The Monstrous Effect

One had to know that according to the descriptions in the Blood Sucking Demonic Art, it had only one effect: absorbing others' blood essence to increase one's own Blood Changing Degree.

Once one cultivated it to the Beginner or Lesser Accomplishment Realm, one could absorb the blood essence within Blood Changing Realm martial artists. Upon reaching the Great Accomplishment or Perfection Realm, one could absorb the blood essence of Innate martial artists.

The only difference lay in the degree of conversion after absorption.

But even so, it could elevate an ordinary martial artist's Blood Changing Degree to a monstrous level.

After glancing at his own Blood Changing Degree, Bai Ze muttered to himself, "With this cultivation art, as long as I get the chance, reaching one hundred percent isn't impossible."

"According to its description, once my Blood Changing Degree exceeds ninety percent, I'll need to absorb the blood essence of Innate martial artists in the future."

"Though it will be somewhat difficult, with sufficient planning, it definitely won't be impossible."

At that thought, a cold glint flashed in Bai Ze's eyes. Clearly, he already had something in mind.

Over the following days, Bai Ze continued as he had when he first arrived, constantly cultivating in the courtyard.

After using up all the Body Recovery Paste, the Boiling Blood he cultivated could no longer increase his Blood Changing Degree, as though it had reached its limit.

Blood Changing Realm (69%)

Looking at the information displayed on the system interface, Bai Ze's gaze remained calm, and he paid it no mind.

Had this been before he acquired the Blood Sucking Demonic Art, he would likely have prepared to break through to the Innate Realm before long, unable to make any further progress.

But Bai Ze now had a better choice.

The next day, According to the task Bai Ze had accepted, he had already been stationed at the Li Family's business in Blackwater County for seven days. Today was the eighth day, and it was time for him to leave and return to Pingfeng City.

Seen off by the shopkeeper and numerous attendants of the business, Bai Ze mounted a swift horse and left directly.

As for how the Li Family would arrange matters afterward, that had nothing to do with him.

After the previous incident, Blackwater County had once again returned to its former peace.

As time passed, night quietly descended.

Around the dead of night, A black figure flashed through Blackwater County, vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Inside a room in the county office on the other side, Qu Feng and another man lay on their beds.

Although treatment had saved their lives, their injuries were so severe that they likely would not be able to get out of bed anytime soon.

The two of them could not even move now, and could only slowly recover under the servants' care.

Just then, neither Qu Feng nor the other man lying in bed noticed a black figure silently appearing in the room.

When they opened their eyes because of the pain wracking their bodies and saw the sight before them, they had just tried to cry out when a hand covered their mouths.

Yet the disbelief in their eyes was unmistakable, as though they could not believe that the person before them was truly him.

But they had no strength to resist, and could only watch helplessly as the other party acted.

An unbearable pain spread throughout their bodies, twisting their faces into hideous masks as despair rose in their hearts.

A little over a minute later, Qu Feng had completely stopped breathing. His body also appeared far more shriveled, almost exactly matching the manner of death of those previous Blood Changing Realm martial artists.

The Black-clad Man before him took out a small bottle and dripped several drops onto his body.

White smoke rose from Qu Feng's corpse, which then rapidly began to rot.

After dealing with this side, he entered another room and did the same thing to the other Blood Changing Realm martial artist.

Just then, for some unknown reason, the house where Qu Feng and the other man resided suddenly erupted into a raging blaze.

"Something's wrong! Commander Qu Feng's house is on fire! Put it out, quickly!"

"Hurry, go get water!"

"What's going on? We have to rescue Qu Feng and the others!"

"If I find out who set this fire, I absolutely won't let him off!"

While the county office descended into chaos as everyone desperately fought the fire, none of them knew that Qu Feng and the other man inside had long since died.

As for that black figure from before, it had already silently departed.

More than half an hour later, A black figure appeared not far from Blackwater County, and that person was Bai Ze.

Although he had left Blackwater County during the day, he had quietly returned under the cover of night.

He was the one responsible for what had happened in the county office earlier.

That was precisely why Qu Feng and the other man had revealed such disbelief in their eyes before they died.

Unfortunately, no one discovered any of it.

After settling matters here, he rode his swift horse toward Pingfeng City.

After traveling through the night, Bai Ze was now in a room at a relay station, preparing to rest briefly before continuing on his journey.

He sat cross-legged in the room, circulating the Blood Sucking Demonic Art within his body.

When Bai Ze opened his eyes once more and looked at the information displayed on the system interface, he murmured, "As expected of a technique above the Innate level. Its effects are actually this terrifying."

"Simply absorbing two Blood Changing Realm martial artists increased my Blood Changing Degree by three percent, bringing it to seventy-two percent."

"And their Blood Changing Degrees were too low. If they were replaced with martial artists with higher Blood Changing Degrees, the results would definitely be even better."

"As long as I have enough Blood Changing Realm martial artists, I can absolutely increase my strength much faster."

At that thought, a sharp glint flashed in Bai Ze's eyes.

He had never expected this trip's harvest to be so immense. It was simply a heaven-sent opportunity.

Once he returned to Pingfeng City, he would clearly need to make some careful plans.

Although there were more Blood Changing Realm martial artists in the county than in the city, making a move there would also be far more dangerous. Bai Ze did not dare let down his guard.

One day later, Bai Ze had returned to the Li residence in Pingfeng City.

Not long after he returned to his quarters, Li Qiuhai received the news and came over.

Seeing that Bai Ze had returned safely, he said with a smile, "Brother Bai, congratulations on your safe return."

"I already know about what happened before. Luckily, you were there to hold the fort. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened!"

"But it's good that you came back safely. The family will send people to Blackwater County again."

Clearly, Li Qiuhai had received the news earlier and had been worried that something might happen to Bai Ze.

Now that he saw Bai Ze had returned safely, he felt much more at ease. After all, Bai Ze would still need to take the field in the Contention Battle in a few days!

After exchanging a few polite words, Li Qiuhai left Bai Ze's quarters, allowing him to prepare properly for the coming events.

Bai Ze watched his departing back and calmly shut the door.

Though their conversation had seemed casual just now, how could he possibly fail to sense what Li Qiuhai was thinking?

Unfortunately, Bai Ze had long prepared an explanation to deal with it and had not revealed the slightest thing about the Blood Sucking Demonic Art.