After introducing the rules, the stopper of the wine bottle in front of the God automatically popped open. The bottle flew up, pouring the scorching blood-red liquid into a glass. After a gentle swirl, the aroma of the wine gradually spread, and then He drank it:
“A good taste. It’s the blood from that magma cluster.”
After speaking, He made a gesture of invitation to the five people on the other side of the long table.
“Excuse me, what happens if we choose incorrectly?”
Xia De, at the other end of the long table, asked. Now, almost everything here was blood-red, and the decorations alone caused extreme discomfort.
“Of course, it cannot be wasted. You drink whatever you choose until you pick the correct one. How fortunate, you brought exactly six types of blood. If there was one less, I’m afraid one person would never be able to leave…”
The God said, and Xia De looked up at Him:
“So, besides the blood I brought, are the other bottles your collection?”
“Unexpected guest, do you think I am very generous? The other bottles contain some very interesting blood brew. Although not worthy of my collection, they can still bring some amusement. If you wish, you can drink on behalf of any of them. After all, you want to be a good person, don’t you?”
The God looked at Xia De with great interest.
“Which ones are correct?”
Xia De asked in his mind.
I don't know, but including the bottle of wine already used by the God in front of you, there are twenty-nine dark wine bottles in total.
“So, one bottle is missing?”
So he nodded. Seeing that the other people remained silent, he glanced at the table and then pointed to the bottle of wine in the ice bucket in the middle of the table:
“This one.”
This was not a dark wine bottle that appeared after the blood mist dissipated, but a wine bottle that was on the table before Xia De entered the banquet hall:
“Since you said that the correct blood is hidden in any bottle on the table, I think this one should count.”
“Yes, of course.”
The God smiled and nodded.
The wine bottle automatically flew out and came to Xia De’s front. The stopper popped open, and the bottle tilted, pouring liquid over the glass. The sound of the liquid was truly pleasant.
He picked up the glass and gently swirled it. After the wine aroma gradually diffused, he took a sip of the somewhat cold liquid. A bitter taste, along with blood and alcohol flavors, resonated in his mouth, and he also felt a slight burning sensation.
Demon.
Although this bottle of wine was very conspicuous, it was also the most dangerous of the remaining five types of blood. For Xia De, who found the correct blood through a clever method, he had to bear the danger of demon blood.
“It seems my luck is quite good. It’s the blood of the third epoch Evil Spirit Demon - Devourer Sacator.”
He put down the glass and looked at the God with his golden cracked eyes:
“I think I don’t have to drink it all at once. I can drink it while waiting for others to choose.”
“Of course, but the banquet can only end after the wine is finished.”
The Saint reminded.
Xia De nodded and looked at the middle-aged witch, signaling for her to make her choice. Besides Xia De, the witch was the strongest among the five people on this side of the table.
She could, of course, observe what others did first, but after Xia De signaled, she still nodded:
“This one.”
She directly pointed to the closest bottle in front of her, and Xia De also took another sip of his wine. Even when brewed, demon blood still tasted very bad.
The chosen bottle poured a small half-glass of liquid for the witch. After she picked up the glass and gently swirled it, she looked at Xia De:
“It’s poisonous.”
“I understand.”
Xia De restored the small branch toys to actual branches, then extended his hand to the witch. The latter hesitantly took his hand, and when their palms touched, she actually trembled slightly:
“You really are…”
“Yes, I am a man.”
Before she could ask her question, Xia De said lightly:
“The God said so Himself.”
The Black Dress Girl, the younger of the twins, couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing Xia De look at her, she somewhat timidly leaned closer to her sister in the white dress.
The witch said nothing more, but instead drank the dark red liquid in small sips.
“Elf’s Detoxification!”
During this time, Xia De continuously used spells to detoxify her, and the witch herself also had the power to resist toxins. Thus, the first glass of wine she chose was drunk without much danger.
Her luck was quite good. With a four-in-twenty-seven chance of choosing correctly, after that unknown poisonous wine, she also drank wine containing corpse plague, wine that forcibly aged the drinker, and poisonous wine that was fatal to ordinary people who had not been exposed to extraordinary powers. Afterward, she chose the blood brew of the “Abyss Eye Dragon Squid” that Xia De had brought.
After drinking the blood of this pure-blood giant dragon and a descendant of an extra-dimensional Evil Spirit, she would continuously dream of strange and terrifying deep-sea scenes for the next few nights, and might even directly perceive the Evil Spirit at the source of the bloodline in her dreams. But for this middle-aged witch, as long as she left Night Manor, she had plenty of time to find a way to remove this influence.
“Very good.”
The God gently applauded:
“If it weren’t for the unexpected guest’s arrival, you would have been the only one able to leave this wine party completely.”
The white-haired old man showed no expression, and the twin girls were very worried.
