Entry

"Chen Mengze really was my lucky star."

As Shen Mo left Guo Zhao's room, he carried the second-stage mid-phase Mystic Water Soul-Refining Turtle's demonic core in his arms and mused to himself.

Though she hadn't given it to him directly,

thanks to his close relationship with her, Shen Mo had gotten all sorts of benefits from Guo Zhao for free over the past few days.

Having a beautiful female cultivator as a childhood friend really was a blessing.

"Listen, I'm saying thank you, because you've warmed every season."

He hummed a cheerful tune from his past life in his heart, returned to his room, and shut the door.

"Let's begin!"

Back in his room, Shen Mo sat on the bed and eagerly brought out the first demonic beast's corpse.

It was a Three-Tailed Spirit Fox. It wasn't especially large, and Shen Mo could hold it firmly in both hands.

Then—"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

At his urging, the Blood-Baleful Bead spun rapidly.

At the same time, streams of blood-red threads surged from his qi sea and wrapped tightly around the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's corpse.

As the technique circulated, the essence and blood within the spirit fox's corpse flowed along the threads and were gradually drawn into the Blood-Baleful Bead.

Half an incense stick later, the corpse of the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox in Shen Mo's hands had visibly shriveled.

The once plump carcass had been completely drained, leaving only an empty shell.

"Crack, crack!"

Shen Mo gave it a slight squeeze, and the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's hollow corpse crumbled to dust.

"It worked, but not by much."

He glanced at the Blood Baleful essence that had accumulated inside the bead. There was a noticeable increase, but it was truly minuscule.

The boost was nowhere near as great as the two demonic cores he'd used before.

"Let's keep going. At least I've got a lot of them."

With that, Shen Mo took out another demonic corpse and did the same.

He kept refining them this way. Five hours later, he had absorbed every demonic corpse he'd gotten from Chen Mengze.

By then, the Blood-Baleful Bead had accumulated enough to fill nearly half its surface with red.

"Halfway there. Let's see if this Mystic Water Soul-Refining Turtle's demonic core is enough to fill the rest."

Shen Mo held the smooth, sky-blue demonic core against his chest, closed his eyes, and continued extracting Blood Baleful essence.

"Ts-ts!"

Unlike the corpses of first-stage demonic beasts, this core belonged to a second-stage mid-phase beast. The energy it contained was tremendously abundant.

As the energy was refined into Blood Baleful energy, it flowed into Shen Mo's qi sea.

The Blood-Baleful Bead hovering there quickly filled with red.

"It's full!"

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Mo opened his eyes.

The demonic core in his hands had been drained of energy and had become an ordinary stone.

And inside him, the Blood-Baleful Bead had finally been filled to the brim.

"What happens next?"

Looking at the bead, now completely dyed red, Shen Mo felt both anticipation and a trace of nervousness.

He waited quietly for about three breaths.

Then it happened!

"Roar!"

Shen Mo shuddered all over. A sudden sound, like a dragon's roar and a tiger's growl, rang out from within him.

At the same time, the bead shattered completely, and boundless Blood Baleful essence surged out of his body.

It formed a cloud of bloody mist that wrapped around him completely.

A moment later, the mist gradually condensed into a great cocoon made of Blood Baleful energy.

Wrapped inside the blood cocoon, Shen Mo's entire body was bound by countless red threads.

Vast energy began flowing along each thread and pouring into his body.

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

Every last trace of dross was being washed away!

Was this... a true rebirth?

That was Shen Mo's final thought before he sank completely into the process, with no room left to think.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

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

Throughout those three days, Shen Mo remained wrapped in the blood-red cocoon, fast asleep.

During that time, Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao had both come to check on him when he failed to emerge.

After seeing what was happening, they guessed that Shen Mo was cultivating some kind of special technique.

Afraid of interrupting his cultivation, they didn't dare disturb him.

They let him stay in the blood cocoon and gather the strength for his transformation.

"Rip!"

A sudden sound broke the silence in the room.

It was Shen Mo.

After sleeping inside the blood-red cocoon for three days, he had finally woken up.

He tore open a gap in the cocoon, woven from countless blood-red threads.

At last, he had a chance to breathe the air outside.

"Hah!" He drew in a deep breath, his spirits soaring.

The air smelled so sweet.

For the past three days, he'd been wrapped in the blood cocoon, surrounded day and night by things condensed from Blood Baleful energy. He'd nearly been suffocated by the stench.

After taking one breath of fresh air, Shen Mo could no longer stand the blood cocoon's overpowering stench.

The thick, nauseating reek of blood quickly filled his nostrils, making him gag again and again.

"Rip!"

Holding his breath, he tore away all the remaining blood cocoon clinging to him in one go.

Then he raced out of his cave abode to the banks of the Lancang River. Only when he stood in the slightly salty sea breeze could he indulge in a deep breath.

"Hah... I was suffocating!"

After three days of body tempering and transformation, the first thing Shen Mo did when he woke wasn't check what had changed.

Instead—he hurried to take a bath!

The blood on his body was foul-smelling and rank. He'd never experienced anything like it, and he couldn't stand it.

"Splash!"

After a thorough wash, he was finally clean.

He took a change of clothes from his Qiankun Pouch and put them on. Only then did he have time to examine what had changed.

"My skin seems a lot fairer."

Looking down at his reflection in the river, Shen Mo murmured, "After three days of tempering and transformation, I didn't turn into some hulking muscleman. Instead, I've become a pretty boy."

He looked at his hands. His newly grown skin was fair and translucent, so soft it seemed it would break at a touch—more delicate than a woman's.

"But... I've gotten stronger!"

Clenching his fist and feeling the surge of strength within him, Shen Mo confirmed it.

He knew all too well just how terrifyingly the sinews, muscles, and bones beneath his seemingly soft, delicate skin had changed.

"I've successfully taken my first step in the Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body!"

Shen Mo glanced at his stats. The section listing his techniques and martial skills now included the Dragon-Elephant Blood-Baleful Body.

[Life Lord: Shen Mo]

[Cultivation: Ninth Heaven of the Body Tempering Realm]

[Technique: Heaven Origin Technique Fully Mastered (3588/4000)]

[Martial Skill: Supreme Clarity Sword Technique Transcendent (254/16000)]

[Light Body Immortal Art: Thunderbolt Quickstep Minor Accomplishment (978/2500)]

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

"Elephant Body, huh? Let's see how much it boosts my strength!"

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

"Whoosh!"

He activated it slightly, and the talisman immediately transformed into a pale green screen.

"Rumble!"

He clenched his fist. An inexhaustible force seemed to surge through his body, like a volcano erupting, as he smashed it toward the screen.

[Strength: 6475 jin.]

When the number appeared on the green screen of the Strength Testing Talisman, Shen Mo's face showed disbelief.

"The last time I tested it, my strength was only 3571 jin. In just three days, it's nearly doubled!"

"This body cultivation technique has given me an enormous boost!" Shen Mo thought. "I haven't entered the Qi Gathering Realm yet, but with all the advantages I have now, even a first-level Qi Gathering Realm cultivator might not be my match!"