Chapter 123 : Black-Blood Scales

Chapter 123: Black-Blood Scales

‘Was it because the effect of the Viper Spine Marrow was too good, or was it the result of the All Laws Converge, Heaven Book of the Divine Tree?’

Chen Beiwu looked inward to his dantian’s sea of qi and discovered that the Clear Spring Spirit Seed and the Green Wood Spirit Seed had doubled in size. Nourished by the pure spiritual power, they blossomed with unprecedented brilliance, as if they could undergo further transformation at any moment.

‘Strange, breaking through to the Tenth Level of Qi Refining could actually lower the difficulty of the spirit seeds’ transformation.’

Chen Beiwu’s heart stirred—this was something not recorded in the Heaven Book.

Could it be that the existence of the Qi Refining Aperture-Consolidating Method had filled in the gaps of the All Laws Converge, Heaven Book of the Divine Tree, causing the two great spirit seeds born from this cultivation method to surge in power and greatly increase their spirituality?

As this thought crossed his mind, a bold guess suddenly arose in Chen Beiwu’s heart.

If he could use the sect’s Qi Refining secret methods to cultivate up to the Twelfth Level of Qi Refining, would the All Laws Converge, Heaven Book of the Divine Tree naturally step into the realm of Flawless Qi Refining?

“Gulu!”

At that moment, the companion contract transmitted Gold Egg’s cry for help.

He turned his head and saw that Senior Sister Wan’er’s Gold Egg was red all over in her arms, steaming as if it were a fish roasted to perfection.

“Don’t worry, junior brother, it’s fine.” Li Wan’er casually tossed Gold Egg over to Chen Beiwu.

“This spirit fish’s physique is astonishing, comparable to a Foundation Establishment beast. That little bit of Viper Spine Marrow you had it digest can’t possibly harm it.”

“Gulu.”

Gold Egg opened its mouth and puffed out hot smoke.

Chen Beiwu swept it with his divine sense and found that its body temperature was just slightly high. It was not in any real danger and would return to normal after some rest.

‘Just one meal gave you two years of cultivation—something many Companion Beasts would envy greatly—yet you’re still complaining about the heat?’ Chen Beiwu transmitted his thoughts.

“Gulu.”

Gold Egg twisted its fish body, a little uncomfortable.

‘That Second-Tier Blood Viper’s cultivation was far greater than yours. Since you used Sea-Absorbing Spiritual Technique to devour its flesh and blood, it’s normal for the Flowing Gold Scales to be affected and grow blood-colored scales.’ Chen Beiwu explained.

Although Senior Sister Wan’er had easily slain it, the Green-Mang Blood Viper was in fact an extremely dangerous existence among Second-Tier Spirit Beasts.

Its innate talent, Black-Blood Scales, was a most troublesome spiritual art, capable of freely manipulating an opponent’s blood while strengthening its own defenses.

In front of the Green-Mang Blood Viper, some weaker Foundation Establishment cultivators could not even control their own blood and would explode into death on the spot.

The Flowing Gold Scales’ transformation was very likely influenced by Black-Blood Scales.

If Gold Egg could seize this opportunity to master Black-Blood Scales, in the future it would not fear swarms of weak enemies, and it could even grow stronger while battling in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

“Gulu?” Gold Egg widened its fish eyes.

‘You’ve only eaten a little viper flesh—how could you think of stealing a Second-Tier Spirit Beast’s innate talent so easily?’ Chen Beiwu scoffed.

Though the Sea-Absorbing Spiritual Technique was powerful, it was still merely a top-tier Second-Tier spiritual art.

If Gold Egg wanted to gain the Black-Blood Scales talent, eating just a bit of Viper Spine Marrow would be useless. It might need to devour and refine some Viper Gallbladder essence before it had a chance.

Turning his head toward the beach, Chen Beiwu saw Iron Egg lying on the sand, utterly exhausted, its nose exhaling waves of fire.

“How do you feel?” Chen Beiwu bent down and massaged Iron Egg to ease its fatigue.

When one viper fell, all creatures flourished.

After eating the viper meat, the light-blue fate orb above Iron Egg’s head had already transformed into a slightly dim blue, its potential soaring.

This showed just how much of a heaven-sent fortune the flesh of a Great Hui nearing flood-dragon transformation was to exotic beasts.

