Free Web NovelChapter 614: Divine Blood
“People have tried that before. It didn’t work.” He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. “Do you think Beijia has no enemies? These weak points still exist, yet haven’t erupted, which means the gods or the Lord Emperor have Mount Xu firmly under control.”
“Others are others, you are you.” Dong Rui loved flattering him precisely when he was frustrated; it doubled the pleasure. “Wind, water, earth, fire... Elemental monsters like that can form a dozen or several dozen avatars or clones easily. If you can’t get past it, you won’t be able to move even an inch on Mount Xu.”
He Lingchuan immediately thought of Fushan Yue’s little Wind Demon.
On Mount Fengmo, it had indeed split into more than a dozen avatars.
And that had practically only been a cub. The rock-fire aberrant creature inside Mount Xu was an old hand, powerful enough that Lingxu City had to both feed it and suppress it.
It would never show mercy to intruders.
“If we fly in, maybe we can try hiding from it?” He Lingchuan scratched his head. “So you definitely have a flying monster puppet that can carry people, right?”
“Who told you that...” Dong Rui instinctively refuted, then realized something was wrong. “Well, fuck it, so what if I do?”
A flying monster puppet would let him come and go freely, fleeing danger at speed.
After his strange bird monster puppet had been shot down by He Lingchuan last time, he had been practically unable to move freely. So once he had the chance, the first monster puppet he began making was one with wings.
He Lingchuan was delighted and slapped him on the shoulder. “I knew you were the most reliable!” Whatever he needed, Dong Rui had.
Dong Rui’s face turned bitter. With this monster puppet killer eyeing it, will my new creation die young too?
He was a little conflicted.
With the flying mount problem solved, He Lingchuan considered the next issue. “I heard that after Mount Xu’s grand array operated for a while, it developed a small flaw. Maybe that can be used.”
Dong Rui looked at him, still feeling that this was unsafe. “This operation seems ridiculously difficult. Be honest, how confident are you?”
“At least seventy percent.” He Lingchuan’s expression did not change; he opened his mouth and started bluffing. “The main plan is settled. I just need to refine some details.”
Seventy percent? Heh, two percent would already be good. But if he did not look fully confident and give the other man some faith, this partner in front of him would turn and run.
How many ordinary people would even dare think of going against Lingxu City?
One of the most important pieces of the Mount Xu plan was Juju, the rock-fire aberrant creature, and he still had no targeted solution for it.
But this really was just how goals were. If he did not work toward them little by little, they would never be realized.
“...Why do I feel this is still shaky?”
“Your feeling is wrong.” He Lingchuan patted his shoulder. “We’re old friends. When have I ever made a mistake before? When have I not won?”
The past... the past is too painful to look back on. Dong Rui’s cheek twitched.
“I’ll be doing most of the work. Your part will be very easy.” He Lingchuan smiled. “You can advance or retreat freely. There’s no risk. What are you afraid of?”
Thinking about it, the task assigned to him indeed was not heavy. Dong Rui grunted twice and made up his mind that if things even looked like they were about to go wrong, he would leave immediately.
He Lingchuan then asked, “By the way, do you still have divine blood?”
Dong Rui looked at him warily. “W-What are you trying to do this time?” Last time, it was divine bone. This time, divine blood. What would he ask for next time? Is this He fellow ever going to stop?
“I have an important use for it.” He Lingchuan said seriously, “How much do you still have?”
“First, tell me what you’re using it for.” Dong Rui did not take the bait. “That thing is priceless.”
“To save people.” He Lingchuan sighed. “If used well, it may save millions from the calamity of war.”
“Not lending it.” Dong Rui was unmoved. “What do the lives of millions have to do with me? That’s not even half a copper coin’s worth to me.”
A Dong Rui-style answer, as expected. He Lingchuan was not surprised. “Then let me put it another way. Give me divine blood, and I’ll owe you a huge favor.”
Dong Rui looked irritated but still said, “How much do you want?”
He Lingchuan lowered his head and saw the wine jars in the corner. “Uh, two jars?”
Inwardly, he let out a breath.
Dong Rui really does have some! My luck’s almost too good.
This guy has divine bone and divine blood, both still fresh. Tsk, tsk. Did he dig up a god’s grave?
“Are you insane?” Dong Rui cried out, then immediately lowered his voice. “That’s divine blood, not something you get by casually slaughtering a pig and draining it!”
“Then, one jar?” Gods are large, so surely they have a lot of blood, right?
Dong Rui pointed at the wine cup on the table. “That cup, thirty percent full.”
That’s only a little over a hundred milliliters. “Isn’t that too little?”
“Little?” Dong Rui looked at him as if he were an idiot. “Do you know how many doses can be prepared from thirty percent of a cup of divine blood?” fгeewebnovёl.com
He Lingchuan humbly shook his head. Every profession had its own expertise.
“Three thousand bottles!” Dong Rui forced the words through his teeth. “Enough for me to conduct over a thousand experiments!”
“So in other words, this stuff is extremely precious?”
“Nonsense! The effects of divine blood are terrifyingly powerful. No matter what you use it for, it must be diluted countless times first.”
As for exactly how many times it had to be diluted, that was Dong Rui’s secret. He would not say even if beaten to death.
He Lingchuan immediately remembered the experiment the medicine ape Ling Guang had conducted in the Han River military camp.
That had been divine blood that had already been diluted and prepared by Dong Rui. Just one drop on a tree had instantly made the tree grow into a crooked, twisted shape. Even a bull nearby had gone mad after chewing only one leaf.
