After passing through layers of dense forest.
Shen Qing had already caught the faint scent of blood, mingled with a thick stench of decay.
Even the ground had been stained a faint red. Scattered bones lay all around—some human, some livestock.
Through gaps in the trees, Shen Qing could vaguely make out a dark-red dwarf tree, roughly the height of a one-story building.
"Why does this look a little familiar..."
Shen Qing muttered and strode forward.
Once he drew near, Shen Qing circled the tree once, and certain memories in his mind gradually became clearer.
Back in his early years in the Capital City, he had read quite a few books. One of them seemed to have recorded the little tree before him.
"Blood Swallowing Wood, over ten feet tall, born by drinking blood. Its fragrance is sharp and pure, never foul. Its branches and leaves are sparse, its fruit dark red. Eating it can break through realms, though it may be addictive..."
Shen Qing sniffed lightly. The sense of smell of a Houtian Realm martial artist had also been greatly enhanced. Even through the layers of rot and blood, he could still detect a faint, secluded fragrance.
It was exactly as the books described. This truly was Blood Swallowing Wood.
Immediately afterward, Shen Qing recalled another passage.
"Not born of heaven and earth, but fashioned by human hands. A thing of blood cultivators; its heart is the reason for its existence..."
This Blood Swallowing Wood was not something naturally nurtured by heaven and earth. It was a strange seed created by blood cultivators through secret arts.
And the blood cultivators who expended such effort to create it were not after the fruit growing upon it, but its core.
After all, blood cultivators were blood cultivators. Wouldn't directly drinking blood to raise their cultivation be faster?
Why go through the trouble of farting after taking off one's pants, especially when the fruit was so powerfully addictive?
A flash of cold light streaked through the air. Qing He left its sheath, and Shen Qing chopped the Blood Swallowing Wood apart in one blow. Dark-red wood chips scattered through the air.
Within them, a large shard of wood carried a crystal as red as snow.
Shen Qing reached out with one hand, crushed the shard outright, and caught the red crystal in his palm.
Shen Qing examined it closely. The crystal was about the size of a fist. What was worth noting was that although this thing had been nurtured with vast quantities of blood, it carried not the slightest trace of a bloody stench.
At that moment, Zhang He, who had been lying behind him pretending to be dead, stared wide-eyed at the Blood Swallowing Wood Core in Shen Qing's hand.
He had an intuition that if he swallowed that crystal, he could immediately break through the Houtian Realm.
At the same time, he regretted it beyond measure. He had guarded a mountain of treasure, yet picked only dregs and husks.
Shen Qing sneered.
"What are you looking at? Do you even know what this is?"
Zhang He's voice was hoarse, steeped in hatred.
"I hate this..."
Shen Qing crouched down, grabbed Zhang He by the face, and lifted him up.
"I'll tell you."
"Over among the blood cultivators, this is called a Blood Swallowing Wood Core. Judging by its quality, this one's not bad."
"If you ate it, you could probably directly break through to the third or fourth layer of the Xiantian Realm."
"But what a pity. Not only could you not protect even your own family, you were blind as well."
Zhang He completely broke down.
"I hate this! Aaaaah!!!"
The next instant, the roar came to an abrupt halt. Shen Qing crushed Zhang He's head outright.
[Killed a Houtian Realm Ninth Layer martial artist. Plundered trait: Fist Mastery (Green)]
He had originally intended to interrogate Zhang He about the evil cult behind him, to see whether he could sweep them all into one net.
But the moment he saw the Blood Swallowing Wood, he abandoned that thought.
Even among blood cultivators, Blood Swallowing Wood was not something found all over the streets. There was no way they would give it to trash like Zhang He.
This Blood Swallowing Wood had probably been accidentally left here, only for Zhang He to stumble upon it by chance.
Shen Qing studied the core in his hand. A good thing was indeed a good thing.
Eat it? That was impossible. It was something belonging to blood cultivators; whether eating it would leave behind side effects was still unknown.
But even if it could not be consumed, it was still an excellent item.
The cultivation of Blood Swallowing Wood had always been forbidden within the Great Wu Dynasty. Thus, on the open market, Blood-Swallowing Wood Crystal Cores had always been extremely scarce.
That was why their price had remained high.
Taking it to the Pacification Bureau for an exchange would also fetch a high price, enough to trade for another Crimson Jade Fruit to use for a breakthrough.
Shen Qing picked up a jade box from the ground, stored the crystal core inside, and tucked it close to his body.
Suddenly, another line lit up before his eyes.
[Your subordinate killed a Houtian Realm Third Layer martial artist. Successfully plundered trait: Extraordinary Intuition (Green)] [Astonishing Intuition: Your sixth sense is stronger than others', allowing you to instinctively sense whether matters are good or bad.]
Shen Qing sheathed Qing He and raised an eyebrow.
