Chapter 96: The Empress Senses a Crisis: Is This Mosquito Going to Devour Its Master?

"We won!!"

"The school gave in!"

"Badass! Brother Qin is a badass!!!"

The moment Du Nan First Middle School’s official announcement was released, a tsunami of cheers erupted over the square!

Students hugged one another, cheering and celebrating a victory that was all their own!

"We... won?"

Qin Zheng stood on the stage in a daze, finding it hard to believe.

Listening to the heartfelt, deafening shouts of "Brother Qin is a badass!" from below, he felt an unprecedented wave of satisfaction and accomplishment surge through him like a volcanic eruption!

He’d done it!

He’d really done it!

He, an ordinary person from a humble background, had actually managed to force a behemoth like Du Nan First Middle School to bow its head and give in, all through his own power and everyone’s support!

He had won "fairness" for all the ordinary students like himself—those with no connections, who could only rely on their own desperate efforts!

In that moment, he felt like a hero!

Meanwhile, in a corner of the crowd, Wang Tao was trembling with excitement.

’It worked!’

’The plan was a perfect success!’

’He could already imagine the look of panic, fear, and despair on Gu Yuexi’s face when she learned she was being forced to participate in the joint exam!’

’It’ll be quite a show, won’t it?’

’You think you’re so untouchable? Think your connections make you special?’

’Let’s see you act so high and mighty now, under the weight of public opinion from tens of thousands of students!’

’Just you wait! Three days from now!’

’There’s no way you’ll walk away from the joint exam arena unscathed!’

...

「At the same time.」

Inside Du Nan First Middle School’s top-tier Cultivation Chamber, the Nine Elements Spirit Gathering Chamber.

Gu Yuexi sat cross-legged, feeling the dense Spiritual Qi in the air. A flicker of satisfaction crossed her cool, clear eyes.

’Not bad.’

’Though, compared to the grotto-heaven from her past life, forged from Divine Crystals and a Dragon Vein, this place wouldn’t even qualify as a latrine.’

’But for her current stage, it was a top-tier cultivation environment.’

Perched on her shoulder, Chu Sheng also felt completely at ease.

Although he didn’t need to absorb Spiritual Qi to practice Cultivation like a normal Martial Artist, being in this environment was like soaking in a hot spring; every cell in his body seemed to unfurl in relaxation.

He felt incredibly refreshed, and even his mind was much clearer!

Suddenly, the system’s voice rang out—

[Ding! Host detected in an environment of extremely high Spiritual Qi concentration. The Spiritual Qi is accelerating your body’s energy circulation and digestion! Blood digestion time reduced by 2 hours!]

’Huh??’

Chu Sheng froze for a second, a pleasant surprise washing over him.

’Holy crap! So this stuff actually works on me?!’

’It reduces digestion time? Doesn’t that basically mean I can drink blood more often?’

’Great place! This is definitely a great place!’

Gu Yuexi ignored the mosquito’s startled emotional fluctuations. From her Storage Ring, she retrieved the Thousand-Year Cold Jade Box containing the Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Essence Blood.

’Now, it’s time to increase my strength.’

She didn’t drink it directly like Chu Sheng; that would be purely suicidal.

Her mind as tranquil as still water, she activated the Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique. She carefully drew a thread of Essence Blood thinner than a hair, guided it into her body, and began to rapidly refine it!

BOOM!

With just a single thread of Essence Blood, the immense Energy contained within instantly shattered her bottleneck at the Peak of First-Grade!

Her aura soared, and she stepped firmly into the Second-Grade Early Stage!

However, before the joy of the breakthrough could even register...

The Qi Blood in her body went wild, rampaging through her like an untamed stallion and bringing waves of tearing pain.

At the same time, a violent, chaotic bestial will began to furiously assault her Sea of Consciousness, causing stabbing pain to lance through her brain and even conjuring multiple illusions before her eyes.

This was the greatest drawback of the Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique!

While one’s strength skyrocketed, both the physical body and the Spirit would endure a tremendous impact!

She immediately took out a Second-Grade Vein-Protecting Pill she had prepared and swallowed it, stabilizing the rampaging Qi Blood and meridians in her body.

The physical risk was temporarily averted, but the mental assault still left her feeling waves of irritation and fatigue.

’It’s all that damned mosquito’s fault!’

’If it hadn’t sucked that whole crate of Spirit Grass dry, I could have refined a Purifying Heart Jade Dew Pill by now and wouldn’t be suffering like this!’

