Entering the Sect

"Chen Mengze is truly my god of wealth."

Emerging from Guo Zhao's room, Shen Mo tucked the second-order mid-stage Mystic Water Soul-Refining Turtle demon core into his robes, thinking to himself.

Although she hadn't given it to him directly.

Yet, over these past few days, by relying on his close relationship with her, Shen Mo had managed to "freeload" countless benefits from Guo Zhao.

Having a beautiful childhood sweetheart who was also a cultivator was truly a stroke of good fortune.

"Listen to me, thank you, because of you, the four seasons have been warmed."

Humming a tune from his past life cheerfully in his heart, he returned to his room and shut the door tight.

"Let's begin!"

Back in his room, Shen Mo sat on the bed and impatiently took out the first demon beast corpse.

It was a Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, not particularly large in size, and Shen Mo could hold it firmly with both hands.

Then—"Swish! Swish!"

Under his activation, the Blood-Baleful Bead began to spin rapidly.

At the same time, threads of blood surged from his sea of qi, tightly wrapping around the corpse of the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox.

As the cultivation technique circulated, the essence and blood within the fox's corpse were drawn bit by bit along the blood threads and into the Blood-Baleful Bead.

Half an incense stick later, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox corpse in Shen Mo's hands withered visibly to the naked eye.

The demon corpse, once plump with flesh and blood, had been sucked dry, leaving behind nothing but an empty husk.

"Crack, crack!"

Shen Mo applied a little force with his palm, and the empty husk of the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox instantly crumbled into powder.

"It works, but not very effectively."

Glancing at the Blood-Baleful Bead, he saw the increase in blood-baleful essence; although it was clearly effective, the gain was truly minuscule.

It was far less significant than the boost he had received from the two demon cores earlier.

"Let's continue; at least there's a large quantity, and plenty left."

Thinking this, Shen Mo took out another demon corpse and repeated the process.

He continued refining in this manner, and five hours passed; he had completely drained all the demon corpses he had received from Chen Mengze.

The Blood-Baleful Bead was now nearly half-filled with a blood-red hue.

"Only the other half remains. Let's see if this Mystic Water Soul-Refining Turtle demon core is enough."

Shen Mo held the sky-blue, rounded demon core against his chest, closed his eyes slightly, and began to extract the blood-baleful essence.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Unlike those first-order demon corpses, this demon core was, after all, a second-order mid-stage one, and the energy contained within it was incredibly abundant.

As streams of energy were refined into blood-baleful qi and flowed into Shen Mo's sea of qi, the Blood-Baleful Bead suspended there was rapidly filled with blood-red color.

"It's full!"

He did not know how much time had passed when Shen Mo opened his eyes.

The demon core in his hand had been drained of energy, becoming nothing more than an ordinary stone.

Within his body, the Blood-Baleful Bead was finally completely filled.

"What will happen next?"

Looking at the now thoroughly crimson Blood-Baleful Bead, Shen Mo felt a mix of anticipation and nervousness.

He waited silently for about three breaths.

Movement occurred!

"Roar!"

Shen Mo's entire body shuddered as a sudden sound, like the roar of a dragon and the howl of a tiger, erupted from within him.

At the same time, the bead burst open completely, and endless blood-baleful essence surged out of his body.

It transformed into a cloud of blood mist, wrapping him tightly.

A moment later, the blood mist gradually condensed into a large cocoon formed from blood-baleful energy.

Wrapped within the blood cocoon, his entire body was entwined with countless red threads.

From every red thread, massive amounts of energy began to pour into Shen Mo's body.

As this energy entered him, Shen Mo gradually felt his bones, meridians, organs, and even his blood undergoing a transformation.

Washing away the dross!

"Is this... a true rebirth?"

This final thought flashed through Shen Mo's mind before he became completely immersed in the process, with no time left to think.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

As the moon rose and the sun set, three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Throughout these three days, Shen Mo had remained encased within a massive blood-red cocoon, fast asleep.

