Damon ignored the bickering spirits. The time dilation chamber was ruined, and he was exhausted, so he wasn't planning on going ahead with his original plan. He silently stood up and put on some clothes before he walked out of the training room.

"Where are you going, brat? It's fine if you have never touched a hammer before in your life. I can teach you from the beginning. Heh. It's even better that you are a blank slate. I do not have to deal with any bad habits and teach you everything the right way from the beginning."

"Hmmm… All in due time." Damon curtly answered. Sure, he would love to throw away everything and spend his time hammering away without a care in the world, but that was not his life at the moment. Kate's recovery trumped everything else.

Damon clenched his fists. He felt completely helpless. Even if he acquired all of those recipes and the ingredients and the potions from the vampire main families, Kate's recovery would still depend on Arya. There was nothing he could do. He was so clueless when it came to the soul.

"Do any of you know any soul cultivation technique or soul manipulation technique suitable for me?" Damon suddenly asked.

He realized that he had never actually asked Blood Reign or the old man for help. Blood Reign was dormant all this time, and he had jumped straight into a war after forming a bond with the old man. Maybe what he was searching for was right in front of him.

Unfortunately, the two mouthy spirits became weirdly silent the moment Damon asked his question. It looked like things were not going to be as easy as he wanted.

"Is that a no?" He asked again.

The old man finally answered. "I do know of a method to temper your body, mind, and soul. But it is currently not suitable for you. The method I know of is closely tied to the path of a master smith. Unless you start walking that path, there is little I can do to help you."

Damon frowned. Even though he was inclined to believe the words of the old man, something told him that the bastard was simply forcing him to learn smithing and become his apprentice wholeheartedly, just like he wanted.

"I told you already. I cannot do what you want me to do right here and now. There will be a time for it. Just not now. You can see everything going around me. What makes you think I will drop all of that and pick up a hammer?"

The old man became silent. He then cleared his throat and added. "Wait. I haven't finished talking yet. When I say that the method won't be suitable for you, I was talking about the best method in my repertoire. I still have a few average soul cultivation techniques that you can choose from. They are mostly incomplete, and some of them downright have flaws that could affect you in the future, but for now, they would work wonders for you."

"Do you know of any soul healing technique?" Damon asked again.

The old ghost shook his head decisively this time. "I don't. I don't have any need for such a thing. My technique is good enough to act as both a cultivation technique and a healing technique. I never took any disciple in my life, so I didn't have the necessity to find one either."

"But you should try talking to my younger generations. I am sure in all these years, they have managed to gather some impressive ones."

Damon nodded. He already had a feeling that he would have to do this in the end. The problem was that doing so would give these families a lot of power over him. He could never directly ask them. That was not the way to go.

In fact, he had already taken a first step in this direction. The Crimson Mountains were way too peaceful at the moment. In times like this, he couldn't easily get them to cough up things. But if this situation changes… then things would be different.

If he could somehow get them embroiled in war from many directions, they would have no chance except to fork out many of their hidden resources to fortify their side. There was nothing like wars to cook up some profit, and he planned to do exactly this.

This was why he had casually shared with Hinata the little secret he knew from his last life about some of the demon cities. This was also why he was going to start a rumor about the abyssal zone in a few days.

The one thing he did not plan was to involve them in his territory conquest, as they would have never agreed to such a thing, but thanks to his friends, the super guilds, even that had now become a reality.

Now all he had to do was wait, and soon the entire Crimson Mountains would be drenched in blood and war. He could easily get whatever he wanted from them.

This was his original plan, but now there was a big problem.

The waiting part.

With the super guilds in possession of soul techniques and not just any soul techniques, compatible soul techniques, waiting was no longer an option. The more he waited, the more his friends and family would be in danger.

As long as he had this big glaring weakness, every time they would target him right there until he finally broke down. He needed to somehow fix this first. Even if he had to somehow quicken the war along himself.

Damon was lost in his thoughts when Blood Reign suddenly interrupted him. "But my liege… why are you searching for soul cultivation techniques? You have no need for things like that. My liege… your abilities are not limited to just blood and bloodlines… this is just a mere fraction of what you are actually capable of."

Damon halted mid-stride. He slowly turned his head toward Blood Reign, her crimson mist curling lazily in the air like living smoke.

"What do you mean by that?"

Blood Reign floated closer, her form solidifying into the faint outline of a woman. "You seek techniques designed for lesser beings," she said. "Mortals need methods to cultivate their souls. But you, my liege…" She paused, a faint red glow blooming in her eyes. "You only need to devour. You are a supreme being meant to rule the cosmos. Your soul doesn't need to grow through cultivation. It needs to devour."

Damon's eyes widened in shock. If what Blood Reign was saying was the truth, then what was the true extent of what he could do?

"My partial bloodline…" Damon thought out loud. "So the answers to most of my problems lies on absorbing more and more of my bloodline." Now that he thought about it, this was quite obvious. But the thing was…

Anyone who had his bloodline, would be just as powerful as he was. There was no way he would be able to easily defeat them and devour them. Rather, there was a high possibility that it would be him who gets devoured.

While focussing on improving his bloodline was something he needed to work on, other things wouldn't hurt. If he ever found someone with the same bloodline, he needed to be at his strongest.

And this wouldn't be a simple task either.

If he truly did choose to go this path and attempt to absorb another fraction of his bloodline, then he needed some sort of edge. Damon's eyes lit up. The three legendary items in his possession and possibly a fourth.

Well, all were pretty incomplete but if he somehow manages to complete them, then his strength would explode instantly.

Then there was also his body. As long as he tempered his body and boosted his soul some more, then he could finally house his primordial mana core and make full use of it.

A plan began to form in Damon's head as he started opening a Blood Gate to the smithing building he had established through Sylvara.

"Where are we going, brat?" The old ghost asked. "Are you really not going to consider training your smithing path? I understand that you are someone very powerful and probably with a lot of potential but the path of smithing is equally worthy. You need to think clearly here. You are at a cross roads. You can still make the right decision."

Damon chuckled. "Master, I going to have to disappoint you again. I have already chosen the path of blood. I cannot go back. But trust me. Your legacy will not die with me. I will find you someone suitable."

The old ghost snorted.

"In fact, right now I am taking you to a place like that. There are about a hundred humans here who have all wholeheartedly chosen the path of smithing. How about you choose a few of them and teach them?"

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