hands to encircle them. Their dense crowns blocked out the light, and countless vines and moss covered their dragon-scale-like bark. Not a single weed could be seen in the forest. Broad clearings lay between the pines, their floors covered in thick pine needles, while countless precious mushrooms and similar growths sprouted from the roots creeping along the ground.

Two paper figures hovered in midair, supporting the pale-faced prison guard between them.

Jiang Tuochen watched the prison guard with a smiling face as the Azure Steel Sword swayed several times before him. A three-foot-long yellow paper talisman flew out of nowhere, spitting out a flame before clinging tightly to the sword blade. Jiang Tuochen chanted an incantation, and the Azure Steel Sword lightly touched the prison guard between the brows. The guard suddenly let out a shrill wail. A foul stench spread as his urine and feces poured out, his eyes rolling white and his pupils completely losing focus.

"I always keep my word. Naturally, I'll leave this fellow alive!" Jiang Tuochen smiled brilliantly at the old, withered man leaning against an ancient pine. "But I never said I wouldn't erase every bit of his memory!"

The old man was thin and shriveled, his body wrapped in a tattered red-and-gold robe patterned after a great ape. He let out a mocking snort, rolled his eyes at Jiang Tuochen, and lightly shook his withered arm. "But your Soul-Shattering Curse doesn't seem very polished. Did you end up erasing all of this man's intelligence as well?"

Jiang Tuochen sheathed his sword and sighed toward the old man with an expression of compassion for all living things. "My skills are lacking. Shameful, shameful! Though this fellow's intelligence has been completely erased, he's at least still alive. I suppose I haven't broken my word."

Wumu, overflowing with energy, raced in circles around dozens of ancient pines. He left behind over a hundred afterimages, leaping and darting about like a madman. From time to time, he plunged headfirst into the pine needles more than a meter deep, and no one knew how many withered yellow needles had become tangled in his silver fur.

Hearing Jiang Tuochen say this, Wumu snorted coldly. He leaped up and sprang onto a branch more than fifty meters above the ground, crouching there before looking down at Jiang Tuochen. Then he spat with a sharp "ptui."

"Hypocritical Daoist! I hate people like you who say one thing and do another. Lord Wumu never does anything so hypocritical!"

Yin Xuege rubbed his face, wearing an extraordinarily bright smile as he slowly approached the old man who claimed to be the Blood Demon Duke. He held out a hand before the old man and crooked his finger firmly. "Respected Duke, you should fulfill the conditions you promised me, shouldn't you? Twenty drops of the Duke's Essence Blood, along with a vow never to retaliate against what happened today in any form. You swore an oath just now!"

Yin Xuege remembered the old man's voice vividly.

When he had first been thrown into the Blood Prison, he had heard the sounds of the old man being tortured. He had also heard the interrogators questioning the old man about the whereabouts of the Blood Chalice. It was an inherited sacred artifact of the Blood Demon Clan, one of the Blood Demon Clan's thirteen most important treasures.

This old man's origins were certainly extraordinary! But Yin Xuege clearly understood that something like the Blood Chalice was not something he could touch. If the ancestor of the Yin Clan, Yin Tianjue, had been here, he would have been qualified to ask about the Blood Chalice. But Yin Xuege was merely being wise and seeking the share of benefits that belonged to him.

He wasn't greedy—not in the slightest! He was currently only a weak Star Warrior. He sought only what he deserved!

The old man looked at Yin Xuege, then sighed from the bottom of his heart. "A Sunwalker! I must say, our Blood Demon Clan has produced an extraordinary little fellow. Hmm, once I return to my family, I'm afraid I'll have to tell those youngsters to pay close attention to your movements!"

Yin Xuege stared straight into the old man's dim, yellow eyes and said coldly, "That's a matter for you and your family. I don't care about it! I'm merely a weak juvenile. I kept my promise and rescued you from that damned Blood Prison, and in doing so I incurred a debt to Mr. Jiang Tuochen! So I hope you'll give me what you promised. After that, it would be best if we never met again!"

Jiang Tuochen stood to one side, smiling amiably. He was happy to see this happen!

