I Became the Progenitor Vampire-Chapter 236 - 237: Powerful Divine Arts, Rebuilding the Mighty Lion (9800-word mega - )

Chapter 236 -237: Powerful Divine Arts, Rebuilding the Mighty Lion (9800-word mega chapter)

Lide returned to Glory and felt an explosive power within his body, as well as a calling from the surrounding magical power with each movement. A hint of sentiment flashed in his eyes.

The feeling of controlling power was wonderful.

He shook his head, changed his clothes, and then left his manor to head to City Hall.

After spending 10 days on Earth, a month had passed in Glory, and he needed to hurry up.

During this month, apart from sending a message to Vina to have his maid, Gold Puck, transferred to a player, he periodically checked in to see if anything significant had happened.

He was pleased that the administrative system he had established in City Hall, although not yet perfect, could still operate normally in his absence.

That was what he wanted. A person’s ability and energy are always limited; it is impossible to manage everything, especially when the power in his hands grew increasingly vast.

A perfected system, however, could exert infinite energy.

He didn’t have the energy to monitor every task in Dawn City himself. After establishing the City Hall system, he just needed to ensure its normal operation to have control over the entire city.

On the third floor of City Hall, as soon as Lide stepped into his office, Harrison followed closely behind.

“Good day, Clan Leader.”

“Good day, Harrison.”

Lide looked at his top general with satisfaction. The rapid development of Dawn City was inseparable from Harrison’s abilities; in his view, Harrison’s value might even surpass that of a level 18 Bone Dragon.

Top-level combat power was hard to find, but top-level administrative talent was even rarer.

“How have the dwarfs and beastmen been settled?”

Harrison responded with a slightly strange expression.

“Clan Leader, both the dwarfs and beastmen have been… well arranged by Nicole. They have already started to integrate into Dawn City.”

Lide was somewhat surprised by this response and intrigued.

“How did this girl handle the dwarfs and beastmen?”

Harrison looked admiringly, “Clan Leader, your vision is truly far-sighted. I dare say even the Dark Goddess would be surprised by your wisdom…”

As Harrison unabashedly praised him, he went on to detail how Nicole had dealt with the dwarfs and beastmen over this time.

“Although Nicole is young, her talent in management is definitely much higher than mine.”

“In our original plan, the beastmen were to be treated as slaves, and Giant Valley would have been their best destination…”

Lide listened intently, and through Harrison’s narration, he grew even more admiring of Nicole’s ingenuity; he indeed hadn’t misjudged her.

Nicole hadn’t simply relegated the beastmen to slaves as Lide initially envisioned.

Instead, she created a new hierarchy — third-class residents, second-class residents, and first-class residents.

Third-class residents were a step above slaves, possessing slight rights but must bow and give way to official residents, making them the lowest tier.

Second-class residents had a higher status than third-class, and first-class residents stood above the second-class, with official residents at the top.

Those beastmen willing to join Dawn City received the status of third-class residents, the most active among them were given second-class status, and if they passed certain tests, they could even be granted the status of first-class residents.

Life for the beastmen in the barren wastelands was much harsher than for humans on the borders.

During this time in Dawn City, these beastmen experienced what true living was like for the first time.

Food – they had sweet white bread daily, never having to worry about hunger; even as captives, they were well-fed every day.

In the barren wastelands, hunger was something nearly every beastman experienced frequently.

To be truly fed, one had to be a clan leader; otherwise, even a warrior of level 10 or higher might not be assured of a full belly daily.

Now, they simply had to complete certain mining or construction tasks daily to enjoy these benefits; for beastmen who had endured extreme hardships, this was truly a luxury.

Clothing – warm clothes and sturdy shoes meant they no longer had to wear rough, stiff animal skins that made them uncomfortable, greatly elevating their standard of living.

Living quarters – even the temporary residences in Giant Valley were neatly constructed, offering protection from both wind and insects.

This provided considerable comfort for most beastmen who, after dark, slept in simple animal-skin tents and were plagued by insect bites.