Another trait? It seemed Zhang Zhi had already been killed by Black Dog and the others.
But looking at it this way...
The Zhang family's strength was nothing special, yet they had been able to run free until today for a reason.
So it turned out their younger son possessed such a useful trait.
Though it was only a Green trait, most Blue and Purple traits probably could not compare to it.
If that was the case, then he would go all in!
Consumed four trait upgrade opportunities. Extraordinary Intuition (Green) upgraded to: Astonishing Intuition (Blue) upgraded to: Lucky Instinct (Purple) upgraded to: Seek Fortune, Avoid Disaster (Gold) upgraded to: Innate Six Senses (Red)
In an instant, Shen Qing felt as though his entire world had changed, as if some wondrous sensation had appeared within him.
It was as though a sense had emerged from nowhere—profound and mysterious, beyond Shen Qing's ability to put into words.
At this time, Black Dog and the others also arrived in the depths of the forest.
Scholar bent at the waist and gave a salute.
"Reporting, sir, the interrogation is over. We did not get anything useful."
"According to Zhang Zhi, they were simply lucky enough to encounter that so-called Sacred Tree. There should be no blood cultivators backing them."
Shen Qing glanced at Scholar. An intuition told Shen Qing that Scholar was speaking the truth, and Shen Qing could see admiration in his eyes.
Sweeping his gaze around, Shen Qing saw through the looks in the Imperial Guards' eyes. Most were filled with admiration, while a small number held fear and terror.
When he looked at Black Dog again, Black Dog's gaze held some resentment. But it was not aimed at Shen Qing—it was aimed at Zhang He's corpse on the ground.
He likely had some grudge against blood cultivators.
Suddenly, an icy gaze stabbed into the back of Shen Qing's neck.
Shen Qing whirled around and swiftly locked onto one man. He was a Lieutenant Official sent from Luoshui City to replenish their manpower, named Huang Yuan.
His gaze was incomparably vicious, as though he wanted to tear Shen Qing's tendons and strip his bones.
The moment Huang Yuan saw Shen Qing turn around, he immediately lowered his head.
Shen Qing carefully thought back and confirmed one thing: there was absolutely no grudge between himself and Huang Yuan.
Huang Yuan had only been transferred under his command two days ago. This was their first meeting.
Could he be someone from the Capital City?
That was even less likely. Shen Qing's arrival in Baiyun County had been arranged in secret. Other than the imperial family and his own family, very few knew about it.
If they had sent someone, it definitely would not be trash like this.
Shen Qing narrowed his eyes.
Then there was only one possibility: he was a remnant of the White Dragon Cult, or one of the families Shen Qing had recently confiscated.
Shen Qing vanished from where he stood like a ghost.
The next moment, he had Huang Yuan by the throat.
"Speak. What was your purpose in infiltrating the Imperial Guards?"
This scene stunned every Imperial Guard around them, and none knew what to do.
But Black Dog, Lin Zikai, and the others moved swiftly. They immediately drew their blades, stepped forward, and subdued the Imperial Guards under Huang Yuan's command.
Huang Yuan's expression turned panicked as he struggled to speak. "Sir... is there... some... misunder... misunderstanding?"
Shen Qing wore a mocking smile.
"Still harboring wishful thoughts? What misunderstanding could there be? My hand's already around your neck."
"You think there aren't any of our people on your side? Speak honestly, and I can still grant you a quick death."
Shen Qing had used a classic interrogation tactic: bluffing!
Huang Yuan froze for a moment, then his expression turned sinister, his eyes filled with hatred.
"Shen Qing!"
"You will die! We will definitely rise again!"
With that, Huang Yuan moved to bite open the poison hidden in his mouth.
But how could he possibly be faster than Shen Qing? Shen Qing grabbed Huang Yuan's jaw. Black Dog was sharp-eyed as well, and immediately stepped forward to dig the poison out of Huang Yuan's mouth.
Shen Qing applied a little force. Huang Yuan's jaw let out a piercing series of cracks, and he soon fainted.
Before long, someone brought iron chains and bound Huang Yuan tightly.
"Old Li, take him back to the prison and interrogate him thoroughly. Use that method we discussed before—the little chili peppers."
Shen Qing then swept his gaze over the group of Imperial Guards under Huang Yuan.
They immediately dropped to their knees, trembling as they continuously kowtowed.
"Sir, we truly have nothing to do with Huang Yuan."
"Sir, please see clearly..."
Shen Qing withdrew his gaze. Innate Six Senses had indeed not sensed any malice from these people.
With a wave of his hand, those Imperial Guards immediately began kowtowing against the ground again.
Shen Qing's eyes gleamed. Innate Six Senses was even more useful than he had imagined.
Perhaps it would prove tremendously useful in the future.
Before you continue