Once they finished their negotiation, they decided to split up, as Aurelia had to go report to her father about the state of some of the injured gang members.

Illyan was initially worried she would tell her father about it, but considering the father-daughter duo didn’t have the best relationship, he thought he would be fine.

However, as she left, he noticed how she draped her robe across her face and tucked away her red hair. Now that he thought about it, the acolytes who should have dealings with the gang didn’t recognize the daughter of the leader.

It seemed she didn’t like the blood connection.

Well, Illyan didn’t dwell on it for now as he thought about how to compile the acupuncture knowledge. He would probably need to teach her himself since it would be faster.

The agreement between them was that Illyan would teach her acupuncture during this expedition, and in return, she would teach him the first three layers of Blood Energy. The rest of the transaction would be completed once they got back to Winterfrost, as Illyan didn’t bring the Refined Dark Crystals with him.

However, that would need to wait for now.

Illyan went to the vice-mayor to report that most of the patients had been treated and just needed rest to recover. This made the man sigh in relief, but he still commanded that they should be on their way in half an hour.

Despite the journey being hard on the patients, they didn’t dare stay in one place too long, lest they fall into another trap.

Aziro was already furious, as he had to go into deep meditation.

Illyan could feel the heavy fluctuations in his carriage and wondered what he was doing there.

However, it didn’t take long before he overheard the answer from the Heart Bearer Gang members.

“Aziro is using that technique, huh! Just to recover faster, he would waste so many Dark Stones…”

“You can’t judge him. We didn’t even get close to that ancient city yet, and we already had such casualties. Who knows what will happen there.” Another member just shook his head, shuddering at the thought of that balding creature, also known as the wendigo.

Illyan, who was listening to their conversation, finally addressed this problem.

The entire ambush was strange. At first, it was a group of goblins above the cliff that caused the landslide.

From what Illyan knew, it was normal for goblins to make small ambushes, but this should be beyond their capability.

It was also strange that, the moment everyone’s attention was diverted, the wendigo sneak-attacked them.

With the self-detonation, it was pretty obvious that it was Ezekiel’s work. The question was whether he could also control the goblins. If yes, then he was even more dangerous than Illyan already thought.

Illyan was also suspicious that while the ambush worked, it was somewhat underwhelming. If Ezekiel had even half the number of that pack of wendigos Illyan met years ago, then this entire expedition would lose, even if they fought head-on.

So something was fishy. And Illyan’s guess would be proven in the next few days…

……..

“They have returned!”

Later that day, the group was going through a dense forest when they heard some of the patrols cry out loudly from the rear.

People were scared at first, fearing that another ambush was on its way, but when they saw several officers speeding on their horses toward the rear, they sighed in relief.

Officers wouldn’t risk their necks if it was real danger.

When they also saw Aziro and Varel going, they had a sudden realization.

There were two people who climbed the cliff to slaughter the goblins, accidentally avoiding the wendigo’s sneak attack. But because of that, they were also abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

It seemed they were still alive and managed to catch up in the end.

When Illyan heard the commotion, he listened for a moment before closing his eyes again.

On the other hand, others in the carriage seemed to be interested.

“How do you think they managed to catch up to us?” Arun asked with amazement shining in his eyes.

“These kinds of people always have their own ways,” Korin said with a small smile, but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“I rather wonder what happened to them afterward. Goblins are very dangerous in high numbers,” Tami chimed in with a thoughtful expression.

“Goblins are nasty and filthy, so hopefully they killed them all,” Vanda said with a disgruntled face.

Everyone laughed at that. Goblins were one of the least liked creatures in the Vanaras Kingdom. They weren’t very well received anywhere else, either.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the carriage, and a voice outside resounded.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Dr. Kaoran, you are needed in the rear!”

When Illyan, who was meditating, heard that, he sighed as he stood up to leave.

“Well, I need to go. See you later.” He bowed to Korin and everyone as he called out to the person outside.

“Understood.”

Once he left the carriage, he nodded to the officer and asked him to guide him to them.

The officer avidly nodded as he scurried across the standing horses and foot soldiers who had to wait.

It was ordered that they should wait. If the state of the two was not that bad, then they would continue until they found a suitable clearing for the camp. If not, then they didn’t have a choice but to stay at this place.

That made Illyan wonder if they would really stay here just for two men.

He understood that the swordsman was the son of Varel, so his background was quite good. But that father of his didn’t seem to really care about Caleb’s absence, so it was hard to tell.

On the other hand, the other man was just one of the acolytes. But he seemed to be quite skilled. Maybe someone groomed by Aziro personally?

As he thought this, he arrived at the scene where Aziro and other notable figures stood in front of the duo.

When they noticed his presence, they made way for him.

Illyan didn’t forget courtesy, bowing to them before going to the duo.

They were standing straight, but they were visibly tired.

“Please, let us go somewhere private so as not to disturb your privacy.” Illyan said this to them, but it was mainly directed at the leaders around him.

After all, there were soldiers not far away who were watching everything.

The leaders didn’t need to say anything as Aziro waved his hand and let one of the officers lead him to a makeshift tent that could be pitched in a few seconds.

Once there, Illyan began assessing their wounds.

