Chapter 28: Unleashing Valor and Bloodthirst

To use it means to guard against it—such hierarchical relationships are common in life.
This was the first time Neo had worn “Multiface” on himself, and he felt somewhat uneasy. After all, Multiface’s consciousness was problematic; it was hard to say whether it might turn on its master.
With Multiface in place, the impact of energy fluctuations was indeed reduced significantly.
As Nancy said, though this strange power was ancient, its leakage had only begun recently. The rocks around the fissures turned blood-red, but digging further out revealed their original color. After more than two hours of hard work, Neo finally created a passage just wide enough for passage.
The interior was simple—a cave in the mountain side, over 50 square meters in size, about 7 or 8 meters high, with a pond against the rock wall. However, due to the influence of this strange energy, the entire cave was blood-red and emitted its own light, giving the impression of entering some monster’s stomach—a truly eerie sensation.
“There’s something wrong with this water!” Neo and Nancy realized this almost simultaneously, one through intuition and the other through technical analysis. With her full abilities restored, Nancy placed several flesh-like sensory nodes on Neo’s body, allowing her to perceive the world in her own way.
Neo spread his hands, and blue-white light appeared between his palms. This light projected outward, forming two ice mist whirlwinds with blue spots, which formed in the corners of the cave as the whirlwinds expanded, shaped by the ice walls. This ability came from the control of ice energy driven by wind, enabled by the ice spirit akin to a pig, with all four elements present.
Immediately afterward, Neo quickly formed a water-based rune pattern with his hands and pushed out another beam of light. Unlike the previous technique, this light was continuous, with a tail that connected to the light between his hands—a different application of magical energy for sustained control. Simply put, it used real-time spellcasting to make spells more varied, creating a continuous effect.
When this beam entered the pond, the previously smooth surface immediately rippled, as if water snakes were swimming beneath it. Soon, a water vortex formed, and then a long serpent made of water, as thick as a human, shot into the air. Under Neo’s control, it split into two and rushed toward the two ice walls.
The pond was already shallow, with flowing water, and its replenishment came only from cracks—how could it withstand such massive extraction? Soon, the water ran dry.
At the bottom of the pond, a swollen human corpse appeared. As the water was drained, the curled corpse turned its head and glared fiercely at Neo, its eyes filled only with blinding red light.
As a former gladiator, Neo naturally didn’t hesitate. He acted immediately.
The corpse instantly stood up, surprisingly agile. Yet it still couldn’t dodge the sparks shot from Neo’s fingertips.
Boom! Like a burst of floating fire, the sparks turned into rolling waves of flame. Though brief, they were extremely intense, burning part of the corpse’s body.
As the ashes fell, the red, syrup-like fluid inside was revealed.

Ahh…
The zombie roared fiercely at Neo, emitting not only intense fluctuations of strange energy but also a powerful mental assault filled with resentment.
“Absorb!” Neo ordered while dodging. The zombie’s attacks had a conical range, and thankfully, Neo had some defenses in place. Even so, he still felt mentally disoriented, as if his body were about to explode.
Ahh…
The zombie roared again; this attack seemed effortless for it—all it needed was to howl at Neo.
By now, Neo was running. Despite the limited space in the cave, he moved swiftly, both on the ground and along the rock walls, like a flowing shadow. As he ran, he fired ice arrows continuously. The blue-white light from these arrows struck the zombie’s body but only managed to form thin ice spikes. Although the zombie’s body was also liquid, it contained a high level of special energy, which instinctively resisted the invasion of foreign forces.
Sssh! The zombie’s fingers split open, turning into blood-red whips that lashed at Neo. It was merely wearing a human skin; its true form was that syrup-like fluid.
With ten whips and relentless howling, Neo was forced into a desperate situation. With a flick of his left hand, a water shield appeared on his forearm—a skill he had learned from the Water Guardian.
In an instant, the water shield transformed into an ice shield covered with ridged structures, blocking the two blood whips. Cracks appeared on the ice shield, and even more alarming were the bright red marks that kept spreading. Just as Neo feared, the zombie’s body couldn’t be touched.
Though Neo was struggling to dodge, he kept firing ice arrows nonstop. Over time, the zombie’s movements grew stiff.
Sssh! This time, the ice arrows not only carried ample energy but also a glowing tail. After piercing the zombie’s body, the tail lit up brightly, delivering a continuous surge of icy power. The ice arrows became sources of ice energy, with the other ice spikes on the zombie’s body acting as conduits. The zombie froze at a visible rate, and eventually, even its blood whips turned into red, crystal-like ice strands.
Neo performed a somersault, landing back on the ground. With a swift motion of his right hand, *bang!* The zombie shattered into countless ice shards. Among them lay a simple-looking ring emitting red light.
Whoosh! Three finger-thick vines grew rapidly in Neo’s hand under a dark green glow. Agile like snakes, they skillfully picked up the ring from the ice shards.
A faint light appeared on Neo’s forehead as he swept it over the ring.
“Repeat after me: Will commands boiling blood!” Nancy spoke the incantation in a beautiful tone, one that must have taken years to perfect—full of charm, making it impossible to resist after hearing it once.
As the incantation was recited, inscriptions on the inner ring of the ring flashed sequentially, and the unsettling red light gradually faded.
“Alright, put the ring on quickly,” Nancy urged.
“What is it?” Neo asked, then without hesitation, put the ring on his left middle finger.
“Divide your mind and keep chanting the incantation.”
Neo did as he was told.

