My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"I know Fox; we used to be classmates."

"Lanlot, Leonard, and Lisa have recently been temporarily seconded to the Fox team."

"The seven squads of the 10th action team are searching the area surrounding the city bit by bit and have found the lair set up by the Church of the Otherworldly Demons. This is a bit tricky... The environment around the city is different from the urban area. There are only some people living there near the roads and towns. The Otherworldly Demons have dug a hole on a hill and hidden themselves. It's very difficult for us to find them."

Dunk glanced at the wall clock. "There's still some time before evening... I'll go do some preliminary reconnaissance and find the approximate location of those three shapeshifters. Reconnaissance alone is a bit slow, but it's better than staying in the office."

Xia Zuo finished his work for the day and had some free time in the afternoon. He really wanted to go out for a walk with Deng Ke and maybe gain some experience along the way.

But according to Dunk, there are undercurrents in Poseidon City, and Vickers intends to protect expert-level poison alchemists, so he arranged for them to monitor the underground laboratory.

Xia Zuo considered the situation in his mind and decided to stay obediently in the Boxin Building, so he took back what he was about to say.

Seeing the other person's hesitant expression, Dunke said:

"I'll go alone. You stay at the Bosing Building. Don't leave the city unless Supervisor Vickers assigns you fieldwork."

"Okay, Captain."

Xia Zuo followed Deng Ke into the elevator.

The two said goodbye in the lobby on the first floor.

The afternoon was free time, but Xia Zuo didn't intend to be idle.

He went to report to the supervisor in Vickers, and then went to the alchemy room to refine antidotes for common toxins.

Chapter 58 [Blood Curse]

Thursday arrived in the blink of an eye.

Early morning.

Xia Zuo arrived at the large laboratory on the 7th underground floor.

Rexol is here too.

In fact, ever since they began researching high-level blood demons, the two demon hunters have taken turns guarding the laboratory to prevent any accidents.

This is the only high-level blood demon captured alive in Poseidon City in decades!

We must be extremely careful, and absolutely not let it find a chance to destroy itself.

The moment the temple guards captured it, they forcibly broke it down into individual blood demons.

Blood demons that have undergone the fusion ritual are called high-ranking blood demons.

A complete high-ranking blood demon consists of 13 blood demons that connect with each other through a fusion ritual.

There are only 10 in this culture jar.

Of the remaining three, one was eliminated, namely Blood Demon No. 13, named Quarovich.

The remaining two hid hundreds of kilometers away, named Utolius and Upharis.

Rexor's biggest regret right now is not getting the name of Bloodseeker #13.

The Blood Essence Stone of a single Blood Demon can be used to unlock some of its secrets.

Blood Demons who have undergone the Fusion Ritual can use its power to conceal their secrets deep within.

Thirteen Blood Demons make up one complete High-Rank Blood Demon.

The full name of a high-ranking blood demon is composed of the names of 13 blood demons.

The full name of a high-level Blood Demon is the key to unlocking the deepest secrets of the Blood Demons that make up a high-level Blood Demon.

Skillful.

Xia Zuo knew the names of all 13 Blood Demons…

When he learned from the bald man that the full name of the high-level blood demon was crucial, he fell into a daze and deep thought.

But they couldn't find a suitable reason to reveal Quarovich's name...

He didn't know how he knew the name...

The name "Kualoukchi" is recorded on the bloodline mark and comes from the kill reward.

"Master, is it really that important to know someone's full name?" Xia Zuo asked, looking at the bald man with furrowed brows.

"Sigh..." Rexor glanced at the 10 clumps of red sand that had been separated and fixed in the culture tank, let out a long sigh, and even his forehead looked much dimmer.

"Xia Zuo, do you know about enchanting schools?" the bald man asked.

“I know, Master, that’s a school of magic that adds special effects to items.”

Rexol shook his head and said:

"Enchanting magic is not just about modifying inanimate objects."

"This school of magic can be used on living beings. The Witcher school has a sign that can briefly control animals, and even humans."

"Enchanting spells have a wider range of uses, even affecting otherworldly beings. But the conditions are very demanding. You need to know the full name of the target, as well as a lot of other information."

