The traveler’s inn fell into quiet stillness as midnight settled over the outpost village. In his third-floor room, Gu Chen sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, his breathing barely making a sound in the dark.
Across the hall, the subtle, rhythmic breathing of Lady Elena and Butler Thomas confirmed they were fast asleep, exhausted from the day’s journey through Ironwood Pass.
Gu Chen opened his dark violet eyes. With a silent motion, he stood up and glided toward the open window, stepping out onto the roof tiles without making a sound.
Following the foul, metallic signature with his divine sense, he leapt down into the shadows of a quiet back alley. The sickening trace led directly toward an iron grate built into the village's foundation. Slipping past the rusted bars, Gu Chen descended into the subterranean drainage tunnels beneath the outpost streets.
The air grew cold, damp, and thick with the unmistakable stench of iron and rotting flesh.
Navigating the winding brick waterways, Gu Chen turned a corner to find a hidden doorway carved into the sewer wall, concealed behind a illusion rune. Stepping through the threshold, he found himself standing at the edge of a cavernous underground nest.
Dozens of iron cages hung from the vaulted stone ceiling, holding bound travelers and missing townspeople whose blood drained through wooden troughs into a massive central stone basin. Around the basin stood nearly a dozen figures wearing refined merchant doublets and velvet cloaks, the very same traders who sold goods in the village square during the day. Their pale skin, elongated fangs, and crimson eyes marked them clearly.
A Vampire standing near the altar paused, turning his head toward the entrance. A cruel, mocking smirk spread across his blood-stained lips.
"Well, well," the vampire chuckled, his raspy voice echoing off the stone walls. "What do we have here? A human stray wandered straight into our larder?"
Gu Chen didn't bother answering. His expression remained cold and indifferent as his dark eyes swept over the blood basin and the hanging cages.
"What are you doing here?" Gu Chen asked flatly, his voice echoing with absolute detachment.
The vampires exchanged amused glances, bursting into mocking laughter. "What are we doing? We are feasting, mortal! And you just volunteered to be the next course!"
With a hiss, four lower-tier vampire thralls blurred forward, their claws extended as they summoned jagged spikes of hardened blood from the stone floor, hurling them straight at Gu Chen's chest.
Gu Chen didn't move. With a subtle flick of his wrist, a dense layer of pitch-black Abyssal Qi erupted around his body.
SWOOSH!
The crimson blood spikes dissolved instantly upon contact with the Abyssal Qi, devoured like droplets of water falling into an ocean of dark fire. The four thralls froze, their crimson eyes wide with sudden horror as their blood magic completely failed.
"Weak," Gu Chen murmured.
Moving like a phantom, Gu Chen closed the distance instantly. He drove his bare palm through the chest of the first thrall, crushing its heart in a spray of dark fluid. Sidestepping a claw attack, he grabbed the second thrall by its throat and slammed it into the stone floor, shattering its spine.
Forming a blade with his right hand, Gu Chen compressed a crescent line of Abyssal Qi along his fingertips and swept his arm in a horizontal arc.
SLASH!
A wave of pitch-black Qi flashed through the cavern. The third and fourth thralls were decapitated simultaneously, their heads rolling across the wet stone before their bodies collapsed into ash.
In less than ten seconds, four blood creatures had been wiped out.
The remaining vampires backed away in sheer panic, their arrogance instantly evaporating. Before they could chant another spell or attempt to flee up the tunnels, Gu Chen blurred through the room. A series of sickening cracks echoed through the cavern as necks were snapped and chest cavities were crushed beneath his merciless strikes.
Within a minute, the entire nest was wiped out, leaving only the Leader pinned against the central stone altar, Gu Chen’s boot pressing firmly against his chest plate.
Gu Chen looked down at the bleeding vampire, his raspy voice completely emotionless. "Now. What are you doing here?"
The Leader coughed up black blood, his fangs trembling, yet a twisted, manic grin stretched across his face. "You... you think you're clever, human? You won't let me live even if I tell you... and even if you spared me, my Mistress would skin me alive for talking!"
The vampire let out a wet, raspy laugh, spitting blood onto the stone. "It doesn't matter anyway... we have already won this war, humans! You won't even know what hit you..."
Gu Chen raised his boot and kicked the vampire's jaw with a dull thud, cracking the bone. "We humans? Explain what you mean by 'won this war.'?"
The vampire spat out a broken fang and laughed hysterically into the dark. "Look around you, fool! The kingdom will fall soon anyway... you can just watch it burn from the grave!"
"Useless," Gu Chen said coldly.
CRUSH.
Gu Chen brought his heel down on the vampire's skull, ending his life instantly.
Gu Chen stepped back, adjusting his cloths as he pondered the vampire's dying words. ‘So... these blood creatures have already deeply infiltrated human society, disguising themselves as high-class merchants... And who is this 'Mistress' he mentioned? It seems the power struggle in this lower realm is far more chaotic than Lucian's memories suggested.’
Kneeling over the corpses, Gu Chen plunged his fingers into the chests of the fallen vampires, extracting nearly a dozen dense, dark-red Blood Cores.
