Blessing or Calamity?

"…The pill was a pure matt black, a gorgeous colour, but one that was unable to reflect Yusef Galahey's even more gorgeous figure. After an intelligent deduction, he realised that the scroll beneath the pill must be related to the pill somehow. Oh praise be to Yusef Galahey, he was correct as always, his high IQ was displayed in all its glory once more!"

"Please no more…" Fu Rian whined.

"I take back everything I said Khan, you did us all a service by killing that bastard." Fu Bian genuinely apologised to him.

"So long as we burn this journal afterwards, all will be well with the world." Khan showed a firm gaze. The Fu sisters nodded solemnly.

"The scroll explained that the pill was a so called 'blood pill', a pill that could be activated only with Blood Energy. And as for the effect, it left even the wise and worldly Yusef Galahey in shock! Thanks to his swift reflexes, he recovered in one millionth of the time it takes to brew a cup of tea though. He saw through the truth of this pill, which was unrelated to the fact that the truth was written down on the scroll in front of him. But he did a good job of understanding it, such a good job that he deliberately dropped the scroll down into a crevice. The crevice was too small to fit through, and it was so deep that he didn't hear a rock hit the bottom when he dropped it into the crevice, not that he was testing the depth of the crevice because he was looking for the scroll or anything."

Hui paused for a moment as the others stared dumbly.

"What was the pill's effect?"

Hui slowly turned to Khan with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry master…the next paragraph is just describing how he left the cave and returned home, having memorised the scroll without needing it any longer."

Everyone was silent. Finally, Khan couldn't take it.

"He dropped the scroll down into a fucking crevice before he could even read it, then lied about it in his own personal journal! What the fuck fatty, I wish you were still alive so I could kill you again!"

"God damnit…there are really people like that in this world…" Fu Bian muttered.

"Is this…really a world I want to live in?" Fu Rian stared out of the window and muttered, a despairing aura slowly spreading out from her.

"Sister, it'll be ok! Sister!"

"Gah, damnit, I'll just use the damn pill then!" Khan yelled out. He held the black pill between his fingers, and before anyone could cry out, he injected his Blood Energy into the small pebble.

For a moment, nothing happened. Everyone held their breath. Khan frowned…nothing was happening. He injected more energy, then some more, then-

VRRRMMMMMMM!

Suddenly, the pill lit up with nine red symbols across the surface.

"What-" Khan was cut off as the pill rapidly expanded, creating a large cocoon. The cocoon continued to grow until a certain point, then rapidly shrank back down and mummified Khan entirely. Khan was now a pure black human figure with nine glowing red symbol on the surface.

The three girls felt terrified. The aura in those symbols was something that gave them the urge to kneel down on the floor and worship. They were too afraid though, it was as if an invisible force was forcing them to leave the room, they slowly walked backwards until they were no longer able to see Khan.

By the time this happened, they sobered up and looked at one another. They quickly rushed back into the room, only to find Khan lying unconscious on the floor. The black cocoon from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

"What…how is this…no way…" Hui started trembling as her gaze turned upwards.

"What, what is it?" This was too strange, Fu Bian felt that something was off, but what was it?

Hui slowly pointed towards the window, her finger still trembling.

At first, Fu Bian and Fu Rian didn't understand. However, when they realised the problem, their minds shook in horror.

It was dark outside…it was the middle of the night. Only, when they were in the room just now, it had been early afternoon! After Hui quickly checked the time on Yusef's pendulum grandfather clock, they realised that somehow, nine hours had passed by!

"Ugh…" Slowly, Khan opened his eyes.

After regaining consciousness, his expression slowly became extremely strange. The three girls hesitated, unsure where to begin.

Khan stood up and sighed. Looking at him, it was impossible for them to tell whether this pill was a fortune or a calamity. All they knew for sure was that this pill was a treasure beyond their understanding.

Going back to nine hours ago, after Khan injected his Blood Energy into the 'pill'…

The girls were all pushed out from the room at a speed that couldn't be described as 'slow' or 'fast', but Khan couldn't see this. Right now, he was trapped within a strange space.