Xia Zuo stared at the red sand in the culture jar, nodded thoughtfully, and roughly guessed how the Mage Temple had unearthed the secret of the Bloodstone.

"In fact, the methods by which Blood Demons control Transformers and Blood Addicts are very similar to the spells of the Enchanting School. Blood Mages of the Church of the Otherworld are linked by bloodlines. Blood Demons, by virtue of their higher bloodline rank, exert influence on their creations and alter their minds."

Rexor raised his hand, his fingers sweeping across the red sand in the restaurant, and said:

"These blood demons are the same; they are controlled by blood witches. And blood witches are merely puppets of higher-level blood mages."

"Click, click..." Rexor's cipher ring made a sound.

He glanced down and said, "Oh, the old folks at the Mage Temple have finally come to a conclusion."

"What?" Xia Zuo asked curiously.

"After capturing this high-level blood demon, they argued endlessly. After nearly a week of arguing, they finally came up with a final solution."

Rexor said as he flicked the paddle:

"Of these 10 Blood Demons, the oldest is Hawthorne. The Temple of Mages ordered the forced removal of its Blood Demon body to bring the Blood Essence Stone into the Temple for research. The remaining 9 Blood Demons will be left to your research institute for further study."

"When will we forcefully break through?" Xia Zuo asked, rubbing his hands together, feeling somewhat excited. Another wave of experience and expertise was coming his way.

"Just this morning."

Rexol had barely finished speaking.

Xia Zuo's secret communication ring then rang.

The manager from Vickers sent a message saying that he should follow the instructions of the Witcher Master and that he would be there shortly.

"Shazo, I'm going to the manor, I'll be right back," Rexor called out, heading towards the door.

...

About half an hour later.

The bald man and the cold-faced man carried in a heavy metal box.

This time, the chains were several times longer than before, enough to completely imprison the culture tank, which had been enlarged several times over.

Once everything was ready, the manager from Vickers told the researcher on duty to go outside and wait.

He walked to the control panel, pressed a button to lower a cylindrical partition around the Blood Demon Hawthorne, and then pressed the button to release the universal antidote.

Shazo and the two demon hunters unleashed the Curse of Decay, accelerating the weakening of the Blood Demon Hawthorne's body.

Nothing unexpected happened this time, and everything went smoothly.

An ice sculpture appeared in the culture tank, containing Hawthorne's bloodstone.

At noon, the temple guards will come and take it away.

Xia Zuo sat in his seat, his eyes glowing green as he monitored the researchers studying other blood demons, while mentally reviewing information from his cheat system.

"Successfully destroyed Hawthorne's Blood Demon Shell...gained 630 experience points."

"...The [Vitality] attribute has been successfully assessed, and a new special ability has been obtained."

...

[Special Skill Name] Blood Curse - Incomplete

[Special Skills Description]

This perk is incomplete; when you cast a curse on another blood mage from a distance, you will suffer a backlash from the curse.

[Special Effects]

Choose a bloodline mark as a target. Once this perk is activated, you will be able to cast a curse on that target from a distance.

You will suffer a backlash from the curse, the effect of which is one-tenth of the original curse effect.

...

Xia Zuo was somewhat frustrated about this special talent.

When she was learning curse spells, Beatrice gave her a bronze amulet to protect her from the backlash of the curse.

Xia Zuo always carried it with him, tucked inside the leather case of the Life Alchemy Stone.

The description of the [Blood Curse] pertains to the fact that one-tenth of the curse's effect will backfire on the caster.

If the amulet can block the backlash, then that's fine.

If you can't withstand the backlash... suffering damage from the backlash is a minor issue, but if the amulet breaks, that would be terrible.

Just as Xia Zuo was in a daze, Anna walked over and placed a metal box in front of him.

“Mr. Xia Zuo, this is the powder from the Blood Demon’s body that we collected this morning.”

"Thank you, Anna," Xia Zuo said with a smile, snapping out of his reverie.

He checked the time: 11:30 a.m.

I'll go have lunch, and then go back to the alchemy lab to identify the poisons.

...

Around 12 noon.