Metamorphosis

The blood pool underwent a sudden change!

Shi Yan stood in the blood pool, the water only reaching his waist. However, the blood within the pool seemed to come alive. It condensed like vines and began to twine around his body. In just a few seconds, his entire body was covered in blood, wrapped completely.

The blood in the pool became like scarlet snakes, continuing to coil around him, encasing him in a giant blood cocoon.

Agony spread throughout his body. Shi Yan's mind felt like it was being scraped by a grinder, causing unbearable pain.

It felt as if billions of tiny insects were drilling into his body through his pores, wriggling within his limbs, organs, and viscera, as if gnawing at his flesh, inflicting torture akin to being sliced a thousand times.

Shi Yan's vision was obscured. He wanted to scream but couldn't utter a sound, and his body was unable to move.

Strands of peculiar liquid flowed slowly through his meridians like a trickling stream. Wherever the liquid passed, his meridians, which had never encountered such foreign energy, felt like they were being torn apart. The liquid flowed rapidly, splitting into countless streams, madly injecting into all seven hundred and twenty acupoints in his body.

Shi Yan felt as if his seven hundred and twenty acupoints had suddenly expanded immensely. At one moment they were scorching hot, and the next they were bone-chillingly cold, causing unspeakable discomfort.

The stinging pain in his mind intensified. In a daze, Shi Yan seemed to see his acupoints undergoing a bizarre transformation under the injection of those peculiar liquids. Each acupoint in his body appeared to become a small vortex, spinning madly.

Slight traces of crimson liquid were injected into these vortices, seemingly digested rapidly and becoming part of the vortices. After receiving the liquid, the vortices grew larger and larger. As they expanded, their speed of digesting the liquid gradually increased.

Perhaps because the pain exceeded his tolerance, in his semi-conscious state, Shi Yan felt his body become a massive vessel. The peculiar liquids surging into his body through his pores were changing him in a way he couldn't comprehend.

To be precise, they were altering the seven hundred and twenty acupoints that existed within his body!

The moment this thought surfaced in his mind, an unbearable stabbing pain erupted in his head. All of Shi Yan's consciousness vanished, and he instantly fainted.

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Yan slowly woke up again.

He immediately noticed that the pain in his mind and body was gone, and the peculiar liquids were no longer flowing within him. Upon careful examination and introspection, apart from a lingering ache in his acupoints, his body seemed to have returned to normal.

Suddenly, he felt a warm stream of energy, like a small snake, moving through the meridians in his body. After completing a small cycle, his entire body felt comfortable, and his limbs seemed to have gained a bit of strength.

Essence!

Shi Yan's heart skipped a beat. He realized that the blood pool had ultimately brought him some benefit. The energy slithering like a small snake through his meridians was clearly Essence, something only Martial Artists possessed!

Through the memories of the other Shi Yan, he knew that Essence was the source of power for Martial Artists in this world and the foundation for unleashing powerful Martial Skills.

Based on the strength of their Essence and their cultivation realm, Martial Artists were strictly divided into ten major realms: Houtian, Xiantian, Human Position, Hundred Tribulations, Earth Position, Nirvana, Heaven Position, Connecting to God, True God, and God King. Each realm was further divided into three levels.

Martial Artists were the strong individuals of this world. The biggest distinction between a Martial Artist and an ordinary person was whether they possessed Essence within their bodies. As long as a person had even a trace of Essence, regardless of the amount, they could be called a Martial Artist.

Many people never managed to possess Essence in their entire lives. However, once a person possessed Essence, they could strengthen it through diligent cultivation. Therefore, any Martial Artist who possessed Essence always had a place in this world.

Feeling the faint trace of Essence slowly circulating within him, Shi Yan felt a sense of peace. He knew that even if he couldn't return to his original world, he wouldn't starve to death here.

Relieved, Shi Yan immediately noticed that the blood cocoon covering his body still existed, wrapping him tightly.

Shi Yan struggled to break free.