Nancy then explained, “Blood energy, the Boiling Blood Ring—its origin traces back to the remnants of the extreme research by Mogugug, a servant of the gods and a demigod lich, combined with the power of Boiling Blood controlled by the demon Nasrezm and the evil god Tius, worshipped by the hybrids of Nisal, the ancestor of the vampires.”
“Isn’t the Boiling Blood Curse the power unleashed by the evil god Pandor on the hybrids of Rosal, the ancestors of werewolves?”
“Mm, but its origin lies with Tius. This can be seen from the current state of vampires—they are the ancestors who mastered blood energy.”
“What about that demigod lich?”
“A dark genius and a research fanatic who even the ancestors who mastered blood energy would have to yield to. I only have some vague, incomplete memories of this history. After all, although we were connected online back then, my access rights limited the information I could retrieve. To get to the point, although there were quite a number of these items back then, very few have survived to this day. Just like the inscription on the ring, only willpower can control such power. The top priority now is to contain the leaked power. Otherwise, those blood puppets will revive.”
Neo glanced over and saw that indeed, the ice shards were melting; the smaller ones had already dissolved and were starting to gather together.
“What should I do?”
“It’s simple. Keep the incantation going while focusing on channeling the power into this ring.”
For Neo, who meditated all day long, this wasn’t difficult at all.
When he used this method, the entire cave became brighter. Countless beams of light seeped from the cave walls, with the blood-red pool and the bodies of the corpses emitting the most light, fastest, and brightest. This light gradually transformed into swirling bands in the air, converging toward the Boiling Blood Ring. Interestingly, the more blood light it absorbed, the darker the ring became, eventually turning pure black—reminding Neo of a widely spread legend: it is said that thousands of miles west of the Aemera continent, the sea water is black. As the divine texts say, ‘Dark water is black.’ That is where the deepest oceans and thickest waters lie.
The absorption of blood light also accelerated the melting of the corpses. These corpses quickly gathered together, clearly unwilling to be subdued like this.
“Let Polyface suck in their resentment!”
It was Nancy’s reminder that made Neo realize that evil people need to be countered by evil forces. Though this unfortunate man who died suddenly had become a puppet of blood energy, his unwilling will turned into endless resentment. If he were to fully devour the power of the Boiling Blood Ring, he might even become an evil entity. Now, thousands of years of resentment benefited Polyface.
Of course, simple absorption wouldn’t work. Neo had to supplement it with life force to suppress Polyface’s increasingly terrifying twisted soul. Otherwise, Polyface would become a more ferocious and evil demon than the corpses.
It was at times like these that the advantage of multitasking became evident. The undeformed corpses twitched, making a series of movements representing pain and unwillingness. Eventually, with a pop, they turned into clumps of mucus, losing all shape.
After the Boiling Blood Ring absorbed all the power, three red lines appeared on its surface—two thin ones on the edges and one thick one in the center, looking quite unique. As for the entire cave, though the rocks and water remained blood red, they no longer had that vivid, glistening brightness.

“I can sense that these rocks and water, corroded by blood energy, are excellent materials for it,” Neio said, raising his hand to look at the ring. “Ancient things are truly miraculous. I seem to have understood most of the characteristics of this power.”

“In ancient times, the transmission and use of any power were relatively direct and aimed at the essence. That’s why the Rainbow Dragon created the Chapter of Sengorath. If even infants could master destructive power, it would be a disaster.”

“That’s why later rulers, led by the Holy Church, spared no effort to promote spiritual civilization. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility—years of hard cultivation to temper one’s mind. It all stems from this.”

