Chapter Twenty-Four: A Storm Brews as the Golden Elixir Is Forged [Please Subscribe]

A month later!

After an intense struggle among the upper echelons of the British Empire, Admiral Hawk, the central figure of the hard-line faction, emerged as the ultimate victor.

Once the human leadership began its campaign to restore order within the country, everything proceeded with extraordinary speed under the immense power of the state apparatus.

London, as the capital of the British Empire, was naturally the first city to be placed under martial law. Every nightfall, heavily armed soldiers began sweeping searches and extensive patrols.

Under such severe martial law, the atmosphere throughout London grew increasingly unusual. Patrol after patrol of fully armed soldiers marched through the streets each day, and the entire city was permeated by a chilling, murderous air.

It was not only the imperial authorities who sensed that something was wrong. Even ordinary citizens had noticed the change. Thus, as soon as darkness fell, every household shut its doors tightly. Under the oppressive curfew, the city nights became unnaturally silent and desolate.

The vampire clan had also become much more restrained during this period. After the intelligence agents returned with accurate information, Emilia immediately recalled the senior vampires still carrying out missions in various regions and convened a meeting that lasted three full days.

The conclusion they reached was that the human leadership was not putting on an act. It genuinely intended to eradicate the vampire clan root and branch. Given the vampire clan’s current strength, it would be unwise to confront humanity head-on. Their best option was to avoid its锋芒 and lie low.

The meeting was attended not only by the vampires. Under Lucian’s leadership, the senior werewolves also took part. In the strictest sense, the two clans were now allies, for both were servants of Li Yang.

...

As for Li Yang, after the second group of bloodline sorcerers successfully completed their transformations, he began preparing to refine the Nirvana Golden Elixir.

At that moment, the manor on the outskirts of London was under complete lockdown. During the day, a group of Lycan werewolves, led by three Golden Centipede sorcerers, patrolled the entire estate.

At night, Kailina took over, leading a group of Nightwalkers through the manor on patrol. Among them were naturally the two newly initiated Golden Centipede sorcerers from the vampire clan.

After the second group of bloodline sorcerers completed their transformations, Li Yang established a rule: no bloodline sorcerer could return to their clan until they had learned the Bloodline Codex he had translated and were capable of cultivating normally.

Lucian and Emilia were the exceptions. As the leaders of their respective clans, they were burdened with countless affairs and could not remain at the manor for long. Whenever they found the time, however, they would come to the estate and consult Catherine about matters of cultivation.

...

At the center of the manor, a towering alchemical furnace stood upon an altar.

Beneath it, a mass of crimson flame roared and burned. The space around the altar was utterly empty, the air slightly distorted by the astonishing heat.

Li Yang sat cross-legged beside the furnace, his eyes narrowed slightly. From time to time, he formed intricate seals with his hands and sent them into the furnace.

Unlike the Origin Golden Elixir, the Nirvana Golden Elixir was incomparably more complicated, both in its ingredients and in the difficulty of its refinement. This was a true elixir of ancient times, and its refinement was naturally no ordinary undertaking.

But Li Yang was no longer the man he had been then. A great deal of time had passed since he refined the Origin Golden Elixir. His magical power alone was now at least three to five times greater than it had been before.

Gazing at the furnace before him, glowing crimson and faintly translucent, Li Yang wore an expression of unprecedented solemnity. He did not dare relax his concentration in the slightest, as though afraid that the furnace might explode at any moment.

In truth, this was not an unfounded concern. There had already been several occasions when the furnace would have exploded if he had not reinforced it with his magical power.

Although the furnace had come from the underground palace at Bottle Mountain and had once been reserved for imperial use, it was ultimately made of nothing more than ordinary metals. It was adequate for refining spirit elixirs, but when used to refine a Golden Elixir, its limitations became obvious.

The previous Origin Golden Elixir had been manageable. No matter what, it had been only a First-Turn Golden Elixir, and it had not required a particularly long period of intense heating.

The Nirvana Golden Elixir, however, was entirely different.

More than a month had passed since the refinement began, and only now had the various spiritual materials begun to melt.

According to Li Yang’s calculations, this batch of Nirvana Golden Elixir would require at least one hundred and eight days. He was genuinely afraid that the furnace might not withstand such a prolonged strain.

But once the refinement had begun, there was no turning back. He had only one set of materials, and no matter how worried he was, he could do nothing but grit his teeth and continue. For that reason, he had already instructed everyone that unless the matter was truly urgent, they were not to disturb him.

Otherwise, if the refinement of the Nirvana Golden Elixir failed, he would be devastated.

...

Early the next morning, Lucian and Emilia arrived at the altar in the center of the manor. The moment they felt the scorching heat in the air, both of them were startled. At such a temperature, an ordinary vampire would be burned to ash by the power of the sun permeating the air—even if they came at night.

