Another furious roar erupted as Anthony summoned all his strength to unleash the holy light within him. Although he had just been struck by heavenly thunder and half of his holy power had been scattered, as the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, right? With a snap, Henry Parker was blasted three zhang away, his wings and fangs retracting as he reverted to human form. Meanwhile, Anthony, wrapped in a sphere of holy light, floated to the edge of the rooftop, preparing to use "Divine Escape Technique" to flee.

The masked man shook his head. "When you cut the weeds, you must pull out the roots. Those who are not of our kind must have different hearts!" The green light flashed again, and a sword beam ten zhang long and one zhang wide slashed toward the sphere of holy light.

"Ah!" Anthony let out a miserable scream. Gravely injured, he was no match for the sharp sword energy formed from Taiyi refined gold. With a single strike, he was split in two, and the massive iron seal that followed smashed him into a bloody pulp. Silently, blood splattered all over Henry Parker.

Henry Parker stared blankly as the masked man tossed out six jade tokens. Shrouded in a hazy green glow, the tokens, faintly inscribed with tiny runes, floated in the air to form a Taiji diagram. A red light shot out from the Taiji, shining on the ground, instantly burning the remaining blood and flesh into a wisp of green smoke, which vanished without a trace as a gentle breeze blew by.

Henry Parker gulped hard, thinking to himself, "This person's Daoist arts are formidable, and his actions are ruthless and thorough. He's someone who can accomplish great things! Maybe I should try to build a connection—who knows, it might lead to unexpected benefits." After several years as a vampire, Henry Parker had become extremely shrewd.

Imitating moves he'd learned from period martial arts films, Henry Parker performed a deep bow and said, "Thank you, senior, for saving my life. I am endlessly grateful! May I ask your esteemed name?"

James Clark almost burst out laughing. His cultivation had recently advanced greatly, his true energy was abundant, and he had gained a deeper understanding of formations. He had also comprehended several minor formations from the "Compendium of Artifact Refining" and was eager to test their power, but had lacked a suitable target. Who would have thought that just as he was feeling drowsy, an opportunity would present itself—someone was fighting nearby, and with his current cultivation, approaching the middle stage of Qi Drawing, there was no way he wouldn't sense it.

Thinking of the benefits he had reaped last time by playing the fisherman, James Clark felt a surge of excitement. When he saw that the fight was between a member of the Church and a vampire, he became even more curious. During his school years, James Clark had read many fantasy novels featuring vampires as protagonists, and had a certain fondness for the blood clan, while he utterly despised the Church. Especially when he saw that the vampire seemed to be Chinese, he resolved to save this poor blood clan member. After all, he couldn't let a foreign devil kill a Chinese person, could he?

Anthony was quite powerful; in a head-on fight, even if James Clark won, it would not be easy, and to kill him would likely come at a heavy price. But a sneak attack was a different story. The sword energy formed from Taiyi refined gold was incredibly sharp, easily tearing through the Light of Judgment. Coupled with the Five Thunder Jade Talisman he had recently crafted, which summoned innate lightning essence, there was no way Anthony could escape serious injury. Still, the fact that Anthony managed to survive his triple killing moves and the Small Heaven-Sealing Seal strike was quite surprising. If the vampire hadn't launched a sneak attack and bought him a bit of time to gather a second sword energy, Anthony might have escaped, which would have been a huge problem.

With a turn of thought, James Clark absorbed the lessons from this experience, and just then heard Henry Parker speak. As for this vampire, James Clark wasn't too concerned—he was too weak, and any funny business could be ended with a single sword strike! This was a good opportunity to ask about foreign blood clans and the Church. After all, the more you know, the better!

"This isn't the place to talk. Come with me!"

Along the way, he used a few minor maze formations, leading the little vampire in circles until Henry Parker was dizzy and disoriented, before finally bringing him to his own residence.

"Senior, your powers are vast and boundless!" Upon seeing James Clark's face, Henry Parker was astonished. Based on James Clark's display of strength, he had expected an immortal-like figure with flowing beard and ethereal bearing, but instead, he was so young. The Daoist arts of China are truly miraculous—perhaps the legends of immortality are real! Even we vampires can only live about a thousand years, and we still age slowly. Henry Parker's eyes darted around, lost in thought.

"You needn't be surprised. My actual age matches my appearance. But as for you blood clan, I really don't know much—it's impossible to tell your age." James Clark naturally knew what Henry Parker was thinking, and his tone carried a hint of inquiry.

"Ah! His actual age matches his appearance, which means he achieved such powers in his twenties—at least the equivalent of a marquis among our blood clan! How is that possible! How is that possible!" Henry Parker's mind short-circuited for a few seconds again, but hearing the inquiry in James Clark's tone, he still answered respectfully, "Junior Henry Parker, was turned into a blood clan member three years ago, and is twenty-six years old." Even knowing the other might be younger than himself, Henry Parker still addressed himself as junior. Strength is everything—no one, no being, can escape that rule.

James Clark finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. "What era do you think this is? Are we filming a movie? That's hilarious! My name is James Clark, just call me by my name."