From the Abyss Invasion to the Blasting Star.

After separating from the other recruit teams, Lu Heng led his team to infiltrate the Bloodline Demon's main city, the Pillar of Earth Flame.

With the High Banshee Tineth as her spy servant, the infiltration went smoothly, and they arrived at Tineth's residence—the High Tower—without much effort.

This building is one of the landmark buildings in the Pillar of Earthflame, and it is one of the few buildings that contains the elegant style of the Elven race.

Lu Heng walked into the hall of the Tower of Supreme Power and took off the hood from his head.

Tiens stepped forward and bowed: "Greetings, Master."

Lu Heng walked to the Banshee's throne and sat down, asking calmly, "Has the news of the Summoner's appearance spread among the Bloodline Clan?"

Tiens lowered her head and replied, "Yes, it has spread."

Lu Heng extended a finger adorned with a mental resistance ring and tapped it lightly on the armrest of his seat, asking, "Are there any Abyss Conquerors?"

This recruitment challenge does not include the task of killing the Abyss Recruiter.

However, this does not mean that there are no Abyss Conscripts; whether they exist or not needs to be confirmed.

Because of the existence of the Abyss, it is easy for the Abyss Demons to unite with the Bloodline Clan. As long as there are Abyss Conscripts, the high-ranking Bloodlines will know about it immediately.

Tiens shook her head slightly and replied, "No, there are no Abyss Conquerors this time."

The absence of Abyss Conquerors means that, according to the Abyss's assessment, this Abyss battlefield does not require the conscription of other demons to participate in the battle.

In other words, the Bloodline race is powerful enough to deal with the human recruiters.

Lu Heng pondered for a moment and asked for the exact time: "When did the news of the conscription spread?"

Tiens remained respectful, bowing her head as she replied, "Prince Moznis received the news a few minutes after the summons appeared, and then informed the high-ranking bloodlines in the city."

Hearing this answer confirmed my earlier guess.

In this Abyss Battlefield, humans appeared in a remote cave.

After the teleportation ended, several observers, including Su Muyu, surveyed the surrounding environment and confirmed that there were no bloodline demons within a three-kilometer radius.

In other words, the Bloodline Clan did not detect the appearance of the human recruits through reconnaissance.

However, the Bloodline Clan received the news within minutes of the conscription taking place.

There is only one possibility: a traitor among the human recruits passed the message to the bloodline demon.

It has long been known that there are traitors among the human recruits.

There's no way to deal with it right now.

Lu Heng had more important things to do, so he changed the subject and asked, "Have you found out what I asked you to investigate before?"

Tiens took out a piece of parchment, held it with both hands, and presented it to Lu Heng: "We've found it. This is a list of high-ranking bloodlines from the Valendar bloodline who have been to the Zero Civilization."

Lu Heng took the parchment and glanced at the list of high-ranking bloodlines on it. There were a total of ten high-ranking bloodlines, most of whom had their place of residence marked.

Besides the recruitment mission, another reason for coming to the Bloodline Caverns this time is to search for the Reincarnation Source.

There is still some time before Prince Moznis's ascension ceremony, so there is plenty of time, but the time will become increasingly tight as time goes on.

Therefore, while we have ample time now, we should first complete the task of finding the source of reincarnation.

After obtaining the list of Bloodline Demons, Lu Heng got up to leave.

Tiens quickly stepped forward and asked, "Master, can you give me back my heart first?"

Lu Heng turned his head and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then asked in a cold voice, "What do you want to do?"

Tiens quickly explained, "Moznis will soon be promoted to demigod. Once he does, he will definitely make moves against me. After all, I used to be his biggest competitor."

Lu Heng's lips curled into a mocking smile: "You're a succubus, no matter how much I try to control you, I won't kill you."

Tiens lowered her head and explained, "That's how it would normally be, but I gave up my heart. If he discovers anything wrong with my heart, my secret of betraying the Bloodline will be exposed, and I'll surely die. So I need to get my heart back. Only in this way can I save my life and continue to serve you."

Lu Heng was not moved by her pleas at all. He left with his last words and led his teammates out of the hall.

"Let's wait until he advances to demigod."

……

After leaving the Tower of Supreme Power, Lu Heng's team of four began their investigation according to the names of the high-ranking bloodlines on the list.

The first high-ranking bloodline to visit the Zero Civilization was Viscount Fisher, who lived in the Sulfur Manor next to the Pillar of Earth Flame.

