When the last trace of Blood Demon Fruit's energy was tempered by Fire of Life, Qin Tiexin slowly opened his eyes.
He raised his left hand and looked at the Penetration skin to see the blood slowly flowing in the veins of his forearm. The color of the blood was a bit darker than before swallowing Blood Demon Fruit. This was the unique effect of True Fire Furnace Scripture after it was tempered, and the blood became thicker and heavier.
He clenched his fist, and the blood vessels swelled slightly under the skin. A stronger force than before surged out of the blood and spread to every muscle in the entire arm and every Root Bone head.
Essence Blood ratio has stabilized at 78%.
One Blood Demon Fruit pushed his Essence Blood ratio forward by quite a bit. In the Qi and Blood Realm, every increase in the Essence Blood ratio means that the strength of the physical body has moved forward. There are still twelve left, plus those Blood-Patterned Wolf corpses, which is enough for him to steadily advance to close to 90% in the following days.
He stood up from the cracks in the rocks and put away the soundproof array disk and the concealment array disk. When the array pattern was removed, it caused a very slight fluctuation in spiritual power, and a few remaining blue lights swirled in the air and then dissipated.
Qin Tiexi squeezed out of the pile of rubble sideways, and the dark red skylight spilled from the gaps in the ancient locust branches overhead, casting a mottled light spot on the gravel ground in front.
The blue-grey stone wall of Pure Land Chan Temple is less than a mile away.
He put Edgeless on his shoulders again. The figure in black attire paused for a moment in the shadow of the ancient locust tree, and then took steps towards the ancient temple that was submerged in blood and fire a thousand years ago.
At the same time, a few miles behind Qin Tiexin.
Lin Chuan pushed aside the withered vines blocking the road, and where the sword blade swept, a few vines as thick as a thumb broke. The four people behind him followed his footsteps and walked forward on the narrow path he had cleared.
It had been less than half an hour since the five of them had entered the dense forest. On Liu Suifeng's array, the very faint golden trace was still there, and the traces of Qin Tiexin's remaining spiritual power were like a thread as thin as a gossamer, extending from their feet to the depths of the dense forest.
The direction is very clear, pointing directly to Pure Land Chan Temple.
But following this line was far more difficult than they expected.
Without Qin Tiexin leading the way, the true face of this mutated dense forest was completely exposed. The roots silently sprang out from under the feet, the thorns closed quietly at the side, and even the aerial roots hanging above the head had a hint of something ready to move.
The five of them had to pay close attention every step they took. There might be something hidden in every shadow. The distance they advanced in half an hour was less than one mile.
Du Heng walked in front, with a broadsword in front of him, acting as a shield for the team.
His breathing was a bit heavier than usual, and the clothes on his shoulder blades were torn twice, which were scratched by Iron-Spined Porcupine who just jumped out of the pile of dead leaves. Although it was just a skin injury, Xu Ying had already applied medicine to the wound, but the blood stains had not dried completely, leaving two dark marks on the dark brown cloth.
This is already the fourth mutant Demon Beast they have encountered.
The first three heads can be said to be safe and sound. Liu Suifeng used the formation to trap Demon Beast. Du Heng withstood the first wave of impact from the front. Ling Shuyao controlled the scout puppet to contain it from the flanks. After Demon Beast showed its flaws, Lin Chuan finished with a sword.
The cooperation was achieved, but the mutated Demon Beast's resistance to attack and reaction speed were far superior to those of the same level, and battles that could have ended in one round often took two or three rounds.
What's even more troublesome is that as a few people go deeper, the density of Demon Beast in the dense forest also begins to increase.
Qin Tiexin can rely on Killing Intent Perception to avoid most threats in advance when passing by, but Lin Chuan and the others do not have this ability. The detection range and extent of Liu Suifeng's array disk are limited, and the chaotic spiritual force field in the dense forest will interfere with the spiritual light return. Often, by the time the array disk captures Demon Beast's aura, the opponent is already within ten feet.
"On the left, fifty feet, from both ends, they are approaching." Liu Suifeng's voice was very low, and the two red dots on the array disk were moving slowly, "The direction is coming towards us, you should smell the smell of blood."
"Keep walking and avoid it." Lin Chuan said without looking back, "Speed up."
The five people quickened their pace. Du Heng was in the front row and used a broadsword to push aside the branches blocking the road. Liu Suifeng threw down a few miniature formation flags behind him as he walked to set up a simple confusion formation. Xu Ying took out a bottle of medicinal powder from his sleeves to cover up the smell of blood and sprinkled it along the way.
After walking for about a cup of tea, the two red dots on the array plate finally changed direction, seemingly giving up.
"Get rid of it." Liu Suifeng breathed a sigh of relief.
Before everyone could take a breath, their eyes suddenly opened up, and a scorched open space lay across the road.
The open space is not big, about thirty feet square, and the ground is charcoal black, as if it has been blasted by some high temperature Law Technique, leaving no grass growing. There are a few broken pieces of spiritual ore and broken Law Artifact half buried in the soil scattered around the edge of the open space. Judging from the traces, they must have been picked up by the monks who passed by before.
Du Heng's eyes swept around the open space and suddenly stopped.
"Look over there."
There is a corpse lying on the right side of the center of the open space, or rather, two corpses.
The upper and lower body were chopped diagonally, with a gap of five or six steps in between. The fracture was so smooth that it did not look like it had been bitten by Demon Beast, but rather like it had been swiped by some extremely Sharpness blade. The blood had solidified into dark brown and seeped into the charred soil. There were also a few shallow claw marks on the body.
Du Heng walked forward and squatted down, and traced the fracture with his five fingers. The cut section of the bone was as flat as a mirror, with no stubble eversion, and no secondary tearing. It was done with one knife.
"The time of death was no more than two hours. The master's Zen staff used a blunt blow and concussion method. The impact on the body was a fragmentation injury, not this kind of cutting method. This person was split in half by a very Sharpness Law Artifact knife."
Lin Chuan walked over. He took a look at the five or six steps between the upper body and the lower body of the corpse. It was because the knife was too violent and the upper body flew away and fell to that position.
"Don't worry about it." Lin Chuan stood up and said in a calm tone, "Let's go, keep going."
The five people continued to advance along the golden trajectory, and the light became lighter and weaker. It felt like it would disappear in the next moment, and several people couldn't help but speed up their pace.
After passing through the open space, the density of the dense forest became a little higher, and the branches of the ancient locust trees almost intertwined into a dark red ceiling. The smell of blood in the air was sometimes strong and sometimes light, and sometimes even mixed with a very light sweet fragrance.
Liu Suifeng's array disk suddenly buzzed rapidly.
Several high-energy reaction light spots suddenly lit up on the disk. When he looked down, his face suddenly changed. Before he could speak, Du Heng, who was walking in the front, suddenly raised his broad sword to signal everyone to stop.
"What smells so good?" Du Heng's nose twitched twice, "This smells wrong."