My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Xia Zuo sat back down at his desk, brought up his character template, and checked his Blood Magic talent, [Bloodline Mark].

Back when he was still studying marine monsters in the Silvermoon Federation, he considered sending a Blood Element servant back to the Western Continent to secretly investigate his origins. He was stumped by one problem: the interference caused by the Extreme Storm on his ability to control the Blood Element servant remotely.

At that time, Xia Zuo didn't have enough blood runes to invest in the [Bloodline Mark] to strengthen the connection with the mark.

But now... I have so many Blood Marks on my hands, it's time to spend them!

Xia Zuo first brought up Anru'er's bloodline and relatives management panel, trying to sense her location and the things around her.

As expected, the location information and images fed back by the bloodline sensing were very blurry, mixed with a lot of noise. The temple barrier, as always, blocked all unauthorized communications.

While Xia Zuo was investing in blood patterns to upgrade the [Bloodline Mark], he repeatedly tried to contact Anruer.

Finally, after he had used up a full 5000 Blood Runes to upgrade the [Bloodline Mark] to level 50, he received a reply from Anruer.

"Hey, Xia Zuo? Is that you talking to me?" Anru asked.

"It's me, it's me!" Xia Zuo clapped his hands, his face beaming with joy. He had finally made contact.

"You've been at the temple for almost a month now, are you coming back? I just finished teaching my students and was about to have dinner before heading back to my dorm to prepare lessons and meditate. Tomorrow's Saturday, but I can't rest; I need to give my students some extra lessons..."

Anru chattered on and on, seemingly having been cooped up for a month...

Because of the time constraints, Xia Zuo, seeing that she showed no signs of stopping, had no choice but to interrupt her, "Wait a minute. I have something urgent that I need your help with."

"Uh? What's wrong? Weren't you coming back?" Anru asked.

“I estimate it will be a few more days before we can go back,” Xia Zuo continued. “Now I will teach you a higher level of blood magic, [Blood Element Servant], and also teach you how to craft a defensive Blood Element Servant that I designed. I want you to craft at least 100 of these Blood Element Servants tonight, hand them over to me, and then go to the Wild Hammer Kingdom to quietly place these Blood Element Servants there.”

“Blood Element Servants... 100... Wild Hammers..." Anruer organized Xia Zuo's words, then nodded and said, “Okay! Leave it to me.”

Anru didn't press Xia Zuo about what he was planning or whether it would violate any laws; she unconditionally trusted him.

This trust made Xia Zuo feel happy, and he took the initiative to explain:

"This mission hasn't gone very smoothly. Rexor and the others are in dire straits, but the Temple's rescue can't get there anytime soon. I'm going to try to rescue them in my own way."

“Doing this may or may not violate the law; it all depends on how discreet we are.”

"Mmm." Anru nodded obediently.

Xia Zuo continued, "I placed a long-term order with the Alchemist's Guild in the Desolate Hammer Kingdom. They supply me with bionic silver-devouring worms and alchemical dragon blood every year, as I mentioned before. This year's shipment hasn't arrived yet, so could you go and pick it up for me? Before leaving the Desolate Hammer Kingdom with the silver-devouring worms and alchemical dragon blood, just find a secluded corner to release the Blood Element Servants."

"Good~"

“Wait, I just remembered something…” Xia Zuo suddenly had an inspiration.

Since he can use alchemical dragon blood to cheat, his blood element servants should be able to do the same, right?

His modified defensive blood element servant has a separate container for holding the blood-melting agent.

Since Anru didn't have any blood-melting agents, this separate container had to be left empty, so it was perfect for holding the alchemical dragon blood.

"After you get the goods, take the Silver-Eating Insects back with you, and put the Alchemy Dragon Blood with the Blood Element Servants. I have a use for it," Xia Zuo instructed.

"Ok!"

