Blood-Baleful Bead

Standing before the stone pavilion, Shen Mo watched the Spirit-Hidden Rat finish its meal.

This time, it had eaten five pounds all by itself and was finally full.

Unlike before, it didn't stare at him with a vacant, goose-like gaze, waiting for him to serve more meat.

Happily stroking its round belly, the Spirit-Hidden Rat let out a satisfied burp before preparing to leave.

"If you want to eat again tomorrow, you may come back. Remember, bring something in exchange."

Shen Mo said with a beaming smile, making an agreement with the creature.

"Ying!"

The Spirit-Hidden Rat nodded its head, then darted away in a flash, disappearing from sight.

Watching it leave, Shen Mo finally turned his attention back to the contents of the jade slip.

He returned to his room.

Following the instructions on the jade slip, Shen Mo sat cross-legged and began to circulate his internal energy through the major and minor heavenly cycles.

"Whoosh!"

As the cultivation technique took effect, the blood and qi within Shen Mo's body gradually began to boil.

"Hoo!"

When the first major cycle was completed, the essence blood from his pulse wheels surged in unison into his sea of qi.

"Crack!"

This essence blood gradually converged within his sea of qi, eventually forming a faint, blood-colored, translucent bead.

"Blood-Baleful Bead."

"To master the entry-level of this body-refining technique and grasp its essence, one must supplement it with Blood-Baleful Essence."

Once the Blood-Baleful Bead had condensed, Shen Mo exited his meditative state.

The Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body was unlike the other martial arts and techniques he practiced.

To reach the entry-level, mere cultivation was not enough.

He required sufficient Blood-Baleful Essence to fill this newly condensed Blood-Baleful Bead.

Only when the Blood-Baleful Bead was fully saturated could he master the core essence of this body-refining technique.

"According to the information recorded in the jade slip, Blood-Baleful Essence is formed by devouring the flesh, blood, and spirits of humans, demons, or ghosts after they die."

A faint glimmer flickered in Shen Mo's eyes as he thought to himself, If I want to condense Blood-Baleful Essence, I must slay human cultivators, high-level demon beasts, or nether ghosts, and accumulate the power left behind by their flesh, blood, and souls at the moment of their death.

Beyond using external objects, if he could endure it, he could also use his own blood and qi essence to condense and replenish the Blood-Baleful Bead.

However, this option was entirely off the table.

The amount of blood and qi required for this Blood-Baleful Bead was simply too vast. Even though he was considered to have vigorous blood and qi and a robust physique among cultivators in the Body Tempering Realm, it was far from enough to provide the power needed to condense the bead.

Even if he were to drain himself dry, he would likely still fall far short.

"I have no choice but to find a way through external objects. It doesn't necessarily have to be a fresh kill; if I have corpses, demon cores, or the spirits left behind by nether ghosts, they can all be refined and absorbed."

"Let's give it a try!"

With that thought, Shen Mo rummaged through his Qiankun Pouch and soon found two smooth, translucent, pale blue crystals.

These were the demon cores he had collected after slaying the Two-Headed Silver-Ringed Python.

He had originally intended to find an opportunity to sell them at the market, but due to price disagreements, he hadn't parted with them yet.

Now, he could use them to test the condensation of Blood-Baleful Essence!

Shen Mo took a deep breath, gripped a demon core tightly in his palm, and began to circulate his technique.

Soon, a powerful devouring force surged from within his body, continuously drawing out the residual demonic power and essence from the demon core.

"Crack!"

Before long, the demon core was drained completely; it cracked and crumbled into ordinary stone.

Shen Mo tossed it aside and turned his inner vision toward the state of the Blood-Baleful Bead in his sea of qi.

"About one-tenth."

After a brief inspection, he confirmed his findings.

That single demon core had only filled one-tenth of the Blood-Baleful Bead.

If he wanted to fill the bead and truly begin his journey of body-refining, these two demon cores were far from enough.

I'll refine these for now, and when Senior Sister Chen and Senior Brother Guo return, I'll see if they have what I need!

Shen Mo thought to himself.

Although he didn't have much in the way of supplies, Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao were both inner-sect disciples with considerable wealth.

He should be able to find some things like monster corpses.

An hour later, Shen Mo had completely refined both monster cores.

At the same time, Guo Zhao and Chen Mengze had also returned to the cave dwelling.

He followed his plan and went to ask the two of them if they had any monster corpses.

He went to Chen Mengze's room first.

"Monster corpses?" After hearing his request, Chen Mengze rummaged through her Qiankun Pouch. "I do have some, but they are all low-level monsters, at the peak of the first rank."

"How many?"

"Twenty."

"Can you give them all to me?" Shen Mo pulled three bottles of Lesser Foundation Establishment Pills from his robes. "I can trade these pills for them."

These three jade bottles contained a total of twelve Lesser Foundation Establishment Pills.

They were all refined by Shen Mo during this period.

This medicinal pill was an excellent supplement for the cultivation of cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm, and it was perfect for Chen Mengze's daily practice.

"Here, take them."

Chen Mengze took all the monster corpses out of her Qiankun Pouch and let Shen Mo store them in his own.

However, she showed no intention of taking the Lesser Foundation Establishment Pills he offered.

"I have plenty of these pills; I don't need yours."

Chen Mengze said, "Your daily cultivation requires a massive amount of resources, and you're already living hand-to-mouth. You should keep them for yourself."

Although Chen Mengze was somewhat sharp-tongued and mocking on the surface, her words still showed that she cared for him quite a bit.

Shen Mo did not accept it with peace of mind. "Senior Sister Chen, if you don't accept these pills, I won't feel at ease taking these things."

Even brothers must settle accounts clearly.

He had already relied on his connection with Chen Mengze to gain quite a few benefits in front of Guo Zhao.

If he took them for free again, he would feel it was unjustifiable.

"Fine, I'll take them."

Seeing Shen Mo's insistence, Chen Mengze's willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, but she accepted them.

After leaving Chen Mengze's room, Shen Mo went to find Senior Brother Guo again.

"Monster corpses?"

"I don't have any of those."

Guo Zhao shook his head, then changed the subject. "However, I do have a second-rank mid-stage Mystic Water Soul-Refining Turtle monster core in my possession. Do you want it?"

"A second-rank mid-stage monster core?"

Shen Mo was slightly stunned, then immediately overjoyed. "If you have this, of course it would be even better!"

The value of this single monster core already exceeded the twenty first-rank monster corpses Chen Mengze had provided.

"However, even if I pool together all the items I have, I'm afraid they might not be equal in value to this second-rank mid-stage monster core."

Shen Mo smiled bitterly as he rummaged through the inventory in his Qiankun Pouch.

He took out all the Lesser Foundation Establishment Pills, Separating Fire Talismans, Light Body Talismans, Focus Talismans, Strength Testing Talismans, and other miscellaneous items he had refined during this time.

Although there were many items, most of them were cheap goods.

Even gathered together, it was difficult to match the value of the monster core.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Guo did not mind. "No matter, consider the remaining price difference as me paying your reward in advance."

"In the future, Brother Shen, please put in a few good words for me in front of Junior Sister Chen."

He was still preoccupied with the fact that Chen Mengze was ignoring him.

"Rest assured, Brother Guo, Shen will certainly do his best." Hearing Guo Zhao's words, Shen Mo quickly patted his chest and promised.