Lu Jun casually exchanged a few words with Liu Ru before walking over to Nie Dong's corpse.
Lowering his head, he began collecting materials from the remains of this rare Blood Tribe Warrior-level mutant bones and mutant blood. The most valuable was the latter, Vampire Demon's unique Blood Source, which served as a natural blood-replenishing agent and healing substance.
Due to its high purity, Blood Source required little processing to be absorbed by the human body. As long as it wasn't used too frequently, there was no risk of dark energy corruption.
For mages and demon hunters, this was an incredibly precious resource. In the wilderness, a single dose of Blood Source could mean the difference between life and death.
With a slight motion of his hand, Lu Jun manipulated Water Element Magic to lift a crimson, translucent orb of blood into the air. It shimmered with iridescent light, resembling a miniature blazing sun. Its estimated value was around three million.
After storing it with specialized equipment, he also extracted Nie Dong's two fangs, which would serve as proof of task completion for Huo Tuo.
Just as he was about to dispose of the corpse, an unexpected phenomenon occurred.
A massive surge of energy erupted from Nie Dong's remains, coalescing into a burning, dark-red flame.
It was a Warrior-level Soul Essence!
"Damn!" Lu Jun was both shocked and delighted.
This was his first time obtaining a naturally formed Warrior-level Soul Essence. His previous one—used to advance his Mid-tier, Level 4 Magic—had been synthesized through battle.
Even during his six-month demon-hunting training in the East Sea, he hadn't managed to acquire one.
Intelligent humanoid demons were known to have a higher drop rate for Soul Essences, and the books were right just like Scaled Skin Sirens, Vampire Demons followed the same pattern.
At the same time, he noticed something peculiar the Soul Essence from Nie Dong's body wasn't the usual ghostly blue or spectral green. Instead, it was an unprecedented dark red with a strange, eerie quality.
In all his knowledge, nearly every Soul Essence fell into one of two categories:
Ghostly Blue
Spectral Green
However, dark red was unheard of.
The only known exception was creatures that had been tainted and corrupted by Red Demons.
"Blood Tribe, Demons, and Red Demons… The three are intertwined, huh?"
Lu Jun now had confirmation his previous speculation was correct.
It was already known that Vampires served the Demon Race. And if Dark Red Soul Essences were exclusive to Red Demon corruption, then the two facts reinforced each other.
Although the original story never explicitly stated this, it was now clear that Lu Nian's demon experiments were undoubtedly influenced by Red Demons.
A moment later, the dark red Soul Essence drifted into his White Tiger Pendant.
Glancing inside, Lu Jun saw that ten Servant-level Soul Essences floated above the blood lake within the pendant's vast internal space. Meanwhile, he had accumulated over fifty fragmented Warrior-level Soul Essences.
This was the result of six months of hunting.
It was time to consider advancing his newly awakened Space and Summoning elements to Basic-tier Magic.
After clearing the battlefield, Lu Jun turned and left.
As he stepped past the courtyard's edge, his figure began fading into the thick mist. The white fog around him rapidly contracted, the turbulent winds coming to an abrupt halt.
In an instant, the entire small villa became eerily cold and silent, as if it had all been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Liu Ru lowered her head, looking at her sister, Liu Xian, who still appeared dazed and unwell. The wreckage in the living room and courtyard made her realize how dangerously close they had come to a demonic catastrophe.
She let out a soft sigh and carried her sister back inside.
Not long after, Lu Jun arrived at the Northern Club in the commercial district. From a distance, he saw the constant flow of people at night, the dazzling lights, and the lively atmosphere.
In essence, the club was similar to a high-end nightclub, designed with elegance and grandeur, occupying a vast area. Young, beautiful women and handsome men moved about in and out of the venue.
Lu Jun quickly scanned the crowd and immediately noticed over a dozen individuals whose physical conditions seemed off.
Recalling Nie Dong's intelligence, he knew that the Nie Clan Blood Tribe was one of the major vampire factions in Magic City. Their highest-ranking elder was a Commander-level demon, with around twenty Warrior under his command and an uncountable number of blood-slaves.
