"According to intelligence collection, yes, Master." Chang Yuqing nodded. "That is the Secret Keeper King, Herudira, titled the Peacemaker. From the information we searched in the Taoyuan relic platform, if the Three Kings and Long are accidental monsters, then the Secret Keeper King represents the pinnacle of war techniques that the Spirit Eye Race truly can master."
"Does every secret lock have a Secret Keeper King?" Zhang Rongfang asked.
Now in Taoyuan, Spirit People belonging to the Blood Alliance also come in and out to explore.
Many Spirit People who are not very strong in the outside world are quite powerful within the interaction zone of Taoyuan.
Some even can directly ascend to the fifth layer, the fourth layer.
These few people have been recruited by the Blood Alliance to explore and collect information from various Spirit Eye Race relics on the Divine Buddha Platform.
This is much faster than Zhang Rongfang exploring alone.
Except for the bottom of the Sea of Oblivion, which they dare not venture into, they are free to traverse all other areas.
"It should be." Zhang Zhenhai replied. "But currently, we can only find the First Secret Lock, Falgara; the other two major secret locks have no trace."
"This is a matter for Chana Tower; we only need to handle other preparations." Zhang Rongfang responded.
Watching the battle on the screen, the golden giant was much more agile than imagined, moving quickly like lightning, almost leaving only afterimages.
The so-called Evil Spirit seemed like infant insects in front of him, crushed with a simple wave of the hand.
Evil energy radiation had no effect on him at all, swept away by a golden light.
Only the Netherworld King kept waving his hand, creating one purple crystal barrier after another to block the giant’s attacks.
"Continue observation, constantly switch personnel for round-the-clock monitoring. Notify me once the three major secret locks are found and breached." Zhang Rongfang said softly.
"Yes." Zhang Zhenhai quickly responded. She couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Rongfang.
According to a friend from the Inspection Bureau, the Celestial Maiden Tong Chapter applied for a reunion with the Imperial Tutor.
She had originally suppressed her concern about this, but upon seeing Zhang Rongfang, a vague emotion arose uncontrollably.
"Let Qing’er stay for a while, come to me, and we’ll go meet someone together." Zhang Rongfang reached out and patted her shoulder.
"Yes!" Zhang Zhenhai shuddered, straightening her body and responding loudly.
Taking a last glance at the screen, Zhang Rongfang had already determined that the victory between the Peacemaker and the Netherworld King was the true balance that would decide everything in this war.
Nothing else was important.
Exiting the Inspection Department, he stepped onto the blood carpet, which moved swiftly without needing him to lift his foot.
At the moment, the sky of Yuan City has expanded to a horizon so distant it could not be seen.
At the center of the sky, a massive illusory blood lotus was continuously releasing bright red light, illuminating everything here.
The instant Zhang Rongfang walked out of the Inspection Department, people on the street came and went, each bowing in courtesy towards him.
There was no kneeling here. Only more equal and gentle bloodline kinship.
Everyone, when facing Zhang Rongfang, the progenitor of their blood, felt not fear, but warmth and kinship.
He was like a vast and gentle sun, shining on everyone, a source of everything and hope.
’This is what I desire.’ Watching this scene, Zhang Rongfang felt at ease within.
When everyone had the same blood flowing through their veins, shared the same kinship, conflicts lessen greatly.
Proceeding along the street, he arrived at the newly built Five Spirits Pavilion restaurant.
This is his disciple Ding Yu’s establishment. Since animal husbandry rapidly expanded and developed, Ding Yu, due to his special status, began to expand his business into other fields.
Entering the restaurant, a red-eyed bloodline immediately came forward to serve.
Zhang Rongfang slightly altered his expression to avoid causing too much commotion.
He glanced around the restaurant’s first-floor lobby; those dining, drinking, speaking loudly, and the bustling server-shopkeepers were all red-eyed bloodlines.
Apart from everyone’s increased speed and strength, everything else was no different than before.
"This way, honorable guest." After reserving a room, a server guided the way towards the highest fifth floor.
"Servant, may I ask, what kinds of people come to this restaurant nowadays?" Zhang Rongfang casually inquired.
"You’ve asked the right person. Truth be told, when our restaurant first opened, it was mostly local government officials, inspection patrol teams, and lords from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion." Servant replied with a smile.
"But now, it’s a mix of all kinds, with plenty of visitors."
"In what sense? Isn’t it still those same people?" Zhang Rongfang was quite busy with affairs and hadn’t noticed such trivial matters, as the Inspection Department only reported essential information, generally avoiding disturbing his tranquility with minor issues.
"Visitors come from everywhere, be it the Eternal Palace or Chana Tower, or Human Alliance Spirit People gathering spots. Anyone needing food, drink, or rest will come to our restaurant." The servant said with a hint of pride.
"People from Chana Tower even come?" Zhang Rongfang was taken aback.
"Chana Tower isn’t entirely populated by brainless fools; demons come mostly. Here, our blood immortal aura suppresses radiation, allowing them to communicate as normal people without worrying about radiation affecting too large a range." The servant seemed quite knowledgeable.
"Speaking of which, apart from the Thirteen Demon Heads, Chana Tower hosts many ordinary demons. These demons maintain consciousness amidst pollution, but lack means to survive long-term among Evil Spirits, making Yuan City a haven they seek for protection."
"Is that even possible?" Zhang Rongfang was genuinely surprised.
"Why not? Before being polluted, demons were also people, also had emotions. Initially, we were somewhat afraid. Then, seeing a demon eat without paying, and getting severely injured by a Snow Rainbow Pavilion lord with a blade and thrown out of the city, we weren’t as scared anymore." The servant laughed.
