Chapter 52: The Spirit of the Blood Curse

In less than the time of a single incense stick, a full eight drops of Source-Devouring Liquid had condensed within his Dantian!

Chu Xing felt a great wave of reassurance wash over him. Armed with these eight drops of Source-Devouring Liquid, the next time he engaged in a life-or-death struggle, sheer endurance alone would be enough to grind his opponent to death!

Feeling the unprecedented, surging power within his body, he clenched his fists, causing his knuckles to pop with a series of crisp cracks.

Under the torrential scouring of immense primordial energy, his cultivation had been forcefully pushed to the peak of the Ninth Stage of Body Refining, leaving only a final step away from the barrier of the Qi Gathering Realm.

"It's about time to wrap up and head back." He brushed the dust off his hands, maintaining a relaxed expression.

The harvest from this trip to the abandoned pill room far exceeded his wildest imagination.

He hoisted up the iron shovel left forgotten in the corner, preparing to leave, when the Source-Devouring Pearl in his Dantian suddenly emitted a faint tremor.

Beneath that calm surface lay a deeper, more profound craving emanating from the Source-Devouring Pearl.

Chu Xing halted his steps, his brows furrowing slightly.

Sinking his consciousness into his Dantian to sense carefully, his expression instantly shifted.

The direction pointed to by the Source-Devouring Pearl was not the exit, but rather the deepest part of the ruins—that half-collapsed pill hall!

"Could it be... that the drifting pill malevolence was merely an appetizer?"

Chu Xing's heart stirred as he cast his gaze forward.

Although this area, drained of its pill malevolence, was vast, broken walls and shattered ruins littered the landscape everywhere. Further ahead, the pill hall was shrouded in a dense, black-red mist, appearing gloomy and frigid.

The true source lay within that pill hall!

Chu Xing's heart tightened, and his steps faltered for a moment. Should he go in? Just one glance at that pill hall made one's scalp tingle with dread.

Yet, if this truly was where his fortune lay, refusing to step inside meant he might miss it forever.

"Fortune favors the bold!"

After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth to suppress distracting thoughts and cautiously approached the pill hall.

The deeper he went, the more viscous the air became. That lingering, resentful will was bone-chillingly cold, feeling like countless malicious eyes staring at him intently from the darkness.

On the ground, numerous unidentified artifacts lay scattered. Upon a decayed medicine rack sat several jade bottles sealed with talismans; though their spiritual energy had long since dissipated, one could still perceive their extraordinary origins.

Not far away, a fractured magical sword was wedged into a crack in the stone. Its blade was covered in rust, yet a faint, lingering trace of sharpness still remained.

"Quite a few good items here..."

Chu Xing felt his eyes grow hot with greed. If placed in the outside world, any single one of these items would be immensely valuable.

He forcefully restrained the urge to pick them up, for the craving of the Source-Devouring Pearl was growing increasingly intense, urging him onward—how could any of these trashy goods compare to the grand feast ahead?

The moment he stepped into the pill hall, an inexplicable sense of dread rose unbidden from the depths of his heart.

Chu Xing's expression changed abruptly; he slammed to a halt, every hair on his body standing on end!

His gaze was instantly drawn to the scene in the center of the grand hall.

It was a massive, ancient array that occupied the entire floor of the hall. Countless bloodlines, long dried and turned pitch-black, outlined intricate and malevolent runes.

In the exact center of the grand formation, a three-zhang-tall bronze alchemy furnace stood slanted and embedded in the ground, clearly serving as the focal eye of this blood array!

This was the true core of these ruins!

Chu Xing suppressed the greed in his heart, scanning his surroundings vigilantly while pushing his primordial energy to its absolute limit, ready to react to any sudden change at a moment's notice.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet transmitted a microscopic, rhythmic throb.

"Thump."

He abruptly lowered his head, only to see the pitch-black blood runes in the center of the array illuminating from the inside out, inch by inch, with a glaring crimson light!