Upon arriving at the Sulfur Manor, Su Muyu released the Azure Phoenix to scout the area, only to be surprised to find that there wasn't a single living creature in the entire manor.

"Not a single bloodline demon has been found, something's not right. And... there are signs of a struggle in the main building of the manor."

With a puzzled expression, Lu Heng entered the Sulfur Manor and, sure enough, saw signs of a battle in the main building's hall.

The battle wasn't particularly intense, but it still left damage marks on the floor and pillars.

After Su Muyu entered the hall, she covered her nose with her hand and said, "The smell of blood is very strong."

This is the territory of the Blood Demons. Since a battle has taken place, at least one side must be a Blood Demon. It's normal for there to be a strong smell of blood when someone is injured.

The presence of blood implies another piece of information: the battle took place within a single day.

The blood of the Blood Demon has an extremely strong odor; when exposed to air, the bloody smell can last for a whole day.

Lu Heng also smelled the strong stench of blood, and bloodstains remained on the ground where the battle had broken apart.

The four of them looked at the signs of battle and all showed puzzled expressions.

"Could it be that other recruits attacked Sulphur Manor before us?"

Sulfur Manor has a rather unique geographical location, isolated outside the Pillar of Earth Flame, and is located in a somewhat remote area.

A raid by recruits here usually won't alert the Bloodline Guards within the Pillar of Earthfire.

One of the challenge missions in the Abyss Battlefield is to kill ten high-ranking bloodline members, and Viscount Fisher meets the mission requirements.

In other words, it's possible that other recruit teams raided this place to complete the challenge mission.

However, one thing is rather strange: the battle wasn't very loud, with only a few signs of damage in the manor's main hall, suggesting it was a successful sneak attack.

Lu Heng pondered for a moment and asked, "Among the recruits, are there any highly skilled assassins?"

Su Muyu immediately nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes, there is a mercenary group of Oni Warriors in Japan, and there is a diplomat called the Ninja King."

Lu Heng took out the list of high-ranking bloodlines, glanced at it, and said, "Since this target is gone, let's go find the next one."

The four-person team left the sulfur plantation to continue their search for their next target.

Five hours later.

The four arrived at a deep cave, the dwelling place of Baron Egbert, a high-ranking bloodline.

As before, Su Muyu first released the Azure Phoenix to scout the deep cave. Then, something unexpected happened again.

“Something’s not right. Just like the last location, we didn’t find any Blood Demons, but there were signs of a battle in the cave and a strong smell of blood.”

Lu Heng immediately rushed in, releasing a ball of lightning to illuminate the cave environment, and sure enough, he saw traces of battle once again.

If the target was assassinated beforehand at the Sulphur Manor the first time, it could be considered a coincidence.

Now that the second target has also been attacked and killed, it is clearly not a simple coincidence.

All four of them sensed that something was wrong.

Xie Shi'en squatted down and stared at the damaged marks on the ground: "The marks here are very similar to those at the Sulfur Manor, they look like claw marks. Once could be a coincidence, but twice is impossible. Someone must have gotten there before us."

Lu Heng immediately turned and left the deep cave, saying, "Speed ​​up, next target."

Three hours later.

The team of four found the third target's residence and saw the same result: the third target had also been attacked, leaving only a few traces of fighting and the smell of blood, just like the first two.

Over the next two days, Lu Heng and his three companions went to each person on the list.

They found the habitats of seven high-ranking bloodlines, but without exception, they were all taken by others first.

Looking at the battle marks left after the attack on the seventh high-ranking bloodline, Lu Heng fell into deep thought.

For the past two days, the four of them have been searching for the Blood Devils according to the list without sleep or rest, but they have not found a single one, as they have all been beaten to it by others.

Things are going increasingly wrong.

Su Muyu guessed, "Is there someone else like us who is also looking for the Reincarnation Source?"

This possibility exists.

The news of the Reincarnation Source Essence is not a secret among the major powers on Earth.

If Ren Lidong of the Northern Wolf Mercenary Group knows about the Reincarnation Source Essence, then the Agent of the First Superpower Organization of the White Eagle Federation must also know.

In other words, George Gardner, the captain of the White Eagles, must also be looking for the Reincarnation Source.

But there is a problem.

Lu Heng took out the list: "If other human teams attacked these targets before us, how did this team obtain the list?"

This is the most critical question.

Lu Heng was able to obtain this list because of his spy servant, Tiens.

Could there be spies and servants planted within the Bloodline race?

