55: Chapter 55 The Turmoil in the Capital, The Blood Transformation Technique

At the entrance of the prison, the atmosphere today was permeated by an eerie silence.

On both sides of the corridor, over a dozen jailers held their breath, their gazes fixed collectively on the high-security cell at the end.

Accompanying a dull "click" of a mechanism snapping into place, that heavy cell door, forged from century-old black iron and inscribed with suppression runes, slowly swung open.

A foot clad in a cloud-patterned brocade boot stepped out of the gloomy cell, unhurriedly.

Que Wuhua.

This expert of the Evil Path, who made countless jailers tremble at the mere mention of his name, showed not a trace of the wretchedness of a prisoner at this moment.

He wore a slightly oversized cyan robe; although the garment was old, he wore it with the carefree elegance of a renowned scholar.

His face was gaunt, his eye sockets deeply sunken, and his skin was slightly pale, but within those narrow eyes flickered a heart-stopping, eerie light.

"Everyone, thank you for your care during this period."

Que Wuhua's lips curled into an elegant arc. His voice was not loud, yet it carried an eerie penetrative power, as if it were ringing directly in the ears of every jailer.

A few timid jailers subconsciously took a step back, their faces turning pale.

In front of Que Wuhua stood an old man dressed in a gray cloth gown.

The old man hunched his back and leaned on a withered wooden cane, looking just like an ordinary old man on the verge of death.

But how could someone who could move freely in this heavily guarded prison, and even personally come to retrieve Que Wuhua, be an ordinary person?

"Young Master, let's go." The old man's voice was hoarse. He didn't even glance at the surrounding jailers, turning to walk outside.

Que Wuhua chuckled, hands behind his back, following the old man as if taking a leisurely stroll.

The two, one after the other, gradually disappeared into the end of the gloomy corridor under the awe-struck gaze of the jailers.

Not until their backs were completely out of sight did a burst of suppressed discussion erupt in the corridor.

"My heavens, this plague star was actually released?"

"Who is that old man? Even the Captain of the Demon Suppression Division was polite to him just now!"

"Who knows? For such an Evil Path expert to be taken away, this capital is truly becoming less and less peaceful."

Chen Ran, carrying a wooden bucket, stood in the shadow of a corner not far away, quietly watching this scene.

He did not participate in the jailers' discussion; he just shook his head slightly and continued walking forward with the wooden bucket.

Over the past few days, the situation in the capital had intensified.

Even Lin Wan had rarely come to the prison recently.

It was rumored that talk of the peerless Cultivation Technique outside was already rampant, with some even swearing that the Incomplete Manual of the Cultivation Technique was hidden in an abandoned granary to the south of the capital.

Now, all the people in the Martial Forest were like mad dogs that had smelled meat, running around with red eyes.

Even the Demon Suppression Division had to divert a large number of personnel to suppress the Martial Artists causing trouble everywhere.

But in Chen Ran's view, this was completely obvious fake news.

Who would casually throw an Incomplete Manual of a Cultivation Technique that could cause a bloodbath in the Jianghu into a broken granary?

Chen Ran took an exquisite nameplate from his bosom.

He wondered how the girl named Su Qinghe was doing now.

Over the past few days, he had casually asked around while the jailers were chatting and learned that Su Qinghe was a famous talented woman in Shenghai, with a great reputation in the literary world.

If this matter was really related to Wenxin Hall, then the situation for these scholars responsible for translation was likely not good.

Shaking his head, Chen Ran withdrew his thoughts and brought the wooden bucket to the front of Shen Wanjun's cell.

Shen Wanjun was lying on a pile of hay, his chest showing almost no movement.

His injuries were too severe; he had originally had his Meridians shattered by a single palm strike from Chen Ran, and combined with the Evil Qi entering his body in the prison over these past few days, he had reached the point of exhaustion.

Chen Ran opened the cell door, placed the food on the ground, and didn't speak, just quietly watching him.

Shen Wanjun struggled to open his eyes, his pupils already beginning to dilate.

He looked at the food in front of him but didn't even have the strength to lift his hand.