“More or less. There are always some beings who think from a peak perspective. They fear that humanity, this newly emerged and rapidly developing race, might perish at their own hands.”

“Is this considered favoritism by the gods?”

“Humans are quite pleasing to look at, at least compared to werewolves and vampires.”

The off-topic conversation came to an end. Neio realized that if this were a completely enclosed cave, how had that poor corpse managed to soak in the pool in the first place? There indeed was a passage, most of which was hidden beneath the pool. It was unclear how many years it had been collapsed; without careful inspection, it would have been hard to notice.

Neio ordered Multi-Face to dig. By now, Multi-Face had consumed all that syrup-like substance, and the vines had turned a deep red, resembling blood vessels with a wet, glossy sheen, making them appear even more sinister. Yet Neio’s wariness had diminished somewhat. Before, he didn’t understand the reason for Multi-Face’s changes, but now that he did, he felt more at ease.

This incident further convinced Neio that Multi-Face was still an entity akin to wood, stone, or metal—this was one of the main reasons it could come here to “bathe” twice and coexist peacefully with that corpse.

While Multi-Face dug the passage, Neio, having nothing to do, tried to create puppets using blood stones.

Since obtaining the runes related to rocks, Neio had become very skilled at shaping rocks and soil through their use. As for puppet-making, he only had the techniques he had learned from analyzing the war puppets of the fire dwarves. It wasn’t very advanced, but it was a method nonetheless. Normally, ordinary rocks wouldn’t warrant such effort—not to mention Neio’s own energy consumption, but also the significant use of elemental energy. Although Neio still had plenty of energy stored in his ice lake, until Nancy figured out how to build energy collection arrays and instruments, he could only use a small amount. Since the Howling Caverns relied on this energy, there was no need to create a few clumsy stone creatures. But since blood stones were difficult to form and the puppets made from them could assist Neio in performing certain tricks, he decided to give it a try.

It seemed the passage was taking some time to dig. Neio worked tirelessly in the cave for over three days, creating four blood-rock puppets and two large mud-blood puppets (made from scraps) before Multi-Face finished digging the passage.

“Bloodthirsty Power!” A beam of light shot out from the ring on Neo’s left hand. A Blood Rock Puppet immediately raised its arms, tilted its head back, and let out a silent howl. Ring-shaped waves of blood-red light spread in all directions. When these waves reached Neo, he felt his physical abilities surge—his attack speed, strength, agility, and more all increased by 30%. This was the effect of awakening the power within his blood, temporarily boosting his abilities at the cost of a period of weakness afterward. Of course, this technique couldn’t be used on creatures without blood.

“It lasts for 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of weakness, during which strength drops by 50%. Not bad. Used well, it’s a deadly weapon.” After some thought, Neo asked Nancy, “Converting this power on my own seems quite difficult—it’s not cost-effective. How can I gather it?”

“By killing! The fusion of blood and energy is key to creating this blood energy.”

“I knew it. I truly am a werewolf with dark attributes, moving further and further down the path of darkness. It seems I should start cultivating a second vine— a Vampire Vine.”

Nancy ignored Neo’s occasional reflective remarks, which she considered little more than whining and meaningless. She suggested, “Don’t waste that blood energy water either. It can be used to create low-level Blood Water Guards.”

“You mean using the same method as creating Water Element Guards?”

“That’s right.”

Neo frowned. “That requires a core soul to control the water form.”

“You have one.”

“The Mutated Howl Soul, but it hasn’t fully submitted yet.”

“You now have a cage.”

Neo raised his left hand and looked at the Boiling Blood Ring.

“That’s right!”

“Can it hold other objects?”

“The Boiling Blood Space is special—it can only contain related items.”

Neo shrugged slightly in disappointment. He had long wanted a space ring or space bracelet like those—treasures he still hadn’t even come close to possessing, despite his many adventures. “Even half a cubic meter of space would be good…”

As the blood energy water condensed into Blood Water Guards, Neo’s luck ran out. The passage he had painstakingly dug led to an even larger cave, where an ancient magic warplane had crashed and long since rotted away. Nancy guessed it was a vehicle belonging to a Nisar hybrid. As for the pilot, Neo had already seen him in the blood pool.

Under Nancy’s guidance, Neo carefully disassembled the wreckage of the magic warplane. All he gained were information about its structure and the dimensions of its key components—things that were already broken beyond repair and unable to function. Nancy couldn’t study its working principles either. However, some magic circle markings and runes on the wreckage had analytical value. But due to their age and lack of relevant knowledge, they could only be pieced together slowly, like a puzzle—or perhaps breakthroughs might occur by chance.