"Chirp!"

The blood cocoon tore open with a large rip, and Shi Yan leaped out. He looked around and found himself still in the peculiar stone cave, surrounded by piles of white bones.

However, the blood in the blood pool had dried up, not a single drop remaining!

In the depleted blood pool, only dozens of broken white bones were left. The pool full of thick, scarlet blood had vanished without a trace.

A giant blood cocoon stood tall in the center of the blood pool. The cocoon was as thin as a cicada's wing and emitted a faint glow. However, with just a glance, small flames ignited at the bottom of the cocoon. The flames grew from small to large, even igniting the white bones in the blood pool. In a short while, the blood cocoon and the bones in the blood pool were completely burned away.

In the dry blood pool, a red light shimmered. An ancient ring with intricate blood patterns lay quietly within it.

After staring at the peculiar ring for a few moments, Shi Yan vaguely felt that it had a significant connection to the blood pool. After some hesitation, Shi Yan stepped forward and picked up the ring, slipping it onto his left ring finger.

A warm sensation emanated from the ring. Instantly, Shi Yan felt a connection, as if his bloodline was linked to the ring, as if it had become a part of his body. The extremely weak Essence within him suddenly surged uncontrollably towards the dark red ring. The Essence surged towards his skin, but was blocked by the flesh of his ring finger, making it difficult to enter the ring.

Startled, Shi Yan immediately felt the ring was strange and hurriedly tried to take it off. However, he found that the ring was firmly clasped onto his ring finger, as if it had taken root. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remove the peculiar ring.

The Essence couldn't break through the obstruction of his skin and flesh. After a short while, it returned to normal and settled back in his lower abdomen. The red light on the ring flickered for a while and then stopped shining. The warm sensation from the ring also disappeared.

After wiggling his finger for a bit and finding no abnormality with the ring, he stopped paying attention to it. Surveying his surroundings, Shi Yan began to think seriously.

Soon, Shi Yan reached an unbelievable conclusion – all the blood from the blood pool had flowed into his body!

The blood pool was ten square meters, not large, but it contained at least several tons of blood. Even an elephant couldn't possibly drink several tons of blood at once!

Shi Yan's expression turned somewhat grim. He subconsciously looked around his body, wanting to see if there were any changes, if he had become bloated.

It was better not to look, but upon seeing, Shi Yan was startled again!

Not only had he not become bloated, but his body was actually thinner than before, almost skin and bones. His clothes, which had previously fit him well, were now several sizes too big. There was barely any flesh on his hands, legs, or anywhere else, making him look like a skeleton covered in a layer of skin.

Rather than saying thin, he looked like a shriveled mummy.

Shi Yan's expression grew even more grim. He hadn't expected the blood pool to not only fail to send him back to his familiar world but also to cause such a bizarre change to his body.

"Gurgle! Gurgle!"

Signals of hunger came from his stomach. Shi Yan suddenly felt an immense appetite, as if he could devour an elephant.

The stone cave was littered with bones, and there was nothing to eat. He looked at the dried-up blood pool and suddenly realized that he probably couldn't go back.

Shi Yan wanted to find a weapon to leave. He remembered the sounds of clashing metal and flashing blades when the guards were killing each other. However, after searching the cave, he discovered that all the weapons had been corroded in a short period, and none were usable.

Helplessly, Shi Yan could only leave through the entrance passage empty-handed.

The air was humid and sweltering, with the sound of trickling water coming from afar. Ancient trees, dozens of meters tall, shot up from the ground. Dense undergrowth blocked the sunlight like giant umbrellas, with only a few rays of light stubbornly piercing the wetlands.

This was the Gloomy Forest. As soon as Shi Yan emerged, he immediately understood his location from the memories of the original body's owner.

This forest was vast. Because the trees were too dense, even sunlight had difficulty penetrating, making the forest dim and humid even during the day, hence its name, Gloomy Forest.

