Dragon Blood was a renewable cultivation resource. However, considering it was worth 100 billion, its production costs couldn't possibly be all that low.
Xu Ai returned to her room and took a test tube filled with bright red liquid from her pocket.
This was the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's exclusive cultivation resource—Dragon Blood!
Of course, that was just what it was called. It definitely wasn't real dragon's blood.
Xu Ai took off her top, opened the test tube, and poured the bright red liquid onto her abdomen. (Why her abdomen? Because everywhere else was too steep to...)
After she spread the Dragon Blood over her abdomen and thighs, a tingling sensation began, gradually turning into pain.
The kind of pain that reached right down to her bones!
But the pain didn't change Xu Ai's expression much.
"Uh, could this be Heart of Infinity? What's going on?"
She clearly felt the pain, yet somehow felt as though she were standing apart from it. The sensation was truly strange.
Could this only be because she'd been influenced by Hen Ren?
But that didn't seem right. Hen Ren didn't seem like the Heart of Infinity type at all.
Judging by Hong's behavior, Heart of Infinity was probably the Daoist state of Supreme Forgetting of Emotions. Compared with Heart of Infinity, Hen Ren seemed more like Innocent Heart—an overprotective little sister who was devoted to waiting for her big brother!
As she thought this over, Xu Ai tried to feel the pain and "resist" it.
Sure enough, as soon as she had the thought, the pain surged again. Yet she was able to endure it remarkably well, without crying out.
"Forget it. Dragon Blood only causes pain while strengthening you; it won't kill you, so there's no need to resist it."
Xu Ai shifted her state of mind.
Heart of Infinity was her, Innocent Heart was her, and Clear Heart Seeing Nature was her, too.
Perhaps Hen Ren's state of mind had already surpassed those three realms and reached some unknown new one.
Just like City Lord Luo in Snow Eagle Lord, whose state of mind had already reached a new realm.
After she "hurt" for a while, the pain gradually faded, replaced by a feeling of her blood burning.
A little while later, every sensation disappeared, along with the Dragon Blood on her abdomen and thighs.
"Is it over?"
It had felt pretty quick. Maybe her cells were so active that they'd absorbed it faster.
Xu Ai got up, got dressed, and went to the Martial Arts Hall in the villa's basement.
"Hmm? Xiao Ai, you're finally here."
Liu Qingling smiled. These past few days, whenever they had any free time, they'd been training like crazy, and Xu Ai had been the most relentless of all.
Whenever they came to the Martial Arts Hall, Xu Ai was the first person they saw. They'd wondered why she wasn't there today, only to find she was just late.
"I'm late."
Xu Ai smiled.
"I'll go test my stats."
"Want me to help?"
"No need."
As she spoke, Xu Ai had already reached the Punch Strength Tester. She turned it on, gathered her strength, and landed a punch on the target with a sonic boom.
Bam!!!
A string of numbers appeared on the tester's display—"kg."
"Still a little short. What a shame."
Xu Ai sighed. The threshold for an Elementary War God's punching force was kilograms, and she'd missed it by only 220 kilograms...
"What did you do? I thought you were only approaching Advanced General Level yesterday."
Yu Fei asked in surprise. Jumping an entire minor level in one go was astonishing.
"I used Dragon Blood. Too bad I was just a little short."
"Going from almost Advanced General Level to almost Elementary War God Level in one go is already great. Don't be so greedy."
Yu Fei patted Xu Ai on the shoulder and smiled.
But Xu Ai was still a little disappointed.
Just 220 kilograms, multiplied by her twentyfold Force Amplitude, came to 4,400 kilograms. That was a huge difference!
Those 220 kilograms might save her life someday!
Next, Xu Ai tested her speed as well. The results were the same: her physical capabilities had settled firmly just shy of Elementary War God Level.
Meanwhile, Hen Ren had already reached the Chao Lake region. This area had also been designated as Core Area 0551 for one reason: the Pincer Crab King and its clan lived in the lake.
Of the three King-level Monsters in Area 0551, the hardest to deal with wasn't the veteran King, the Earth Dragon King, but the newly ascended Pincer Crab King. That was because it lived in the water, where the resistance made it harder for humans to fight.
Even Hong and Thor were helpless against the two Beast Emperors once they entered the deep sea.
For aquatic creatures, the water itself was their natural "Domain"!
The Pincer Crab King sensed movement above Chao Lake and looked out from beneath its surface.
Hmm, a human who could fly, standing on a flying sword—probably a Spirit Reader.