“So, what is your wish?”
“God, I want to gain further power. I dare not ask for too great a power, I just want to break through my current level.”
“The Star Sea Whale blood you brought is very interesting, so this wish can be granted.”
He reached out and pointed at the witch. Golden steps automatically appeared behind the witch, layer by layer, eight in total, representing her power as an eighth-rank witch.
After this complete staircase was displayed, the blood-red light from the God's fingertip stained the golden staircase, which should not have been affected by any power.
A ninth red step was attached after the highest eighth step, making the staircase even taller.
“Thank you.”
An abnormal flush appeared on the middle-aged witch's face; this was not a normal reaction to an increase in power.
“If you use my power, you must bear the cost. Until you fully master the ninth step of power and transform it into your own stage, you will contract hemophilia. Before the transformation is complete, if you fail to resist this addiction even once, the ninth step will collapse.”
This was not to say that the God’s power could not enhance her strength without cost, but rather that this Evil God deliberately set such a test:
“Thank you again for your generosity, great protector of the Vampire race!”
The door behind Xia De creaked open, revealing the corridor behind it, which meant the witch could leave.
“Sir, please allow me to express my gratitude again. If I could retain my memory, I would go find Miss Mana Feilianna.”
The witch thanked Xia De, then took out paper and pen from her person, and handed a note to the White Dress Girl, one of the twin girls:
“Girls, if you are interested in becoming my students, you can find me at this address later.”
After accepting the twins’ thanks, she bowed to the Saint again, then quickly walked towards the door and officially left the place.
Compared to the witch, who chose five times before finding the correct blood brew, the white-haired armored old man was much luckier.
The first bottle of wine he chose was called “Sick Wine” by the Saint. After drinking it, he would randomly acquire one of 36 diseases. The old man acquired sepsis, which, although it sounds terrible, is a disease without mystical properties and can be completely cured if he finds a witch willing to help and can pay the price.
His second bottle of wine was the correct one, a blood brew made from the blood of a Rhine Fey that Xia De had brought. The blood of this type of demon also had a very slight curse, but the old man didn't care:
“I haven’t had any family or friends for a long time, and I don’t plan to have any in the future, so this blood has no effect on me.”
To attend the Evil God's wine party, he brought the blood of a Ice Crystal Butterfly hunted from the North Continent. After considering the old man's performance at the wine table, the God did not directly fulfill his wish to “find the murderer of his friend, the Poet, Von Kleezen,” but instead gave him a blood-red metal ring full of blasphemy elements:
“The vampire ring. Recite the incantation ‘The replacement of blood and flesh is the sublimation of the blood-flesh soul.’ This can conceptually transform you into a Vampire. Your appearance will remain completely unchanged, but you will possess weakened Vampire powers. This power can help you find the murderer you are looking for. Using the ring will cause you to contract hemophilia. This hemophilia will still exist after taking off the ring and returning to human form, but its severity will decrease. If you cannot resist the urge to drink blood in human form, or if you continuously use the ring for more than 24 hours, you will complete a full Vampire transformation.”
“I understand. Thank you for your generous gift.”
This ring, in the fifth epoch, was not a relic, but a relatively powerful divine artifact, and indeed very useful to this old man. Most alchemical items also require spirits to activate, and in the fifth epoch, where men cannot use extraordinary powers, this ring seems to be a rare extraordinary item that ordinary people can use.
Before leaving, the old man also expressed his gratitude to Xia De again. In addition, he did not forget that the twin girls helped him with the relic 【Addict's Medicine Box】. Perhaps out of concern for the characteristic of the 【Demon Hunter Ring】 to actively attract demons, he did not give the ring to the girls, but also provided his address:
“Girls, if you need anything, you can find me at this address. Although I am just an ordinary person, I think I can still be of some use.”
After speaking, he bowed slightly to the God at the end of the long table and then left as well.
But Xia De did not think that the twin girls would likely seek out this old man, whose name he still didn't know. After all, they were almost on the verge of awakening as witches, and once they became witches, extraordinary beings who disliked men would certainly not seek help from an ordinary person.
“However, when leaving Night Manor, can these notes really retain information?”
Xia De asked only after the old man had left. If text could be recorded, then the loss of memory would be meaningless.
“Of course not, all records will disappear. But they don’t know this rule.”
The Saint said with a smile:
“That witch might remember some things, but that man, who won’t live much longer, will certainly not remember a single detail of the wine party, except for the ring information I gave him.”
“That’s truly a pity.”
Xia De shook his head, but he also knew that these past events had already happened, and the people he had met in the past were, after all, just passing guests to him.
He sighed, finally looking at the twin girls in black and white dresses. Now, there were still twenty-one bottles of blood brew left on the table, but only two correct choices remained for the girls.