"This is interesting." Zhang Rongfang also knew about this. Snow Rainbow Pavilion had a good relationship with Ding Yu. This kid is now the God of Wealth of the entire Blood Alliance, with a vast livestock industry under him, supplying at least fifty percent of the blood food for the entire Great Spirit. It’s quite normal to have some connections.
"It’s more than interesting." The attendant arrived on the fifth floor and pushed open the door to a fan-shaped room.
"This is what you ordered for March. Speaking of which, last month, some mysterious merchants came selling quite a few spirit extraction machines. They can extract the spiritual lines from the Spirit People, that is, the Divine Buddha’s bodies.
This got really popular. Combining these extraction machines with our Blood Pool’s dark springs, it’s a perfect one-stop solution! Transforming from a Spirit Person to a Bloodline can be achieved just by spending money. The number of Spirit People tempted by this is not small."
"Indeed," Zhang Rongfang nodded in agreement. Spirit People bear a great risk of being polluted by malignant energy radiation, whereas Bloodlines do not.
The Martial Arts Atlas concoction of the Heart-Burning Furnace is far too expensive, so in comparison, transforming to a Bloodline is incredibly cost-effective.
This is because Bloodlines are divided into many ranks.
Following the habits from his past life, he established the traditional five nobility ranks from lowest to highest: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. Below these ranks are higher-grade Bloodlines and ordinary Bloodlines.
In essence, the nobility ranks for Earth’s Blood Race were translated to correspond with these five ranks, but actually, this division of ranks has existed since ancient times in Huaxia.
It’s just that when translating, it’s necessary to find terms easily understood by locals, which led to what it eventually became.
The attendant chattered away about various miscellaneous matters while hanging curtains in the room, lighting incense, and laying out wine glasses and cutlery.
He moved extremely fast. If an ordinary non-Bloodline person were watching, they would only see a blood shadow darting here and there, as if sprinting at full speed indoors.
"The price for converting the lowest ordinary Bloodline essence is only fifty thousand money. Fifty thousand money can be saved up by doing casual labor here over the course of a year, with some frugality. Don’t you think this is very cost-effective?" the attendant marveled.
"That’s true. But I’ve heard outsiders call our Yuan City the Sin City. I wonder why there is such a rumor," Zhang Rongfang asked.
"Isn’t it just because we consume blood? Some degenerates specifically suck fresh blood from live people, tarnishing our reputation. But such degenerates are very few. After all, fresh blood cannot compare to the spicy richness of blood hotpot," the attendant replied with a smile.
He finally adjusted the size of the wall lamp flame, bowed,
"Alright, sir, everything is set. If your guest arrives, I’ll guide them up from the reception."
"Thank you." Zhang Rongfang handed over a bill.
In Yuan City now, he used a type of currency called Yuan money exclusively.
This money was paper currency that he was quite familiar with from his past life, divided into denominations of one hundred, fifty, twenty, ten, and five and one Yuan, below which were jiao and fen, two types.
It completely replicated the currency hierarchy from his memory.
But this currency paper had a very special feature. They were made entirely of a material resembling skin and flesh.
Specifically, they were all created from Zhang Rongfang’s separated flesh and blood.
Every single one was a piece of living flesh and skin material. They could move, speak, and open their eyes, resembling living beings.
Yuan money felt great to the touch, warm and soft like human skin.
This is not a metaphor; it was actually made from human skin material with a unique anti-counterfeiting capability.
"Thank you very much, sir, for your generosity." The attendant happily accepted the tip, turned, and walked to the door, bowing again before leaving.
Zhang Rongfang walked to the window and looked out.
In the distance on the street, a pot-bellied Bloodline merchant was sitting in a carriage, surrounded by about a dozen red-eyed guards, heading towards the official road outside the city.
This was obviously a business-running Bloodline.
He shouted sternly at the guards, spitting everywhere, his facial fat jiggling and compressing with his voice.
Elsewhere, several Bloodlines were holding advertising flyers, smiling sycophantically as they handed them out to passing pedestrians.
Opposite, in a small tavern on a lower floor, two red-eyed beauties were posing and flirting, letting the customers beside them drink and flirtatiously touch them.
"Human nature does not change just because one becomes a Bloodline," Zhang Rongfang sighed softly.
If anyone thought that Blood Race Bloodlines were all handsome, fast, had great recovery, and all were demonic and unruly, they would be gravely mistaken.
"It’s been a long time since we last met; you’ve become much more sentimental?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the doorway behind him.
Zhang Rongfang was slightly taken aback and turned around.
Seeing the pure young woman who had just entered the door, his gaze softened.
"Perhaps I’ve grown old."
"You’re not that old; why would you feel old?" the Celestial Maiden asked in confusion.
"I’ve eaten too much, and my mind is full. Sometimes, I often dream and see many different lives. They’re me but not me," Zhang Rongfang replied with a smile.
"I eat too, but why doesn’t my mind fill up?" The Celestial Maiden blinked and asked.
Compared to when they first met, she had become much more naive.
Forgetting truly is a terrifying power.
Because inadvertently, you can also forget your experience, your lessons learned, and the mistakes you’ve made.
"Maybe I’ve eaten too much?" Zhang Rongfang thought for a moment and replied with a smile.
He seemed to have noticed some troublesome problem on the Celestial Maiden at this moment.
But it didn’t matter. After this time, he would give her what she wanted, and he would also satisfy his own desires.
Both of them would get what they wished for.