It was practically a massive vampire nest.
"Tsk, good thing the city's regulations limit the Blood Tribe's development. If they followed the standards of wild vampire colonies, a single Commander-level vampire would have at least fifty Warrior-level and over two thousand five hundred Servant-level vampires as escorts."
Lu Jun shook his head, sighing.
Blood Tribes were a unique species. Unlike regular demons, they couldn't sustain themselves on monster blood and instead required human blood to maintain their sanity. This forced them to remain hidden within cities.
However, modern magic societies had strict laws and regulations, preventing the Blood Tribe from acting as brazenly as they did in ancient times.
Even so, their power was still terrifying.
Lu Jun felt the weight of the situation. If he backed down now, the Blood Tribe might not even pursue revenge for Nie Dong's death just as they hadn't for Mo Fan back then.
But… a Commander-level demon, and just an ordinary low-ranked one at that, was still a major intelligence source and relatively easy to deal with. If he let this opportunity slip, there might not be another chance.
In the original story, after Nie Dong was cast out of his clan, the Nie Clan Blood Tribe immediately relocated. When the Hunters arrived at the Northern Club, they found it completely abandoned. Their caution was extreme.
That made sense. Among the seven or eight Blood Tribes in Magic City, the Nie Clan was the weakest. Furthermore, the Blood Tribes had a rigid hierarchy and rarely associated with each other. If one clan was wiped out, the others wouldn't come to their aid for revenge.
On top of that, Blood Tribe members were valuable resources themselves. A Vampire's Blood Source wasn't just a healing agent—it was also a key cursing material.
Nie Dong's Blood Source was of too low a grade, only useful for making mid-tier, low-quality curse materials, which weren't even as effective as his Curse Mark. If he wanted a high-quality Blood Source, he would have to target a Vampire Count.
From Nie Dong's memories, he had obtained detailed information on the Nie Clan's disguised identities. He could now notify the Judgment Court and coordinate a precise strike.
At that moment, he heard the crisp sound of high-heeled boots tapping against the floor.
Turning his head, he saw shadows shifting within a dark alley. From within the darkness, two graceful and beautiful women emerged.
His elder sister, Lu Mei, walked ahead, followed closely by Ding Yumian. The lingering Dark Aura on them suggested they had used Shadow Magic to arrive undetected.
Lu Jun looked at Ding Yumian in surprise and asked, "Yumian, why are you here?"
The gentle and serene woman smiled slightly and replied, "I'm a High-tier Mage, possibly even stronger than you. Why wouldn't I be here? And don't forget, I'm also the 'precious princess of the Blood Tribe.'"
"With that identity, I should be able to help you get around the problem of hunting vampires in a crowded city."
"Hmm, that makes sense."
Lu Jun nodded thoughtfully, already formulating a plan.
At that moment, Lu Mei walked up and gently brushed her hand against her younger brother's forehead. "What's the situation now?" she asked.
He relayed the intelligence he had extracted from Nie Dong's memories, then said, "Use this information gap to deceive the Nie Clan's Vampire Count. Tell them you're in danger and need reinforcements. Lure them into a more secluded area if possible."
"As for the vampire thralls in the Northern Club, you can use your Psychic Magic to control them on a large scale and keep them restrained for now."
Ding Yumian considered it for a moment before nodding. "No problem."
Over the past six months, her progress had been astonishing.
Her Fire Element had already reached the top ten of the Fire Institute's rankings, with a Spirit Seed and Mid-tier, Level 3 Magic.
Her third element, Shadow, had also reached Mid-tier, Level 3, though she lacked Dark Matter.
As for her main element, Psychic, no one knew exactly how powerful she had become.
After all, it had already been over a year since she advanced to High-tier.
High-tier, Level 2 or Level 3 wasn't impossible for her, and her spiritual relam had faintly reached the Seventh Realm, making her mind control abilities comparable to a Pseudo-Heaven Seed.