Charlot casually picked up the diary. Just as he was about to study "Labyrinth of Agmiras" for a while, a thought suddenly struck him, and he turned the diary over.
The cover on this side was red as dripping blood. At the light touch of his fingers, a line of writing appeared upon the crimson cover: "Vampire Secret Scroll XXVIII" Author: Charlot Mecklen.
When he opened the cover, a stream of consciousness surged forth: Charlot Mecklen had summoned Agmiras, god of overseas labyrinths, repelled a wisp of evil intent from Carnstein, the Blood Kindred evil god, and absorbed it into his diary, transforming it into a volume of "Vampire Secret Scroll XXVIII," seventeen pages in total, recording the secret arts of the House of Adonis blood kindred. If the author failed to master the Adonis Secret Scroll proficiently within the allotted time, he would lose his status as author, and his soul would be taken by Carnstein, the Blood Kindred evil god, upon his return. Countdown: 6 days, 20 hours, 23 minutes, 57 seconds!
"Why was it so urgent?"
"Labyrinth of Agmiras" had given him nearly eight and a half months of leeway, yet the Vampire Secret Scroll gave him less than seven days. Charlot could not help but feel an intense sense of crisis.
He had chosen Bloody Glory at university and had also picked up some knowledge about the blood kindred.
There were thirty-three nations on the Old Continent. The five strongest—the Empire of Inglima, the Empire of Fars, the Byron Empire, the Black Phoenix Dynasty, and the Lionheart Dynasty—were known as the Five Great Empires.
The Byron Empire had been founded by the Thirty-One Clans of the blood kindred. It was a true vampire empire!
The founding of the Byron Empire had a great deal to do with Protagoras, the Great Human Philosopher who had created Bloody Glory.
This Great Human Philosopher had slaughtered thousands upon thousands of blood kindred single-handedly. He had even exterminated six of the blood kindred's Thirty-Seven Clans, leaving them with only the Thirty-One Clans. The resentful ghosts of Blood Kindred Archdukes were said to linger in his hands. At the height of his fame, his name could stop blood kindred hatchlings from crying at night, forcing those vampires to convene an alliance. That gathering accomplished two great matters for the blood kindred.
The first was for the clan chiefs and elders to form a massive secret-scroll compilation committee, which compiled every secret art of the Thirty-Seven Clans.
The second was to plan the founding of a nation. Decades later, they established Byron, withstood nearly a hundred wars against the allied armies of the Old Continent's human nations, and laid the foundations of the new empire.
"Vampire Secret Scroll XXVIII," the twenty-eighth volume of the Vampire Secret Scroll, was also known as the Adonis Secret Scroll. It contained the direct-line secret arts of the House of Adonis, one of the six royal vampire houses.
Carnstein, that Blood Kindred evil god, was the progenitor of the House of Adonis.
The compilation of the Vampire Secret Scroll had begun several decades after Protagoras, the Great Human Philosopher, created Bloody Glory.
By then, the philosopher had already reached his twilight years. He had tried several times to seize the secret scrolls while they were still being compiled, but had abandoned the attempts for various reasons.
Until his death, the Great Human Philosopher had never seen the Vampire Secret Scroll.
He left behind only one sentence: "It is a pity that I could not exhaust the mysteries of Bloody Glory. I hope scholars of later generations can complete this art."
Students at all four universities had once discussed whether Protagoras would have ascended to godhood if he had acquired the Vampire Secret Scroll and completed Bloody Glory.
Naturally, there was no answer to that question.
After the Vampire Secret Scroll had been successfully compiled, only the upper ranks of the blood kindred and their most outstanding young geniuses were qualified to read it. There was no record of any human ever viewing it.
Charlot sighed and thought, I really should make time to return to the university and ask the professors about a few things.
"I'll take leave tomorrow!"
He had moved into a new home, and it was countless times better than his former living conditions. Still, it came with certain inconveniences. For instance, he could no longer casually ask a servant from the Savings Society Apartment to deliver a letter for him.
It was already late at night. Outside was pitch-black, and only the kerosene lamp in the small study offered a faint glow.
Charlot opened the first page of "Vampire Secret Scroll XXVIII" and read it carefully. He let out a slight sigh of relief. He had been completely unable to understand "Labyrinth of Agmiras," but he had at least learned some knowledge of the blood kindred at university and possessed a foundation in Bloody Glory. Reading the Vampire Secret Scroll posed no obstacle.
The foundation of the House of Adonis blood kindred's secret arts was called Blood Flame Qi!
The first page of "Vampire Secret Scroll XXVIII" recorded this very secret art.
Blood Flame Qi was also one of the Thirteen Wonders of Bloody Glory.
The Blood Flame Qi created by Protagoras differed completely from the House of Adonis blood kindred's secret art. It was more domineering and aggressive, but lacked the latter's endlessly tempered refinement and ruthlessness.
As Charlot read, he attempted to follow the secret scroll's instructions and gather Bloody Glory in his chest. To practice the foundation of Blood Flame Qi, he needed to open a Bloody Vortex at his heart. He had expected this step to be extremely difficult, yet it proved incredibly easy. In just half an hour, he condensed a second Bloody Vortex in his chest.
The formation of the second Bloody Vortex meant that Charlot Mecklen had properly stepped into Second-Order Transcendence!
Under normal cultivation progress, even a person of exceptional talent needed at least a year of arduous training to condense one Bloody Vortex. Many apprentices of average talent often needed more than three years.
An apprentice of below-average talent like Charlot Mecklen had failed to complete the training even after four years at university, and had needed the power of an evil god to awaken Transcendence.
Thinking of his predecessor's experiences and the mess he had left behind, Charlot could not help sighing ruefully.
Bloody Glory flowed from the center of his brow into his heart, then returned from his heart to the center of his brow, forming a subtle cycle between the two Bloody Vortices.
Charlot had originally only wanted to practice Bloody Glory for a while.
He had never imagined that he would attract an evil god!
Two of them, no less.
Now, he had finally returned to "practicing Bloody Glory for a while," and had even advanced a rank. One could not help marveling at the wonders of the world.
Several hours later, Charlot opened his eyes. He felt that the Bloody Vortex within his chest had stabilized, while the eye formed from the rune at his brow seemed a little clearer. The range of his Insight had also expanded slightly.
The moment he regained consciousness, a stream of awareness surged from the diary: Countdown until the arrival of Carnstein, the Blood Kindred evil god: 26 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes, 7 seconds!
Charlot was both startled and delighted. Condensing a second Bloody Vortex can delay Carnstein's arrival by eighteen days! If I keep cultivating, could I make it so he never appears at all?
He also knew that was unlikely.
Because staring directly at two evil gods without dying had enhanced his spirituality, his cultivation would inevitably advance by leaps and bounds for a short time. But once he reached a certain bottleneck, it could not possibly remain so rapid.
Still, it was good news.
Dawn was close. Charlot suppressed his overflowing emotions and prepared to head out, first making a trip to Kilmainham Prison.
He had only been transferred to his new post a short while ago and had already taken leave once. Taking leave a second time so soon did not seem appropriate. Rather than casually sending a servant over, it was better to request leave in person.
Charlot believed that Senior Menilman was someone easy to communicate with.
Yet, to his surprise, when he arrived at Kilmainham Prison that morning, he discovered that Senior Menilman had not come to work at all that day.
Charlot waited for two hours, then decisively left work early...