The experience of transforming into hundreds of Bats and flying was extremely special; every single Bat was under Li De's control, yet it felt completely different from his human form.
Transform into Bat was a transformation-type spell that only consumed mana during the shift; once transformed, it required no mana to maintain. As long as he had the stamina, he could fly for a day and a night without issue.
The distance between the Distant Mountain Range and Green City was neither too close nor too far.
The journey was about five hundred kilometers, and after transforming into Bats, Li De's speed approached two hundred kilometers per hour. After two sun hours, he successfully reached the edge of the Distant Mountain Range.
The Distant Mountain Range stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, making it the longest mountain range in the southern part of the Nolan Empire.
The towering mountains separated the Nolan Empire from the further south—the Orc Empire located in the Barren Wasteland... These two massive nations only shared a border of less than three hundred kilometers at the southernmost point.
The ancient castle was built deep within the Distant Mountain Range, in an extremely hidden location.
This was the place the Vampire Progenitor had spent over a decade searching for within the Distant Mountain Range, and its terrain was absolutely perfect.
A large swarm of Bats flapped their wings along the mountain range, weaving through the air currents and cold winds.
It took another full two sun hours before the swarm of Bats slowly came to a halt.
This was a steep mountain range, with an ancient castle built halfway up a cliff, sandwiched between two mountains that were at least three thousand ren high.
The massive castle was built flush against the steep mountainside. Its walls were divided into two sections: one was the mountain itself, rising five hundred ren from the ground.
The second section was a wall built upon the mountainside, over thirty ren high. This wall, crafted from the magic-resistant Sinking Iron Stone, was immune to damage from spells below the Fifth Ring.
In front of the castle, there was only a single three-hundred-ren wide road connecting to the foot of the mountain, while both sides of the road were flanked by valleys hundreds of ren deep.
Deep valleys and secluded streams.
In a place like this, a force of only 500 would be enough to withstand an attack from tens of thousands.
A true natural fortress.
The swarm of Bats Li De had transformed into dove down, landing in front of the castle before canceling the spell and returning to human form.
Looking at the thirty-meter-high wall built of Sinking Iron Stone before him, he felt greatly relieved.
Although his current strength didn't match the title of Vampire Progenitor, the accumulations the Vampire Progenitor had made over the last two hundred years were indeed a significant fortune for Li De.
The wall above the castle was pitch black, without a single light.
Vampires are the darlings of the Goddess of the Night; night vision is an instinctive talent, and they can see even more clearly in the dark than during the day.
The sentries above became alert after sensing movement below.
"Who goes there?!"
"No need to be nervous, I'm back."
Li De's steady voice carried far, and the Vampires above were immediately overjoyed upon hearing it.
"Patriarch!"
With a shift of his body, Li De transformed into a Bat again and flew directly onto the thirty-ren-high wall.
Once Li De revealed his form, the ten Vampires on night duty immediately gathered around.
They bowed with one hand over their chests in utmost respect.
"Good night, Patriarch."
The Vampires of this lineage were all Li De's Blood Descendants; in human terms, they were all his progeny.
Vampires cannot reproduce, but they can expand their lineage through the First Embrace.
By using the Vampire bloodline within their bodies and injecting it into a human through their fangs, they can transform that human into a Vampire.
This is the First Embrace.
Every Vampire can perform one First Embrace a year, but they will remain in a weakened state for a period of time after each one.
Reasonably speaking, since the original body was transformed into the Vampire Progenitor two hundred years ago, two hundred years of development shouldn't have resulted in only a little over 200 Blood Descendants.
But after checking his memories, Li De found that things weren't that simple.
A hundred years ago, at the peak of the Vampires' glory, they had nearly three thousand Vampires.
At that time, the Vampire Progenitor was level 14, a High-level Mage on the verge of breaking through to level 15.
But a large population represented not just power, but also a massive need for supplies.
Each Vampire needed to feed at least once a month, which meant that nearly three thousand Commoners near the Distant Mountain Range were hunted by Vampires every month.
