Trial of Blood (I)

Hearing this, Jiang Lin was somewhat surprised. The city lord actually wanted to see him?

"Naturally, I would be more than happy to."

Judging by Anya and Salas's character, the Castrot family shouldn't be some shady, scheming clan; otherwise, they couldn't have produced these two kind, righteous, and talented paladins.

Furthermore, the city lord's reputation within Boulder City was quite good, and he was deeply loved by the people. Compared to the lords of some other cities, he was practically a model city lord.

Of course, Jiang Lin's knowledge regarding the descriptions of other city lords mainly came from this world's popular novels.

So, Jiang Lin felt that establishing a connection with such a prominent figure wouldn't be a bad thing.

At the very least, it wouldn't lead to something like being imprisoned or forced to sign predatory terms.

"Mhm, then I'll head home and speak with my father to pick a time when you both are free."

Jiang Lin nodded.

"I should be free most of the time. I can go whenever."

"Understood. I'll pass the word to my father. By the way, you've broken through, right..."

Jiang Lin was initially confused as to why Anya brought that up, but then he saw the flicker of fire in her eyes.

It only spelled out two words: Battle!

"Come on, let's have a match."

Ten minutes later.

After humoring Anya for ten minutes, Jiang Lin stopped suppressing his strength. The holy light longsword in his hand slashed heavily against Anya's holy light shield.

【Holy Light Heavy Slash】!

Suddenly, a surge of immense force struck, and the ground beneath Anya's feet caved in directly.

Accompanied by the expansion of a powerful energy shockwave, Anya's shield was shattered by Jiang Lin.

The holy light longsword continued downward. Anya used her own holy light longsword to block, but she couldn't parry it at all. In less than 0.5 seconds, the holy light longsword in her hand shattered.

The sword then stopped; the winner had been decided.

There was no helping it; the strength gap between the two was currently too large. Anya, who was still rank-0, was simply no match for Jiang Lin.

Earlier, Jiang Lin had intentionally kept his strength low and refrained from using superior techniques just to accompany Anya for a few more moves.

Since the wealthy young lady was so spirited, Jiang Lin naturally had to let her enjoy herself.

Sure enough, despite her defeat, Anya's expression remained very excited.

That was truly a satisfying battle!

"I've learned much!"

"You're too kind..."

...

Having finally reached level 10, Jiang Lin decided to treat himself to a feast as a reward.

He scooped Little Black down from the classroom windowsill.

"You're finally willing to eat some human food," Little Black grumbled.

"Come, your Lady Lilith will take you to a pretty good restaurant near the house."

Although Jiang Lin had been eating dry rations these past few days, Little Black had been doing quite well.

Because many classmates thought Little Black looked quite cute and was very intelligent, they felt that suffering alongside Jiang Lin wasn't right. Thus, they set aside their prejudices against black cats and would often take Little Black along with them to eat.

Jiang Lin walked through the hallways of the teaching building. The corridors were packed with students—some reciting books, some practicing magic spells, and some training their bodies. It didn't look like a normal school after dismissal at all.

In fact, the learning atmosphere was even more intense than before school ended.

Jiang Lin knew that even in the dead of night, the crowds here wouldn't decrease by much.

Currently, the third-year students of the Radiant Junior Magic Academy had basically entered a state where everyone was pulling all-nighters.

It couldn't be helped; everyone around them was staying up late. If they didn't, they would be left far behind.

And seeing the friends they usually laughed with pull so far ahead of them, naturally, few people could sit still.

Add to that the fact that the student quality at Radiant Junior Magic Academy was decent, so aside from a few true deadbeats, most students chose to stay.

Jiang Lin heard that the classmate who sold magic potions had found several generic alternatives for the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】. This allowed everyone to switch to other potions after using the 【Mental Invigoration Potion】 for five consecutive days to keep themselves going, avoiding the cooldown for drug resistance and side effects.

Furthermore, this trend of pulling all-nighters was beginning to spread to the other two grades.

Many students complained bitterly but were helpless to change it.

Even the two other sister schools had at least half of their third-year students join the all-nighter army.

After learning about the situation in the three schools, the magic potion shops in Boulder City also began researching the mass production of more varieties of potions that could help students stay awake and concentrate.

It could be considered a boost to the economic development of Boulder City's magic potion industry.

Under Little Black's guidance, Jiang Lin eventually stopped in front of a grilled fish shop.

