A Bizarre Blood Formation, Targeting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast (1)
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, a solemn atmosphere filled the council hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The hall was decorated in a magnificent and opulent style, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it at the moment. Ning Fengzhi sat in the main seat, holding an extremely precious set of purple clay teaware, slowly brewing the top-grade Cloud-Mist Tea from the sect's storeroom. Just as the aroma of the tea wafted out, before Ning Fengzhi could even take a sip, the door was violently pushed open with a "bang".
The newcomer was none other than Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo.
The Old Poison, reeking of earth and with a dark face, strode in. Without even a greeting, he plopped heavily into the cushioned mahogany armchair. Seeing the cup of premium Cloud-Mist Tea that Ning Fengzhi had just brewed, Dugu Bo picked it up without a word, tilted his head back, and gulped down more than half of it in one go.
Ning Fengzhi's hand, holding the teapot, froze in mid-air, his eyes twitching uncontrollably. Good heavens, this was top-grade tea that he usually wouldn't even drink; was this Old Poison drinking it like water?
After finishing his drink, Dugu Bo, smacked his lips, and muttered with a look of disgust, "It's a bit bland, tasteless."
Ning Fengzhi: "..."
If he weren't outmatched, Sect Master Ning would probably have already smashed the teapot in his face.
At this moment, Ling Yun, who had been sitting beside him with his eyes closed, slowly opened them. Looking at Dugu Bo's arrogant demeanor, he spoke with a half-smile, "Old Poison."
"Huh? What?" Dugu Bo glanced at him sideways.
Ling Yun pointed to Ning Fengzhi's face, which was still forcing a smile but was actually on the verge of collapse, and said slowly, "I think the main reason you were able to walk out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's gate intact today is not because you ran fast, but because of your Titled Douluo strength."
Dugu Bo followed Ling Yun's finger and looked directly into Ning Fengzhi's deep eyes, which held a hint of murderous intent. The Old Poison coughed lightly and silently placed the expensive teacup he was holding back on the table with remarkably gentle movements.
"Ahem, enough of the nonsense, let's get down to business." Dugu Bo straightened up, pulled out a tattered wooden box covered in mud and dark red stains from his pocket, and threw it on the table with a "thud".
As soon as the wooden box was opened, a faint yet extremely unpleasant smell of blood instantly filled the hall.
Xiao Wu, sitting next to Ling Yun, immediately frowned and instinctively covered her nose. Dugu Yan, however, was unfazed and walked straight forward to look at the contents of the box. "Grandfather, is this the clue you brought back from those three massacred villages last night?"
"That's right." Dugu Bo said, taking out a pair of specially made leather gloves as thin as cicada wings from his storage soul artifact and putting them on. He sighed, his tone revealing a hint of weariness. "I spent the entire night running around outside, thoroughly searching every scene that the incompetent investigation team from the Heaven Dou Empire had visited. Those idiots didn't find a single thing that was truly deadly."
Ning Fengzhi put down his tea set, his expression turning serious. "What was the result?"
Dugu Bo's face was so dark it was almost dripping with water. "The result is terrible, you could even say it's a huge problem."
He reached out his gloved hand and picked up a clump of dark red soil from the box. The soil was hard and stiff, clearly soaked in blood and then dried.
"Listen up, everyone," Dugu Bo pointed to the soil, "Firstly, the blood left at this scene is definitely not from a normal battle between Soul Masters or a massacre of a village."
The entire hall fell into an instant silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.
Ling Yun raised his eyelids, his gaze sharp as a knife. "What do you mean? Explain it clearly in plain language."
"Common sense tells us that if a person is hacked to death, the direction of blood splattering and congealing should be random." Dugu Bo held up the clod of mud a little higher to show everyone, "But the blood in this mud is distributed extremely evenly. What does this mean? It means that this blood was deliberately released little by little by someone using extremely cruel methods while those villagers and Soul Masters were still alive."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu's face instantly turned pale, and her stomach churned.
Dugu Yan, quick-witted, immediately realized. "Blood collection? Someone is collecting large amounts of blood from living people?"
"That's pretty much it." Dugu Bo threw the mud back and picked up a piece of charred wood. "Next is the second point. The people of the Heaven Dou Empire thought those blood-red array patterns drawn on the ground were some kind of cult's ritual arrays, but that's all nonsense. Those things aren't just simple Soul Power arrays at all. They're mixed with not only the blood of ordinary people and Soul Masters, but also the blood of several different Soul Beasts. The most disgusting thing is that I also smelled the odor of several kinds of potent medicinal powders used to stimulate blood circulation and make the blood boil."
Hearing this, Ling Yun's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his chair. "What exactly are they going through all this trouble for?"
Dugu Bo remained silent for a few seconds, then squeezed out two words through gritted teeth. "Blood Refinement."