With the Blood-Raging Ring, Neo not only acquired a series of new combat techniques but also a powerful tool to harness various abilities. His body had been immersed in pools of blood time and again, granting him significant enhancements. However, the sheer power of blood energy was so overwhelming that it altered the nature of his core vine. Neo wasn’t entirely sure how the blood vine would develop along this new path, but he decided not to mix this trait with the mutated vine he used, instead creating a separate one—this was the origin of the Vampire Vine. Of course, to add a new type of magic vine, Neo needed to reach level 5 first, and he still lacked some understanding and experience to do so.

By the time he left the cave, Neo had taken on the appearance of Bels. His semi-wolfman appearance was very similar to that of a full wolfman—tall with long legs, along with thick body hair. So this disguise didn’t require much effort; for Neo, it was simply a matter of sleeping in the energy healing chamber.

It would be 10 days before he could use the energy healing chamber again. It wouldn’t take that long to reach Base 6 from here. Neo planned to head further northeast along the Continental Road, visit the Refuge Valley, and then proceed to Base 6 of the Outlanders.

The Continental Road originally referred to the wide pathways created by the gods at the dawn of creation, using their immense power to carve routes across the continent. These paths leveled mountains and filled rivers, stretching straight ahead from above, a truly spectacular sight. Over time, the term came to refer to the main roads connecting different territories—such as the road from Silfanis to Edrith, or the road to Monstoke controlled by the West Wind Army. If Monstoke became part of a new alliance territory, that road would undoubtedly be considered a Continental Road.

The roads were covered with ruts from vehicles and hoofprints. On the wide paths, the snow had turned into black mud, and ice crystals still formed on the surface even at night. Yet this didn’t prevent those who saw it from feeling the grandeur of civilization. As the rulers of the Aemera continent, humans had left deep marks in many parts of this world, and these simple roads were just one of them.

Coming from the wilderness and stepping onto these roads, Neo finally understood why so many refugees from Edrith chose to flee via the Continental Road. It wasn’t only because the roads were flat and easy for vehicles and horses to travel on, but also because they symbolized civilization. The refugees’ mindset was much like that of people who preferred to walk on main roads home at night rather than taking alleyways.

It was afternoon, and the weather was cold, with a misty drizzle that made it hard to feel the raindrops falling, though it was highly penetrating. If one wore cloth clothes, they would get wet in no time.

Neo was dressed in Bels’ outfit, with just one additional knife—wide at the front and narrow at the back, with a straight edge and right angles. The blade’s guard was simply a ring of iron, without even a scabbard. Rainwater left fine droplets on the oiled blade, though it was rare, it fit well with the equipment of the Outlanders.

Tap! Tap!

A squad of cavalry marched in two columns through the rain, all dressed in fine leather gear, riding tall horses, armed with guns and swords, tall and imposing with cold expressions. It was a group of 35 men, including the platoon leader and officers, clearly Hilfanis’ local troops under the Refuge Valley. Nio instinctively moved to the side, letting the arrogant cavalry pass by, getting splashed with mud and water. The cavalry showed no reaction, and Nio didn’t care either. These patrol riders were clearly there to maintain safety on the continental roads. Things were no longer as they were when Edrit was first attacked by dark forces. Nio had heard that three armies had already set out from the Moroloro Mountain Road to Edrit to join forces with the surviving armies from the north to reclaim lost territory. The former Falcon Knights’ headquarters had become a large barracks, with various secondary troops gathered there, waiting for orders to launch raids. With so many soldiers and horses, their daily needs were enormous. So, in addition to Hilfanis’ advanced chariots for transporting supplies, merchants also came and went to take advantage of the situation, but refugees were now rare.

After walking along the road for about 2 hours, a patrol squad caught up from behind. Nio roughly calculated that this meant a patrol squad was sent every 4 hours in both directions, staggered in time. Such staggered patrols were common, but this frequency seemed unusually high—probably only seen during a level 4 alert.

“Could it be that something major has happened on this road recently, or something big is about to happen, that’s why they’re so vigilant?”

Of course, instead of guessing wildly, it was better to ask someone; someone might know something.