Fortunately, Emilia had already transformed into a bloodline sorcerer. Otherwise, she would not even have been able to approach the altar, much less pay her respects to Li Yang.

“Greetings, Your Holiness, great God of the Bloodline Sorcerers!”

Gazing at the blazing fire beneath the furnace and the furnace itself, red as a piece of crimson jade, the two of them advanced despite their unease.

They had no choice. Li Yang had indeed instructed them not to disturb him unless the matter was urgent, but the survival of both the vampire and werewolf clans was now at stake. No matter how reluctant they were, they had to come.

Ever since the previous month, when the human leadership had begun its campaign against the werewolf and vampire clans, both groups had done everything in their power to contract their forces and avoid provoking trouble.

Even so, the humans continued to pursue them relentlessly. During this period, both clans had suffered grievous losses. They could not gather resources, and even when they retreated into their strongholds, humanity showed no intention of letting them go.

In recent days, numerous scouts had appeared outside the vampire manor. Were it not for the pressure exerted by the ancient aristocratic factions within the country, the human government would likely have already launched an attack.

Emilia, however, had no idea how much longer they could hold out. Judging from humanity’s current movements, it clearly had no intention of stopping. With no other option, she had discussed the matter with Lucian, and the two of them had decided to seek Li Yang’s advice.

“Rise. Tell me directly what has happened.”

Though Li Yang was irritated at being disturbed, he understood that everything had its advantages and disadvantages. He had taken these forces under his command to gather resources for him; if they encountered trouble, he naturally could not stand by and do nothing.

“Your Holiness, the human forces have been closing in on us at every step. Everything we do is now under their surveillance. Even this manor of yours has been visited by numerous human spies in recent days.”

Seeing that Li Yang remained focused on the strange furnace before him and did not seem particularly displeased by their interruption, Emilia and Lucian both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh... Has the situation really become this serious?”

Li Yang was visibly surprised by Emilia’s reply, and his voice rose several degrees.

He had already heard about humanity’s harassment. Emilia had mentioned it before, and Catherine had also captured quite a few human spies who had come to investigate the area around the manor.

Yet, according to Li Yang’s understanding, although the rise of modern weapons had greatly weakened the vampire clan, its inherent advantages should have prevented it from collapsing so helplessly under humanity’s assault. In any case, it should not have been driven back to its stronghold so quickly.

He had assumed that even in the worst circumstances, the vampires and werewolves would be able to hold out until he completed the Nirvana Golden Elixir.

Once that happened, he could turn his attention to humanity. Dealing with the human forces would then be a simple matter.

Clearly, however, he had underestimated the strength of the human forces—and overestimated the abilities of Emilia and Lucian.

“Your Holiness, under normal circumstances, we indeed would not have been driven back so quickly. But somehow, the human government has acquired a special combat unit. This unit is extraordinarily powerful. Its members are clearly not ordinary humans. The Knights of the Night and the werewolves have suffered most of their losses at their hands.”

“The unit is not large, but every member possesses supernatural abilities. Even I can barely withstand their attacks when facing them alone. Ordinary werewolves and vampires are utterly incapable of standing against them.”

Seeing the surprise on Li Yang’s face, Lucian and Emilia, both shrewd and perceptive, naturally understood what he meant.

Although they were deeply ashamed, there was no point concealing the truth any longer. They could only tell him everything honestly.

“Supernatural abilities...?”

Li Yang narrowed his eyes when he heard this. To be honest, he had always known that this world was not as simple as it appeared, but since arriving in London, he had never heard of anyone possessing supernatural abilities.

The sudden appearance of such an enemy force, whose origins and depths were unknown, truly caught him off guard.

After all, Emilia and Lucian were no longer what they had once been. Following their modification with Serum One, their former foundations had been transformed into the bloodline of the Six-Winged Golden Centipede. The power they possessed was far beyond that of Rhys or the newly initiated bloodline sorcerers.

Take Lucian, for instance. As the first werewolf to possess true intelligence, he was not only the oldest member of the Lycan clan but also its most powerful. After being transformed by the Golden Centipede serum, all the energy he had accumulated over the years was converted into Golden Centipede genes. Although he had awakened no innate divine ability, his overall combat strength had increased by at least tenfold.

Emilia was even more formidable. She had once been the leader of a knightly order founded more than a thousand years ago. Though her lack of actual combat in recent years had left her somewhat short of experience, the energy she had accumulated over more than a millennium was enough to make up for that deficiency. After the conversion brought about by Serum One, every aspect of her physical capabilities had improved even more than Lucian’s. She had also awakened the innate ability to release a poisonous Golden Centipede mist, making her combat strength truly formidable.

Yet even so, according to their account, they could do no more than match these so-called supernatural beings—and could gain not the slightest advantage.

That was far beyond anything Li Yang had anticipated.