Li Xi looked at Kalia without rushing to attack. Instead, he chatted as if reuniting with an old friend he hadn't seen in years, "I'm particularly curious about one thing: which evil god do you serve?"
Kalia raised his arms as if embracing the rising sun, his expression one of extreme piety and madness, "Lord Dracula will surely ignite the divine fire and become the first deity to ascend to the divine kingdom."
"Damn."
Upon hearing the name Dracula, a chill ran through Li Xi. He truly hadn't expected the evil god behind the Assassin's Alliance to be a vampire.
Igniting the divine fire was the final step before becoming a god. Normally, benevolent and lawful deities would descend miracles at this stage, allowing their followers to feel the god's greatness and worship them more fervently. To put it bluntly, it was brainwashing.
But evil gods were different. They wouldn't descend miracles; instead, they would go on a killing spree, making the world remember their cruelty. If you didn't trust them, you would surely face divine retribution. In such situations, most people, out of fear of the evil god's brutality, would offer some form of worship, not for protection, but simply to avoid incurring the evil god's wrath.
As for Dracula, mentioned by Kalia, he was the progenitor of vampires. Although not a god before, his power was not far off.
In the past, he was suppressed by the many deities in their divine kingdoms in the heavens. Now, all the divine kingdoms were empty, and no deity could suppress him. Dracula clearly intended to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ascend to the divine kingdom first. And to ensure that the world would remember him for eternity, his method of igniting the divine fire would undoubtedly be the most cruel and bloody.
A cold dread surged from the soles of Li Xi's feet to the crown of his head. Dracula was an existence on par with Lilith. However, unlike Lilith, who hadn't descended from the abyss and was merely a puppet with a shattered mind, defeated by Boendi's divine descent technique, Dracula was a native creature of the main plane. With no spatial constraints, his power could be unleashed to its fullest potential.
Li Xi's mind raced. Combining the knowledge he had diligently acquired from Aisi, his first reaction was fear. But he quickly realized that the sacrifice of just one city's population would surely not be enough to support Dracula's divine fire ignition. Furthermore, with so many deities walking the mortal realm as saints, would they truly stand by and watch a vampire ascend to the divine kingdom first?
Coupled with the letter he had seen from Soros, Dracula also harbored ambitions of seizing the Dark Lady's divine position. Li Xi couldn't believe the Dark Lady would be magnanimous enough to sacrifice herself for others.
Thoughts and speculations churned like a tempest in his mind. The situation was undoubtedly more complex than Kalia had described. Suppressing his inner doubts, Li Xi maintained a poker face and mocked Kalia, "If becoming a god were that easy, the main world wouldn't have so few deities in tens of thousands of years. I think your dog master is delusionally dreaming."
Kalia didn't argue. He watched the setting sun, the last rays of twilight being blocked by the mountains. The sky began to fall into darkness. He looked at the dragon-blooded Li Xi as if he were a fish caught in a net, "The glory of the gods has never been of concern to the eyes of ants. However, you will not be able to feel the greatness of my lord, for today you will be my lord's first sacrifice."
As Kalia finished speaking, twenty-odd figures in black cloaks emerged from the forest. They looked up at Li Xi, their eyes blood-red as if suffering from conjunctivitis. Their unhealthy skin revealed pale faces, and the occasional glimpse of sharp canine teeth all indicated that these were vampires.
Each of them exuded an aura of a Level Four practitioner. They regarded Li Xi as a butcher eyeing a struggling pig trying to escape its fate. Their gazes were fixed on Li Xi's neck, giving him a prickling sensation.
"I never expected you to amass so much wealth so quietly. If I'm not mistaken, the Puppeteer has even more vampires under his command, right?"
Li Xi felt no sense of crisis at being surrounded. Instead, he continued his nonchalant conversation. He was a bait, and his objective wasn't to kill as many vampires as possible, but to gather enough intelligence.
"As expected of Lord Mourinho, still concerned about others in such a situation. Since you've asked, I'll generously tell you that not only are there more blood kin ambushing in Kennada, but Caduo City will also become a feast for the blood kin tonight."
Li Xi looked back in the direction of Caduo City. It was too far, and his vision couldn't discern anything.
"Is that so?"
The dragon-blooded Li Xi looked down at Kalia and the vampires. Under the faint moonlight, Li Xi's gaze became colder than the snow-capped mountains. "Regardless of what happens elsewhere, you will all die here today."
Kalia fearlessly retorted, "As long as we can stall you, we will have succeeded."
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."
The dragon-blooded Li Xi flapped his wings and flew towards Caduo City. The words he had gritted his teeth to say earlier, vowing to kill Kalia, now seemed like a joke.
Seeing Li Xi attempting to escape, the twenty-odd vampires paused for a moment. Dark, inky wings appeared on their backs. Their speed was no slower than Li Xi's as they pursued him.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The giant fireball illuminated the entire sky, but such an attack would have no effect on anyone present.
Li Xi knew this, but he wasn't aiming to inflict damage. He wanted to use the Great Fireball to obscure Kalia's vision.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Bang!"
The shadow clone was instantly destroyed by a punch from the dragon-blooded Li Xi. The main body of Li Xi, far away in Caduo City, immediately received the intelligence.
