The opening widened, slowly unveiling the life hidden within the icy walls.
Inside, a crowd was gathered in boisterous cheer, drinking and chatting without a care. Suddenly, a frigid gust swept through the gap, biting into their bones and silencing their laughter in an instant.
“Who’s there!?” Several imposing experts sprang to their feet, eyes snapping toward the breach in the wall.
The Scarlet District Mistress stepped through with a sinister smile, leaving the umbrella girl behind, alone amid the raging blizzard.
Moments later, miserable shrieks echoed from within the small city. Yingying knew well what that meant. Her big sis was once again devouring blood and flesh to refine essence Qi, a ritual offering to the Scarlet Dragon Tribulation shard.
Yingying let out a soft breath. With no warmth in her body, it blended seamlessly into the storm, vanishing without a trace. Unlike the living, her breath did not fog the air.
This was already the fourth small city.
As she stood waiting, Yingying’s fingers unconsciously brushed the hem of her skirt. Beneath the howling snowstorm, the red umbrella shielded her from most of the falling flakes.
She absentmindedly twirled the umbrella’s edge. A pink love-knot tassel spun gently with it, drifting into her view.
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
It was a gift from big sis, given long ago as a token of affection. She had always treasured it, keeping it tucked inside her paper fan, something dear beyond words. That way, she could see it whenever she wished.
The Scarlet District Mistress emerged from the opening. Catching sight of Yingying fiddling with the tassel, she smiled at once. “You still have it.”
Yingying nodded vigorously. “Yes… I still do.”
“We even wove it together back then,” Scarlet District Mistress said as she walked over, “cutting a single thread into two.” She slipped an arm around Yingying’s waist.
“Yes… Yingying… likes it.” Yingying held the love-knot gently, cherishing not just the object, but the meaning behind it, something big sis had learned from the living.
The Scarlet District Mistress laughed softly. “If you like it, I’ll make a few more for you when we get back.”
Yingying shook her head. “No… this… one is enough.”
“Alright.” Scarlet District Mistress raised her brows, her mood light. “Come. On to the next one.”
She strode off into the white expanse. Yingying hurried after her, feeling noticeably more at ease here, far away from Mountain-Edge City.
…………
Over the next few nights, Lu Sheng slipped away under the cover of darkness, one night after another, to drain the inner Qi of martial experts. He targeted only those aligned against the Ultimate Crimson Sect. As the incidents accumulated, keen observers began to notice a pattern. It was not difficult to deduce who was moving in the shadows.
Within several days, more than thirty experts in Gong Zhi City and Li Huan City were once again stripped dry of their inner Qi. Soon after, Lu Sheng dispatched his men to absorb both factions into his growing dominion.
From the harvested inner Qi, he refined three drops and one drop of liquefied Qi respectively. He distributed them evenly between the Ultimate Crimson Nine-Furies Skill and the Yin-Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi, injecting roughly two hundred years’ worth of inner force into each.
By now, the once straightforward Ultimate Crimson Nine-Furies Skill had accumulated a fearsome nine hundred years of inner force.
Had the experts of Li Huan City not received advance warning and fled in time, Lu Sheng would likely have reached a full millennium.
But after this wave of bloodless calamities, the surrounding experts grew cautious. They took pains to conceal themselves. Unlike before, it was now nearly impossible to find groups of experts gathered in one place.
Intelligence from Lu Sheng’s subordinates confirmed it. These experts had scattered across vast distances, remaining constantly on the move. Tracking them had become exceedingly difficult.
It was around this time that Zhao Jiaojiao returned from her search for precious herbs.
Lu Sheng’s gaze settled on the black, metallic cabinet placed before him, his brows knitting together. “This is the precious herb you found?”
Zhao Jiaojiao had been gone only briefly, yet there was a subtle shift in her presence. Her aura carried a faint, unmistakable difference.
Even after enduring the vile conditions of the water prison, she had managed to preserve her Divine Prime strength. Now, freed and properly nourished, the restraints on her potential had vanished. In such a short span of time, her cultivation had already advanced noticeably.
Zhao Jiaojiao straightened, her expression solemn. “The cultivation seed Sect Master planted in me is truly unlike any other. In just these few days, Jiaojiao attained enlightenment and successfully stepped into a new realm.”
Lu Sheng smiled faintly. “As long as you find it useful.” He knew she was referring to the Yin Crane Web. Lowering his gaze, he studied the metallic cabinet before him. “There’s a living thing inside?”
“Yes.” Zhao Jiaojiao nodded. “Among the precious herbs, I managed to locate only one, a stalk of thousand-year-old Crushed Leaf Lotus. Unfortunately, by the time your subordinate arrived, it had already been devoured by the living creature inside this cabinet. Since the herb was gone, I decided to bring the creature back instead.”
Lu Sheng’s interest stirred at once. “Open it. Let me have a look.”
At that moment, he was in an unusual state. With nine hundred years of cultivation in the Ultimate Crimson Nine-Furies Skill and another nine hundred years in the Yin-Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi, Yin and Yang were steadily fusing within him. The sense of imminent change grew stronger by the breath.
It felt as though he stood before an unlocked door, needing only the slightest push to step into an entirely new realm.
Perhaps whatever Zhao Jiaojiao had brought would provide that final nudge.
At his command, Zhao Jiaojiao lifted the cabinet and flipped the lid open.
“Swish!”
A black shadow burst out without warning.
Lu Sheng’s hand snapped forward, lightning-fast.
