My health recovery is incredibly fast.

"Huh?" Xia Zuo looked up at the night sky outside the window and suddenly realized that he had been too busy lately, and his life routine was extremely chaotic... especially since the sky outside the palace was always dark, he had been thinking it was daytime... while An Ru'er was living according to the Western Continent's schedule...

Xia Zuo scratched his head, tossed the robe he was holding onto the hanger, and lay back down on the bed. "Then I'll go tomorrow morning. I really need to spend some time with you. Before the war starts, these peaceful days won't last much longer..."

"That's right, that's my good husband." Anru'er lifted her robe and sat on Xia Zuo's lap...

...

The gray-corner secondary plane at the same time.

Two burly men were crammed into the small wooden hut.

The wooden table in the center of the room was transformed from one into four, and the combined tabletop was covered with portraits of pure-blooded mages.

The portraits are divided into six groups from top to bottom. Each group of portraits is arranged according to the generational relationship of pure-blood mages, with the generations increasing from left to right, listing the first to fifth generations of pure-blood mages.

Except for the portrait in the first row and first column of the sixth group, which is male—namely, Xia Zuo—all the other portraits are of young and beautiful women…

Rexor and Ceres opened the wooden crate at their feet and placed stacks of paper documents inside onto the corresponding portraits.

They had just returned from the temple and visited Letunia and others, obtaining information on the pure-blood mage faction members from them.

There's no need to visit Shazo; his descendants are very few blood mages. Rexor has the complete information, which Shazo voluntarily reported to Beatrice as a backup, according to his agreement with the Witcher School.

With all the paper documents in place, Rexor and his two companions began analyzing whose situation was most dangerous.

First, we can rule out Xia Zuo's lineage.

Apart from Xia Zuo himself being very strong, reaching the level expected of a first-generation pure-blood mage, the others were merely using Xia Zuo's bloodline mark to maintain their youth.

More accurately, Anru and the others were merely pseudo-blood mages, not true pure-blood mages. They could not spontaneously enhance their physical vitality or increase their vitality attribute value; they could only rely on the vitality that Shazo shared with them.

This was confirmed by Beatrice, and it was also the key factor that led Rexor and Rexor to first rule out the Shazor lineage.

Rexor and the other person discussed for a while and came to the same conclusion as Anjou.

The pure-blooded mage, who was aloof, powerful, but not skilled in combat, became the focus of their investigation.

Rexor took out a small red flag and placed it on the table. The two of them were each responsible for one or two pureblood mage families, using the small red flag to mark their targets.

Chapter 10 Trust

"The second-generation pureblood mage of Letunia, Hurley Letunia, is 2780 years old this year, with a bloodline concentration of 44%. She is currently a visiting professor of bio-alchemy at the academy in Silvermoon City. Apart from appearing at the academy during class time, she spends the rest of her time studying the animals on the circular island."

Bonnie Sinfia, the third-generation pureblood mage of Sinfia, is 2340 years old this year, with a bloodline concentration of 47%. She is Sinfia's assistant, managing Sinfia's alchemy labs and other assets in various places. The two only meet once every three months.

"Rena Crestor, the fifth generation pureblood mage of Crestor, is 1100 years old this year, with a bloodline concentration of 56%, comparable to the second generation pureblood mages at their peak. She is currently carrying out another top-secret mission, searching for the plane entrance to the [Land of the Long Sleep] with the Tower Scholars' plane exploration team."

Rexor pulled a straight branch from the bushes outside the cabin and, using this makeshift pole as a guide, pointed to the small red flags on the portraits and introduced the targets the three had chosen one by one:

“Shully, Bonnie, and Rena, these three pureblood mages meet our selection criteria. The cloaked man's target may or may not be one of them. We need to take the [Bloodline Extraction] situation into account as well.”

【Bloodline Extraction】is a method for synthesizing artificial bloodlines.

It has two processes: purification and condensation.

Purification process: Take a blood vessel with a blood concentration of less than 30%, and remove impurities from the blood to increase the percentage value of the blood concentration.

Condensation process: Take three blood vessel containers with similar blood vessel concentrations, and through mixing, filtering, and condensation, combine the three blood vessel containers into one, creating a blood vessel container with a very high blood vessel concentration.

Research on the artificial blood vessel synthesis process falls within the scope of the Blood Vein Research Group's work.