This thing’s effect was truly exaggerated.
As Dong Rui had said, no matter what medicine was made with divine blood, the dosage had to be extremely small.
Dong Rui added, “I’ve gone to Lingxu City’s underground black market countless times, and I’ve never bought divine blood. Never!”
“Maybe because they saw you were unfamiliar and wouldn’t sell to you.”
“I asked acquaintances to watch for it.” Dong Rui sneered. “Lingxu City is where a million rare treasures gather. What kind of strange treasure doesn’t it have? Yet there is no divine blood. Since the day Lingxu City opened, divine blood has been sold on the black market only twice!”
“The controls are that strict?”
“The most frightening thing is that both transactions were rooted out by Lingxu City. They dug up the buyers and sellers behind them and publicly executed them. No one’s pleas helped.” Dong Rui exhaled. “After that, everyone knew divine blood was the gods’ reverse scale. You couldn’t even touch it.”
In Beijia, the gods were supreme.
The will of the gods had to be carried out.
Heh. He Lingchuan did not believe it. He patted Dong Rui’s shoulder. “Then you truly have no reverence at all.” Doesn’t this fellow use divine blood to modify his monster puppets?
If there was one Dong Rui, could there not be a second or third?
He knew only one thing: the more openly forbidden something was, the higher its price became, and the more people would risk everything for it. So prohibition would never fully stop it.
There were always people willing to do business, even if it may cost them their heads.
“...” Dong Rui quickly changed the subject. “So no matter how much divine blood you take out, it is a lethal amount.”
An amount that would get someone sentenced to death.
“Good, good. That’s exactly the effect I want.” He Lingchuan beamed. “Get it to me as soon as possible.”
What else could Dong Rui say?
“Oh, right. Does State Preceptor Shuang Ye know about the errand you’re doing for Zhu Erniang?” He Lingchuan asked again. “Also, does he know about your relationship with me?”
The question came so unexpectedly that Dong Rui’s hand trembled. He quickly hid his shock. “What State Preceptor Shuang Ye?”
“Come on, stop pretending.” He Lingchuan smiled. “The group guarding you, weren’t they sent by State Preceptor Shuang Ye?”
“Who said that?” Dong Rui remained stubborn as usual. How has this fellow connected me with State Preceptor Shuang Ye?
“I recently learned that Hong Chenglue was reactivated by State Preceptor Shuang Ye.” He Lingchuan drank another sip of wine. “During the Battle of Han River, you suddenly appeared, and you were with him. Before that, you had just obtained Beijia’s pardon. Someone like you is notorious in Beijia. If you dared stand in the middle of the street and publicly announce your name, little monsters would spit at you. So the big figure capable of removing your wanted-criminal label must be State Preceptor Shuang Ye, right?”
Dong Rui looked at him, speechless.
Am I really this transparent in He Lingchuan’s eyes?
He Lingchuan continued, “I really must thank you. Otherwise, how would I have known that Mai Xuewen—oh, Xi Yunhe—is one of State Preceptor Shuang Ye’s people?”
Dong Rui was too tired to be surprised. “Because of the snail toad?”
“Yes, because of the snail toad.” The snail toad was a monster puppet created by Dong Rui and given to the person who had helped him escape Beijia. So whoever controlled that unique snail toad had ties to State Preceptor Shuang Ye.
Dong Rui slowly shook his head. “No one knows about my deal with Zhu Erniang, and no one knows I know you.”
In other words, this remained a little secret between him and He Lingchuan.
“Good.” He Lingchuan breathed out. “Keep it that way. Also, does State Preceptor Shuang Ye know you have divine blood?”
“He has never seen the medicines I take out, and he has never asked me.” Dong Rui thought for a moment. “But I’m not sure whether he has ever suspected. State Preceptor Shuang Ye is unfathomable. Joy, anger, doubt, questions, none of it shows on his face.”
He Lingchuan extended a hand toward him. “Alright, the divine blood?”
Dong Rui, though extremely unwilling, slowly took out a jade bottle from his storage container.
He Lingchuan accepted it and immediately put it away.
Dong Rui watched the bottle vanish with reluctant eyes. “From now on, you owe me a very large favor.”
“Don’t worry. When have I ever refused to pay my debts?” There was still a little wine left in the bottle, so He Lingchuan filled his cup. “You should go back. I’ll find you for drinks again in a few days.”
With the divine blood in hand, his heart felt much steadier. He could move into the next stage.
* * *
That night, He Lingchuan was regulating his breath.
Perhaps because so many things had happened recently and the pressure was immense, or perhaps because heaven and earth spirit qi was more abundant than before, his cultivation had been progressing faster. Now, he had actually begun liquefying the true energy in his second dantian.
It had only been a little over three months since he first opened his second dantian upon entering the State of Baoshu.
Back when he had just learned the Clone Technique, coordinating with a single clone in combat could empty his dantian’s true energy in an instant.
But now? It was nothing more than sprinkling water.
Combat endurance was far too important, not to mention the quality of his true energy.
The effects of imperial nectar were truly remarkable. Its strength lay in quietly moistening everything, raising him without fanfare and without showing itself.
If he were to fight Fan Sheng again now, He Lingchuan felt even more certain of victory. Though there was probably still a gap between them in origin energy, the battle would no longer require as much hardship and calculation as the fight at the Lotus Palace in Baishajue.
