Uncrowned King Gu

"Well done, master." As Xinzi appraised his work, a voice came from his back, interrupting his baptism of the Blood Beast. Xue Yuanshao ambled at him, his wrinkled face stretched by a slasher smile. The tiny pale worm that Xinzi had refined hovered in the air, held in suspension by Xue Yuanshao's Soul Force.

"Oh? You've taken note of my Blood Beast's abilities already?" More intrigued by Xue Yuanshao's praise than the eerie grin on his face, Xinzi cast a sidelong glance at the ghost alchemist.

"Indeed. What a terrible creature. I wonder who you plan to use it on." Xue Yuanshao couldn't get the full measure of Xinzi's Blood Beast, but his Soul Force and alchemical expertise still enabled him to study the properties of the Blood Beast's blood. From it, he sensed a variety of terrible poisons, one of which would have chilled his spine—if he had any.