The miraculous effects of treasure blood

Finally, after a minute, the rat stopped changing.

Compared to its original appearance, the rat had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.

It had grown a size larger and looked stronger, and its claws and teeth had become sharper.

More importantly, he actually saw a glimmer of intelligence in its eyes.

That sort of look usually appeared in intelligent animals, such as cats and dogs. Rats were not among them, yet here it was.

Of course, the most startling thing was that inexplicable sense of affection.

"Squeak, squeak!"

The rat suddenly squeaked a few times, crawled beside Li Dao's hand, and obediently lay down.

An idea stirred in Li Dao's mind, and he instinctively said, "Stand up."

Normally, a rat-especially a wild one-could not possibly obey a human's commands. It was not that intelligent, either.

Yet at Li Dao's command, this rat actually stood up obediently.

Li Dao's eyes lit up at the sight.

"Roll over!"

The rat rolled once across the stone table.

"Stand straight."

The rat stood up again, holding its two little paws neatly in front of itself.

Suddenly, Li Dao's imagination took flight, and he said, "Fly for me!"

The rat: "???"

This time, it did not move, and it even gave Li Dao a remarkably human look.

It seemed to be saying, Come on, what kind of joke is that? I'm a rat. I don't have wings. You're asking the impossible.

Seeing that the rat did not move, Li Dao said somewhat disappointedly, "Shuke can even fly a plane. You're not up to scratch."

The rat: Could you listen to what you're saying, human?

Li Dao picked the rat up again and examined it closely.

"Could my ordinary blood have transformed straight into treasure blood?"

Li Dao could not help thinking of Elder Tang. His blood seemed to share the same wondrous quality as Elder Tang's flesh.

He then spent a while longer studying the rat in his hand.

In the end, he reached a preliminary conclusion.

His current blood truly deserved to be called treasure blood.

For now, treasure blood could cause ordinary creatures to mutate. He did not know its precise limits, but it worked on creatures such as rats.

At the same time, creatures that swallowed his treasure blood would naturally feel affection toward him and obey his commands to a certain extent.

He glanced at the wound on his fingertip, which had already healed completely.

Besides those two effects, the transformation of his blood seemed to have greatly enhanced his own recovery.

Previously, a wound had to form a scab, which would then fall off before it finished healing.

Now, however, the wound healed directly, skipping even the scabbing process.

As for any remaining effects, Li Dao did not know yet.

The system's functions were too simple, too. It could only raise his Physique endlessly in a blunt, straightforward fashion. He had to work out the specifics himself.

Still, simple was good. Overly flashy systems were a headache to use.

Li Dao lowered his head to look at the little rat in his hand and murmured, "I wonder how many drops of treasure blood you can handle, little fellow."

His blood could strengthen the little rat, but everything had its limits. Endless improvement was surely impossible.

So now he wanted to conduct an experiment.

Li Dao cut his finger the same way and squeezed out some blood. An unusual fragrance soon spread through the air.

Smelling the treasure blood's strange fragrance, the previously quiet little rat's eyes instantly lit up.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Unlike before, the little rat did not mindlessly pounce at it this time.

Instead, it stood on the stone table and gazed imploringly at the treasure blood's owner, repeatedly bowing with its little paws as though saying, Please give me some.

Li Dao froze at the sight. Apparently, the treasure blood's enhancement of this rat's intelligence was even more pronounced than its physical changes.

He picked the rat up. Without him having to do anything, it opened its mouth on its own.

Li Dao did not hesitate, either. He squeezed the nearly healed wound on his finger open again, allowing the treasure blood to drip out.

One drop... two drops...

Three drops... four drops...

The moment the fourth drop of treasure blood fell into the rat's mouth, it obediently closed its mouth on its own.

Seeing this, Li Dao set it back on the stone table.

Once on the stone table, the little rat hiccuped. Its eyes grew hazy, and it could not even walk steadily, looking like a drunken human.

Finally, it found a spot close to Li Dao and lay down.

Just then, its body began to change.

Its body started swelling, then began shrinking again in the blink of an eye.

