Gu Yuexi soon learned of the news and had no objections.
The plan did indeed sound perfect.
A group of rich kids from the Capital City, under the guise of an academic exchange, would get travel passes to Hong Kong Island to tour and have fun.
A group like that wouldnât even get a second glance from the Federation, let alone any top-tier assassins. It was absolutely perfect cover.
âVery well, letâs do it that way.â
âThere are still two days left. I canât waste them.â
She went straight to Qi Chongshan and requested the best Cultivation Chamber in the Provincial Government, planning to raise her Mental Power a bit more before departing.
The moment she entered the Cultivation Chamber, Gu Yuexi immediately sat cross-legged, cleared her mind of all distracting thoughts, and entered a state of deep meditation.
She had only one thought nowâto increase her Mental Power!
âI have to leave that damned mosquito in the dust as soon as possible!â
Seeing the Empress enter a selfless state of cultivation, Chu Sheng, who was perched on top of her head, was ecstatic.
âYes, yes, yes! This is how it should be!â
âYou focus on cultivating your Mental Power, and no one will be competing with me for the King-level Essence Blood!â
âI havenât even touched a single drop of that Deep Sea Profound Turtleâs King-level Essence Blood yet!â
âIf not now, when?!â
âTime to feast!â
Without a momentâs hesitation, Chu Sheng "politely" retrieved the Thousand-Year Cold Jade Box from Gu Yuexiâs Storage Pouch.
As soon as he opened the lid, a majestic aura of life, in no way inferior to that of the Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Essence Blood, rushed over him. It even carried a faint, salty scent of the ocean.
"BUZZ~ (This is good stuff!)"
Without another word, Chu Sheng plunged his proboscis in and took a huge gulp!
BOOM!
A torrent of cold, dense energy instantly flooded his entire body.
[Ding! The host has absorbed 655 points of Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 5186!]
[Estimated digestion time: 6 hours. Estimated gain upon completion: 135 Evolution Points!]
[Ding! Detected âWater Originâ (trace amount). Absorbing...]
[Absorption successful! The hostâs Defense Power against Water Attacks has been permanently increased by 100%!]
[Congratulations to the host for comprehending the Water Realm! Current comprehension progress: (60/100)! Reaching 100 points is considered introductory level!]
âAwesome!â
Chu Sheng felt every cell in his body cheering. The sensation of his power skyrocketing was more addicting than anything else!
He immediately entered a state of digestion.
ăSix hours later.ă
[Ding! Blood digestion complete! Gained 135 Evolution Points! Current Evolution Points: 371!]
Chu Shengâs spirits lifted. Without the slightest pause, he took another gulp!
[Ding! The host has absorbed 661 points of Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 5847!]
...
[Ding! Blood digestion complete! Gained 132 Evolution Points! Current Evolution Points: 503!]
[Ding! Water Realm comprehension has advanced to the introductory level (120/500)! Reaching 500 is considered Minor Success!]
...
[Ding! The host has absorbed 658 points of Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 6505!]
BOOMâ!!!
The instant Chu Sheng took his third gulp of Essence Blood and his Total Qi Blood broke the six-thousand mark!
He felt as if something inside his body had been completely detonated!
His Qi Blood, which had once been like a raging river, began to crazily compress and condense at this very moment!
His previously gaseous Qi Blood was now transforming into a liquid state at an unbelievable speed!
It was a qualitative transformation!
It was as if every drop of liquefied Qi Blood contained a terrifying power several, or even dozens of times, stronger than before!
The systemâs notification sound also rang out in his mind at the perfect timeâ
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! Qi Blood Realm has broken through to "Qi Blood Melting Furnace Realm - First Transformation"!]
[Qi Blood Melting Furnace Realm: A transformation before Martial Arts Fourth Grade! A Martial Artist transforms their own body into a furnace to smelt their Qi Blood, causing it to undergo a qualitative change! Each completed qualitative change is one Transformation! There are three Transformations in total!]
âI did it!â
Feeling the unprecedented, terrifying power within himâa power that felt like it could easily tear through mountains and rockâChu Shengâs heart swelled with pride!
âSo this is the Qi Blood Melting Furnace Realm?â
âIt really is a world of difference from the Peak of Third-Grade!â
He could clearly feel that the power each point of his Qi Blood could now unleash was at least three times greater than before!
At the same time, his Total Qi Blood was also a third greater than it had been at the Peak of Third-Grade!
âMy combat power has absolutely skyrocketed exponentially!â
Chu Sheng was absolutely confident that, even without summoning his underlings, he could now easily break through the defenses of an ordinary Fourth-Grade Early Stage Martial Artist with a single Soul-Bursting Flame Feather!
Of course, that would only be breaking their defense. Defeating one in a one-on-one fight would still be quite difficult. The gap in realms was simply too large.
âBut it doesnât matter. My true trump card for Cross-Level Combat isnât the quality of my Qi Blood, but the Insect Swarm!â
âSpeaking of underlings...â
With a thought, Chu Shengâs consciousness instantly sank into the Nether Flame Insect Nest.
After a day of rest and recuperation, all the Spirit-Devouring Worms that had died in battle had been reborn within the Insect Nest Space.
The number of his underlings had returned to its peak of sixteen thousand!
âThis reproductive ability is truly heaven-defying!â
But a problem also arose.
The more than seven thousand newly hatched underlings were all feeble First-Grade Early Stage worms. They had almost no combat power and could only serve as cannon fodder.
âI have to find a way to upgrade them!â
Chu Sheng opened the [Insect Swarm Evolution] page.
[Current Life Essence: 8600 points]
This was what he had gotten from recycling the corpses of the Golden-Scaled Monocled Ape and that assassin back in the Secret Realm. âFourth-Grade corpses really are valuable.â
He glanced at the required cost for upgrades.
[First-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worm] -> [Second-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worm]: Requires 1 point of Life Essence each.
[Second-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worm] -> [Peak of Second-Grade Spirit-Devouring Worm]: Requires 2 points of Life Essence each.
[Peak of Second-Grade Spirit-Devouring Worm] -> [Third-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worm]: Requires 3 points of Life Essence each.
Chu Sheng calculated for a moment before making a decision.
âFirst, Iâll raise all these newborn underlings to Second-Grade Early Stage!â
"System! Upgrade all of my First-Grade Early Stage underlings!"
[Ding! Consumed 7342 points of Life Essence! 7342 First-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worms have successfully evolved into Second-Grade Early Stage Spirit-Devouring Worms!]
[Remaining Life Essence: 1258]
Watching his Life Essence bottom out in an instant, Chu Sheng felt a pang of heartache.
âThe cost is too high!â
Now, half of his sixteen-thousand-plus underlings were at the Peak of Second-Grade, while the other half were at Second-Grade Early Stage. Their combat power was uneven, and their overall strength had dropped by at least a third compared to their peak!
âThis wonât do!â
âIf I run into a Fourth-Grade Middle Stage Demon Beast now, I might not be able to win, even with my recent breakthrough!â
âI have to find a way to get more Life Essence and bring all my underlings back up to the Peak of Second-Grade!â
âBut where can I get it?â
Chu Sheng fell into deep thought.
The simplest method, of course, was to go to other regions where the Spirit-Devouring Insect Calamity had broken out, get rid of these Low Level underlings, and recruit a new batch of wild Peak of Second-Grade Spirit-Devouring Worms.
But that method was too time-consuming. The nearest outbreak point was thousands of kilometers away. By the time he got there and back, the opportunity would be long gone.
âSo what other way is there?â