98: clue

Lucien had a premonition,

that this young Lord Locke would likely reach a level far beyond their imagination in the near future.

After all, he had just recalled that,

since Locke first met him,

it had taken him less than half a month to transform from an ordinary person into a Sequence expert hidden in legend.

And judging by his recent performance, he was probably an outstanding individual even among Sequence 9 experts.

One must know that merely becoming Sequence 9 requires many people to spend their entire lives searching, and even then, it is only a possibility.

Many people might never even hear the term Sequence 9 in their lifetime,

even he had only coincidentally seen related records in numerous ancient texts seized from the Vampire Clan.

The author of that ancient text was named Alexander Corvinus,

the very originator who created the two races: Vampires and Lycans.

"Alexander Corvinus, what kind of person are you, really?"

As Lucien pondered, he couldn't help but think of this legendary founder of the Corvin Clan.

Through fragmented information, he had learned a bit of inside information: it was rumored that this warlord, who lived centuries ago, might still be alive.

On the other side,

under the moonlight.

Locke walked on the road toward the ancient castle, reflecting on the details of his recent fight with Marcus.

"How exactly did he manage that method of using transcendent power to block attacks?"

He was particularly interested in Marcus's technique of mobilizing transcendent power to cover his arms, greatly enhancing his defense.

Now that he had time, he recalled Marcus's movements and began to try it out himself.

However, although he had become Sequence 9, he lacked a guide,

so even after many attempts, he couldn't completely condense the Extraordinary Factor onto his arm.

Every time he mobilized the Extraordinary Factor onto his arm, the effort would fail completely.

Because the Extraordinary Factor would immediately retreat back into his heart, making it impossible to achieve the same effect as Marcus.

"It really is a bit inconvenient when there's no teacher to ask for guidance."

In traditional terms, Locke was a 'wild path' practitioner, lacking formal inheritance or 'Wild Fox Zen,'

and on the Transcendent Path of cultivation, it would be extremely difficult without a guide.

Although Locke wasn't overly worried about his future advancement, being unable to master these techniques meant he couldn't fully utilize his strength.

If he had known how to use the Extraordinary Factor and condense it onto his blade just now, he probably could have cut off Marcus's neck with a single strike.

After all, his Extraordinary Factor was significantly denser than Marcus's.

Locke tried a few more times, and after confirming it truly wouldn't work, he completely gave up.

He wasn't stubborn; he guessed there must be some secrets involved that couldn't be discerned purely by observation.

"If the opportunity arises, I really must take a trip to that mysterious Secret Cult."

There was no alternative; working in isolation was ultimately limiting.

Although the Secret Cult didn't look like a good place,

it was currently the only place where he could access other transcendent information and knowledge.

Locke wasn't too pessimistic, because his current main quest was nearing completion:

"Hmm... maybe after dealing with Marcus and William, opening the reward might yield a Transcendent Encyclopedia."

Honestly, he didn't have a huge need for other rewards right now.

Skills, he wasn't lacking skills temporarily.

Items, items were also fine.

Instead, he desperately needed knowledge related to the Transcendent Path.

Thinking all the way, Locke stepped back into the ancient castle, which was filled with a chilling atmosphere.

At this moment, many people were still wiping residual bloodstains from the floor with damp towels.

Clearly, the earlier task of clearing out Kraven and the Marcus Faction had concluded.

When this group of Vampires working on the ground saw Locke return, they immediately stopped their work, stood up, and bowed to greet him:

"Greetings, Lord."

Locke nodded, indicating they should ignore him, and then walked up the stairs toward Serena's room on the top floor.

Just as he returned, via a message delivered by a bat,

he learned that Serena, Emilia, and Erica were all in the room,

and they seemed to have discovered some information and were waiting for him.

Locke walked to the door, without the slightest hesitation, and immediately pushed it open.

At this moment, the three women were discussing intensely.

"What kind of creature do you think this guy is? How can he move freely without a heart?"

"This... this is the first time I've seen a creature like this. It's truly strange."

Even Emilia, the longest-living among them, couldn't help but show a trace of doubt when faced with this strange Vampire corpse.

Just then, Locke pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that he was unharmed, the three immediately quieted down and quickly pulled him onto the sofa.

"My Lord, after you left, we found a remarkable piece of information regarding that corpse."

"Huh?" Locke looked at Emilia with slight confusion. "What information?"

The moment he saw the corpse in the secret room earlier, he had also felt some confusion.

Logically, that corpse should have been the person who initially woke Marcus,

but having been brutally harmed by Marcus after waking him up, it didn't quite make sense.

"Could it be that the mysterious person behind him doesn't know Marcus, or perhaps Marcus doesn't know this mysterious person?"

Locke thought of many things in those few seconds, but for the moment, he couldn't make sense of it.

He still didn't know whether there was a connection between Marcus and the mysterious Secret Cult member behind Kraven.

Furthermore, what was the mysterious person's purpose? Why did he let Marcus go? Locke couldn't figure it out now.

Logically, if the person really wanted to save Marcus, they wouldn't need to be so secretive, especially since, according to Kraven, that person's strength and status should be considerable.

"Who exactly is this person, and what is their ultimate goal? Is it merely for fun?"

He couldn't figure it out, absolutely couldn't figure it out.

Seeing Locke immersed in thought, Emilia said proudly, "My Lord, you wouldn't guess this piece of news: that corpse actually has no heart!"

"What! No heart..."

Locke was shocked by this news, initially finding it unbelievable, but then realizing it might not be impossible.

Combining it with his previous conjectures, he began to mutter to himself:

"No heart, yet able to wake Marcus before we could. How did he manage that? Could someone be manipulating him from behind the scenes..."