“Rest assured, young master, I, Shiwu, will absolutely not let anyone disturb your cultivation.” Upon hearing this, the page boy immediately responded with a solemn expression.

Grant Sullivan nodded, then walked into his own residence—a courtyard consisting of several connected rooms.

When he reached the rearmost room, a house built entirely of massive stones, he immediately closed the exceptionally heavy stone door. Then, as was his habit, he sat cross-legged on a yellow meditation cushion, taking out several items from his person and laying them out before him one by one.

A white jade box, a pale yellow bronze bell, a light blue short dagger, as well as two bottles of elixirs and three talismans of different colors.

These items were all the spoils he had gained from this trip, and they had also completely exhausted all the spirit jades he had accumulated over the past few years.

But then again, if he were to perish in the Nightmare Palace, no matter how many spirit jades he had on him, they would be of no use. Naturally, he had to convert them all into life-saving items beforehand.

Thinking this, Grant Sullivan raised his hand and grabbed the yellow bronze bell, which silently flew into his palm.

The Silent Bell—not only excellent for both offense and defense, but also possessing a certain resistance to illusions—was the most cost-effective magical tool among these items. If not for his acquaintance with the shop owner, it would have been impossible to purchase it at such a low price.

As Grant Sullivan pondered this, he activated a spell, and his internal mana surged wildly into the item in his hand, while his wrist gave a slight shake.

“Clang-lang-lang.”

A crisp ringing sounded, and an invisible wave of sound instantly rippled out, filling the entire stone house. At the same time, a faint yellow light screen appeared within a radius of about ten feet centered on Grant Sullivan.

Chapter 12: Bloodline Assimilation

“Not bad, not bad!” Seeing this, Grant Sullivan showed a satisfied expression. After playing with the item in his hand for a moment, he put it back on the ground and then picked up the blue dagger.

He weighed it, then grabbed the hilt in a reverse grip and casually swung it a few times, causing points of blue light to bloom in the nearby air.

Suddenly, he loosened his grip, and the dagger instantly turned into a streak of blue light, shooting out and, under his mana’s control, circling around the ceiling a few times before obediently returning to his hand.

Only then did Grant Sullivan nod in approval.

The Azure Spirit Dagger, a magical tool forged from Azure Iron, was itself as light as nothing and exceptionally sharp, making it a handy weapon for both close and ranged combat.

The only pity was that it did not have any spell-amplifying effects attached. But if it did, it wouldn’t have been something he could afford with his limited spirit jades.

After putting the dagger back, he picked up the three talismans and examined them one by one.

Of these three talismans, two bore the same pattern on their surface—a yellow, sand-like shield. Only the last one depicted a pair of semi-transparent white wings.

These three talismans were all clearly life-saving items: the first two were the most common defensive talismans, while the last was a rare flying talisman.

When he saw the last talisman, the muscles at the corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

The owner of the talisman shop in that market had actually sold him this Light Feather Talisman for eighty spirit jades—more than six or seven times the price of ordinary offensive talismans. If the clan’s own talisman shop hadn’t long since run out of such items, he wouldn’t have let himself be so ruthlessly fleeced.

Thinking of this, Grant Sullivan finally turned his gaze to the white jade box. After putting away the three talismans, he solemnly opened the jade box, revealing a round, fist-sized stone.

It was the petrified egg of an ancient demon beast.

To buy this item, he had spent nearly half his fortune. But then again, if he hadn’t seen strange visions in his mind when he touched it, he might not have bought it at all.

Looking at the item in the box, a strange expression slowly appeared on Grant Sullivan’s face.

Bloodline assimilation!

I, a human, have actually experienced bloodline assimilation with this thing.

What a joke—could it be that I, Grant Sullivan, was born with a demon beast bloodline and am actually a half-demon?

Grant Sullivan’s expression shifted uncertainly. After a while, he took out a jade slip from his sleeve and examined it carefully.

The jade slip was the one given to him by Evan Sullivan. Not only did it contain the method for activating the bloodline seal array, but it also recorded some information about demon beast bloodlines, including the phenomenon of bloodline assimilation.

According to the jade slip, so-called bloodline assimilation is actually a phenomenon where those implanted with the same type of demon beast bloodline can sense each other. Lower-level bloodline holders are easily intimidated by higher-level ones, and their bodies and minds will gradually come under the latter’s control, an irreversible process.

During bloodline assimilation, lower-level bloodline holders, when stimulated by the aura of higher-level ones, will experience some atavistic hallucinations related to the bloodline.

The hallucinations and visions he experienced when picking up that ancient beast egg were most likely related to this. Otherwise, why would he have spent such a high price to buy it? But to be absolutely sure, he naturally needed to try a few more times.

With this in mind, Grant Sullivan put away the jade slip, took out the petrified egg from the jade box, and carefully held it up before his eyes for a closer look.