Chapter 260 - 259: Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body

Chapter 260: Chapter 259: Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body

"Gods, this is a martial art for the Armor Forging Realm!"

"It’s just that this method of forging armor, compared to that ’Blood Evil True Gang’ from before, is even more..."

After flipping through a few pages of the Martial Arts Manual, Wu Chen was so shocked by its contents that he couldn’t help but gasp.

To call this a martial art for the Armor Forging Realm was a stretch; it was a completely Evil Path method of forging armor!

The contents stated that only Martial Artists at the Mid Stage of the Blood Coagulation Realm or higher could cultivate it.

The cultivation method required refining the blood and flesh of a massive number of living creatures and integrating it into one’s body.

Then, it would be activated by the origin of one’s Blood Coagulation Realm, at which point a suit of flesh-and-blood armor would cover the body, achieving the effect of temporary armor forging.

Of course, the higher one’s realm, the stronger the armor’s defense and the longer it would last.

Conversely, for those in lower realms, forcibly refining the blood and flesh would not only cause the armor to collapse, but they would also suffer a backlash from the stored flesh, turning their entire body into a pile of bloody, rotten sludge!

’As expected of the Blood Palace. It’s only normal that they could create a martial art like this...’

’Even if someone cultivated it and ended up as a pile of rotten flesh, I bet they wouldn’t go to waste in the Blood Palace...’

Wu Chen grumbled to himself for a moment before quickly composing himself and continuing to quietly flip through the manual.

When he finished reading the last page, the "Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body" was imprinted on his panel.

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (Learned)]

[This Martial Art requires the fusion of ’Blood Qi’]

[Based on the Blood Qi concentration here, reaching the entry-level for ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body’ requires ’3 days’]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body entry-level proficiency +1]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body entry-level proficiency +1]

[...]

"Three days!"

Wu Chen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

This was the first time he had ever seen a martial art that took days to learn.

And that was just three days for the entry-level stage.

He couldn’t even imagine how long Great Success, Perfection, and the stages beyond would take!

But then, a look of wild joy appeared on Wu Chen’s face.

After all, the longer it took, the more terrifying the martial art’s power would be!

’So, Minor Achievement will take three days, and to reach Perfection... that’ll be over half a month.’

’The process seems long, but it just means I need to absorb Blood Qi to shorten the time!’

Wu Chen looked toward the figures disappearing into the night across the river, growing more and more eager for them to lead him to his destination.

His desire for slaughter surged once again!

BANG!

A violent burst of energy erupted from Wu Chen’s hand. With a loud pop, the Martial Arts Manual he was holding disintegrated into a cloud of paper scraps that scattered and drifted down around him.

Without pausing, he continued to rummage through his storage pouch, looking for anything else of value. Finally, he pulled out a fist-sized, cyan porcelain bottle.

"What’s this?"

He uncorked the bottle, tilted it, and poured its contents into his palm.

SHUSHHH!—

A pile of fine, sand-like particles streamed from the bottle’s mouth, glowing with a faint, serene light in the moonlight.

Feeling the cool sensation in his palm and the clarity it brought to his spirit, Wu Chen’s pupils constricted abruptly.

"Soul-Storage Pearls!"

Wu Chen raised his hand and carefully examined the fine sand in his palm.

He confirmed that the sensation was exactly the same as when he had obtained the Soul-Storage Pearl before.

’So the sigil for the summoning was decorated with powder made from crushed Soul-Storage Pearls?’

’But judging by the quality, these must be the lowest grade of Soul-Storage Pearls!’

Wu Chen’s eyes grew brighter. Even though the powdered Soul-Storage Pearls in his hand were of poor quality, that didn’t mean the Blood Palace didn’t have better ones!

And likely in large quantities!

’Looks like I’ve found a source for Master’s Soul-Storage Pearls!’

Wu Chen poured the mottled, impure sand back into the porcelain bottle, placed it in his storage pouch, and looked towards the figures vanishing on the other side of the river, his heart surging with excitement.

’Blood Palace, here I fucking come!’

Then, he waited quietly by the riverbank.

After about fifteen minutes, the young woman, having settled the group of beggars, leaped over to him.

Wu Chen looked at her. "Let’s head out and follow them now."

The young woman nodded. "Alright!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the two of them leaped across the river and sped off in the direction where the two fiends had disappeared.

...

...

"Brother, are we not going back to the Blood Palace?"

In a tavern at a crossroads, nestled in the wilderness.

After downing several mouthfuls of wine, the younger of two men, Zhang Hu, looked at the burly man sitting across from him and couldn’t help but ask in a hushed voice:

"It’s already been two days. I’m sure that guy hasn’t followed us. We should be fine!"

"But if we don’t go back to report to the Blood Envoy and explain the situation, that’s even more serious than failing to bring back the flesh-and-blood bait!"

"The Blood Palace will definitely not spare us!"

"By then, there’ll be no place for us brothers in either the Righteous or Evil Paths!"

Faced with this barrage of words, the man opposite him, Li Gui, looked increasingly helpless.

GLUG! GLUG! GLUG!—

Li Gui didn’t respond directly. Instead, he took several more large swigs of wine to suppress his unease.

He remained silent, his expression constantly flickering between gloomy and clear.

These two were the very same Blood Palace fiends who had been captured, interrogated, and then released by Wu Chen.

