“Thud”


    The youngdy in the tent copsed to the ground for the second time due to dizziness.


    This time, she appeared in an even more wretched state, like a disheveled ck-haired defeated dog, gasping for air, her heart pounding more violently than ever before.


    It even rivaled the heart rate of a human.


    This was the physical difort caused by the resurfacing of true memories striking her mind.


    Beads of sweat covered her pale forehead, her blood-red eyes were wide open, and her pupils dted.


    The muscles on her entire face twitched,pletely shattering her emotional control.


    But this was not the time to worry about such things.


    Because she remembered!After Tris cast a spell to remove a certain mental illusion from her brain, the truth woven into the crevices of her false memories began rapidly resurfacing.


    In a daze, she saw herself opening her eyes for the first time in her life, greeted by the stern and gloomy face of her father, and beside him, a seductive woman she had “never met” but had always been by her side.


    Her…mother?


    She also saw her younger self, as a little girl, bouncing and prancing as she handed an exquisite pastry to a malnourished, scrawny little girl curled up on the ground, covered in wounds.


    At the edge of this scene, where she and Adele truly met, was an entire squad of the patriarch’s personal guards mercilessly ughtering an entire border vige in the night, filling the air with wails and the stench of death.


    The reason for all this was simply because her immature self disliked the ignorant vigers who had bullied little Adele.


    So her mother, with a doting smile, had issued the order for extermination.


    The scene then shifted, and she saw herself sitting in a chair amidst a ratherplex and borate ritual, while her father was casting an abstruse spirit spell.


    She was crying and wailing.


    Because in front of her, her mother was reaching out to her in tears, but two of the patriarch’s personal guards were dragging her away from the chamber.


    That was thest time she saw her mother.


    Cecilia.


    Yes!


    That was her name.


    “Who is she? Where is Cecilia?”


    The youngdy looked up in a daze.


    Her sweat-covered face and those bewildered eyes were filled with pleading questions.


    Tris ced her hands over her abdomen.


    She looked at this “child” in the truest sense with aplex gaze, as the cursed wound on her body throbbed faintly, as if touching upon an ancient memory she had decided to seal away forever.


    Facing Femis’ pleading and questioning, Tris shook her head and said:


    “I’ve never met her.


    I only know that Salrokdar found a human lover for himself forty years ago, but it was not out of love. He spent over a hundred years searching all of Transia just to find the perfect ‘vessel’.


    Meeting her, loving her, doing those vile and filthy things with her, none of it stemmed from genuine emotion.


    It was all part of a cold, calcted n.


    And you!


    Femis, you are Salrokdar’s ‘masterpiece’.


    The first vampire in history to be born naturally like a human, without relying on the initial embrace, rather than through childbirth.


    Although your inherited abilities are notplete.


    But this is not a deficiency, but an ‘evolution’.”


    “Is her inability to initially embrace Adele a manifestation of this ‘ipleteness’?”


    Murphy, also bewildered by the truth, asked. Tris shook her head and corrected him:


    “The so-called ‘ipleteness’ or ‘imperfection’ is judged based on the standards of being a vampire. Little Murphy, as I said, Femis is the ‘perfect’ vampire when viewed by other races’ standards.


    She possesses all the strength and talents of a vampire and can receive the full protection and blessings of the Night Mother. She can even endure sunlight for longer than ordinary vampires.


    She has a vampire’s midnight powers, yet has not lost the extraordinary learning ability of humans.


    She is the advantageous offspring of the two racesbined.


    The only issue is her inability to produce offspring.


    But this is precisely the root cause of our vampires being hated and loathed by other races, in the past, the only way for us to maintain our family’s size and reproduce was through plunder and conversion.


    Every new vampire meant one less life for the other races.


    This was the fundamental conflict that could never be reconciled, but Femis’ existence perfectly solves this problem!”


    Tris sighed, stepped forward, and used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from the dazed youngdy’s forehead.


    She said softly:


    “Salrokdar’s experiment is not over yet. You, his outstanding creation, still have one final trial to pass. You must fulfill the mission you were given at birth.


    Child, you must give birth like your mother did after coupling with other male vampires, using your body as a vessel to deliver another healthy vampire.


    By doing so, you will prove that the ‘advantage’ you possess can be passed down!


    If you aplish this, it means the eternal conflict between vampires and other races may find a resolution, and you will be the progenitor of all new vampires.


    Salrokdar is truly insane!


    His entire life has been devoted to trying to solve this problem, and you are his ‘ultimate answer’ to this world and the entire vampire race.


    But you need not feel disheartened by this.