"Now I'll teach you how to craft this defensive Blood Element Servant..." Xia Zuo brought up his character template, shared the [Blood Element Servant] with it, helped Anruer improve the level of this blood magic, and then handed over the recipe and crafting method for the red vest.

Xia Zuo also didn't forget to provide the most crucial raw materials—vitality and mental attribute values.

A defensive Blood Elemental minion with a maximum of 5 health and 1 spirit.

One hundred Blood Elemental Minions require one hundred points of free Spirit attribute.

Rexor's previous reinforcement plan consumed a number of Blood Elemental Minions, as well as all of Shazor's remaining Spirit attribute points.

At this point, Xia Zuo could only use his free attribute points as a temporary solution.

Doing this will drastically reduce the free attribute points gained in the next upgrade... but there's no other way, saving lives is the priority, and what needs to be spent must be spent.

Xia Zuo used his mind to tap on his character template a few times, adding 100 points to [Spirit].

..

[Spirit] 221+100→321

[Free Attribute Points] 166-100→66

..

Xia Zuo did not immediately share this large amount of spiritual knowledge with Anru.

It would be safer to share the required spirit attribute value and life force for each Blood Element Servant when she starts refining them.

After completing these preparations, Xia Zuo said, "...The formula will use a lot of mutation materials. You should apply to the head of the academy and say it's related to me. She has top-secret access and knows Ms. Xingye, so she can find out about the mission. At that time, she should grant you access to the mutation material library. If she doesn't, it's okay. You can come to the Eastern Continent and buy it in the outer hall."

Anru nodded, recalled Xia Zuo's instructions, and then asked, "The Blood Element Servant you designed looks a bit like a vest. Isn't it a bit too big? If 100 vests are stacked together and moving around, the people of the Desolate Hammer might find out."

“It’s alright. I have a way to get them out.” Xia Zuo was telling the truth.

The red vest is very deceptive in appearance, looking like a red piece of armor, but in reality it is a blood element servant that can change size at will.

Once Anjou hands over control of the Blood Element servants, Shazo can manipulate them to shrink and then act stealthily.

As for whether the alchemical dragon blood contained within the blood element servant will leak out, there's no need to worry about that.

Xia Zuo's Blood Fusion Agent container possesses the characteristic of [storage space]. The container is only the size of a grain of rice in volume, yet its internal capacity reaches approximately half a cubic meter. The shrunken Blood Essence Servant can completely enclose the container without hindering its movement.

Later, Anru quickly ate dinner in the university cafeteria and then went to see Beatrice.

When Anru proposed using the mutation material library, Beatrice first inquired about the reason, and then, as Shazo had expected, communicated with Seresporina.

Xia Zuo sat in the study of the secret room, with a secret communication ring on the table in front of him. It belonged to Selena.

He had a secret discussion with Selena before Anjou entered Beatrice's study.

He used very cryptic language to vaguely reveal his plan to the other party, making it clear that he would not sit idly in the secret room waiting for news of Rexor and the others' deaths.

The whole affair is basically unrelated to Selena, except for a transaction involving mutant materials.

Under the guise of researching bionic silver-eating insects, Xia Zuo ordered a batch of mutation materials from Selena. The handover point was the warehouse of Xingye Academy, and the person who received the materials was Anruer.

In this way, even if he secretly used his Blood Element servants to save people, and it was discovered and reported to the Temple, no one else would be implicated except for Xia Zuo and his fiancée.

The person who purchased the controlled materials under a false pretense was Xia Zuo, and he was also the one who illegally used blood magic in the Temple Territory.

He could face a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

Since this operation was not reported to the Temple for record-keeping and was not approved by any Temple institution, even if he did rescue Rexor and the others, he might not receive any reward.

On one hand, there are exposed risks and severe penalties; on the other hand, there are instances of having made mistakes but receiving no recognition.

Xia Zuo had no intention of giving up on this thankless task.

