In truth, when Garuda had mentioned magical artifacts recognizing their masters through a drop of blood, Zhang Xiaohua had already fallen into thought. Now, seeing the crimson mist growing thicker and thicker, spreading ever wider, he immediately recalled the Wind Pearl he had obtained in Forbidden Wind Valley within Great Forest Temple.
He remembered how unruly the Wind Pearl had been then. Even the bamboo suppressing it had been drained of all vitality. Yet when he had collected the Wind Pearl, the wind from it had cut his hand, and after a drop of blood had fallen into the pearl, it became much more docile, no longer releasing any sinister wind.
Could that have been blood-droplet master recognition? Zhang Xiaohua wondered to himself.
As he pondered, the crimson mist had already drawn near Zhang Xiaohua. From Garuda's intentions, he clearly meant to envelop Zhang Xiaohua in the mist before striking to kill.
Zhang Xiaohua swiftly rose about ten feet into the air. Reaching into his belt, he took out the jade case containing the Wind Pearl. The restriction on the jade case remained, and that thread of divine sense was still there, utterly unchanged. Zhang Xiaohua opened the jade case and took the Wind Pearl into his hand. Sure enough, he felt as though they were linked by blood. But how do I release the wind? he wondered.
Strangely, the instant this thought flashed through Zhang Xiaohua's mind, a suction force emerged from the Wind Pearl, drawing the true qi in his meridians into it. Then, a wisp of sinister wind appeared outside the pearl. With a "whooo," it swept toward Garuda's mist. At first, it was only a thin wisp, but by the time it reached the mist, it had become a howling gale!
The wind was precisely the