Although Yin Xuege possessed the constitution of a Sunwalker and had extraordinary potential and talent, he was currently only a juvenile. It might take him a long time to grow. But the Essence Blood of a Blood Demon Duke was enough to accelerate Yin Xuege's growth tremendously.

If the identity of a Blood Demon Duke had not been so intimidating that even Jiang Tuochen dared not act recklessly, he might even have considered killing the old man and squeezing out every drop of his Essence Blood to give to Yin Xuege. Yin Xuege was Jiang Rusheng's chosen investment target. Jiang Tuochen did not mind doing a little more for Yin Xuege. It was all a matter of "favors," wasn't it?

Unfortunately, even if a Blood Demon Duke had suffered severe injuries and looked like he was on the verge of death, Jiang Tuochen still did not dare attack him rashly. The Blood Demon Clan was skilled in all kinds of strange curses and spells. No matter how confident Jiang Tuochen was in himself, he still had to consider the safety of the younger members of his family beside him.

Several dozen younger members of the Jiang Family stood scattered around them. Whether intentionally or otherwise, they formed an Eight Directions Heaven-Enveloping Formation, surrounding this section of forest. Multicolored radiance flickered faintly between their fingers. The auras of everyone present were linked together, ready to unleash a heaven-shaking strike at any moment.

Leaning against the pine trunk, the old man smiled and nodded. He glanced at Jiang Tuochen, who appeared carefree but was actually standing ready for battle, then looked at the younger members of the Jiang Family who had already formed their array. He immediately bared his teeth in a wide grin.

"Members of the Stuttgart Family have never been ungrateful and vengeful. If someone shows us kindness, we repay it; if someone bears us a grudge, we settle it!" The old man shakily rose to his feet and smiled as he patted Yin Xuege's head. "You should know the reputation of the Stuttgart Family. Among the countless dark families of the Western world, the Stuttgart Family is one of the most noble."

Wumu blew a sharp whistle. He stared at the old man in exaggerated astonishment and shouted, "The Stuttgart Family? The Stuttgart Family said to have produced seven Blood Emperors and three Blood Gods, and be known as the Blood Demons' foremost imperial clan? Old man, you've really brought shame upon your ancestors. You were actually captured alive by a bunch of humans and thrown into the Blood Prison!"

The old man trembled with rage. He glared fiercely at Wumu, then tilted his head back and spat out a long breath.

"Rude, savage mutt! An old man sleeping comfortably in a secret lair, with less than a tenth of his peak strength, was besieged by twenty-three Grand Arbiters and two thousand five hundred elite hunters from two super city-states! Do you think I wanted to become a prisoner?"

The old man waved his little finger disdainfully at Wumu and took a deep breath. Then he extended his right index finger, its black nail nearly half a foot long, and drove it forcefully into his heart. Amid a piercing sound like rust-covered steel ingots grinding against each other, he tore open his chest, revealing a golden-red heart engraved with dozens of blood-colored demonic characters the size of soybeans.

The old man carefully touched the heart once. His body convulsed violently, and his aged face twisted abruptly. Amid his low, labored breathing, a drop of dark golden-red blood seeped from his heart. As he chanted his incantation, the blood began to emerge faster and faster.

After a full quarter of an hour, twenty drops of blood, each the size of a thumb and round and flawless, hovered before Yin Xuege like translucent red agate beads. The old man rubbed his palm vigorously over his chest, and the wound there vanished without a trace.

"Little fellow, what is your name?" The old man looked solemnly at Yin Xuege. "I am Faenborg Emple Stuttgart. You will inherit my blood, and thus you will inherit my name. Your glory will be shared with me, and my radiance will shelter you!"

Yin Xuege looked at Faenborg in confusion. He shook his head, not understanding, then inhaled deeply and drew the twenty blood beads, containing immense Essence Blood energy, into his body. The Blood Demon Clan's unique innate secret art activated, and the twenty drops of blood quietly seeped into Yin Xuege's heart, gradually releasing pure and resilient blood energy for him to absorb slowly.