DING!
[12x VAMPIRE MANA CORES DETECTED]
[CONVERT TO PURE SPIRIT ENERGY? (YES / NO)]
[OPTION A BONUS ACTIVE: +50% CONVERSION YIELD]
Gu Chen selected [YES].
The cores shattered into fine crimson dust in his palm. A massive, roaring wave of purified, dense spiritual energy surged through his arms and flooded into his dantian. The energy expanded his meridians violently, purifying his blood and expanding his core foundation at blinding speed.
Feeling the sheer density of the refined energy swirling within his abdomen, Gu Chen closed his eyes briefly. He could feel his vessel's power expanding so rapidly that he was already closing in on the threshold of the mid-Stage Foundation Establishment realm.
Before leaving, Gu Chen thoroughly searched the leader's private quarters at the back of the cavern. Upon a mahogany desk, he found stack of trade ledgers alongside a sealed iron crest bearing the raven insignia of House Ravencrest, confirming that Julian had been conducting secret trade deals with these vampires, buying illicit poisons and blood elixirs from them in exchange for safe passage through the Duchy.
With a flick of his finger, Gu Chen ignited a spark of Abyssal Qi, setting the entire underground lair ablaze in dark, consume-all flames that erased every trace of the slaughter. Slighting past the iron grate, he returned to his room at the inn entirely unspotted long before the first light of dawn.
The morning sun rose over the outpost village, casting golden light across the bustling streets.
Butler Thomas walked down the stairs of the traveler's inn, escorting Lady Elena down to the dining hall for breakfast. Her long blonde hair was neatly arranged, framed by her elegant dark-blue dress, though a hint of fatigue still lingered in her sapphire eyes.
As they entered the dining hall, Elena paused.
Sitting at a small wooden table near the window was "Noah." He was already dressed in his crestless coat, calmly eating a plate of roasted meats and bread as if he had been sitting there for hours.
Seeking to build a stronger connection with this formidable knight, Elena stepped forward with a polite smile. "Good morning, Sir Noah."
Gu Chen offered a simple, silent nod, continuing his meal without pause.
Elena seated herself across from him, resting her hands gracefully on the table. "Sir Noah, as we prepare to enter the capital city of Holy Lunar, I believe it would be best to purchase proper steel armor and a steel sword for you before we arrive."
Gu Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, looking up from his plate.
"You are serving as my escort," Elena explained refinedly. "Traveling beside an unarmored, crestless knight would make House Vane look weak to rival noble factions. Furthermore, a knight of your combat efficiency deserves gear worthy of your skill."
Pausing briefly, Elena leaned in slightly, her sapphire eyes searching his face. "In truth, Sir Noah... I would like to offer you a position as a knight of House Vane. My family would value a man of your caliber."
A heavy silence settled over the table. Thomas stood behind Elena, shifting uncomfortably, clearly cautious about inviting an unknown killer into their household.
Gu Chen set down his utensil, staring at Elena with dark, impassive eyes. He calculated the offer swiftly, entering the capital under the protection and backing of House Vane would grant him an official identity, freedom of movement, and access to resources without drawing suspicion.
"I will accept," Gu Chen replied calmly, his voice flat and raspy. "I am tired of wandering from village to village as an unaffiliated warrior. However, I have conditions."
"Name them," Elena said attentively.
"I require shelter, food and an official identification document," Gu Chen stated. "I do not possess a registered identification"
Elena blinked, somewhat surprised. "You have no official identification? How is that possible for a warrior of your standing?"
Gu Chen gave a simple, rehearsed excuse without flinching. "I am a war orphan from the borderlands. I was raised in outer villages and learned my martial arts from old retired soldiers who lived in the mountains. We had no use for such documents."
Elena listened quietly, nodding her head. While the story sounded plausible for borderland mercenaries, her sharp noble instincts told her there was far more to this youth than he let on. Inwardly, she decided she would have her family's covert intelligence network look deeply into his background once they reached the manor.
Thomas stepped forward, opening his mouth to voice his concerns. "Milady, taking in an unregistered war orphan without verification-"
Elena raised a delicate hand, silencing her butler with a firm glance.
"Very well, Sir Noah," Elena agreed, turning back to Gu Chen with a decisive smile. "I accept your conditions. You shall have your food, shelter, and proper gear."
Standing up from the table, Elena gestured toward the door where the carriage awaited. "Thomas, prepare the carriage. As we head toward the capital gates, use the long-range communication orb to contact the manor. Have our administrators draft an official citizenship and pass for Noah immediately."
"Yes, milady," Thomas bowed reluctantly, pulling out a glowing glass orb from his coat to execute her orders.
Gu Chen stood up from the table, his tall, slender frame casting a quiet shadow over the room. As they walked out into the morning sunlight toward the carriage, Elena stole a quick glance at "Noah."
Stepping into the carriage, Gu Chen settled onto the velvet cushions, looking out the window as the vehicle rolled toward the massive, distant white walls of Holy Lunar.
Gu Chen thought, a cold, dark smirk touching his lips. ‘This capital will prove to be an exceptional harvest.’