However, the fact that the list the other side obtained was so complete meant that the status of the other spy servant was at least similar to that of Tiens.

How could a bloodline demon of this caliber be so easily controlled by humans?
The whole affair is shrouded in mystery.

Xie Shi'en took the list and stared at it while pondering:

"Although these targets have been beaten to it, there is good news: none of these seven targets have the Reincarnation Source Material, or rather, none of the first six targets have it."

"In other words, the team that beat us to it most likely hasn't found the Reincarnation Source Material yet."

This information can indeed be confirmed. The logic is simple: if the team that got ahead has already found the Reincarnation Source, they will not continue to attack subsequent targets.

Su Muyu puffed out her cheeks and said angrily, "What do we do now? Should we keep looking for the next target? What if they beat us to it again?"

Lu Heng narrowed his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's change our target and go directly to the last one."

The list contains ten high-ranking bloodlines, originally arranged in order of distance.

But every time someone beats you to it, if you want to get ahead of them, you have to skip the last two targets and find the last one first.

After a brief discussion, all three teammates agreed to the plan.

The group immediately set off to find their final target, the blood-line wizard Cridol.

This high-ranking bloodline is the great shaman of the bloodline race, holding a very high position within the clan.

Therefore, this bloodline wizard Cridol was not in his residence most of the time, but rather controlled the Blood Sacrifice Tower at the highest peak of the Pillar of Earthfire.

The Blood Sacrifice Tower is a very important building for the Bloodline Clan, used for their sacrifices and worship.

Every gathering place of blood demons has a blood sacrifice tower, and the grandeur of the blood sacrifice tower is related to the size of the clan.

During the battle in Blackrock City, the Bloodborne demons occupied the Blackrock City of the Dark Iron dwarves and even built a Blood Sacrifice Tower within it.

At that time, there were no high-ranking bloodline wizards among the bloodline demons of Blackrock City, so the Blood Sacrifice Tower was under the control of the bloodline banshee Salane.

After the Dark Iron dwarves recaptured Blackrock City, they demolished the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

This demonstrates the status of the Blood Sacrifice Tower within the Bloodline Demon race.

This is also why Lu Heng didn't immediately target the last person.

Once the Blood Sacrifice Tower is attacked, it will inevitably be discovered by the Bloodline Demon Guard in the Pillar of Earth Flame, which will cause a huge uproar.

……

The team of four took a detour to the highest peak of the Earth Flame Pillar, where Su Muyu first used the Azure Phoenix Divine Bird for aerial reconnaissance.

While scouting, she reported the situation: "This time we didn't get beaten to it. There are blood demons in the Blood Sacrifice Tower. I saw a high-ranking blood demon dressed as a blood wizard. It should be Clidor."

"Besides Clidor, there are twenty other blood demons in the Blood Sacrifice Tower who are worshipping the statue of the progenitor of blood demons in the Blood Sacrifice Tower."

Lin Zeyu found a sniping spot, rotated the scope, and observed the situation inside the Blood Sacrifice Tower through the scope.

After observing for a while, he said, "These guys who are worshipping the statue of the progenitor of the bloodline are all lying down and not moving. I can hit them 100% if I shoot now."

Since all the previous targets had been snatched up, Lu Heng became much more vigilant and reminded Mu Yu, "Expand the reconnaissance area and see if there are any other recruit teams around."

"Okay." Su Muyu controlled the Azure Phoenix to scout the surrounding five-kilometer radius and confirmed, "No other recruit teams were found. We are the only team nearby."

"Shall we make a move? How about I start with a high-explosive bomb and blow up the Blood Sacrifice Tower?" Lin Zeyu was eager to try, preparing to create an art of explosion first.

Lu Heng observed the situation inside the Blood Sacrifice Tower through the long-range telescope and frowned as he said:
“I have a bad feeling about this. It’s too quiet inside the Blood Sacrifice Tower. Although it’s supposed to be quiet when worshipping the progenitor of the bloodline, seven high-ranking bloodlines have already been killed. Doesn’t the bloodline demon have any reaction at all?”

Although the first seven targets were all ambushed and the fighting was relatively quiet, the Bloodline Clan did not react at all after so many targets died.

Lu Heng always felt that something was wrong.

"So what do we do now? Should we take action?" Lin Zeyu scratched his head.

"We'll definitely have to take action, but we need to prepare first." As he spoke, Lu Heng raised his hand, channeling his source energy and unleashing an S-rank skill.

...(End of chapter)