“Pah!” He caught the creature around its middle. It writhed violently, but the struggle was futile. Lu Sheng’s grip was unyielding.
He studied it, brows lifting in surprise. “A four-footed snake?”
Also known as a lizard, it was not what Lu Sheng had expected to find devouring a precious herb.
Yet this was no ordinary specimen. Its front half gleamed a vivid emerald green, while its rear was pitch-black, as though it had crawled straight out of ink.
Etched upon its head was a strange, ominous symbol.
According to the orthography of this world’s Song Dynasty, the symbol etched on its head represented the character for “dragon.”
Lu Sheng let out a soft chuckle. “So this thing is called a four-footed dragon?”
Zhao Jiaojiao nodded earnestly. “Sect Master is indeed perceptive. It truly is known as a four-footed dragon and has a fondness for consuming precious herbs. Judging from its maturity, it must have swallowed countless rare plants. The essence blood within its body would be an exceptional tonic.” She paused, then added, “It is also recorded in medicinal texts under the name ‘Blood Dragon.’”
At her words, Lu Sheng recalled seeing mention of such a creature in old volumes. At the time, he had dismissed it as a fabricated legend and paid it little heed. Only now did the memory resurface clearly.
“Yes… I’ve read about it before.” Lu Sheng nodded slightly as he pinched the palm-long four-footed dragon between his fingers.
Abruptly, a dull, swelling pain flared in the hand holding it.
His expression changed. He carefully placed the creature back into the box and opened his palm. A layer of purplish-black swelling had already spread across his skin.
He had been poisoned.
Lu Sheng frowned, astonished. With nine hundred years of Yin-Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi coursing through him, how could a toxin still breach his defenses, even seeping through his skin?
He turned to Zhao Jiaojiao. “You’ve done well. Go and rest for now. Don’t stray too far.”
Zhao Jiaojiao acknowledged the order and withdrew. Alone in the study, Lu Sheng stared at the black metallic box. Without continued contact with its source, the poison on his palm soon dissipated.
After observing the box for a while longer, he picked it up and headed straight for the pill room.
Before long, he found the relevant records. As expected, the creature itself was classified as a rare medicinal ingredient. Zhao Jiaojiao’s efforts had not been in vain.
Lu Sheng transferred the four-footed dragon into a specially crafted metal cage meant for cultivation. Following the instructions in the texts, he placed specific herbs inside and poured in strong alcohol. This process would force the harmful substances out of its body, rendering it safe for further use.
Afterward, he washed it thoroughly in medicinal solutions.
According to the records, a four-footed dragon had to be consumed raw to draw out the full extent of its medicinal potency.
Once the preparations were complete, Lu Sheng headed straight for his sanctuary and declared a period of solitary confinement.
He was now only a single step away from the transformation within his body. The Yin and Yang inner Qi were locked in a strangely delicate equilibrium, and that fragile balance made him keenly aware that his incubation phase was accelerating.
Vast reserves of inner force burned ceaselessly, like fuel fed into an invisible furnace, releasing energy that urged the change forward. Yet the rate at which it burned still fell just short of the critical threshold needed to trigger a drastic breakthrough.
“Hoo.”
A shapeless mass of inner Qi ignited in Lu Sheng’s palm.
It was a formless flame, visible to him alone, a flickering tongue of fire composed entirely of Ultimate Crimson Nine-Furies inner Qi.
Seated alone within the sanctuary, countless thoughts drifted through his mind.
Scarlet District Mistress was likely already harboring suspicions. Once she finished dealing with her enemy from the Wandering Heart Society, she would come for him sooner or later.
He needed a breakthrough, and he needed it soon. He needed greater power.
Lu Sheng’s gaze shifted toward the sanctuary window. Pale light filtered in through dense iron bars, the narrow shafts illuminating patches of the otherwise black walls. Beyond the ruler-straight bars lay a sky heavy with clouds.
When exhaustion weighed on him, he would sometimes ease his mind by simply staring at the sky like this.
Even for someone who thrived on turmoil and danger, it was wearying to walk alone between the worlds of Noblemen and demons.
At times, he wondered what kind of storm would erupt if those Noblemen and demons learned that he was nothing more than a mortal who had reached his current heights purely through martial cultivation.
“Perhaps I’d be locked away like Zhao Jiaojiao was.” Lu Sheng let out a quiet chuckle.
Zhao Jiaojiao had been imprisoned for decades. Had the Zhen Family not withdrawn, and had Lu Sheng not happened upon the dungeon when he did, she would likely have remained confined there until death.
“Strictly speaking, Zhao Jiaojiao did have the potential to break free of the Divine Prime realm and step into something higher. It’s a pity… I’m not a second Zhao Jiaojiao…”
“Hoo!!”
The shapeless flame swelled violently.
Lu Sheng calmly opened the black metal box. Inside, the four-footed dragon lay pressed against the wall, frozen in terror.
He reached in, seized the lizard, and lifted it before his eyes.
From less than a meter away, its peculiar stench flooded his senses, like the fiercest chili, searing and sharp, stabbing straight into his lungs.
Let’s begin.
Lu Sheng raised his head and brought the creature up.
His fingers closed. The four-footed dragon was crushed in his palm. With a wet splatter, it collapsed into a mass of mangled flesh. Vermilion fluid seeped through the gaps between his fingers and streamed into his open mouth.
Thick mouthfuls of blood poured down his throat, and his body heated up almost instantly.
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