The Gloomy Forest was located in the center of the Merchant Alliance, the Blazing Fire Empire, and the Divine Grace Empire. The Merchant Alliance was to the north, and the Divine Grace Empire was to the south. The Gloomy Forest directly separated the Merchant Alliance and the Divine Grace Empire. The Blazing Fire Empire was to the west. For merchant caravans wanting to trade in other countries, the Gloomy Forest was a necessary route.

Monsters often appeared in the Gloomy Forest, and level six or seven monsters were not uncommon. However, merchant caravans, mercenaries, and Martial Artists from the three countries traveled through the Gloomy Forest often and knew that powerful monsters usually only roamed in specific areas, while only low-level monsters were found everywhere.

Generally speaking, as long as merchant caravans followed specific routes within the Gloomy Forest and did not venture into areas where high-level monsters roamed, they would mostly be fine. Only mercenaries and Martial Artists who specifically hunted high-level monsters were likely to encounter them in the Gloomy Forest and suffer heavy casualties.

High risk came with high reward. If mercenaries and adventurers could kill a level six or seven monster in the Gloomy Forest, they would immediately receive a huge sum of Crystal Coins. Level six monsters already contained Demon Crystals, which were of great help to Martial Artists, Alchemists, and Artifact Refiners, and were priceless.

Besides Demon Crystals, the fur, fangs, bones, and even venom of monsters were all valuable. High-level monsters were truly treasures from head to toe.

Because of this, fearless Martial Artists and mercenaries often ventured into the Gloomy Forest to hunt high-level monsters. However, only a select few reaped the benefits. Many people underestimated the intelligence and power of monsters, and instead of achieving their goals, they became the monsters' meals.

Emerging from the stone cave, Shi Yan observed his surroundings for a moment. He heard noisy sounds coming from the direction of the distant water flow. The topics were all about women, interspersed with occasional "hehe" giggles.

Just as Shi Yan was hesitating whether to go and see, he suddenly noticed a slight rustling sound in a bush not far ahead, like someone was parting the leaves.

Shi Yan subconsciously looked in that direction.

He saw a woman with a graceful figure in the bush. She gracefully untied her plain white belt and squatted down with her back to him, revealing a pair of peachy, snow-white buttocks. While waving her delicate hands behind her to shoo away annoying insects, she cheerfully relieved herself...

The woman clearly didn't know anyone was behind her. Amidst the "whoosh" of flowing water, she hummed an unknown tune, in a very good mood.

Shi Yan was stunned at first, then reacted. He shamelessly scanned her dazzling snow-white area, secretly praising how alluring her buttocks were alone, wondering what her true face looked like.

"Slap!"

The woman suddenly slapped her smooth, tender, and white left buttock, killing a bold mosquito. Her buttocks first contracted inward alluringly, and after she quickly pulled her hand away, they rippled with intoxicating waves, showing excellent elasticity. This made Shi Yan's heart flutter.

Under Shi Yan's reluctant gaze, the woman finished relieving herself. She rustled as she retied her belt, muttering to herself, "Damn mosquitoes..."

Without any warning, the woman suddenly turned around. Electric blue arcs flashed from her hands, engulfing the mosquitoes gathered behind her. With a "crackling" sound, all the mosquitoes were annihilated.

As she turned, the woman's true face was fully revealed. She had an exquisite face like the bright moon, around twenty years old, and stood about 1.68 meters tall. She was stunningly beautiful, with a slender waist and full breasts, a curvaceous figure. Her light purple inner shirt was covered by silver-grey soft armor. The soft armor, clinging to her delicate body, clearly couldn't hide her breathtaking curves, like a mythical wild fox.

Shi Yan's gaze was like a torch, burning as it fell upon her. He secretly praised that this woman could rival the stunning actresses from his world.

As Shi Yan's greedy gaze continued to wander over her beautiful figure, the beauty suddenly became alert. Even through several large banana leaves, she accurately found Shi Yan's eyes.

Suddenly, her eyes shot out sharp beams of light!