Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 600: Bleeding

“Dominating a spirit isn’t just about physical contact-it’s a medium for the soul,” Vesser explained. “The real way to dominate a spirit is to lure it into your soul palace.”

Ashe thought back to his experiences in the Virtual Realm, realizing she was right. Though the word “lure” felt oddly fitting. It made sorcerers seem like hunters rounding up stray cats and dogs, summoning spirits akin to adopting newborn pets, and sorcerer battles nothing more than super-powered pet fights…

“You’re planning to use blood as a medium to dominate the Circle Cicada?” Ashe frowned. “But that would require us to get dangerously close to it.”

“Not necessarily,” Vesser said, pointing at the Circle Cicada. “Look, it’s not just eating them-it’s constantly drinking the Golden Flow Water.”

Ashe focused and noticed that while the Circle Cicada was using its proboscis to suck the “yogurt,” its entire body was absorbing the Golden Flow Water. Every drop that splashed onto its body seeped in almost instantly.

Though it resembled a cicada, it was, after all, a legendary spirit. Using its proboscis to eat was more of a ritual-it could absorb energy through its entire body.

Just like that orc legend from earlier, who was drained dry just by lying on its back. Clearly, the proboscis wasn’t its only means of feeding. Its entire body could become a mouth.

Golden Flow Water… silver dragon blood…

Ashe’s eyes widened as he stared at the fox mask.

“We might not need to get close to dominate the Circle Cicada,” Vesser said, her tone light. “I can control the silver dragon blood to flow downstream, mingling with the Golden Flow Water for it to absorb.”

“But you said your blood only contains the metabolites of your soul,” Ashe argued. “And the Circle Cicada might not even be a spirit that can be dominated. Even if it is, it’s a Four-winged Spirit! How much blood would it take to dominate it?”

“Do we have a choice?”

Vesser released Ashe’s hand, removed her chain glove, and held her wrist out to him. “Go ahead.”

Ashe stared at her pale wrist, hesitating. After a moment, Vesser seemed to have an epiphany. “Oh, right. If it’s just about the blood, we don’t have to stick to the wrist artery. Chest, abdomen, thigh… You can leave as many marks on me as you want. You don’t even need the sword-last time, you used your teeth to bite a hole in my neck.”

“Or,” Vesser said, tugging at the zipper of her combat suit, “do you want me to take off my clothes first before-“

Ashe grabbed her hand and made a shallow cut with his sword.

The silver blood formed a thin stream, merging with the golden waters of the Golden Flow, creating a shimmering blend as it flowed downstream. Silver Lantern hadn’t lied-she could indeed manipulate the flow of blood slightly, directing the silver dragon blood precisely into the Circle Cicada’s body.

“Feel anything?” Ashe asked.

“A little pain.”

“I meant the Circle Cicada!” Ashe was annoyed. Silver Lantern couldn’t have misunderstood his question.

“Nothing,” Vesser replied, glancing at her now-healed wrist. “It’s closed.”

Not just the Circle Cicada, but they, as quasi-temporal beings within the Golden Flow, also possessed certain peculiar traits. For instance, over the vast scale of time, their injuries healed rapidly.

Ashe made another cut on her wrist. The blood flowed for about twenty seconds before the wound closed again. When he raised his long sword for the third time, Vesser suddenly pressed down on the blade, forcing it deeper!

The sword nearly severed half her wrist. She let her hand hang, and silver blood cascaded from her fingers into the Golden Flow. If the river had previously been a mix of gold and silver, now it was as if a bucket of silver paint had been overturned. A river of silver poured into the Circle Cicada’s mouth.

The Circle Cicada paused briefly, as if noticing a change in the water’s taste. But Vesser’s blood seemed palatable-or perhaps it was just curious-so it didn’t mind and continued to drink.

“The cut you made earlier would’ve taken until the Circle Cicada reached us for my blood to run dry,” Vesser mocked. “It’s not your blood. Why are you so stingy?”

Ashe wanted to say something but held back. Yet Vesser seemed to hear his unspoken question. “It hurts. Of course it hurts. But… it’s a wound you caused.”

What does it matter if it’s a wound I caused?

Ashe remained silent for a moment, then said, “The people you’ve dragged into this also feel pain.”

“I don’t care,” Vesser replied, her gaze fixed on him. “Ashe, if you think facing death will make me ‘repent’ or ‘turn over a new leaf,’ you might as well sit back and watch me bleed out. In my eyes, you’re the ones who are wrong. I’m the only one who’s right.”

“Even if the whole world opposes me, it doesn’t matter. I can swim against the current in the Golden Flow, and I won’t care about going against the tide in reality either. Those who stand in my way, those who pass by, the innocent…” Her voice beneath the fox mask grew colder. “I’ve never cared about their feelings.”

