4: Chapter 4: Qi and Blood Breakthrough 1! The First Evolution Begins!

Chu Sheng, who was resting on her thigh, didn't care how aggrieved she felt.

He only knew that the vitality of this reborn Empress tasted absolutely wonderful!

[Vitality +0.08]

[Vitality +0.09]

[Vitality +0.12...]

[Ding! Host has absorbed 0.48 Vitality! Current total Vitality is 0.64!]

[Ding! The blood the host consumed has a high concentration of vitality... Lifespan +6 hours!]

A series of system prompts rang out in Chu Sheng's mind, making his spirits soar!

The vitality absorbed this time was three times more than the last time!

And!

His lifespan increased too!

Chu Sheng hurriedly opened his panel to check.

[Host: Chu Sheng]

[Race: Asian Tiger Mosquito]

[Lifespan: 6 days and 6 hours]

[Vitality: 0.64]

[Evolution Points: 0.1]

[Rank: None]

[Skills: Female Mosquito Proboscis lv1, Blood Food Tracking lv1, Zerg Space lv1]

It really increased!

Although it was only six more hours, for him, who only had a total lifespan of six days, this was undoubtedly fantastic news!

This meant that as long as he continued to suck the vitality of this Empress, he could continuously extend his lifespan and temporarily escape the fate of sudden death!

"Good, good, good. She's a real 'blood pack' now, and she can even 'restore HP'!"

Chu Sheng pulled his proboscis out with satisfaction, his belly once again becoming round and bloated.

Now his total vitality was 0.64. Once he finished digesting this batch and sucked her twice more to gather 1 point of vitality, he could undergo his first evolution!

What would he become then?

Chu Sheng was filled with anticipation.

...

Gu Yuexi also forced herself to calm her emotions once again.

Things had already reached this point; self-pity was meaningless.

The urgent priority was to improve her strength as quickly as possible!

"Ten Thousand Beast Furnace Art..."

"The first step in practicing this technique requires the essence blood of a demonic beast with at least a High-Grade Bloodline as a catalyst to open the furnace..."

"Essence blood of a High-Grade Bloodline demonic beast?"

Gu Yuexi's gaze slowly shifted toward the Spirit Green Snake in the nearby formation, which looked bewildered and hadn't yet grasped the situation.

Spirit Green Snake: "???"

Hiss hiss? (What are you looking at?)

"I'm sorry..."

Gu Yuexi murmured, both killing intent and apology surfacing in her eyes.

"Hiss—!"

The Spirit Green Snake seemed to sense that undisguised, chilling killing intent. Its emerald-green body suddenly tensed, and its triangular head reared up high, letting out a warning hiss at Gu Yuexi.

It was originally the future partner Gu Yuexi had prepared for herself, a cornerstone for her path back to the peak.

But now, in Gu Yuexi's eyes, it was no longer a future contracted beast, but merely a necessary 'material' for practicing the 'Ten Thousand Beast Furnace Art'!

A portion of... High-Grade Bloodline demonic beast essence blood!

"I'm sorry," Gu Yuexi said softly, as if to the Spirit Green Snake, and as if to herself. "If you must blame something, blame our... bad luck."

The moment her voice fell, she moved!

Despite being only a Rank One Early-Stage martial artist, her movements were as fast as lightning, thanks to her combat experience and vision from her past life as an Empress!

She didn't choose to confront the Spirit Green Snake head-on; instead, her figure blurred, and she circled behind the Spirit Green Snake like a ghost.

The Spirit Green Snake's reaction was also extremely fast. Its tail was like a whip, sweeping across with the sound of breaking air!

However, Gu Yuexi seemed to have anticipated its attack trajectory long ago. With a skillful duck, she perfectly evaded this fatal blow.

At the same time, a shimmering cold dagger appeared in her hand out of nowhere—it was a tool she had prepared for the blood contract ceremony, but now it had become a deadly weapon.

"To kill a snake, hit the seven-inch mark, but the Spirit Green Snake's vital point is three inches below the neck. That's where its embryonic demon core is located, and it's also the weakest point in its defense!"

Gu Yuexi chanted in her mind. With a flick of her wrist, the dagger turned into a silver light, accurately piercing the Spirit Green Snake's vital point!

Puchi!

The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh rang out.

"Hiss—!"

The Spirit Green Snake let out a shrill scream. Its massive body twisted and rolled frantically, knocking over the furniture in the room.

But once Gu Yuexi's strike succeeded, she immediately withdrew and watched its final struggles coldly.

A few minutes later, the Spirit Green Snake's movements gradually stopped, and its life force was completely severed.

Chu Sheng, resting on Gu Yuexi's leg, was dizzied by the shaking. He saw everything, and his tiny mosquito heart skipped a beat in fear.

"Holy crap... What a ruthless girl!"

One second they were partners prepared to spend the rest of their lives together, and the next second she ruthlessly struck for the kill! This decisiveness and cruelty—she truly lived up to being an Empress!

Gu Yuexi ignored the mess in the room. She walked to the Spirit Green Snake's corpse and reached out her fair palm, pressing it against the wound on the snake's body.

"Ten Thousand Beast Furnace, open!"

She closed her eyes and muttered under her breath, starting to circulate that forbidden evil technique.

An invisible suction force came from her palm. The most pure blood within the Spirit Green Snake began to turn into lines of blood, flowing continuously into her body along her arm!

"Ugh... Ah!"

In an instant, an indescribable sharp pain spread through her entire body!

Gu Yuexi's pretty face instantly turned pale, beads of sweat the size of beans broke out on her forehead, and her delicate body couldn't help but tremble.

This wasn't just physical pain. What was even more terrifying was a violent, bloodthirsty will belonging to the Spirit Green Snake that was rushing into her mind along with the blood, frantically attacking her consciousness!

On the surface of her skin, patches of fine emerald-green snake scales even appeared, and her eyes showed faint signs of turning into vertical slits!

This was the precursor to 'Beastification'!

"Suppress... for me!"

Gu Yuexi gritted her teeth. Relying on her powerful will from the Emperor Realm in her previous life, she firmly guarded her clarity of mind and forcibly refined that violent demonic beast essence blood.

Through the blood contract link, Chu Sheng could also vaguely feel the immense pain she was currently enduring, and he couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Tsk tsk, what a ruthless person, even being this hard on herself."

After a full half hour, Gu Yuexi finally opened her eyes slowly and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

The snake scales on her skin had faded, and her eyes had returned to clarity.

She could clearly feel that the vitality power within her had grown significantly; she wasn't far from Rank One Mid-Stage now.

But there was no joy on her face; instead, her brow was furrowed.

"Too slow..."

She murmured to herself.

Just refining an immature Spirit Green Snake had taken this long, and she had almost been eroded by the beastly will.

If she wanted to rely on this method to quickly increase her strength, it was no different from a pipe dream.

"It seems... I must have the assistance of a 'Meridian Protecting Pill'."

The Meridian Protecting Pill was an extremely precious pill, usually used by Rank Five martial artists when breaking through to the Rank Six bottleneck to protect their meridians from being destroyed by violent energy.

If she could have a Meridian Protecting Pill to protect her body while performing the 'Ten Thousand Beast Furnace Art', she could not only greatly speed up the refining of demonic beast essence blood,

But also effectively resist the erosion of the beastly will, reducing the risk of beastification to the minimum!

But the problem was...

"Money..."