Kaimeng City, Red Mist Institute.
"Broken Lake Prison has already sent notice regarding your matter. Since that person has decided on your punishment, the institute naturally will not defy her demands."
Inside the office, the Red-Eyed Young Scholar in a white robe looked at the Blue Scale Fishman before him, whose body was covered in bloody marks, and calmly said, "Lawrence, how is the progress of your Blood Embrace?"
The Blue Scale Fishman lowered his head. "I condensed two drops of Silver Source Blood and two drops of Golden Source Blood, but after more than ten days, there has been no progress at all on the third drop of Silver Source Blood... This should be this student's limit."
"You were just one step away from condensing Seven-Colored Source Blood. What a pity. But there's no need to be discouraged. Perhaps you'll have a chance to purify your bloodline in the future." The Red-Eyed Young Scholar first sighed, then turned serious. "So, after determining that there was no need for you to remain in Broken Lake Prison for the Blood Embrace Ritual, you took the risk of stealing a look at someone else's Spell Formula?"
The Blue Scale Fishman remained silent and did not refute it.
"You were lucky this time. You met someone softhearted. You won't be so lucky next time." The Young Scholar sighed. "For the next ten years, stay in the institute and do research properly. Don't participate in any academic activities. In ten years, the person you offended will probably have condensed Seven-Colored Wings. Even if you wanted to see her, you wouldn't be able to."
"Yes."
"Go back and rest. I'll arrange your office tomorrow." The Young Scholar tapped the wooden desk. "Remember to organize your academic results and give me a report in a couple of days."
"Thank you, Teacher. Goodbye, Teacher."
The Blue Scale Fishman respectfully left the office and quickly departed the institute.
It was already deep into the night. The Blood Moon hung high in the dark sky, and there was hardly anyone in the institute grounds. Lawrence's pace grew faster and faster until, as he passed a tree, he suddenly threw a punch at it!
Smack!
His fist left a deep dent in the trunk. The wound bitten open by the Finger Shark burst open again, blood flowing out as even his scales cracked apart.
His hand hurt. His whole body hurt. Yet those tangible wounds were far less painful than the invisible wound in his heart!
He was the Healer [176] who had been thrown out of Broken Lake Prison the previous night.
His original name was Lawrence Tiaodun, a Blue Scale Fishman and a scholar of the Red Mist Institute.
It took him an entire night and day to escape the Finger Shark's hunt and return to Kaimeng City. After crawling back onto land, he did not even bother treating himself before rushing to the institute to ask about his future—if [222] pursued the matter to the end, the institute would not only strip him of his status as a scholar but might even extract the "Saint Blood" from his body!
Lawrence had also considered simply fleeing.
But the microchip inspection at the security checkpoint instantly dispelled that foolish thought.
Unless he spent a fortune on the black market to find a Spellcaster to remove his microchip, then cut himself off from society and live as a wild creature from then on, there was nowhere in this era of universal microchips that could shelter criminals.
In Blood Moon Country, there were only two paths after offending the Blood Saint Clan: grovel and beg for mercy, or await Judgment.
Fortunately, [222]'s punishment of him ended there. Lawrence still had a bright future, was still the most promising scholar at the Red Mist Institute, and could still live another century or two.
Yet it was precisely because he no longer had to pay any price that Lawrence felt an indescribable fury!
Perhaps others would think this was kindness,
but all he felt was profound contempt!
Yet the other party truly had the right to look down on Lawrence. Just as his teacher had said, in ten years, she would surely attain the Three-Winged Saint Domain, while Lawrence might not even reach Two-Winged Gold!
Both were Blood Saints, yet the gap in their bloodline aptitude was as vast as heaven and earth!
Yes, bloodline!
Lawrence had originally been nothing more than a Blue Scale Fishman from a Nurturing Home in the Slum District. But thanks to his outstanding learning ability, he had entered Kaimeng City Comprehensive University. Before even graduating, he had been recruited by the Red Mist Institute and gained the qualification to undergo the "Blood Exchange Ritual," becoming a Blood Saint admired by all!
Like the Moon Shadow Clan, the Blood Saint Clan could not reproduce through normal mating rituals. The only way for the Blood Saint Clan to expand its numbers was by accepting other races and performing blood exchanges.
Although different races displayed the same traits after a blood exchange, such as crimson eyes, theoretically speaking, the Blood Saint Clan was not a racial concept but a cultural one—everyone acknowledged themselves as a superior race that had transcended the Lower Races.