Gu Yuexi couldn’t help but curse it again in her mind.

’I can only hope that the hundred stalks of Spirit Grass Xiao Ran is bringing tomorrow will include some spirit-calming varieties...’

’Regardless, she planned to continue her Qi Blood Cultivation until at least Fifth-Grade before considering abandoning the Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique completely.’

’After all, she’d come this far with it. Giving up now would be a bit of a waste...’

’In any case, Gu Yuexi was confident she wouldn’t suffer a fatal backlash before reaching Fifth-Grade. Everything was under control.’

And just then.

The King-level Essence Blood in Chu Sheng’s belly was finally digested.

[Ding! Blood digestion complete! Acquired 105 Evolution Points! Current Total Evolution Points: 128!]

’Alright, alright... time for another sip!’

Having watched the Empress absorb the Essence Blood for so long, Chu Sheng was practically drooling with envy. How could he possibly hold back now?

With a beat of his wings, he landed right on the Jade Box, aimed for the crack, and jabbed his proboscis down hard once more!

[Ding! Host has absorbed 541 points of Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 1708!]

[Ding! Host’s Mental Power has slightly increased. Mental Power +50! Current Mental Power is 900!]

’Sweet!’

Feeling the power surge through his body once again, Chu Sheng trembled with excitement.

’Over seventeen hundred Qi Blood!’

’That’s already the strength of a Second-Grade Late Stage, just one step away from the Peak of Second-Grade!’

But just as Chu Sheng was beside himself with excitement, he suddenly felt Gu Yuexi’s gaze from beside him land on him... a gaze that was incredibly wary and grave.

’Hm?’

’What’s wrong with the Empress?’

Chu Sheng was confused.

As for Gu Yuexi, her sense of crisis was practically at its limit.

’When a Demon Beast breaks through in its Qi Blood Realm, there’s a chance its Mental Power will also increase slightly as a natural consequence.’

’This mosquito was obviously experiencing just that...’

’Its Mental Power had grown again!’

Gu Yuexi could clearly sense that her own Mental Power was now only a sliver greater than the mosquito’s!

’If this keeps up, it’s only a matter of time before it surpasses me!’

’It’s a huge taboo for the gap in Mental Power between a Master and their Contracted Beast to be too small!’

’What’s more, this mosquito possessed a terrifying Spiritual Wisdom, one on par with a human’s!’

’Once its Mental Power surpasses mine...’

’The consequences will be unimaginable!’

A chill ran down Gu Yuexi’s spine. A taboo term that had circulated in the Beast Taming Realm for millennia, the stuff of nightmares for all Beast Tamers, surfaced uncontrollably in her mind—

Beast Domination!

Normally, a Master and a Contracted Beast enter a master-servant covenant, giving the Master absolute control over the Contracted Beast.

But there are always exceptions.

If a Contracted Beast’s Mental Power far surpasses its Master’s, to the point where it can, in turn, suppress the Master’s Sea of Consciousness...

...then the master-servant covenant could be forcibly reversed!

At that point, it is no longer a human taming a beast, but a beast taming a human!

This kind of thing had happened a few times in history, and they stood as the most terrifying cautionary tales in all of Beast Taming History...

And in those few incidents of "Beast Domination," the Contracted Beasts involved were, without exception, Demon Beasts of extremely high Spiritual Wisdom!

Gu Yuexi looked at the mosquito, alarm bells screaming in her head.

If it were any other Contracted Beast, she might not be so worried. Most Demon Beasts have low Spiritual Wisdom and have no idea how to utilize their Mental Power.

But this mosquito...

’Its Spiritual Wisdom isn’t that of a Demon Beast. It’s basically a person!’

’A scumbag, at that!’

’Give it an inch, and it’ll take a mile—it would seize control without a moment’s hesitation!’

"Buzz buzz? (Beast Domination? Sounds pretty good to me!)"

Chu Sheng heard her inner thoughts, and his compound eyes instantly lit up.

’Something that good exists?’

’Wouldn’t that make me, Lord Mosquito, the master?’

’Then whatever I want the Empress to do, she’ll have to do?’

’Like... making her sing, dance, and rap for me?’

’Or maybe...’

’Nope, nope, that idea won’t get past the censors!’

Chu Sheng quickly shook himself, casting certain dangerous thoughts from his mind.

Gu Yuexi: "..."

Through the Blood Covenant, she clearly felt Chu Sheng’s baffling wave of excitement and anticipation.

’What the fuck... are you looking forward to?!’