Vampires were creatures of darkness. Lesser vampires dared not enjoy the warmth of sunlight. For them, sunlight was equivalent to sulfuric acid. Without wings on their backs, they had to transform their bodies into small bats to fly, and their strength was generally below Level Three.
The slightly more advanced ones were like those Li Xi faced now, with strength ranging from Level Four to Six. They could tolerate sunlight, but it affected their power, reducing their daytime strength to Level One or Two. At night, they could recover their full strength and possessed bat wings, allowing for autonomous flight.
Even higher-ranking vampires, those with noble titles, possessed strength ranging from Level Five to Eight. They were almost unaffected by sunlight during the day, but generally avoided daytime activities. Sunlight was like a toad's mark on their faces – it didn't bite, but it was extremely uncomfortable. For many vampires with various obsessions with cleanliness, this sensation was unbearable, so they usually slept in coffins.
Lesser vampires were completely restrained and controlled by their superiors. This meant that vampires would bite humans or other life forms and turn them into their subordinates, becoming slaves who completely obeyed them.
The vampire hierarchy was strictly controlled and hierarchical, with no room for crossing levels. All lives were subject to Dracula's will.
This class system was executed with extreme efficiency and had no possibility of defiance. Once an order was issued by a superior, the subordinate would do their utmost to complete it. Their execution efficiency was the envy of other races. If they were allowed to transform freely, the entire world would be their dominion.
However, the world was fair. With strengths came weaknesses. The vampire race was efficient and hierarchical, but their weakness was even more apparent: the limitation on the number of conversions.
There was an upper limit to the number of vampires that could be converted. Converting a person required injecting one's own vital blood into the body of the person being converted, thoroughly remodeling them. The amount of vital blood injected varied depending on the strength of the target.
For vampires who fed on blood, converting someone was akin to suffering a severe illness. Therefore, to maintain their own strength, vampires would not easily convert subordinates.
The twenty-odd Level Four vampires surrounded the dragon-blooded Li Xi in the sky, like a wolf pack hunting a buffalo.
Kalia watched from below, confidently saying, "Lord Mourinho, I know you wouldn't take these blood kin's strength seriously, so we've prepared a grand feast for you."
Like a narrator at the beginning of a stage play, Kalia bowed gallantly, "Please enjoy it slowly, my lord."
To be honest, Li Xi was currently divided into three. One was in Caduo City, another with Aisi, and this one here, making a total of three. Each possessed only one-third of his original strength.
The dragon-blooded Li Xi looked at the vampires surrounding him, leaving no empty space. Enhanced by the darkness of the night, it was indeed a difficult fight.
Perhaps it was due to the deep impression the dragon-blooded Li Xi had left on the world previously, having single-handedly slain an Elemental Demon, an existence equivalent to their counts. Although he had the assistance of a teleportation gate at the time, these vampires still cautiously watched Li Xi, then shot blood-red silk threads from their hands, intending to trap and capture the dragon-blooded Li Xi alive.
Although these blood-red silk threads were only as thick as a few strands of hair, they were made from the silk of the Frost Jade Spider, which had been soaked in the blood pool of the Blood Clan's sacred land for many years. Even an adult dragon would struggle to break Frost Jade Spider silk that was as thick as a chopstick. Having absorbed the essence of the blood pool, Kalia and the others had tested it before coming. Not only could the dragon-blooded Li Xi defeat the Elemental Demon, but even if the Elemental Demon were to come and be bound, it would be a matter of capture.
Of course, such powerful silk was extremely rare. With the Blood Clan's accumulation of tens of thousands of years, they only had this much. This time, they had brought out their entire reserves to deal with the dragon-blooded Li Xi.
The dragon-blooded Li Xi casually drew a heavy sword. The wind from his swordplay was impenetrable, but upon contact with the blood-red silk threads, the heavy sword snapped like a crisp spring onion, breaking into several pieces and falling from the sky.
Li Xi refused to believe it. He formed hand seals with both hands and spat a fireball towards the blood-red silk threads that were about to entangle him.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The five-meter diameter fireball burned fiercely, illuminating the entire night sky. But as the fireball dissipated, the blood-red silk threads showed no trace of damage.
Li Xi refused to believe it. He reached out to grab it, but to his surprise, the dragon scales, which even Level Four practitioners couldn't pierce, were scratched by the blood-red silk threads.
The dragon-blooded Li Xi recoiled like a startled mouse, but the blood-red silk threads were still behind him. He was now surrounded, with no room to retreat. He was like an insect on a spider's web, awaiting its fate to be consumed by the spider.
Kalia, watching the helpless dragon-blooded Li Xi, was confident of victory. "I advise you, my lord, to surrender obediently. If you admit defeat, we guarantee your safety."
Blood-red silk threads had already wrapped around him. Li Xi struggled to break free, but it was like a rabbit trapped in an iron cage, smashing its head against the bars until it bled, yet unable to budge the blood-red silk threads in the slightest.
"You have truly gone to great lengths."
Bound by these vampires, Li Xi was like a pig waiting to be slaughtered, held aloft in the air.
Kalia carefully examined every inch of the dragon scales on Li Xi's body and even reached out to touch them. Li Xi flinched and stopped him, "My sexual orientation is normal, don't get any ideas about me."
Kalia admired him like one would a peerless beauty and exclaimed, "Lord Mourinho, it would be a shame to kill someone of your strength. I sincerely invite you to join our blood kin family."