The next instant, the bronze alchemy furnace acting as the array's core shuddered violently!

A shadow, condensed purely from blood-red light and carrying a terrifying aura far surpassing the Qi Gathering Realm, howled out from the fracture in the alchemy furnace!

It was not a physical entity, but rather a distorted, humanoid blood shadow! Its body constantly dripped with viscous crimson light, lacking limbs or facial features, save for a single, tyrannical and greedy eye that had popped open where its face should have been!

A Blood Curse Spirit! This was a ferocious entity born from absorbing thirty years of pill malevolence and blood curses!

"Crap!"

That oppressive aura instantly clutched at his heart, and terror burned through his entire body like wildfire. Only a single thought echoed in Chu Xing's mind—run!

Without a second thought, he turned and bolted! He knew all too well that with his mere Body Refining cultivation, resisting that monstrosity was utterly impossible!

Yet the moment he turned, the Blood Curse Spirit emitted a silent, piercing screech!

An invisible shockwave slammed fiercely into Chu Xing's back!

He felt as though the back of his head had been struck heavily by a massive hammer; his vision darkened, and he staggered forward, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Taking advantage of this momentary delay, the bloody fiend had already transformed into a crimson streak, closing in from behind with an incomprehensible speed!

"Get lost!"

Chu Xing roared in fury, spinning around to lash out with his iron shovel!

The moment the shovel made contact with the crimson light, it corroded at a visible rate, failing to pose even the slightest obstruction!

It's over!

A bone-chilling cold gripped Chu Xing's heart.

The crimson light did not pause for even a fraction of a second, slamming directly into his back.

"Ah!!!"

An excruciating pain capable of tearing the soul apart exploded violently within his body!

Chu Xing let out a miserable, piercing shriek as he crashed heavily to the ground, his entire body convulsing violently.

He could clearly feel that monster rampaging wildly through his meridians, frantically devouring his flesh and vital essence!

His body felt like an overinflated balloon; beneath his skin, crisscrossing crimson veins bulged frantically, on the verge of bursting open at any second.

Within his Dantian, the Source-Devouring Pearl vibrated frantically, yet it was ruthlessly suppressed by that even more tyrannical force!

Agony!

Like crashing tidal waves, wave after wave threatened to completely drown Chu Xing's consciousness!

At this moment, that cluster of Blood Curse Spirits rampaged through his meridians, frantically tearing into everything he possessed. Chu Xing's flesh and vital essence were draining away at a terrifying speed, transforming into nourishment to feed this ferocious entity.

Beneath his skin, crimson veins bulged and writhed grotesquely, looking as though countless tiny serpents were burrowing under his flesh, ready to tear his body apart at any moment.

"I can't move at all..."

Chu Xing gritted his teeth so hard his gums bled, yet he lacked even the strength to twitch a single finger. He could clearly feel his life force being drained away bit by bit by that thing.

His final shred of hope was pinned on the Source-Devouring Pearl within his Dantian.

"Move, damn you! Swallow this monster up!"

Deep within his Dantian, sensing its host's mortal crisis, the Source-Devouring Pearl vibrated frantically, erupting with an unprecedented devouring force in an attempt to counterattack.

Yet this time, the hitherto infallible Source-Devouring Pearl seemed to have crashed against an invisible iron wall!

The power of the Blood Curse Spirit was tyrannical, overbearing, and carried an innate instinct of devouring, proving to be even a notch stronger than the passively triggered power of the Source-Devouring Pearl!

It ruthlessly suppressed the Source-Devouring Pearl, and even sought to devour the pearl right along with him!

Within the ruins, nothing remained save for surging crimson light and a gradually solidifying, dead silence.

Chu Xing's heart turned thoroughly ice-cold.

It's over! Even the Source-Devouring Pearl was suppressed—how was he supposed to turn this around? His greatest trump card had malfunctioned at the most critical moment!