"All right, Duke Faenborg, let's not waste any more time!" Yin Xuege scratched his head and shook it at Faenborg, whose appearance had suddenly aged greatly. "Just swear a soul oath not to cause me trouble in the future! I'm Yin Xuege of the Yin Clan, an insignificant juvenile! I still think it would be best if we never meet again!"

Faenborg's aged face twitched repeatedly. He widened his eyes and stared blankly at Yin Xuege.

After a long while, Faenborg pointed at Yin Xuege and shook his finger for quite some time before helplessly shaking his head. He looked deeply at Jiang Tuochen, who stood nearby in battle readiness, then suddenly broke into a brilliant smile.

"All right, all right. I'll swear the soul oath right now. I won't cause you any trouble, Yin Xuege!"

"The Stuttgart Family repays every kindness and avenges every grudge! Yin Xuege, I've remembered your name! You hope we won't meet again in the future, but I think that wish will be very difficult to fulfill!" Faenborg rubbed his nose forcefully. Then, holding onto a sliver of hope, he widened his eyes and stared at Yin Xuege. "Hmm, haven't your elders told you what the Blood Codex Ritual is?"

Yin Xuege stared blankly at Faenborg.

Crouching on the tree branch, Wumu looked toward Yin Xuege in a daze and shock.

Jiang Tuochen and the younger members of the Jiang Family looked at Faenborg, whose face kept twitching with expectation, not understanding what was happening.

After another long silence, Faenborg sighed helplessly. He scratched his face hard, then gently shook his head. No longer wasting time, he followed the agreement between himself, Yin Xuege, and Jiang Tuochen and swore a vicious soul oath. Then his figure blurred, and a mass of viscous blood mist rose silently, enveloping his body.

The bright moon hung in the night sky. A giant bat the size of a washbasin, its entire body dark golden-red and its wings covered in countless fine golden runes filled with an aura of nobility and holiness, shot into the sky from the blood mist. It circled thirteen times above Yin Xuege's head, then transformed into a streak of blood-colored light and flew rapidly westward.

Faenborg's flying speed was astonishing. Even Jiang Tuochen saw only a few faint afterimages flash past before Faenborg vanished from his sight. Seeing such incredible speed, Jiang Tuochen could not help sucking in a cold breath.

Fortunately, he had not acted rashly. That old fellow's strength probably exceeded even Jiang Tuochen's estimate.

Jiang Tuochen shook his horsetail whisk and slowly walked before Yin Xuege. Then he smiled and pulled a vow scroll from his sleeve. It was a miraculous scroll a foot and two inches long, with violet-gold rods and purple qi coiling around its entire surface.

"Let's take care of the serious business!" Jiang Tuochen smiled at Yin Xuege. "Having obtained twenty drops of Duke Faenborg's Essence Blood, Young Friend Yin Xuege, your soaring to the heavens is just a matter of time. The Jiang Family is very willing to have an ally like you!"

Yin Xuege took the vow scroll and, without hesitation, bit through his finger. Using his blood, he wrote the terms he and Jiang Tuochen had agreed upon onto the scroll. As each character landed on the scroll, a deep and imposing voice recited it into the ears of everyone present. The voice pierced straight into their minds, as though it had risen directly from the depths of their souls.

After writing down all the terms one by one, Yin Xuege signed his name at the end of the scroll.

Jiang Tuochen also bit through his finger and used his blood to sign his name at the end of the scroll.

The scroll suddenly dissolved in the wind, transforming into a cloud of hazy purple qi that hovered before Yin Xuege and Jiang Tuochen. The purple qi then writhed rapidly for a moment before finally turning into two fist-sized masses of runes. They trailed streaks of light as they entered Yin Xuege's and Jiang Tuochen's brows respectively.

Yin Xuege sensed that another binding had appeared within his soul. When he looked at Jiang Tuochen, he discovered that an odd connection had faintly formed between them. It was not only Jiang Tuochen—even the members of the Jiang Family present now seemed to share a faint additional bond with Yin Xuege.

"I'm curious. Did you—or should I say, did the Jiang Family—really take a liking to my potential?" Yin Xuege looked curiously at Jiang Tuochen.

