A few days later, at night.
Having confirmed that Miss Anna had no plans to go out, Li Xiao did not return to his room next door to practice martial arts as usual.
He led the way to the study reserved for the head of the manor and knocked on the door.
After a moment, Thorne’s voice came from inside the study.
“Come in.” Li Xiao pushed open the door and entered the study.
He saw Thorne reading by the French windows and bowed slightly.
“Greetings, Head of the Manor.” Thorne did not look up, still engrossed in his book, speaking casually.
“It’s you, Li Xiao.
What is it?
Is it because of Anna?” Li Xiao shook his head, his expression natural: “Miss Anna has been staying at the manor these past few days and has no plans to go out for the time being.
I came to ask for leave.
I need to go out tonight, but I will be back before Miss Anna wakes up tomorrow morning.” Hearing that it was just a request, Thorne did not say anything more, simply waving his hand in tacit agreement.
Head bowed, Li Xiao left the study, returned to his room to change into casual clothes, and walked briskly out of the manor.
By the French windows of the study, Thorne had already stood up, watching Li Xiao’s departing figure.
“Micah, go and see.
I need to know who he met and what he did.” The old butler, Micah, who had been waiting behind Thorne, bowed respectfully and vanished from the study in a wisp of black smoke.
Thorne’s gaze shifted to a corner of the manor, a slight smile playing on his lips, before he too disappeared from the study.
Outside the manor.
Li Xiao hailed a taxi using his phone and headed towards the center of Eternal Night City.
Ten minutes later, the car stopped in front of a hotel.
After paying the fare, Li Xiao opened his phone and checked his messages.
“1179, eleventh floor?” Entering the hotel, under the watchful eye of the receptionist in black stockings, Li Xiao pressed the close button on the elevator.
On the eleventh floor, Li Xiao knocked on the door of room 79.
Knock, knock, knock… The door opened, and Li Xiao’s gaze instantly fell on Huang Qiushui’s half-exposed breasts.
A white bath towel wrapped around her, outlining her perfect curves; her body exuded a fresh fragrance, and her hair was still damp.
Li Xiao couldn’t resist stepping forward and lifting a strand of hair to inhale its fragrance.
Ignoring Huang Qiushui’s stiff body, Li Xiao entered the room and closed the door behind him.
He lifted Huang Qiushui up and sat on the edge of the bed.
He lowered his head to Huang Qiushui’s neck, inhaling the scent; a surge of desire, both thirst and a desire to mate, welled up within him simultaneously.
On that fair, delicate swan neck, Li Xiao revealed four sharp fangs.
The pain of fangs piercing her flesh made Huang Qiushui’s brows furrow.
She wrapped her arms around Li Xiao’s neck, closing her eyes and silently enduring the pain.
Upon drinking human blood for the first time, Li Xiao tasted a virginal fragrance.
With his thirst for blood satisfied, Li Xiao didn’t forget his purpose.
A trickle of his own blood flowed down his fangs into Huang Qiushui’s body.
With each inflow and outflow, Huang Qiushui was transforming from human into a vampire.
Her delicate shoulders trembled slightly, as if enduring pain.
Her dark, bright pupils gradually turned red.
When her pupils were completely red, a newborn, thirsty hybrid was born.
The desire for blood brutally took over her consciousness; newborn vampires are always thirsty.
As he felt the fangs pierce his flesh, Li Xiao’s lips curled into a smile as he pressed Huang Qiushui onto the bed.
A few hours later— Leaning against the headboard, Li Xiao lit a cigarette.
Huang Qiushui lay limp on the bed beside him.
After all, she was just a newly minted vampire, and although Li Xiao hadn’t been there for long, it wasn’t something she could handle.
Huang Qiushui didn’t speak, but every breath she exhaled could melt the polar ice.
Li Xiao hadn’t even taken two puffs of his cigarette when his eyes became glazed and stared blankly ahead.
[Ding!
Detected the host’s direct bloodline, Huang Qiushui, potential: B] [Ding!
Congratulations to the host for receiving a reward: thirty years of arduous cultivation.] [Ding!
Congratulations to the host for completing the breakthrough of the direct bloodline from 0 to 1.
Reward: Direct bloodline potential level +1, reward: Host’s bloodline enhancement +1.] [All rewards are being distributed.
Please check your accounts.] The system notification ended, and Li Xiao felt only a silent, violent surge within his body.
His blood was boiling, his bones and muscles were tearing and regenerating.
His entire body was undergoing rapid changes, yet Li Xiao felt no pain; instead, he felt as if he were basking in warm sunlight.
Beside him, Huang Qiushui’s eyes were blank, sensing that Li Xiao’s aura was rising at an inexplicable speed.