The moment those two words were uttered, the temperature in the hall seemed to plummet to freezing.
"Simply put, a madman is trying to Sheer Force mix the blood, Soul Power, and even some of the original power of Martial Soul from different people together, and then refine them using this bizarre formation," Dugu Bo explained coldly.
Ning Fengzhi frowned. As a rational sect leader, he found this utterly absurd. "Could the human body absorb such a hodgepodge of stuff after it's been refined?"
"Theoretically, if they really managed to create a perfect fusion agent, it should be absorbable," Dugu Bo sneered, his face full of disdain. "But in reality, what these people made is utter garbage. I found at least seven traces of blood energy collapsing and exploding due to conflict at the scene. This shows that what they refined is extremely unstable."
Dugu Bo pointed to his stomach and gave an analogy. "If any idiot dared to suck this thing directly into his body—at best, his meridians would reverse, causing excruciating pain; at worst, his internal organs would rebel on the spot, exploding into a pile of mush."
Listening to this plain description, Ling Yun felt the imagery was too vivid, and even felt a little nauseous, but he didn't interrupt and just listened quietly.
"The third point, and the most crucial one today." Dugu Bo put down the charred piece of wood and carefully picked up the last transparent crystal bottle in the box. The bottle contained a small amount of solidified, black and red paste-like substance.
"This thing wasn't found in the village that was massacred," Dugu Bo said.
Ling Yun's eyes flickered. "Where did that come from?"
Dugu Bo stared intently at Ling Yun: "Didn't you tell me last night that Frisk someone sneaking around in the woods outside the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? This is what I scraped down from that woods."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin, who had been standing by the window like a statue, turned around, his gaze deep. "I personally searched that forest last night, but found no trace. The other side has very strong counter-surveillance capabilities."
"It's normal that you didn't find it, Sword Grandfather." Dugu Bo shook the crystal bottle in his hand. "This thing isn't meant to be found by the naked eye."
Dugu Yan leaned closer, sniffed gently, and her expression suddenly changed. "Grandfather, this is... Blood Lure?"
"That's right." Dugu Bo nodded.
"What is Blood Lure?" Ling Yun asked. Although he was a master in his previous life, he didn't know much about the unorthodox and unorthodox things in the Douluo Continent.
Dugu Yan patiently explained, "This is an extremely sophisticated tracking method. It's made from a small amount of special blood, medicinal powder, and Soul Power. It itself has no toxicity, so even Sword Grandfather's sword intent couldn't Frisk its hostility. But its effect is quite disgusting; it will produce a strong resonance reaction to a certain type of life aura. Generally speaking, this thing is used by Soul Hunting Teams to track those extremely cunning high-level Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, or to find those rare immortal Immortal Herbs that can run on legs."
Upon hearing this, Ling Yun's eyes turned completely cold, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze. He knew that these people were playing a grand scheme, and one that was even more insidious than the Spirit Hall he had previously learned about.
"So, whose scent was that rat hiding in the shadows marking with Blood Lure last night?" Ling Yun asked coldly.
No one answered him.
Dugu Bo, holding the small bottle containing the black and red ointment, walked directly to Ling Yun.
One second, two seconds. The ointment in the bottle remained lifeless, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Next, Dugu Bo walked up to Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and even his granddaughter Dugu Yan. The ointment remained as still as a stone, without any movement.
Finally, Dugu Bo stopped in front of Xiao Wu.
"Buzz--"
In that instant, the previously lifeless black and red ointment suddenly seemed to come alive, trembling violently within the crystal bottle and even emitting an extremely faint buzzing sound.
Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and she subconsciously took a step back. As Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit in human form, she was most sensitive to this kind of tracking that targets the very essence of life.
Ling Yun's fingers, which had been casually resting on the edge of the table, froze instantly.
Dugu Bo's eyes turned completely cold. He exhaled a long breath and looked at Ling Yun: "I guessed right. They're circling around here, not targeting you, you pervert, but... Xiao Wu."
The hall suddenly became eerily quiet. You could hear a pin drop.
Xiao Wu pursed her lips tightly, her eyes slightly red, but she forced herself not to make a sound.
But Ling Yun suddenly laughed at that moment.
However, although he was smiling, there was not a trace of warmth in his smile. It was the look of someone staring at a dead person, so cold that it sent chills down your spine.
"Interesting. Very interesting." Ling Yun stood up, cracked his neck, and said, "I haven't even had a chance to settle accounts with these rats in the gutter, and they've already gotten bold enough to sneak up on my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School's doorstep."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin's sword intent soared into the sky, slicing through the surrounding air with a hissing sound. He whirled around and shouted, "I'll turn this entire area within a hundred miles upside down and chop these scum into mincemeat!"