Vampire Progenitor of the Immortal World

Chapter 98: Chapter 75 : Wanted (1)

The road continued east. Ethan passed through the outskirts of a large trade city along the way, keeping his distance from the busiest parts of it before continuing onward.

Beyond the city, the road gradually became quieter. By midday, the broad road had narrowed into packed earth bordered by dry grass and scattered trees. Wagons still passed from time to time, but the traffic had thinned considerably. There were fewer merchants, fewer groups of cultivators, and longer stretches where the only sounds were footsteps, wagon wheels, and the wind moving through the grass.

Ethan kept a steady pace as he walked.

His dark-gray robe moved lightly around his legs as he walked. The Dust-Cleansing Formation had already proven its worth. Dust that would normally cling to the fabric simply slid away, leaving the robe far cleaner than the road deserved.

With fewer things weighing him down, Ethan found the journey more comfortable. The storage pouch had made traveling considerably more convenient. His robe, supplies, and short dao no longer needed to be carried openly, leaving him with little more than what he was wearing as he moved. Whenever he needed something, he could simply take it out of the pouch and store it again afterward. The convenience was something Ethan had quickly grown to appreciate.

His mind remained on the road ahead. Lunar Echo territory was still a considerable distance away, and there was still a long road ahead of him. As he walked, his thoughts occasionally wandered back to Earth. He sometimes wondered whether anyone had noticed that he was gone, whether his family had worried about him, or what he would have been doing if he were still there. Perhaps he would be sitting at home reading another vampire novel, lost in one of the fantasies he used to enjoy, or dealing with another long day at work while his manager found something new to complain about.

The thought brought a faint smile to his face before his attention returned to the road.

As he continued along the road, Ethan kept cultivating whenever the journey allowed it. The method he was developing was still taking shape, but he had already found a way to draw in small amounts of spiritual energy while walking. The Qi flowed through his body and into the Blood Seed, where it was used to aid the refinement of his Living Blood.

Unlike ordinary cultivators, who needed to settle themselves and focus their Qi through deliberate meditation, the Blood Seed was part of Ethan’s body. Once the process was set in motion, it could continue naturally in the background, much like his heartbeat continued without conscious thought. It was slower and less efficient than proper cultivation, but it allowed him to make progress even while traveling.

With each slow breath, spiritual energy entered his body. His Qi followed the pathways he had gradually learned to control before reaching the Blood Seed, where the refinement of his Living Blood continued.

His breakthrough to Mid Qi Refining had changed the way cultivation felt to him. The Qi within his body was fuller and more responsive, and maintaining his circulation no longer required the same level of concentration. Even while walking, he could keep the flow steady without constantly correcting it.

Ethan noticed the difference as the days passed. What had once required deliberate effort was beginning to feel more natural, and that made it easier to divide his attention between cultivation and everything else around him.

His Blood Perception had also become easier to use. The vitality around him no longer came as scattered impressions that required effort to sort through. Instead, the information reached him more clearly, allowing him to distinguish individual presences with greater ease.

That was how Ethan sensed the group before he saw them, four presences ahead, three ordinary travelers and one Body Tempering cultivator. It was just an ordinary group of travelers, the kind of arrangement Ethan had grown accustomed to seeing on the road.

He continued walking.

The group approached from the opposite direction, four travelers moving together along the road. Three looked like ordinary travelers, while the fourth carried a sword at his waist and wore simple clothes suited for someone used to fighting. They passed Ethan without incident, and he continued along the road without giving them a second thought.

Several steps later, Ethan noticed one of them turn around. He didn’t react and kept walking. The footsteps behind him lasted only a few seconds before fading as the group continued in the opposite direction.

Ethan glanced down at his hands. His skin was a little pale, and with the hood pulled over his head, he probably looked more suspicious than he intended. Still, there was nothing particularly strange about a lone traveler on the road.

He let out a quiet breath.

Maybe all the chasing and fighting had made him a little too cautious. Perhaps he was just being paranoid.

With that thought, Ethan continued down the road.

By late afternoon, another group appeared. A merchant wagon rolled along the road, loaded with sacks of dried herbs and several wooden crates, while two men walked beside it and a woman sat at the front, guiding the horses. Ethan moved toward the edge of the road to give them space. As the wagon drew level with him, the woman glanced his way and her eyes lingered for a moment before she leaned slightly toward the man beside the wagon.

Her voice was quiet, but Ethan’s sharp hearing still caught the whisper.

"Don’t you think that guy fits the description? Remember the notice we saw?"

The man looked toward Ethan, studying him briefly as they continued walking. After a moment, he shook his head.

"I don’t think so. It can’t be."

The woman looked back once more, but neither of them said anything else as the wagon continued down the road.

Ethan continued walking.

A few moments later, he glanced back. The wagon was still moving, and the man beside it took one last look in Ethan’s direction, his expression slightly puzzled, as though he was still considering what he had just heard.

Ethan turned forward again.

"Interesting."

He kept walking.

The sun slowly descended, and the road darkened beneath the lengthening shadows of the trees. By the time evening came, Ethan had almost forgotten about the incident.

Almost.

The next morning, it happened again.

