My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Hiss..." Xia Zuo gasped when he heard the number "1000".

Did the Templar army think he was buying pureblood mages in bulk? He just casually asked for 1000... making pureblood mages seem like cabbages...

“Master, you may have some misunderstandings about my blood magic,” Xia Zuo said thoughtfully.

"What misunderstanding?" Rexor was slightly taken aback.

"During my infiltration mission, I created many Blood Element minions that had the appearance of red vests."

Xia Zuo gestured with both hands, "But these blood element servants are different from the blood element servants that transform normal humans into pure-blood mages. The two blood element servants with different purposes look very similar, but in fact, this is an effect I created using the blood magic [Flesh and Blood Disguise] to confuse the enemy. Their internal structures and the raw materials they require are completely different."

In that instant, Xia Zuo felt like an "arms dealer".

He's exploiting information asymmetry to trick big clients into spending exorbitant prices on two different types of "weapons" that have interchangeable parts and are produced on the same production line...

This is called rationally developing user needs. To borrow the words of a marketing genius from a previous life: customers don't actually know what they want, so a true sales champion should learn to create needs for customers while keeping their secrets and not letting customers realize that the salesperson is fooling them.

After listening to Shazo's words, Rexor asked, "Tell me, what's the difference between them? I don't see any difference between them."

“Look, Master.” Xia Zuo manually cast a spell, summoning a blood-element servant in front of the bald man. The summoning process lasted about 3 minutes—he did it deliberately so slowly to make the demonstration more substantial, weighty, and convincing.

"This is a very primitive blood element servant. Apart from being able to float constantly, freely change its appearance and size, and cast some simple blood magic, it has almost no other function."

Shazo placed the blood-ball-shaped Blood Element Servant in front of Rexor and gestured for him to enter. "It can implant my bloodline mark on a normal person, granting the target the ability of [Bloodline Sensing], but that's all. You should know that I implanted the bloodline mark on Headmistress Beatrice, right? I used this kind of Blood Element Servant. You can try it, and then you'll know how weak its ability is."

What blood magic blood relatives possess is entirely controlled by Xia Zuo himself, and has nothing to do with blood element servants.

This secret was known to no one except Anruer, and it became Xia Zuo's most important bargaining chip at this moment.

Rexor drank a bottle of Witcher potion, and bluish-black veins appeared on his face.

He stared at the Blood Servant for a moment, then said, “No need to try. I believe what you say; it aligns with the Demon Hunter School’s research on Blood Mages. In fact, if you had told me that such a weak Blood Servant could restore a person on the verge of death, I would have doubted the truth of your words.”

How difficult is it to save a person who is on the verge of death?

Just look at the half-blood mages of the Church of the Otherworldly Demons. To gain the ability to be resurrected even after being burned to ashes, converts must undergo several rounds of conversion rituals. The same applies in the temple; blessing spells that save lives on the verge of death require setting up ritual arrays and consuming large amounts of enchanted materials rich in life force.

In contrast, Xia Zuo's method of transforming his target into a blood relative and providing them with life force to help them turn the tide was outrageously simple, a process that even the bald man, racking his brains, couldn't have imagined would be so easy...

Seeing that Rexor was slowly taking the bait, Shazo calmly conjured a second Blood Element Servant.

This time, to make it more ceremonial, Xia Zuo spent 10 minutes creating the tetrahedral-shaped Blood Element Servant.

"As you can see, Master. This Blood Element Servant is composed of four Blood Element Servants, which are the raw materials I used to make the red vest. The other raw materials are various mutant materials."

Xia Zuo held the blood-red servant in his hands as if it were a precious treasure, and said sincerely:

"This is a blood element servant I painstakingly designed, which I call the Blood Element Guardian. The four times the raw material consumption gives it more vitality and uses. After consuming a specific mutation nutrient paste, it can possess different mutation abilities like other blood magic puppets. It can implant a bloodline mark on normal people and teach them to cast blood magic, but it should be noted that the Blood Element Guardian will lose these functions after mutation and will no longer be able to transform humans into pure-blood mages."

Rexor nodded slowly. "This is the price of mutation, I understand. If we don't let it mutate and just use it to convert humans into pure-blood mages, what kind of blood magic can it impart?"

“【Blood Magic Offense and Defense】,” Xia Zuo said. “This blood magic consumes life force and can only be borne by the caster. With the physical activity of a normal mage, they cannot use 【Blood Magic Offense and Defense】 to condense a complete set of blood magic armor and weapons like you did when you escaped in the anti-magic field. For a normal mage, condensing a blood magic spear is the limit.”

Rexor thought for a moment and asked, "I remember when I escaped the anti-magic field, you said you would provide the life force needed for me to create blood magic armor and weapons. What's that all about?"

Xia Zuo had anticipated this question, and he readily gave the answer he had prepared beforehand:

"This relates to the third type of Blood Elemental Servant. I call it the Blood Elemental Guard. It consists of five Blood Elemental Servants and can teach several Blood Magic spells. It contains a small storage space, which is usually filled with healing potions."