The horrific Death rate terrified the villages and towns near Green City, and it also angered the most powerful force within Green City—an existence above an Archmage, a level 20 Transcendent Mage named Locke Hart.
The three thousand Vampires were suppressed by Green City's army; the Vampires' original castle in another part of the Distant Mountain Range was breached, and in the end, only a little over a hundred clansmen escaped.
At that time, Green City's Transcendent Mage Locke Hart, a powerful existence who had tamed magic, slaughtered over a thousand Vampires single-handedly.
That fear still lingered in the hearts of the Vampires to this day.
The Vampire Progenitor was critically wounded and nearly killed by the Transcendent Mage in that battle; his level dropped from 14 to 5, and it took him a full hundred years to heal his injuries.
It was also that great battle that made the Vampire Progenitor realize the power of a Transcendent Mage, which led him to think about infiltrating Green City to systematically study magic.
After finishing the Vampire Progenitor's memories, Li De felt a bit heavy-hearted; the pressure on the Vampires' survival was far greater than he had imagined.
Without development, they would be destroyed, but once they took the wrong direction, they would also face destruction.
The Vampires' current survival model had to change; there was no future in the crude development they had practiced before.
Thinking of this, Li De couldn't help but shake his head.
Vampires and humans; in the eyes of people in this world, the two sides had irreconcilable conflicts.
Vampires viewed humans as food, while humans viewed Vampires as demons; whenever the two met, only one could usually survive.
But were the conflicts between Vampires and humans truly irreconcilable?
Li De had been thinking about this question on his way here.
If the Vampires continued to develop like this, it would be seeking their own destruction; endless slaughter would not make the Vampires strong.
He came back this time to find a way to solve the problem of the Vampires' development.
As the Vampire Progenitor, the Vampires were his roots; the stronger the Vampires were, the more confidence he would have.
If the Vampires were gone, he, as the Vampire Progenitor, would be finished, and half of his bug-level talents would become useless.
"Audis, what is it that you were so urgent to notify me about?"
The Blood Descendants in the castle all inherited Li De's surname, Kachar.
The leading Vampire in front of him, Audis Kachar, was a tall, handsome, and elegant middle-aged man with an outstanding temperament.
Because of their innate talents, all Vampires were handsome men and beautiful women; their looks could even rival the Elven race, who had already reached the peak of beauty.
Audis not only had an outstanding temperament but was also extremely powerful; his level had reached 9, making him an Intermediate Mage on the verge of a breakthrough, and his sub-class as a Warrior was also at level 4.
In glory, level 0 is a Commoner, and level 1 is an Apprentice.
Levels 2 to 4 are Ordinary Professionals.
Levels 5 to 9 are Intermediate Professionals.
Levels 10 to 14 are High-level Professionals.
Levels 15 to 19 are Master-level Professionals.
Level 20 is Transcendent.
There were six others with the same strength as Audis, all of whom were Li De's Second Generation Blood Descendants.
The remaining 200 Vampires in the castle were all level 5 or above, which could be considered a significant force.
A level 5 professional is enough to serve as a captain of a hundred-man company in the army.
Therefore, while the number of Vampires Li De ruled seemed small, their strength was quite good; at the very least, they had a certain ability to protect themselves.
"Patriarch, the humans from the last hunt are gone. We need to hunt again."
The elegantly mannered Audis looked more like a noble than an actual noble; it was hard to imagine that such a person was a Vampire.
Vampires need to drink blood to survive, and humans are the Vampires' source of food.
Previously, the Vampires would set out together every six months to raid surrounding villages and cities for humans to keep as livestock for food.
But once a Vampire drinks blood, they don't care about the human's life or Death, so the humans they raided were almost all one-time use.
Li De had once ordered that every time the Vampires raided for humans, they had to report to him.
Now, the humans from the last raid in the castle had been killed off by the Vampires, so the Vampires staying behind in the castle sent the news to him.
Hearing this, Li De raised an eyebrow.
He made up his mind.
The Vampires needed to change.