So, in the eyes of most residents of Dawn City, the life of the enslaved Beastmen, which was bitter and harsh, was in fact seen by the inherently poor Beastmen themselves as countless times better than their previous lives.

Except for a few Beastmen, most were very satisfied with this; it was hardly a life of slavery, but rather a dream.

However, the policy for third-class residents was subsequently introduced, and now the treatment could only be provided to second-class residents.

This policy immediately hurled the Beastmen into hell; they went straight from their previously affluent treatment to true slave treatment.

Beastmen could continue to enjoy the current treatment only if they joined Dawn City.

Having already gotten used to this beautiful life, letting the Beastmen return to their previous bitter lives was too great a downfall.

Under this policy, the Beastmen instantly collapsed.

And those who insisted on not joining Dawn City were simpler; they were demoted to true slaves, subjected to reduced standards and treatment and had to do the most laborious and tiring work, a life even harsher than on barren wastelands.

Without comparison, there is no harm.

The difference between surrender and non-surrender was so vast that, for a while, Dawn City saw an influx of second and third-class Beastman residents who engaged in tasks that ordinary residents were unwilling to do, and they did so tirelessly.

This policy was far from perfect and even had significant risks, but its benefits were also very clear, including the elimination of the need to allocate manpower to oversee more than 500 Beastman slaves.

It was even possible to use the Beastmen who joined Dawn City to manage the other, non-surrendering Beastmen, significantly easing the pressure on Dawn City.

Lide greatly admired this approach; Nicole’s actions aligned well with his style.

It always involved dividing and converting enemies into allies.

Not only did this solve the problem of guarding the Beastmen, but it also turned the Beastmen into a lower-level labor force for Dawn City, allowing them to make more contributions.

After living there for a while, these integrated Beastmen would undoubtedly become staunch supporters of Dawn City.

Because everything they had was built on the foundation provided by Dawn City; if Dawn City were gone, all their efforts would be in vain.

This was the brilliance of the third-class citizen system.

Although this idea was good, it also had several flaws that needed improvement.

After pondering for a moment, Lide slowly said,

“In Dawn City, designate an area for Beastmen to reside in and don’t allow them to leave until they pass a test to become official residents.

And the official test should be conducted inside the Dawn Sect, supervised by the Dawn Priests.”

Beastmen were of ordinary value in Lide’s eyes, suitable only for labor-intensive tasks, so he did not plan to grant them too many rights.

They would have to exert more effort to receive the treatment of official residents.

If not for Dawn City’s current need for manpower, he couldn’t spare the resources to manage the Beastmen, and the mines would be their only destination.

Nicole’s methods, in Lide’s view, were too lenient, but since the policy had already been set, he would let her continue.

A few hundred Beastmen wouldn’t stir up any trouble.

Regarding the Dwarves, Nicole had a very interesting idea.

Dwarves are a kind and orderly race, fundamentally different from dark creatures; they never commit mindless killings and only enjoy mining, forging, and fine wine.

Nicole cleverly leveraged this, dispersing all the Dwarves and completely integrating them into the residents of Dawn City.

The dwellings of the Dwarves were all scattered; no two Dwarven households were neighbors, and all Dwarven neighbors were those who believe in the Dawn Sect or were the most loyal humans to Dawn City.

The enthusiastic and generous residents of Dawn City very much accepted the Dwarves, as the relationship between Dwarves and humans had always been very close.

Under the residents’ voluntary promotion of Dawn City, what these scattered Dwarves heard most about was how good their lives provided by Dawn City were and how great Dawn City was.

A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.

What more when it’s the truth.

The Dwarves’ initial resistance rapidly melted under the warmth of Dawn City’s residents, and the Dwarves’ hearty and outgoing nature also easily endeared them to others.

In just a month, the Dwarves had already established friendships with the residents.

For a kind and orderly race, emotions were their strongest bond.

