268: Chapter 268 Top-Grade Blood Pill! Little Black, stop!

Qin Yan gripped his long spear, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.

He locked it dead onto every inch of the river surface ahead of the spirit boat's course, not letting a single trace of anomalous energy escape his notice.

Holding his breath and concentrating his spirit, he waited for the next prey to appear.

Perhaps even the unseen luck of fate felt Qin Yan's journey had been too 'pathetic' so far, for just as his anticipation was nearing its limit...

The surface of the Blood River about a hundred yards ahead suddenly churned violently!

A mass of bloody energy far denser and larger than anything seen before surged rapidly from the riverbed, swiftly coalescing and taking shape!

In the blink of an eye, a Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit a full ten feet in length, with the faint pattern of a 'king' character on its forehead, exposed fangs, and an aura of overwhelming ferocity, took form!

It let out a silent roar, bloody energy rising like flames around it, exuding a majestic pressure and blood-qi fluctuation far surpassing that of the leopard-shaped spirits.

A flash of delighted surprise burst in Qin Yan's eyes! "Here it comes!"

Suppressing the urge to strike immediately, he patiently waited for the spirit boat to continue its steady advance, closing the distance to that Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit.

A hundred feet... fifty feet... ten feet!

Now!

To ensure a one-hit kill and avoid letting this precious 'big catch' escape or waste time counterattacking, Qin Yan held nothing back!

The blood-qi within his body surged to its limit, and the long spear in his hand hummed and vibrated.

At the spear's tip, eighty-one strands of pale golden Spear Aura instantly manifested, swirling around it!

They perfectly fused with the red Blood Gang and the four-foot-long golden Spear Light, condensing into an unprecedented, destructive golden-red thunderbolt!

"Break!"

Qin Yan exhaled sharply, his long spear transforming into a shocking rainbow that tore through the bloody mist.

With the most domineering, most direct stance, it viciously stabbed towards the Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit!

"BOOM——!!!"

The Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit didn't even have time to put up a decent resistance before its condensed form was completely pierced, torn apart, and detonated by this peak-level spear strike!

The Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit's massive body disintegrated with a crash.

It condensed into a crystalline mass of bloody qi, shimmering like powdered ruby.

The scale and purity of this bloody qi far surpassed all previous ones!

This mass of qi automatically traversed space, pierced through the spirit boat's protective shield, and steadily hovered above Qin Yan's outstretched palms!

It felt heavy in his grasp. Its purity and sheer volume were enough to equal the sum of all the bloody qi Qin Yan had obtained before!

This single mass was equivalent to the contribution of a hundred wolf-shaped Blood Spirits!

"Excellent!" Qin Yan felt a surge of excitement in his heart; he finally saw hope for condensing a High Grade blood pill!

Filled with anticipation, he continued to hold his post, his burning gaze sweeping over the river surface,

hoping to encounter a few more of such 'big fellows'.

However, it seemed as if slaying the Tiger-shaped Blood Spirit had exhausted all his luck.

For the remainder of the journey, the spirit boat continued smoothly.

But along the course, what appeared were mostly wolf-shaped and leopard-shaped Blood Spirits, with no further sign of the tiger-shaped ones.

Even though Qin Yan attacked with full force, not letting any Blood Spirit or blood flower within his attack range escape,

the collected essence of bloody qi grew slowly, its efficiency far inferior to before.

Unconsciously, more than half the voyage had passed.

Qin Yan lowered his head to look at his palm.

The bloody qi before him, supplemented by some subsequent bits and pieces, was about the size of half an adult's palm.

Its color had deepened, and its blood-qi fluctuations had also strengthened considerably.

But by his estimation, it was still more than half the amount short of what was needed to condense a complete High Grade blood pill!

Looking at this mass of bloody qi, Qin Yan couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

Judging by this trend, even with slightly better luck in the latter half, by the time the spirit boat reached the opposite shore, the total amount of bloody qi he could collect would still fall short of what was needed for a High Grade pill, let alone the luxury of a supreme grade one.

"Such is fate, such is destiny."

Opportunities in the Blood River were inherently full of variables; the course was fixed, and encountering high-value targets depended entirely on luck.

He had done his best. Obtaining a mid-grade blood pill wouldn't be returning empty-handed and would still provide significant aid in impacting the Third Grade Limit.

The continuous high concentration and combat for over half an hour had also left his spirit feeling a trace of fatigue.

He put away his long spear, deciding to rest briefly and adjust his state.

He turned and walked towards the relatively calm rear section of the spirit boat, where he had previously placed the black seed.

However, when his gaze fell upon that corner, his entire body suddenly froze, his pupils dilating sharply!

He saw that the black seed was not resting quietly at this moment.

Hovering quietly about a foot above its smooth, pitch-black surface was a mass... an incredibly vast, condensed, and dazzlingly radiant ball of bloody qi light!

The volume of that bloody mass was dozens of times larger than the one in Qin Yan's palm!

Its color presented an almost magnificent gem-like red, with what seemed like countless fine golden threads twisting within.

The pure blood-qi fluctuations it emitted made the air inside the entire blood boat feel as if it had become viscous and scorching hot!

"This... this..."

Qin Yan's mind went momentarily blank as he stared incredulously at the scene before him.

Where did this enormous essence of bloody qi come from?!

As if to answer his confusion, the dark golden patterns on the surface of the black seed suddenly brightened, emitting a soft yet steady, dim glow.

As the dim light spread, a strange, intangible attractive force centered on the seed began to diffuse.

The next moment, an even more shocking sight unfolded before Qin Yan:

Around the spirit boat, from the slowly flowing Blood River water that contained mixed energies,

strands of extremely pure, condensed bloody qi began to spontaneously separate and rise from the water!

Then, like countless rivers returning to the sea, they continuously converged towards the massive essence of bloody qi above the black seed!

As more pure bloody qi poured in, the volume of that bloody essence visibly continued to expand!

Its color deepened further into crimson, and the golden threads flowing within also multiplied, as if nurturing something extraordinary.

"It... it's actively extracting and refining the essence of bloody qi from the Blood River?!"

Did this Little Black actually possess such a mysterious ability?

No wonder Su Liuli could condense a supreme grade blood pill 'without shedding blood'. Could it be she also relied on a similar method or treasure?

Under Qin Yan's watchful gaze, the massive bloody essence soon expanded to its limit, then began to spin inward and compress at high speed!

The speed of rotation grew faster and faster, forming a miniature bloody vortex.

"Hum—!"

Suddenly, the bloody light blazed brilliantly!

At the vortex's center, a point of incredibly condensed, incredibly dazzling crimson light was born, rapidly expanding!

When the light faded and the vortex calmed, a blood pill the size of a longan, crystal clear like a blood-red gemstone, with complex and profound natural crimson pill patterns inscribed on its surface, lay quietly suspended there.

The supreme grade blood pill—was complete!

The black seed seemed to have finished its 'work', its dim glow receding.

It gave a light hop, seemingly about to 'pounce' towards the newly formed, temptingly 'alluring' supreme grade blood pill.

Judging by its posture, it intended to gobble it up as a snack in one bite!

"Little Black! Stop!"