Two days had passed in a flash. Fearing that Wu Chen was tracking them, the two had taken a winding route, running an unknown number of miles. The Blood Coagulation origin in their bodies had shrunk to the size of a bean, nearly depleted.

CLANG!

After a moment of silence, Li Gui slammed his wine bowl onto the table, having made up his mind. "We’re going back to the Blood Palace!" he said in a deep voice.

"If we don’t go back, where else can we go?!"

Li Gui knew he had no other path. From the day he entered the Blood Slaughter Sect, there was no turning back.

In all these years, he had never heard of anyone escaping the Blood Slaughter Sect, to say nothing of the Blood Palace sigil on his own hand!

As long as he bore this sigil, even if he fled to the ends of the earth, the Blood Palace would hunt him down and kill him!

Li Gui took a sip of wine and continued, "I’ve been checking the secret trail markers we left along our winding route these past two days. There are no signs of anyone following."

"I guess that guy was too confident and lost our trail."

"We’ll head into the mountains today. Reporting back tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem."

"In the end, it was just a batch of flesh and blood. I doubt the Blood Envoy will make things too difficult for us."

Though he said this, Li Gui wasn’t actually sure how the Blood Envoy would punish them. His words were mostly to comfort himself.

Hearing this, Zhang Hu nodded, sighing slightly in relief.

As long as they could get back to the Blood Palace, there was still a chance to salvage the situation.

Besides, the Blood Palace was in need of manpower right now. Even if there was a punishment, it would probably be a light one...

"Oh, right, Brother."

Zhang Hu drained his wine bowl in one gulp. As if remembering something, he continued in a low voice:

"Do you have any silver taels on you?"

"..."

Li Gui had just managed to reassure himself, but at Zhang Hu’s question, he felt at his chest, and his expression immediately froze.

Wu Chen had taken their storage pouch. They were now penniless. How could they possibly pay for the wine?

Seeing his sworn brother’s expression, Zhang Hu knew exactly what it meant.

The two exchanged a look and glanced around the tavern.

They had fled day and night for two days, squeezing their origin until it was colorless. They were already exhausted and naturally didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Then, before the tavern owner could react, they bolted out the door without a second thought.

"You sons of bitches! Two dine-and-dashers! You’ll die a dog’s death!"

The owner quickly realized something was wrong, but by the time he rushed to the door, all he could see were the backs of the two men kicking up dust as they sprinted into the woods. He could only jump up and down in frustration, cursing loudly.

However, not long after the two left, two other figures appeared on the road next to the tavern.

"Hey, you two! Why not come in and rest your feet!"

Seeing people passing by, the owner immediately put on a friendly face to attract customers.

Unfortunately, the two had no time. They just hurried on their way, leaving the owner to sigh helplessly.

These two figures passing the tavern were, of course, Sun Yuting and Wu Chen, who had been following the fiends all along.

"You were right. Those two really did decide to return to the Blood Palace in the end!"

Watching the figures disappear at the end of the road, the young woman heaped praise on Wu Chen’s judgment.

Along the way, Wu Chen had not only led her around traps that were nearly invisible to the naked eye, but he had also managed to stay right behind the two men, preventing their escape. Sun Yuting was thoroughly impressed.

"How did you do it?"

The young woman’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the young man. She leaned her impressive figure against him, wrapped her hands around his arm, and shook it gently. "Tell me, tell me!"

"You’ll know when you reach my level."

Wu Chen subtly pulled his arm free from the large, soft mounds and gave a casual reply.

He quickened his pace, putting some distance between himself and the young woman. He stared straight ahead as a pure white stream of light flowed through the depths of his eyes.

In that instant, the traces of various auras scattered along the road were laid bare before his eyes.

Dodging the traps the two fleeing fiends had set to cover their tracks, and following their trail—for Wu Chen, who possessed ’Intercepting Meridians and Capturing Dragons’, it was not a difficult task at all.

Moreover, since there hadn’t been any heavy rain recently, the fleeing pair’s movements were completely exposed. None of the little tricks they pulled along the way escaped his notice.

"You jerk..."

Feeling the emptiness where he had been, Sun Yuting watched the young man speed up and pull away. She pouted speechlessly and threw a few frustrated punches at his back.

"..."

Wu Chen seemed oblivious to the resentful glare behind him, simply following the trail and hurrying onward.

’Right now, I just want to accumulate more Blood Qi and get more Soul-Storage Pearls,’ he thought. ’I don’t have time for anything else!’

Another day passed in a flash.

Following the tracks, the young man arrived at the foot of a mountain covered in withered yellow leaves.

This was where the two fiends’ tracks finally started heading in a straight line.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this had to be one of the Blood Palace’s strongholds near Cold Rain City.

A light rain had fallen the previous night, causing a slight mist to rise in the mountains.

But such a piddling amount of rain and mist couldn’t affect Wu Chen’s ability to follow the tracks.

Looking up at the mountain forest ahead, Wu Chen didn’t rush in. Instead, he looked at his panel:

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body (entry-level): Upgrade complete]

Three days had passed. Even without absorbing any Blood Qi, his ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body’ had reached the entry-level stage.

The panel continued to update:

[Based on the Blood Qi concentration here, reaching Minor Achievement for Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body requires ’6 days’]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body Minor Achievement proficiency +1]

[Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body Minor Achievement proficiency +1]

[...]