A golden beam of sunlight pierced the narrow window of Fei Yue's rented room, heralding morning's arrival.
She jolted awake, sweat-soaked sheets clinging to her skin, forming a damp, humanoid shadow beneath her. "What was that?" she whispered, her voice trembling. No matter how desperately she tried to dismiss it as a dream, the vivid horror clung to her. The warm, sticky trail of blood on her cheek—smeared like a cruel afterthought—told her it was no mere nightmare.
"Why me?" Her voice cracked under the weight of the newfound development.
It wasn't as if she wanted this life in the first place.
That man had threatened to return in fifty years and claim her soul. From the way the golden-robed man had spoken, it was clear that he had been acquainted with the 17th Blood Lord. The status of their relationship was unknown to her; however, the odds tilted more toward enemies.
First, her family was massacred, her village left in ruins. Now she found herself pitted against a powerful entity. The man was right: she couldn't run or hide. Even in this moment, she could still feel the man's gaze, as though she was being watched. He had mentioned something about placing a seal in her soul, meaning he would find her no matter where she went or tried to hide.
"Avista, are you there?" Fei Yue, now robbed of the chance of living a normal life, turned to the only being or entity that could help her.
Now that she thought of it, she didn't want to die. The feeling of her throat being slashed open was still fresh in her mind—scenes of her clutching her throat to prevent the fresh, warm blood from leaking out. She didn't want to die. She did not want to see her own blood form a pool around her, not again.
For the first time since she was resurrected, she began to cherish the second chance she had been given.
She would live against all odds. Never again would anyone rob her of her life. She would walk the blood path, and perhaps, just maybe, she might get a chance at vengeance.
Those dark eyes—she would remember them. For that, she would become an adept.
At her call, the Avista didn't respond. She wasn't asking a viable question. From their last conversation, it was clear that the Avista could only answer questions related to the blood evolution path technique. If not, there would only be silence.
With that thought, she asked, "Avista, how do I begin practicing the blood evolution technique?"
[The first step would be to create your foundation. To do that, you need to consume large quantities of beast blood.]
This time, the mechanical and emotionless voice sounded once more to provide answers to her questions.
"What kind of beasts are we talking about here?"
[Any kind of beast will do. I recommend unique beasts, preferably one with a strong bloodline.]
Fei Yue heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn't anything specific. Now there was another problem: how exactly would she get beast blood?
"How didn't the previous Blood Lords get beast blood?" Given that the previous Blood Lords and Ancestor, except for the 17th Blood Lord, had all died from the 'blood influx,' they had to have ways of getting blood, right?
[The previous Blood Lords, except for the 17th Blood Ancestor, had spent almost their entire lifetime in the great wilderness, killing and collecting rare bloodlines, with almost zero contact with the outside world.]
"What?" Spending their entire lives in the forests, killing and consuming beast blood? It was little wonder they didn't die from loneliness. Such an unorthodox method was out of the question.
After much thinking, she decided to hit the streets. She had clearly seen a lot of strange things up for sale the previous day. Perhaps someone would have beast blood for sale.
With that in mind, she left the room. Descending the stairs, she met the same lady she had seen the previous day.
"I'll be keeping the room for the next few days," she said before dropping exactly twenty silver notes. Without even waiting for the lady to respond, Fei Yue exited the building.
She immediately caught sight of the elderly man from yesterday. As it was already a few hours into the morning, the old man's shop was fully open, unlike the previous day. Fei Yue immediately bolted in his direction.
The old man had taken a few minutes to set up his scrappy materials, meticulously putting everything in its designated place to ensure an easy display.
At that moment, he noticed a silhouette approaching from a distance. The old man quickly poised himself, thinking it was his first customer. After all, his was the only shop in this area. The old man quickly became excited; his merchandise didn't usually catch the attention of young people.
When the figure came close enough, the old man recognized her as the same strange, crimson-haired woman who had approached him yesterday. From a distance, Fei Yue looked as though her entire head was covered in blood. When the woman came close enough, he noticed her ruby-like eyes. "What a strange woman," he mused. Eye colors like Fei Yue's were unusual.
"Good morning, old man," Fei Yue greeted, finding it strange that she herself was calling someone old.
The old man, however, didn't mind at all. If anything, a bright smile painted itself on his wrinkled face, his lips curling upwards, slightly revealing his red gums with a few missing teeth. "How can I help you, miss?"
"Sir, do you have any information as to where I might make a purchase?" she answered with an amiable smile.
"This is Dawn City. As long as you have money, anything can be bought," the old man added with a hint of pride. He had grown up and spent most of his life in Dawn City. As the central hub of the lower regions, Dawn City was indeed a bustling metropolitan city.
"Ahem!" Fei Yue cleared her throat. "You see, I need large quantities of animal blood," she said, trying hard not to make it sound weird. After all, it's not every day you see someone buying blood. "A bit unusual, now that I think about it," she said, her tongue pressing against her teeth.
The old man narrowed his eyes, glancing at Fei Yue up and down. For a moment, silence hung in the air.
Fei Yue felt her heartbeat quicken. She was beginning to panic inside. "Perhaps this was a mistake. Ha! Silly me for thinking this would be easy."
"It is not without reason that the Blood Lords spent their entire lives in the forest," she thought. Just as she was thinking of a way to get out of the situation, the old man finally spoke.
"Actually, it is not entirely unusual."
"It's not?" Fei Yue answered while taking a deep breath. "This is good then," she thought to herself. These days, she had made a habit of speaking to herself in ways she never thought possible.
"You're an adept, right?" the old man asked, looking at Fei Yue's hair and eyes. Actually, it wasn't just her hair and eyes. Fei Yue's skin was unusually white, as though it was covered in white ash, but not in a way that was strange.
"How… How did you know?" Fei Yue asked, her voice shaky with her recent dose of fear.
This was her second time meeting the old man, and she didn't remember mentioning anything related to being an adept.
"Your hair and eyes—they are a bit unusual, even for an adept. Plus, only an adept would buy animal blood. No mortal would waste money on buying something as useless as beast blood. Those were a luxury only the great adepts could afford."
Adepts were a strange bunch. Although the old man wasn't one, he still knew quite a bit about them.
"Tell you what, miss?"
"Yue."
"Tell you what, Miss Yue, why don't you give me the money, and let me make the purchase for you?" the old man asked. Although Fei Yue couldn't tell, this was his way of currying favor with an adept.
"Really? That would be great!" The still-naive 26-year-old woman beamed with joy. In that moment, she whipped out the gold note Di Tian of the Golden Order had given her.
The old man, however, was drooling at the sight of a gold note. In all his years, he had only had the pleasure of seeing a gold note a few times. Who knew he would see the slick, gold-rolled paper again? He quickly accepted it, whisking it out of Fei Yue's grasp.
"When do I come to collect?"
"By this time tomorrow," the old man answered, his attention still glued to the gold paper in his hand.
"See you tomorrow, old man."
"Perhaps she's from a rich adept family and is currently running away from home," the old man thought, seeing Fei Yue disappearing into the distance. Whatever the case, it was not his problem. "Better get to work then." The old man began to close up his shop.