As the wild wolf approached Qian Ye’s hideout, it slowed its pace, emitting a low growl from its throat, seemingly hesitant. Yet, its eyes, usually a deep emerald, now had an ominous red tinge, and its aura was more ferocious, clearly affected by the Iron Curtain.
Ultimately, the wolf could not resist its bloodlust and hunger, and it lunged at Qian Ye with a sudden rush!
Just as the crisis unfolded, dozens of nearly invisible blood threads shot out from Qian Ye, instantly piercing the wolf. The threads retracted immediately, but only one had a slight hint of crimson at its tip, indicating that this wolf was already very weak in vitality.
With a thud, the wolf fell to the ground, motionless.
Around Qian Ye, there were already dozens of carcasses of fierce beasts, arranged in an oddly circular formation, with countless venomous snakes and scorpions. In this forest meadow, apart from Qian Ye, there was no sign of life left.
After an unknown period, Qian Ye finally stirred, slowly opening his eyes.
He stared blankly at the small patch of deep gray sky visible through the treetops, his mind empty, yet his senses spread out like water, encompassing everything within a hundred meters in an instant.
A blue, wave-like light appeared in Qian Ye’s eyes, deeper and more profound than before. When his true vision was activated, the world before him changed, revealing the underlying essence of primal force. However, this time, he saw much more: the distribution and flow of primal force were richer and more detailed, and there seemed to be something in the air, barely visible, flickering indistinctly.
Qian Ye tried hard to discern what those vague shadows were, but his sight seemed to reach its limit, and the harder he tried, the more indistinct they became.
After a while, a thought suddenly arose in his mind: “How did I fall asleep?”
Startled, Qian Ye jolted fully awake, sitting up immediately and looking around, only to be startled by the densely packed carcasses of fierce beasts and venomous creatures. Clearly, their deaths were connected to him. He steadied himself and internally examined his body.
Next to his heart, the blood core floated quietly, pulsing only occasionally. The wounds from his previous injury had disappeared, and several runes swam in and out of the blood core, unrestricted.
Qian Ye recognized the runes for the latent ability of his bloodline and the manipulation of his pupils. There were also two new runes. Upon touching them with his consciousness, he immediately understood their abilities. One was his enhanced true vision, which was now even more powerful. The other rune was unique, completely integrated with the blood core, inseparable.
This rune represented the ability of Life Essence Reaving, a natural talent he had acquired upon ascending to the rank of Blood Noble Viscount.
Once activated, Life Essence Reaving would release hundreds of invisible blood threads, automatically attacking all living beings around him and absorbing their vital essence, replenishing his own.
This was a powerful, all-encompassing ability, both offensive and defensive. When he first used it, Qian Ye had witnessed its might, capable of overwhelming even a general viscount under concentrated attacks. As his strength grew, the number, power, and range of the blood threads would continue to increase.
Life Essence Reaving was a formidable weapon in group battles, but it was not without limitations. After each use, the blood core required at least a day to recover and recharge. Additionally, it did not differentiate between friend and foe; using it with allies nearby would result in the death of both.
Now Qian Ye understood how these fierce beasts and venomous creatures met their end. The natural abilities of dark races were often highly aggressive, and the law of the jungle was ever-present. The ferocity of Life Essence Reaving was rare even among the Evernight forces, a testament to the power of a top-tier bloodline.
Qian Ye stood up, slowly moving his body. After days of slumber, his body felt like a rusty machine, even the simplest movements were awkward. But as he moved, he realized that each cell of his body harbored volcanic power, ready to erupt at the slightest thought.
He took a step, nearly stumbling, instinctively reaching out to steady himself against a nearby tree. However, the tree, rotted through, collapsed under his touch.
Qian Ye was startled, feeling a significant lack of coordination in his limbs. He then realized that his body’s transformation was now truly complete after the activation of the blood core. Though anxious, he decided to start practicing the military combat techniques in the open clearing.
After a few rounds, his body began to loosen up, at least enough to stand and walk without awkwardness. He continued to practice, adapting to his new body.
After dozens of repetitions, Qian Ye felt more in control of his body. He then retrieved the Dong Yue and repeatedly practiced basic sword techniques. After a few hours, he was finally fully adapted.
