Chapter 128: Curtain Call (1)

At the bottom of the blood pool, after a period of rest, Qin Mu’s True Qi was fully replenished.

While others could fight for two hours after a five-minute charge, his was a five-minute charge for three seconds of combat…

Once fully charged, it was time for Qin Mu to ascend.

And so, picking a direction, Qin Mu prepared to float upward.

Splash—

Qin Mu broke the surface of the water.

He looked around; there was only the pool and this high platform.

Moving upward, Qin Mu discovered a depression at the top, as if something had once been placed there.

“Hah, human boy, sometimes I have to admire your luck.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Divine Dragon Senior?”

“Boy, if I’m not mistaken, this should be the top of the blood pool, and what was placed here should have been a Blood Pearl.”

“This is a unique creation of the Demon Clan. Swallowing it, with a bit of luck, can allow one to advance an entire major realm. Unfortunately, the conditions for creating it are extremely stringent, and very few demons succeed. I never expected you, a human boy, to stumble upon its location.”

Qin Mu’s fingers touched the depression; it felt sticky.

“So, according to you, Senior, there should have been a pearl here.”

“That’s the logic, yes. But given the current situation, the Blood Pearl has clearly been taken.”

Swallowing it to advance a whole major realm… Qin Mu felt a slight temptation.

“Hehe, Divine Dragon Senior, if I swallowed this thing, do you think I could, like, whoosh, instantly reach the Foundation Establishment Stage?”

However, the Divine Dragon ruthlessly shattered Qin Mu’s fantasy.

“Human boy, don’t get ahead of yourself. The Blood Qi contained within such a Blood Pearl is not something you can withstand. Even among the Demon Clan, those who can are exceedingly rare.”

Well, so much for that shortcut.

Qin Mu sighed.

Why was his path to Foundation Establishment so fraught with hardship?

After checking his surroundings and confirming no demons were present, Qin Mu swam from the high platform to the shore.

He swallowed a Concealing Qi Pill and then affixed a Concealment Talisman before cautiously searching for an exit.

As Qin Mu walked step by step, he suddenly spotted a figure lying on the ground.

Slowly approaching, he saw the person’s face was deathly pale, devoid of any Blood Qi.

“Divine Dragon Senior, what happened to him?”

Qin Mu picked up a small stone and threw it at the figure.

The person remained motionless, likely already dead.

“His Blood Qi has been completely drained. Strange. Usually, it’s demons draining the Blood Qi of other races. How did it come to a demon’s own Blood Qi being drained this time?”

“Who knows? Maybe they got their comeuppance for constantly preying on others.”

Qin Mu circumvented the demon’s corpse and continued forward.

As he pressed on, more and more demons lay fallen on the ground, and now it was Qin Mu’s turn to feel fear.

“Damn, this is even more hardcore than zombies.”

Qin Mu found himself in a dilemma.

Go forward?

But the further he went, the more fallen demons there were.

Go back?

That might lead him to encounter live demons.

After much hesitation, he decided to press forward.

After all, encountering dead demons was better than running into live ones.

***

Boom—

Demonic Qi erupted in chaos.

The Ninth Venerable stared at Jing Kun before him.

His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth sharpened, and his skin was covered in bloody veins—there wasn’t a trace of his former human appearance left.

“Jing Kun! You dare to privately swallow the Blood Pearl!”

The Blood Pearl, created by the Demon Clan with immense effort, was certainly not prepared for Jing Kun!

Jing Kun stared at the Ninth Venerable, sensing the power within his body.

He laughed hoarsely, “I contributed a great deal of power to this Blood Pearl. By all rights, I should get a share of the spoils.”

Jing Kun’s current state wasn’t just good; it was explosively powerful!

He now had the strength to fight even the Ninth Venerable, who was in the Soul Formation Realm.

With such power, killing that Qin Mu he’d encountered earlier would be as easy as turning over his hand.

