Fars had made up his mind to leave this place, which held countless beautiful memories for him. However, it would take some time for the next wave of stronger hunters to arrive. After all, this era lacked the magical communication technology of the Nesser Dynasty. Back then, resources were abundant, and Eirras was much larger than it was now. Those great magi and legends found it cumbersome to communicate, needing to fly thousands of miles just to meet. Thus, they invented long-distance teleportation arrays and portable communication gems. The technology of the ancients hadn't been lost; it was simply that the current era couldn't afford it. Only a few major kingdoms retained high-cost teleportation arrays between their capitals and key towns, and communication gems were limited to a select few powerful individuals. The thief who had escaped earlier certainly couldn't afford such luxuries, so if he wanted to relay specific information about Fars, he would have to run back himself, which would involve a lot of trouble and effort.
With that in mind, Fars realized he had at least ten days to half a month to rest in the cold pond before anyone truly threatening arrived. To be safe, he had made thorough preparations for his escape, already packing everything he could into his two rings. He even reserved one space in a ring, filled to the brim with ice crystals. These crystals were not only food for Danis but were also sometimes used by Fars for meditation.
The past few days hadn't been entirely peaceful; two more groups had fallen victim to Fars, their souls ending up in Danis's little belly. The newcomers weren't particularly strong; in fact, one group clearly consisted of rookies just starting out. However, their strength was impressive, with four out of five being high-level professionals. This indicated that they were the kind of young elites often sought after by young women. Eliminating them meant Fars had acquired two more space rings, each with a generous capacity of nearly twenty square meters. This further confirmed that they were not ordinary adventurers.
Regardless, the gains from these past few days had been immense. Just those two rings filled with various luxury items allowed Fars to enjoy a more lavish noble life than he had in his previous existence. By the time of Fars's generation, the Delong family could hardly be considered a prominent family anymore; their living standards had become quite frugal. However, this didn't mean their taste had diminished. Fars was fortunate to have inherited this discerning eye. He could identify the emblems on these young men's clothing, recognizing which noble family from which empire they belonged, and he could tell which ancient vineyard produced the wines they carried. All in all, such significant gains further demonstrated that Fars had become a valuable target, with several wealthy and powerful families likely willing to pay a fortune for his life. Notably, these families hailed from the Macas Principality, located near the Qihar Mountains. It seemed one of the young men Fars had drained was from the royal lineage of the Macas Principality. In other words, Fars had thoroughly offended this principality, becoming a wanted man of considerable notoriety.
It wasn't entirely Fars's fault; these young men were inexperienced rookies. Despite their strength, they had encountered little danger on the outskirts of Qihar. Unfortunately, they stumbled upon Fars in the cold pond and discovered him. Fars, still considering himself a noble, didn't want to make things difficult for these wealthy young lords. However, Danis was a little sprite, and not only had the thief from before taken a liking to her, but this group had as well. To them, Fars was merely a vampire viscount, and they plotted to kill him for a double harvest. Forced into a defensive situation, Fars accidentally killed one of them. Since he had already killed, he decided to silence the rest, and thus, several well-equipped young lords fell to Fars, the seasoned predator.
After this encounter, Fars didn't dare linger. He hurriedly checked his spoils and packed up. Having acquired two larger space rings, Fars wasted no time in erasing their mental imprints and replacing them with his own. With new storage space available, he took Danis back to the bottom of the cold pond, where there were still plenty of ice crystals left to collect.
Without hesitation, Fars began to sweep through the nearly depleted ice crystals at the bottom of the pond, adhering to the principle of "better to mistakenly kill than to let a single ice crystal go." Finally, he managed to destroy the source of the cold in the pond. With a large quantity of ice crystals in hand, Fars couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. Now, with three precious space rings, the smallest one had become unworthy of his attention and was tossed into one of the larger rings. Just based on these rings alone, Fars could be considered a wealthy man worth millions.
As he prepared to leave, Fars couldn't shake off his reluctance. He gazed at the small wooden cabin by the pond, unsure of what emotions to feel. Although most of the work on the cabin had been done by the departed Jesse, Fars had also poured his heart into it. Unable to bear the thought of burning it down, he steeled himself and spread his wings to fly away.
