CHAPTER 210: 103 BLOODLINE WITCHCRAFT INHERITANCE (PLEASE COLLECT)_2

"The items Junior Brother Carl refines are all currently sold by me; it’s a major source of my income."

"Why use the word ’steal’?" Alesya shrugged. "I just wanted to get to know Carl. As a qualified merchant, one must always remember to expand their clientele."

"Alright!" Hibell pursed her lips and extended an invitation, "Carl, would you like to have breakfast together?"

"No, thanks." Carl lifted the bamboo basket in his hand. "I’ve made my own."

"You two chat, I’m going back."

Saying so, he nodded towards the two women and returned to his house.

"TSK, TSK..." Watching Carl’s retreating figure, who didn’t look back once, Alesya couldn’t help but shake her head and click her tongue. "Your Junior Brother has quite a cold personality!"

"Yes."

Hibell rubbed her dry eyes, muttering, "I have to book an appointment days in advance if I want to get into his bed."

"Really?"

Alesya smiled. "It seems he satisfies you quite well in that department. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so preoccupied with it. Would you mind if I had a share?"

"You?" Hibell gave her a sidelong glance. "You’re completely artificial. Junior Brother wouldn’t like that."

"Artificial?" Alesya puffed out her chest proudly. "These are one hundred percent real! You’re just envious..."

"AH!"

The two women quarreled as they hurried back, a lively spring scene unfolding around them.

***

"Try this."

Anslot pushed over a plate. "This is a new specialty from Kolon called ’rice beans.’ They taste quite good after being salt-baked."

"Thanks."

Alesya crossed her legs, her exquisite crystal shoes swinging as she squinted. "I asked for you. Carl is unwilling to sell that item."

"Is that so." Anslot’s expression remained unchanged. "That’s a pity."

"Although the Lady in the Painting is an Advanced Magic Item, it’s not very useful. Yet you were willing to offer two hundred Magic Stones for it." Alesya touched her smooth chin. "Could it be that this item hides some other secret?"

"I heard you have a good relationship with Hibell’s senior apprentice brother. Was that also to obtain the Lady in the Painting?"

"The soul used for the Lady in the Painting belonged to an elder of my family." Anslot’s face darkened. "No matter the cost, I must buy it."

"As for secrets..."

"It has been passed among several Wizard Apprentices for hundreds of years. If it held any secrets, they would surely have been discovered by now."

"True." Alesya nodded. "I can’t help you much with this matter then."

"No worries."

Anslot smiled upon hearing this, seemingly unconcerned, but a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

***

Hibell stayed on the island for a few days, then left again to carry out a mission deep in the Black Swamp.

Little Paine wasn’t idle either.

He found an errand boy job in the Swamp Alliance, living at the Alliance’s encampment and earning Magic Stones in his spare time from cultivation.

Heidi had recently been busy with her investment business.

She was no longer satisfied with simply speculating on land; she planned to build houses on the plots and then sell them.

She even hired a team of craftsmen and found several earth-element Wizard Apprentices to help.

Building houses with witchcraft was, naturally, extremely fast.

It was said she had already constructed six buildings. Two were for rent, and the other four would soon be for sale.

Everyone is busy, striving for their future, bustling about for their prospects. I, on the other hand, seem to be a bit of an exception, Carl muttered softly.

In the eyes of others, he was indeed an oddity.

Since coming to the Swamp Alliance, he had rarely left the island, spending all his days researching witchcraft.

He seldom interacted with others.

His initial reputation had faded with time, and few people knew of him now.

Fortunately, he could still occasionally refine a few Demonized Items to exchange for Magic Stones, enough to sustain his living.

This prevented him from becoming a typical case of someone living off past glories in others’ eyes.

Heidi’s investment returns have multiplied severalfold, and Little Paine has already mastered a Zero-Circle Magic.

Hibell is gradually making a name for herself in the exploration team and has made many friends. Everyone is progressing.

Only I, with merely a fourth-level Wizard Talent, not bothering to build connections, just foolishly toiling away at cultivation beyond my apparent abilities...

OH!

I’m already a Great Knight and an Advanced Wizard Apprentice. My progress is faster than the others. So, that’s not an issue.

Carl shook his head, his attention returning to the experiment before him.

Inside the glass bottle, a drop of ’Giant Squid’ blood was making contact with a piece of fresh flesh.

Transplantation Skill!

HISS...

Faint black smoke wisped from the glass bottle. At the moment of contact, the flesh dissolved at a rate visible to the naked eye.

It’s not working!

Carl furrowed his brows. The blood of a Second Order Abyss Creature possesses the power to mutate and corrode other living beings. Even Legendary Creatures cannot withstand this force.

Bloodline suppression...

If I use it to cultivate Bloodline Magic, I’ll either die on the spot or turn into a mindless monster.

He exhaled a long, turbid breath. Dilute the blood!

「Half a month later.」

Still not working.

Carl’s hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and his clothes crumpled. The lab was utterly chaotic.

All sorts of experimental samples were scattered around.

Lesser Mage Hand sent various items flying about, while the stack of experimental data recorded by a quill pen was already half a person tall.

It’s not a problem with the blood; it’s the Bloodline!

The Bloodline of higher beings holds absolute suppression over lower beings. No amount of dilution will work.

Wrong!

The whole approach is wrong!

***

DING...

The copper bell hanging on the door chimed crisply. A weary-looking Carl walked over and took it down.

"SIGH!"

He sighed again, then pushed open the door and went to the edge of the island.