A killing intent descended from the sky, and Zhang Yutai's expression changed.
A jade talisman appeared in his hand once more. A flash of white light burst forth, shielding him from above.
Li Qing came down from above, putting everything he had into this slash.
Both minor arts, Blood Burning and Bloodletting, were fully unleashed.
The entire blade was dyed blood-red, and all that terrifying power crashed down on the white light.
The immense force dented the white light, as if it would be cut apart in the next instant.
Zhang Yutai's pupils contracted. He threw himself sideways and rolled away.
Splurt.
The blood-red blade light cleaved through the white shield and slammed into the ground.
The ground rang like metal being struck, followed by an explosion.
Countless stones shot in every direction, and Zhang Yutai, still rolling on the ground, was struck by them.
As luck would have it, one stone hit him right in the back of the head.
"Hmph."
Although he had entered the Body Strengthening stage and was free of illness, his body was not impervious to damage.
The flying shards left him dizzy and disoriented.
A threat came rushing at him from behind. Zhang Yutai rolled forward in a clumsy, donkey-like tumble. It wasn't graceful, but it worked.
He narrowly avoided the danger. A blood-red blade light grazed his neck.
Li Qing's eyes were icy. He stepped forward and charged at him again.
Zhang Yutai's face was now filled with panic. "Don't kill me!"
Li Qing's hand didn't pause for a moment. In Zhang Yutai's terrified gaze, the gleaming blade plunged straight into his head.
It pierced through his head like it was tofu.
Zhang Yutai's eyes bulged with disbelief.
Li Qing withdrew his blade and looked at the bloodied split running from the bridge of Zhang Yutai's nose. The corpse lay there with its eyes open, and he let out a deep breath.
"It's only been a few days, and trouble is already coming one thing after another."
"This world really has it in for me."
Li Qing couldn't help grumbling. A streak of light flashed behind him, and the phantom Flood Dragon returned to the Spirit Summoning Tablet.
He looked at the corpse on the ground, its red and white matter spilling out, then quickly crouched down.
He began searching the corpse.
Soon, he found a pouch on the man. He opened it and poured out its contents.
Two palm-sized scriptures and a piece of unidentified animal hide.
There were also some banknotes, a token, and a letter.
The token bore the same character, "Blood," as the one carried by the man he had killed in the woods.
"Looks like they belong to the same organization!"
"This organization's reach stretches from Qingshi County to Jade City. It must be huge."
He opened the envelope, read through the letter carefully, and furrowed his brows.
It was full of incoherent writing. He immediately realized it had been written in code.
Without the cipher, it was impossible to uncover the true contents.
"With precautions this strict, this organization doesn't seem like a group of good people."
"I've already killed two of them. I'll have to be careful from now on."
He opened the banknotes and looked them over, his face showing a hint of surprise.
A full five thousand taels of silver. That was no small sum.
"People in this organization are ridiculously rich. One of them carried a Night-Bright Pearl, and another had five thousand taels of silver on him. Unbelievable."
He stuffed the silver into his robe. A sum this large would last him a lifetime, as long as he didn't squander it.
When he touched the two books and the animal hide, the jade tablet in his mind changed the next instant.
The Blood Swallowing Art (Art, Foundation Establishment) Cultivation method: Write blood curses using the blood of nine different living creatures, then complete the blood-curse body tempering. Innate minor art: Blood Swallowing. Directly draw the blood from a target's body and extract its essence. Cost: Cannot eat meat. Note: Cultivate The Blood Refining Art, The Blood Fusion Art, and The Blood Swallowing Art as one. (Cost: Cannot eat more than half a catty of meat per day.) The Spirit Blood Art (Art, Foundation Establishment) Cultivation method: Use one's own heart's blood to write the Three Talents Blood Curse of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Complete the perfect blood-curse body tempering and condense spirit-blood essence. Innate spell: Burning Blood Flame. Any creature struck by the blood flame will have its blood ignited and burned away, turning into essence that fuels the flames. The blood flame also remains under the user's control. Cost: None The Shadow Transformation Art (Spell) Cultivation method: Bathe in shadow for nine days and nine nights without sleeping or moving. Spell: Transform into a shadow and pass through all ordinary solid objects. Cost: Cannot remain in sunlight for twelve hours. Breaking this rule will cause the user to be consumed by shadow and turn into an Anomaly. The Shadow Art (Spell) Cultivation method: Bathe in shadow for one day and one night without moving or leaving. Minor art: Walk through the world of shadows, passing through all ordinary objects without being detected by most means. Cost: None
Seeing the information on the jade tablet suddenly change, Li Qing fell into thought.
"So that's how it is. The Blood Swallowing Art, The Blood Refining Art, and The Blood Fusion Art are actually three parts of one cultivation method."
"Cultivating them together lowers the cost. Practicing any one of them alone comes at a high price."
"I'd been wondering how anyone could practice a method with such a steep cost. One wrong move, and you'd become a monster."
"So they have to be cultivated as one to reduce the cost as much as possible and complete this method."
"Innate spell: Burning Blood Flame. It seems this is the result of the jade tablet modifying the three minor arts and combining them into one."
"This spell seems to last over time, and it can also draw on the essence of those it hits to keep going."
"I probably won't know the specifics until I practice it."
His gaze fell on the animal hide. It recorded The Shadow Transformation Art, which had been optimized into the more powerful The Shadow Art.
"What a treasure-delivering servant. Now I have even more tricks up my sleeve."
"The Shadow Art is an excellent spell for staying alive. If I ever can't win a fight, I can walk through the shadows and evade my pursuers."
Though his heart burned with excitement, Li Qing didn't rush to practice it.
He quickly bent down, stripped the man of his clothes, wiped the red and white matter from the ground, then wrapped the corpse in the clothes.
After making sure there were no traces left on the ground, he put the token and letter into the bundle made from the clothes.
Essence circulated through his body, immediately strengthening him.
With a casual application of force, he lifted Zhang Yutai's corpse.
He opened the room's door and quickly went out, soon arriving at the courtyard wall.
The courtyard where he was staying was separated from the street by only one wall.
Essence coursing through him, Li Qing leaped up and landed on the eight-foot-high wall.
A narrow alley lay beyond it. Li Qing vaulted down and headed toward its far end.
He moved quickly, keeping an eye on the way he had come and on Zhang Yutai's corpse.
He left no blood along the way. He had wrapped Zhang Yutai's wound in a cloth pouch to keep blood from dripping onto the ground and leaving clues for others.
He reached the end of the alley, crossed a main street, and entered another alley, where he tossed the corpse.
He turned and started back the way he had come, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A figure leaped across a rooftop on the other side of the street.
"What's that..."