Chapter 128: The Beginning of Blood Exchange

More than an hour later.

Inside the narrow alley, Gune emerged, clad in a robe and cloak.

This transaction was very successful.

Apart from that Riestan, there was also an old man Gune did not recognize.

From the fleeting, faint burst of powerful aura the old man released,

Gune sensed that he was a powerful sixth-rank spellweaver, which secretly startled Gune.

Ordinary low-rank spellweavers of the first or second rank

are merely at the threshold of the supernatural, mastering only common spells and low-rank supernatural spells.

Their offensive, defensive, and perceptual abilities are not strong.

At this stage, a spellweaver's overall combat capability is weak.

Compared to shadow-walkers and battle-artists of the same rank, low-rank spellweavers are likely no match for them.

Mid-rank spellweavers of the third and fourth ranks

require a longer period of cultivation to attain, even with talent.

Through extended cultivation,

these spellweavers can condense a certain number of secret-crossing, acceleration, repetition, amplification, or other special spell runes.

Similarly, the nurturing of supernatural equipment will gradually be completed.

Spells and abilities of attack, defense, and perception, and even the integration of certain 'supernatural plant bodies,' will also gradually be completed.

For example, some spellweavers fuse additional soul fragments to bring forth the 'double repetition' ability ahead of time.

Or they fuse the 'super-sense skin' of perception-type supernatural creatures to further enhance their perceptual abilities.

Alternatively, some immensely wealthy supernatural beings directly purchase 'wind-accord bones' with wind-element runes, costing tens of thousands of gold pounds.

After fusion, combined with spells, they can gain a certain flight ability, ascending directly in danger to bomb from the air with spells.

Additionally, when spellweavers at this stage have gradually paired their mastered low-rank, mid-rank, and even a small number of high-rank spells,

the formidable nature of spellweavers begins to emerge.

Their advantages over other supernatural professions become apparent.

At high rank, the fifth and sixth ranks,

high-rank spellweavers who master many high-rank spells and have come into contact with secret-pattern spells undergo a major transformation.

At this point, battle-artists and shadow-walkers, if fighting head-on against a spellweaver of the same rank, would likely die horribly.

Although Gune is quite powerful now,

facing a sixth-rank spellweaver, he would not be foolish enough to think himself a match.

Fortunately, that sixth-rank spellweaver old man was also there to trade; he was wary of Gune but bore no ill will.

He even chatted with Gune for a while, appearing quite amiable.

In this transaction, Gune paid 800 milliliters of life spring water and received 8,000 gold pounds in return.

Before leaving, the old man arranged another transaction with Gune three days later, suggesting the quantity of life spring water could be increased.

This gave Gune a clear sense of the enormous demand for life spring water.

Gune naturally would not refuse this situation.

With the black market as cover, life spring water entering the market would only benefit humanity,

not the blood-ear elves who refuse to supply the human world.

Moreover, Gune knew better than anyone

that once he submitted the formula for the soul and dragon-blood secret-pattern potion,

then...

life spring water would become the only material limiting the refinement of secret-pattern potions.

Previously, the high council of the Yulan Empire was reluctant to venture deep into the supernatural wasteland to campaign against the alien races in the twisted depths,

because the benefits did not justify the costs.

Even if they obtained life spring water, so what?

In the human world, life spring water's greater use was as a life-saving medicine in critical moments.

Similar top-tier refined healing potions could achieve the same effect.

With substitutes, life spring water, with its high price, was not a hard requirement for most supernatural beings.

But now, things are different.

Once the secret-pattern potion appears,

humans can freely obtain other materials, even sell them on the market.

But... life spring water is not available.

Given Gune's important status, each time he obtains only a tiny amount of life spring water.

Clearly, the quantity of life spring water flowing into the human world is quite limited.

This obviously does not meet the demand for large-scale refinement of secret-pattern potions.

On a small scale, the secret-pattern potion can greatly enhance the strength of the official supernatural beings of the Yulan Empire's Supernatural Association.

On a larger scale,

it represents a massive boost to the overall national power of the entire Yulan Empire.

Once the overall national power is greatly enhanced,

the Yulan Empire could become the strongest among the three great empires of the north.

