Seeing three pairs of eyes fixed intently on himself, the vampire Augusto muttered under his breath, "How humble the humans are," to satisfy his sense of superiority. Zhang Yuanqing smiled faintly, saying, "That knight looks down on us—go up and give him a solid slap." "Why shouldn't *you* go?" Si Cai countered, yet still stepped forward to deliver a well-aimed slap to the vampire. How could the noble Night King endure such treatment? Though his physical strength was clearly outmatched by the two younger, robust men, and even the subtle aura emanating from the masked figure stirred a deep, instinctive fear within him. With no choice but to endure, he suppressed his inner resistance and spoke plainly of the bloodline's history: "Among us vampires, there is a legend that our bloodline's founder was a god appointed by the divine king Odin to oversee humanity. But only the true high-ranking members of the bloodline know the full truth." "In fact, the primordial vampire ancestor came to the mortal world to evade the pursuit of the divine king Odin. Odin pursued the ancestor because the ancestor had stolen something belonging to Odin!" Does the primordial vampire ancestor have a connection with the Norse god Odin? I never heard of any vampire legends in the Norse myths... Zhai Cai searched through her knowledge base, somewhat surprised. In the tales of witches, vampires, and werewolves, the heroic characters are typically bounty hunters and the Church, with the Church's profession belonging to the first region and leaning more toward Greek mythology. Her thoughts flashed through her mind as she heard Yuan Shi Tian Zun ask, "What exactly did the ancestor steal?" The Chairman translated in real time. The vampire Augusto did not answer immediately, maintaining his own pace: "Legend has it that, in an age infinitely ancient, the divine king Odin hung himself from the trunk of the World Tree, piercing his own heart with a spear to confront the evil god destined to destroy the world." He sacrificed himself to the World Tree, thereby attaining the supreme power—the Runes. "The Runes evolved into twenty-four forms of magic, serving as the origin of all magic in the world. This gift from the World Tree was bestowed upon Odin, the power that enabled him to rule over the gods and rely upon, and no living being could glimpse it. "Yet, during Odin's period of weakness, two caterpillars on the World Tree separately stole the powers of the magic of death and the magic of life. "The caterpillar that stole the magic of death transformed into a beautiful woman, while the one that took the magic of life became a handsome man. "Odin, in furious rage, imposed a divine curse upon them, decreeing that the magic of death would gradually consume women, turning them into shadowy, evil witches, who and their descendants would suffer the punishment of being burned to ashes. "The curse of life-magic erodes men, transforming them into demons dwelling in darkness, so that their descendants can never touch sunlight and forever live in shadow, feeding on blood and enduring human disdain and rejection. 'Those two caterpillars are the ancestors of the witches and the vampires.' The three exchanged glances. The sole-line knight turned to the chairman and asked, 'Do you think this legend is credible?' The chairman pondered, neither confirming nor denying. Zhang Yuanqing spoke softly, 'It should be true.' The chairman and Zhai Cai turned their attention to him. Zhang Yuanqing explained, 'I once entered a special instance where I witnessed the emergence of the magical lineage. There, a red-robed archbishop told me that the witches' black magic is a branch of Runes magic.' So, both vampires and witches derive their power from Runes magic? Zhai Cai furrowed her brows. 'Yet I remember from the Church's canonical texts that vampires are classified as aberrations.' The president translated his words for the vampire Augusto, who scoffed, "It's the unprincipled papacy tarnishing our reputation, portraying us as mere lowly creatures." The president then suddenly asked, "As a vampire from the medieval era, you should be familiar with both Nordic and Greek mythology—the papal thunder and lightning mages, knights, wine-drinkers, and those who succumb to fatal poisons all belong to the Greek mythological tradition. Our vampire lineage drew its power from Odin's runic magic, which belongs to the Nordic tradition. So why are we found within the Greek mythological circles?" He posed this question primarily to clarify the historical relationship and timeline between the two mythological traditions. Augusto the vampire replied, "I haven't explained clearly enough yet. The founding ancestor of our bloodline, having stolen Odin's power, naturally had to go into exile. He and the founding witch ancestor fled from the southern continent all the way to the distant northern continent." The territorial divisions among the deities are extremely strict, and an agreement of mutual non-aggression has been in place since time immemorial. Thus, Odin cannot send warriors to pursue them. Yes, this is what the elder bloodline ancestors have told me. In ancient times, several