There were many benefits to becoming a Blood Saint. The greatest was naturally that the physical body completely escaped the limits of lifespan, never aging and forever remaining young, practically an immortal race.
However, while the physical body did not age, the soul would wither. Every race's soul had a maximum lifespan. For example, a human Blood Saint's soul would probably collapse around the age of 150.
Beyond that, the Blood Saint Clan possessed another advantage that Spellcasters flocked toward: blood therapy!
By drinking blood, Blood Saints could accelerate both their physical recovery and their soul recovery!
The reason Spellcasters had to cool down for several days after dying in the Void Realm before entering it again was to replenish Soul Energy. Blood Saints, who could replenish Soul Energy through blood therapy, could greatly shorten their Death Cooldown and increase how frequently they explored the Void Realm.
Blood therapy and ageless immortality were the Racial Advantages that established the Blood Saint Clan's ruling position in Blood Moon Country.
Their Racial Advantages were extraordinarily outstanding, but the Blood Saint Clan's flaws were also severe.
Besides needing to obey many Taboos, the Blood Saint Clan's greatest flaw was this: Spellcasters could not absorb Spell Power in the Void Realm.
That was right—they could not absorb Spell Power!
The Blood Exchange Ritual was essentially a Miracle that deeply fused the soul and blood. That was why the physical body gained the traits of immortality and agelessness, and why drinking blood healed the body.
But for the same reason, the incomplete soul could not absorb Spell Power in the Void Realm, which was equivalent to completely ruining a Spellcaster's future.
However, Blood Saint Spellcasters had long found a solution. That was why Lawrence had gone to Broken Lake Prison as a Healer—newborn Blood Descendants had to use Death Row Inmates as sacrifices in the "Blood Embrace Ritual" to condense Source Blood!
Source Blood was the medium that replaced the soul in absorbing Spell Power. By rank, from low to high, it was divided into Silver Source Blood, Golden Source Blood, Seven-Colored Source Blood, and Colorless Source Blood, corresponding to the four types of Spell Power in the Void Realm.
Every three drops of lower-grade Source Blood could be combined into one drop of higher-grade Source Blood. Blood Saints had to possess Source Blood of the corresponding or higher grade to absorb the matching Spell Power—for example, Silver Source Blood absorbed Silver Artificery, while Golden Source Blood absorbed Golden Artificery.
If one wished to summon a Spell Spirit one rank higher, one had to possess Source Blood one rank higher as well!
A Blood Saint without Golden Source Blood simply could not summon a Two-Winged Spell Spirit and naturally could not advance to become a Two-Winged Spellcaster.
That was why his teacher found Lawrence so unfortunate—if he condensed just one more drop of Silver Source Blood, he could combine it into Seven-Colored Source Blood. At that point, the gates of the Three-Winged Saint Domain would open for him!
But now, Lawrence, who possessed only Golden Source Blood, would be limited to Two-Winged Gold in the future.
Only when he could purify his bloodline and condense Seven-Colored Source Blood would he have the possibility of entering the Three-Winged Saint Domain!
Furthermore, the higher the rank of the Source Blood, the greater its efficiency in absorbing Spell Power.
In the Sea of Knowledge, compared to normal Spellcasters, a single drop of Silver Source Blood had a base absorption efficiency of only 30%, while every additional drop increased it by 10%.
That was why his teacher said Lawrence only needed to hide for ten years—Lawrence had two drops of Golden Source Blood and two drops of Silver Source Blood, totaling 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 drops of Silver Source Blood, for an absorption efficiency of 100%;
Meanwhile, new scholars of the Four Great Institutes could condense at least one drop of Colorless Source Blood, formed from 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 drops of Silver Source Blood, for an absorption efficiency of 290%!
It was a full threefold gap. Even if it was only a temporary advantage in the Sea of Knowledge, ten years of accumulation would be enough for the other party to grow into someone whose back Lawrence could only gaze upon from afar.
To that person, Lawrence was nothing more than a fart she could let out whenever she pleased, utterly unworthy of attention.
How could a future Three-Winged Saint Domain possibly care about the resentment of a Two-Winged Gold?
Nothing enraged Lawrence more than this—perhaps he was mediocre, perhaps no one cared about him, perhaps others mocked him, but to this Blue Scale Fishman who had struggled from the Slum District to the institute, dignity was the only wealth he possessed.
Without dignity, he truly had nothing left.