“He will show up?”
Upon hearing this, a huge weight was lifted from Li Hai’s heart.
His eyes lit up, and he immediately grinned, saying, “That’s wonderful.”
Excellent, truly excellent!
Li Hai mused inwardly.
Later, at dawn, as soon as Guo Huaijin’s grandson approached, he would immediately level up on the spot and kidnap the other party as a hostage.
Since that old man was so concerned about that little bastard, he would definitely be hesitant to act against him for a short period.
At that time, whether he turned and ran or continued to negotiate, he would have enough room to maneuver.
As for that little mongrel who needed to drink human blood to survive, if he was tied up, would he throw a tantrum and kick up a fuss…
Heh, Li Hai wasn’t his grandfather; if he got in the way, he would just break his legs, and he could still walk by dragging him on the ground.
“Old Master Guo.”
Li Hai said with a smile, “Get me something to eat and drink, so I can at least be a well-fed ghost.”
Guo Huaijin narrowed his eyes, scrutinized him, and nodded, “Good.”
Immediately, he casually assigned a servant to fetch food and wine from the mansion’s kitchen.
Before long, wine, meat, bowls, and chopsticks were brought to Li Hai by the servant.
Also arriving was a complete set of golden nanmu tables and chairs.
Then, Li Hai, completely unfazed, began to eat and drink heartily under the cold, watchful gazes of the crowd.
And time, too, quietly slipped away in this eerie dining atmosphere.
…
The long night was like ink, as if an endless black silk covered the earth.
In this darkness, all things were immersed in silence.
Only the occasional whistling of the wind and the rustling murmur of leaves would slightly break this tranquility.
However, as time passed, the night curtain eventually receded.
At some Unknown point, a faint glimmer of light appeared at the far end of the dark sky above.
Gradually, the light grew larger and more golden.
Finally, it tore apart most of the night curtain.
With this, dawn arrived.
And Li Hai, who had eaten his fill, drunk his fill, and had been leisurely resting with his eyes closed in a reclining chair for nearly two hours, was now forcibly dragged up by several sturdy house guards and rudely tied to the waist-thick Bloodwood Stake.
“Why so rough?”
Li Hai, fixed to the stake, looked at the burly man binding him with hemp ropes and grinned, saying, “I won’t run away.”
The house guards, of course, ignored him; they simply finished binding him and checking the ropes’ security, then retreated to the side and stood quietly.
Just then, a pale, sickly-looking, thin, stooped young man in a brocade robe, accompanied by two black-clad middle-aged house guards carrying knives and clubs, slowly and deliberately walked into the courtyard.
“Hmm~”
Li Hai subtly glanced at the ailing young man, muttering to himself, “This should be Guo Huaijin’s grandson, right? He looks like a consumptive… Eh?!”
Suddenly, he could ‘see’ the young man’s personal interface from a distance, or more accurately, he ‘saw’ that his skill bar, unlike that of ordinary people, was not empty but contained… something called ‘Devouring Blood Burning Heart’.
At the same time, his Rank bar also had an entry called ‘Bloodline Divine Power’.
This meant that Devouring Blood Burning Heart was an ability belonging to the Bloodline Divine Power System.
“I never expected…”
Li Hai, tied to the Bloodwood Stake, mused, “In this unfamiliar world, besides martial arts, there’s also something called Divine Ability?
As for the so-called Bloodline… it should refer to DNA, to human genes, right.”
As he pondered, he carefully observed the other party’s interface information—
Character Name: Unknown
Rank Tier: Bloodline Divine Power → Low Grade
Skills Possessed: Devouring Blood Burning Heart
Trait: None
Strongest Fragment: None
And just as Li Hai was observing and using the System to secretly learn the so-called Bloodline Divine Power, Guo Huaijin, not far away, had already taken two steps at a time, hurrying to the young man’s side, grabbing his thin arm, and saying with a face full of concern:
“Shiwen, your grandfather hasn’t been home these past few days, your heart and organs…”
“Grandfather, there’s no need to worry, Shiwen is fine.”
Guo Shiwen smiled and reassured him, “Perhaps because Shiwen has been actively seeking treatment for many years, the pain in Shiwen’s heart hasn’t been strong lately; it’s just that my appetite and strength are still a bit weak.”
“That’s good, that’s really good.” A relieved smile finally appeared on Guo Huaijin’s old face.
At the same time, this smile also appeared on Li Hai’s face, a dozen steps away.
“My chances… have increased by another point.” His smile flashed and vanished.
Just now, Li Hai had seamlessly and completely learned the so-called Devouring Blood Burning Heart Divine Ability, which was rooted deep within Guo Shiwen’s Bloodline.
And only after learning this Divine Ability did he understand.
This technique was completely different from martial arts Cultivation Techniques that could be systematically learned Acquiredly.
It belonged to an ability that ‘grew’ Innately from the Bloodline, or rather, could only be possessed through natural Awakening.
At the same time, this Divine Ability had only one specific effect.
That is… it could significantly boost physical fitness, Qi, and physique strength by consuming one’s own blood and increasing the heart’s burden, thereby causing a dramatic short-term increase in overall combat power.
Comparatively, it was a little like the Demonic Disintegration Art in Wuxia novels.
However, what it consumed was not True Qi or Internal Energy, but blood and the entire heart.
“Presumably, the reason this little bastard needs to consume human blood…”
Li Hai glanced at Guo Shiwen not far away, thinking, “is because of this Divine Ability.”
It was also after learning Devouring Blood Burning Heart that he indirectly deduced.
This Guo Shiwen very likely had not activated, or lacked sufficient ability, to allow this Divine Ability to grow to a truly mature state.
Therefore, he was unlucky enough to only bear the cost of the Divine Ability, but could not possess its powerful effects.
That’s why Guo Shiwen was so weak and needed human blood so much.
However, even though he couldn’t make the Divine Ability ‘grow’ to a mature state, Li Hai could.
Under the very noses of the grandfather and grandson, Li Hai activated the Study Hard System, quietly and instantly elevating the Bloodline Divine Power Devouring Blood Burning Heart from its initial, almost embryonic Low Grade level to its potential limit—the so-called Low Grade level.
At the same time, Li Hai finally gained his first Trait in life—【Berserk Lv.1】.
As for Guo Huaijin, although his martial prowess was strong and his perception keen.
But for something like Bloodline Divine Power, which was rooted at the genetic level of the human body, he still couldn’t perceive any abnormalities.
This was precisely the main reason Li Hai dared to boldly upgrade Devouring Blood Burning Heart.
In short, from then on, as long as he used this Divine Ability, Li Hai could gain a short-term combat power leap of three to five tenths after paying a certain price.
“It’s better not to use such a life-draining skill if possible.”
Li Hai quietly surveyed his surroundings, looking at the more than a dozen armed strong men standing on the courtyard ground and on the courtyard walls, muttering to himself, “I only have one life. The steadier, the better; the more cautious, the better.”
