Blood-Red Fiend, Take Action!

It looked somewhat familiar. Jiang Yuan raised a brow.

He searched through his memories.

Wasn't that the uniform of the Fengxing Family from neighboring Taiyuan City?

Why were they here?

Jiang Yuan frowned slightly.

And what was this blood-red humanoid fiend?

Jiang Yuan looked over. This fiend seemed to have had all the skin on its body dissolved away, exposing strips of muscle.

A faint heat radiated from its muscles, and its entire body looked sticky and slimy.

Yet the blood-red fiend moved with agility, like a crazed wild beast, but also like a seasoned martial artist. It was rather strange.

The three Hua Jin experts of the Fengxing Family, working together, were actually no match for the blood-red fiend, though they could barely hold it off.

Both sides were locked in a stalemate, but as time passed, the three Fengxing Family Hua Jin experts would undoubtedly die!

Jiang Yuan frowned faintly. He had not wanted to meddle in others' business, but he had once heard Wenzhao say that an elder of the Fengxing Family had saved Wenzhao's life. The two shared a friendship forged in life and death, so the Fengxing Family and the Zhenyuan Escort Agency were on fairly good terms as well.

Jiang Yuan hesitated. Should he save these people or not? But doing so might expose his exotic bone.

Suddenly, a searing heat inexplicably arose from Jiang Yuan's chest.

Jiang Yuan froze.

This was... his exotic bone's thirst for the unknown monster before him?

Jiang Yuan's brows relaxed. He had already made his decision and released the power suppressing his exotic bone.

Over the past few days of killing fiends, the power of his exotic bone had risen slowly, but its growth had begun slowing once more, as though it had reached a bottleneck.

If he killed the blood-red fiend before him, his exotic bone would most likely break through this bottleneck and become even stronger.

Jiang Yuan also had no idea what would happen after his exotic bone advanced. Could the Qi and blood it fed back allow him to break through to Hua Jin?

Jiang Yuan stared fixedly at the blood-red fiend.

A sun-like power began pouring out from his chest, surging forth like water released from a floodgate.

A flicker of fiery red emerged in Jiang Yuan's eyes, then spread like a single spark setting half the plains ablaze, staining his entire pupils.

Jiang Yuan's originally black pupils had been dyed crimson.

Immediately afterward, Jiang Yuan circulated the Qi and blood throughout his body. The power of his exotic bone ignited it, and the aura of a great sun slowly rose from his body, warping even the surrounding air beneath its radiance.

The blood-red skinless fiend in battle suddenly sensed something. It violently erupted with power and blasted away the three Hua Jin Martial Artists of the Fengxing Family.

It looked warily in Jiang Yuan's direction.

His Qi and blood erupted at full force, spilling outward to form a faint garment of Qi and blood. Then the power of his exotic bone instantly ignited the Qi and blood throughout his body, draping Jiang Yuan in a garment of flames. Especially on his face—under Jiang Yuan's deliberate control, a flame mask formed there, concealing every trace of his features.

At the same time, faint flames spread across the Chen Saber. Jiang Yuan struck fiercely.

Boom!

The tremendous blast stunned everyone nearby, leaving them unclear about what had happened.

When they looked again, they discovered that a figure clad in flames had plunged into the blood-red fiend's embrace like a young swallow returning to its nest.

Then a blaze erupted, followed by a chilling howl.

The blood-red fiend cried out in pain, unleashing all its strength as it tried to shake Jiang Yuan away.

Enormous Qi and blood burst from the blood-red fiend's body, actually forming a faint garment of Qi and blood over its body, just like an ordinary Late Qi and Blood Stage martial artist.

It seemed no different from the Qi and blood of a Qi and Blood Martial Artist.

But Jiang Yuan was startled. This power felt somewhat familiar, yet it was definitely not the outward release of a Qi and Blood Martial Artist's Qi and blood.

Jiang Yuan spun the Chen Saber, laying down a net of flames through the air.

Every thread of fire was a streak of Jiang Yuan's saber light.

Countless dense saber lights mingled with the scorching power of his exotic bone, forming a net of fire.

It enveloped the blood-red fiend, and countless wounds instantly appeared across its body.

Jiang Yuan unleashed the Duanmen Saber Technique. Its swift and clean saber forms had now transformed into attacks as fast as thunder.