A short while later, the little rat's claws and teeth began falling out.

In the end, even the fur covering its body was discarded, falling off entirely.

Before long, something miraculous happened.

The little rat's body stopped changing, settling at the size of a palm.

Meanwhile, the claws, teeth, and fur it had just shed began growing back at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A few minutes later.

Once everything had grown back, the little rat gradually came to and opened its eyes.

This time, Li Dao clearly noticed that the intelligence in the little rat's eyes was even more pronounced.

In his previous life, Li Dao had seen a German shepherd a friend kept. It understood people well, and its eyes looked very human.

The liveliness in this rat's eyes was about the same as that of his friend's German shepherd back then.

At the same time, Li Dao noticed something else.

After shedding its fur once, the rat before him had changed greatly in appearance as well as size.

It no longer looked like an ordinary big black rat, but more like the fancy rats he had seen in his previous life.

Its fur was not pure black, either, but light gray. Only its back and the upper corners of its face beside its eyes were light gray, while the tip of its nose and the rest of its body were covered in white fur.

Looking closely, how had it become rather cute?

"Squeak, squeak!"

The little rat scampered over to Li Dao's right hand resting on the stone table and rubbed its head against it.

Li Dao also noticed that the little rat seemed more attached to him, perhaps because it had swallowed more treasure blood.

"This little thing..."

After muttering that, Li Dao left the little rat alone for the moment and closed his eyes to sense the state of his own body.

The treasure blood's effects were extraordinary. They surely had something to do with the substances in his blood.

According to the law of conservation, that energy had to come from him.

So he wondered what symptoms using treasure blood would cause him. In other words, what price did he have to pay? With his recovery ability, his body could easily replenish a few drops of blood. If he truly paid nothing at all, that would be far too outrageous.

After sensing his body for a moment, Li Dao suddenly opened his eyes.

"Could it be..."

With a thought, Li Dao opened the system's Status Panel.

[Master: Li Dao]

[Physique: 126.03 (125.93)]

[Available attribute points: 0]

Upon seeing the change on the panel, Li Dao immediately understood exactly what was happening.

Judging by the change on the panel, treasure blood probably consumed his own Physique.

However, it appeared to be only a temporary expenditure, not a permanent one.

That made sense, too. After all, he had never heard of drawing blood draining a person's overall attributes. If that really could happen, it would be far too unscientific.

With his doubts resolved, Li Dao breathed a sigh of relief.

He would have to slowly experiment with the treasure blood's specific effects in the future. He would not have the chance anytime soon.

Looking at the residue left on his body from the earlier transformation of his blood, Li Dao went to a well, stripped off his clothes, and washed himself briefly.

At that moment, he noticed that the little rat had followed him over at some point.

It ran to a puddle and copied Li Dao, scooping up water with its little paws and rubbing it over its body, apparently washing itself.

Seeing this, Li Dao raised an eyebrow, scooped up some water with a wooden dipper, and set it before the little rat.

"If you're going to wash, use cleaner water."

The little rat glanced at the muddy puddle upon hearing him, then looked at the clear water. It ran over and jumped straight in, immediately beginning to soak and wash.

The sight amused Li Dao.

Originally, he had planned to release the little rat after finishing his experiments. Now, judging by its behavior, it wanted to follow him.

If the little rat still looked like that big black rat from before, Li Dao certainly would not have agreed. But now it looked rather cute, so he did not mind as much. He might as well keep it as a pet.

And so, a man and a rat washed together beneath the moonlight.

Before long, Li Dao returned to the room with the little rat.

He first went over to Jiu'er and found her still sleeping soundly.

Just then, Jiu'er seemed to dream of something. A silly smile appeared on her face, and she murmured, "Young master..."

Hearing this, Li Dao chuckled and bent down to tuck her in.

Suddenly, Jiu'er mumbled again, "Young master, don't touch..."

Li Dao: "!!!"

His hand froze in midair. He did not know whether to withdraw it or lower it.

In the end, he still tucked Jiu'er in and pinched her delicate little nose before leaving.

"What nonsense does this girl dream about all day?"

