In the same manner, Illyan slowly cultivated. He was very careful, as he couldn’t be too rash lest he accidentally stopped executing his [Nature Breath Method].

  He used this technique for the entire duration of the expedition and didn’t stop even once.

  Even during nighttime, he just meditated while pretending to be asleep, since he wasn’t proficient enough to sleep while hiding his presence.

  But he felt that he would soon get the knack of it, as he gained a lot of experience along the way.

  However, that was for ter, as now he focused on the blood energy in his body, learning how to guide it without using [The Way of the Body] and instead purely using his blood energy to move itself.

  It was an interesting feeling, and he got absorbed in it for the entire day until evening came.

  “They still didn’t come out? Something must have happened.” People outside of the tent conversed with each other as their concern overflowed from their words.

  “Don’t say that! What if you jinx it!” Another person scolded the first one, but the unease in his words was palpable.

  Most of the elites entered the city. That meant that if everyone inside died, they wouldn’t have the strength to leave the mountains, let alone catch the troll.

  Illyan, who was roused from his cultivation, listened to the words outside as he asked,

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing yet. Since they didn’t come out yet, it means that they met some creatures inside. It will probably take some time for them to get rid of them.”

  Aurelia said this indifferently, as she knew it always took a lot of time to kill all these creatures completely, as they could be in any corner of the city.

  “Huh.” Illyan nodded as he wanted to get up.

  He felt his energy being drained, as he had cultivated for almost the entire day. Now, he pnned to return to Korin’s group.

  Aurelia, on the other hand, started to chant some mysterious words.

  Illyan looked at her confused before she conjured a spark of fire, which she immediately flicked toward the dark blood on the ground.

  “I will give you a friendly reminder. The fighting style you showed back then won’t be really ideal if you want to go into the acolyte society one day,” Aurelia said nonchantly as she cleaned up everything and hid the evidence of them ever doing something here.

  “Blood?” Illyan raised his brows as his mind started to think of the reason.

  All kinds of scenarios passed through his head at high speed.

  What did all acolytes have in common? Obviously, it was magic.

  So it had to be something with magic.

  Spilling of blood…

  Suddenly, Illyan thought of the possibility as his expression turned ugly.

  If this idea was real, then it was very bad news.

  “How can the blood be used after spilling it, and how long does it take before it becomes ineffective?” So Illyan asked in a serious manner, looking right into Aurelia’s eyes.

  Aurelia wasn’t surprised that he realized it, as she expined,

  “In many ways. In fact, blood is one of the most versatile mediums in the world of magic. However, the most important is that when one is in possession of another's blood, he has certain power over him. He can curse him, ensve him, or even possess him.

  Of course, it has many limitations as well. The blood needs to be very fresh. Very few people could use blood older than ten minutes for this kind of magic. It also depends on the blood owner’s capabilities. If he was strong enough, then it didn’t matter even if he donated his blood to others.”

  What Aurelia said was exactly what he feared.

  Fortunately, there shouldn’t be anyone who actually got his fresh blood so far…

  Wait…

  ‘No… There is one…’ Illyan widened his eyes at the realization before they glinted with coldness.

  ‘Hopefully I am just too cautious. If not… Then he really did me in…’

  Thinking about Korin, who took a drop of his blood when he tested his talent back then.

  He was too inexperienced in the art of magic, so he was making some basic mistakes that no acolyte would make.

  Seeing his expression turn ugly, Aurelia already knew that he didn’t know beforehand and had let someone take his blood.

  So she took a deep breath as she considered whether to help. She took a look at the young man and pondered about her choice.

  While Illyan’s company was comfortable so far, she didn’t feel they were that close for her to help him without any benefit. On the other hand, she knew he was an acquaintance of her grandpa, who she loved the most in this world…

  “Sigh… I can’t help you if someone harvested your blood and sealed it in some way, but I can help you with future problems. However, you will have to pay an equal price,” Aurelia said with a serious expression.

  When Illyan heard that, he smiled a little in his heart. In the end, he wasn’t really as distraught as he was showing. While it was truly a problem, he still had some confidence in his ability to turn the tides, even if his enemy had in his possession Illyan’s blood.

  However, he still knew that he needed some method to defend himself from such nefarious ways.

  At first, he didn’t know if she had some good way to get rid of the blood, but now he was sure.

  He was really lucky to meet Vael and become friends with him.

  Without him, he wouldn’t have had the chance to befriend this aloof dy and make this trade at all.

  He already had in mind what to trade. Unfortunately, he didn’t know if she would accept it. After all, they could get it if they entered the Blood Crow Forest.

  That’s right, he wanted to trade the [Blood Feeding Technique]. He didn’t feel any pressure in selling the technique. It didn’t belong to any of his seniors, nor did he fear that someone could use it against him. Only a few could use it as efficiently as he could.