As for where to go, Fars hadn't quite decided. The Qihar Mountains were vast, making it easy to hide. He had been on the verge of leaving the mountains, not wanting to coexist with beasts in this desolate place. However, he couldn't go to the nearby Macas Principality now, not if he valued his life. To escape, he would have to take a long detour. The Macas Principality wasn't very large, but its geography was elongated, stretching over two thousand miles along the border with the Qihar Mountains.
If he headed east, he could bypass the Macas Empire and enter a large barbarian settlement in the southern part of the continent. This area was known for its hostility towards humans, but it didn't mean they welcomed vampires either. In the eyes of the barbarians, these dark creatures were akin to demons. If Fars went there, he might be better off hiding in the deep mountains. However, the advantage of heading east was that it would take him much closer to the vampire-infested eastern part of the continent. By passing through the barbarian lands and exiting the Wretched Marsh, he would reach the darkest regions of the continent. Heading west wouldn't be smooth sailing either; he would have to navigate through several principalities that shared the same animosity towards the Macas. Yet, if he continued north, he could reach his homeland, the Oxi Empire. Fars felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with that place, both in life and in death.
Perhaps it was this deep-seated nostalgia that compelled Fars to fly westward. However, he was still unfamiliar with this region. Although he had plenty of maps among his spoils, he still ended up taking a few detours. If he could fly directly, it would have been much simpler, as he could bypass any geographical obstacles. But this area was different from the ruins he had initially explored; he was now deep within the Qihar Mountains. Every day, he encountered powerful magical beasts that were unafraid of Danis and his presence.
Fars, who wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, chose to flee from these troublesome creatures whenever possible, targeting only those high-level magical beasts that feared him. As mentioned earlier, ordinary mid-level magical beasts no longer satisfied his appetite. Fortunately, Danis still had an eye for the souls of these high-level beasts. After Fars fed, she would extract and consume the souls of the fallen magical beasts.
Perhaps due to the richness of the food containing the elements Danis needed, she was growing rapidly, weighing around three to four pounds now. Standing on Fars's shoulder, she was heavy enough that he couldn't help but wish she would lose some weight. This could only be attributed to Fars's good fortune; despite lacking experience in raising a phoenix, he had ample ice crystals and could provide Danis with a daily dose of beast souls to change her diet. This perfectly suited the growth needs of this mutated ice phoenix. The growth cycle of ancient beasts was long, partly due to their extended lifespans and partly because they were often abandoned by their parents at a young age, forced to fend for themselves and rely on their innate talents and efforts to thrive. As juveniles, they couldn't hunt high-level magical beasts to obtain the necessary nutrients for their development, so they had to start by preying on ordinary beasts or low-level magical creatures. This was insufficient to meet their growth needs, thus extending their growth cycles.
Danis, on the other hand, was much luckier. With Fars's attentive care, she had ice crystals to eat and could afford to be picky. Consequently, Danis was undoubtedly growing much faster. Although Fars didn't know the exact value of those ice crystals, there was no doubt that they were worth at least as much as magical cores of similar size. This meant that this little creature could consume food worth thousands of gold coins in a single day. Fortunately, her father, Fars, was wealthy and had plenty of ice crystals. Dealing with such a picky child would be a burden for an ordinary person.
The cold pond had likely nurtured those ice crystals for millions of years. Fars calculated that if Danis's appetite didn't increase in the near future and she continued to consume beast souls, she would have enough to last her for a year. What to do after that, Fars had no idea. He would take it one step at a time; as long as he didn't want to starve, Danis would have to accept a change in her diet.
However, since Fars could only travel at night and had to find a dark place to hide during the day, their unique auras attracted a lot of trouble.
Today was no exception. Perhaps Fars had chosen a particularly unique hiding spot, a cave surrounded by dense weeds. When he arrived, he hadn't noticed any formidable magical beasts nearby. Danis's aura had scared off the insects and snakes that resided there, giving Fars a moment of solitude. The cave wasn't very large or high, and Fars couldn't set up his tents, so he laid out a blanket instead. Just as he was about to begin meditating, an unexpected guest approached rapidly. Without a doubt, it was another creature that wanted to eat Danis. Consuming beings with ancient high bloodlines could benefit magical beasts in their evolution to higher tiers. Creatures like Danis, who were in their infancy and possessed noble bloodlines but lacked strength, would not only scare off ordinary magical beasts but also attract numerous powerful high-level ones.
And indeed, another one was coming.