Your neighbor who greets you daily is a member of the patrol team; the friend with whom you drink every day works at the city hall. If you ever thought of rebelling, the first enemy you’d face would be your own friend—this was simply unbearable for the Dwarves.

Thus, any lingering resistance among the Dwarves quickly vanished after being accommodated in Dawn City, and their hostility disappeared swiftly.

And this incredibly inclusive city was also accepting Dwarves at an astonishing rate.

In this place, Dwarves found their way of life.

Those fond of mining took the Magic Language Bat to Giant Valley to mine every morning, those who liked forging weapons were assigned to blacksmith shops to forge weapons, and even many Dwarves were employed in construction.

This once most stubborn group, under Nicole’s exceedingly simple strategy, successfully integrated into Dawn City.

The original Copper Hammer Tribe, although still deeply ingrained in their hearts, no longer needed to worry about these Dwarves staging a sudden rebellion.

Even high-ranking members of the Dwarf Tribe like Massi, Valen, and Anakin were quietly living their lives within Dawn City.

Their prohibitions were largely lifted, except for the use of power and gathering of Dwarves, they had also started embracing their new lives.

After Lide grasped the full picture, he couldn’t help but nod slightly.

This young Nicole truly possessed a keen spirit, the best solution to a problem wasn’t always forceful, but subtly breath-taking, solving problems without the other party even realizing it.

In fact, resolving the issues with the Beastmen and Dwarves was both easy and challenging.

It was easy because Dawn City held complete control, leaving no means for resistance and the choice of handling it in any manner it wished.

The challenging aspect was, unless they were all eliminated, these races with significant power could rebel at any time.

Nicole targeted the treatment precisely, this seemingly simple and even flawed plan was, in fact, the most suitable one.

There was no perfect plan, only the most suitable approach.

Oppositely, his originally devised plan might not have been as effective as Nicole’s.

“Very well, then let Nicole handle this matter entirely. There’s so much work in Dawn City, it’s always good to have someone share the burden.”

Hearing this, Harrison nodded, although City Hall was continuously expanding, with Lide conquering far and wide, their influence had grown immensely, and there was too much to handle.

Even as a vigorously energetic Bloodline, he felt a bit overwhelmed.

And he wasn’t comfortable delegating many decisions to others, now having a reliable assistant like Nicole truly was a rare boon.

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After Lide voiced his thoughts, his mind shifted, thinking of the two Beastman Warriors brought back to Dawn City.

“Where are the two Beastman we captured imprisoned?”

He was naturally referring to Craig and Kapp.

“In the prison.”

The prison of Dawn City was built in a cavern beneath the western mountains, facing the holy land where the Blood Pool in the east resided.

“Bring over Craig, the level 16 Werewolf.”

Lide looked at the attribute panel’s Power of Faith, lost in thought.

The followers of the Dawn Sect had grown to over 8000, and the income of the Power of Faith each month was considerable.

However, the growth of followers had hit a bottleneck as nearly all of the remaining thousand residents were old, long-time believers of other sects.

The difficulty of conversion was enormously high, and further growth of followers could only rely on capturing people during the Frost Month.

Number of sect members: Berserk Believers 1, Devout Followers 487, Believers 1883, General Followers 6105

Power of Faith: 2350 points

With over a month’s accumulation, his Power of Faith had once again increased to over two thousand points.

To convert the souls of Withered Bone and Kapp, both of whom were level 18 fighters, into his loyal subordinates, he would need tens of thousands of points of Power of Faith.

But Craig was only level 16, and his combat capability was incomparably weaker than Kapp’s, so assimilating his soul would inevitably require much less Power of Faith.

If there was enough Power of Faith, Lide’s first choice would definitely be to assimilate the soul of Kapp.

A level 18 Beastman King would undoubtedly become a trump card in his hand.

But now, the power of faith was scarce, and it might not even be possible to accumulate enough in six months to transform Kapp.

Furthermore, his next plan required the use of one of the two Beastmen, and with Kapp ruled out, only Craig remained.