A "gurgling" sound came from his throat, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only spat out a mouthful of black blood.

His life force dissipated rapidly.

Shen Wanjun's head hit the hay pile heavily, and he completely stopped moving.

[Prisoner Shen Wanjun has died.]

[Participation settlement: Heavy damage, imprisonment and guarding, seeing off the deceased.]

[Settlement reward: Three years of cultivation, "Blood Transformation Great Art".]

The heavenly book of prison suppression opened in Chen Ran's mind, flickering with golden light.

Chen Ran closed his eyes and carefully perceived the information that had appeared in his mind.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed.

This "Blood Transformation Great Art" was very peculiar.

Its core concept was to refine one's own True Qi through an extremely overbearing method into an energy called "Crimson Blood".

This "Crimson Blood" not only had immense destructive power, capable of easily corroding an opponent's protective True Qi, but could also manipulate blood to absorb the opponent's blood Qi during battle to nourish oneself, truly making one stronger the more they fought.

But the problem was that the prerequisite for refining "Crimson Blood" was the need to devour the flesh and blood of many living beings as a primer.

The stronger the flesh and blood devoured, the purer the "Crimson Blood" refined would be.

"No wonder Shen Wanjun didn't want to be a proper Inner Breath Realm Martial Artist and insisted on becoming a blood-sucking monster."

Chen Ran looked at Shen Wanjun's corpse and sneered in his heart.

Although this Cultivation Technique was powerful, the method of Cultivate was simply too cruel and evil.

Once one started to Cultivate it, even the slightest carelessness would lead to their mind being backlashed, turning them into a monster that only knew how to kill.

Moreover, once this Cultivation Technique was revealed in front of others, one would definitely be immediately labeled as a demon of the Evil Path and hunted by the entire world.

"What a pity."

Chen Ran shook his head, rolled up Shen Wanjun's body with a tattered straw mat, and turned to walk out of the cell.

Late at night, the prison fell into a dead silence.

Chen Ran sat cross-legged in his quarters, the pure internal power in his body surging like a river.

The circulation route of the "Blood Transformation Great Art" appeared in his mind once again.

"Must one really devour the flesh and blood of living beings...?"

Chen Ran muttered to himself.

He suddenly had a bold idea.

The internal power rewarded by the [heavenly book of prison suppression] was the purest and most Origin energy in the world.

Since the "Blood Transformation Great Art" needed the flesh and blood of living beings as a primer to refine True Qi, what if he directly used this pure and flawless hundred-year internal power to forcibly infuse it?

Chen Ran pondered for a moment.

He took a deep breath, mobilized one year of internal power within his body, and carefully began to circulate it according to the Meridians route of the "Blood Transformation Great Art".

Without flesh and blood as a primer, the operation of this Cultivation Technique appeared extremely obscure and painful.

But his internal power was too vast and pure.

Under the forceful crushing of his vast internal power, that obscure True Qi was forcefully pushed through all the acupoints.

"Hum!"

A dull vibration sound came from within Chen Ran's body.

He spread his right hand, and a wisp of dark red airflow slowly condensed in his palm.

This wisp of airflow did not have the slightest stench that was on Shen Wanjun, but instead revealed a heart-stopping heat and purity.

"Crimson Blood."

Chen Ran's eyes brightened.

He had actually succeeded!

Without needing to kill any living beings, without needing to devour flesh and blood, relying solely on the pure internal power rewarded by the [heavenly book of prison suppression], he was able to directly skip the cruelest step of this evil Cultivation Technique and refine it.

Chen Ran looked at the Crimson Blood True Qi surging in his palm and couldn't help but sigh.

"Truly, the world is unpredictable."

He, an ordinary jailer, had now not only practiced the Demon Sect's [Red Lotus Karmic Fire Scripture] but also this evil [Blood Transformation Great Art].

His own configuration of Cultivation Technique looked even more like an evil cultivator than the villains outside.

However... this feeling was not bad.

Chen Ran's lips curled into a smile, and he clenched his palm.

The Crimson Blood True Qi instantly retracted into his body, and the aura that had remained on his body quickly returned to calm.