31: Chapter 31 Tail Docking

The wind howled, and the rain felt like ice.

Within the intricate, gloomy alleys of Wild Dog Ridge, Gu Shen was like a wounded lone wolf, desperately squeezing the last remnants of his mana. His shadow shoes were pushed to their limit; each time his feet touched the ground, he left behind only the faintest afterimage.

Yet, the murderous intent behind him clung like maggots to bone, drawing ever closer.

"Where do you think you're going!"

The Gloomy Demonic Cultivator's roar exploded in the night sky, accompanied by a nauseating, bloody Spiritual Pressure that pressed down like a collapsing mountain.

Qi Refining Level 8—three whole minor Realms higher than Gu Shen. Whether in escape speed or the range of his Divine Sense, he held an overwhelming advantage.

Gu Shen's expression was as calm as still water.

He knew he could not use the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] to traverse right here. Vanishing into thin air while locked under the other party's Divine Sense would easily leave traces of spatial fluctuations. Once that attracted the investigation of higher-level elders from the Blood Fiend Sect, his greatest secret would be exposed.

He had to break the lock! Even if only for a single breath!

Gu Shen's gaze swept over his surroundings. Ahead lay a cluster of low shacks built along the edge of a cliff. Below the shacks was a bottomless abyss, churning with toxic miasma year-round.

He looked down at the severed head he was holding in his left hand.

It was the head of the Qi Refinement Level 6 demonic cultivator he had just snatched up. He had intended to keep it as proof to claim a bounty later, but at this moment, the blood at the severed neck was emitting an incredibly distinct aura of Evil Qi amidst the night rain.

"A living target for tracking."

Gu Shen's eyes turned cold, and he did not hesitate in the slightest.

He abruptly stopped at the corner of a shack, exerted force with his left hand, and hurled the head—worth ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones—like a rock, throwing it fiercely into the toxic abyss below the cliff!

Whoosh!

The head trailed a line of blood as it plummeted into the abyss.

Almost at the same time, the Qi Refining Level 8 Divine Sense that had been latched tightly onto him instinctively followed the intense, familiar aura of Evil Qi and shifted downward for a split second.

That was the moment.

The lock was broken.

Gu Shen pressed himself silently against the cold stone wall, and deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] suddenly flared with bright light.

"Go!"

Gray mist swept forth, and the Void Realm rippled ever so slightly.

The next breath.

A blood-red beam of escape light slammed into the shack area like a meteorite. The figure of the Gloomy Demonic Cultivator appeared, and with a backhanded slap, his violent spiritual power blasted the surrounding shacks into powder.

But his cold gaze swept the surroundings, only to see the toxic miasma churning in the abyss. That Loose Cultivator with the toxin-spotted face, only at Level 5 Qi Refining, had actually evaporated into thin air right under his nose! Not even a trace of mana remained.

"An escape talisman? Or a secret technique?!"

The demonic cultivator trembled with rage and violently crushed a piece of blood jade in his hand. "Investigate! Seal off all of Wild Dog Ridge! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find him!"

...

Within the gloomy storage room of the ancient mechanism Sect ruins.

Thud.

Gu Shen's figure dropped out of thin air onto the hard refined iron floor.

He did not care about the thick dust on the ground; he lay on his back, greedily gulping in the dry, rust-scented air. He was safe.

After taking a full incense stick's worth of time to recover, Gu Shen struggled to sit up.

He reached back to touch his back. Under the overbearing medicinal efficacy of the red blood essence glue, the deep, bone-visible laceration had completely stopped bleeding, forming a hard scab. As long as he did not move violently, it would be fine.

He probed his storage ring with his Divine Sense and took out a drop of [essence white dew (inferior)] extracted from a Tier 1 Corpse Dog, then swallowed it.

The gentle, pure spiritual power dispersed, rapidly replenishing the nearly dried-up Qi vortex in his Dantian. Gu Shen's pale complexion finally regained a hint of ruddiness.

"Below the Late-Stage Qi Refining, all are ants. This saying is true."

Gu Shen recalled the might of the red seal the Gloomy Demonic Cultivator had unleashed, and his heart felt a chill. If he had not made the decisive choice to break the formation and flee, he would surely have died today had he been delayed.

Having calmed his mind, Gu Shen's gaze fell upon the blood-stained gray Storage Pouch by his side. This was the spoils of war he had seized after forcibly killing that Qi Refinement Level 6 demonic cultivator.

