Why didn't the Church have records stating that a vampire's flesh and blood could induce mutations in other creatures, yet he, Norton, possessed this ability?

"Sigh, could it be because I'm a transmigrator, so from the perspective of Status Hierarchy, I'm somewhat different from the products of this world?

After all, even though I was born here, my soul is ultimately different."

Norton's little brain, it must be said, although a bit uncontrollable at times, was actually quite clever when it needed to be.

However, this was also thanks to reading too many novels in his previous life;

various settings almost popped into his head without him having to think hard.

The more Norton thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

"If this world venerates Status Hierarchy above all else, and all other lifeforms, because they were created by God, naturally have a Status Hierarchy beneath God's... then my soul alone was not created by Him. So, from a broad perspective, my soul should share the same Status Hierarchy as God.

That's why I possess the creative ability that other vampires lack? I can use my own flesh and blood to create entirely new species, possessing a God-like power of creation?"

Norton's crimson eyes glowed with red light in the darkness;

he was practically getting excited by his own idea.

This was easy to understand: the souls, or perhaps the consciousness, of other species were all created by God, so they could all be controlled by God. In this entire world, there could only be two truly free souls: the first was God, and the second was him, Norton!

In this sense, he, Norton, was on equal footing with God! So, would the authority of creation that God possesses also be something he, Norton, could possess?

"Very likely!" Norton felt there wasn't a single flaw in his reasoning. Otherwise, why was there no record of other vampires being able to create minions or transform other species, while he, Norton, could?

It couldn't just be because he, Norton, drank the blood of a Holy Knight, could it?

But since the Church had captured vampires, they would certainly have conducted relevant experiments;

they wouldn't neglect to try such an obvious one. Newest update provided by novelꞁire.net

But thinking further, he felt his idea wasn't rigorous enough.

Because although his, Norton's, soul wasn't created by God, his body was. And the bat didn't consume his, Norton's, soul;

it licked his flesh and blood. That shouldn't trigger the possibility of creation!

Unless the mutations of the bat and Priest Abraham weren't caused by his flesh and blood, but because he *wanted* them to happen, which would then confirm that the root cause of creation lay in his soul, in his thoughts, not his flesh and blood!

"That makes sense! Coal Ball didn't eat my flesh and blood back then;

it just licked a bit." Norton recalled his previous interaction with Coal Ball.

Moreover, Coal Ball's ability was too strange. He, Norton, had been puzzling over why a vampire would lack the ability to transform minions, and then Coal Ball manifested this ability. Originally, Norton thought it was a coincidence and felt God was unfair! But now, it seemed this probably wasn't a coincidence but related to his subconscious!

And Priest Abraham's vampire appearance was identical to the image of a classic vampire from his previous life's movies and TV shows. How could such a coincidence happen? That he, Abraham, would transform into a vampire looking exactly like the image from his past life's media?

One coincidence is a coincidence, but two coincidences point to a definite fact!

It was highly likely that consuming his flesh and blood acted as a medium, providing these creatures with the means to change, but his will exerted an additional influence within that, thereby affecting how these creatures mutated, causing them to become creations shaped by his, Norton's, will! And thus achieving a downgrade in Status Hierarchy.

"Is that it?" Norton frowned deeply.

"If it really is like that, then the werewolf also ate my flesh and blood, so why didn't a werewolf matching my impression appear? And these monsters all want to hunt me;

the book didn't say vampires would attract the attention of monsters!"

"Ahem, ahem, ahem..." The sound of Priest Abraham's coughing echoed from outside, interrupting Norton's train of thought.

He let out a long sigh, returned the book to its original place, and then stealthily hid behind the torture instruments again.

This trip wasn't a loss. Not only did he learn about vampire vulnerabilities, but he also gained a lot of useful information. Although the most useful part came from his own deductions, and he didn't yet know if his reasoning was correct, without this information, he wouldn't have had the basis for his deductions.

Next, he could try experimenting to see whether the mutation of species was caused by his flesh and blood or by his thoughts.

If it truly was as he suspected, that his soul's Status Hierarchy was equal to God's, then he, Norton, truly had limitless potential.

At the very least, he wouldn't be forever restricted and unable to rise above due to this concept of Status Hierarchy.

Norton lay quietly in hiding behind the torture instruments.

He didn't plan to reveal himself in front of Priest Abraham. Although his, Norton's, Status Hierarchy was higher than Priest Abraham's, and he could even be called its creator, God's fate had already revealed a crucial point to Norton: never trust and never underestimate the human heart.

If God, who controlled everything, could fail so miserably, he didn't think he would fare much better.

"Scrape..." A sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor echoed, coming from the cellar entrance.

Priest Abraham was dragging the corpse of a servant, pulling it into the cellar.

Traces of blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth. Perhaps because he had recently fed, when he reappeared in the cellar, he wasn't immediately driven into a bloodthirsty frenzy by the bloody scent within.

It seemed that even this second time feeding, this abnormal state still caused Priest Abraham some fear and unease.

Killing was the same, but it was clearly much more comfortable doing it as a priest than as a vampire.

If he hadn't turned into a vampire, he wouldn't have handled the corpse himself;

he would have just had a servant drag it away to be discarded. But now, he didn't even dare let a servant see the corpse, and could only drag it into the cellar to hide it.

After casually dumping the corpse in the cellar, Priest Abraham picked up the book from the table and then left the cellar again.

Norton carefully followed behind him, using his super senses to avoid the servants in Priest Abraham's house.

Perhaps afraid of being seen during his feeding process, Priest Abraham had specifically sent away the servants nearby. The two of them proceeded all the way into Priest Abraham's mansion.

Priest Abraham walked on the ground, while Norton crawled upside down on the ceiling above him.

They had just entered the door.

"Holy shit!"

An exclamation suddenly burst from Priest Abraham's mouth the moment he entered. His body jerked backward abruptly, as if he had seen something terrifying.

His shout startled Norton too. Hanging upside down from the ceiling, Norton shuddered and quickly looked down.

An exquisite silver cross was placed on the table in the main hall. This was the cross Priest Abraham had taken off while bandaging his wound in the morning. It had been left here, forgotten by Priest Abraham.

Damn it!

Norton was also scared stiff, his body instantly scrambling backward.

He had just read about the fatal effects crosses have on vampires, and now this bushy-browed priest has one just sitting in his house, right?

Goddamn it, attempting to harm the Progenitor is a grave crime!

The two vampires, different in kind, fled swiftly, one after the other.

Norton's body retreated outside the door within a mere second. Priest Abraham fared slightly better, only retreating to the doorway.

Sunlight shone on Norton's body, bringing a prickling pain akin to needles, making him grit his teeth in fury, wishing he could skin Priest Abraham alive.

"I, Norton, have laid low for eight years, and I almost got taken out by you, you little bastard! Think being a priest makes you special? Just leaving a cross lying around the house like that?"