Sanguine Path Technique

With his only way out blocked, Xue Yang had no choice but to push ahead.

He sat before the stone tablet in the lotus position as many had before him.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Xue Yang relaxed and composed himself.

He opened his eyes and read the tablet.

He memorised each line as he finished reading it and could recite it word for word if he chose to do so.

Unfortunately, even though Xue Yang was a genius, this technique was high-grade and highly profound.

Because of this, even he couldn't instantly comprehend the technique.

However, Xue Yang didn't give up as soon as things didn't go as he expected and persevered.

Two hours later, he felt a strange sensation in his mind and body, as if he was free and floating away.

Once the sensation disappeared, his body was filled with knowledge of the technique.

Thanks to comprehending the technique with his mind, his body adapted.

In essence, his knowledge transformed into muscle memory.

Because of this, he wouldn't need to struggle to feel qi and learn how to circulate it.

This would save him a lot of time that otherwise would be wasted on simply sensing qi.

The technique's name wasn't written on the tablet, but once he learned it, it appeared in Xue Yang's mind.

It was aptly named the Sanguine Path Technique.

As the name suggested, it was a technique made for those who decided to follow the cultivation path of the blood dao.

This technique, in particular, was one of a kind. 

While others required the cultivator to process the blood of spirit beasts and cultivators into pills and potions, this one allowed the user to directly ingest their blood, resulting in a more extreme growth in cultivation.

It did, however, have its disadvantages too.

The path of Blood Dao was a gruesome and dangerous one.

It required cultivators to hunt increasingly more dangerous spirit beasts and cultivators.

This would result in the cultivator making countless enemies in the world. 

It was a lonely path, but Xue Yang would be different.

Having officially taken the first and most significant step to becoming a cultivator, Xue Yang felt confident.

He was confident that once he officially started cultivating, there would be few who could stop him from achieving his goals.

Xue Yang would do precisely what the arrogant God who exiled him into this world wanted and achieve what no other holder of the Heaven Devouring Physique had ever done.

He would create a vampire clan that would take over the heavens and eventually ascend to godhood.

Once he does this, he would put that God in their place and make them regret everything they had done to him.

This, however, would happen in the distant future.

Xue Yang still had a lot of unfinished business in the current heaven, and even he didn't know how long he'd be in this world.

Xue Yang got up and walked slightly past the stone tablet before remembering something.

"Oh right…"

Without turning around, he swung his fist behind him.

It didn't touch the stone tablet, yet the shockwave created by his natural strength caused it to shatter.

From now on, Xue Yang will be the only one who knows the technique and could potentially pass it to others.

Even if someone else found this inheritance once he left, the only thing that awaited them was a pointless death.

Xue Yang then walked into the adjoining room.

It was a lot larger than the one he was in. The opposite side of the room was an empty void, but as he neared it, the void filled with a red substance.

Xue Yang immediately could smell what it was and recognised it.

"Blood…"

The entire half of the room became a pool of blood, but it wasn't just regular blood.

Xue Yang could feel the energy coming from it.

This blood belonged to hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators and beasts and was a part of the subsequent trial.

The trial was seemingly simple.

All you had to do was cultivate on the platform in the pool's centre.

But appearances could be deceiving.

It was, in fact, also a deathtrap.

The walls showed signs of damage, but this wasn't damage done by any kind of attack.

The damage was caused by cultivators exploding into a bloody mess.

Shards of bones were firmly stuck within the walls as minor blood stain marks made them look like abstract paintings.

Even though those who know the technique should, in theory, be fine, the reality is different.

The blood within this trial contained a high amount of concentrated qi.

Taking too much into your body at once will cause the energy within you to spiral out of control. 

Eventually, your body will explode into a bloody mess as your bones fly in all directions at such speeds that even the stone walls get severely damaged.

There were multiple ways of dealing with this. 

The first would be bloodletting. Either you or someone else continuously has to damage your body with small incisions, allowing your blood to flow out and excess energy.

Another would be to expel energy through the usage of a technique as you cultivate.

This was even harder than the previous way, as it required an immense amount of concentration and control, something even an experienced cultivator would struggle with.

Doing that method also increased the risk of qi deviation, resulting in your dantian shattering.

This would be even worse than death for a cultivator as it means they would no longer be a cultivator and could never become one again.

While there are tales and legends of some miracle medicines that could restore a shattered dantian, nobody knew whether they were true.

Fortunately, Xue Yang wasn't afraid of what would come next.

There was a way to deal with this trial that was only possible for him.

While some others might be able to imitate him to a certain degree, they were rare, and none existed within the lower heavens.

The method Xue Yang was going to use was a simple one.

He was just going to trust his superior healing factor.

Xue Yang would bet it all on his body, and dantian healing faster than the rampaging excess energy could damage him.

A body would explode while cultivating thanks to the excess energy damaging the body and, more specifically, the dantian to the point that it can't handle it anymore and pops.

It was like blowing up a balloon. If you don't stop trying to blow it up, eventually, it won't be able to handle all the air and will simply burst.

This, however, wasn't the only reason Xue Yang was confident in succeeding.

His missing arm meant that a large portion of the energy would be used to heal and recover it.

Another reason was his physique. It turned him into a vampire, making him the most compatible being regarding blood-related cultivation techniques.

Because of this, his body could handle larger quantities of qi as long as the source of it was blood.

Xue Yang jumped onto the platform. Closing his eyes, he sat down in the lotus position once again.

"Let's get started"