Wei Shen awoke to a symphony of sharp pains tearing through his emaciated body. The wound in his arm from the "Wood Gnawer's" bite still throbbed with an inflamed heat, and every muscle screamed from the exertion of breaking through to the first level of "Blood Qi Condensation." There was no comfortable bed or physician to tend to him, only the cold stone floor of the cave and near-absolute darkness.
"This body… a true burden," Wei Shen muttered, his voice hoarse as he felt the ragged, dried-blood-soaked bandage around his arm. It wasn't so much a complaint as a cold assessment of his reality. "Pain distracts focus, and focus is all I have now."
He felt that thin, cold thread of "Blood Qi" in his Dantian. It was exceedingly faint, like a dim ember about to be extinguished, but it was there. He tried to make it circulate through its pathways. It was difficult, like trying to guide a small, stubborn, rebellious beast. This Qi wasn't docile like the heavenly and earthly energy he had futilely tried to sense in the "Fallen Leaf Sect." This Qi carried with it an aggressive instinct, a sensation of thirst.
"I must alleviate this pain first," Wei Shen decided. "Then food. And after that… more power."
He began to dredge up what remained in his mind of "Wei Shen" Prime's memories about medicinal herbs. The outer sect disciples learned a little about some common plants with simple healing properties, for use in the minor injuries they constantly sustained.
With difficulty, he recalled the name of an herb with shiny, silver leaves, said to grow in shady, damp places, known as "Dewmoon Leaf" . Its cold sap was said to help reduce inflammation and soothe pain.
With iron will, Wei Shen forced his aching body to rise. Every movement was like the prick of a hot needle, but he ignored it. He had to risk going out into the forest again.
At the cave entrance, he paused for a moment, listening and sniffing the air. The Forest of Lost Souls still seemed like a giant trap, but the danger outside was less dire than a slow death by starvation and illness within.
He moved with extreme caution, keeping close to the shadows of trees, his eyes scanning every inch of the ground. He was looking for those shiny silver leaves. After an arduous search lasting nearly an hour, he finally found a few of the plants growing at the base of a large, moss-covered rock.
He picked them carefully, then quickly returned to the cave. There, in the semi-darkness, he crushed the leaves between two stones until a dark green, cold sap oozed out. He spread it on his inflamed wound. A pleasant coolness spread through his arm, and the sharp pain gradually began to lessen, replaced by a tolerable throb.
"Primitive, but somewhat effective," Wei Shen thought as he examined his arm. "This body needs constant maintenance."
Now, it was hunger's turn. "The meager meal from the Field Mouse wasn't enough to satisfy my hunger, especially after the enormous effort I expended breaking through the first level. I must hunt again," and this time, for food that would give him the energy to continue.
He went out into the forest once more. He felt that the faint "Blood Qi" in his body had given him a slight additional sharpness to his senses, or perhaps it was just a psychological effect. But he felt more focused, and more… lethal in his intentions.
It didn't take long this time for him to spot his prey: a Wild Rabbit, calmly nibbling some grass near a cluster of rocks.
This time, Wei Shen wasn't just a desperate, hungry boy. He was a novice predator, testing his first fangs. He moved silently, using every cover, every shadow. When he was close enough, he pounced.
It was still an uneven fight, for the rabbit was agile and fast. But Wei Shen, driven by hunger and that cold glint in his eyes, was more determined. After a short, brutal chase, he finally managed to catch the rabbit and bring it down. There was no hesitation as he ended its life with a powerful blow from his stone edge.
He carried the rabbit, which was heavier and meatier than his previous kills, back to the cave. This time, he didn't intend to share this meal with the "Blood-Devouring Stone." This was for his own survival.
He spent the next hour crudely preparing and cooking the rabbit meat over a very small fire he had painstakingly started using some dry twigs and the piece of flint he had. The smoke was minimal, and he made sure to extinguish the fire completely afterward.
The meat was tough and tasted gamey, but it was the best thing Wei Shen had tasted since arriving in this world. He felt energy slowly returning to his body, warmth spreading to his limbs.
After sating his hunger and drinking from the cave water, he sat down to rest, his mind ceaselessly working. He had attended to the body's basic needs: alleviating pain, providing food and water.
"Now, it was the stone's turn."
He felt that faint call, that cold thirst that seemed to have become a part of the stone's existence. And Wei Shen himself felt an instinctive need to feed the stone, not just to understand its secrets, but for that dark ecstasy of power he had felt when the stone interacted with blood.
"More blood… More 'Blood Qi'," he thought. "I must solidify this first level, and increase this tainted power."
He knew what he had to do. He would go out again. But this time, the hunt would not be for food, but for the offering.
He looked at the silent "Blood-Devouring Stone" in the wall. It looked innocent now, just a dark, warm rock. But Wei Shen knew the truth. He knew about the thirst lurking in its heart, and about the dark whispers it promised.
"You and I… we have a long road to walk together," Wei Shen whispered to the stone, a cold smile playing on his lips.
Then, with a will stronger than before, he rose, gripped his stone weapon, and prepared for another hunt, a hunt that would be dedicated entirely to satisfying the stone's thirst… and his own for power