Blood Bone First Appearance

Four months ago...

A pitch-black night.

The Li Clan of Divine Wood City.

Lin Yunzhi's face was bruised and swollen, covered in wounds that were oozing blood.

He struggled to open his eyes, his gaze flickering with anger and determination.

Haoyun Li rummaged through Lin Yunzhi's person without restraint, pulling out a square, blood-red jade gui. Even holding it, one could tell its texture was extraordinary, unlike any common item.

The treasure in his hand brought a greedy look to his eyes. He chuckled, "This jade gui looks extraordinary, it must be a treasure. It's mine now."

Lin Yunzhi gritted his teeth, hating him as he spoke, "If you don't return this to me, you will die!"

"Hahahaha... A mere mortal dares to threaten you, Fourth Master?" Haoyun Li clearly paid Lin Yunzhi's threat no mind. He sneered and delivered a fierce slap, the sharp palm wind instantly stirring the air.

Lin Yunzhi was sent flying by the slap.

Haoyun Li took the opportunity to kick Lin Yunzhi twice, sending him curling into a ball and painfully collapsing on the ground.

Blood trickled from the corner of Lin Yunzhi's mouth, but his eyes still shone with a stubborn light.

The entire Lin family, thousands of souls, had been slaughtered by the Green Scale Hall for this very blood pattern jade gui.

How could this treasure possibly fall into the hands of another?

Late at night...

A Black Fur Eagle Falcon, using a circling descent, landed silently in the Li Family's animal pen, concealed by the darkness.

Confined within the pen was a mortal: Lin Yunzhi.

Although he had some martial skill, no one took him seriously. There wasn't even a guard in the animal pen.

Lin Yunzhi's face bore scars, and bloodstains still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

Tang Yindong approached him, asking with concern, "Zhi'er, are you alright?"

Lin Yunzhi forcefully pushed himself up, wiped the blood from his lips, and stared intently at Tang Yindong, his voice firm, "Help me kill someone."

Tang Yindong paused for a moment, then replied with a troubled expression, "The Li Family is a cultivation family of the Five Poisons Sect. We must proceed with caution. They have more than one expert in the Spirit Refining Realm."

"This person must be killed. He stole the blood pattern jade gui, and we must get it back." Lin Yunzhi's face contorted.

Upon hearing this, Tang Yindong's pupils contracted sharply. A tempestuous rage also surged within his heart.

A full moon hung high above the Li Clan of Divine Wood City.

Under the silver glow, Haoyun Li sat alone on a bamboo stool, one hand fiddling with the newly acquired blood pattern jade gui, the other picking his toes.

The blood pattern jade gui had intricate, maze-like patterns.

The moonlight shone on the jade gui, revealing a faint red hue, further hinting at its extraordinary nature.

A woman's voice came from the room, with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Still not sleeping so late?"

"Old woman, you sleep first. I have something to do." Haoyun Li didn't reply, still engrossed in studying the jade gui in his hand.

Just then, under the continuous moonlight, the patterns on the jade gui began to emit a faint glow. Pale red characters appeared before Haoyun Li's eyes. He read them out word by word: "Blood Bone First Appearance, Vengeful Spirit Awakens. Unite my heart and mind, make me supreme..."

Haoyun Li's heart skipped a beat!

He knew he had found a treasure. This jade gui was definitely not an ordinary item.

Suddenly!

A fierce wind whipped up overhead.

A massive dark shadow descended from the sky. The Black Fur Eagle Falcon's sharp talons pierced through his body...

"What impudent cur!" A powerful divine sense locked onto the Black Fur Eagle Falcon. "How dare you cause trouble in my Li Family! Prepare to die!"

Before the voice even finished, the figure charged directly towards the Black Fur Eagle Falcon in mid-air.

The Black Fur Eagle Falcon seemed to sense the danger as well, immediately flapping its wings and fleeing rapidly.

Black Mountain.

In the forest.

Li Shuidao tapped his medicine bottle. There wasn't a single Detoxification Pill left.

Tang Yindong, that fool, had consumed all his Detoxification Pills.

Detoxification Pills couldn't truly cure poison; they only diluted it, and the medicine had a strong resistance effect.

Tang Yindong had gone completely mad and could no longer answer any questions.

From now on, he would be a happy idiot, crawling through the mountains and forests on his broken limbs.

Too cruel!

A benevolent person should strike swiftly and decisively!

A glimmer of mercy flashed in Li Shuidao's eyes. With a flash of his sword light, a silver cold gleam cut through, and Tang Yindong's head fell, blood gushing out.

He tied Tang Yindong's head to his waist with a rope. He would take it back to Li Shuiting as a memorial for their fourth uncle's spirit, and it was also a way to make use of waste.

"Ruoxue, it's alright now, let's go home," Li Shuidao said, holding Xia Ruoxue as they walked through the forest.

In a short while, they disappeared without a trace.

Divine Wood City.

Li Clan.

A small courtyard at home.

Li Shuidao and Xia Ruoxue sat together, quietly savoring the tea in their cups.

The warm aroma of tea filled the air, creating a peaceful and cozy atmosphere.

Li Shuidao personally poured tea for Xia Ruoxue, his eyes revealing a hint of tenderness and care.

Gradually...

The atmosphere became filled with a certain tacit understanding.

"You suddenly wanted to go on a trip, was it because of some special influence?" Li Shuidao suddenly asked.

Xia Ruoxue frowned and shook her head. Although it was indeed bizarre that she was Lin Yunzhi's companion, she genuinely wanted to travel to change her environment and conceive a new life.

"I don't know..." Xia Ruoxue said slowly. She herself wasn't sure if she had been inexplicably influenced by Lin Yunzhi.

Li Shuidao was silent for a long time, and continued, "You were born into a martial artist's family, have you learned any special internal cultivation techniques?"

According to Li Shuidao's guess, Xia Ruoxue could not have become Lin Yunzhi's companion for no reason; there must be a cause.

Upon hearing this, Xia Ruoxue recalled her past. After a long silence, she said, "I grew up in a fishing village that was once struck by a plague. I was the only one in the entire village who survived. My adoptive father taught me a martial art, but it was just an ordinary martial art, the Falling Phoenix Thirteen Blades, not any special internal cultivation technique."

Not a cultivation technique!?

Li Shuidao had initially thought that Xia Ruoxue had cultivated a special technique, making her an indispensable companion for the Blood Demon White Bone Technique. Now it seemed that wasn't the case. Perhaps it was related to that plague.

"Xue'er, can you tell me in detail about the plague when you were young?" Li Shuidao asked.

Xia Ruoxue quietly closed her eyes, recalling that past event. She said softly, "Those were days that plunged the entire village into panic. The plague swept through, taking countless lives. I was just an ignorant child of four or five, I didn't know anything..."

"The plague lasted for a very short time, seemingly only a day. People in the village died one after another, collapsing as they walked. My parents were also taken by the plague, and I became an orphan..."

Li Shuidao frowned slightly. "A plague cannot develop that quickly. Did it reappear later? Did it spread to other places?"

"I haven't heard of it."

"This plague might be suspicious."

"You mean it's related to the Blood Demon White Bone Technique?" Xia Ruoxue had listened to Li Shuidao's entire interrogation of Tang Yindong, so she could roughly guess the sequence of events.

Li Shuidao nodded. "A plague must have a source; it cannot appear for no reason. Furthermore, in just one day, only one person survived in the entire small fishing village, and you moved around without spreading the plague to others. I think this matter is highly suspicious..."