After walking for another half hour or so, a group of people moving hesitantly could be seen in the distance ahead. As they got closer, Nio realized there were at least a hundred people in the group—men and women, with carts and horses. Besides carrying goods, the carts also held the elderly and children. These travelers wore tattered clothes, looked hungry and cold, and were pale. If not for their well-equipped guards, they would have looked like a typical refugee caravan.

“Hey! Strongman, how about joining us?”

As Nio strode past the group, a man on horseback greeted him.

“Strongman” was how the Hilfanis referred to people from the fringes, similar to “brother” or “friend,” but with a somewhat derogatory connotation. Only those from the fringes would venture alone into the dangerous Hilfanis wilderness with such poor equipment. Those who were members of hunting guilds or mercenary halls might not wear fancy clothes, but their gear would definitely be top-notch. So, to tell if someone was a native Hilfanis hunter, one could guess quite accurately just by looking at their equipment.

Nio didn’t stop walking. He glanced at the group and then at the man who had invited him. “You’ll have to spend the night in the wild tonight.” In other words, joining the group would not only waste time but also be less safe.

“Damn it, that’s exactly what I’m worried about!” the man on horseback muttered in frustration.

With Nio’s hearing, he heard clearly, but he really had no intention of mixing with these people. He could tell they were human traffickers, and the travelers were likely from Edrit.

Nio heard that on the other side of Mount Dibynus, near the entrance to the Moroloro Mountain Road on the Hilfanis territory, two large refugee camps had been established. These camps sorted the refugees into different classes based on status and wealth, like a sieve. Those of higher status had already gone to some of the larger towns in Hilfanis, while those of middle status were being settled in gradually. Only the lowest class had to work hard in the camps to survive. Once these cheap laborers got through the winter and the new fortifications were nearly completed, a new distinction emerged.

Those who were capable or had special skills managed to free themselves and their families, allowing them to go to various places in Hilfanis to start anew. The most desperate ones, whether due to bad luck, lack of skills, or having dependents, had to sell themselves and their families to survive the winter or afford medical treatment. Now that winter was over and they hadn’t saved enough money to free themselves, they became slaves. Such slaves were even recognized by the authorities—after all, opportunities were limited, and government relief efforts had their bounds.

Of course, everywhere there were depths and shallows, opportunism, and corruption. Many took advantage of the situation, harming refugees, and there was fierce competition among human traffickers. No one was above suspicion; the difference lay only in the degree of depravity. Although Nio couldn’t stop such “legal” businesses, he could choose not to be involved.

“Hey! Brother, 5 gold coins per day, today included. That’s a sergeant’s rate, and you’re getting almost an entire day’s worth for the price.”

Nio slowed down and turned to look at the man on horseback. It sounded good, but the journey was only about two more days to the Refuge Valley—a short task. With cavalry moving during the day, safety was generally assured; the real danger came at night. So 15 gold coins for two or three nights in the wilderness certainly wasn’t a bargain. After all, it was a price for risking one’s life, with real fights possible if things went wrong.

Still, for a marginal person like him, such an opportunity was worth pursuing. After all, most of them came from rough backgrounds, and in most cases, their combat skills and abilities couldn’t compare to those of mercenaries or bounty hunters.

Nio turned not because of the 15 gold coins. He was simply curious. At a glance, his group had no fewer than 20 guards—a considerable number. Why were they so eager to approach a marginal person? Nio realized that the strangeness of these human traffickers and the high alert of the patrol cavalry must be related.

“10 gold coins per day, paid upfront. You should know how dangerous it is out there these days.” Nio haggled and seemed suspicious.

The man on horseback’s face turned red. He was about to scold Nio for being so greedy when Nio reached out, snapped off the belt (a simple knife holder), took down his large axe, held it with both hands, exhaled, and swung it forcefully into the air. The axe became a bright blue streak that sliced through the air with a sharp whistle, leaving a half-finger-deep groove in the ground.

The man swallowed the words that were on his lips. He was quite perceptive; earlier, he had seen that Neo was alone, and most hunters like that were skilled, which was why he had intended to recruit him. Now that Neo had shown off his abilities—although they seemed only at the peak of level 4—he already possessed combat energy, a huge difference from ordinary level 4 soldiers. Moreover, if natives could master combat energy, they were usually much stronger than other fighters of the same level, truly tempered through countless battles. With such skills, 10 gold was a fair price.
“Alright, 10 gold it is. But payment won’t be upfront; it’ll be settled once a day, at dawn when we set off, for today’s amount.”
Hearing this, Neo sheathed his combat knife and nodded, thinking, “I really guessed right. It seems things haven’t been peaceful lately, not just in the south…”