He wasn’t sure if two thousand units of faith power would be enough to transform Craig, but time was pressing, and he had to try.

It was now mid-September, and Frost Month was drawing nearer.

Last October, the Beastmen had already invaded the borders with their iron hooves, and he was uncertain if the same would occur this year.

So, the process needed to be hastened.

After Harrison issued the orders, it wasn’t long before Craig, bound by magic prohibition chains and so frail he could barely stand, was brought into the city hall.

Upon seeing Lide, the expression of this level 16 Werewolf Warrior was extremely complex.

It had been a month, a whole month locked in that tiny cell, bound by magic prohibition chains, and he had even lost the strength to commit suicide.

He could only live hopelessly like a reptile, hoping countless times that the opponent would come in to kill him rather than being kept so humbly imprisoned.

He was a mighty werewolf warrior who should have died on the battlefield, not as a clownish captive.

“Damn vampire, why don’t you kill me…”

Craig barely had the energy to talk, his voice was frail as if he might meet the Death God at any second.

Lide looked at Craig’s miserable state with usual calmness.

For him, killing and death were no longer foreign, and the blood stained on the Beastmen’s hands was no less than anyone’s; there was no need to feel pity for a Beastman.

“Craig, give up your resistance, you will be granted freedom today.”

Huh?

Hearing Lide’s words, a hint of confusion crossed the vast head of Craig, obviously bewildered by his statement.

But his frail body caused his vision to blur, and his current state left him unable to think further.

Lide did not bother with further talk; he instructed the Bloodline behind him to help Craig sit on the sofa, then he extended his right hand, slightly closed his eyes, and began to mobilize the power of faith.

He had previously experimented with the power of faith on the Undead Mage, Withered Bone. By mixing spiritual power to invade the opponent’s spiritual sea, he could forcibly assimilate the opponent’s soul, making them eternally loyal to him.

However, at that time Withered Bone’s soul power was too tenacious, and Lide’s power of faith was too scarce to be successful.

This was his first bona fide experiment, and Craig was undoubtedly the guinea pig.

At his behest, Nicole had not used the power of faith during this time, so there were still more than two thousand points left. Although he was not sure if it would be enough, he had to try.

Clothed in a black mage robe, Lide, who originally had a somewhat dark aura, slowly manifested a holy light.

His palm was like holding a small sun, bursting with infinite light.

Holy, divine, and bright.

The weakened Craig suddenly widened his eyes, this scene giving the werewolf warrior an unspeakable shock.

This vampire was releasing holy light energy!?

How was that possible!!

Beastmen were not dark creatures and had little reaction to holy power, but that wasn’t the crucial point. The crucial point was that such divine power was being released by a vampire, typically a symbol of dark creatures.

What difference did it make from the undead releasing an Elf’s life magic?

But without time to think further, Craig already had no strength left to resist, and he could only blankly watch as Lide placed his hand on his wolf head.

The bright light made him instinctively close his eyes.

Then, Craig only felt a clear and gentle breath enter his mind.

Unexpectedly, Craig felt a sense of intimacy, a mother-like aura.

The initial will to resist was slowly dissolving.

At that moment, that holy power was gradually absorbed by his soul.

Extremely weak, Craig faintly heard his mother’s call in his ears during this moment.

“Child…”

The voice etched in his soul made the 16th-level Werewolf completely give up resistance.

“Mother…” Craig murmured softly, slowly losing consciousness.

The werewolf’s soul gradually transformed under the wash of holy power.

The soul became more solid, and his life flame grew more vigorous.

Throughout this process, the Power of Faith completely filled Craig’s mind, cleansing his soul.

Craig’s resistance and will to oppose Lide were completely eradicated under the wash of the Power of Faith.

As the Power of Faith continued to pour in, Craig’s soul kept transforming.

In the werewolf’s subconscious, his fear of the holy power shifted to dependence and affection.

At the same time, the initially detested essence of Lide became something Craig trusted and revered deeply.

