Cultivation Techniques, Blood Curse Body Refining

Looking at the chicken soup in his hands, Li Qing felt his scalp tingle.

A trace of fear flickered in his eyes, and his entire body trembled involuntarily.

Just then, the main door suddenly swung open, and Mr. Huayue appeared before him with an indifferent expression.

A strange, faint scent of blood drifted into Li Qing's nose.

Li Qing's head felt as if it were about to explode, and the hair on his body stood on end, as if he had encountered some immense danger.

"Why didn't you knock when you arrived?" Mr. Huayue asked, his cold gaze fixed upon him.

As those eyes swept over him from head to toe, Li Qing felt as if he were being stared at by a venomous snake, goosebumps erupting across his skin.

Thinking quickly, Li Qing hurriedly plastered a smile on his face. "I only just arrived, sir. I hadn't even had the chance to knock before you opened the door."

"I've already finished simmering the chicken soup."

Mr. Huayue scrutinized him, and the backyard fell into a dead silence.

Li Qing kept his ingratiating smile firmly in place, showing not the slightest sign of anything amiss.

He respectfully held out the soup. "Sir, should I bring this inside for you, or...?"

A faint smile suddenly curled the corners of Mr. Huayue's mouth. "Just give it to me."

As he spoke, he took the bowl from Li Qing's hands.

The moment the bowl was taken, Li Qing's heart sank, plummeting into a cold, bottomless abyss.

Mr. Huayue looked at him with a smile. "You should go to the kitchen and serve yourself a bowl, too. You're at the age where you're still growing; you need to eat more."

"Only by eating well can you grow well."

Li Qing nodded hurriedly, his face full of smiles. "Thank you for your generosity, sir."

He turned around quickly and trotted toward the kitchen, looking perfectly happy.

Once Li Qing had turned away, Mr. Huayue's eyes and face turned deathly cold, his gaze fixed on Li Qing's retreating back.

The door was shut, and from the room came the sound of strange chewing once again, followed by the slurping of soup and a low, raspy chuckle.

"Grow well, hehe. Only when you're fully grown will you taste the best..."

In the kitchen, Li Qing stood by the water basin, looking at his reflection in the water.

A pale face, an ordinary face—the kind that would go unnoticed in a crowd.

Fifteen years old; in his past life, he would have been just a boy, but here, he was already considered an adult.

In an ordinary family, he would already be out working the fields.

His whole body was shaking, and beads of cold sweat rolled down his face.

That was so dangerous. I almost couldn't keep up the act.

Those ten years of schooling weren't for nothing; my ability to keep my composure is truly damn impressive.

I managed to handle that situation without even a change in my expression or heart rate.

I should have fooled him.

But I can't stay here anymore. I have to leave, or I'm afraid I'll die in this place.

He had already realized the problem: the strange smell of blood and the sound of chewing meant Mr. Huayue was eating raw meat in his room.

Whether it was human or animal, he had no way of knowing.

But can I even get away? I have a feeling that guy has already set his sights on me.

The Essence Blood Art—only the modified version of this technique can save me.

At the thought of this, it felt like he had grasped a straw to save his life.

Li Qing quickly focused his will on the jade tablet in his mind, carefully studying the contents of the Essence Blood Art.

At the same time, he served himself a bowl of chicken soup, poured it over a bowl of rice, and began to eat rapidly.

The technique explicitly stated that one must cut off the loss of one's own vital essence to practice it, which meant that being well-fed was crucial.

Sharpening the axe would not delay the woodcutting.

Studying while he ate, he spent half an hour finishing the entire chicken and two bowls of rice.

His stomach was extremely full, and Li Qing already had a rough idea of what to do.

The most important steps of this Essence Blood Art were divided into two parts.

Step 1: The modified Blood Curse required him to use his own heart blood to write the incantation on his body.

The incantation consisted of 3,000 characters, which could be written anywhere on his skin, as long as it was done in one continuous flow.

Once the Blood Curse was written, he had to recite the incantation from beginning to end to activate it.

Step 2: Endure the agony of the Blood Curse Body Refining. Only by surviving the curse's transformation of his body could he truly step onto the path of cultivation and begin to accumulate vital essence.

The vital essence would merge into his blood, circulating through his veins across his entire body to form a complete cycle, nourishing his physical form and strengthening his origin.

Within the Essence Blood Art, there was a minor technique called Blood Transformation, which required the consumption of vital essence to cast.

When this minor technique was cast upon an enemy, as long as they had any open wound, blood would continuously gush forth, unable to heal naturally, until they eventually bled to death.

Quickly tidying up the kitchen, Li Qing grabbed a small bowl and a kitchen knife, then hurried back to his room.

There were no oil lamps in his room; that was not a luxury a mere bookstore clerk could afford.

At this moment, the sky was growing dim, and the afterglow of the setting sun still lingered in the distance, barely providing enough light through the paper-pasted windows.

Li Qing took off his shirt and, racing against time, used the kitchen knife to slice his index finger, letting the blood drip until it filled half the small bowl.

The fingers were connected to the heart, and a sharp pain radiated from his finger, but soon the bowl was half full.

Stopping the flow of blood, Li Qing immediately began to write the modified Blood Curse upon his body.

He took out a small brush, dipped it into the blood, and began to write furiously.

Three thousand characters—even just copying them from the Jade Tablet in his mind—required a massive amount of time and energy.

It took over two hours to finish the three thousand characters; the blood had even begun to congeal by the time he was done.

There was no space left on the front of his body.

The wounds on his ten fingers throbbed with constant pain; he exhaled a long, heavy breath, a flicker of determination crossing his face.

"The final step."

Having lost so much blood, and having to write three thousand characters on his body by the dim light, his mental and physical strength were nearing their limit.

He sat down slightly on his bed, slowly closed his eyes, and began to chant the mysterious Blood Curse from the Jade Tablet in his mind.

"Boundless True Blood, pave the path with blood, essence enters the bloodline..."

Each line of the incantation drifted from his lips, the voice extremely low yet exceptionally clear, echoing slowly throughout his bedroom.

He did not know how much time had passed, but the three thousand characters of the incantation were finally chanted to completion.

The blood-written characters on his body emitted a faint red glow, and as if they had gained life, they began to spread across his skin.

Every corner of his body was shrouded by the scripture, connecting into a web-like pattern.

Looking closely, from the first character to the last, the scripture resembled a blood-colored serpent, covering his entire body.

The scripture began to permeate into his body, seemingly seeping into his blood vessels, and an unimaginable, excruciating pain flooded his entire being.

Li Qing's eyes bulged, filled with blood-red; looking closely, something seemed to be wriggling eerily within his veins, appearing to be the radiance of the Blood Curse characters.

The agony was so intense that he could not even let out a single sound.

Just as this pain reached its peak, a figure appeared silently outside his door.

"Knock, knock, knock."