Although no concrete evidence has yet been found to prove that the Bloodline Research Group is related to the Cloaked People, it does not prevent Rexor and his two companions from including the Bloodline Research Group in their list of potential adversaries.

“If it involves bloodline refinement, then we don’t have enough manpower.” Serites spread his arms and drew a large circle on the table. “Except for the Shazo lineage, which doesn’t meet the requirements for bloodline refinement, the remaining fourth and fifth generation pure-blood mage families all meet the requirements. There are over 100 of them in total…”

“Yes, it is indeed very troublesome.” Rexol rubbed his forehead.

Incorporating the factor of "bloodline refinement" into the evaluation means removing the "strength requirement" from the three selection criteria, which immediately expands the pool of qualified candidates by several dozen times.

Theoretically, the best approach would be to concentrate the protection of the fourth and fifth generation pureblood mages, and then place the main defensive forces on Hurley, Bonnie, and Reina. This would largely eliminate the possibility of the Cloaked Man's interference.

but!

What Rexor and his two companions hoped for was not for the cloaked man to fail, or for the cloaked man to back down and not reveal himself to commit the crime!

Their plan was to use members of the pure-blood mage faction as bait, and once the cloaked man took the bait, they would closely track him or capture him on the spot.

Rexor's troubles weren't about failing to protect the pureblood mage, but rather about the difficulty in determining which target the cloaked figure was aiming for, making it impossible to prepare a strategy against that target in advance.

Any overt protection given to members of the pure-blood mage faction would alert the cloaked figures and disrupt the plans of the demon hunters.

To ensure the plan could be executed smoothly, the Witchers had no choice but to allow the cloaked figures to harm pureblood mages, which is why Rexor appeared hesitant and sullen when facing Shazor.

"We can only use the most arduous, but also the safest, method to conduct a thorough investigation."

Rexor rested his arms on the edge of the table and said:

"The bloodline concentration of members in the pureblood mage faction is a semi-public secret. Pureblood mages themselves will not reveal it, but anyone with a little knowledge of bloodline power can deduce it from their outward appearance and work performance."

"This means that the cloaked figures may have already completed their preliminary investigation."

“Once he makes a move against a pureblood mage, he will take the target away directly, instead of testing the concentration of Kallers’ bloodline before deciding whether to attack him, as he did with Kallers.”

Rexor looked at Ceretus, “Let’s go to the outer sanctuary again and get the pureblood mages’ recent schedules, down to where they’ll be, who they’ll meet, and how long they’ll stay with outsiders. These matters involve ** and are difficult to obtain, so… if necessary, we can reveal some of our plans to Cynthia, Letunia, and Krestor, but not to their descendants.”

“Okay.” Serites nodded. “I’ll also go to the Holy Marks Department to pick up the new communication rings. Those guys guarantee that this batch of communication rings uses a new communication channel and won’t be cracked… well… not in the short term.”

Rexor picked up the blood magic longsword leaning against the wall and walked towards the teleportation crystal, saying disdainfully:

“I find it hard to trust the people of the Holy Marksmen anymore. We should try to communicate face-to-face as much as possible, and if we need emergency communication, we should use blood ties.”

The teleportation crystal flashed, and the two people inside the room disappeared.

...

The following morning on the western continent.

Xia Zuo awoke from a sweet, soft dream.

He and Anru had breakfast together, starting their new day.

After passing through the academy's teleportation hall and arriving at the outer teaching area, Xia Zuo received a secret bloodline message from the bald man as soon as he stepped into the fountain sculpture plaza.

"Do not use the Secret Communication Ring. The Holy Emblem Department has confirmed that the communication channel of the Secret Communication Ring has been cracked. You may be being listened to by someone with malicious intent."

The secret communication ring has been hacked?!

Xia Zuo was a little confused...

This thing can actually be cracked?

Before Shazo could ask a question, Rexor continued to speak using his bloodline connection:

“I’m in Christor’s office. Come find me here. Be discreet on the way and avoid people with unusual expressions, especially the students who just entered the temple this year.”

“Yes, Master.” Xia Zuo cast a spell to conceal his figure as he walked toward the tower.

Pushing open the door to Christo's office, I found only a slightly tired bald man and a cold-faced man inside; Christo was nowhere to be seen.