This was a change in the soul targeted by the Power of Faith.

Lide did not know the specifics of this transformation, but he was aware that the 16th-level werewolf warrior’s resistance towards him was vanishing.

His soul shifted from resisting to actively accepting the Power of Faith.

During this process, he could even distinctly feel his spiritual power connecting to Craig’s soul.

He even knew that if he wished, a single thought could destroy the soul of this 16th-level werewolf warrior.

Absolute control.

Until the last wisp of the Power of Faith was absorbed.

Lide heard a long-missed prompt tone.

“Ding~ You have reformed Craig Shadow Hunter’s soul with the Power of Faith, you have gained ownership of Craig Shadow Hunter’s soul, and everything about him will belong to you.”

“Ding~ You have successfully performed the Divine Arts—Soul Assimilation, Divine Arts +1, and henceforth you can directly perform spells through Divine Arts skills.”

“Ding, you have devised a new Divine Art, the power of the Dawn Sect has increased, and you have gained 2000 Experience.”

“Ding, you have subjugated the 16th-level werewolf warrior, Craig Shadow Hunter, with Divine Arts and turned him into a Dawn Sect Temple Knight, gaining 2000 Experience.”

What??

Divine Arts??

This is Divine Arts??

Hearing the system prompt, Lide looked very surprised; he had never expected that the derivative method he stumbled upon under Nello’s inspiration would be recognized by the system as Divine Arts.

Divine Arts had always been zero on his attribute panel, and although he had tried many methods before, there had never been any movement.

He was utterly baffled about how to access or use Divine Arts, but unexpectedly, he had clumsily stumbled into developing one today.

What was darkness on the east, has lit up in the west.

“But, shouldn’t Divine Arts be a very powerful high-level magic?”

Lide looked at the system prompt slightly puzzled.

In his mind, Divine Arts were indeed an extremely sophisticated power.

Stronger than even Forbidden Curses, capable of easily destroying a city of hundreds of thousands or annihilating tens of thousands of beastmen in minutes.

But now, having merely assimilated a 16th-level beastman’s soul with the Power of Faith counts as Divine Arts?

Confused, he glanced at his Divine panel.

Dawn Sect: Dawn God—Lide Kachar (Fake God)

Divine Arts: 1, Soul Assimilation (Consumes 2000 points of the Power of Faith to convert non-Dawn Sect factions into the most loyal Temple Knights of the Dawn Sect, able to absolutely control the opponent’s soul, consumption of the Power of Faith increases depending on the strength of the opponent’s soul.)

Divine Position: Bloodline, Fresh Blood

Doctrine: Perseverance, tenacious struggle, unity, bravery, love for home and country.

Number of owned temples: 1

Believer count: Zealot 1, Devout Believer 487, Believer 1883, Casual Believer 6105

Power of Faith: 350 points

Current convertible Profession — Dawn Priest (requires 200 points of Power of Faith)

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Dawn Temple Divine Staff: Holy Maiden — Bishop Priest Emi Kachar

Temple Warrior: Craig Shadow Hunter

Indeed, this Divine Art and the usage of the Power of Faith he discovered weren’t much different, it’s just that now the system has solidified this method, so casting spells won’t be as strenuous in the future.

A Level 16 Werewolf is this weak?

Lide pondered over his remaining 350 points of Power of Faith.

He hadn’t forgotten that Kapp and Withered Bone both required tens of thousands of points of Power of Faith.

It seemed that even though Kapp was only 2 levels higher than Craig the Beastman, the amount required had increased more than fivefold.

There was only one explanation, Talent.

Lide shook his head, even at Level 16, Kapp could probably easily defeat a Level 16 Craig.

Just like Betty, also at Level 16, how long Craig could last against Betty, who has the blood of the Northern Royal Family flowing through her veins, was a question worth exploring.

At the same time, Lide thoroughly reconsidered the Divine Art of Soul Assimilation without any prejudice.

A moment later, he was startled.