"Oh, you brought this black cat again. It's really popular, isn't it?"

Jiang Lin never expected that the owner of this grilled fish shop would already recognize Little Black.

"Haha, it was my classmates before. I'm its owner... Crap, what are you biting me for!"

Shaking off Little Black, Jiang Lin ordered several signature grilled fish dishes and sat down to wait.

He couldn't just sit there doing nothing while waiting.

At the greasy table, Jiang Lin adjusted his posture so he could use his breathing technique and began to continue accumulating magic essence.

After reaching level 10, the small bowl inside his body had changed, transforming from a small bowl into a small basin. The magic essence he needed to accumulate was much more than before.

However, the rim of the basin from level 10 to level 11 was currently locked.

As he gathered magic essence into the small basin, he suddenly received a message notification from the system.

【Detection of life level advancement blockade】

【Quest Triggered — Trial of Blood (I)】

【Trial of Blood (I)】

【Requirement: Head to Blood Realm · Trial Ground and defeat a rank-0 peak Blood Demon (This quest is highly difficult; please consider carefully)】

【Reward: Pass the Trial of Blood to remove the current life shackles; status independence, no longer restricted by gods】

【Note: To start this quest, you can teleport directly using the system. If you break the life shackles on your own, you will lose the qualification to teleport.】

Seeing this quest, Jiang Lin was visibly stunned.

What did this mean?

He could avoid taking the route prescribed by the Temple?

Status independence... no longer restricted by gods...

Could it be that if he accepted a quest and broke through normally, his future would be limited?

In an instant, Jiang Lin's thoughts raced.

"Little Black, if I don't pray to the gods for a quest, can I break through?"

Hearing this, Little Black was a bit confused:

"Why are you asking that? Do you actually want to become my believer?"

"What do you mean? Don't tell me you can help me break the shackles?" Jiang Lin was even more puzzled.

"Of course. Do you think other cultists have to pray to the righteous gods for quests when they want to promote?"

Jiang Lin froze. He really hadn't thought about these issues before.

"Then what's the difference between letting an evil god help break the shackles and letting a righteous god do it?"

Little Black wagged its tail.

"Of course there's a difference. Whichever god you let help you break through, your future growth direction will lean more toward that god.

"For example, your class is paladin. If you let the God of Holy Light, who corresponds to the knight class, help you break through, an imprint of the other party will be left in your body. In your future growth, your knight specialties will grow faster. For instance, after your first breakthrough, your talent for riding mounts will be greatly enhanced."

"Then what would happen if an evil god helped with the breakthrough?"

"It's the same. For example, my abilities... forget it, let's not mention them. Take the abilities of the Pain Master, which are related to pain. Humans enhanced by it will have more twisted minds and find pleasure in torturing others. At the same time, their attacks will carry effects that cause more pain."

"Is there a way to bypass the gods entirely?"

"That... well, there is, but it's not something you can come into contact with. If you want to break through, just obediently pray to the God of Holy Light to get a breakthrough quest."

"Then are there any drawbacks to praying to the gods?"

"Drawbacks?"

Little Black thought for a moment and said:

"The drawback is that since you let it help you open the path to promotion, you can only walk the path that belongs to it. Unless you convert to an evil god or another deity, you're committed to that path until the bitter end."

Pausing, Little Black wagged its tail and added:

"Of course, the number of humans who can walk that path to its end is practically countable on one hand. Don't even think about it. So, you don't need to worry about being unable to advance once you reach the end."

Jiang Lin fell silent, digesting this information and beginning to ponder.

After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh and spoke again:

"Sigh, Little Black, with your talent, you naturally don't have to worry about the path having an end. But a genius like me is different.

"It's only a matter of time before I reach the end of the road, so I must make plans in advance."

Little Black gave Jiang Lin a look of disdain.

"Stop talking nonsense and eat."

The steaming, fragrant grilled fish was served, and the sizzling hot oil stimulated Jiang Lin's taste buds.

While eating the grilled fish, Jiang Lin looked at the newly issued quest from the system.

Blood Realm · Trial Ground... Challenge a rank-0 peak Blood Demon?

What on earth was this Blood Demon?

It seemed that his title could summon such a thing; he would test it out later in a place with no people.

Jiang Lin thought to himself while making plans.

The system said the difficulty of this quest was high and told him to consider carefully.

Could it be that even with his over-the-top stats, it would be difficult to fight this rank-0 peak Blood Demon?