"I hope the risks of this high-level kill are matched by the rewards."

The demonic cultivator was dead, and the Divine Sense imprint on the Storage Pouch was easily wiped away by Gu Shen.

He turned the pouch opening downward and gave it a hard shake.

Clatter.

A small pile of items scattered onto the refined iron floor.

Gu Shen looked closely; the first things he counted were, naturally, the Spirit Stones.

There were fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones in total.

Gu Shen put them into his storage ring. Added to his existing assets, his current stockpile of Spirit Stones reached fifty-four, plus ninety crystal fragments. He finally felt a bit more confident.

Besides the Spirit Stones, there were three other items on the floor.

A blood-red wooden token.

A Medium Grade Magical Artifact—a long saber called the Blood Drinking Saber.

And a pitch-black Jade Slip.

Gu Shen first picked up the blood-red wooden token. Carved on the token was a hideous skull, emitting a faint Divine Sense fluctuation; it was clearly an identity token for the Blood Fiend Sect, likely containing tracking and positioning formation patterns.

Such a hot potato—Gu Shen did not even give it a second look.

"Refine."

The Great Furnace's illusory fire spat out, pulling it directly into his Sea of Consciousness. In just a few breaths, this wooden token representing his Sect identity was burned to ashes, the formation patterns within completely erased, turning into a negligible amount of fuel.

Next was the Blood Drinking Saber. The blade was exceptionally sharp and carried an aura of Evil Qi that tainted other Magical Artifacts. Yet, in the tavern, it had not even been able to cleave through Gu Shen's black turtle shield.

"The design of this saber is too eye-catching; using it out there would be tantamount to announcing to the world that I killed a Blood Fiend Sect Disciple. Selling it on the black market would also leave loose ends."

Gu Shen shook his head and threw it into the Great Furnace as well.

"Smelt."

Under the calcination of the Rule Fire, the blade melted, and the intense Evil Qi was extracted and burned away.

After a cup of tea's time, only a fist-sized iron ingot, dark red all over and covered in twisted patterns, remained at the bottom of the furnace.

[Obtained: Blood Pattern Iron.] [Top-grade Fierce Metal. When blended into an offensive Magical Artifact, it can greatly increase its sharpness and grant it an aura of Evil Qi that tears at wounds.]

"Another top-grade spirit material acquired." Gu Shen put the Blood Pattern Iron away with satisfaction. Whether for reforging weapons or for secret transactions, this item was absolute hard currency.

Finally, Gu Shen picked up the pitch-black Jade Slip. He probed it with his Divine Sense.

After a while, he opened his eyes, a strange look flashing through them. What was recorded in this Jade Slip was not some profound Demonic Path Cultivation Technique, but a niche secret technique called "Blood Burning Evasion."

As the name implied, it was an escape technique. When cast, it required igniting the essence blood within one's body to instantly unleash an escape speed far exceeding those of the same Realm. The cost was a severe depletion of essence and blood after casting; the mildest consequence was being bedridden for half a month, while the worst was damaging one's Spiritual Root Foundation.

"For others, it's a desperate method that inflicts eight hundred damage on oneself for every thousand on the enemy, but for me…"

Gu Shen touched his storage ring. Inside lay ten balls of red blood essence glue, as well as three Blood Crystal Pills with violent medicinal power. These were all top-grade items for replenishing essence and blood.

"As long as I have sufficient blood-replenishing spiritual items, I can completely use this evasion technique as a regular means of escape."

Gu Shen felt as if he had found a treasure. In his survivalist system, the Golden Light Finger was for killing, the Soul-Shocking Spike for sneak attacks, the black turtle shield for defense, and the shadow shoes for stealth. The only thing missing was an explosive means to instantly create distance when locked onto by a strong enemy in a direct confrontation and unable to traverse between the two worlds. This Blood Burning Evasion perfectly filled this final gap!

"Blessings often hide in misfortunes."

Gu Shen tucked the Jade Slip close to his body and glanced at the cold iron walls around him. He could not return to Wild Dog Ridge for the time being. The Blood Fiend Sect's blockade would certainly not be lifted overnight; he would have to stay in these ancient ruins for much longer.

"The Tier 3 Cursed Corpse in the main hall of the first floor, where this storage room is located, has already been dealt with by me. It is time to go explore the higher levels on the second floor."

Gu Shen stood up and gripped the gold-severing saber. Hibernating in a land devoid of Qi did not mean waiting for death. This vast expanse of ruins was his best training ground.