The sound was quite explosive and quickly alerted the guards who rushed upon the scene for fear of another ambush. Melinda had only just woke up and was about to begin refining Hal's essence when the bang sounded.

She quickly left her bed and put on what could only be described as a nightgown to go to the scene of the sound.

When she arrived there, she saw a gigantic, larger-than-life serpent with gleaming green scales and a head that already broke past the ceiling of the room into another unoccupied room on top.

Now that the space had been broken through, the serpent had room to move her head and gaze down below while Hal was simply standing by the side and admiring Sassy's magnificence.

There was no need to mince words, she was a spectacle. Even Melinda agreed. She was quite sure that a larger size was not the only improvement Sassy had seen and the -so-far- unseen ones were bound to be more deadly.

The guards, upon seeing the cause of the bang were quick to retreat but even they were in awe.

*Hisssssssssssss*

Sassy let out a particularly long hiss and started to release her toxic gas but she was also condensing them into a point.

Hal could see she was easily getting carried away, it was normal for her to be eager but he felt this was hardly the time or the place.

'Sassy. Not right now' he cautioned telepathically.

'Fine' she said with a telepathic sigh.

In serpent age, Sassy had been equivalent to Marla's age but while she was still at the Sensing beast realm, she was not equivalent in intelligence even though she had been more intelligent than her cultivation permitted.

Now that she was at the Early stage of the Natured Beast realm, she possessed near-human intelligence and could quite successfully curb her instinctual urges.

"Impressive" Melinda said.

Hal nodded,

"Yes, she is" He said before giving Melinda a summary of what he had done to Sassy as the Viper shrunk back to her normal size.

Hal stretched his hand to her and she nicked him with her fangs and began to suck his blood. Melinda's eyes widened as she watched this display between Master and Familiar.

Hal on the other hand noticed something as Sassy ingested his blood and its energy illuminated her from the inside out, her bloodline was getting stronger... No, scratch that, it was not just growing stronger, it was evolving.

Now that Sassy was his familiar, she shared his cultivation base but she did not share his Bloodline and Hal was already beginning to realize that he could not bestow her with his Bloodline through the Familiar contract.

He could now understand why the Devil and Demon lords he had only just learned about would hold battle royals to choose the best.

It was because they understood that the lower the purity of bloodline, the lower the starting point for the Familiar and thus it becomes an uphill battle to greatness.

This would only serve as a hindrance for the Master of said familiar as Bloodline purity was everything among Devils and Demons.

As Sassy sucked his blood, Hal could sense the evolution but could not sense its end.

He was so lost in thought that he did not even caution Sassy or ask her to stop. Unconsciously, he was actually a little over-eager and expectant that the Evolution be complete right there and then.

However, Sassy stopped on her own and Hal could feel that there was a limit she could take. She let out the equivalent of a yawn and when Hal opened the portal, she slithered through it quickly, in a hurry to take a nap.

Melinda walked towards Hal and he smiled towards her,

"It seems I woke you" he said.

"No you didn't, I was already awake" She said with a shake of her head and pulled a very willing Hal with her as she walked back to her room.

Hal chuckled mildly but in his mind, he was thinking of the possibilities of his Bloodline evolving Blood energy.

What if he went into the forest and made use of his Bloodline to evolve all wild beasts and Demon Beasts. He could create a whole new squad of dangerous subordinates.

Since the Haron Continent was bound to kill them all should they attempt advancement to the Aurora Beast realm, then why not become their hero and save them.

That way, even without the Devil mark, he could guarantee their allegiance.

His head was quickly getting filled with such thoughts as a cruel smile stretched on his face as he dreamed of how the conflict between the two continents could prove beneficial to him.

'Hold it right there, Dreamer' Grimoire suddenly cautioned.

'What?' Hal was indignant.

'Do you think, I had no idea your blood could facilitate evolution? Because if you do, then you are very wrong' Grimoire said.

Hal was a little confused,

'If you did then...' He began but Grimoire interrupted,

'Why did I not tell you? Simple, I knew you would get carried away. One beast's evolution is quite possible but attempting multiple could dry you up or at least take a long time to render the plan moot' Grimoire said.

'If that is so, then you must have a way around it. After all, no artifact could possibly know more than you' Hal said, throwing a few compliments in the mix.

'Of course, I do and your compliments don't move me' Grimoire said.

'Really? Cause I could have sworn you caught your breath' Hal teased, he had of course heard no such thing.

'Shut up. Anyway, the only way you can possibly do it is with the use of Blood replenishing pills.'

'Okay great. Do you have some and if you do, how much is it?' Hal asked, his enthusiasm was very evident.

Grimoire made the sound of someone clearing their throat and said smugly,

'Oh yes I do and it's 100 Blue gems per pill'

Hal blinked, that Grimoire had ready-made pills was not very surprising, after all, it contained ready-made arrays as well, the surprising part was its prize but with his wealth, Hal knew he could still afford it.

'Fine, I'll buy it then' he said.

'Umm, you can't buy it with its equivalent worth in gold, it has to be in blue gems' Grimoire said a little sheepishly.

'What?!' Hal exclaimed

'Them's the rules.'

'Is it the same for all items that are worth Blue gems?' Hal asked.

'No, it's not. It's only pertaining to a category and this just happens to fall into that category.' Grimoire informed him

'That's convenient' Hal scoffed with an eye roll.

'However, the recipe to make the pills, as well as its ingredients, can be bought with Gold' Grimoire added.

Even though that should have been good news, Hal's inability to refine pills ruined it.

Or it did before he remembered that there was an alchemist in the city, one who he could still seek an audience with. Suppose the Alchemist did not hold a grudge against him for ignoring them then,

All was not completely lost.

At this point, Melinda was at the side of the bed and pushed him onto it so that she could straddle him and nip at his neck.

Hal grabbed the nightgown-like dress she wore and tore it up to begin another round of lovemaking...

...

It was hours later before they stopped. They both sat cross-legged beside each other and refined the essence from their session as well as essence from past sessions.

Hal refined what he had gotten from Marla and Amelia as well but was still not any closer to the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm.

Melinda on the other hand advanced to the late stage which would have happened already during their two-day (on the outside) orgy but was denied because of the increase in difficulty the further she went in cultivation.

It was with a deep sense of satisfaction that she lay back down on the bed. Hal followed her example and laid down as well.

He was tracing her areola while occasionally pinching her pink nipple when he spoke up,

"Gregory wants to make peace"

Melinda whose eyes had been closed contentedly suddenly opened them,

"Really?" She asked with surprise heavy on her tone of voice.

Hal nodded,

"Burt already told me while I was with Sassy but the letter arrived while we were having sex. The guard, with my permission, opened the letter and read its contents to me.

It's mostly false apologies but ultimately, he wants us to sit down and finally 'Hash' things out." Hal said with a mocking chuckle.

"We are going to go right?" Melinda said and turned on her side.

Hal grabbed one of her perfect breasts and squeezed lightly,

"Of course I am. It is high time we put this matter to bed. But there's something we need to do first before honoring his invitation or more accurately, something I would like you to do" Hal said with a smile.

Melinda narrowed her eyes,

"You are going alone?" She asked.

"Yes, I am" Hal nodded.

With his cultivation and Bloodline, Hal no longer feared Gregory and was quite sure beyond all doubt that he could beat him, but that was not enough...

Melinda was about to argue when Hal placed a finger on her lips,

"I'll be fine. What I need from you is more important. I don't just want to beat Gregory, I want to fulfill my promise.

I want to completely decimate him and the Payne Family."