This is a once-in-a-millennium historical opportunity.

Currently, competition among the three great empires of the northern Oya continent is increasingly fierce.

How could the Yulan Congress, if not foolish, miss such a good opportunity?

At that time, it is foreseeable that the Yulan Empire will inevitably launch a war against the twisted secret realm in the north.

The fate of those blood-ear elves goes without saying.

A ripple in the tide of the era has already been inadvertently guided by Gune's hand, and its target is the blood-ear elves who once plotted against him.

This small ripple in the tide of the era is a towering mountain enough to destroy the blood-ear elves and other alien races living in the twisted secret realm.

The night was deep.

As Gune's figure disappeared into the darkness of the street,

inside the house,

the flames in the small fireplace blazed hotly, with the occasional crackle of burning wood.

The old man, wearing a magic-gold grade gray robe and cloak, his face slightly wrinkled, sat on the sofa. After rechecking this batch of life spring water, he was completely reassured.

“Lord Ostu, what did you make of that mysterious man with the ghost-face mask?” At this moment, Riestan asked the old man in a low voice.

This time, Ostu's arrival was partly to participate in the transaction as a power-holder of the black market,

and partly to probe the background of this masked man.

The spellweaver old man named Ostu, hearing Riestan's question, slightly closed his eyes as if lost in thought.

During the previous transaction, Ostu naturally did not refrain from probing the masked man, who had altered his voice, concealed his face, and even wore gloves on his hands.

However, he could only faintly sense a bit of 'vigorous blood and qi'; beyond that, he detected no useful information.

His insight was quite formidable; even sixth-rank shadow-walkers could not easily approach him.

Yet on this mysterious man, he carefully sensed but could only get as far as 'vigorous blood and qi.'

This left Ostu with some caution.

The information 'vigorous blood and qi' at most indicates that this spellweaver has practiced something like a knight's breathing method, or perhaps he has implanted a powerful supernatural heart.

In the current supernatural era,

some 'spellweaver knights' or 'spellweaver assassins' specifically cultivate such breathing methods; as for implanting supernatural hearts, that is too common.

If he could sense the other's blood aura, that would be somewhat useful.

But sensing 'vigorous blood and qi' is as vague as 'strong physique.'

There are many people with 'strong physique.'

There are also many with 'vigorous blood and qi.'

This information makes little difference whether it is known or not.

After pondering for a long time, Ostu finally looked at Riestan.

“This fellow is not simple. Just maintain the channel for transactions; avoid provoking him if possible.”

“Otherwise... I might not be able to protect you.”

Riestan's heart trembled slightly upon hearing this.

“Even Lord Ostu cannot see through him. Fortunately, I did not act rashly; otherwise... the consequences would be unthinkable.”

With Ostu's words, some of Riestan's hidden intentions were completely extinguished.

...

In the deep night,

Gune walked lightly over the snow, feeling quite pleased.

The success of this transaction also brought him into contact with the high-level strongmen of the black market.

Clearly, the channel has been further stabilized.

In the coming days, he only needed to convert all these gold pounds into materials.

Once the secret-pattern potion was developed, Gune could use these materials to make a huge profit.

As he moved forward, Gune also felt the powerful and vibrant blood within him.

“The blood in my body has completely calmed down. Tonight, I can perform the blood exchange,” Gune thought to himself.

Then, with a light step, he activated the blood escape technique.

In an instant, Gune's figure transformed into a blood-colored streak of light, elongating in a flash.

When his foot landed again, Gune had already moved eight or nine meters from his original spot.

Then Gune continued to step forward.

Each step was a blood escape technique.

His form turned into a blood-colored streak of light in the night, rapidly stretching; Gune resembled a blood-colored elf leaping through the darkness.

In moments, Gune had easily crossed the entire long street.

Currently, Gune had the blood escape technique and other spells like the Soul-Settling Divine Ring Charm alternating in idle training; it was now at level one.

For Gune, with his extremely high soul and thought speed, evading some dangerous attacks was not particularly difficult.

Deep爵 Castle was not far ahead.

“The time for the blood exchange has come,” Gune murmured softly.