Iron Egg stuck out its tongue and licked Chen Beiwu’s palm.

Though viper flesh was nourishing, its potency was far stronger than that of the Verdant Scale Serpent.

At that moment, Chen Beiwu heard his senior sister’s tender voice at his ear.

“Junior brother, could you help me prepare a bit more viper meat?”

He turned his head and saw that the dozens of dishes on the beach had already been devoured clean.

“Of course, I’ll make more so that senior sister can take some home and freeze it for later.” Chen Beiwu readily agreed.

This one meal had accelerated his Qi Refining progress ahead of peers, saving at least five years of bitter cultivation, while also greatly benefiting Gold Egg and Iron Egg, both of whose cultivation years had increased significantly.

With such a blessing, what was cooking two meals in return?

“Then I’ll trouble junior brother.” Senior Sister Wan’er chuckled, her greasy lips especially conspicuous.

Chen Beiwu took a silk scarf out of his storage bag and handed it over, gesturing at her lips.

His senior sister blinked in surprise, then obediently accepted the scarf to wipe her mouth.

Seeing this, the Three-Colored Star Toad gave Li Wan’er a strange look.

Goodness, the mischievous demon who feared nothing within the sect actually showed such a gentle side!

It had been wondering why Li Wan’er, with her strength, had needed to use a Third-Tier treasure, the Ice-Soul Treasure Needles, against a viper not yet transformed into a flood dragon.

Now it finally understood.

After spending a whole day preparing the viper meat, Chen Beiwu thrust his blood-soaked Cold Pool Spirit Sword into the shallow sea to wash it clean.

He hadn’t expected that a fine Second-Tier spirit sword would end up as nothing more than a kitchen knife in his hands.

Fortunately, the Cold Pool Spirit Sword had drunk deeply of viper blood these past days. Its spirituality had slightly grown, and far from resenting this unusual way of nourishing it, it had grown even more intimate with its master.

“It’s enough, junior brother. We should return to the sect.” Senior Sister Wan’er, satisfied, packed up a great heap of dishes and piloted the flying boat back to Mirror Moon Sect.

……

Three days later, at Water Moon Peak.

Moon-in-Water Dwelling.

Chen Beiwu opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath.

After stepping into the Tenth Level of Qi Refining, his divine sense had expanded drastically, increasing from thirty to forty zhang, surpassing even early Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Immortal Alliance.

If possible, he wished he could remain in seclusion until his cultivation reached the Thirteenth Level of Qi Refining, smoothly advancing to Foundation Establishment.

But whether it was the Seven Revolutions of Great Cycle Qi Refining Method, which pointed directly to the Twelfth Level, or the sect’s untransmittable secret, the Heavenly Evolution Cycle Art, both required enormous contribution points to exchange, with the latter even demanding the identity of a sequence disciple.

Even though Chen Beiwu had earned plenty of Spirit Yuan from livestreaming, with enough low-grade spirit stones at hand, it would still be extremely difficult to gather such vast contribution points in a short time.

Unless he was willing to keep risking himself by uploading Immortal Alliance’s miscellaneous-grade cultivation methods.

‘No, I need another way to earn contribution points!’

Chen Beiwu rose from his dwelling and, guided by the sect’s map, headed toward the Formation Hall.

High-paying bounty tasks like Frostjade Queen Bee honey that required no time or effort were rare. Otherwise, he could have bought Immortal Alliance supplies with Spirit Yuan and completed sect missions for contribution points.

With no other choice, Chen Beiwu had to take another path.

Among the sect’s six branches and fourteen halls, the Alchemy Hall was the fastest way to earn contribution points.

Next came the Fish-Breeding Hall, the Artifact Refining Hall, and the Talisman Hall, with the Formation Hall ranking last.

With his current mastery of formations, joining the Formation Hall and taking its exclusive tasks to earn extra contribution points shouldn’t be a problem.

“Gulu?”

Gold Egg curiously scanned the crowd around the Formation Hall, its unsophisticated demeanor drawing the attention of passing sect disciples.

But as soon as they noticed the emblem on Chen Beiwu’s robe, their faces all showed a trace of awe.

Disciples of the Mirror Moon main lineage were never ordinary people—and outer disciples like them dared not offend.