Being interrogated or imprisoned is not as painful as being separated from loved ones forever. Moreover, the regret of not being able to save someone is far more profound than any of these things.

...

There are 12 hours left before the shriveled blood vessels are fully recharged.

After a long night of hard work, Anruer finally finished crafting 100 Blood Element Servants.

Xia Zuo took over control of the Blood Element servants, shrinking them down to the size of blood dots.

Anru packed the Blood Essence Servants into glass bottles and flew with them to the academy's teleportation hall.

The giant creators who helped Starry Night Academy establish the sub-plane passage mostly came from the Desolate Hammer Kingdom. In addition, a large amount of high-grade ore was needed, so the Starry Night Kingdom's teleportation hall specially opened a teleportation room that leads directly to Desolate Hammer.

Another 1 hours have passed.

Somewhere in the Desolate Hammer Kingdom, Anru used her silver sand hands to drag the metal box containing the bionic silver-devouring insects and alchemical dragon blood back the way she came.

On the way, taking advantage of the opportunity to admire the flower beds, fountains, and the blue sky outside the long skylight in the ceiling, she found a secluded corner and quickly released her Blood Element servants.

Xia Zuo immediately manipulated his blood-element servants to crawl into the metal box and...

.

It sucked all the alchemical dragon blood inside.

"Okay, all done." Xia Zuo said to An Ru'er through their blood ties, "Thank you for your hard work. Go back now. Leave the rest to me."

"Okay. Be careful." Anruer took the metal box and left.

After sensing that she had disappeared into the teleportation light, Xia Zuo controlled his blood servant to fly upwards and out through the long skylight.

"Ugh, my God, it's so hot?!" Xia Zuo exclaimed softly.

The Blood Element servants had just flown out of the cool underground passage when they were immediately met with a blinding blast of sunlight.

The blazing sun hung high in the sky, its rays shining straight down on the earth. Not a single cloud could block the sunlight, and the entire land was like a red-hot iron plate, with distorted ripples of light and shadow everywhere in the air.

The high temperature and enhanced light applied a layer of the [Flame Aura] effect to the Blood Elemental Minions, stacking one layer every minute. When the stack reaches 10 layers, 30% of their maximum health is deducted at once.

"What a bad start..." Xia Zuo scratched his head in frustration.

After a moment's thought, he adjusted the flight formation of the Blood Element servants.

Grouping 10 Blood Elemental Minions into a single unit, each group takes turns transforming into a "sunshade" and flying above the formation to shield the 90 Blood Elemental Minions below from the sun.

This approach worked reasonably well.

The number of [Flame Aura] stacks on the Blood Elemental Servant below decreased, while the stacking speed of [Flame Aura] on the Blood Elemental Servant above doubled.

Just make sure to replace the Blood Elemental minion at the top before the debuff stacks are full.

And so, the Blood Element servants flew eastward at a speed of nearly two hundred kilometers per hour, braving the blazing sun, traversing the vast desert of the entire Wild Hammer Kingdom, and reaching the kingdom's border.

Green traces began to appear on the ground; they were green grasses that were barely growing from the desert sands.

Further on, the grasslands grew denser, eventually forming a continuous prairie. Scattered low bushes dotted the prairie. After venturing dozens of kilometers further, Xia Zuo came upon a jungle and a tall tower.

The Blood Elemental servants entered the High Tower Mage's territory.

The area is filled with tall trees and a subtle protective barrier.

Xia Zuo had to slow down the flight speed of his Blood Element servants, casting a detection spell to check the road ahead while carefully avoiding various hidden magical traps.

Before we knew it, the sun had set.

Just as the setting sun painted the forest red, Xia Zuo heard the sound of waves crashing.

After the Blood Element servants passed through the woods, a vast, boundless gray ocean suddenly opened up before them, connecting heaven and earth and north and south, occupying the entire field of vision.

Xia Zuo frowned.

He discovered a place he had never noticed before.