  “Firstly, please describe the method you talk about. Based on that, I will trade.” So, Illyan had a calm face as he looked at Aurelia.

  Aurelia raised her eyebrows at him. With her ability, she could see through imperfect things, emotions included, so she was aware that his negative emotions were real but a little exaggerated. She didn’t expect him to completely change his expression, though, and wondered if she was duped.

  But in the end, she shook her head internally, as she knew this was for the best. If the man truly had something useful of equal value, then she would only benefit.

  “The technique is called [Blood Ignition]. It is the ability to use the minuscule amount of blood energy within the spilled blood to make it explode. However, depending on proficiency, you need to be close to the blood. It also doesn’t work on old blood, as the blood energy usually dissipates in a few days at most...”

  After expining other details, Illyan fell into contemption.

  The technique was quite good. In fact, it was perfect for him. However, he still wasn’t in a hurry, as he asked other questions.

  “Am I able to use it without mana? And how long does it take an average person to learn?”

  “It can be used just through blood energy with the same disadvantages I mentioned before. As for the learning process, it takes on average around three months to learn.”

  Hearing this, Illyan wondered how he would fare in learning this. He didn’t know how his affinity towards blood energy was, but he hoped that it was better than his spiritual and magical talent.

  When he asked all of his questions, Illyan decided to make his offer.

  “I have a technique that allows me to accumute blood energy in the so-called orthodox way. Are you interested?” Illyan asked with a calm expression.

  He was pretty sure this was something she desired, as she herself described the plight of using other methods.

  “Huh?” Aurelia shot him a surprised look as her mouth opened a little, showing her white teeth.

  She thought he trained his body to the limits, thus gaining the blood energy, but it seemed she was mistaken.

  “What? Do you really have one?” Aurelia asked, her eyes almost shining. However, when she realized her behavior could be detrimental to this deal, she reined in her expression as she just nodded calmly.

  Illyan chuckled at that in his mind. If before she had the leverage in this deal, now they were on the same level.

  Maybe he was in an even better position, as she was clearly more interested in the technique than he was in her method.

  “My energy blood method is quite peculiar…” Illyan expined how the technique worked and its dangers during practice.

  He didn’t lie, as it would be quite difficult to swindle this girl. She was much more knowledgeable than him and would immediately find out the disadvantages this technique had.

  Not that he would do it even if he was confident. He wouldn’t have such qualms with others, but Aurelia was very helpful all this time, so it would go against his principles to give her this fwed technique without expining first.

  Aurelia listened quietly but then gasped a little as if she realized something.

  “Where did you get this technique?” She shot him a look of suspicion.

  Illyan hesitated. Telling her this should not be a problem, but it could reveal a lot of information he wasn’t willing to share.

  Unfortunately, she already guessed.

  “You got it from Alchemy Doom Forest, right?” Aurelia asked with certainty in her tone.

  This time, it was Illyan’s turn to be surprised. However, this soon turned into gloominess.

  “So you knew about this technique already, huh?” If that was the case, then she probably wouldn’t trade anyway.

  Aurelia turned silent, seeing him like this. She pondered for a moment before deciding to expin herself.

  “Our Heart Bearer Gang has known this technique for generations. After all, the Alchemy Doom Forest is neighboring our territory. There were times the Vanaras Kingdom fought against these savages inside.

  Unfortunately, they are too poor. The only good loot we found there was this technique. But, in the end, the elders of ours deemed the technique too evil and dangerous and marked it as a forbidden technique.”

  Aurelia sighed. In fact, she had been eyeing this technique for some time already, as it fit her scripture in some way. If she could see it, then she would definitely find a way to adjust the technique to get rid of the dangerous parts.

  However, Brynjar, her father, always refused, as he didn’t want her to train too much in the ways of the acolytes.

  Thus, she couldn’t get it. But now, she finally had a chance.

  “Do you have a complete method?” She asked with a composed expression. However, her eyes shone with determination to get this technique.

  “Yes. After all, I used this technique to accumute my current blood energy.”

  “But from what I heard, this technique needs some kind of magical reagent to activate.”

  Without it, the technique would be useless to her.

  Illyan smiled a little. Of course, he didn’t pn to sell her the technique only. The Firestorm Herb was already cultivated by him and could be sold too.

  Even though he abandoned his manor and garden, he didn’t need to worry too much, as Vael volunteered to take care of his garden.

  He didn’t have a reason to refuse, so he agreed.

  However, the herb was quite precious, so he didn’t pn to sell it so easily without a fight.

  “I have the herb that is used with the technique for the best results. But the herb is too precious. It took me a lot of time and effort to get it.”

  Aurelia shot him a gre. He was trying to squeeze her dry!

  After gritting her teeth, she asked:

  “What do you want?”

  “Well…”

  In that manner, another heated negotiation began…