40: Chapter 40: Medicinal Use

The blood mist permeated the air, making it impossible to distinguish day from night.

The shadow shoes on Gu Shen's feet shimmered with a dark light, while he firmly suppressed the green glow of the Wood Armor Technique beneath his robes.

The further he crept toward the weak points of the Formation at the edge of the White Bone Forest, the heavier the oppressive feeling of the blood fiend energy in the air became.

That was the barrier power of the great array.

After half an hour of high-intensity stealth, nearly twenty percent of his Qi Refinement Level 6 mana had been consumed. In this desperate land, his mana must never fall below eighty percent.

Gu Shen stopped in a gap between bone trees in a lee.

With a thought from his Divine Sense, a drop of essence white dew (Inferior) fell into his stomach.

The pure spiritual energy instantly dissolved, and his parched Meridians were like a long drought meeting sweet rain; his mana was replenished.

Taking advantage of the time spent regulating his breathing, Gu Shen poured out all the contents of the Storage Pouches he had obtained from killing the three demonic Cultivators earlier.

There was no time to look closely at the sundries. His Divine Sense was like a blade, directly weeding out useless items.

Twelve Low-Grade Spirit Stones were put into his storage ring.

Several bottles of low-grade poison pills used by demonic Cultivators were crushed directly.

Finally, his gaze landed on a dark red Talisman drawn with twisted runes, as well as a palm-sized blood jade formation plate.

“blood-warding talisman.”

Gu Shen recognized this object. When Blood Fiend Sect Disciples walked within the Blood Sacrifice Array, they relied entirely on this specially made Talisman to isolate their life force so that their blood and Qi wouldn't be drained by the Formation.

As for that blood jade formation plate, there were extremely faint spatial fluctuations remaining on it; it was clearly a token used to penetrate the barrier at the edge of the great array.

“Truly, a pillow delivered just as I was getting sleepy.”

Gu Shen tucked the Formation plate close to his body and slapped the blood-warding talisman onto his chest.

A faint blood-colored halo spread out over his wood armor. The surrounding blood fiend energy, which had been trying to bore into his pores like maggots in a bone, was instantly isolated.

With this layer of cover, Gu Shen's stealth speed increased sharply.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn passed.

Gu Shen lay prone at the edge of a foul-smelling swamp, motionless.

Thirty yards ahead was that dark red Formation light screen. Outside the screen, the roar of Spells from Danding Sect Disciples performing a feint attack could be vaguely heard. Inside the screen, however, it was extremely quiet.

Eerily quiet.

Because on the mandatory path through that Formation light screen, four figures stood guard.

They were all draped in the wide red robes of the Blood Fiend Sect and wore Asura masks, as if they were intercepting Loose Cultivators trying to flee.

But Gu Shen's gaze was as cold as profound ice.

Through the blood mist, he stared fixedly at the ground beneath those four people's feet.

A low-grade blood corpse, attracted by the scent of blood, wandered blindly past. One of the figures snorted coldly and flicked a finger.

Ssh!

A streak of extremely pure, grand, and fierce red fire shot out, instantly incinerating the blood corpse to ashes.

There was not a trace of sinister energy, only pure fire-attribute Spiritual Root mana.

“The Danding Sect's Li-Fire Art.”

The sliver of suspicion in Gu Shen's heart was now completely confirmed.

Those guarding the Formation's gate of life were not demonic Cultivators of the Blood Fiend Sect at all, but inner gate elites of the Danding Sect's Law Enforcement Hall! They were wearing the skins of demonic Cultivators to silence those Loose Cultivators who were lucky enough to escape to the edge, preventing the secret of the great array from leaking out.

Gu Shen shifted his gaze away from those four people and looked at an extremely thick Formation-eye bone tree not far behind them.

That tree trunk was almost transparent.

Gu Shen clearly saw that the essence blood of Loose Cultivators gathering from all over the White Bone Forest was undergoing a terrifying purification as it poured into this main trunk.

Under the operation of the Formation, the resentment, toxins, and even the unique Devilish Qi of the Blood Fiend Sect within the blood were all stripped away and incinerated, turning into black smoke that was expelled.

And what truly flowed along the roots toward the center of the great array was only the purest, clearest golden life Origin!

“Using the life force of ten thousand people as charcoal to wash away all impurities and Devilish Qi...”

In Gu Shen's mind, a secret record he had glimpsed while organizing damaged ancient books at the Baicao Pavilion suddenly surfaced.

