Qian Ye immediately noticed that not all the flesh in the void had been obliterated; a massive, crimson orb was half-submerged, floating in mid-air. The orb, which was as tall as an adult, pulsed irregularly, clearly being the core of this chaotic beast, much like the heart of a human.
The beast’s core could withstand the assault of the Primordial Wings? Just as Qian Ye was surprised, the already lifeless, broken body of the beast began to collapse, crashing down towards him with a rumble.
Although the middle of the beast’s body had been hollowed out, the bulk of the flesh remained around the edges. This collapse was akin to a building crumbling or a mountain disintegrating, instantly burying him under its weight.
With great effort, Qian Ye leaped to the side, but his back was suddenly struck by a heavy blow, and everything went dark as he sank downward. As it turned out, the beast’s core had fallen directly on him, unexpectedly heavy and hard, likely weighing several tens of thousands of kilograms, crushing him into the ground.
Even Qian Ye’s vampire constitution could not withstand such a blow. With a series of cracks, over a dozen bones in his body snapped. Fortunately, his dark gold blood vitality was highly alert, and amidst the violent shaking and disorientation, it began to move frantically within his chest, sprinkling golden light, repairing the cracked bones and preventing them from breaking further.
The chaotic beast was annihilated by a single strike from the Primordial Wings, indicating that its physical strength was merely average, yet the hardness of its core was on a completely different level.
However, Qian Ye, whose consciousness was starting to blur, did not think much of it. He did not notice that the beast’s core, which now pressed upon him, was cracking, and these cracks were spreading. Moments later, several fractures shattered simultaneously, spilling an endless stream of vital blood, immersing Qian Ye from head to toe.
This blood was a vivid, clear red, completely different from the foul-smelling fluids the beast had previously exuded. It had a strange, pleasant aroma, and the vitality it contained was even more terrifying.
As if with a will of its own, the blood crawled across Qian Ye’s skin, seeking his mouth and nose. The vitality of the beast’s essence blood was hundreds, perhaps thousands of times stronger than that of ordinary beasts, and it began to wildly activate every part of Qian Ye, both inside and out.
Immersed in the blood, Qian Ye’s body was covered with bulging buds and sprouting tendrils, and even his bones started growing sharp protrusions, extending in all directions. If this continued, it would not be long before Qian Ye transformed into another chaotic beast, losing his own consciousness.
When Qian Ye finally regained his senses, he faced this dire situation.
In the midst of the overwhelming vitality, the world seemed to be painted in a single, vibrant crimson. Even the remaining ordinary blood vitality within Qian Ye’s body could not control itself, absorbing the beast’s essence blood without restraint, expanding wildly.
The purple blood vitality was also in peril. The essence blood was so lively that it activated anything it touched, causing the purple blood, though it had retreated into the power rune, to still fluctuate, teetering on the brink of activation.
Only the dark gold blood vitality remained unaffected. It circled rapidly around the heart, guarding this last bastion. To maintain the purity of the territory, the dark gold blood vitality became extremely domineering, expelling all the ordinary blood vitality from the heart, and even forcing the purple blood, along with the power rune, out of the heart region, allowing no other blood to remain.
In this critical moment, Qian Ye’s mind became exceptionally clear, devoid of fear or panic. He knew that the only way to survive was to consume this essence blood. Years of hardship and struggle had forged an indomitable will, and he would never give up, no matter the danger. Ignoring the changes outside, he clung to the last shred of clarity, slowly driving the Xuan Chapter.
In this world brimming with extreme vitality, the vortex formed by the Xuan Chapter struggled to emerge. It began as a minuscule black dot, rotating and expanding very slowly, at less than half its usual speed and range, confined to the heart area, unable to expand further.
Yet, the vortex was not consumed by the beast’s essence blood, which it pulled into thin strands, squeezing and grinding them in the whirlpool, ejecting impurities, and finally swallowing the essence into the deep, bottomless darkness at its center. From there, pure threads of dark energy seeped out.
During normal blood refinement, about eight or nine parts out of ten would be considered impurities by the Xuan Chapter’s energy vortex and crushed away. The higher the quality of the blood, the fewer the impurities. The essence blood from this beast’s core, however, contained less than half impurities, truly astonishing. Such quality was likely on par with that of a vampire duke.
Thus, the process of refining the beast’s essence blood became abnormally slow.
Only now could Qian Ye take a moment to sense the changes in other parts of his body, realizing that the activation was inevitable. He hesitated for only a moment, then steeled himself, focusing all his will on driving the Xuan Chapter, abandoning control over his body entirely.
In an instant, Qian Ye’s vision went black, and all his senses vanished as his head began to grow and transform.
