The most terrifying thing is a person who has gone mad—Edward Lewis believed his mother had already lost her mind, just like he had back in his own days of madness—after a string of failed blind dates, Mrs. Lewis had gone crazy, and if she couldn’t do it herself, she’d find someone else to help. Mrs. Lewis fully mobilized the power of the masses, buying a bundle of cotton yarn at a roadside shop, and after chatting with some old ladies shopping there, she’d ask them to help look for a daughter-in-law. Thanks to China’s huge population and the many idle elderly folks—no, to be fair, the enthusiastic uncles and aunties—who really took it to heart, in just a few days, the table at Edward Lewis’s home was covered with photos of girls.

Although it was annoying, Edward Lewis was also touched. Since he was a child, he had never seen his mother so invested in anything. Maybe he should just pick one to go through the motions? Hmm, give her some money, that shouldn’t be a problem.

It was the night of the full moon again, so he decided to stop thinking about it for now. Slowly inhaling, he activated his cultivation technique, and Edward Lewis’s body was gradually enveloped in a layer of black mist, with threads of silver light flickering in and out of sight within the darkness, like lightning rolling through storm clouds. Ever since he had started practicing the vampires’ dark magic, the energy in his body had taken on this form, and even the old noble couldn’t explain it. In any case, the two types of energy didn’t conflict, and the lazy vampire didn’t care, continuing to practice the “Blood Corpse Technique” in the first half of the night and enhance his magical energy in the second half.

The magical energy condensation technique the old noble had taught him was the exact opposite of the “Blood Corpse Technique.” It used the energy inside the body to resonate with the energy outside, then absorbed the resonant energy into the body for storage—but for vampires, the energy was stored in the blood—the energy was assimilated outside the body, while the “Blood Corpse Technique” absorbed energy into the body before assimilating it. Today, after circulating the moon’s energy through his body for a full cycle, Edward Lewis suddenly wondered if he could use the “Blood Corpse Technique” to cultivate dark energy, and use the magical energy condensation technique to condense the moon’s energy. He had never thought about this before. He pondered it over and over, comparing the two, but still couldn’t make up his mind, unsure if he should take the risk. When he looked up, the moon was already sinking in the west, and the night was almost over. Gritting his teeth, he decided to go for it—after all, the essence of energy should be the same, only the cultivation methods were different. Using a different method probably wouldn’t be a problem, right? Besides, he was a vampire and had become a zombie king; it shouldn’t be that easy for him to die, should it?

Seeing that if he didn’t try now, he’d have to wait another day, Edward Lewis couldn’t wait to begin—he couldn’t stand the feeling of itching to do something all day but being unable to. As for how much confidence he had in those “probably” and “should,” he could only ask for the blessings of his ancestors, George Washington and Cain.

Edward Lewis began to operate both techniques at once, but this time, the method was the opposite of usual. The dark energy had already been drawn into his body, but before he could refine it, it started rampaging uncontrollably, completely beyond his conscious control. The moon’s energy in his body, on the other hand, easily resonated with the outside world, but as soon as he started absorbing external energy, it surged in like a tide. Very quickly, Edward Lewis’s veins reached saturation, and he wanted to stop but couldn’t. Instantly, all his meridians were in chaos, and the surging energy crashed through his body like a flood, causing excruciating pain as if he were being cut by knives all over.

For the first time since becoming a vampire, Edward Lewis felt like he was about to die, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly to himself: This time I’ve really gone too far. Sorry, Mom and Dad, I always thought I’d outlive you. Brian Lane, I’ve been out for so long, why haven’t you called me…

Thinking of Brian Lane made Edward Lewis think of Mount Cang, and he suddenly remembered that he had learned two techniques there: the Blood Refining Method and the Great River True Explanation. He hadn’t practiced these two techniques in a long time, and since he was probably going to die tonight anyway, he might as well practice them one last time so it wouldn’t be a waste that Blood Boss gave them to him. Throwing caution to the wind, he began to operate the Blood Refining Method and the Great River True Explanation. Instantly, his body was filled with four streams of energy, each strong or weak but none yielding, constantly clashing. His meridians became a battlefield, and one could imagine Edward Lewis’s agony, but at this moment, he couldn’t utter a sound, not even a single cry.

The four streams of energy finally converged in his chest, and after a massive collision, they actually formed an energy vortex. The four types of energy were continuously sucked into the vortex, and the more energy it absorbed, the smaller the vortex became. Edward Lewis breathed a sigh of relief; he had thought for sure he would die from his body exploding. Having just escaped death, he quickly realized that all the energy in his body was being sucked away by that strange vortex. The curious vampire immediately forgot that he had just nearly died, and desperately operated all four techniques to replenish the energy being drawn away by the vortex. The faster he replenished, the faster the vortex absorbed, and the smaller it became. Outside, the moon had already set, and time was running out. The vortex grew smaller and smaller until it finally condensed into a purple bead. In that instant, Edward Lewis was overjoyed—he understood that this bead was the Daoist Golden Core that Brian Lane had mentioned to him more than once on Mount Cang—a symbol of becoming a true cultivator. Normally, with his minor achievement in the “Blood Corpse Technique,” it would have taken another fifty years of focused cultivation to form a core, but tonight, by recklessly operating four techniques at once and crazily gathering energy, he had actually managed to form a Golden Core.