Chapter 839 - 837: Blood Refinement

Chapter 839: Chapter 837: Blood Refinement

Inside Endless Void Realm Chongshan City, it was just as overcrowded.

There was a vast, diverse array of cultivators in all shapes and forms. Some were beasts crawling on the ground, while others resembled small trees with a few flowers on their heads walking about. Gathered in twos and threes, the crowd engaged in idle chatter out of sheer boredom.

Xu Yang, still disguised as Gu Jun, casually strolled into the crowd to eavesdrop on their discussions.

"It starts in just two days. Have any of you found any trace of that Xu Yang?"

"Not a damn thing. Haven’t seen a single hair of his."

"This guy sure knows how to hide."

"My guess is that he’s definitely in Heaven’s Edge Tower. He’s from the Northern Continent and has no backing here in the Eastern Continent. Heaven’s Edge Tower is his only option."

"Unfortunately, I didn’t see him in Heaven’s Edge Tower either."

"Don’t even mention it. Heaven’s Edge Tower is completely full. Even with my dignified Gold-level Heaven’s Edge Order, I couldn’t get a place to stay."

The crowd continued chattering around him.

"It seems Situ Ke hasn’t come down the mountain yet, either."

"Do you guys think Xu Yang is actually a match for Situ Ke?"

"I feel like it’s hard to say."

"If you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut up. According to the news from Four Symbols Demon Evil Valley, Xu Yang’s strength is nothing to scoff at. This battle will definitely be exciting."

"Could that guy be disguised and standing right among us right now?"

"It’s possible."

The surroundings suddenly plunged into silence. Gaze after gaze swept back and forth over the surrounding crowd. Xu Yang, naturally, did not change his expression in the slightest.

Suddenly, a man stood up and roared, "Xu Yang, you coward! You have the guts to issue a challenge to Situ Ke, but you don’t have the guts to show yourself?

"You don’t even dare to show your face. Sneaking and hiding around like this, and you still want to travel the Eastern Continent? You’re destined to lose."

The booming shout rolled outward, echoing throughout the Void Realm’s Chongshan City. Many people were left dumbfounded by the outburst.

Xu Yang shook his head slightly, knowing that only a fool would fall for such a blatant provocation.

"Why wouldn’t I dare?"

A cold sneer suddenly rang out. Xu Yang’s eyes widened instantly. He looked toward the direction of the voice, his face entirely filled with astonishment.

In the distance, standing impressively atop a pavilion, was a figure. This person looked exactly like him, standing with hands clasped behind their back, exuding an extraordinary air. But how could that be him?

Xu Yang’s first thought was Liou Xueyan. However, inside the Void Realm, it was truly difficult to probe and differentiate identities. He couldn’t be certain if it was Liou Xueyan or someone else intentionally in disguise.

Chongshan City sank into absolute dead silence for nearly ten breaths of time. Immediately following, an uproar erupted. The surging crowd turned in unison to look at this "Xu Yang."

"Xu Yang?"

"Is that him?"

"I don’t know, I’ve never seen him before."

"I heard that Xu Yang’s cultivation is only at the Middle Stage of Celestial Immortal, but his battle prowess is comparable to a Golden Immortal. You can’t really tell that inside the Void Realm, though."

"No one would dare to impersonate him at a time like this, right?"

"Hard to say."

"Forget it, let’s just assume it’s Xu Yang."

The whispers spread rapidly.

"Xu Yang, are you confident you can win your battle against Situ Ke?" a cultivator shouted loudly after leaping onto a nearby building.

"Xu Yang" remained expressionless. Sweeping a cold gaze over the cultivators, he said indifferently, "The results will naturally reveal themselves in two days.

"I travel the Eastern Continent only to defeat its champions.

"I just hope that this time, after the young one loses, he won’t call upon a bunch of old folks again.

"It truly throws away the face of the Eastern Continent’s geniuses."

As the voice faded, the surroundings fell dead silent once more. Gazes turned utterly sluggish. This was practically short of calling Situ Ke out by name and cursing him as a disgrace to the geniuses of the Eastern Continent.

Although they felt this "Xu Yang" was arrogant, thinking about Situ Ke’s past behavior, the crowd couldn’t come up with a single word of rebuttal. However, while the vast majority were just there to watch the spectacle, there was no shortage of those who stood with the Ancient Lotus Vajra Sect and Situ Ke.

"Hmph, utter arrogance."

"Defeat Situ Ke first before spouting such wild talk."

"Stealing someone’s treasures is akin to murdering their parents! Situ Ke merely brought a few helpers. How can that be considered ’the young losing and calling upon the old’?"

