Chapter 227: Crimson Apostle
Inside the small building by the Underground Lake, Catwoman Aina hummed a little tune as she happily cooked in the kitchen.
As the spatula in her hand kept flipping, the Ferocious Beast flesh rich in life essence immediately released an enticing fragrance.
“It seemed my cooking skills had improved quite a bit.”
Aina turned her head to glance behind her, then picked up a piece of Ferocious Beast meat and stuffed it into her mouth. Even while tasting her own creation, she did not forget to praise herself.
The tail behind her swayed unconsciously.
After becoming Zhou Ming’s maidservant, Aina had begun actively learning the culinary arts of Blue Star in order to pass the boring time and to please Zhou Ming.
Unexpectedly, Aina possessed remarkable talent in cooking. After Zhou Ming had tasted her dishes several times, adhering to the principle of not wasting talent, he had Su Mei procure several instructional books on preparing Ferocious Beast meat for Aina to study.
Ferocious Beasts had appeared in the world of Blue Star for a thousand years. In the earliest days, in order to obtain the power to survive, all kinds of methods had been attempted.
Using culinary techniques to cook Ferocious Beast meat in order to obtain its powerful nourishing effects had long been tried.
Unfortunately, this method could not compare to potions. Its only advantage was that it had no side effects and allowed one to enjoy the pleasure brought by delicious food.
However, food made from Ferocious Beast meat still provided some benefits, so it remained very popular among the upper society of the Alliance and within the Beast Tamer community.
Even the finest culinary masters could produce dishes that had a certain nourishing effect on Professional Beast Tamers. Thus, seeing that Aina had talent in this area, Zhou Ming had decided to cultivate a personal little cook.
Aina was very satisfied with Zhou Ming’s arrangement.
When she recalled the experiments and examinations he had conducted on her, she felt both extreme fear and intense shame.
In Zhou Ming’s eyes, she no longer had any secrets.
Now, she no longer wished to be an experimental subject. She wanted to become a qualified maid. After a year of painful experimentation, this had become the most beautiful outcome she hoped for in her heart.
“Boom…”
Just as Aina was about to plate the exquisitely prepared dish, a terrifying and overwhelming pressure suddenly surged down from the second floor like a raging tide.
The pressure carried intense fury and instantly enveloped the entire small building, causing Aina to feel a heavy sense of oppression.
“Who had provoked the Great Demon King? His strength seemed to have become even more terrifying.”
At that moment, Aina clutched the spatula tightly with both hands, her body curled into the corner. Her face turned pale as she trembled, guessing the reason why Zhou Ming had become angry.
Besides being Zhou Ming’s experimental subject, Aina was also the maid responsible for cleaning the small building.
She had entered the small black room on the second floor to dispose of discarded debris and had witnessed, with her own eyes, corpses tortured beyond human shape. They had all been Wildfolk who had made mistakes and received Zhou Ming’s “education.”
It was precisely because she had personally seen the fate of those Wildfolk who had erred that Aina had taken the initiative to please Zhou Ming, even coming to feel that becoming a maid was not unacceptable.
Just as Aina feared being implicated by his anger, Zhou Ming’s consciousness had already projected itself onto Snake Guard Li Hu with the help of the power of Descending Possession.
In a wilderness valley, Li Hu and the others, who had released the Snake Soul Curse Seal, now had black snake scales covering their bodies. A violently bloodthirsty aura surged from them.
At that moment, they resembled humanoid Ferocious Beasts, their strength having reached the peak of low-tier Ferocious Beasts.
Yet even so, all the Snake Guards were gravely injured. Some lay on the weed-covered ground, while others knelt halfway, panting heavily, bright blood constantly flowing from the corners of their mouths.
“What a perfect masterpiece. Not only were they not affected by the Bloodline Will of the Ferocious Beast, they had instead used a secret method to control this bloodline power.”
Amid a round of applause, a figure slowly approached.
He wore a blood-red trench coat. His face was feminine and sinister, and his eyes revealed the gaze of a predator sizing up its prey.
Beside the sinister man followed a blood-red Beast Tamer creature that resembled both a tiger and a leopard.
Its entire body appeared as though its skin had been flayed away, fully exposing its muscular tissue to the air. One could see every muscle fiber writhing.
“Could you tell me who had granted you such an ability?”
The information he had originally received had mentioned gene modification. Yet on a whim, he had personally come to capture them, only to discover that what they possessed was the far rarer Bloodline Modification.
At this moment, the sinister man was extremely interested in how the Snake Guards had avoided the influence of the Bloodline Will and achieved such perfect Bloodline Modification.
“You can forget about knowing.”
Upon hearing the man inquire about their lord’s identity, Li Hu instantly became even more violent. Forcing the power of the bloodline forward with his own will, he temporarily restored his strength and immediately raised the Thunder Type-2 Revolver to fire.
“Boom, boom…”
Thunderous explosions rang out as two bullets, carrying Li Hu’s full fury, shot toward the sinister man.
However, the man extended his corpse-pale right hand. A faint blood mist spread from his pores, forming a thin veil that intercepted the bullets carrying immense kinetic energy.
“A pity, still lacking a little. If it had been the Thunder Type-3 Revolver, it might have pierced through my protective blood mist.”
“Oh? I would truly like to try that if given the chance.”
As the sinister man mocked Li Hu, Zhou Ming’s voice suddenly echoed from Li Hu’s body.
“My lord.”
“It’s the lord’s voice.”
At once, regardless of how severe their injuries were, every Snake Guard turned their gaze toward Li Hu.
“My lord.”
Li Hu sensed a consciousness suddenly appear within his mind and asked with a trace of surprise.
“I will temporarily borrow your body. Do not resist.”
“Yes.”
Li Hu did not ponder why his lord’s consciousness had appeared within him. He simply obeyed Zhou Ming’s command.
“You are the one behind their Bloodline Modification?”
The sinister man at the side had also noticed the change in Li Hu and his expression instantly turned serious.
Zhou Ming’s methods were too bizarre, far beyond the scope of his understanding.
At this moment, he already suspected that Zhou Ming was a Beast Spirit Sorcerer from the Underground World.
“I hadn’t expected to encounter a Crimson Apostle of the Dark Card Organization.”
When Zhou Ming saw the blood beast beside the sinister man, he immediately recognized his origin.
Among the forces Zhou Ming had offended, the most powerful was the Dark Card Organization.
This organization was not only one of the three strongest in the Shadow World, but also possessed an incomplete Beast Taming system capable of advancing to Transcendent Master.
At the Professional level, their class advancement was called Crimson Apostle. It transformed one’s Beast Tamer creature into a blood-loving monster, enhancing strength through pure blood energy.
As for the Beast Tamer who became a Crimson Apostle, he would gain the power to manipulate blood through his beast.
The Transcendent advancement of the Crimson Apostle was the even more bizarre Blood Lord.
Under the transformation of the Class Advancement Ritual, the blood beast would turn into a living mass of blood, capable of being sent into the Blood Lord’s body and becoming part of his circulatory system.
The conceptual foundation for creating the Crimson Apostle system had originated from Vampires. Thus, Beast Tamers who chose this system could slow their aging and, to a certain extent, extend their lifespan.
However, this class advancement system had a side effect—just like using a Vampire Healing Injection, it caused a severe addiction to blood.
For that reason, this class advancement system was also known as the Vampire path.