The clamor of Glory City was shut out by the thick wooden door.
With the last valuable thing he owned-a waterproof digital watch, which he passed off as an ancestral timepiece-Xiao Tianhao secured a month's rent on a bare-bones stone hut in the western slums.
The hut was low and damp, furnished with only a bed and a table. Its walls were mottled, and the air smelled of mold and dust.
Yet this tiny space was his only foothold in another world, safe for the moment.
He locked the door, then slid down the cold, rough stone wall until he sat on the floor. Only then did his ragged breathing ease a little. Closing his eyes, he sensed the treasure called the Profound Space Pearl resting quietly in his mind.
After the Soul Force inspection at the city gate and the subtle response of Ye Ziyun's Demon Spirit, he no longer dared underestimate this seemingly ordinary pearl.
"The Profound Space Pearl..." Xiao Tianhao murmured, focusing his thoughts and trying to sink his consciousness into it.
This time, there was none of the violent tearing he had experienced during his crossing. Instead, it felt like a drop of water merging into a deep pool.
Hum!
His consciousness was gently enveloped and drawn inward.
The dimness of his rented room vanished, replaced by a boundless, chaotic void seemingly composed of flowing starlight.
Within that void, countless tiny points of light flickered like stars, tracing vast, intricate, incomprehensible three-dimensional runes. They linked together and revolved, imbued with the profound rhythms of space.
An indescribable sense of grandeur and ancient weathering washed over him.
The instant his mind became immersed in those runes, a dazzling speck of golden light abruptly flared in the depths of the void!
The golden light rapidly expanded, becoming a towering golden figure that seemed to span heaven and earth!
The figure's face was indistinct. Only his eyes were clear, seemingly holding the endless mysteries of the universe's birth and death and the turning of space and time. His gaze pierced the void and fell upon Xiao Tianhao's consciousness.
"Successor..." An ancient, majestic voice, as though it had traveled across endless space and time, rang directly in the depths of Xiao Tianhao's soul. Every syllable carried the thunder of laws. "Having been recognized as master by the Profound Space Pearl, you are now heir to my Void Derivation legacy..."
Boom!
A colossal torrent of information crashed savagely into Xiao Tianhao's consciousness like floodwaters bursting through a dam!
Agony swept through his soul in an instant, as though his skull were about to burst!
He clutched his head in pain, curling into a ball on the cold floor and letting out stifled, guttural cries.
Countless bizarre fragments of imagery flashed wildly through his consciousness: stars annihilating, planes being born, colossal beasts sweeping across the sky, ancient battlefields shattering, mysterious rune arrays turning... Accompanying these images were scattered, abstruse fragments of cultivation formulas and insights:
"Space and time are not linear... A single thought serves as an anchor..."
"All things possess spirit; bloodlines are their roots... Trace the source, return to the origin; cleanse the tainted and elevate the pure..."
"The void knows no bounds; the mind serves as its guide..."
He had no idea how long the torrent of information lasted before the agony finally ebbed like a receding tide.
Xiao Tianhao was drenched in cold sweat, as though he had just been hauled out of the water. Utterly spent, he lay sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath.
There were new things in his mind: introductory methods for something called the Void Derivation Art, along with a hazy understanding of the Profound Space Pearl's core abilities:
Traversing space and time, which required powerful Soul Force to drive it; purifying the bloodlines of all things and tempering his own body, which required a medium... There was also the inheritance imprint of the one called Venerable Void Derivation. Though he had manifested for only an instant, he had left an indelible mark of awe deep in Xiao Tianhao's soul.
The inheritance... was real! He had inherited part of Venerable Void Derivation's legacy!
Before elation could rise in his heart, a wave of intense dizziness and weakness overwhelmed him.
Forcibly receiving the inheritance's information had drained his already feeble mental strength. He struggled onto the hard plank bed and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.
When he woke again, dusk had fallen outside. Golden-red afterglow streamed through the narrow window, casting long, slanting shafts of light across the dusty floor.
Hunger burned like fire in his belly. Xiao Tianhao forced himself upright and felt his pockets. They were empty.