Using a primal force sundial, Qian Ye determined the direction and time, deciding to head towards his original destination. Although several days had passed, and it was likely too late, he still felt a need to see the outcome, as something seemed off about the whole situation.
A few hundred kilometers, even through complex terrain, was only a day or two’s journey for Qian Ye. A day later, he arrived at the designated location.
The convoy’s assembly point was a hidden valley. As Qian Ye approached, he saw chaos and corpses, with no survivors.
Though he expected this, seeing it firsthand filled him with anger. To his surprise, the scene was untouched, revealing a large convoy of over a hundred heavy trucks, with a well-armed escort of at least several hundred soldiers. But now, everyone—both merchants and mercenaries—lay dead.
Examining the battlefield, Qian Ye found little evidence of a fierce battle. Most of the victims fell with looks of shock, unable to even resist.
Frowning, Qian Ye moved through the field. His gaze fell on a mercenary corpse, who must have been a strong warrior, but his face froze in an expression of terror and pain.
Qian Ye approached, examining the mercenary’s body. His primal force nodes showed some residual energy, indicating he was a ninth-level warrior. Such a person would be a baron in the dark races, almost a high-ranking noble. This man was likely the leader of the escort, but his face showed great fear and shock at the moment of death.
What could have made a veteran react so strongly?
Qian Ye cut open his clothes, finding no external wounds. Activating his true vision, he saw a faint concentration of dark primal force around the mercenary’s heart.
Using a knife, Qian Ye opened his chest, revealing a mass of mangled flesh where the heart should have been. The organ had been crushed beyond recognition.
Such power… Qian Ye’s heart rate quickened. This power was similar to his pupil manipulation, penetrating the body’s defenses to attack the heart or blood core. However, the force to crush a ninth-level warrior’s heart was far stronger than anything he could muster.
Checking a few more bodies, Qian Ye found that most of the eighth-level and above warriors had died from their hearts being shattered.
After inspecting the bodies, Qian Ye turned his attention to the trucks. He noticed something odd: the undamaged heavy trucks were left behind, unusual for such valuable items. The only reason to leave them was to avoid trouble, or because they were too difficult to modify.
In fact, the Evernight forces had many shadowy channels for such things. In the face of a large sum of money, minor inconveniences were insignificant. Moreover, if the trucks were abandoned, why not take the cargo?
Qian Ye jumped onto a truck, lifting a cargo box and opening it to find it full of black stone. Black stone was the most common fuel, abundantly available in the Evernight continent. Smaller mines were no longer worth the effort.
The upper continents mined black stone primarily for the accompanying black crystals and other rare minerals.
Why would a convoy with such lavish equipment and escorts be transporting black stone? Qian Ye dumped the contents of the box, finding nothing special. The box contained only black stone.
Opening a few more boxes, he found the same. The rest of the cargo was undoubtedly black stone, explaining why the entire convoy was left behind.
Qian Ye surveyed the area, estimating the size of the convoy. Using Song Yinan’s convoy as a reference, he deduced that half of the cargo was black stone. At least, Ning Yuan Heavy Industry’s losses on paper were halved.
At this point, Qian Ye sensed something amiss. Song Zining was meticulous, and the presence of so much black stone suggested a trap. But the bait was substantial, considering Song Yinan’s convoy carried real primal force guns.
Who was Song Zining targeting, and who could strike down so many high-level warriors so silently?
Night Pupil’s image flashed in Qian Ye’s mind, but he pushed it away. All he knew was her association with the Munro clan, and he didn’t want to know more.
None of the familiar faces were present, and Song Yinan’s convoy was not among them. Assuming he wasn’t foolish, he wouldn’t return to this meeting point. Yet, given the situation, his message to his colleagues seemed ineffective.
Qian Ye still had many questions, but they would remain unanswered until he met Song Zining.
After surveying the battlefield, Qian Ye prepared to leave. This matter involved the Munro clan and the Empire, and he was unsure of Song Zining’s whereabouts, feeling uneasy.
Not far ahead, he heard an argument. Two groups were facing off.
One group, about a dozen people, was a mix of Song Clan warriors, mercenaries, and expeditionary forces. The other, a smaller, more uniform group of about ten, was the White Clan warriors.
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