In the eyes of many, those who walked the demonic path were inherently ferocious and ruthless.
Yet few ever considered that this ruthless savagery was born out of necessity—the living conditions of demonic cultivators were almost always extraordinarily brutal.
A harsh environment naturally birthed cruel, bone-scraping methods of survival.
By the same token, it also spawned an array of exceptionally resilient survival techniques within demonic cultivation.
The Blood-Siphoning Dragon Nurturing Art was the most common method used by the Blood Fiend Demon Sect to construct a Dao sanctuary.
When the surrounding environment was harsh, spiritual energy sparse, or entirely nonexistent—what was a cultivator to do?
They would use their own means to forge a spiritual vein from scratch.
Of course, creating spiritual energy out of thin air was a grand divine power reserved only for Hunyuan-level mighty figures.
Low-level demonic cultivators could not construct spiritual veins out of nothing, so they simply bound and drew upon the national fortune and dragon qi of secular dynasties, using that dragon qi to enlighten the earth qi and form a relatively low-tier dragon vein.
A so-called dragon vein was an earth vein gathering a dynasty’s fortune and the spiritual nature of its populace—also known as a pseudo-spiritual vein.
This was precisely why Mark had chosen the Louis XIV Castle Estate for his Dao sanctuary’s outer manor.
Louis XIV was a former monarch of France.
The castle estate where Louis XIV once resided not only occupied a prime feng shui location where earth qi gathered, but it also retained the foundational origin of France’s dragon qi.
Furthermore, Paris itself was the capital of France.
Mark had already arranged for the Blue Umbrella Corporation to collect blood samples from Paris citizens through various channels.
Once the vampire farming factory was up and running, those blood samples would be used to mass-produce artificial blood to nurture vampires.
The souls of those vampires would then be drawn into the Blood God Banner and deployed across the estate.
This would form a complete array designed to steal national dragon fortune.
As the Blue Umbrella Corporation’s power gradually recovered, they could collect blood samples from the entire population of France—and eventually, all of Europe.
When that time came, boundless dragon qi would converge upon Paris, flowing into the underground vampire farm beneath the Blue Umbrella Corporation.
From the vampire farm, it would be channeled into the Blood God Banner, and finally directed into the All-Transformation Blood Refining Pool at the suburban estate, automatically forming a dragon vein.
First, nurture the dragon vein with Paris alone.
Then, nurture it with all of France.
Finally, nurture it with the whole of Europe.
Naturally, this entire process would not inflict any real harm on the people of Europe.
At most, Paris would see a few more corrupt officials in the future, the French army would surrender a little faster, and the independent nations of Europe would fracture into even smaller pieces.
Beyond that, there was nothing unreasonable about it.
Besides, the European public was long accustomed to such things; a tiny bit of extra influence from him made no difference.
Wouldn’t the artificial blood in those blood banks flow back into the market?
Artificial blood enriched by dragon vein qi could rival precious spirit medicines.
Although the artificial blood sold by the Blue Umbrella Corporation might be just a tiny bit expensive, it could ultimately save human lives at critical moments.
Rounded off, Mark was practically a savior to the European people.
So what if he stole a little bit of dragon fortune?
As a savior with so much merit, wasn’t he entitled to enjoy a few perks?
Flawless logic.
Along the highway transporting the dragon fortune, a understated yet luxurious Maybach soon pulled up to the Blue Umbrella Corporation building in the center of Paris.
Two months had passed.
Returning to his loyal Blue Umbrella Corporation, Mark’s state of mind was vastly different.
The first time he had come here, he had not even awakened from the confusion of the womb.
He had been treated as a bargaining chip by the parasitic financial cabals behind Blue Umbrella, ready to be traded off to the vampires of the Gold Court Clan.
Now, inside and out, the entirety of the Blue Umbrella Corporation belonged to Mark’s die-hard loyalists.
When Mark’s car entered the underground parking garage, Christine—who still held the CEO seat—was already waiting there early.
However, Christine no longer looked like the shriveled old hag she had been before.
She was now a fair-skinned, gorgeous, and youthful fashion icon.
Two months ago, after the Night Squad thoroughly wiped out the Gold Court Clan’s stronghold in Paris, Christine had used the favor from her earlier gamble to smoothly pledge total allegiance to Mark.
To earn merit, she had acted as a guide without the slightest hesitation, selling out every single one of the fence-sitting financial cabals behind Blue Umbrella.
That was how Mark had managed to sweep away those parasitic cabals in such a short time.
A servant of merit naturally deserved rewards.
Mark’s reward to Christine was making her a proud Blood Shadow Dao Soldier.
First, Selene gave her the First Embrace.
Then, Mark bestowed a Dao Seed upon her.
Under a massive supply of artificial blood, Christine’s current cultivation was actually higher than that of the Night Squad.
The only difference was that the Night Squad focused all their energy on combat skills, whereas Christine had dumped all her cultivation and effort into regaining her youth and preserving her beauty.
that worked too.
Although the Blood Shadow Divine Art was purely a blood-path slaughter tradition, it was still an immortal cultivation method at its core.
At most, its effects on youth restoration and beauty preservation were somewhat subtle.
Looking at her now, Christine was quite the talent, managing to thoroughly develop the weaker aspects of the Blood Shadow Divine Art.
“Christine…”
“Boss, please call me Little Christine!”
“Huh??”
“Boss, it’s like this—now that I’ve regained my youth, making a public appearance would cause too much of a stir.
So it’s much more convenient if I appear as Christine’s illegitimate daughter.”
As she spoke, Christine delicately stroked her own cheek.
It was clear she deeply cherished her current state.
Mark: “…”
“Fine.
Whatever makes you happy, Little Christine.”
Watching Christine vanity-check herself in a mirror, Mark shook his head, speechlessly.
Then, Mark turned to look at the burly man standing beside her.
This man looked dull, honest, and completely ordinary—it was Jason Bourne, the first member of the Night Squad to express his loyalty to Mark two months ago.
Yes, that exact Jason Bourne.
Mark didn’t care to figure out why Jason Bourne had become a vampire.
Since Jason had been the first to pledge loyalty and possessed ample competence, Mark had directly appointed him as the leader of the Night Squad, while also serving as the security director for both the Blue Umbrella Corporation and the Underground Hive.
Of course, the security director title was mostly just a figurehead position.
The Blue Umbrella Corporation was Mark’s vital base in Europe.
He had placed ten Asura Hounds and forty Mecha Dao Soldiers inside the company.
Mark’s true plan for Jason was to eventually develop him toward leading a Wolf-Catching Team.
The other fourteen members of the Night Squad would also be assigned to establish Wolf-Catching Teams in other regions in the future.
Naturally, how many teams they could build would depend on how many suitable Nightwalkers existed within the Gold Court Clan.
“Jason, have your squad end their leave.”
“In three days, we head to Hungary to utterly annihilate the Gold Court Clan.”