    I believe Salrokdar loves you, with a love so deep he would sacrifice anything.


    But perhaps not the kind of love you desire.”


    The tent fell silent again. Regardless of the youngdy’s psychological state upon learning the truth, Murphy, the onlooker, maintained hisposure on the surface, but his heart was screaming, “What the hell!”


    What kind of ridiculous interdimensional, cross-species,rge-scale biology and cold-blooded madman manufacturing his own biological daughter plotline is this?


    But then again, Tris’s answer did perfectly resolve all of Murphy’s doubts about the youngdy’s previous irrational behavior.


    However, Murphy was now more concerned about another issue.


    He looked at Tris’s back and asked:


    “What about you? Tris, what role do you y in all this? You sustained an injury two hundred years ago, but the youngdy was born thirty years ago. The timing doesn’t add up.”


    “Did you think creating the perfect vampire would be that easy?”


    Tris snorted and pointed her thumb at herself rather proudly, drawling:


    “But Femis’s birth is also thanks to the brilliant ideas of the great Tris! Let me put it this way, everything Salrokdar has done over the past two hundred years has strictly followed the theoretical n I formted back then, even the timing of the youngdy’s birth was precisely calcted by me.


    This fully proves that the great Tris is a true genius of the blood n! The most formidable and sagacious mind that the vampire race could ever produce.


    Heh, I’ve always believed I shouldn’t have joined the Blood Vulture n. My true destiny should have been the Secret Blood n, which gathers the wise and worships knowledge as their faith.


    Unfortunately, I had the misfortune of encountering Salrokdar when I was still a human on the verge of death from illness during his travels across the continent.


    Alright, Murphy, I know you’ve always had doubts.


    About my elder…”


    Tris turned to look at Murphy, lowered her head, and said softly with regret:


    “It’s Salrokdar! Eh? Why are you making that expression, little Murphy? This is not how I imagined it at all. Shouldn’t you be so shocked that you let out a shrill scream?”


    “Tch, I figured it out a long time ago, didn’t I?”


    Murphy rolled his eyes and said:


    “Apart from thepulsory orders of the blood pact, I couldn’t think of any other reason why, even in your sorry state, you would stubbornly remain in Kadman City suffering.


    With your abilities, or even just your looks, you could have lived a much better life.


    But you didn’t do that.


    However, what concerns me now is your injury. If Salrokdar is your elder, why would he hurt you like this?”


    Tris did not answer.


    She looked at the kneeling Femis, the youngdy, with a mournful expression tinged with regret, which was mingled with traces of long-subsided anger.


    Then she reached out and ced her hand on top of Femis’s head, her expression unexpectedly gentle.


    Sensing that familiar power, she said:


    “Because the seed of life requires sufficient spirit energy to nurture its germination! And it can only bloom and bear fruit when nted in flesh and blood. Femis’s human mother, Lady Cecilia, served as the vessel for that blooming and fruiting.


    As for me…


    I contributed all of my power, talents, and even my entire essence of fresh blood, allowing this seed to sprout.


    I’m probably one of the rare cases in the entire n’s history where my heart was dug out, my power was squeezed out, and yet I didn’t die. My weakness stems from this.


    This shriveled heart that was put back into my body can no longer offer me any protection.


    But theoretically speaking, this little girl is sort of like half my daughter…


    Hmm, at least a quarter, if we’re using human reproductive standards to describe it.


    As for this wound, I inflicted it upon myself.


    I once thought it was borne out of my pursuit of truth and perfection as a Spirit Sovereign, leading me to willingly sacrifice everything for the theory and n I designed.


    But it wasn’t until I was discarded on the outskirts of Kadman City, left to fend for myself, that I realized this overly radical sacrifice and devotion was likely just a vivid illusion woven by Salrokdar through the blood pact’spulsion.


    I was used.


    I was a fool!


    No one else is to me, as it was my own doing.


    I was so crazed back then, narcissistic, evil, and insane, practically an irredeemable madwoman.”


    At this point, Tris shook her head.


    She turned back to Murphy and said softly:


    “Little Murphy, do you remember the warning I gave you before about how vampires will always be tempted by the darkness and fall into the abyss? That wasn’t just idle life experience from a bored old person, my dear silly boy.


    That was a warning distilled from your pitiful elder’s over four hundred years of agonizing life experience!


    You must remember this.


    Do not heed the dark summons in your heart, do not let it goad you into taking irreversible actions, and do not let it lead you to plummet into the depths of the abyss and smash into the filthy mud.


    Just like me back then.”


    Murphy fell silent.