This space was pitch black and seemed like an endless void. Khan felt a sense of disorientation when he realised that he couldn't feel his body…actually, he couldn't move at all, or sense anything aside from this endless darkness.

WOMP!

A sound shook his mind, then suddenly, there were nine red symbols glowing around him. These symbols were identical to those found on the pill, and those that now covered the cocoon outside of this space.

The red light gave Khan some perspective. He still couldn't feel his body, and he quickly realised that he was somehow able to see all nine of the symbols that surrounded him, even though they were moving in all directions, to his sides, above, below, in front and behind him. Each of these directions felt identical to Khan right now, only adding to the sense of disorientation and confusion.

The red light gradually gathered around him, then sunk down into him. Khan trembled as a horrifying pain took over his entire being. He almost lost consciousness, but he grit his metaphorical teeth and roared out with an imagined voice. He felt a deep sense of life and death crisis in this moment, and this feeling of danger helped him to remain conscious.

He instinctively knew that if he lost focus for a moment, he would be killed.

As the pain escalated, it filled not only his body, but his mind. Every single fibre of his being was screaming in agony as the searing sensation seemed to burn through him. The pain felt endless and only continued to grow worse.

How long had it been? Khan was unable to say for sure. With such torturous agony and nothing else to focus on but the dangerous nine red symbols, he no longer possessed any sense of time. It could have been minutes, or maybe it was years, there was no way to be sure.

As rapidly as it came, the pain dissipated like it was never even there. His mind shook from the shock, and when he came to, he was lying on the floor in the palace. The bead, the cocoon, the black space and the nine red symbols, were nowhere to be seen.

However, there was one small change, one tiny thing that let Khan know that everything he experienced just now was indeed real. It was a simple piece of information in his mind. Clearly, this information was transmitted directly into his mind during that painful event just now.

The information made him feel somewhat speechless. He wasn't sure whether the celebrate joyously, or to drop to his knees and cry from despair.

'Mortal Body Temperer, I am the spirit of the Void Blood Pill. The Void Blood Pill is an artefact that can only be activated by a being's Blood Energy. To survive the activation, a physique with the strength of the Blood Core Realm is the bare minimum requirement. The artefact will usually devour the being if they attempt the activation without meeting the requirements, but in this case it has instead been partially activated and entered a dormant state. The artefact will remain dormant within your soul for 81 years, at which point it will re-awaken, then devour your entire being if you are unable to withstand its power. If you can withstand the reawakening, you will become the new owner of the Void Blood Pill.'

As it turned out, this 'pill' wasn't a pill at all, but some sort of bizarre artefact! Something so strange that could disappear into his soul was definitely extremely valuable, but why was it so lethal?!

After barely surviving this 'partial activation', the artefact itself left this message in Khan's mind before entering a dormant state within his soul. The soul was an ethereal existence and a cultivator at Khan's realm couldn't even sense their own soul, so he couldn't locate the pill at all. In fact, it wasn't until ascending the soul to Rank 6 that it would finally undergo a drastic change, becoming an existence which the cultivator could not only observe, but even control at will.

"Reach the Blood Core Realm within 81 years…how the hell will I?!" Khan yelled out loud.

Body Transformation Realm, Vital Life Realm, Blood Manipulation Realm, Flesh Temple Realm, Blood Core Realm. These were the five cultivation realms of the Primordial Body Tempering Path. The Flesh Temple and Blood Core Realms were basically just legends though, everyone knew that cultivators, especially human cultivators, weren't at all suited for Body Tempering.

Body Tempering was viewed in the same way as a powerful and widespread spell; it was a method used to supplement the base of a cultivator's power.

The Flesh Temple and Blood Core Realms were, for the most part, considered by many to be unattainable for humanity. Only races with superior physiques, like the giant demon race, could hope to reach those levels. Even the giant demon race with their famous powerful bodies wouldn't normally follow the Primordial Body Tempering path as their main path though. There were probably only a handful of individuals in the history of that notorious race who had actually succeeded in doing so.

Khan spat on this logic and fully intended to one day reach the Blood Core Realm. However…81 years was far too short a period of time!