[blood marrow lotus. Grows in veins of extreme Yin; requires irrigation with the pure essence blood of ten thousand people. It blooms with nine petals; consuming it can cleanse the marrow and strengthen the foundation. It is a supreme holy medicine for Foundation Establishment.]

Boom!

Everything was connected.

This wasn't some Demonic Path blood sacrifice at all! This was the high-level members of the Danding Sect and the Blood Fiend Sect joining forces, using the lives of thousands of low-level Loose Cultivators as a medicinal primer to ripen a blood marrow lotus that could allow for a perfect Foundation Establishment in this natural extreme Yin White Bone Forest!

The lives of Loose Cultivators were like weeds. The two great Sects had put on a good show just to cover up this Heaven-Defying Opportunity.

“What a ruthless scheme.”

Gu Shen felt a chill in his heart. In the face of such a grand trend, he, a Qi Refinement Level 6, wasn't even considered a strong ant.

Though the Opportunity was good, he would never touch it. One must have a life to take it, and a life to eat it.

The current primary task was to pass through the blockade of those four Danding Sect elites and leave this dead land.

Charging in would mean certain death. Those four were all experts at Qi Refining Level 7 or above.

Lying in the muddy water, Gu Shen's gaze swept over the surroundings, and a plan immediately formed in his heart.

He reached into his breast and took out that crystal-clear resentful bone flute.

This thing was refined using the Origin of the Blood Fiend Sect's Bone Banner; the demonic sound it emitted was most effective at controlling Yin souls and corpses.

Gu Shen brought the flute to his lips. He didn't blow it, but instead silently injected a trace of Qi Refinement Level 6 mana, mixed with the special Divine Sense fluctuations of the Soul-Shocking Spike, into the flute.

Then, he threw it fiercely toward a dense White Bone Forest fifty yards to his left.

The bone flute landed.

Wooo—!

An extremely shrill demonic sound, carrying the pure resentment of the Blood Fiend Sect, exploded in the forest.

This sound was like a drop of fresh water dripping into a boiling pot of oil.

Within a hundred yards, dozens of blood corpses that had lost their targets and were wandering were instantly attracted by this pure demonic sound. They let out violent roars and surged toward the direction of the bone flute like a tide of corpses.

“What was that noise?!”

The faces of the four Danding Sect elites guarding the light screen changed.

“Such pure resentment fluctuations. Could it be a True Disciple of the Blood Fiend Sect giving orders? Didn't we agree that the periphery would be left to us to clean up?” the leader growled in a low voice.

“Go check it out. We absolutely cannot let the activity of the Formation leak out.”

The four exchanged glances, and three of them immediately split off, turning into three streaks of red light and heading straight for where the bone flute had fallen. Only one Disciple at Qi Refining Level 7 remained to guard the spot.

Luring the tiger away from the mountain.

Now is the time!

A cold light flashed in Gu Shen's eyes, and the muddy water beneath his feet exploded.

The shadow shoes were pushed to their full potential, and his whole being turned into a blurred afterimage, lunging straight at the last guard.

“Who's there!”

The Danding Sect Disciple reacted extremely quickly, throwing out a blazing Fire Snake Talisman with a flick of his hand.

But Gu Shen didn't dodge at all.

The green light of the Wood Armor Technique surged, and a thick wooden texture instantly appeared on his body's surface.

Boom!

The fire snake slammed hard into the wood armor, sparks flying everywhere. The wood armor was scorched black and cracked, but it firmly blocked the power of this strike.

Taking advantage of the cover of the firelight.

Gu Shen had already closed in to within three steps of the Disciple.

His right finger was like a sword, spitting out golden light.

Major Achievement Golden Light Finger!

Ssh!

The peerlessly sharp Geng Metal Sword Qi pierced through the Disciple's throat without any resistance. Blood sprayed wildly; the Disciple's eyes widened, unable to imagine how a Loose Cultivator, who seemingly had been swallowed by the fire snake, could actually withstand the Spell and kill him.

Gu Shen didn't look at the fallen corpse.

He pressed one hand against the dark red Formation light screen, and with a flip of his wrist, the blood jade formation plate he had seized from the demonic Cultivator was pressed against it.

Buzz.

On the Formation light screen, a blood-colored gap just large enough for one person to pass through instantly melted open.

Gu Shen's figure flashed, and like a drop of water merging into the sea, he instantly slipped out of the White Bone Forest.

Behind him, the overwhelming blood mist and screams were firmly isolated within the Formation.