“Ashe, I’m not a mental sorcerer or a necromancer,” she said. “I won’t change myself because of someone or something.”

Ashe asked, “Then what do you care about?”

“Before, I only cared about myself,” she said. “Now…”

Thud!

Silver Lantern suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, the current of the Golden Flow ahead wasn’t too strong, and Ashe immediately caught her, preventing her from being swept away.

“I’m fine,” she said, quickly standing up.

However, Ashe noticed her hand was ice-cold-a symptom of acute blood loss. The amount of silver dragon blood she had lost had reached a point where she could no longer maintain her bodily functions.

This was different from the Golden Flow’s test of willpower. With willpower, you could deceive yourself, but the body was the body. If you didn’t have enough blood, you’d suffer from oxygen deprivation, leading to brain fog or even a heart attack. They had no Miracles now; everything had to follow the laws of nature.

“Circle Cicada-“

“Not yet, not enough,” Vesser said hurriedly. “I’m fine.”

Yet, most of Vesser’s body weight was leaning on him, unrelated to the Golden Flow’s current. She was beginning to lose strength throughout her body. If this continued, she would lose consciousness before her silver blood ran out.

Ashe watched the silver blood dripping from Silver Lantern’s wrist and suddenly felt a stirring within himself. He looked down at his hand. Though almost imperceptible, tiny specks of silver were indeed drifting from him toward Silver Lantern.

This was to be expected.

Because he was so close to Silver Lantern, the Blood Seed inside him had intensified its work, extracting his life energy and transporting it to her.

“Right,” Ashe murmured.

Vesser turned to look at him. “I’m your cursed Blood Seed,” he said.

With that, he reached out toward Vesser’s fox mask-

Slap!

Vesser forcefully pushed his hand away and shoved him back.

“You’d have to remove the mask to drink my blood,” Ashe said.

“I’m not a Vampire,” Vesser replied, lowering her eyelids. “I have no interest in your blood. And don’t touch my mask. I hate it when people touch me.”

Where was the Silver Lantern who was even willing to take off her clothes earlier… Ashe suppressed the urge to comment and said, “I’m your Blood Seed. Drinking my blood will help you regenerate quickly. If you lose consciousness from blood loss now, you’ll completely ruin any chance of dominating the Circle Cicada!”

“You were willing to bleed to survive, and now you won’t even drink blood?!”

Without waiting for Silver Lantern’s response, Ashe drew his sword and sliced open his wrist.

Crimson blood flowed down his arm and into the Golden Flow.

“If we don’t deal with the Circle Cicada, I won’t escape either,” he said, extending his hand. “Your turn.”

Vesser stared at him coldly, then looked down. “You’re quite decisive now,” she said.

Perhaps resigned to the situation, Silver Lantern took Ashe’s wrist. Yet she still refused to remove her Mask, stubbornly turning her back to him. As a result, she pressed her back against him, effectively blocking his view of her actions. This position, however, made it seem as though she was being held in his embrace.

Ashe shuddered.

He felt Silver Lantern’s tongue repeatedly lick the wound on his wrist, drawing his blood into her mouth. The strange, sticky sensation combined with the pain from his wrist created an oddly unsettling feeling.

After a moment, Vesser spoke. “You’re stingy even with yourself-such a shallow cut.”

“Then I’ll make it deeper this time,” Ashe said, trying to pull his hand back, but Silver Lantern held on tightly.

“You just passed up the chance to hurt me, but I won’t miss mine,” Vesser said, her voice dripping with malicious glee as she bit down on his finger. “I’ve been wanting to hurt you as much as I please!”

“Ah!”

The pain shot straight to his core. Ashe felt his finger being brutally bitten by Silver Lantern.

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This hurt far more than the wrist wound, especially as she used her teeth to widen the injury. Though Ashe was a seasoned sorcerer, no stranger to pain, he couldn’t endure such senseless malice-especially since he hadn’t intentionally hurt her earlier!

Ashe tried to pull his hand back, but Silver Lantern, surprisingly strong, gripped him like a vice. Yet, since she still needed to bleed, he couldn’t risk harming her. Her position, with her back to him, presented an ideal target for retaliation-

Slap!

Silver Lantern jolted, then seemed to calm down, no longer using her teeth to deliberately hurt him. Just as Ashe breathed a sigh of relief, he realized she wasn’t done yet.

Silver Lantern’s tongue gently glided over his finger.

Fingers were far more sensitive than wrists, and easier for the tongue to caress. Combined with the faint pain from the wound… Amid the slow loss of blood, the alternating sensations of tearing pain and gentle soothing, an indescribable feeling lurked within the mix of numbness and ache-violent yet tender, seeping into Ashe’s heart.