The Witch Hunter System
chapter-732

Unlike other vampires, Vampire Lords did not need to consume blood to survive. All vampiric beings in the Divine Blood Realm were capable of self-sustaining through the blood energy derived from their divine blood.

Their divine blood was like nuclear furnaces or the sun, capable of producing vast amounts of energy for a long time. However, this was also under the assumption that they didn't lose or deplete it for various reasons.

Otherwise, they would still need to consume blood or other sources of energy to replenish their divine blood.

In particular, blood was a delicacy to them as it could improve their divine blood.

Thus, even though Vampire Lords didn't need blood to survive, most of them still had bottomless desires to consume blood. After all, it could improve their power and satisfy their tastebuds.

Nevertheless, consuming blood was just one of many ways for the Vampire Lords to improve their power. Moreover, it was the simplest yet crudest way to do so.

Blood cultivation was all about the transformation of blood.

Consuming the blood of other races could speed up the transformation of a vampire's blood. However, it would also introduce impurities into their blood system, affecting their power and control of blood.

The medicinal power of magical plants and natural refinement were the main methods of maintaining blood purity.

Although every Vampire Lord knew that, most of them still preferred to consume the blood of other living beings in large quantities as it was simple and guaranteed swift power advancement.

However, it was also this self-destructive greed that caused them to be put into forced sleep in the past.

That said, there were a few exceptions among the Vampire Lords who got caught up in the same situation by association despite walking the pure paths.

As such, they were also the ones who hated the Blood Ancestor the most.

The Blood Ancestor didn't put them all into forced sleep to protect the sustainability of the livestock. He schemed against them to monopolize the blood and reign supreme in the Evernight Territory.

"Regardless of how you all feel, I stress these words for the last time – Do not oppose the Blood Ancestor; we are not his opponent. I don't care how you deal with your family when you go home. However, the livestock in the city is off limits," the Second Progenitor reminded.

He trusted the Vampire Lords to value their newfound freedom as much as he did. As such, he didn't try to put too much restriction on them.

It would only displease them and affect his plan of using them to deal with the Demigod-rank human.

Shortly after the Vampire Lords departed, they all went their separate ways.

Some immediately returned to their ancestral home to see their current state, while others checked out the city.

At the same time, those who went to check out the city immediately understood why the Second Progenitor emphasized the words 'do not touch the livestock.' The population of the livestock had grown countless folds compared to the past.

In the past, there were only around several thousand people per city. But now, they numbered in the millions. Furthermore, the city was many times larger.

Although half the city had been destroyed, the Vampire Lord could see how developed it was compared to the past.

Demetrius Diablo the Fifth felt his mouth watering with drool as he stared at the large crowd of busy people on the street. Not only did they wear nice clothes, they were clean, and their body was healthy.

Undoubtedly, their blood was of high quality.

"How do you expect me to resist the temptation when so many delicious lambs are in front of me?" Demetrius Diablo the Fifth muttered hoarsely before suddenly pausing. "Hm?"

Demetrius was immediately dumbfounded to see the city people happily exchanging flasks of blood for goods. There were even those who allowed their blood to be extracted with sophisticated tools if they didn't carry blood bottles.

Seeing blood as currency instead of copper, silver, and gold coins was unbelievable. Moreover, the livestock accepted it as the norm.

It was quite different from the past, where the livestock lived in fear of the vampires.

Demetrius and several other Vampire Lords quickly realized how short-sighted they had been in the past.

"This is incredible…" Edwin Luther the Eighth muttered.

…

In another location, Yvonne Drusilla the Sixth, Hestia Tepes the Eleventh, and Marianne Vlad the Thirteenth gathered—or rather, Yvonne and Hestia looked for Marianne privately.

"Old Thirteenth, what did you think of Old Second's words?" Yvonne sought the Thirteenth Progenitor's opinion.

Out of the thirteen Vampire Lords, they respected Marianne Vlad the most.

After all, Marianne Vlad was someone who strictly pursued the pure path. She had never consumed the blood of another living being. Despite that, she was still the strongest within their group.

Although they wanted to be like her, Yvonne and Hestia didn't have the same self-discipline. They tried to follow the pure path but belonged to the impure path as they would give in to their blood-craving occasionally,

If Vaan learned of their aspiring lifestyle, he would have compared their abstinence to men's idea of No-Nut-November from one of his past lives.

"Old Second's words can't be trusted," Marianne Vlad directly stated with a sharp look. "If conquering the Human World was that simple, he would have monopolized it with the Blood Ancestor. It wouldn't be our turn."

"He is just trying to borrow our hands to deal with the obstacles impeding their conquest," Marianne Vlad figured.

"I also thought as much," Hestia Tepes nodded.

After listening to the Thirteenth Progenitor's opinion, she was more confident in her thinking. It was just as she suspected.

Since there were dangers in the Human World, it was impossible for them to spearhead it for the Second Progenitor. They wouldn't allow themselves to be exploited by him.

"Since that is the case, what will you do, Old Thirteenth?" Yvonne asked.

Marianne Vlad silently gazed into the northern distance for a moment before firmly stating, "I will find refuge in Hecate's domain."

"Oh?"

The Sixth Progenitor and Eleventh Progenitor were surprised. However, Marianne's choice also made the most sense upon further thought.