Returning to his own bed, Li Dao lay down and set the little rat on the nearby table. "Don't squeak all night."

"Squeak, squeak."

The little rat suddenly let out a few quiet squeaks.

"What do you want?"

"Squeak, squeak."

Li Dao saw the little rat point with its paw. Looking over, he found it was pointing at a pillow.

"You want one too?"

"Squeak, squeak."

"All right."

Li Dao handed the pillow over. The little rat lay on it, stretched out all four paws, and comfortably settled down to sleep.

Li Dao shook his head at the sight, closed his eyes, and went to sleep as well.

A few seconds later.

He suddenly opened his eyes, with only one thought in his mind.

How could he understand the little rat's squeaks?

Early the next morning.

"A rat!"

A piercing cry woke Li Dao. He opened his eyes and looked over to see Jiu'er, who had awakened at some point, hopping about on the floor in a panic.

At her feet, the little rat squeaked as it scurried around.

"Young master, it's a rat."

Seeing Li Dao awake, Jiu'er immediately ran over, her face full of fear.

Feeling Jiu'er's delicate body trembling, Li Dao was somewhat speechless.

Yesterday, she had not been afraid of the Northern Barbarians cavalry's corpses and severed limbs strewn across the ground. Yet today, she was screaming at a little rat.

"All right, it's fine."

Li Dao turned to the little rat. "Why are you scaring her so early in the morning?"

The little rat nimbly climbed onto a stool, jumped onto the table, stood up, and began squeaking.

"You're saying she scared you first?"

"Squeak, squeak."

"And she tried to hit you, so you could only run?"

"Squeak, squeak."

"All right, don't feel wronged. I'll apologize to you on her behalf."

Looking at the little rat's aggrieved expression, Li Dao did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Beside him, Jiu'er stared blankly at her young master chatting with a rat, her face full of disbelief.

"Young master, you can understand what it's saying?"

"Yes."

"Then it's..."

"A pet I picked up last night, so don't be afraid."

Hearing the word "pet," Jiu'er could not help saying, still shaken, "But young master, that's a rat."

Li Dao smiled. "Take a closer look at it first. It's different from ordinary rats."

Only then did Jiu'er cautiously take a closer look at the little mouse.

Huh?

She would never have known without looking, but now she realized this mouse was different from the ones she had seen before. It was palm-sized, sweet-looking, and very cute.

"You're not scared of it anymore, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

Jiu'er nodded. With her fear gone, she gazed at the little mouse with eyes full of curiosity.

Seeing that things had calmed down, Li Dao continued, "Are you willing to accept this little fellow? If not, I'll throw it away again."

With that, he made as if to toss it away.

The little mouse: "!!!"

"Young master, don't!"

His words had barely left his mouth before Jiu'er protested. After a moment, she blushed and said softly, "It's actually rather cute. Let's keep it, then."

"All right. You two make up."

Li Dao set the little mouse on the table.

At his words, Jiu'er cautiously approached the little mouse, her cheeks red, seemingly afraid she would frighten it. She had completely forgotten who had scared whom into stamping their feet just moments ago.

"Little mouse, I'm sorry. It was all my fault for scaring you just now. Will you forgive me?"

After speaking, Jiu'er even made a pleading gesture.

She acted this way mainly because she had never seen such a tiny, adorable animal before. She was terribly curious and really wanted to give it a little squeeze.

The little mouse seemed to understand her words too. It glanced at the human before it, then moved closer and sniffed Jiu'er. Something it smelled seemed to make its eyes light up.

"Squeak, squeak."

Puzzled, Jiu'er turned back and asked, "Young master, what's it saying?"

"It's saying it forgives you."

"Really!"

"Really."

"Then can I hold it?"

Li Dao gave the little mouse a meaningful look. As though the man and mouse could read each other's minds, the little mouse promptly jumped into Jiu'er's arms.

A little while later, Jiu'er's surprised voice rang out. "Young master, she doesn't have a little wee-wee. She's a little girl mouse!"

A little wee-wee?

Li Dao looked utterly baffled. When had this girl learned such shockingly naughty language?