This time, Ethan sensed two cultivators approaching from behind. Both were at the Body Tempering realm. As they passed him, one glanced at his face, then at his robe, before looking back at him again. His steps faltered slightly, and he exchanged a quick look with his companion. The other man turned his head toward Ethan as well, his expression tightening for a moment before they continued walking. Ethan noticed the change but kept moving, giving them no reason to think he had noticed anything.

After they had put a considerable distance between them and Ethan, their voices finally carried back to him in low whispers. He couldn’t make out the words clearly, only the occasional murmur between them. He didn’t stop or turn around, but his attention sharpened as he continued along the road.

Later that day, Ethan began noticing the same thing with other travelers. Some were ordinary people, while others were cultivators, and they came from different directions and wore different clothes. Most only gave him a passing glance, but every now and then, someone would look a little longer before turning away. Once or twice, he caught a quiet murmur after they had moved far enough away for their voices to escape his immediate hearing.

It was never enough to mean anything on its own. A glance could be curiosity. A second look could come from the way he dressed or simply because he was traveling alone. But when it happened again with the next group, and then another, Ethan couldn’t help but notice the pattern. Sometimes they moved on without a second thought. Other times, their eyes followed him until he disappeared around a bend.

By the second day, Ethan was beginning to find it difficult to dismiss.

He walked beneath a line of old trees, their branches stretching across the road, when he noticed a small group stopped beside a cart. Two ordinary travelers stood there, including a middle-aged man with a worn saber at his waist. Ethan let his Blood Perception pass over them. The man was only at the early Body Tempering stage.

Nothing worth worrying about.

Ethan approached, and the group noticed him. One of them lowered his voice, and the three exchanged a quick glance. Ethan stopped.

He had seen that expression too many times now.

"What is it?"

The three looked at one another again before the man with the saber cleared his throat.

"Nothing."

Ethan stared at him. The man avoided his eyes.

Nothing. Right.

Ethan slowly reached into his robe.

The moment his hand disappeared inside, the three travelers tensed. Their shoulders tightened, and their attention fixed on him. The man with the saber even shifted his weight, as though preparing for something.

Ethan pulled out a gold coin.

The tension eased almost immediately. He rolled the coin between his fingers, letting the sunlight flash across its surface before holding it out.

"What have you heard?"

Ethan drew his hand back and looked at him for a moment, his expression carrying a quiet disbelief. The man hadn’t even told him anything yet, but he was already reaching for the reward.

The man noticed the look and gave an awkward cough before finally speaking.

"It’s about a wanted man."

Ethan looked at him.

"What kind of wanted man?"

The man hesitated before answering.

"A cultivator."

Ethan looked at him, waiting.

The man shifted slightly beneath his gaze before giving a nervous laugh.

"A demonic cultivator."

The words settled over the group, and the three travelers fell silent. Their expressions changed as the realization seemed to sink in. If the person standing before them was actually the one described in the notice, then they had just been talking rather freely about a dangerous man while standing within arm’s reach of him.

Ethan remained silent, his gaze still fixed on the man.

The man’s voice dropped.

"I heard the notice started appearing a few days ago and have been spreading along roads and through the nearby settlements."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"What did he do?"

The man looked at him for a moment, then gave a small, awkward laugh, as though the question itself was almost amusing.

"He’s a demonic cultivator, Senior. What more do you need?"

The words seemed to change the mood around them. For a brief moment, none of the three spoke.

Ethan remained calm.

"Who put out the wanted order?"

The man’s voice dropped.

"Who else? The Azure Cloud Sect. I heard they’ve been spreading this particular notice, along with other notices concerning demonic cultivators."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly, while the man’s gaze returned to the gold coin still moving between Ethan’s fingers.

"People say he’s dangerous," he continued.

"Something about blood-related cultivation, people disappearing, villages losing people. They also say he fought Azure Cloud cultivators and managed to escape."

Ethan watched him quietly.

"They say he’s young."

The man’s eyes remained on the coin.

"Pale."

He hesitated before adding, "And he travels alone."

Ethan’s fingers stopped.

The man’s gaze finally lifted from the coin. For an instant, fear flashed across his face. His fingers tightened, and his voice became slightly unsteady.

"That’s all I know."

Ethan studied him for a moment before looking toward the road.

"Where can I see the notice?"

The man’s expression changed slightly, as though he hadn’t expected another question.

"Any settlement with enough cultivators should have one."

"How far?"

"I think there’s a settlement ahead. Not a large one, but maybe half a day’s walk if you don’t miss the path."

Ethan nodded.

The man seemed to relax immediately, the tension leaving his shoulders with the relief of someone who had narrowly avoided something far worse.

Ethan turned, toss the gold coin to him and began walking.

The man looked down at the gold coin in his hand, almost as if he couldn’t believe he was holding it. Then Ethan stopped.

"One more thing."

The three travelers looked up at him.

The man with the saber seemed uncertain, as though wondering what else Ethan could possibly want.

Ethan turned halfway toward them.

"What’s the reward?"

The man’s expression shifted.

"I heard it’s high."

"How high?"

The three exchanged a quick glance.

"I don’t know."

Ethan looked at them for another moment. He knew they were hiding something. He simply didn’t bother pressing them. With a small wave of his hand, he dismissed the matter and continued down the road.

His expression remained calm, but his thoughts had already begun turning over what he had just learned.

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