19. Blood Flower
"What do you want to do now, Mei Lin? I will enter cultivation state and break through the cultivation stage. I need to catch Li Wei before he break throw next cultivation stage. Than I will find Li Wei and tell him about my progress." In a mystifying silence, the deity remained utterly still, intensifying Mei Lin's unease. The passage of time felt prolonged, with no discernible action from the enigmatic figure. Then, in an ethereal moment, the deity's luminous eyes slowly opened, casting a profound and mysterious gaze upon Mei Lin.
"If you want to catch up to Li Wei, you need to find a cultivation technique that will help you. The basic cultivation techniques you've been using until now are only effective in breaking into the first stage of Body Cultivation. Unlike Li Wei, who knows how to read and has a better understanding of his cultivation, you didn't know what you were cultivating. That also saved you, because that cultivation technique was tempered and is defected. Go back and try to find a cultivation technique that will aid you in your cultivation. Since you already know how to read, you should seek a Blood Cultivation technique. As for Li Wei, he will soon break through the second stage, so you need to be fast if you want to catch up to him."
Mei Lin wore a somber expression as the prospect of solitude loomed ahead, but the path of a cultivator was inherently lonely. Her cultivation had to match Li Wei's for them to cultivate together simultaneously. Adaptation to this solitary journey became imperative. Before Mei Lin departed, the deity imparted knowledge about her ring. "In the ring in your room, there are spirit fruits. You can eat them if you are hungry." Excitedly, Mei Lin bowed and retreated indoors.
She paused in the spacious room, scanning through a multitude of books. Many of them eluded her comprehension, written in a language or containing secrets beyond her current understanding. Eventually, she realized she didn't need to physically inspect each book. Instead, she could employ her spirit sense to sweep over them, and the titles would materialize in her mind. The only drawback was that if she shifted her focus to another book, she'd forget the name of the first. Yet, by picking them one after another, she could retain their names.
She began utilizing her spirit sense, selecting intriguing books and adding them to her collection as she proceeded. It consumed a few hours, but amidst the seemingly infinite shelves, Mei Lin finally discovered a Blood Cultivation book. The sheer volume of books left her baffled, especially when she stumbled upon one about space manipulation, prompting her to take it as well. Other selections included a Wood Cultivation book, a book about herbs, a Refining book, an Alchemy guide, and a book about Sword fighting.
With the selected books in hand, Mei Lin returned to her room. She initiated her spirit sense to access the ring's interior. Inside, she found an abundance of spirit fruits, perhaps a hundred of them and a strange crystal. Attempting to extend her spirit sense into the crystal proved futile initially. However, after some contemplation, Mei Lin realized she could summon the crystal by merely thinking about it. With that thought, the crystal materialized outside the ring and gently descended to the ground.
She promptly immersed her spirit sense into the crystal. Within, she discovered a message detailing the functionality of the storage ring. To her surprise, after reading it, the crystal did not disintegrate as expected. 'So there are different kinds of crystals for different purposes. This one is for sending a message.' Placing the crystal back inside the ring, Mei Lin observed the internal space. It was a circular area, approximately four meters in diameter. The spirit fruits occupied minimal space, leaving room for a spare cultivation robe. Retrieving one spirit fruit, she withdrew her spirit sense and began to indulge in the nutritious snack. Mei Lin discovered that fruit appeared right in her hand. After few attempts, she figurate, where exactly things from storage ring appeared and tried to get used to it.
The fruit, resembling a mango but devoid of a core, offered a moderate sweetness capable of sustaining a cultivator throughout the day. Mei Lin consumed half of it, mindful not to waste the precious sustenance, and stored the remainder in the storage ring. Fatigued from her endeavors, she arranged the new books on the cultivation mat before succumbing to sleep. The need to assimilate her newfound knowledge and experiences weighed heavy on her, prompting a restful slumber.
As Mei Lin prepared to retire for the night, she glanced out the window, greeted by the tranquility of the darkened surroundings, devoid of any audible commotion. Setting aside her robe, she drifted into a peaceful sleep. The following morning, she awoke to the gentle glow of sunlight filling the room. Nourishing herself with a spirit fruit, Mei Lin readied for cultivation. Prior to delving into her practice, she took the book about herbs and ventured outside the shell to peruse its contents.
Mei Lin observed her master still peacefully asleep in the chair, eliciting a sense of joy within her. Preferring not to disturb the serene moment, she positioned herself in line with the snail's movement and commenced reading the book. Despite its apparent thickness, the book presented an illusion of brevity, with only forty to fifty pages giving it a soft, journal-like cover rather than a rigid hardcover.
Among the pages, Mei Lin encountered numerous unfamiliar flowers and herbs, but interspersed among them were some that she recognized. Each page was a dedicated exploration of a specific herb or flower, adorned with detailed illustrations and comprehensive descriptions of their properties and applications. Some herbs were highlighted for their suitability in crafting tea, while others were designated for medicinal purposes or the creation of cultivation pills.
After delving into the contents for several hours, Mei Lin stumbled upon information about Blood Flowers. These rare blooms were known for their exceptional rarity, often discovered near the aftermath of cultivator battles or adorning the graves of deceased cultivators. The defining characteristic of Blood Flowers was:
Flower looks like a rose and has special thorns and with them she can absorb the blood. They needed to be watered with blood to survive. Without this nourishment, they would wither and die. However, the Blood Flower had a remarkable ability to purify blood, removing various toxins and poisons. What made them even more extraordinary was their potential to enhance the cultivation abilities of blood cultivators.
The Blood Flowers, upon absorbing the blood of humans, would yield special seeds. These seeds, when consumed, held the potential to enhance a cultivator's cultivation progress. However, the process came with significant drawbacks. The efficiency of the seeds was not highly optimized, necessitating the sacrifice your own blood, for better similarity for your own use. Furthermore, the growth period for the flowers to produce these unique seed-like pills spanned many years. Another crucial condition was that the cultivator must be a blood cultivator, as they were mandated to cultivate the flowers from the outset. Blood flowers could breed different kinds of seed, which depends on cultivator, which breeds Blood flowers.
Despite the valuable properties of Blood Flowers, the cultivation of these blooms remained an uncommon choice among cultivators. The rarity of those who undertook this path was attributed to the requirement of following the Blood path. a distinct cultivation route focused on the cultivation and manipulation of blood. Cultivators on the Blood path were few in number, often targeted for their superior offensive and defensive capabilities compared to peers on similar cultivation realms. Their remarkable skills made them formidable adversaries, possessing heightened survivability in confrontations.