Soul Assimilation, this Divine Art seemed innocent at first glance, but the more he thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.

This Divine Art was definitely not inferior to a Forbidden Curse.

Forcibly assimilating the soul of another life form, making it a Dawn Sect Temple Warrior, and having absolute control over the other’s soul.

This ability was incredibly domineering and terrifying, and combined with his Blood Clan Ancestor Talent… no words other than ‘perverted’ seemed fitting.

Lide could already vaguely foresee a scenario where after each war, all captives would become his subordinates.

But somehow, why did it feel so fitting?

Lide stroked his chin, lost in thought.

From just 200 Bloodline members in Dawn City to this level of prominence now, the role played by the Blood Clan Ancestor Talent was almost irreplaceable.

In several wars, he overturned the enemies and then, relying on the Blood Clan Ancestor Talent, forcibly turned the enemies into his own people, and then led his people to overturn even stronger enemies.

The top combat forces of Dawn City developed to this extent precisely by turning enemies into subordinates along the way.

Before this, Lide had been troubled because the Bloodline could not embrace other races initially, like the Undead Mage Withered Bone, who despite commanding a Level 18 giant dragon, couldn’t do anything but watch enviously.

Now having understood the bug-like effects of the Power of Faith, what difference did it make… it still all seemed in vain.

Lide thought about it and felt uneasy, he was too poor.

The Power of Faith could only produce so little each month, and both Withered Bone and Kapp had already reserved the Power of Faith for the upcoming year.

He wanted to use this Divine Art unrestrainedly, but it seemed impossible for a long time to come.

He now had cannon but no gunpowder, only able to lament the difficulties of life.

And the Dawn Priest, Dawn Bats, and these special troops still required the conversion of Power of Faith.

These were all very important forces for Dawn City, and it was impossible to just keep hoarding the Power of Faith without using it.

“I’m having such a tough time…”

“Once I have money, ah, once I have Power of Faith, I’ll keep a dragon on my left hand, sit on an Abyss Demon, walk a Great Angel behind, and have a Titan clear the path in front of me…”

Lide could only mutter these complaints in the dark.

A bunch of good things in front of him, yet he couldn’t use them, this feeling was too frustrating.

“Harrison, this Frost Month you must furiously plunder the population for me, at any cost!!”

Harrison was startled by Lide’s sudden shout, and looked up bewilderedly at Lide, who was gritting his teeth, somewhat puzzled.

“Clan Leader, I will immediately give the orders…”

Lide took a deep breath twice, threw the thoughts in his mind to the back of his mind, and decided not to think about these annoying matters anymore.

It just made him feel unpleasant.

Looking at Craig, who was still unconscious with his eyes closed, Lide opened his attribute panel.

Craig Shadow Hunter

Title: Devout (The most devout believer of the Dawn God, with unwavering will, immune to any soul or mind-related Magic, strength +30%)

Age: 47

Level: 16

Profession: Temple Knight (Dawn Sect)

Divine Gifted Talent: Prayer, immune to three negative effects per day, currently bound talent—Berserk.

(Berserk: Activates the power of the Beastman ancestors in the Bloodline, increasing all attributes by 200%, body recovery speed by 500%, duration: 30 minutes, after use falls into an extremely weakened state, all attributes reduced by -70%, duration 12 Sunshine Hours)

Introduction: A devout believer of the Dawn God, a temple knight of the Dawn Sect, possessing the powerful Bloodline of the Werewolf Clan.

Craig’s attribute panel was very average, and if it weren’t for that special Divine Gifted Talent, he could only be described as mediocre, no wonder he was so easily hit.

However, after being transformed by the Power of Faith, the acquired Divine Gifted Talent was an excellent match for Craig.

Immune to three negative effects, which means Craig could use Berserk three times a day.

Craig’s expression exuded confidence, he clenched his fist and struck his chest, “Your Highness, Craig will use his life to execute your will.”

As Lide issued his commands, the vast machinery of Dawn City began to turn, everything moving in line with his will.