52. Blood Forging

"Let's wait until tonight," Lin Jiuge replied. She could not afford to act rashly under these circumstances; what would she do if she were mistaken for a demon?

Lin Jiuci felt even more confident. She had been praised on her very first day of formal cultivation; she was truly amazing.

That night, the members of the Wu generation gathered together to discuss the situation of these new disciples. Aside from Lin Jiuci, who had officially entered the first stage of Comprehending Mortality, Lei Lingxiao, who had grazed its edges, and Zhang Boyu, who had a faint sensation, the rest of the children had felt nothing at all.

"Senior Brother Wudao, are you really not going to share?" Seeing this, someone finally could not help but ask.

"Share what? Share how my disciple officially stepped into the first stage of Comprehending Mortality on her very first day? Junior brother, your selfish motives are far too heavy," Master Wudao Venerable said sternly.

"Senior brother, how can this be considered selfish? We are also doing this for the next generation," someone disagreed and put forward the opposite view.

"The medicinal baths use only first-tier spiritual plants in massive quantities. Are you certain those disciples from the mortal realm can endure it?" Wudao Venerable retorted.

"Furthermore, do you really think the medicinal bath is a simple matter? It has to be constantly adjusted according to the changes in the body. Do you honestly think the cost involved amounts to nothing more than ordinary first-tier spiritual plants?" Wudao Venerable unleashed a barrage of criticism, leaving the group speechless and unable to refute.

"Then why did Senior Brother Wudao help Senior Brother Wulei and Senior Brother Wusi?" someone raised this doubt. Since it was so troublesome, why help those two? They were all junior and senior brothers, so why the differential treatment?

"Because those two are the most steadfast and trusting. Would any of you bear to let your own kids suffer and hand them over completely for me to handle?" Wudao Venerable was so angry he laughed. Since they hadn't trusted him from the beginning, what was the point of nagging now!

"Let's disperse. Oh, and Junior Brother Wulei, remember to pay the reward," Wudao Venerable left behind these words before walking away.

"Understood." Judging by this, Lin Jiuge was prepared. Was she about to enter the second stage? Just in time, he could see how this cultivation technique differed from his own.

That night, Lin Jiuci slept soundly, while Lin Jiuge communicated with the nameless sword within her sea of consciousness.

"Can you tell me what cultivation technique this is now?" Lin Jiuge asked.

"Your younger sister has a great affinity for the water element and can learn the *Soft Water Art*. Its core principle is overcoming the rigid with the soft. Jiuci also needs body refinement; when learning techniques and spells, physical constitution is of utmost importance. If she wants to progress further, her physique must at least be tough enough," the nameless sword explained with a flurry of swishes.

"The *Soft Water Art*, and body refinement. My method of body refinement isn't suitable for Jiuci," Lin Jiuge thought of her own training regimen. Lin Jiuci was delicate and soft; it wouldn't suit her.

"There is another method, which requires collecting the blood of fierce beasts and using the violent aura within their blood to break through the constraints of the meridians, widen them, and open up all the vital acupuncture points throughout the body," the nameless sword offered a solution.

"Fierce beast blood?" It was a completely unfamiliar term, yet Lin Jiuge felt a inexplicable surge of excitement. Licking the corner of her lips, she wanted to give it a try.

"Good. At the beginning, you can add some blood from beasts that belong to the royalty among ordinary beasts, and then slowly incorporate the blood of mild, first-tier fierce beasts," the nameless sword provided the scheme.

"Give me the contents of the technique." Lin Jiuge had recently hit a bottleneck with picking beans. Regardless of the speed of the beans, she could accurately pick out a single designated color every time, and besides, she had grown quite tired of eating bean products lately.

The nameless sword transmitted both the body-refinement technique *Blood Refinement* and the *Soft Water Art* directly into Lin Jiuge's sea of consciousness.

Lin Jiuge carefully read through *Blood Refinement*. Although it sounded completely unhinged, it was a perfect fit! Her physical constitution could be elevated to a whole new level, and perhaps her *Lightning Movement* would progress even further as well.