major mythological systems coexisted and were aware of each other's existence... Zhang Yuanqing suddenly wondered if the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors might also have known of the gods of Norse and Greek mythology. Yet, in the folk myths of the Chinese people, no foreign deities have ever appeared. As he was pondering this, his uncle spoke in a low tone, in Italian: "The stories of the bloodline ancestors are as distant to you as eternity. In your lifetime, Odin has long since disappeared—have your bloodline descendants ever returned to their ancestral homeland?" "Of course," said the vampire Augusto, with a look of mild confusion. "My footsteps have already spanned across the entire European continent. If I didn't detest the life of seafaring, I would have even chosen to sail and explore the world beyond." "But after traveling throughout Europe, I've never encountered any extraordinary beings from the Nordic mythos—except for the werewolves." "Yes, werewolves are indeed part of the Nordic mythos, though their lineage is not pure. They are descendants of the ice-and-fire magical wolves, whose pure bloodline has long since gone extinct." Upon his uncle's translation, Zhang Yuanqing immediately recalled the Little Red Riding Hood prop, which belongs to the very profession—the ice-and-fire magical wolf. Fu Qingyang had previously searched extensively for information on the ice-and-fire magical wolves but found none, speculating that they were a profession yet to be unlocked. The information matched perfectly. Zhai Cai remarked, "In medieval legends, the infamous witches, werewolves, and vampires—turns out they all belong to the third region?" Upon noticing the chairman's serious expression, he softly asked, "What do you think?" The chairman replied solemnly: "We all know that the Spirit Realm consists of three regions. The first and second regions have already been activated, while the third remains yet to launch." Regarding the Third Region, we know very little. "The number of professions, the capabilities, and the ruins of the Third Region have never appeared. I searched for the Third Region in both the spiritual realm and the real world for years, and found only a few items that seemed to belong to it—yet these items were discovered within the ruins of the First Region. "These items were passed down during the interactions between the two great myths, and strictly speaking, they do not belong to the Third Region." He turned to the two young attendants and said: "Thus, a strange phenomenon emerges: where have the ancient practitioners of the Third Region gone? Of course, we also find no records of the ancient practitioners of the First and Second Regions—only through the副本 have we begun to uncover their mysteries. The Third Region has not yet been activated, so it is entirely normal that we have not discovered its ancient practitioners. Yet this vampire is an ancient practitioner from a thousand years ago." "By rights, during his generation, he should have made contact with the ancient cultivators from the third region." Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai exchanged glances and finally caught on. "That does indeed seem unusual," Zhai Cai mused, "which means the cultivators from the third region had already gone extinct a thousand years ago?" Zhang Yuanqing raised a corner of his mouth. "What's the point of overthinking—just ask this guy directly. Since the bloodline ancestor hailed from the third region, their descendants must have studied the Nordic myths. Tracing one's ancestors and researching them is a universal trait among intelligent life forms." The other being was a wise, advanced entity—such cases had likely been studied and explored long before. They didn't need to think much; a simple inquiry would suffice. Uncle Augustus relayed the nephew's concerns to the vampire Augustus, who shook his head and said, "Regarding the gods of Norse mythology, our knowledge comes solely from myth and legend. Many extraordinary beings believe that Odin and the gods never existed—beyond the stories, there is no tangible evidence that the Norse gods ever existed. Only the witches and the strongest members of the bloodline know that the gods truly did exist, though they perished during the Twilight of the Gods." The chairman, in a low tone, asked, "What do you, the extraordinary beings, know about the Twilight of the Gods?" "It was a world-devouring evil deity who descended upon the land and extinguished the Norse gods," Augustus replied. "If it was such a world-destroying force, why didn't it also destroy you, the extraordinary beings—why did it only wipe out the Norse gods?" the chairman questioned. The vampire Augustus fell silent, momentarily stunned, then, with growing irritation, said, "I am a noble bloodline, the king of the night—I am not a historian!" The three paid no further attention to him, instead chatting among themselves. Zhang Yuanqing said, "Indeed, there was a terrifying disaster in ancient times that led to the demise of the administrator of the second major region, Nü Huang. In Greek mythology, there are similar accounts of such a disaster; I