    Tris spoke with great solemnity.


    Murphy also believed that Tris’s warning at this moment was truly sincere.


    She did not wish for Murphy to follow in her footsteps, but Murphy found it difficult to reconcile the serious Tris with the wretched, drunken dreamer she usually appeared to be.


    Hey, your style ispletely unsuitable for this kind of heart-to-heart persuasion, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be seriously discussing with me which brand of wine has a smoother taste right now?


    “That seed!”


    Just as Murphy was pondering whether his own elder had developed a split personality due to the memories being stirred up, Femis suddenly raised her head. She grabbed Tris’s wrist and said:


    “I’ve seen the seed you mentioned!”


    “Impossible!”


    Tris whipped her head around in vehement denial:


    “That seed of life is something Salrokdar and I sacrificed fifteen family elders to steal from the sacred mo Ind of the old Nature’s Teachings two hundred and twenty-five years ago!


    It was precisely that overly sessful theft that sparked the ‘Second Night War’ andpletely ignited the already existing conflict between vampires and the human old teachings.


    The massive direct confrontation between the three ns of Blood Vulture, Wolf’s Bane, and Blood Dread against humans also began at that time.


    It was that conflict that led to the extermination of the Blood Dread n, the migration of the Wolf’s Bane, and the decline of the Blood Vultures. The undying hatred between the Wolf’s Bane and Blood Vultures also took root then.


    The truth behind this matter was known by very few people back then, let alone having actually seen that seed of life with their own eyes.


    It had already sprouted one hundred and ny years ago after I nourished it with my own blood essence.


    ording to my calctions and considerations, it would need at least one hundred years, at most one hundred and sixty years, to grow to the point where it could bloom and bear fruit, and it would need to be nourished with enough fresh blood every year to prevent it from withering.


    This was not the proper way to use that seed of life, said to have been bestowed upon the elves by the Avalon gods, but we eternal sin descendants could only catalyze it using these vampiric dark arts.


    Over the years, the humans who mysteriously disappeared in Kadman City were captured by Salrokdar and had their fresh blood squeezed out as sacrifices to further this n.


    My calctions were obviously correct!


    He followed my instructions and nted that seed within your mother, then through the filthy act of conception, using her as a vessel to ultimately give birth to you!


    You are the new form of that seed of life and blood!


    How could you have possibly seen it?


    You are it!”


    “I really did see it!


    Back in the Smuggler’s Woods, when I encountered the White Knight Elder Finoch, that guy was originally going to kill me. But it seemed he discovered some clues and made me ingest a ck seed, putting me into some kind of trance state.”


    Femis waved her hands as she exined in a stuttering voice:


    “I remember it clearly. In that trance, I saw the vast starry expanse stretching endlessly beneath my feet, and I also saw that tree at the center of the sea of stars!


    The withered blood-formed branches extended outward, not a single leaf, twisted like a monster that had grown from the gloomy abyss!


    I really did see it!”


    “What are you saying? A Gold-tier White Knight let you go? Old Finoch? Who is that?”


    Tris asked in astonishment.


    Behind her, Murphy had also sensed the second crisis and exined:


    “The reason we managed to kill Jed this time was relying on that old Finoch’s judgment. It was he who led this elite group of Witch Hunters to confirm Salrokdar’s death.


    He’s currently in Kadman City, but the less than forting youngdy has never shared her experience in the Smuggler’s Woods with me.”


    “This is troublesome now.”


    Tris’s head ached even more.


    The wound on her body also began to throb, causing her to groan in pain as she clutched her chest and copsed, only to be caught in Murphy’s embrace. He quickly grabbed the blood wine from the bedside and poured some into Tris’s mouth, suppressing the eruption of pain within her body.


    With a weak tone, she instructed Murphy and the approaching Femis:


    “Leave the matter of old Finoch aside for now. The biggest problem at the moment is the Blood Pact Knights. If they see any trace of Salrokdar in the secret chamber deep within the Blood Vulture Halls, they will likely discover that he has broken taboos.


    There’s no way to conceal such a transgression from them. Those arrogant descendants are all experts in dealing with taboos.


    You must quickly find a way!


    Either flee, or…”


    “Purge the Blood Vulture Halls before they arrive!”


    Holding Tris in his arms, Murphy looked at Femis and said solemnly:


    “Salrokdar can die at the hands of the Witch Hunters or by our own, but we absolutely cannot let the Blood Pact Knights discover those past secrets.


    Three days!


    We only have three days!


    Femis!


    This time, you must follow my orders to the letter. If you cannot, then leave this ce and find your own path.”