Chapter Forty-One: Filled with Vitality

Xiao Wenzi paid no heed to the reactions of the mortals around him. Once he confirmed that Lu Ping was truly dead, he immediately flew to the wound on Lu Ping’s chest, where blood still flowed, and extended his proboscis to take several deep draughts.

The blood of a cultivator was an excellent supplement for practicing the Blood Spirit Grand Method. Since no one would dare approach him for a while, he could freely use Lu Ping’s blood to raise his cultivation—a small compensation for the loss of a life.

Back in the other side of the Tiannan Mountains, a single drop of Lu Tong’s blood had helped him break through to the second tier. Now, Lu Ping’s heart blood was an endless supply.

The only flaw was that this fellow’s cultivation technique was too poor, and the spiritual energy contained within his flesh and blood was not pure enough.

Thus, it took well over half an hour—until Lu Ping’s blood finally coagulated—for Xiao Wenzi to barely break through to the latter stage of the third tier.

Regrettably, before his new realm at the late third tier could solidify, the old man’s blood was already exhausted. Otherwise, reaching the peak of the late stage in one go would have been delightful.

“So this is a storage pouch? I wonder if I can open it and see what’s inside.”

After his breakthrough, both Xiao Wenzi’s demonic sense and cultivation had increased again. Within a twenty-meter radius, nothing escaped his notice; he could even make out the servants of the Xiao family peering around furtively at the entrance to the courtyard.

He had no interest in them, and instead fixed his attention on the small cloth pouch at Lu Ping’s waist.

Lu Ping’s storage pouch was of the lowest grade, holding just two or three cubic meters—about the size of a carriage compartment. With its owner dead, the imprint was easily erased by Xiao Wenzi’s demonic sense.

Upon seeing that the contents amounted to only a few spirit stones, some jade slips, Daoist robes, and ordinary gold and silver, Xiao Wenzi shook his head in exasperation.

It wasn’t that he despised the man’s paltry belongings, but his own body was simply too small to carry off or use the storage pouch.

Now, he could only hope that the two jade slips contained information about spiritual herbs and flowers of the cultivation world—otherwise, they’d be left to benefit the Xiao family.

Considering this, Xiao Wenzi wrapped his demonic sense around one jade slip and gently drew it out from the pouch.

“Hmm, this is the complete thirteenth-layer Qi Condensation chapter of the Nascent Spirit Sutra. So this must be the technique that charlatan master was cultivating...

Wait, if the foundational cultivation method for cultivators has thirteen layers, and I must exchange their blood for system coins of varying levels, then perhaps the demonic energy stages of the Blood Spirit Grand Method correspond to the thirteen layers of the Qi Condensation stage for cultivators.”

Immersing his demonic sense into the jade slip, Xiao Wenzi discovered it was merely an introductory cultivation method. However, comparing it with his own Blood Spirit Grand Method, he gained much new insight about the path of cultivation and the differences between demons and cultivators.

At the same time, he realized his own cultivation journey would be long and arduous. At least until he broke through the thirteenth layer of the demonic energy stage and entered the next great realm, he needn’t even dream of taking human form.

Transforming into a human, shedding the constraints of a mosquito’s body—this was Xiao Wenzi’s greatest motivation to cultivate. Yet the road to immortality was full of obstacles; to truly take on human form and reclaim the appearance of his former life would likely be a matter of countless years. There was little point in dwelling on it now.

He quickly set these thoughts aside and drew out the other jade slip from the storage pouch.

Disappointment soon followed. The slip didn’t contain a herbal compendium, but merely a few basic spells: Heavenly Eye, Spiritual Light, Golden Sword, Flaming Tongue, Binding Technique, and so on.

“Alas, never mind. I’d best leave quickly.”

Because of the differences in physical form, the Daoist arts of cultivators and the demonic techniques practiced by monsters were fundamentally distinct, as were their respective secret arts. Xiao Wenzi knew he could not cultivate the spells recorded in the jade slip, so he didn’t bother to study them closely.

A long time had already passed; word of a monster appearing in the Xiao family was surely spreading throughout Tiannan City. It was time to leave.

The Xiao family had no enmity with him, and he couldn’t take Lu Ping’s storage pouch with him anyway. Without returning the jade slips, Xiao Wenzi simply spread his wings and flew out of the manor.

With his breakthrough to the late third tier, both his demonic sense and cultivation had improved; leaving the Xiao family without a trace was no problem at all.

On his way out, he overheard some of the Xiao family whispering—saying Lu Ping was useless, merely a charlatan, and that the young lady was fortunate to be spared marriage to such an old man.

Of course, there were also those worried about whether the monster had really left, if it might bring calamity to the Xiao family, and that the master had gone to the city lord’s mansion to seek help.

Knowing that experts would soon come to investigate, Xiao Wenzi spared no expense, exchanging for Demonic Spirit Dew to flee at top speed. Not until he had flown out of Tiannan City did he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

By now, dusk had fallen. Few carts or carriages left the city at this hour, so, with no chance of hitching a ride, Xiao Wenzi had to rely on his own wings to continue his escape.

Fortunately, he still had some seven or eight thousand system coins gleaned from the fat youth and others, so there was no need to worry about exhausting his reserves.

Time slipped by. When night fell, Xiao Wenzi had already traveled dozens of miles from Tiannan City.

No cultivator had given chase—not because Nanshan City truly lacked powerful resident cultivators, but perhaps because no one imagined he could flee so swiftly. In any case, he was safe for now.

After flying several more miles, Xiao Wenzi stopped in a roadside forest, found a perch, and began to cultivate and recover.

The journey to the Misty Marsh was three thousand miles—no trip to complete in a short time. Moreover, he was now constrained by his cultivation method; until he found another small cultivator at the third tier to feed upon, his progress would be slow.

With no other solution, Xiao Wenzi decided to cultivate here until tomorrow, then travel by hitching rides while searching for lone, inexperienced cultivators along the way.

It was a good plan, but cultivators at the third tier weren’t so easily encountered in worldly towns.

The night passed quietly. By midmorning, Xiao Wenzi had managed to catch a ride.

Over twenty days later, he’d traveled more than two thousand miles from Tiannan City, but still found nothing. All he could do was sigh in frustration: “Ah, such terrible luck. Where are all the small third-tier cultivators?”

It was late autumn now. All the plants and trees along the main road had withered, and the merchant caravan’s wagons he hid among pressed on through the bleak autumn wind.

Suddenly, a flock of crows cawed overhead, their cries adding to the eerie atmosphere.

“Hmm... the scent of blood—is it possible?”

Xiao Wenzi’s demonic sense had a limited range and detected nothing unusual, but after the wagons traveled a bit further, a faint metallic tang of blood drifted on the air, making his heart stir.

Practicing the Blood Spirit Grand Method had made him extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. He was certain he hadn’t sensed wrong.

To produce such a scent, there must have been a violent slaughter ahead, with more than a few deaths. Seeking fortune and avoiding disaster, Xiao Wenzi was already considering leaving the caravan and skirting the area with care.

But just then, several streaks of light flashed rapidly across the sky in the distance, enveloping him in a sudden sense of danger. Xiao Wenzi dared not move a muscle, hiding in the corner of the cargo wagon and scarcely daring to breathe.