"Xu Yang, once you lose, I’d like to see how you manage the fallout."

"That is not for you to worry about," "Xu Yang" said with a faint smile, flicking his sleeves before turning and walking away.

"It should be Liou Xueyan," the real Xu Yang murmured to himself, completely certain as he watched the imposter walk off.

Those familiar phrases undoubtedly belonged to Liou Xueyan. However, showing up to make such a bold declaration at this time didn’t exactly fit her personality.

He thought, "When Situ Ke finishes his preparations only to discover his opponent is Liou Xueyan, his expression is going to be quite spectacular. But then again, Situ Ke should also be looking forward to battling Liou Xueyan."

Defeating Liou Xueyan fair and square was the only way for Situ Ke to salvage some of his reputation. Following that, Xu Yang didn’t linger in the Void Realm any longer and quietly left.

Inside a room in Heaven’s Edge Tower.

Xu Yang opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He entered the Minor Immortal Realm. Both the Sword Wall and Mr. Mobai were no longer there, leaving only Yuan Mie.

Xu Yang examined Ghost Eagle’s corpse, a look of excitement on his face. "The most wasteful way to use the corpse of a Late Stage of Golden Immortal expert would be to figure out a way to throw it out and detonate it. The sheer power of that... tsk, tsk."

Yet, that would truly be far too wasteful. But right now, with his current strength, even refining it would be difficult.

"Mr. Xu, could you leave some of the energy in this corpse for me?" Yuan Mie walked over, rubbing his hands together and looking at Xu Yang sheepishly.

While most cultivators wouldn’t choose to absorb the residual energy within another cultivator’s corpse, Yuan Mie knew himself far too well. He feared he would never be able to break through to the Late Stage of Golden Immortal in this lifetime. If he could seize a bit of the source essence from Ghost Eagle’s remains, his strength would undoubtedly increase significantly, perhaps even bringing him a sliver of hope.

Xu Yang glanced at Yuan Mie, pondered for a moment, and gave a slight nod. "You may."

With Yuan Mie’s cultivation base and strength, he wouldn’t be able to absorb much in a short period anyway—not even a tenth of it. Yuan Mie was instantly overjoyed upon hearing this.

"Be careful," Xu Yang cautioned. Since their sources were not of the same origin, the slightest carelessness could lead to major problems.

"Rest assured, sir," Yuan Mie nodded hastily. Since he had made this decision, he would naturally be exceptionally cautious.

Following this, Xu Yang stared at Ghost Eagle’s corpse, summoned his Daluo Saber, and swept it down with a single slash. Yuan Mie revealed a look of doubt.

SLASH!

A gash was torn open on Ghost Eagle’s body. Drops of blood seeped out, crimson and alluring. It did not look like normal human blood; instead, it was brimming with terrifying blood malice. The aura exuded by just a single drop of this blood was enough to suffocate a person.

Yuan Mie drew in a sharp breath of cold air, staring at the Daluo Saber in disbelief. To be able to so easily tear open the flesh of a Late Stage of Golden Immortal... Even though Ghost Eagle was dead, the physical toughness of his body wouldn’t have weakened. This saber was no trivial matter.

Xu Yang fought back the palpitations in his heart and controlled the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod to swallow up the drops of blood one by one. For now, he was still capable of refining a bit of the blood. Finally, he carefully stored a few drops of blood into a treasure vial.

One path was to refine them into Purest Essence Qi, and the other was to devour them directly. This blood contained the source essence of a Golden Immortal. Although faint, it was backed by Ghost Eagle’s profound cultivation. Even if it was extremely minuscule, to Xu Yang, it still packed immense power.

"Mr. Yuan Mie, get ready," Xu Yang said, looking at him after securing the blood.

Yuan Mie roused his spirits and immediately pulled out a pile of treasure vials. Soon after, Xu Yang swung the Daluo Saber once again. This time, even more blood spilled out, and Yuan Mie hurriedly gathered it.

Half a quarter-hour later.

Xu Yang left the Minor Immortal Realm. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he gazed at the blood inside the treasure vial, a gleam flashing through his eyes.

Refining the blood inside the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod would likely take a day or two. If he swallowed the blood from this vial, he could foresee that the resulting turbulence would be astounding, and he would have to endure horrific agony. But the benefits were undeniably enormous.

Although this upcoming battle was between Liou Xueyan and Situ Ke, if any accidents were to occur, he couldn’t just act like a coward and let Liou Xueyan, a woman, bear the entire burden alone.

With that thought flashing through his mind, Xu Yang swallowed one of the drops of blood in a single gulp.

BOOM!