As long as he could escape, quietly devour Blood Qi, and bide his time, reaching not just the Heavenly Unity Stage, but even the Tribulation Stage was possible!

“Haha! For the sake of my cultivation, Ninth Venerable, you’d better not resist.”

Hearing Jing Kun’s words, the Ninth Venerable only regretted why he had plunged into the water earlier.

Here, Jing Kun not only had the power of the Blood Pearl but also the advantage of the terrain.

For the moment, the Ninth Venerable truly couldn’t do much to Jing Kun.

“Brat! Don’t get too arrogant!”

The Ninth Venerable’s True Qi surged out as his hands rapidly formed a spell array.

“Heavenly Prison!”

Boom— Boom—

The Great Array descended toward Jing Kun, simultaneously sealing off the surrounding space.

“Let’s see where you can escape to now!”

The Ninth Venerable increased his output.

Killing Jing Kun outright wasn’t an option either; if Jing Kun died, the painstakingly created Blood Pearl would be wasted.

He could only imprison Jing Kun first and then find a way to extract the Blood Pearl.

“Haha! Escape?”

Jing Kun grinned widely.

“The one who should be escaping is you, Ninth Venerable!”

“Blood Devour!”

With a bang, Jing Kun’s body exploded into a bloody mist.

The bloody mist effortlessly pierced through the Great Array and pounced toward the Ninth Venerable.

“Impossible!”

The Ninth Venerable’s eyes widened in disbelief.

But now was not the time for shock.

Facing the bloody mist that was Jing Kun pouncing toward him, the Ninth Venerable took out a gourd.

“Collect!”

A bloody light emerged from the gourd’s mouth, followed by a powerful suction force that drew all of Jing Kun’s bloody mist inside.

“Hehehe, a human who only knows how to boast.”

The Ninth Venerable shook the gourd with satisfaction.

Just as he was about to retract the Fabao, cracks suddenly appeared on the gourd’s surface.

“Not good!”

The Ninth Venerable hurriedly threw the gourd away.

Crack— Boom—

The gourd exploded, and the bloody mist gathered again, reforming into Jing Kun.

Jing Kun looked at the Ninth Venerable with a mocking gaze.

“Ninth Venerable, is this all you’re capable of?”

“Human! Do not be insolent!”

The Ninth Venerable could no longer afford to hold back.

He was determined to capture Jing Kun.

Rumble—

Aura erupted, and the space rapidly collapsed.

The Ninth Venerable now displayed the true power befitting the Soul Formation Realm.

“Heh, I was waiting for you to go all out!”

A triumphant smile spread across Jing Kun’s face.

If the Ninth Venerable hadn’t used his full power earlier, he wouldn’t have been confident in his plan’s success.

But now it was a different story.

A blood-red light flashed from Jing Kun’s Dantian.

He opened his mouth and spat out a blood-red pearl.

“The Blood Pearl!”

Excitement flashed in the Ninth Venerable’s eyes as he reached out to grab the Blood Pearl.

But the moment his hand touched the pearl, a stream of blood-red True Qi flowed from it into his body.

The Ninth Venerable: “!!!”

He tried to throw it away, but the Blood Pearl seemed glued to him, impossible to dislodge.

Gradually, the Ninth Venerable felt his senses fading.

“Jing Kun!!”

The last thing the Ninth Venerable saw was Jing Kun’s triumphant smile.

“Ninth Venerable, I’ll be taking your Blood Qi without ceremony.”

Jing Kun opened his mouth.

Strands of Blood Qi flowed out from the Ninth Venerable’s body and into his mouth.

“As expected of a Soul Formation Realm expert. The Blood Qi is truly delicious.”

Suddenly, Jing Kun seemed to sense something.

His gaze swiftly locked onto a direction.

In the direction Jing Kun was looking, a young man stood with his mouth agape, a look of utter shock on his face.

The moment he saw the youth, Jing Kun’s expression instantly turned ferocious.

He lost his composure and roared, “Qin Mu!!!”