He had to find a way to get food-and money!
Stepping out of the stone hut, he found the narrow alleys of the slums even darker.
The smell of poor-quality food mingled in the air with the faint stench of excrement.
Following his memory, Xiao Tianhao headed toward a somewhat busier street.
As he passed a dark alley piled with rubbish, a heavy smell of blood and low bestial growls caught his attention.
Deep in the alley, three rough-looking young men in battered leather armor stood around the corpse of an enormous Demon Beast. Black-and-yellow markings covered its body. It resembled a fierce tiger, but its tail bore a venomous hook like a scorpion's.
The Demon Beast had clearly died only recently. Blood still gushed from its wounds, gathering into a small, thick pool on the ground.
One of the young men was laboriously cutting away the relatively intact hide with a knife, while the other two kept a wary watch on their surroundings.
"Damn our luck! We finally managed to surround and kill an adult Scorpion-Tailed Tiger, and then it blew up its Demon Spirit crystal core before dying!" The young man cutting the hide cursed. "All we've got left to sell is this hide and a few bones. Not even enough to buy me a drink!"
"Be grateful for what we've got, Black Dog. This Scorpion-Tailed Tiger blood is good stuff too. It's not worth as much as the crystal core, but we can still get a few dozen Demon Spirit Coins for it at those low-level potion shops." Another of them, tall and thin, licked his lips.
A Scorpion-Tailed Tiger?
Something stirred in Xiao Tianhao's mind. In the setting of Tales of Demons and Gods, this was a particularly vicious low-ranking Demon Beast.
Its blood contained impure Earth Element energy and toxins. It could help low-ranking Demon Spirit Masters temper their bodies, but required complex refinement. Absorbing it directly was extremely dangerous.
As he watched, the Profound Space Pearl concealed against his body suddenly conveyed an exceedingly faint yet unmistakable feeling of... longing!
Like a hungry infant catching the scent of milk, it yearned straight toward the reeking pool of Scorpion-Tailed Tiger blood deep in the alley!
Xiao Tianhao's pupils contracted slightly.
Purifying the bloodlines of all things... Could this pearl absorb Demon Beast blood too? Unconsciously, he stepped closer.
"Hey! Kid, what are you staring at? Get lost!" The young man called Black Dog raised his head and glared viciously at Xiao Tianhao, his skinning knife flashing coldly in his hand.
The other two approached with hostile expressions as well, blocking the alley entrance.
Xiao Tianhao's heart tightened, and he was about to back away.
But the Profound Space Pearl's longing suddenly intensified, as though urging him on!
A bold idea rose in his mind, impossible to suppress.
He drew a deep breath, forced a shrewd, greedy smile onto his face, and pointed at the tiger blood on the ground.
"Gentlemen, this Scorpion-Tailed Tiger blood... do you still want it? If not, could you... sell it to me? I'll pay!" He deliberately emphasized the word "pay."
"Sell it to you?" Black Dog froze, exchanged an odd look with his companions, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Someone actually wants this stinking stuff? Kid, did you get your head caught in a door?"
"Yeah, this blood reeks and it's poisonous. It's bloody useless except for feeding dogs! You want it?" The tall, thin man gave Xiao Tianhao a mocking look.
"I... I keep a few special medicinal insects at home. They like beast blood with a little poison in it..." Xiao Tianhao forced himself to invent an excuse, his palms slick with nervous sweat.
"This... is all I've got." He took out the half-pack of compressed biscuits that had remained in his pocket when he crossed over. He had carefully removed the plastic packaging, leaving only the biscuit blocks wrapped in foil, and offered them.
They were worth little in his original world, but here, the shiny silver foil and unfamiliar form of food were enough to attract attention.
Sure enough, all three thugs turned their eyes toward them.
Black Dog suspiciously took the neatly compressed square biscuits, squeezed them, then sniffed them. A faint aroma of wheat and milk drifted out. "What's this stuff? Never seen it before... Is it edible?"
