"In the end, aren’t you just trying to stir up the battlefield to let the Crown Prince escape? Was it worth sacrificing so many subordinates for him alone?" Pei Yan spoke to Depeo trapped in the scene, while his hands effortlessly moved, filling the surrounding space with a massive amount of source energy.

"Hehehe, young man, don’t use this heart attack method on me. You and I both know that even if I don’t use them, you would kill them, wouldn’t you? The murderous aura on you has already exposed this point. Can’t admit you’re getting old! Today’s young people are truly terrifying, carrying such a heavy murderous aura at a young age!" Through the Blood Mist, Depeo sighed mournfully: "Those two brothers shouldn’t have become your enemies; they are not your match."

"It’s a pity! They don’t have your insight, old man. But Moira, whom you call Cai Peishen, has learned a lot after a few setbacks, but unfortunately for our grudge, they... hehehe!"

Watching Pei Yan speak with a meaningful cold smile at the end, Depeo in the scene could no longer remain calm. Under the full activation of his Cultivation Technique, the Blood Mist instantly broke through Pei Yan’s spatial isolation, surging towards Pei Yan overwhelmingly.

The various precautions taken earlier now became irrelevant. Depeo did not intend to spread out and escape; his only target was Pei Yan. For Pei Yan, he was happy with this result. While continuing to strengthen the surrounding defense, to prevent the old man from harming others if he failed, Pei Yan opened his arms and calmly accepted the Blood Mist’s baptism on his body.

"You are too dangerous! Leaving such a formidable enemy for the next successor of the Vlad Clan will ruin the family’s future!"

Listening to Depeo’s determined roar from the surrounding Blood Mist, Pei Yan remained indifferent, taunting with a smile: "Hey! Old man, why are you so concerned about this child? Are you actually their real father? Hahaha! Wow, Old Wang next door, what a high-handed trick!"

Depeo, though unaware of what ’Old Wang next door’ meant, clearly understood the implications of Pei Yan’s words. Known for following rules and adhering to his duties, this was undoubtedly the greatest insult to him and his loyalty.

In a fit of rage, Depeo completely burned all his life and source energy. The previously dispersed Blood Mist now condensed into a mass of viscous liquid, suddenly charging towards Pei Yan. Because the opponent had no intention of dodging, Depeo smoothly used the blood mass to cover Pei Yan’s entire body.

Looking down at his palm and whole body, Pei Yan noticed a thin blood membrane covering his surface. Through the membrane, he could even clearly see the body wrapped inside. He forcefully tugged at it with his fingers, finding it highly adhesive and elastic. After several attempts to break it without success, Pei Yan abandoned this dull behavior.

"I don’t know if I can kill you today, but I must try, regardless of the cost of my life, to make you pay for your words and actions!"

"Commendable courage! I take back my previous words, not out of fear of your threat, but out of respect for your determination!" With that, Pei Yan opened his arms and closed his eyes, speaking in a deep tone: "Now let me see what you can do with the power you exchange for life!"

"Ugh~!" Depeo did not reply in words; the suddenly tightening blood membrane was his answer. Pei Yan felt like every inch of skin on his body was being compressed with immense force, even making his breathing difficult.

Quickly converting his breath to absorb oxygen stored in the space, Pei Yan reinforced his defense while praising: "Oh, impressive ability! Generally, a cultivator, no— even some powerful Children of Origin who are not specialized in Body Refinement would be crushed under such an attack, but old man, it’s still far from enough for me!"

"I know how strong you are in Body Refining Technique, and I know the reason you dare to let my blood adhere to you because you have a Mechanical Puppet body; you think Blood Race magic is useless on you! Young man, you underestimate Blood Race Magic!"

Depeo barely finished speaking when Pei Yan felt the blood vessels surrounding him stop momentarily. Though in mechanical form, he could clearly sense the blood within him running chaotically out of his control, breaking free from his firm mechanical body restraints, slowly flowing out from his body surface.

This same feeling Pei Yan experienced for the second time today; the first was during the arena when Nero activated his evolved ability. However, Nero’s blood absorption ability was not as strong as Depeo’s. It seems that among the numerous bloodlines Nero absorbed, the Blood Race contributed significantly.

"You have deep interactions with the Blood Temple..." Pei Yan controlled the external seepage speed of his blood with strong source energy flowing within, grinning: "This must be Blood Race’s Secret Technique, huh? You even hand over something like this to outsiders?"

"You’ve experienced this kind of magic?" Depeo was surprised and shocked.

"Ah, just now in the arena, Nero used it."

"Hehehe, him! That’s just the surface of my Blood Race Magic, and I can only exert less than half its power, but to deal with you, it should be enough!"

"Old fool, were you getting carried away when I complimented you earlier? Wasn’t it the hesitant stance you had before?" Pei Yan was not afraid at all now; rather, he was slightly excited and deliberately provoked.

"Whether I am carried away, let your body experience it, Pei Yan, you are truly arrogant! I admit you possess the strength to support your arrogance, but this pride will ultimately destroy you. Just like you said, if it were ordinary people, they would have collapsed under my crushing force, yet you sustained it with your strong physique. However, you didn’t seize the chance to escape my restraint; now we are linked by blood vessels, and it won’t be easy to separate us." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Oh? Is that so! Then let’s give it a try!" Pei Yan said, closing his eyes tightly and clenching his fists, suddenly a bright red glow emanated from the body under the blood membrane, his mechanical surface radiating a fiery crimson light after high-temperature combustion.

"Ugh~ah!"

"Ugh~ah!"

Two screams sounded simultaneously. Covered in the blood membrane, Pei Yan fell to his knees, enduring the scorching sensation from the high temperature within. Beside him, Depeo’s panting voice carried a hint of sneering.

"Does it hurt? I said we were linked by blood vessels; any attack you unleash on me will reverberate within you, making your defenses ineffective. Now we truly feel each other’s pain!"