Silver Blood

Late at night, in the basement of a villa in Silver City. Beneath dim lighting, more than a dozen blindfolded men hung suspended upside down in midair. "Not much ability, but quite a big mouth." "Since you boast you can buy anything, I wonder if you can buy your own lives right now?" A long-haired young man with delicate, feminine features, dressed in a tailcoat, stared coldly at the reckless fools before him. His murderous intent flared with every word. If he didn't need to interrogate them about where Nora's blood had gone, he would have hacked them to pieces and fed them to dogs long ago. As Nora's guardian in Silver City, Luo Qi bore immense responsibility for the attack on her. In truth, Luo Qi felt deeply aggrieved. Nora possessed the Daywalker talent, allowing her to move freely under the sun, so he could only assign human bodyguards to accompany and protect her. What was he supposed to do when she was ambushed while out shopping during the day? The moment disaster struck Nora, he had immediately mobilized the Blood Clan's forces throughout Silver City, barely managing to intercept this gang before they could slip away. To be frank, it had never crossed his mind that not a single member of this group was an extraordinary being—every last one of them was an ordinary mortal. "Speak. The blood you stole... who did you sell it to?" Luo Qi walked up to a young man, patted his cheek, and asked in a measured voice. This youth was clearly the ringleader. During the capture, he had nearly threatened them using silver weapons. "I don't know him. He wore a mask, probably had makeup on underneath it too," the youth answered truthfully, still managing to keep his composure. "There are rules in our line of work. Digging into a client's background breaks the code. That's all I know." Luo Qi gave a chilling laugh. Suddenly, he plunged his hand straight into the neck of the man hanging upside down beside him. The victim convulsed and let out a bloodcurdling scream as his blood gushed from the wound along Luo Qi's hand, coalescing into a slender blade of crimson. "Since you have your rules, I'll play by mine. Let's see whose rules hold more sway," Luo Qi said with a sinister grin. For the rest of the night, agonized shrieks and sickening tearing sounds echoed through the basement from time to time. Finally, before the moon set, silence returned. Emerging from the basement, Luo Qi took a clean white towel from his assistant and wiped his hands meticulously. He said flatly, "Tang Bo, take some men to investigate. The thief who bought Miss Nora's blood should be around her age, with some family assets, and likely withdrew upwards of twenty-five million recently. Tracking him down shouldn't be too difficult." "Understood. I will drag him out, and then..." the assistant bowed his head, murmuring. Before he could finish, Luo Qi cut him off. "Capture him alive and let Miss Nora handle him herself. The Duke instructed that it is high time she saw some blood." Logically speaking, even if her bodyguards had been shot dead, Nora herself was not someone ordinary people could easily subdue. As supernatural beings, vampires possessed physical constitutions far surpassing normal humans. Even facing armed opponents, escaping should not have been difficult. Yet Nora had been terrified out of her wits by the sudden death of her guards, leaving her completely stunned before these ordinary humans managed to wound her with silver weapons. Had they intended to take her life on the spot, she would never have survived. ... ... Silver City No. 3 High School, Class 3, Grade 12. Yu Xian sat in the fourth row by the window on the left side of the classroom, basking in the sunlight while reading a novel. Once it passed one-thirty in the afternoon, the sun beamed directly through this spot. Even with the curtains drawn, the heat was palpable, so Yu Xian used to hate sitting here. Now, however, he could not be more satisfied with it. With abundant nourishment, vampires had no need for sleep. By day, he dutifully soaked in the sun at school; by night, he practiced various combat techniques at home by following online courses. Yu Xian was well aware that he had already stepped foot into the extraordinary realm. Whether he liked it or not, situations requiring violence would inevitably arise in the future. All he could do now was prepare beforehand and nip trouble in the bud. Only by preparing early could he keep his head when violence truly became necessary. Over the past few days, his physical stamina had grown continuously. Things once impossible were now effortless. For instance, he could perform one thousand one-finger handstand push-ups in a single breath without even panting. His strength surged by the day. A single finger was enough to suspend his entire body from a wall without slipping. A punch with one arm packed over a ton of force, truly capable of felling an ox with a single blow. He had no idea whether his strength was considered formidable or weak among vampires, as he had never heard anyone discuss their physical might in the past. Instead, it was werewolves, shamans, knights, and martial artists who were famous for their raw power. *I wonder what talent I'll awaken.* Yu Xian closed the book and rested his head on the desk, savoring the warmth of the sun as anticipation bubbled within him. His heart had already beaten nine times. Barring any surprises, he would reach the tenth beat today and awaken his first minor talent. The minor talents that could be found online—or rather, the ones the Blood Clan intentionally made public—were Bat Manipulation, Blood Flame, Enhanced Olfaction, and Torpor. In Yu Xian's eyes, Bat Manipulation and Blood Flame were top-tier draws, Enhanced Olfaction was average, and Torpor was the absolute worst. Torpor itself wasn't bad; in fact, the vast majority of vampires in the Blood Clan acquired Torpor as their first minor talent. It drastically reduced bodily consumption during sleep while stabilizing wounds and repairing the body. The problem was that while in torpor, a vampire's perception of the outside world became dreadfully dull, leaving them extremely vulnerable to sneak attacks. There had been cases where ordinary humans tracked down a wild vampire's safehouse, easily dispatched the dormant vampire inside, and thereby earned the right to join the Blood Clan. For a wild vampire like Yu Xian, unless he possessed an absolutely secure refuge, he would never dare use Torpor even if he awakened it. The midday sun grew increasingly fierce. The students in front had already drawn their curtains, but Yu Xian left a small gap in his to keep soaking in the rays. The second period was history class. Yu Xian propped up his history textbook as a shield, then laid his head on the desk to bask in the sun. He had to admit, the history teacher's lectures seemed to possess supernatural power. Though he wasn't tired, listening to that hypnotic drone made his eyelids droop as sleepiness crept over him. Suddenly, his heart gave a violent thump, instantly dispelling every trace of drowsiness. This heartbeat was far more intense than any before, as if a burst of power had erupted from his heart, surging through every meridian and bone in his body. Finally, the wave slammed into his brain, conjuring what felt like a clap of thunder in the depths of his consciousness as a latent power condensed within his soul through his bloodline. In that split second, clarity struck him, and he knew what his first minor talent was. It was an active ability named: Silver Blood!