It wasn’t a detailed inspection; he just needed to determine whether they were fit to be treated along the way or if they needed to stay while resting.

“Remove your robes so that I can look at you,” Illyan said without a change in his expression as he touched the acolyte’s arm.

It was bitten, with green fluid covering it.

‘Goblin’s bite.’ Illyan found it amusing that such a capable man was bitten by a goblin.

Varel’s son frowned as he said imposingly to Illyan, “Why should I? My wound is on my arm.”

“Yes, it is. However, you may have other wounds, however small, elsewhere. You just may not feel them now,” Illyan explained politely.

The man furrowed his brows even more before relaxing and putting his heavily damaged armor aside.

The clothes beneath seemed dirty but not bloodied, implying that he wasn’t injured. But he didn’t try to argue as he took them off and revealed his chest.

After checking him thoroughly, Illyan noticed a small scratch on his back. It was not deep and didn’t look like anything, but Illyan’s instincts kicked in.

“Don’t move, and breathe deeply and steadily,” he commanded as he examined the scratch.

Varel’s son did as he was asked and took a deep breath. Illyan observed the wound closely and also checked the man’s heartbeat.

After a while, he sighed.

“As expected. You were poisoned. I don’t know the poison, and it seems to be slow-acting due to your aura,” Illyan explained as he prepared several herbs and other ingredients.

But before that, he went out and waved at one guard.

The guard noticed him and came hurriedly with a subservient attitude.

“Please relay my message to the vice-mayor. The patients were poisoned by an unknown substance, so it will take some time to treat them. We need to stay.”

Without waiting for the guard’s response, he disappeared into the tent.

The guard just stood there for a second before speeding off into the distance with urgency…

…….

Ten days had passed since Illyan treated the men.

They didn’t talk to him much, so he didn’t have much information. Once he extracted the poison and gave them the provisional antidote along with a few drops of the healing vial that Aziro sent, they left without saying anything.

However, he noticed that Aziro didn’t enter his carriage to rest anymore.

Instead, he was outside next to the driver’s seat with his eyes closed. Others didn’t care, but Illyan was worried that Ezekiel would ambush them again.

It didn’t make sense for him to launch such a half-hearted attack.

In the first place, what was his goal?

Illyan didn’t know.

But he had another guess.

He remembered Ezekiel talking about his life force and that he could use it to its fullest potential.

In fact, that was the reason why he was attacked. Ezekiel wouldn’t bother with petty revenge if there were no visible benefits.

Now the question was… What did he want it for?

His magic? After all, Illyan knew from Arwen's diary that he was a Biomancer who manipulated life force.

It would definitely help him get stronger.

But Illyan felt uneasy.

He sensed that there was something deeper.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for now.

Instead, he focused his mind on three parchments he received from Aurelia.

It seemed she wasn’t worried he would scam her. She even told him that he would know how much he would lose out on if he saw the first three layers and decided not to learn the rest.

Seeing her so confident made Illyan extremely excited as he read the parchments in the morning, the only time he could be alone.

The letters were neatly written. Each letter was exactly the same size yet unique from normal letters, showing a hint of her personality in this style.

Illyan was amazed at this masterful penmanship. It truly fit her perfectionist ideology.

‘Her perfection… Is it really the same type of gift as mine? I really wonder…’

As Illyan thought this, he began to read the first layer.

‘The first three layers, which also count as the lower part of [Thirteen Layers Of Blood Energy], are meant to be cultivated when you reach the peak of your body limits in the Mortal Stage. It is at that time when the results are best, and your body would adjust to the worldly energies most effectively.’

Illyan read slowly. He didn’t want to miss any hidden meaning in the text, so he was very careful.

‘The First Layer is about generating strands of Blood Energy. For this, there is no requirement except a strong body. It is power from within your body that comes from your vitality. This is the power that is used by Sorcerers with their innate magic in the south…’

Illyan read the text as he discovered what Blood Energy was and how it was generated.

What surprised Illyan, though, was the fact that it was really similar to his [Blood Feeding Technique]. The blood energy was generated within the body and could freely flow everywhere, but the goal of this scripture was to fuse itself with blood.

‘Is this Blood Energy?’ Illyan used his mind power to feel his blood and sensed the strong tugging energy within. But he wasn’t sure if it was truly the same energy.

Soon, Illyan shook his head and continued reading. There was not much time before they would set off again.

‘The Second Layer is about using this Blood Energy and letting it flow through the entire body. This will not only help to consolidate your foundation but also help the body adjust to the worldly energies. The body would strengthen to some extent, and the sensitivity toward the energies would heighten…’

Illyan was intrigued. This technique was truly all-encompassing and taught him a lot about the supernatural aspect of this world.

Now, Illyan was sure that this was a very profitable deal.

But he still continued reading.

‘The Third Layer uses the Blood Energy and heightened senses to open the seven apertures: the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. With Blood Energy, the limit of human senses is trivial, and opening the apertures allows one to feel the world completely differently than before. There are some additional things to achieve in this layer. I believe that it could help with opening the sixth sense and even the perception of worldly energies. The acupuncture points could also serve as minor apertures, but I am not sure yet…’

After reading this, Illyan finally realized why she managed to notice him back then in the forest. Together with her ability to see imperfections, her senses were probably even better than his!