The next day, Lin Jiuge skipped cultivation and headed to the back mountain of the sect to gather blood. She turned the back mountain upside down, making the early morning exceptionally lively.

"Jiuge, are you planning to make blood tofu with all this?" Li Yun looked at the jars and bottles of blood Lin Jiuge had gathered, completely at a loss for words.

Every single bottle here contained the blood of a different fierce beast. Just how many fierce beasts had Jiuge wreaked havoc upon?

"No, I had an idea and borrowed some blood from the fierce beasts to run an experiment," Lin Jiuge shook her head. She didn't mention *Blood Refinement*; the name alone didn't sound like a technique belonging to a righteous practitioner, even though it was entirely proper!

"Are those fierce beasts still alive?" Li Yun stared at one bottle that clearly contained an excessive amount of blood.

"They're alive. I took a little from several different ones to accumulate enough, and besides, I gave them blood-replenishing pills in return." She believed in equivalent exchange.

"How many blood-replenishing pills did you use?" Li Yun's hand trembled.

"Dozens, I suppose. I used sect contribution points." With those contribution points deducted, both she and the disciple in charge of contributions felt the pinch. The rewards from *Quick Steps* were no longer enough; she would have to take on more missions.

"Disciple, you are being far too lavish with your wealth like this," Li Yun tutted. Just for drawing a bit of fierce beast blood without endangering their lives, she gave each beast a blood-replenishing pill.

"After all, it was my fault." Breaking uninvited into someone else's lair to draw blood made her feel guilty, to say the least, and it was an utterly bandit-like behavior. Even with the blood-replenishing pills, she still felt she owed it to the fierce beasts.

"These blood samples are enough for your experiment. If it succeeds, Jiuge, what will you do when you need a massive amount of blood in the future? What will you do if you even need the blood of higher-tier fierce beasts?" Li Yun posed a counter-question.

"Furthermore, don't you eat fierce beast meat? Don't you use fierce beast skins to tan talismans?" Li Yun continued to ask.

"Ah, you're right. Thank you, Master." Lin Jiuge experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment; her train of thought had been narrow.

Seeing her disciple turn the corner was worth spending those dozens of blood-replenishing pills.

"Master, where is Senior Brother?" If she was going to conduct her experiment, her senior brother was the prime candidate.

"A-Yan? He was called away by a junior brother for something unknown, but he'll be over in a moment."

"Understood." As long as he was coming back.

Lin Jiuge began mixing several of the blood samples together. The blood seemed to react with itself. Coupled with Lin Jiuge's shining eyes and the arc of her lips, Li Yun could only feel that his disciple possessed the aura of an evil cultivator. Li Yun shook his head—it was an illusion, it simply had to be an illusion.

Zhou Yan returned shortly after, looking somewhat excited. His master had finally permitted him to leave the sect grounds, and he was simply overjoyed!

"Senior Brother, you're back." Lin Jiuge's eyes shone brightly.

"Junior Sister, is something the matter?" Zhou Yan felt a strange chill run down his spine as he looked at Lin Jiuge's glowing gaze.

"Naturally there is. Senior Brother, our cultivation has hit a bottleneck. I happened to experiment with something new that can break through bottlenecks. Senior Brother, let's try it out." Lin Jiuge spoke with delight, and upon hearing this, Zhou Yan also thought it feasible.

"How do we do it?" Zhou Yan asked.

"It's simple. We're going to take a blood bath this time." Lin Jiuge said it as lightly as if nothing were amiss, while Zhou Yan felt the hairs all over his body stand on end as he listened.

"Junior Sister, is the blood you're talking about... the kind I'm thinking of?" Zhou Yan swallowed hard. Clearly, this should have been a joyous occasion, yet the atmosphere was fraught with terror.

"It is precisely what you're thinking." Lin Jiuge gave a firm affirmation.

"Junior Sister, how about... we try a different method?" Zhou Yan felt that picking beans was starting to look attractive again!

"Senior Brother, one must suffer through the bitterest of hardships to become a person above others. How can we be afraid of hardship? As long as it works, we must bravely try!" Lin Jiuge clenched her fist in encouragement!

"Junior Sister, have you tried it yourself yet?"