believe the 'Dawn of the Gods' in Norse mythology refers precisely to that event." His uncle nodded, "But the issue is, after the disaster, the first and second major regions regained stability and saw the emergence of ancient cultivators. Yet the third major region—something must have gone wrong there, resulting in a complete break in its lineage. This may very well be the reason why the third region has yet to awaken." "Undoubtedly, the impact on the third region has been far greater than that on the first and second," Zhang Yuanqing added. "The ice-and-fire magical wolf likely fled the disaster and settled in the second region, where it evolved into the werewolf. Thus, the entire mythological system has only preserved one specific occupation." "Wrong!" "Uncle agrees with the first half of the nephew's argument, but not the second," said the single-legacy knight, looking at the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign and then at the Chairman, murmuring, "Your discussions are too high-level. Could you perhaps consider how a frontline spiritual realm practitioner like me feels?" "If you want high-level intelligence, you'll have to offer something in return," Zhang Yuanqing said, patting the knight on the shoulder, then turning to the vampire inside the coffin. "What should we do with this one? Kill him and transform him into a yin corpse, or seal him back, or cultivate him into a key ally within our faction?" The Chairman smiled, "A world-class protected species—transforming him into a yin corpse would be a great loss." Yet this one is wild and untamable, fierce and ruthless—a true white-eyed wolf that can never be fully domesticated. While he can be managed under ordinary circumstances, he tends to betray at critical moments. Therefore, he should be entrusted to a single-line knight. "Only a knight's bond of commitment can tame him," he said, turning to Zhai Cai and adding, "This one counts as two pieces of Level 7 Sovereign Equipment." Zhai Cai shrugged, "No problem!" In Zhai Cai's view, a vampire with a long lifespan and a hard-to-kill nature, serving as a loyal companion, is more valuable than two pieces of equipment of the same level. After all, equipment lacks intelligence and requires ongoing costs. Thus, he drew forth the knight's longsword, planted it before him, and pressed both hands firmly onto the hilt, speaking solemnly: "Vampire Augustus, I, Zhai Cai, hereby enter into a bond of service with you, as knight and vassal, promising never to betray one another, and to support and assist each other until the end of our lives. Do you accept?" His demeanor became sacred and majestic, and a subtle glow of bronze radiated Uncle translated his words to Augusto, saying, "All you need to do is respond: 'Yes' or 'No.'” Augusto expressed strong resistance, even disdain, and said firmly, "What will happen if I refuse?" "Then we will seal you back into the coffin." Seeing that Augusto was determined to decline, the uncle added calmly, "I'd like to remind you that after the fall of the Church, the treasury came under the stewardship of a unique space—only we, who possess the key, will ever be able to enter. That means you will remain asleep until the end of your life." "I don't believe you!" Augusto exclaimed, hoping to wait for the next wave of treasure hunters. "What kind of person are you that I should deceive you?" the uncle said with a warm smile. Augusto's expression twisted, and his dark, sharp nails scraped deep grooves into the silver coffin. After a long struggle and careful consideration, he finally yielded: "I agree..." The uncle nodded to Zhai Cai. Zhai Cai said solemnly, "Offer your blood." Augusto, who had previously interacted with the knight, used his sharp fingernails to pierce his wrist, guiding the dark blood toward the knight's long sword. The blood instantly merged with the blade, spreading out in a powerful, bright bronze glow like ripples. Somewhere in the depths, it seemed as though a rule had been established, witnessing the bond. Zhai Cai withdrew his straight sword and said calmly, "Follow me!" The chairman, holding a gas lamp, passed by the silver coffin and continued forward, with Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai following like loyal attendants, while behind came the reluctant vampire, Augusto. However, soon his attention was drawn to the weapons displayed on the wall nearby. The chairman, leading the way, also paused. There, three items hung on the wall: a staff wrapped in a flow of pale blue energy, about one meter long, entirely white, its shaft resembling jade, with carved angel wings at the top. A silver knight's straight sword, its hilt shaped like a cross, its blade sharp and gleaming, reflecting the warm light of the gas lamp, showing no signs of rust even after six months. A wooden figure about half a meter tall, depicting a boy with a broad smile. Three bronze chests stand by the wall, locked, their bodies intricately engraved with sealing patterns. Uncle speaks with a touch of pleasure, "All of them are master-level." Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai rush toward them like hungry tigers charging at sheep.