In their numerous confrontations with Silver Lamp, Ash and his companions were not always at a disadvantage.
On the contrary, guided by the prophecy of the Mercury Wooden Horse, they had managed to severely injure Silver Lamp several times, catching her off guard.
During the battle at the food factory town, Tamasi had stabbed Silver Lamp’s heart with the Gray Fox Blade—and it was no close call, as Black Crow would not make such a mistake—if it weren’t for Silver Lamp’s miraculous survival, Ash and his team would have declared victory and been ready to return to Gospel by now.
Although Silver Lamp always used miracles to disguise herself, there was one trait she couldn’t hide: when injured, she would bleed silver.
It was only after enlightenment from the Mercury Wooden Horse that they realized Silver Lamp had used the Gray Fox legacy, the "Dragon Blood Cultivation System." She gathered Extraordinary Blood by absorbing life energy from nearby living beings. Theoretically, this system should not work on humans, but they, as ’unofficial citizens,’ were not qualified to become human in the Dragon Blood Cultivation System.
The Blood Seed within Ash, Igula, and Harvey were drawing life energy from their bodies, aggregating silver dragon blood cells, little by little towards Silver Lamp. If they could not replenish their life energy in time, they would eventually be drained dry to become mummies.
"Your silver dragon blood contains a few drops that originated from me," Ash said.
"Since you know, there’s no need for me to explain too much," Weiser replied. "Although it’s called blood, silver dragon blood is actually a fantasy creation. Because silver dragon blood is too powerful, it will definitely cause a rejection reaction even with all sorts of precautions, so Gray Fox Mage used the nature of ’soul and body influencing each other,’ and improved the compatibility of silver dragon blood through the soul."
Ash nodded repeatedly, but Weiser could tell he didn’t understand and gave him an annoyed look, "Simply put, my soul is contained in the silver dragon blood. Not only can it completely resolve the rejection issue of silver dragon blood, but it also allows me to increase my control over my body and enhance my talent in the Blood Magic Faction."
"Of course, only the products of normal soul metabolism are used here; there is no damage to the complete soul. For a Mage, nothing is more important than an intact soul." At this point, Silver Lamp also showed a hint of curiosity. "I’ve read from other Mage’s Handbooks that the Blood Saint Clan during Blood Moon scatter their souls completely into their souls, claiming ’blood is the currency of the soul,’ thus achieving immortality. I wonder how they do it..."
Ash mused, "Your blood contains your soul... then what?"
"To control the Technique Spirit, physical contact is only a medium for the soul," Weiser said. "The real way you control Technique Spirits is to lure them into your soul’s palace."
Recalling how he controlled Technique Spirits in the Void Realm, Ash thought that was indeed the case. However, the word ’lure’ was used quite ominously—as if Mages were like hunters capturing stray cats and dogs, summoning Technique Spirits was like adopting newborn pets, and Mage combat was like a super-powered pet battle...
"You want to use blood as a medium to control Fangyuan Cicada?" Ash frowned. "But that would require us to get very close to Fangyuan Cicada."
"No need." Weiser pointed at Fangyuan Cicada, "Look, it’s not only consuming them but also constantly drinking the water from Flowing Gold River."
Ash looked closely and saw that although Fangyuan Cicada was sucking yogurt with its mouthparts, its whole body was absorbing water from Flowing Gold River, quickly seeping in wherever the surf splashed on it.
Although it looked like a cicada, it was ultimately a Legendary creature. Its use of mouthparts to eat was just a sense of ritual; in reality, it could absorb energy through its entire body.
Just like the initial Beastman legend, lying on its back was enough to be drained dry by it, showing that the mouthparts were not such an inconvenient thing—it could turn any part of its body into mouthparts.
Flowing Gold River water... Silver Dragon Blood...
Ash’s eyes widened as he stared blankly at the fox mask.
"We don’t need to get close, and perhaps we can still control Fangyuan Cicada," Weiser’s tone was light. "I can control the silver dragon blood to flow downstream and be absorbed by it along with the water from Flowing Gold River."
"But you also said that your blood only contains the metabolic products of your soul, and it’s not certain that Fangyuan Cicada is a Technique Spirit that can be controlled, let alone if it’s indeed a Technique Spirit, it’s a Four-winged Technique Spirit!" Ash said. "How much blood would you need to control it?"
"Do we have a choice?"
Weiser let go of Ash’s hand, took off her Chain Gloves, and handed them to him, "Come on."
Ash looked at her fair wrists, frozen for a moment. After a brief pause, Weiser seemed to have an epiphany, "Right, if it’s just blood we need, there’s no need to stick to the artery in the wrist. Chest, abdomen, thigh... you can leave as many scars on me as you like, no need for a sword, you bit a blood hole in my neck with your teeth last time."
"Or," Weiser twirled the zipper of her combat clothes, pulling it down, "do you want me to take off my clothes first—"
Ash pulled Weiser’s hand over and made a shallow cut on it with the sword.
Silver blood formed a thin stream and fell into the Flowing Gold River, shining against the gold, mixing together and flowing downstream. Silver Lamp didn’t lie; she really could slightly control the flow of blood, directing the silver dragon blood precisely into Fangyuan Cicada’s body.
"Do you feel anything?"
"I mean your connection with Fangyuan Cicada!" Ash was a bit angry; Silver Lamp couldn’t possibly misunderstand his question.
"Nothing." Weiser turned to look at her already sealed hand, "It’s healed."