Outside the window, a wisp of black smoke, invisible to anyone without ‘eyes’, was gently swirling, its aura detectable only through sensory perception, as if it were contemplating something.
When the rapid increase ended and the comfort faded, Li Xiao opened his eyes, feeling something strange all over his body.
Looking down, he saw his skin covered in black grime.
Feeling uncomfortable, Li Xiao quickly got up and ran to the bathroom to shower.
After washing away the impurities, Li Xiao finally checked the control panel.
Host: Li Xiao Race: Mid-tier Vampire (Second Tier), Hybrid Realm: High-tier Grand Martial Master (Third Tier) Strength: C (Same Realm) Constitution: C (Same Realm) Agility: B (Same Realm) Spirit: B (Same Realm) Talents: [High-Speed Agility], [Mental Resistance], [Blood Regeneration], [Conversion] Direct Bloodline: [Huang Qiushui – Viewable] Li Xiao examined it closely.
His racial bloodline had advanced to the second tier, and his martial arts realm had jumped three levels.
Thirty years of arduous training had directly elevated him to the level of a high-tier Grand Martial Master.
Li Xiao lowered his head, clenching his fist, feeling the immense force within his body.
A Grand Martial Master’s body had reached its peak; his skin, muscles, bones, and internal organs had all reached the limits of humanity.
The next step was to rely on his powerful physique to generate true qi and advance to the ‘Grandmaster’ level.
After feeling the newly generated power, Li Xiao finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Hahaha…” “I never expected…
I really never expected it.
I thought having many children meant having many blessings.” Li Xiao shook his head with a smile, completely unprepared to discover a bug in the system after transforming Huang Qiushui.
If it weren’t for this accident, he wasn’t sure how long it would have taken him to discover this loophole.
“Since transformation can be considered as my direct bloodline, then by just continuously transforming, can’t I quickly become stronger?” A grand plan appeared in Li Xiao’s mind.
Although Eternal Night City is a city-state of the vampires, vampires only make up a very small portion of the population, perhaps less than one-thousandth.
The city was mostly inhabited by humans, with a small number of half-elves, dwarves, and other lawful races.
Moreover, the vast majority were quite ordinary; otherwise, there would be no need to travel thousands of miles to Eternal Night City, gambling on that slim chance of being converted.
“As long as I open my mouth, it won’t be long before I can convert hundreds or even thousands of direct bloodlines.” While conversion does consume one’s own blood, it’s not much.
Li Xiao estimated that with his current mid-level vampire level, converting a dozen or twenty people a day wouldn’t be a problem.
However, this would leave him in a weakened state, and recovery would take considerable time.
“I can’t do it in the manor, so I can only convert people outside.
I need someone to help me.” “This requires a few helpers.” Li Xiao pondered; he couldn’t very well just run out into the streets and chase people around biting them.
As Li Xiao pondered, two people flashed through his mind.
One was Tang Lai, the person who had guided him to Eternal Night City.
The other was Huang Qiushui, whose body was still limp next door.
“Right, speaking of which, Huang Qiushui’s potential has increased by one level, now reaching A-rank.
I need to take a closer look.” Thinking of this, Li Xiao opened Huang Qiushui’s information on the panel.
Name: Huang Qiushui Race: Low-level Vampire ‘First Rank’ ‘Mixed Blood’ Realm: None Loyalty: 55 ‘Increases over time, up to 100.’ Strength: A ‘Same Realm’ Constitution: A (Same Realm) Agility: A (Same Realm) Spirit: A (Same Realm) Talents: [Ice Element Affinity] [High-Speed Agility] [Mental Resistance] [Blood Regeneration] [Conversion] “…
…” “System, are you serious?
The vampire I converted has higher stats than me, and even has elemental affinity.” “So, I’m just a regular template, and Huang Qiushui is the elite template?
This is already stronger than some purebloods.” Li Xiao just complained, not thinking much of it, and looked at the newly added loyalty column.
“Being able to keep increasing it to the maximum, this function is great.” “If it’s like this, wouldn’t I be able to convert an army of hybrids absolutely loyal to me?” “System power is really something else.” Li Xiao silently gave a thumbs up in his mind.
Other vampires, whether converted or embraced by purebloods, cannot change the target’s free will.
Even the initial embrace merely forcibly binds the two together, not as a form of absolute loyalty.
In comparison, the system’s subtle and gradual approach is far superior.
Li Xiao finished dressing and left the bathroom.
He went to the bedside, lowered his head, and spoke in an unquestionable tone, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Huang Qiushui’s still flushed face.
“I need your help…”