Beast Blood Pool

“Kid, from now on you have to keep your Dragon’s Sense active at all times, even when you’re eating or sleeping.”

Leng San slightly frowned. He then started to concentrate, slowly disseminating his Dragon’s Sense

“Freya, could you tell by your sense, how many beasts are within this valley?”

“Hmph!! You’ll just flee back home if I tell you the exact figure.”

“Are they that terrifying?”

“Hmm… There are plenty of beasts with purple and indigo qi. But the ones you have to worry about are those with blue and green qi.

“Magical beasts with green qi!!”

“Yes, and most importantly, I can sense a faint presence of magical beasts with yellow qi.”

Leng San’s face turned pale.

“Beasts with at least yellow qi are going to have intelligence comparable to humans. They can use their qi to perceive and speak in human languages. The chance of survival is zero if we were discovered by these magical beasts.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Can you sense the herbs we are seeking?”

“I cannot control your body, but I can use your five senses. I could tell the species of herbs by their smell. If the herbs are within half a li (two hundred and fifty meters), I can detect their location.”

“Great!! I just need to be vigilant, and the herbs should be within our grasps. We just have to hope that the herbs we are looking for do grow in this valley. Xiaolin Lun lent me a dimensional ring for storage. Its capacity is on the lower side, but it should be enough for storing herbs. Just wait until I can create my own dimension once my qi is stronger.”

Leng San followed Freya’s guidance for the location of the herbs, trying his best to avoid confrontation with magical beasts that came under his detection. The dimensional ring’s storage capacity was too small for carcasses of large magical beasts, so avoiding unnecessary fights was probably the best choice. After sunset, the boy took shelter within one of the caves of the valley. His Dragon’s Sense was always active.

“Child, tomorrow you must go at least ten li (five kilometers) deeper, to find a medium-sized cave that has an entrance corridor that is longer than one-fifth of a li (one hundred meters) before sunset.”

“Alright,” Leng San agreed without hesitation. He understood that Freya was going to teach him to create medicines that will speed up his qi cultivation.

At sunrise, Leng San walked deeper into the valley, picking up herbs along the way until the sun almost set. He walked into one of the caves of the valley.

“Freya, is this cave big enough?”

“Hmm… This will do. Now dig a pool at the back of the cave, just big enough for your whole body to soak in. After that, fill the pool with water and catch one magical beast with a middle-level violet qi. You need to be fast as you have only one shichen (two hours) before sunset.”

Leng San immediately carried out her instructions. Freya then asked him to slowly grind the sixteen species of herbs into a fine powder. Next, the boy must kill the magical beast and pour its blood into the pool. The water in the pool steadily turned into dark purple, just like the color of poison!!

“Kid, try dipping your finger into the water and count for ten breaths.”

Leng San dipped his finger into the pool. The purple substance seeped into the skin. Once ten breaths had passed, a strange sensation crept onto the boy’s finger, to which he quickly pulled it out of the water.

Arghhhh!!

“Freya!! Is the recipe correct? It felt like my finger was being stung and ripped off by thousands of insects, all at once!!”

“Hmph!! Don’t be such a weakling. The recipe is correct. This is a medicinal pool, also known as the beast blood pool. The cultivation of qi will be several times faster if you soak your body in the pool. But in exchange, you will have to bear immense pain, as the blood of beasts is poisonous to humans, but unexpectedly possesses an attribute to speed up the cultivation of qi. The stronger the beast, the more poisonous its blood, but the accelerating effect will also be more potent. The sixteen species of herbs will not dilute the solution and act as an antidote for the poisonous effect of the blood.”

“Excluding the day we travel back, we have only twenty days before the festival at the Indigo Cloud City starts!! Tomorrow, you must gather enough food for twenty days and store it in the cave. After that, you’ll have to seal the entrance of the cave, to prevent any interruption, especially from wandering magical beasts. It will take you ten days to soak your body, little by little, one arm at a time, one leg at a time, to get used to the pain. For the last seven days, you will have to soak your whole body within the solution for at least five shichens a day until it’s time to return to the village. I believe you can easily reach the seventh level of the violet stage.”

Leng San stared at the pool filled with poisonous beast blood. His right hand was still trembling from the pain on his finger. However, within his mind, he was deep in thought, to the point that he eventually forgot about the pain.

“That is too slow!!” Leng San darted towards the entrance, violet aura shone from his right fist. The boy sealed the cave’s entrance with his punch.

Vrooommmm!!!

The sound of an avalanche resonated throughout the valley. The entrance to the cave was completely sealed. The boy couldn’t even see his own hands inside the darkness, but he could sense everything around him as if his vision was still perfectly fine.

“What are you doing??” Freya shouted.

Leng San did not answer. He undid his waist strap, took off his cloth, and jumped into the blood pool!!

“Idiot!! Do you want to die? There’s no way you can tolerate the amount of pain. You’ll be dead first!!”

‘1 breath’

‘2 breaths’

'3 .....'

'4 ....'

'5 ...'

'6 ..'

'7.'

'8'

'9'

'10!!!'