During this period, both Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao had come to check on him, seeing that he had yet to emerge.

Upon witnessing the scene, the two guessed that Shen Mo might be practicing some special technique.

Fearing they might disrupt his cultivation, they dared not disturb him lightly.

They left him to remain within the blood cocoon, gathering the strength for his rebirth.

"Riiip!"

A strange sound suddenly echoed through the previously silent room.

It was Shen Mo.

Having slept for three days inside the blood-red cocoon, he had awakened.

He used his palms to tear an opening in the massive cocoon, which was woven from countless threads of blood.

Finally, he had the chance to smell the air of the outside world.

"Haa!" He took a deep breath, his spirits soaring.

What a sweet, fragrant scent.

For these past three days, he had been wrapped inside the blood cocoon, keeping company with these manifestations of baleful blood energy all day long; he had nearly been suffocated by the stench.

Once he caught a whiff of fresh air, Shen Mo could no longer tolerate the sky-high reek of blood emanating from the cocoon.

Soon, the thick, nauseating scent of blood surged into his nostrils, making him retch repeatedly.

"Riiip!"

Holding his breath, he stripped away the remaining blood cocoon wrapped around his body in one go.

Afterward, he sprinted all the way to the banks of the Lancang River outside his cave dwelling, facing the slightly salty sea breeze, and finally enjoyed the luxury of taking deep breaths.

"Haa... that nearly suffocated me."

After three days of body-tempering transformation, the first thing Shen Mo did upon waking was not to examine the changes in himself.

Instead—he had to take a bath immediately!

The blood and the foul stench on his body were unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life; Shen Mo found it unbearable.

"Splash!"

After a thorough scrubbing, he was finally completely clean.

He took a set of clothes from his Qiankun Pouch and changed into them, only then finding the leisure to begin observing his own changes.

"My skin seems to have become much fairer."

Looking down at his reflection in the river, Shen Mo muttered, "After these three days of tempering and transformation, not only did I not become a muscular hunk, but on the contrary, I've turned into a pretty boy."

He gazed at his hands; the new skin was fair and translucent, delicate enough to be broken by a breeze, even more tender than a woman's.

"However... I have become stronger!"

Clenching his fists and feeling the surging power within his body, Shen Mo confirmed.

He knew very well what terrifying changes had occurred to the fascia, muscles, and bones hidden beneath this seemingly soft and delicate exterior.

"This Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body can be considered successfully initiated!"

Shen Mo glanced at his data panel; the section for his cultivation techniques and martial arts now contained information regarding the Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body.

[Host: Shen Mo]

[Cultivation: Body Tempering Realm, Ninth Heaven]

[Technique: Heaven Origin Technique Mastery (3588/4000)]

[Martial Arts: Supreme Clarity Sword Technique Mastery (254/16000)]

[Movement Technique: Thunderbolt Quickstep Minor Success (978/2500)]

[Body Cultivation Technique: Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body Elephant Body (1/100)]

"Elephant Body, is it? Let's see how much my strength has increased!"

After a quick scan, Shen Mo took out a Strength Testing Talisman.

"Whoosh!"

With a slight activation, the talisman instantly transformed into a pale cyan screen.

"Rumble!"

He clenched his fist, feeling as if there were infinite power within his body, like a volcanic eruption, and slammed it down toward the screen before him.

[Strength: 6475 catties.]

When this number appeared on the cyan screen of the Strength Testing Talisman, a look of disbelief crossed Shen Mo's face.

"During the last test, my strength was only 3571 catties; it has nearly doubled in just three days!"

"The boost this body cultivation technique gives me is too immense!" Shen Mo thought. "Although I haven't yet stepped into the Qi Gathering Realm, with the various trump cards I possess at this moment, even a practitioner at the first level of the Qi Gathering Realm might not be my match!"