Resting on her thigh, Chu Sheng couldn't care less about how aggrieved she felt.
All he knew was that this Reborn Empress's Qi Blood tasted absolutely divine!
[Qi Blood +0.08]
[Qi Blood +0.09]
[Qi Blood +0.12...]
[Ding! Host has absorbed 0.48 Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 0.64!]
[Ding! The absorbed blood has a high concentration of Qi Blood... Lifespan +6 hours!]
A series of system notifications echoed in Chu Sheng's mind, invigorating his Spirit!
'I got three times as much Qi Blood as last time!'
And!
'My Lifespan increased too!'
Chu Sheng hurriedly opened his panel to check.
[Host: Chu Sheng]
[Race: White-striped Aedes Mosquito]
[Lifespan: 6 days, 6 hours]
[Qi Blood: 0.64]
[Evolution Points: 0.1]
[Equal Tier: Nothingness]
[Skills: Female Mosquito's Mouthpart Lv1, Blood Food Tracking Lv1, Insect Race Space Lv1]
'It really increased!'
Even though it was only six hours, for someone with a total Lifespan of just six days, this was undoubtedly fantastic news!
This meant that as long as he continued to feed on the Empress's Qi Blood, he could keep extending his Lifespan and temporarily escape the fate of a sudden, violent death!
"Excellent, excellent. She's a real 'blood pack' now, and she can even 'heal' me!"
Chu Sheng contentedly pulled out his mouthpart, his abdomen once again swollen and round.
'My Total Qi Blood is now 0.64. Once I finish digesting this batch and feed two more times, I'll have the 1 point of Qi Blood I need for my first evolution!'
'What will I become then?'
Chu Sheng's heart was filled with anticipation.
...
Gu Yuexi, too, forced herself to calm down once again.
'What's done is done. There's no point in wallowing in self-pity.'
'The most urgent task now is to increase my strength as quickly as possible!'
"Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique..."
"The first step to cultivating this technique requires the Essence Blood of a Demon Beast with a High-Level Bloodline or above to act as a catalyst and ignite the furnace..."
"The Essence Blood of a Demon Beast with a High-Level Bloodline?"
Gu Yuexi's gaze slowly shifted to the Spiritual Cyan Snake inside the nearby Array, which had a dazed expression, not yet understanding the situation.
Spiritual Cyan Snake: "???"
HISS? (What are you lookin' at?)
"I'm sorry..."
Gu Yuexi murmured, both killing intent and apology appearing in her eyes.
"HISSSS—!"
The Spiritual Cyan Snake seemed to sense the undisguised, bone-chilling killing intent. Its emerald-green body tensed abruptly, and it raised its triangular head high, letting out a warning hiss at Gu Yuexi.
It was supposed to be the future partner Gu Yuexi had prepared for herself, the cornerstone for her path back to the Peak.
But now, in Gu Yuexi's eyes, it was no longer a future Contracted Beast, but merely a "material" necessary for cultivating the Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique!
A source of... High-Level Bloodline Demon Beast Essence Blood!
"I am sorry," Gu Yuexi said softly, as if speaking to the Spiritual Cyan Snake and also to herself. "If there's anyone to blame... it's that neither of us has very good luck."
The moment the words left her lips, she moved!
Although she was only a First-Grade Early Stage Martial Artist, her movements were as fast as lightning, drawing upon the combat experience and insight from her past life as the Empress!
She didn't choose a direct confrontation with the Spiritual Cyan Snake. Instead, her figure flickered, and she circled behind it like a phantom.
The Spiritual Cyan Snake's reaction was also extremely fast. Its tail whipped around like a lash, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle!
However, Gu Yuexi seemed to have anticipated its attack trajectory. With an agile duck, she perfectly dodged the fatal blow.
At the same time, a dagger glinting with cold light had appeared in her hand—it was a tool she had prepared for the Blood Covenant ceremony, but now it had become a deadly weapon.
'Strike a snake at its seventh inch, but the Spiritual Cyan Snake's vital point is three inches below its neck. That's where its nascent Demon Core is located, and it's also the spot where its Defense is weakest!'
Reciting this in her mind, Gu Yuexi flicked her wrist, and the dagger transformed into a silver streak, stabbing with unerring precision toward the Spiritual Cyan Snake's vital point!
PFFT!
The sound of a sharp blade sinking into flesh rang out.
"HISSS—!"
The Spiritual Cyan Snake let out a blood-curdling shriek. Its massive body writhed and thrashed wildly, sending the furniture in the room flying.
But having landed her blow, Gu Yuexi immediately retreated, watching its final struggles with cold indifference.
A few minutes later, the Spiritual Cyan Snake's movements gradually ceased, and its life force was completely extinguished.
Sprawled on Gu Yuexi's leg, Chu Sheng was shaken until he was dizzy. He took in the entire scene, and his tiny mosquito heart skipped a beat in fright.
'Holy crap... what a ruthless chick!'
'One moment, it's a partner she was prepared to spend the rest of her life with; the next, she kills it without a trace of mercy! Such decisiveness and ruthlessness... she's truly worthy of being called an Empress!'
Gu Yuexi ignored the wreckage in the room. She walked to the Spiritual Cyan Snake's corpse and placed her fair palm over the wound.
"Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace, open!"
She closed her eyes, chanted an incantation, and began to operate the Forbidden Evil Technique.
An invisible suction force emanated from her palm. The purest blood within the Spiritual Cyan Snake began to transform into streams of crimson, flowing up her arm and surging endlessly into her body!
"Urk... Aaargh!"
In an instant, an indescribable, agonizing pain spread throughout her entire body!
Gu Yuexi's pretty face instantly turned deathly pale. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans appeared on her forehead, and her delicate body couldn't help but tremble.
This wasn't just physical pain. More terrifyingly, a violent, bloodthirsty will belonging to the Spiritual Cyan Snake was rushing into her mind along with the blood, furiously battering her consciousness!
Fine, emerald-green snake scales even began to appear on the surface of her skin, and her eyes showed faint signs of turning into vertical slits!
This was a precursor to "Beastification"!
"Be... suppressed!"
Gu Yuexi clenched her jaw, relying on the powerful will from her past life in the Emperor Realm to desperately maintain her mental clarity and forcefully refine the frenzied Demon Beast Essence Blood.
Through their Blood Covenant link, Chu Sheng could vaguely sense the immense pain she was enduring and couldn't help but click his tongue.
'Tsk, tsk, what a badass. She's even this ruthless to herself.'
After a full half-hour, Gu Yuexi slowly opened her eyes and let out a long, turbid breath.
The snake scales on her skin had faded, and clarity had returned to her eyes.
She could clearly feel that her body's Qi Blood Power had grown stronger by a fair amount; she was not far from the First-Grade Middle Stage.
But there was no trace of joy on her face. Instead, her brows were tightly furrowed.
"Too slow..."
She murmured to herself.
Just refining a single, immature Spiritual Cyan Snake had taken so long, and she had almost been corrupted by its bestial will.
Trying to rapidly increase her strength this way was nothing more than a fool's dream.
'It seems... I'll need the aid of a 'Vein-Protecting Pill'.'
The Vein-Protecting Pill was an extremely precious Elixir, typically used by Fifth-Grade Martial Artists when breaking through to the Sixth-Grade bottleneck to protect their meridians from being destroyed by berserk Energy.
If she had a Vein-Protecting Pill to safeguard her body while using the Ten Thousand Beasts Melting Furnace Technique, not only could she greatly speed up the process of refining Demon Beast Essence Blood, but she could also effectively resist the corruption of the bestial will, minimizing the risk of Beastification!
But the problem was...
"Money..."