"Restoration potions?" Rexor seemed to understand. "I think I know how you provide me with the life force needed for casting spells. You use the restoration potions in your storage space as a source of life force, right?"

“Yes.” Xia Zuo said solemnly, “This is my secret, Master. I hope you can keep it a secret for me.”

Rexol replied just as solemnly, "Yes, Shazo."

“Master, regarding the matter of Blood Element Servants transforming humans into pure-blood mages, I think you have two other misunderstandings. Let me explain them to you.”

Xia Zuo shrugged and said, "In the anti-magic field, the principle by which I healed your and Serites' physical injuries was not based on some kind of magical blood magic, but on consuming a large amount of recovery potions to infuse you with life force, urging your bodies to repair themselves. This is the first misunderstanding."

Rexor nodded slowly. "Indeed, I once suspected that you possessed blood magic, which I had never heard of before."

“The second misconception.” Xia Zuo held up two fingers. “A pureblood mage created by converting blood element servants is not a true blood mage. Blood element servants can only grant the recipient blood magic, not enhance their physical vitality. Due to the lack of bloodline support, the physical vitality of these pseudo-blood mages will not increase on its own; it can only be enhanced by taking potions.”

Rexor asked thoughtfully, "Then what about Audrey's physical vitality?"

As expected, the Demon Hunter School has thoroughly investigated matters related to the Blood Element Servants, and they even know that I planted the bloodline mark on Audrey… Xia Zuo calmly replied:

"The Blood Guardian who transformed her into a pseudo-blood mage has some regeneration potions stored inside her body. These potions will be administered to Audrey periodically to create the illusion that her bloodline power is slowly increasing. Once she can establish herself in the academy without relying on her status as a bloodline awakener, I will stop administering the regeneration potions."

Xia Zuo helplessly spread his hands, "She's an ordinary person. I want to repay her for saving my life many years ago and help her get into the academy, so this is the only thing I can do."

Rexor sighed. "Alright, considering your intentions weren't bad and Audrey's performance was quite good, I'll pretend I don't know anything about it. But there won't be a next time, Shazo, you have to promise me."

“Yes, Master, I promise.” Xia Zuo nodded.

Rexor glanced at the Blood Guardian on the table, pondered for a moment, and said:

"What you said is basically the same as what we expected. Your blood element servants only endowed you with spellcasting abilities, rather than truly transforming ordinary people into pure-blood mages. In essence, your blood element servants are spellcasting mediums that are temporarily fused with humans."

“Yes, that’s right.” Xia Zuo nodded. This was exactly the result he wanted: the Temple army could use the Blood Element Servants with peace of mind, without having to worry about exposing his secrets, thus achieving a win-win situation.

Rexor said, "The number of blood magic spells that blood servants can teach is too small. Do you have any good ideas? Could you add blood magic spells that disguise appearance and blood rune features as well?"

“This involves the language of blood patterns, Master,” Xia Zuo said. “One must be familiar with the language of blood patterns to accurately change one’s appearance and blood pattern characteristics. Otherwise, it may attract a backlash of magic, which would be a terrifying scene that no one wants to see.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” Rexormoss rubbed his bald head. “This is a troublesome matter. Learning the Blood Rune language requires the consent of your pure-blood mage faction. What about other blood magic? Are there any that can be learned without knowing the Blood Rune language?”

“There are two,” Xia Zuo said, demonstrating as he operated the Blood Element Guardian on the table.

"One is [Blood Mist Form], which is the most common flight spell among blood mages. This blood magic is extremely dangerous and requires very high physical activity to cast."

"The other is trauma management, which can stop bleeding, relieve pain, and prevent wounds from worsening. It also requires a high level of physical activity."

These two spells are not currently on Xia Zuo's spell list; they were temporarily devised by Xia Zuo to deal with the current situation.

Adding them to the spell list is not difficult; both are sub-spells of the blood magic foundational spell [Flesh Control], and Xia Zuo can awaken them with a little research.

Teaching blood magic to a mage army is like updating software for a major client; it should be a gradual, long-term process. If all the software features are added at once, how can you earn maintenance fees for version updates?

Moreover, keeping more uses for the Blood Element servants in his own hands, rather than revealing them all, would make Xia Zuo feel safer, which is an excellent way to protect himself.

After listening to Shazo's explanation, Rexor rubbed his chin and said, "It seems that our primary problem to solve is physical activity."

He clapped his hands and said:

"Alright, Xia Zuo, let's get back to the main topic."

"In order to prepare for a full-scale war in the future, the Temple has prepared several plans to counterattack the anti-magic field, one of which is to establish a legion of blood mages with a strength of a thousand men."