From the outside, Qian Ye was no longer visible in the pool of blood beneath the beast’s corpse. Instead, there was a mass of irregular flesh, growing wildly. This mass of flesh displayed a terrifying devouring force, tearing and biting through the hard outer shell of the core, incorporating it into itself.
Once the core had been completely absorbed, the mass of flesh began to devour the remaining flesh of the beast’s body, spreading like a river in all directions, consuming everything in its path, even the soil, gradually forming a hundred-meter-wide pit, with countless streams radiating outward.
The forest was no longer silent. From various places, countless beasts of all sizes emerged. Their nests were bizarre, underground, in trees, and even within other beasts. These beasts trembled in fear at the sight of the advancing flesh, unable to flee, and were quickly devoured, becoming part of the mass.
In the Dark Forest, trees fell and disappeared one by one.
At the core of this wild flesh, there was a small, pure, and isolated space, enveloped by the beast’s transparent essence blood.
Qian Ye’s heart floated within, with the dark gold blood vitality circling around it, constantly emitting golden sparks, stabilizing the space. Above the heart, the Xuan Chapter’s energy vortex continuously rotated, drawing in threads of blood, then exhaling wisps of dark energy for the dark gold blood to absorb.
Qian Ye’s consciousness was in a strange state, detached from his body, observing the operations within the small space. Though he could no longer feel his body, he could still control the Xuan Chapter.
At this point, Qian Ye wasn’t sure what his condition was, but his options were limited. He could only observe and wait.
After an unknown amount of time, Qian Ye, feeling bored, suddenly thought of a serious issue: where were the source nodes and the dawn energy in this world filled with blood and dark energy?
When humans fell into the Eternal Night faction, it was common for dark energy to overwhelm dawn energy, leading to the transformation of the body into a dark creature.
At this thought, Qian Ye’s heart sank. If he could still feel his body, he might have broken into a cold sweat. Although this was a matter of life and death, he had never considered prolonging his life by fully transforming into a dark creature.
As if in response, Qian Ye’s consciousness suddenly jolted, and the pure, isolated space began to change. Transparent ripples swept through, dragging out indecipherable runes.
Behind these, a vague, new world emerged!
Qian Ye strained to see more clearly, and his vision zoomed in, as if through a transparent barrier, revealing a pale, rose-colored mist. Within it, nine points of light shone like stars, seven forming a vertical ladle shape, with the broad end up, and two dimmer points below the handle.
This pattern looked strangely familiar. Qian Ye was puzzled, but then a flash of insight came to him—these were his nine source nodes!
He looked again at the world behind the barrier. The omnipresent pale, rose-colored mist was not static; it was surging and flowing, following the rhythm and patterns of the Martial Tide.
The transparent ripples reached their end and vanished beyond Qian Ye’s awareness, and the world behind the barrier faded away. Though he didn’t understand what he had seen, Qian Ye felt a sense of reassurance and redirected his attention to the space he was in.
Hundreds of miles away, Song Zining sat in his study, feeling inexplicably restless. He set aside his documents, laid out paper, prepared ink, and took up his brush, ready to paint.
Everyone thought he spent too much time on miscellaneous studies, but few knew that the Three Thousand Drifting Leaves Principle was about piercing through the illusions of the mortal world. Among the many paths to enlightenment, he chose to follow the way of painting, honing his heart and advancing his realm.
Song Zining concentrated and then swiftly began to paint. In moments, a landscape of rain-soaked mountains took shape. Pleased with his skill, he was surprised when his hand suddenly trembled, and a large drop of ink fell from the brush, ruining the painting.
A faint, greenish light rose from the paper, tracing the veins of a Bodhi leaf, but before it could fully form, the net-like veins broke and dissipated.
The unease in Song Zining’s heart intensified. He slowly put down the brush and rang a bell.
Moments later, a dignified old man entered, bowing, “Young Master Seven, why have you summoned me?”
“Teacher, have the cargo teams departed as scheduled?”
“The teams have all departed on time. Two of them have secretly exchanged their cargo as planned, and the other three will do so once they reach the midway station in two days, then proceed to the designated meeting point.”
Song Zining paced the room, then decisively said, “Change the plan. Let the three teams go straight to the meeting point without exchanging the cargo.”
The old man was slightly startled, “Young Master Seven, those three teams carry a fourth of the total cargo. If they don’t exchange the goods, the combined value will exceed half of the original. Won’t that be a significant loss?”
A hint of hesitation crossed Song Zining’s face, but he resolutely said, “I must leave for a while, and it may be a long trip. This plan cannot fail, so we must accept the loss. Consider it my repayment for the family’s support and nurturing.”
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