Of course, it could also be a Planetary-Level fighter pretending to be a Spirit Reader, trying to lure it out of the lake. Ever cautious, it sent out two of its Lord-level underlings.
Two enormous blue-brown crabs surfaced and crawled onto the shore.
Hen Ren watched the two monsters crawl out of Chao Lake. They were clearly members of the Pincer Crab King's clan.
"Is it testing me, or does it think I'm not worth the trouble?"
A Lord-level Monster was already as intelligent as a human, and a King-level Monster was no different. Whether it was testing Hen Ren or looking down on her, either way, the Pincer Crab King was thinking things through.
Of course, it was also possible the Pincer Crab King hadn't even noticed Hen Ren, and the two Lord-level crab monsters were acting on their own...
Hen Ren's thoughts stirred, and the flying sword beneath her split into a swarm of smaller swords.
Only one piece remained beneath her feet. In an instant, the rest of the swords pierced the two crabs through and through.
This was why Hen Ren had traded metal with Hong: she'd followed her inspiration and crafted a simple Spirit Reader weapon herself!
The weapon beneath her feet was a simple flying device for a Spirit Reader, while the small swords hovering around her were simple Spirit Reader attack weapons.
Seeing how formidable Hen Ren was, the Pincer Crab King decided to play it safe and stay in Chao Lake until the human above left.
"Let's get this over with."
She had to make this battle a resounding victory. It would greatly boost morale for the battles to come.
Hen Ren's thoughts stirred. The swords that had split apart reassembled into a new flying sword. With a faint blue glow, it shot straight into Chao Lake.
The sword plunged into the water as if it were a fish, unaffected by the water's resistance. In the blink of an eye, it pierced the Pincer Crab King at incredible speed.
How could this be!?
The Pincer Crab King's eyes were full of shock in the instant it died. Then it felt its life force fade away.
After killing the Pincer Crab King in an instant, the flying sword didn't return. Instead, it quickly began strangling the aquatic monsters nearby!
This was the Law of Water secret technique Hen Ren had created herself. With no examples to draw on, it was very rudimentary, so she'd called it Water Wave!
Because it was so simple, its power was limited, but Hen Ren believed it had plenty of room to improve.
Once Luo Feng got Babata's inheritance later on, she'd ask him for some secret techniques to use as reference, make a few changes, and keep Water Waving!
"The Pincer Crab King has been dealt with. How's your progress?"
"What? I've only just led my team into the Earth Dragon King's territory..."
Jia Yi was startled. But then he thought about it and realized it was another piece of great news. It proved that Hen Ren's strength lived up to her reputation!
Their odds of winning the battle had just improved!
"We've just engaged the Golden Monkey King. Ruthless Councilor, sorry for the trouble, but could you come and support me?"
Zhu Xi replied.
Just as Lord-level Monsters were always surrounded by plenty of War General-level Monsters, King-level Monsters were no different. Since they were even more afraid of dying, they were certain to have plenty of Lord-level underlings to use as cannon fodder.
So Jia Yi and Zhu Xi had both brought their War God fighters to hunt them down.
"Sure. I'll be there right away."
After Hen Ren spoke, she looked at Chao Lake. As one of Huaxia's five largest freshwater lakes, it was enormous. She wouldn't be able to clear out all the monsters in the lake anytime soon, but she had nearly finished clearing the core area around her.
Hen Ren recalled the blue flying sword and brought it back beneath her feet. Then she checked the map on her Communication Watch. The green dot marked her location, while the other two red dots marked Jia Yi and Zhu Xi's positions.
The Earth Dragon King's lair was in the main city district, while the Golden Monkey King was near the edge of the core area.
It couldn't be helped. The Earth Dragon King had strength, and the Pincer Crab King had the home-field advantage. The Golden Monkey King was inferior to them in every way.
With thirtyfold Mental Power Amplitude and a Spirit Reader flying technique, Hen Ren reached Zhu Xi's location in an instant.
The battle was already underway. Zhu Xi was currently fighting the Golden Monkey King head-on, while the War Gods below were battling a group of Lord-level Monsters.
"Ruthless Councilor, please help clear out the Lord-level Monsters below. I'll handle the Golden Monkey King."
Zhu Xi had the upper hand at the moment. After all, he had the Black God suit and an SS-grade battle blade, while the Golden Monkey King had little advantage beyond being larger than Zhu Xi.
Hen Ren nodded. Her flying swords split apart and went straight for the extra Lord-level Monsters below, while avoiding the ones already fighting the War God experts.
The people below deserved a chance to train, after all.
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