Drinking Blood

The world's spiritual energy circulates like tides, resembling an undulating waveform.

The peak of this curve represents the Golden Age.

During this prosperous era, geniuses shone like stars, and powerful martial artists, cultivators, and demonic beasts appeared in droves.

However, when the curve plummets to its lowest point, the Age of Dharma Decline descends.

In the Age of Dharma Decline, spiritual energy becomes depleted, like a dried-up river.

The creatures in the mountains that relied on spiritual energy for their cultivation knew that their progress had stalled.

Thus, they found a new path, choosing to feed on Turbid Qi and transforming into Demons and Monsters that plagued the world.

Xia Qi'an's era is precisely at this historical juncture of depleted spiritual energy and the "five turbidities" corrupting the world.

And in the Age of Dharma Decline, martial artists became dominant.

This is because martial artists cultivate their own blood energy power, focusing on unlocking the potential of the human body. Their reliance on spiritual energy is not as great as that of demonic beasts and cultivators.

"Beast... gurgle..." Xia Qi'an suddenly broke the surface of the water, roaring in anger.

In an instant, he was dragged back into the pond by the giant snake.

The once-calm pond churned with turbulent waves, as if it were boiling water.

Underwater, Xia Qi'an grappled with the colossal snake, like two flood dragons battling in the deep sea.

The giant snake, unable to swallow him in one gulp earlier, now resorted to coiling its massive body around him, attempting to crush Xia Qi'an.

However, Xia Qi'an had already cultivated Bronze Skin and Iron Bones, his body as sturdy as iron. No matter how the giant snake coiled, it couldn't crush him.

It was just that Xia Qi'an was currently trapped underwater, struggling to breathe and unable to break free from the snake's constriction.

Yet, the more perilous the situation, the more it ignited the ferocity within Xia Qi'an.

He had always lived by the principle: "If you're fierce, I'll be fiercer than you!"

Underwater, Xia Qi'an suddenly spread his five fingers, like eagle talons, and dug into the gaps between the giant snake's scales.

Then, gritting his teeth, he used all his strength to tear fiercely.

He ripped off a chunk of snake flesh, complete with crimson scales.

A patch of bloody bubbles immediately rose to the surface of the dark blue water.

"Hiss..."

The giant snake, in pain, thrust its head out of the water, hissing.

Xia Qi'an, underwater, seized this opportunity to break free from the snake's body and resurface, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

"You beast dare to act so savagely... Today, I'll show you my power!"

With that, Xia Qi'an took a deep breath and, like a flood dragon entering the sea, actively plunged underwater, heading towards the wound he had torn.

However, the snake's blood had dispersed underwater, clouding his vision, making it impossible to see anything.

Xia Qi'an had no choice but to give up and instead swam towards the shore.

Seeking fortune and avoiding disaster is the natural instinct of wild beasts.

The crimson snake, having a piece of flesh torn from it by Xia Qi'an, writhed in pain, its serpentine pupils showing a hint of fear. It coiled its body, as thick as a water barrel, and retreated into the forest.

However, Xia Qi'an, having swallowed some of the pond water mixed with snake blood, felt a burning heat throughout his body, his Blood Essence churning like boiling water.

He immediately understood that the flesh and blood of this crimson snake were a rare and potent tonic for martial artists.

Furthermore, Xia Qi'an's Crimson Pupils could see the abundant Turbid Qi emanating from it, indicating it had devoured many people.

And since this snake had attacked him first, harming him, such a vicious beast could not be allowed to escape.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Xia Qi'an roared, his voice like thunder, shaking the surrounding leaves. He grabbed the snake's water-barrel-thick body, clamping down on it like iron pincers.

He repeated his previous tactic, roughly tearing off several palm-sized scales.

Instantly, a gush of bright red snake blood erupted like a fountain, splattering all over Xia Qi'an's face.

Xia Qi'an knew this snake blood was a great tonic. He gritted his teeth, opened his mouth, and began to drink it greedily.

"Hiss..."

The crimson snake, witnessing this, felt even greater fear in its eyes. Its body writhed continuously, trying to shake Xia Qi'an off.

However, Xia Qi'an's fingers were like hooks, firmly gripping the snake scales. No matter how the giant snake thrashed, he clung to it like a persistent burr.

Xia Qi'an knew that killing such a large snake was unrealistic.

Therefore, he gave up the idea of killing it and instead set his sights on the snake meat.

With this thought, he immediately drew the saber at his waist and repeatedly stabbed at the wound until he had sliced off a large piece of bloody snake meat.

The giant snake no longer dared to act aggressively, its sole desire being to escape into the forest.

Xia Qi'an, knowing he couldn't keep it, reluctantly let it go.

After the giant snake retreated, the area around the pond was a mess, stained red with snake blood everywhere, resembling a scene from hell.

The serene beauty was gone.

A thought suddenly struck Xia Qi'an. To verify what he suspected, He gazed at the dark pool again, and indeed, the strange sensation returned.

But this time, he learned from his lesson, taking only a shallow glance before quickly averting his eyes.

Thus, he concluded that the previous feeling of his spirit leaving his body wasn't the work of that giant snake.

However, the pool water itself exuded a peculiar aura.

With this in mind, he decisively activated his Crimson Pupils, took a deep breath, and plunged into the water.

Submerged, Xia Qi'an's body continuously sank, swimming towards the bottom of the pool as if he were a fish in water.

As expected, amidst the pebbles at the bottom of the pool, an unknown object was emitting an eerie, deep blue light.

If Xia Qi'an wasn't mistaken, this deep pool was being illuminated in a deep blue by this very object.

And it was also thanks to this object that Xia Qi'an's spirit had left his body and he had been unable to move earlier.

Without further thought, Xia Qi'an grabbed the mysterious object and turned to swim towards the surface.

Back on shore, the pool water instantly returned to normal.

Xia Qi'an carefully examined the mysterious object.

It was entirely deep blue, crystal clear, and emitted a faint deep blue radiance, much like a blue crystal.

Xia Qi'an stared at it for a long time but couldn't discern anything.

Since he couldn't figure anything out for the moment, he casually put it into his storage bag.

These Burial Ridge Mountains were extremely perilous. Even the outer regions harbored demonic beasts like the crimson snake.

If he ventured further in, who knew what dangers he might encounter.

After much hesitation, Xia Qi'an felt he couldn't press on any further.

After all, he was only in the Late Blood Refining Realm, his martial arts cultivation was too low.

Pressing onward would likely put his life at risk.

Therefore, Xia Qi'an decided to return to Jinling to report.

Since the zombies had already ventured deep into the Burial Ridge Mountains, they were beyond his current capabilities to handle.

It was better to leave it to the Wei Dao Si, letting them send cultivators with higher realms to investigate.

Moreover, Xia Qi'an had gained a great deal from this excursion into the mountains and was eager to find a place to refine it.

The flesh and blood of the crimson snake were a great tonic.

He vaguely sensed that if he ate the snake's meat again, he might be able to complete his final blood exchange, achieving nine blood exchanges.

Having made up his mind, Xia Qi'an wasted no more time and turned to retrace his steps down the mountain.