"Every member of this army must master three blood magic spells: [Blood Magic Offense and Defense], [Blood Mist Form], and [Wound Management]. Everyone must wear a red vest. The Temple Army needs your full involvement in building this army, serving as its exclusive pureblood mage and exclusive alchemist."

"The Temple Army promises you the benefits of a [7th Ring Arcane Mage]. After the Temple defeats the Church of the Otherworldly Demons, the Temple Army will give you 5% of the total battle merits of this force, which is more than enough to exchange for a fiefdom."

"Besides these rewards, do you have any other requests? You can tell me now, and if it's not too unreasonable, I will fulfill your request immediately."

The "7th Ring Arcane Mage" that Rexor mentioned refers to a "7th Ring Battle Mage." Arcane Mage is the common name for Battle Mage, and "7th Ring" is a battle merit rating given by the Temple based on a comprehensive consideration of combat power, execution ability, combat experience, and battle results.

The lowest rating for a Mystic is 0 rings, and the highest is 9 rings. As an Eternal Mage who possesses both a physical body and an elemental body, it's quite normal for Xia Zuo to be rated as a 7-ring Mystic Mage directly. If he wants to advance further, he must accumulate military merits.

Rexol offered very generous terms, but Shazor had other considerations.

“Master, I have only one additional request,” Xia Zuo said.

"what?"

"Do you know why I implanted a bloodline mark on Headmistress Beatrice?" Xia Zuo asked.

“I know,” Rexor said. “It’s related to a female mage from the academy named Erline. This matter is already on the Witcher School’s watch list, and Beatrice reports to us every month. I heard from Beatrice that you were worried about revealing your bloodline mark, so you used her to implant the bloodline mark in Erline, is that right?”

“Yes.” Xia Zuo nodded. “In my opinion, it is extremely dangerous to let the Blood Mage army carry my bloodline mark into the anti-magic field. So I have an idea. I want you to make the Blood Element Guards and Red Vests instead of me. I know that doing so may cause your bloodline mark to fall into the hands of the Otherworldly Demons. I have also considered having others make the Blood Element Guards and Red Vests, but frankly, I think no one is more reliable than you in this matter. I only trust you.”

Rexor touched his bald head, somewhat incredulous. "You mean, you're willing to teach me the blood magic [Blood Servant]?"

Xia Zuo emphasized, "Yes."

Rexor pondered for a moment and said, “This matter needs to be discussed with the others in the Witcher School. Learning your [Blood Element Servants] means accepting your bloodline mark, which would make me lose my independence and go against the will of the Witcher School. However, special times call for special measures, and I estimate that the Temple Army and the Witcher School will support me in undertaking the work of creating Blood Element Servants. After all, I have known them for much, much longer than you have.”

Xia Zuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally freeing himself from the biggest burden of this matter...

1000 Blood Mages = 1000 Blood Guardians = 5000 Blood Minions = 5000 Spirit Attribute Points!!

The Temple army also required each person to be issued a set of red vests, which would add up to several thousand points of spirit attribute value.

Such a large expense... Xia Zuo simply couldn't afford it.

But Rexor is different.

If nothing unexpected happens, he'll find himself on a sinking ship when he first tries to create a Blood Elemental Servant... He won't be able to afford the mental energy required to create one, so he'll seek help from other Witcher Masters or members of the Temple Army. With a group of people working together, they can usually gather tens of thousands of mental attribute points...

This shouldn't be considered a scam against the bald guy, right? It shouldn't be...

Chapter 86 No no no no

Rexol and Mr. Xia discussed for nearly three hours and finally finalized the general framework of the cooperation plan.

The bald man took out a blank parchment scroll and manipulated three silver sand hands to draft a contract.

“Here, take a look. If there are no problems, sign it.” Rexol pushed the parchment scroll in front of Shazo.

Xia Zuo scratched his head. "Why not wait for the results of the major review in three days before signing the contract? What if I fail the review? Maybe I'll be the black flag?"

Rexor gave him a strange look. "You're Black Flag? If you're Black Flag, then you're the dumbest Otherworldly I've ever seen."

"Uh...why?" Xia Zuo scratched his head again.

"Did you leave behind any blood element servants in the anti-magic field that we don't know about?" Rexor asked.

“No.” Xia Zuo shook his head.

"Did you proactively leave your contact information with the Otherworlders?" Rexor asked again.

"No."

Rexor continued, "You've mastered the blood magic [Blood Servant], which is exactly what the Church of the Otherworldly desperately needs. Think about it, if you were to teach this blood magic to the Otherworldly, do you think the Temple would still have a chance of winning?"

“This…” Xia Zuo pondered for a moment, “There’s no chance of winning.”

“That’s right.” Rexol slammed his fist on the floor.

"If you are Black Flag, then the previous infiltration mission was the best opportunity for you to overthrow the Temple. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance that you absolutely could not miss."

"If you expose Callus's magical clone to Nukalofa, you can eliminate the Temple's chance of obtaining the energy core structure diagram."