Xia Zuo was a little confused about what Rexor and the other person were doing here. He looked at them in bewilderment, then shifted his gaze to the desk.

Dozens of parchment scrolls covered with writing were scattered haphazardly on the table.

Xia Zuo approached and glanced at the surroundings, feeling a surge of delight.

The parchment was full of information about members of the pure-blood mage faction, exactly the kind he had wanted to ask Christo for last night.

"You seem to be in a good mood?" Serites glanced suspiciously at Shazo, who was smiling.

"Ahem..." Xia Zuo's expression straightened. "Masters, you've worked hard. I didn't expect you two to have the same idea as me, gathering all this information overnight. I wanted to do the same thing. I came to the outer hall today to ask Christo for this information."

"What do you need these documents for?" the cold-faced man asked again.

Xia Zuo turned around and spread his hands towards the two people slumped on the sofa. "I think that after Karles was taken over by the Temple army, the cloaked man won't let it go. He will target other members of the pure-blood mage camp again. Whatever Karles's characteristics are, then the cloaked man's next target will have those characteristics. High bloodline concentration, weak combat power, and a reclusive personality—pure-blood mages who fit these three characteristics are the cloaked man's targets."

"I didn't realize you had such a talent for this." Serrits gave a forced, insincere smile, a smile that could barely be considered an expression of appreciation.

“You’re lucky.” Rexol pointed to the corner of the desk. “Those three parchment scrolls there match the three characteristics you mentioned.”

Praise the Demon Hunter!

Xia Zuo smiled and nodded, rubbed his hands together, and walked over to pick up the parchment scroll.

"Are you..." Serites was about to ask Shazo if he didn't know about [Bloodline Refinement] when Rexor interrupted him.

The bald man waved his hand at the cold-faced man and raised his index finger in front of his mouth, signaling the other man to be quiet.

Hearing the noise, Xia Zuo turned to look at the bald man acting strangely. "What is it, Master?"

Rexor said calmly, "It's nothing. Serites just wanted to ask if you've been using the Message Ring to send secret messages to anyone recently?"

"Yes. Yesterday I used the secret communication ring to remind Christo and the others to protect their offspring."

"Is this all?" Rexor asked.

“Yes, that’s all.” Xia Zuo nodded.

"That's good, the situation isn't too bad." Rexol pulled out a bag of communication rings. "These are the new generation of communication rings, using a different encrypted channel than before. Use them to contact other people; don't use the old communication rings anymore."

"Okay, thank you, Master." Xia Zuo took the bag and weighed it in his hand. "Do I need to pay?"

“No need.” Rexol waved his hand and patted the seat next to him. “Come sit down and watch.”

Xia Zuo sat down on the sofa and activated the [Accelerate] function to quickly imprint the contents of the three parchment scrolls into his mind.

"Who do you think is most likely to be the Cloaked Man's target?" Rexor asked, sitting up straight.

Xia Zuo rubbed his temples, which were throbbing from the rapid movement, and replied after a few seconds of thought:

"Shuri Letunia travels between Silvermoon City and the Ring Island. She spends more time in Silvermoon City and more time in the Ring Island. The rules for entering and exiting the Ring Island are as strict as those for entering and exiting sub-planes. The cloaked figures must forge the identity emblem of someone with at least a top-secret level of knowledge in order to make contact with Shuri Letunia, so Shuri is relatively safe."

"Bonnie Sinfiah manages Sinfiah's assets alone, spends a lot of time by herself, and is active in public places, making her the most dangerous."

"Raina Crestor spent all her time with the scholars of the Tower, which should have made her the safest, but..."

Xia Zuo looked at the parchment in his hand. "But the dimensional exploration team has Nyxat, an unstable factor who once ventured into the territory of the Otherworldly Demons, so Reina's safety may only be slightly higher than Bonnie's."

“You mean, Nerxat might be a pawn of the Cloaked Ones, right?” Rexor asked.

“Yes, that’s right,” Xia Zuo said. “If we find some excuse to kick him out of the dimensional exploration team, then Na Lena will be the safest of the three.”

“Hmm…” Rexor pondered for a moment, “We will consider your suggestion, Shazo. It’s clear you care about the safety of the pure-blood mage faction. But unfortunately, we are afraid we cannot invite you to help.”

Of course not...