A Beautiful Blood Orchid
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"Please! I beg you, I will do anything to make up for my insolence, Young Master!" Lu Tai screams desperately as his frantic struggle against the black blood binding him proves futile.
But Lu Tai's desperation only grows with each passing second, as the black blood presses him against the ground and restrains him with such force that he cannot move a muscle, only able to scream in despair and hear the desperate cries of his companions.
While they fight desperately, believing each second might be their last, Chen Wei wears a simple, calm expression as he leaps into the serpent's nest without a trace of fear.
"Here is the beauty I needed..." Chen Wei murmurs, caressing a large red orchid with three beautiful petals.
The orchid is a pure scarlet red, with beautiful and enchanting patterns on each of its three petals, standing in stark contrast to the nest filled with filth and bearded snake shit, while sitting next to numerous blue eggs with green spots.
"Is this a rank 1 gu material?" Feng Hua asks seriously from just outside the nest.
She asks this because she can clearly sense a strong aura from the orchid that Chen Wei is caressing, but it is not strong enough to be a high-level gu material.
Chen Wei nods silently in agreement as he carefully removes the blood orchid from the nest, taking great care not to damage it.
"And not only that, it has healing properties..." Chen Wei says as he exits the nest with the blood orchid in one hand and the serpent eggs in the other. "...Unfortunately, this was the only one at the level of a gu material that I found."
"Healing properties? I've never seen this orchid in any shop or books..." Yu Lian says, picking up an orchid from the ground around the nest and examining it carefully. "Is that why the snakes made a nest here?"
"Probably, since they attacked immediately after we started picking the orchids," Chen Wei says, looking at the large three-meter snake he killed. "...They likely protected the plants from herbivores so they could eat them themselves when in need of healing."
"Quite intelligent for a group of serpents," Feng Hua now understands why they did not see any herbivores along the way.
Chen Wei nods as he drags the large snake with him while walking towards where the three fishermen are writhing on the ground desperately, but not screaming as before.
The reason for this is clear: the large amount of putrid black blood now covering their mouths to prevent them from making more noise that might attract unwanted attention.
Wang Mei, seeing this, has a deep and thoughtful look in her light blue eyes, matching the indecisive expression on her delicate face, giving her the appearance of an innocent and pure fairy.
"Are you going to use them in refining?... Like last time?" Wang Mei, who had been silent until then, asks in a low voice.
She, like the others, saw what Chen Wei did with Yu Fu and knows quite a bit about the methods of the blood path, which, along with Chen Wei's last words, only lead to one obvious conclusion.
Even so now, Wang Mei doesn't know exactly how to feel about it, because while she doesn't have much empathy for mere mortal peasants, she isn't heartless enough to calmly watch their cruel deaths. However, she also knows that the more Gu Chen Wei has, the safer they and their son will be, making it a cruel act she understands must be done.
"Yes... Even as mortals, their hearts will be of great use..." Chen Wei responds simply as he throws the snake onto the ground.
Hearing his words, the fishermen struggle with even more force, tears streaming down their faces as they helplessly cannot even scream for mercy, one of them even pissing himself and forming a large puddle beneath him.
Meanwhile, Feng Hua looks on with a cold and impassive expression on her pale jade-like face, matching her cold beauty with silver eyes and white hair, giving her the appearance of a pure fairy above mortal conflicts, reinforced by her tall stature and voluptuous figure that would make any man turn his head.
Yu Lian, on the other hand, has an expression of pity that she tries to suppress on her beautiful face with green eyes like the spring bloom and light purple hair that matches her delicate appearance and small frame, which, despite being taller than Wang Mei, still seems more fragile and innocent.
"With this, I will be able to meet my greatest current need..." Chen Wei says as he uses the putrid black blood to open the serpent's chest, exposing its now-still heart to the world.
Seeing the bluish-purple heart of the serpent, Chen Wei wastes no time and uses his knife to make a small cut in the center of the heart, then carefully plants the stem of the large orchid he holds into the cut.
"Besides, they have already passed their windows of usefulness..." Chen Wei uses the black blood to make the fishermen stand upright. "...So they are walking risks that become a greater hindrance to my plans with each passing second."
Hearing this, the three fishermen struggle with such desperation that one might think they are facing the very Grim Reaper, decreeing their deaths and coming to collect their souls.
But all this struggle is in vain when a line of putrid black blood pierces directly into their chests with incredible precision, ripping their hearts out in a brutal manner, yet keeping them perfectly intact.
"Aghh!!" This is Lu Tai's last gasp and cry of terror as he feels the painful stab in his chest before his world falls into endless darkness, his life fleeing his body.
"...." Yu Lian, witnessing the scene, feels complex emotions because, while she feels pity and wants to ask Chen Wei to stop, she also feels something she can't describe that prevents her from opposing his actions.
