Blind Hope, a Feast of Darkness

Inside the unfinished building, the night wind swept through, stirring up dust and a strong smell of blood.

Xiahou Ying stared blankly at the pile of minced meat, her mind almost blank. A family steward at the Third Level of the Blood Refining Realm, who had revealed his Variants form and experienced a surge in strength, was actually blown to bits by a classmate at the Fifth Level of Blood Nourishing Realm... with a single punch?!

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would have thought she was crazy.

"Who... who are you...?"

Xiahou Ying's voice trembled, and her gaze toward Dongfang Yueming held not only shock but also a hint of awe.

"Me? Just a common martial artist passing by."

Dongfang Yueming calmly withdrew his fist, as if he had just casually swatted a mosquito. He took out the waterproof bag from his hoodie pocket, pulled out the Federal anonymous cash card with a face value of 100,000, and put it in his pocket.

He then casually tossed the rest of the items—the farewell letter and the jade slip containing the Profound Grade Blood Refining Method —back to Xiahou Ying.

"I'll accept the money; consider it payment for saving your life."

"As for this letter and this martial arts technique, you can keep them for yourself."

Xiahou Ying instinctively caught the item, her expression immediately becoming anxious.

"Dongfang! I don't know why you've been hiding such terrifying strength, but since you're so powerful, could you please help me?"

She clutched the letter tightly, as if grasping at a last straw. "The Xiahou Family isn't human; they're a cannibalistic Demon Cave of demons! Not only do they have numerous monsters at the Blood Refining Realm, but they also... and even experts at the Blood Refining Blood Transformation Realm, who surpass even Blood Refining!"

"I only ask that you deliver this letter to the Han Family! As long as it reaches Old Master Han, the authorities and the military will definitely intervene!"

Despite Xiahou Ying's almost pleading gaze, Dongfang Yueming remained unmoved.

He even shook his head, somewhat amused.

"The Han Family?"

"What makes you think the Han Family is necessarily clean?"

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Ying was struck dumb, frozen in place.

"This... how is this possible?!" She shook her head frantically, as if Dongfang Yueming had uttered some outrageous statement. "The Han Family has guarded the front lines of the wilderness for generations, and Old Master Han is a Qi Gathering Realm expert who hates evil! They are the pillars of Jinling City, and they would never collude with those monsters!"

"Think what you want."

Dongfang Yueming was too lazy to argue with her.

Since the Variants has been able to infiltrate human society for so many years, even turning a prestigious family like the Xiahou Family into a sieve, it is understandable that they are capable of such infiltration.

Could the Han Family, one of the two pillars of Jinling City, be a pure white lotus rising from the mud, untainted by its surroundings?

The probability is too low.

However, he didn't care. As long as you didn't mess with him, there were tall people to hold up the sky if it fell; but if you messed with him, he wouldn't care if you were from a noble family or Variants, he would just punch you to pieces.

Dongfang Yueming walked to Xiahou Yuan's mangled corpse, skillfully squatted down, and began to examine the body.

"Poor wretch."

A moment later, he shook his hand dismissively. The monster's clothes were torn when it transformed, and apart from a few hard scales, it didn't even have a single coin.

I'm leaving.

Dongfang Yueming stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned to look at Xiahou Ying was still in a daze.

"For the sake of that 100,000 yuan, I'd advise you to be careful."

Having said that, he took a step forward, activated [The Ends of the Earth Are Within Reach], and his figure instantly merged into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

Inside the unfinished building, only Xiahou Ying remained, standing alone in the same spot.

She stared in the direction where Dongfang Yueming had disappeared, her mind replaying his warning before he left.

"The Han Family may not be trustworthy..."

Xiahou Ying gritted her teeth and carefully hid the letter and jade slip away from her body again.

"No! I don't believe it! If it weren't for the Han Family, Jinling City would have been in chaos long ago!"

"Old Master Han lives a secluded life, so I can't see him... but I can go find Senior Han Luosheng!"

Han Luosheng, the leading figure of the younger generation of the Han Family, is the top prodigy of the Jinling Martial University. He is known for his uprightness and gentle demeanor.

"As long as we find Senior Han and give him the letter, there will definitely be hope!"

Xiahou Ying took a deep breath, her eyes hardening again, and turned to disappear into the night.

On the other side, Dongfang Yueming was walking back to school.

"Next, it's time to prepare for breaking through to the [Blood Transformation Realm]."