"Of course! It'll really keep you full!" Xiao Tianhao hurriedly assured him.
Black Dog broke off a small piece and tossed it into his mouth. After chewing a couple of times, his eyes brightened slightly.
"Tch, tastes weird, but it's not bad!" He hefted the biscuits in his hand, then glanced at the tiger blood on the ground, deciding this was an excellent bargain.
"All right! You've got an eye for the good stuff, kid!" Black Dog waved his large hand as though shooing away a fly.
"That stinking blood is yours! Get it out of here, and don't dirty my patch!"
With that, the three hoisted the stripped tiger hide and several thick beast bones and left, cursing as they went. Xiao Tianhao remained with the pool of beast blood and its heavy, raw stench.
His heart pounding, Xiao Tianhao quickly checked that no one was around, then immediately stepped forward.
He dared not touch the filthy blood directly. Instead, he concentrated his thoughts and reached out to the Profound Space Pearl against his body.
"Absorb!"
As the thought settled, he aimed his palm at the pool of blood.
The Profound Space Pearl trembled faintly, and an invisible suction quietly formed.
The thick, dark-red Scorpion-Tailed Tiger blood on the ground, reeking and radiating faint fluctuations of impure energy, seemed to fall under the control of an invisible hand. It swiftly gathered into a thin stream, rose into the air, and plunged straight into Xiao Tianhao's palm, vanishing!
The entire process was soundless, leaving only a dark-red wet stain on the ground.
It worked! Xiao Tianhao fought down his excitement and immediately turned to leave the dark alley.
He returned to the stone hut and locked the door.
At once, he sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness back into the chaotic, starlit void within the Profound Space Pearl.
There, the absorbed Scorpion-Tailed Tiger blood floated in the void.
Spiderweb-like cracks lit up with an exceedingly faint purifying light, enveloping the beast blood like the most precise of filters.
Before his eyes, strands of gray-black impurities and savage scarlet auras were forcibly stripped from the thick, dark-red blood and annihilated!
The blood slowly shrank in volume, but its color became increasingly pure and translucent, taking on a warm, jade-like crimson sheen. The once-impure Earth Element energy became pure and gentle, while the nauseating stench and toxins vanished completely!
In mere moments, the fist-sized pool of filthy blood was refined and condensed into a single drop!
That liquid, crimson as agate and radiating pure, gentle Earth Element energy, floated quietly in the void—refined blood!
The very nature of the energy it held was now far beyond that of the original beast blood!
A faint ripple of satisfaction came from the Profound Space Pearl. Then the drop of refined blood slowly drifted toward Xiao Tianhao's consciousness.
A stream of information emerged with it: this blood could be absorbed slowly to temper the body and enhance Earth Element affinity. It could also serve as a medium for attempting to stir faint Soul Force, provided it was used together with the introductory methods of the Void Derivation Art.
Xiao Tianhao withdrew his consciousness from the Profound Space Pearl's space and opened his hand.
With a slight shift of thought, the drop of jewel-red refined blood appeared out of thin air in his palm!
Threads of warm, gentle energy seeped into his skin, bringing a strangely soothing sensation.
Without hesitation, he tipped his head back and swallowed the hard-won drop of blood essence!
Boom!
A gentle yet immense power instantly spread through his belly!
Like a warm current, it surged into his limbs and every part of his body!
Countless tiny streams of warmth seemed to wash through and nourish his muscles and bones, producing faint crackling sounds.
A sense of strength unlike anything he had ever felt welled up from deep within his body. Even the pain of the wound on his forehead seemed to ease considerably.
More strangely still, he seemed to feel a faint, elusive kinship with the earth beneath his feet.
The Profound Space Pearl purified bloodlines and tempered his body! This ability practically defied heaven! As long as he had Demon Beast blood, he could produce this "refined blood" in an endless stream!
The path to strength lay right before his eyes!
A blazing fire burned in Xiao Tianhao's eyes.
Nie Li, Glory City, and the shadow of the Holy Emperor hanging over everyone's heads...
He had to be faster! Stronger!
Before you continue