"This is how my Jiang Family survives!" Jiang Tuochen looked at Yin Xuege with an amiable smile. "The Jiang Family most enjoys signing such alliance terms with young people whose potential is limitless! We sign alliance contracts with these immensely gifted young people while they're still weak. The price we pay is only the tiniest bit!"

"But once they grow up, they'll bring the Jiang Family endless returns!" Yin Xuege looked at Jiang Tuochen. "Very wise indeed! Just like what happened today, I'm extremely grateful for your kindness toward me. In the future, when I possess sufficient strength, I'll repay you!"

Jiang Tuochen smiled and shook his head. He lightly patted Yin Xuege's shoulder and said slowly, "Not repay me, but repay my Jiang Family. And of course, it isn't repayment. It's mutual benefit! The Jiang Family's ancestral motto is 'the way of the sage king.' We hope that all our allies can gain benefits from cooperating with us."

Smiling as he looked at Yin Xuege, Jiang Tuochen lowered his voice and asked quietly, "Young Friend Yin Xuege, once you possess sufficient strength, you won't let the people of the Great Berlin City-State off, will you?"

Yin Xuege's expression suddenly turned icy. He slowly nodded, and a thin layer of blood mist faintly rose from his body.

Jiang Tuochen immediately laughed. He smiled and saluted Yin Xuege with a formal bow, then forcefully shook his horsetail whisk. The Jiang Family disciples nearby quickly gathered. The group chanted an incantation together, and a cloud of white mist rose beneath them. A clear breeze carried it swiftly toward the Great Berlin City-State.

Yin Xuege touched his heart. Twenty drops of Duke's Essence Blood were hidden inside it, waiting for him to absorb and fuse with them.

The Essence Blood of powerful Blood Demon Dukes was incredibly precious. Every drop of Duke's Essence Blood could produce a powerful Blood Demon warrior. Yin Xuege now possessed a full twenty drops, enough to bring about a world-shaking transformation in his strength within a short time. For the Blood Demon Clan, devouring the Essence Blood of higher-level Blood Demons was itself the southern shortcut to rapidly increasing one's strength!

Thinking of the unfortunate Faenborg, who had been imprisoned in the Blood Prison, Yin Xuege could not help looking west.

"Old fellow, I truly don't want to meet you again! I don't have the strength to get involved in something like this with someone who knows the whereabouts of the Blood Chalice!"

Several hundred miles above the black pine forest, Faenborg was flying rapidly westward while muttering incessantly.

"A juvenile of the Yin Clan, Yin Xuege! May the great ancestor forgive the Yin Clan's sins. They don't even know about the Blood Codex Ritual? Outsiders who suddenly struck it rich are still outsiders. Don't they even know the most ancient and traditional secret codes and laws?"

"Yin Xuege, little fellow, now that you've inherited my Essence Blood, I think it won't be long before you'll be delighted to reunite with me!"

"All right, the most important thing now is to restore my peak strength, then find out why those bastards from the Great Berlin City-State and Milan City-State were able to locate my secret lair where I slept! And how did they know about my connection to the Blood Chalice?"

"Damn traitor, I'll drain your blood, then refine your marrow into grease and make it into an ever-burning candle!"

Two nights later, at the place where Yin Xuege and the two Yin Clan Warriors had left the Flying Magic Chariot three days earlier, a Flying Magic Chariot arrived as promised.

Yin Xuege walked silently into the Flying Magic Chariot sent to receive him, then spread his hands before an administrator from the External Affairs Hall inside.

"The mission failed. The humans discovered our tracks, and Yin 9937 and Yin 9938 became separated from me."

Looking at the dazed face of the administrator from the External Affairs Hall, Yin Xuege let out a pleased, cold laugh.

"I escaped the humans' pursuit only with the help of a friend. Hey, Lord Wumu!"

Amid flashing silver light, Wumu, more than three meters tall, bounded into the Flying Magic Chariot and kicked away the two Yin Clan Warriors who tried to block him.

******

Pighead went out today to stroll around and buy my wife some lip balm and other little odds and ends!

So I'm releasing all of today's updates at once. I still don't know what time I'll wander back tonight! (To be continued)