The Blood Baleful Sect.
Inside the Blood Child's cave abode.
The abode had not been built into a mountainside, but lay hidden deep within the island.
It had been constructed around a vast, naturally formed sea cave.
Dense blood energy mingled with damp sea mist, lingering within the abode and casting a dim red glow across its walls.
Xu Xuan sat cross-legged on a massive couch of blood essence jade.
Beneath the jade couch, the sound of waves could faintly be heard.
It came from a branch of a spiritual vein connected to the deep sea, which supplied the tremendous vital energy his cultivation required.
The magical power around him rose and fell like the tides, faintly matching the sound of the actual tides outside.
He slowly concluded his cultivation and opened his eyes.
A glint flashed through them.
"Human cauldrons-contributions-"
He murmured to himself.
A wisp of dark red blood flame danced at his fingertip, evaporating all the surrounding moisture.
"Sitting around waiting is not my way."
He did not immediately emerge from seclusion, but immersed his mind once more.
He began trying to cultivate a secret art recorded in the Blood River True Explanation.
The Blood Refining Foundation Seizure Art.
This art was extraordinarily dangerous.
Its purpose was to strip away and refine the essence of another's Dao foundation, incorporating it into oneself.
He dared not directly mobilize his magical power, merely simulating it within his sea of consciousness and comparing it to his memories of Zhou Yongchang performing the art.
Gradually, he gained insights of his own.
"The key lies in 'refining.'"
"Use the blood river as the furnace and the secret method as the lock. Proceed slowly; haste breeds trouble-"
He murmured to himself.
During his deductions, several "simulations" ended in "Dao foundation conflicts" or even