"Little Black, can you still sense if there are cultists in Boulder City?" Jiang Lin asked.

Little Black thought and replied:

"Not sure. Usually, only a few cults build dens inside a city. Most cultists perform their rituals outside the city."

"Then how strong are these cultists usually?"

Little Black looked at Jiang Lin in confusion:

"Why are you asking that? Do you want to go and solo these cultists?"

Jiang Lin nodded.

"Yeah. You think I can beat them?"

Little Black sneered.

"You? Forget it. Except for some very small outposts, the others will generally have 2nd-rank or 3rd-rank followers stationed there."

Hearing this, Jiang Lin was somewhat disappointed.

"Then can you find these outposts outside the city? I want to report more cults to the Temple."

At this, Little Black suddenly perked up:

"That I can do. However, you'll have to take me outside the city to find them."

Jiang Lin pondered for a moment.

"No problem."

Jiang Lin also wanted to go out of the city to test the first effect of his 【Crimson Slaughterer】 title:

【Blood Demon Summon, active effect. Upon use, a Blood Demon will be summoned from the Blood Realm to assist in battle. The Blood Demon exists for 5 minutes, after which it will return to the Blood Realm. The strength of the Blood Demon is tied to the user's strength. This active effect can be used once per day.】

Leaving the city wasn't difficult; one just had to register their information. However, one had to return to the city before midnight; otherwise, once the gates were closed on schedule, entry would be impossible.

So, after finishing the grilled fish, Jiang Lin took Little Black out of the city gates.

"Are there any nearby?" Jiang Lin asked while holding Little Black.

Little Black rolled its eyes at him.

"How is that possible? If their aura were exposed in a place like this, the magic conduction tools carried by these soldiers could detect it. Walk a bit further before looking."

Thus, Jiang Lin continued to lead Little Black toward a deserted area.

The forests near the city gates had all been cleared, so it was mostly a large expanse of open land.

Several merchant caravans were waiting on the main road. The soldiers at the city gate were still inspecting the caravan at the very front to see if there were any prohibited items.

Jiang Lin looked at these merchants. Besides normal goods, there seemed to be slaves being sold.

They were locked in cramped cages, with chains around their hands, feet, and necks. Most of them were humans who had signed contracts to sell themselves, but there were also a few beastmen with animal ears.

Boulder City was located relatively centrally within the Saintas Kingdom, far from the nations of beastmen or demons, so it was rare to see beastmen being sold.

There were only some adjacent monster forests where one might encounter demonic beasts emerging.

After walking along the main road for a while, Jiang Lin ducked into a small grove.

"Where are you going?" Little Black asked, puzzled.

"I'm preparing to test a newly learned skill."

After confirming there was no one within several hundred meters, Jiang Lin activated his 【Crimson Slaughterer】 title.

【Blood Demon Summon】!

In the next moment, an unsettling and terrifying aura radiated from Jiang Lin.

His originally dark eyes turned blood-red, and wisps of blood qi drifted from his body, entangling his hair and skin.

At this moment, Jiang Lin looked like a peerless demon lord who had returned from a sea of blood, having killed countless people.

Simultaneously, a patch of shadow beneath his feet turned blood-colored, as if it were a passage connecting to another world, and an even more terrifying aura radiated from it.

In the next instant, a blood-red figure seemed to break free from its cage, soaring out from that blood-colored shadow. A blood-red creature, resembling the demons of legend, appeared beside Jiang Lin.

It possessed a pair of crimson, hideous fleshy wings, and its body was shriveled and hunched. Its long, thin arms ended in a pair of sharp claws. It was currently flapping its wings, hovering beside Jiang Lin, its body swaying slightly up and down with each beat of its crimson wings.

There was not a shred of reason in its crimson eyes, only a thirst for slaughter. Jiang Lin also received a notification from the system.

【Blood Demon Summoned — Crimson Claw-Wing】

【Please select a target to attack】

【If there is no target or all targets are dead, the crimson claw-wing will lose its objective. In ten seconds, it will enter a berserk state and indiscriminately attack all living beings within a hundred meters, including the summoner】

【Ten...】

【Nine...】

【Eight...】

Receiving these messages, Jiang Lin's eyes widened instantly.

Because he could feel that the Blood Demon he had summoned was gradually becoming manic. The little restraint that had existed was slowly disappearing, and a lethal intent, dangerous to the extreme, was gradually locking onto him.