Wrapped in flames, Jiang Yuan now seemed like the sovereign of fire.

Jiang Yuan felt the vast power filling his entire body, yet he remained rational.

Though this power was immense, it could not be exposed lightly.

After all, in his First Life, that boy in white had stripped away his exotic bone. That meant exotic bones might differ from other talents—they could be taken away.

Though he did not know whether anyone in the Hundred Cities Domain understood exotic bones, once word leaked out, endless trouble would surely follow.

Jiang Yuan could not even let those Fengxing Family members see his face.

Jiang Yuan looked at the battered blood-red fiend before him without expression, and light suddenly erupted from his body.

The power of the Great Sun Blazing Fire Bone poured out in full.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan had completely transformed into a small sun.

The dazzling radiance made the three Hua Jin experts, who had wanted to step forward and help, instinctively shield their eyes.

Jiang Yuan flicked the Chen Saber. It shot out like a bolt of lightning and stabbed straight into the blood-red fiend's chest, nearly cleaving it in two.

Before the blood-red fiend could react, Jiang Yuan closed in at once and threw a fierce punch.

Scorching flames coiled around Jiang Yuan, and with that punch, the flames exploded.

Jiang Yuan could feel that the exotic bone in his chest was burning with unprecedented heat, so hot that even he could barely endure it.

At the same time, Jiang Yuan could sense the craving emotion transmitted from within the exotic bone.

The next second, the blood-red fiend turned to ash beneath that punch.

[Points +500]

At the instant it turned to ash, Jiang Yuan could feel a strange power flowing out from his exotic bone, absorbing all the power within the blood-red fiend.

This was different from the faint, barely perceptible warm currents he had absorbed when killing other fiends before.

Instead, it was exceedingly distinct. Jiang Yuan could even feel that power continuously circling within his chest.

Meanwhile, the flames over his body grew ever more violent, as though fuel had been added to them.

Then, in the next instant, the power throughout his body stagnated, and a wave of weakness swept over him.

The Fengxing Family members nearby quickly came to their senses.

The three Hua Jin experts hurried forward, gratitude on their faces, intending to thank Jiang Yuan, who had stepped in halfway and saved their lives.

Yet they had not expected Jiang Yuan to leave without a word, completely ignoring the three Hua Jin experts.

"Uncle, why did this... senior..."

"To kill an Azure Calamity Blood Fiend with one punch, this senior is incredibly powerful. He likely merely saved our lives in passing."

The lean middle-aged man among the three spoke with a bitter smile. "It is only natural for a senior of such strength to have an eccentric temperament. It seems our strength is simply too weak. Perhaps this senior disdains even speaking to us. Forget it, forget it."

"If we encounter this senior again, we must properly thank him."

"Let's go. We have been delayed in Soul-Losing Mountain for too long."

"If they hadn't said Blood Crystals were appearing in Soul-Losing Mountain, we wouldn't have..."

"Silence!"

The flames around Jiang Yuan gradually extinguished, and he stopped, feeling somewhat weak.

Standing atop a tree, Jiang Yuan sensed the power within his body.

The Great Sun Blazing Fire Bone in his chest seemed to have fallen into slumber. It was no longer as active as it had been during the battle.

Jiang Yuan had even lost his sense of the exotic bone.

This made Jiang Yuan frown slightly. He did not know whether this was good or bad.

Ninety percent of the Qi and blood in his body had been consumed. Though the power generated after fully activating the exotic bone was indeed formidable,

it required burning Qi and blood—or rather, using Qi and blood as a vessel to release its power. But its rate of consumption was simply too fast.

Still... Jiang Yuan sensed his Qi and blood.

After destroying the blood-red fiend, the Qi and blood fed back to him by the exotic bone had raised his cultivation considerably.

Once his Qi and blood fully recovered, his total amount of Qi and blood would be twenty percent greater than before. Jiang Yuan was already at the Late Qi and Blood Stage, and increasing Qi and blood at this point was far more difficult than during the early and middle stages.

With the assistance of his exotic bone, he was drawing closer and closer to Hua Jin.

But since his Qi and blood had increased a little too quickly, he might as well consolidate his cultivation in the outskirts of Soul-Losing Mountain. Jiang Yuan happened to know of a herd of Exotic Beasts there, and their strength was perfect for stabilizing his cultivation!