Chen Wei, for his part, completely irrelevant and ignorant of the girl's feelings, uses the lines of putrid black blood to bring the three still-beating hearts to his hands, stained red-purple with the blood of the serpent.
"The heart is the symbol of human vitality..." Chen Wei places each heart on one of the big orchid's three petals. "...This vitality will be the nutrients used in the blooming of this beautiful flower."
Chen Wei looks at the orchid with his dark red eyes, a cold gleam of excitement in them, as he sees the three hearts not stopping but beating even harder, while "veins" emerge from the orchid's petals and connect to the hearts.
Without wasting time, Chen Wei extends his left hand over the blood orchid and uses the knife in his other hand to make a large cut on his palm, which starts to bleed heavily.
At that moment, his blood falls directly into the center of the blood orchid, which begins to glow with vitality as if enjoying the highest quality feast of its life, while light golden points start to appear on its petals as if bathed in drops of gold.
"Is that... a rank 4 aura?" Feng Hua speaks with a shocked look, unable to believe that Chen Wei could refine a rank 4 Gu with such ease.
And she would be correct in her skepticism because Chen Wei is not really refining such a valuable and powerful Gu with such ease using only low-quality gu materials that are a step away from being mere mortal materials.
However, the rank 4 aura comes from Chen Wei's blood, which he is continuously infusing with his primeval essence, typical of rank 4, which, according to his understanding of refinement, can significantly increase the success rate of a blood path refinement but is also an endless drain on primeval essence.
"Ahh... ahh, I've done everything within my control. Now it's just a matter of my luck not being terrible." Chen Wei looks at the orchid, growing roots through the serpent's body, hoping he isn't too unlucky.
And so it is with most things in life that depend on luck, because no matter how precise and perfect Chen Wei's actions were during the refinement process, with the low-quality materials he has, he still cannot guarantee complete success, leaving a 10% chance of failure.
If that happens, it would not only cause a significant backlash for him, both physically and to his soul, due to the failed refinement but also be a major problem for his plans, as he only has enough materials to attempt this gu refinement once.
"I've heard of demonic rituals less profane and cleaner..." Feng Hua has a complicated expression on her face, remembering the past.
This is because when they were still on Longhua Shan Mountain, she constantly heard about the clan's refiners trying to reverse-engineer the blood path to bring the clan the ability to refine and combat it.
But now, after seeing the gu refinement process with her own eyes twice, she understands why most refiners, who are generally of a gentle and non-violent nature, couldn't achieve their goals.
"You really need a bloodthirsty and cruel nature to come up with these refining methods..." She murmurs with a bit of admiration, watching the orchid roots drain every last drop of blood from the serpent.
Chen Wei, paying little attention to Feng Hua, looks at the blood orchid successfully refined into a Gu. "Ahh, it seems I won't have to curse the heavens until I'm hoarse..."
"....because It is areally beautiful flower."
He says this because, unlike most Gu, this one doesn't take the form of a small insect but rather a large scarlet orchid with beautiful golden details and three petals shaped like hearts, continuously bleeding red-golden blood that drips onto the ground.
The orchid sits in the empty heart cavity of a completely dried-up three-meter-long serpent, now pale and devoid of even a drop of blood.
"So, it was a success?" Yu Lian asks, enchanted by the orchid's beautiful yet macabre appearance.
Chen Wei, hearing the question, just nods while carefully taking the orchid in his hands and bringing it into his aperture.
"What does it do?" Wang Mei asks softly, trying to ignore the three lifeless bodies still having small spasms even after their deaths.
Chen Wei doesn't respond with words; instead, he extends his right palm, which has a large cut, for the three girls to see.
And before they can ask anything more, red-golden blood suddenly appears and travels down Chen Wei's arm to his palm, entering the wound, which begins to heal at a shocking speed.
"Basically, it ensures we won't die from any small injuries," Chen Wei says while checking his stomach, where the cut made by the boar has now vanished as if it never existed, leaving no scar on his white skin.
"I see, this is great!" Wang Mei exclaims with a sparkle in her eyes, a sentiment shared by the other two girls, as anyone, even the most foolish person, would understand the extreme importance of a healing Gu.
"Now we need to quickly clear this place of any valuable Gu materials before beasts attracted by the smell of blood arrive." Hearing Chen Wei's words, the three girls nod in unison, fully agreeing.
"Focus mainly on collecting the orchids, as they are the food for the Blood Orchid Gu..." Chen Wei says while quickly approaching one of the supply backpacks left on the ground by the fishermen.
As he checks the bag, he finds a knife specially made for skinning animals. "I'll skin these barbed snakes since their hides are good materials to sell..."
"Besides, we'll need them for future plans... and the bad smell of the hides will keep animals away for now!" Chen Wei quickly grabs a snake and begins carefully but swiftly skinning it.
"...Alright!" The three girls respond in unison, starting to follow Chen Wei's instructions.