The Blood Transformation Realm is a state in which the physical body undergoes a qualitative change, stimulating the hidden potential of the human body.

"At this level, the price of cultivation techniques will probably increase several times over."

Dongfang Yueming touched the 100,000 yuan cash card in his pocket and frowned slightly.

"Looks like I'll have to find a way to make some money. Since that old man on the black market dared to accept Variants pills, it means the black market is quite lucrative. Maybe I can get some 'big jobs'..."

Just as Dongfang Yueming was plotting how to make money...

On a quiet, tree-lined lakeside path at Jinling Martial University.

Shi Tingyue, a third-year university student and a genius, was walking briskly along the path, preparing to go find Dongfang Yueming.

"Junior Shi? What are you doing wandering around here alone in the middle of the night?"

A gentle yet magnetic voice suddenly rang out from ahead.

Shi Tingyue shuddered and raised his head like a startled bird.

In the dim light of the streetlamp, he saw a tall, upright young man in a white trench coat smiling at him.

"Han... Senior Han Luosheng?"

Shi Tingyue recognized the person who had arrived, and his tense nerves immediately relaxed slightly. Han Luosheng was a prominent figure in the school and an embodiment of justice, enjoying extremely high prestige among the students.

"Senior Han, I... I've been having some problems with my cultivation lately, and I'm feeling down, so I came out for a walk." Shi Tingyue forced a smile and stepped forward to greet him.

"There's a problem with your cultivation?"

Han Luosheng smiled slightly, but his eyes swept over Shi Tingyue from head to toe. He took two steps closer and even lowered his head slightly to gently sniff the nape of Shi Tingyue's neck.

This slightly strange movement made Shi Tingyue instinctively feel a little uncomfortable.

"Senior, you..."

"Junior Shi..."

Han Luosheng raised his head, and the smile on his originally gentle and refined face gradually turned somewhat eerie. His deep eyes had been veiled with a faint crimson hue.

"The smell on you..."

Han Luosheng stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, his voice becoming hoarse and greedy.

"It smells so good."

"It's like... a perfectly ripe, juicy, top-quality fruit."

"Boom--!"

These words, when they reached Shi Tingyue's ears, were no less than a nuclear explosion of ten million tons!

"Fragrant? Ripe fruit?"

Shi Tingyue's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints, and his blood seemed to freeze at that moment! He finally understood where that terrifying feeling of being watched by the farm owner, which had been lingering in his mind, came from!

"You... you're all in cahoots!"

"The Han Family... you're one of those monsters too?!"

Shi Tingyue completely collapsed, his extreme fear turning into hysterical madness. He roared, and the blood energy of the Early Stage of the Blood Refining Realm within him exploded, as he threw a punch at Han Luosheng's face with all his might!

I'm going to kill you!!!

However, faced with this desperate blow...

Han Luosheng didn't even dodge; he simply raised one hand and steadily caught Shi Tingyue's fist.

"Snap!"

The sound of bones cracking could be clearly heard in the night.

"Ah!!!" Shi Tingyue let out a shrill scream.

"Too weak." Han Luosheng shook his head, his eyes full of contempt.

The next second.

"Sizzle--"

The clothes on Han Luosheng's back were suddenly torn apart, and two dark red bone wings covered with barbs instantly unfolded! His jaw was dislocated and opened up in a bizarre way, revealing a gaping maw filled with sharp teeth, as deep as an abyss!

"However, as nutrients, they are just right."

"No--!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream, followed by the chilling sounds of chewing and bones cracking, echoed across the tranquil lakeside.

A few minutes later.

Han Luosheng elegantly took out a snow-white handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The bone wings on his back slowly retracted into his body, and his appearance returned to that of the gentle and refined senior.

However, the aura emanating from him was rising at an alarming rate!

"Call..."

Han Luosheng closed his eyes, digesting the massive surge of qi and blood within his body.

"Blood Refining Realm, Middle-Tier Perfection: Blood Burns Like Fire..."

He muttered to himself, and the qi and blood in his body began to undergo a tremendous qualitative change.

"Click."

It was as if some invisible shackles had been broken.

An extremely violent and terrifying pressure, so great that it even caused the surrounding air to roar, surged into the sky from Han Luosheng's body!

Muscles and bones resonated, Thunderous Sound of All Bones!

[Blood Transformation Realm]!

Han Luosheng opened his eyes, and a crimson light One Flash and disappeared.