Chapter 533 - 533: The Purpose of the Blood Crystal

"There are tons of Outer Disciples, and they're all at the Martial Spirit Realm. The Outer Elders, being at the Human Emperor Realm, couldn't care less about managing them."

"For minor squabbles, they basically just turn a blind eye."

"Besides, as you saw, those three guys are only after the Blood Crystals. And after taking them, they even pay with Primordial Spirit Liquid. This way, even if they get caught, it's considered a forced purchase at worst, nothing serious."

Mu Xiaoxiao explained.

Those three seventh-level Martial Spirits were veterans who had been knocking around the Outer Sect for years.

They knew crystal clear what they could and couldn't get away with.

Forcing a purchase, bullying new disciples... even if it got reported to an Outer Elder, they'll just have to apologize, compensate for some losses, and get a scolding at most.

But if a fight led to death, injury, or disability, or if they stole other things and the forced purchase turned into outright robbery of new disciples...

...then the matter would immediately become far more serious.

This was the sect, after all, not a lawless place like the Blood-soaked Land.

There were still bottom lines that the Outer Elders would strictly enforce.

That's why, even though the three of them were fighting and snatching Blood Crystals, the surrounding new disciples could only seethe with hatred, completely helpless.

"How did the things from the monsters' heads become 'Blood Crystals'? And what's their use, that it's causing senior disciples to try and snatch them?" Chu Qingyun continued to ask.

When he and Mu Xiaoxiao first obtained those pale red crystals, neither of them could figure out what they were for.

"They're incredibly useful!"

Speaking of which, even Mu Xiaoxiao's beautiful eyes couldn't help but flash with a glint of light.

"A few days ago, someone submitted a Blood Crystal—one of those pale red crystals from the monsters' heads—to an Inner Sect Elder to ask what it was."

"And as it turns out, a particularly knowledgeable Inner Sect Elder actually identified the Blood Crystal's function."

"If you train your body to the point of utter exhaustion, where you can't even move, and then absorb the pale red power within the Blood Crystal, you can improve your physical attributes!"

"And it's a permanent improvement!"

Chu Qingyun was instantly stunned to hear this.

Of course, he wasn't stunned because he'd suddenly learned that Blood Crystals had become Treasures.

It was because this effect was remarkably similar to that of the Ten Thousand Spirits Saint Body Inner Chapter!

"If it can permanently improve one's physique, wouldn't a large number of Blood Crystals make someone invincible?" Chu Qingyun asked.

Mu Xiaoxiao smiled. "You're overthinking it. Things are never that good. There's a limit to how many Blood Crystals a person can absorb."

"I've already tried. Even when I was completely exhausted, I could only absorb the pale red energy from one and a half Blood Crystals."

"After that, no matter how exhausted I became, my body couldn't absorb any more. It was about the same for Dai."

"Even so, everyone in the Saint Extreme Sect right now, from the Inner Sect to the Outer Sect, wants to get their hands on Blood Crystals."

"There are even rumors that someone proposed opening an entrance in the seal over the Blood-soaked Land to go inside and collect Blood Crystals!"

After hearing Mu Xiaoxiao's explanation, Chu Qingyun inwardly sighed in relief.

'Based on my experience cultivating the Ten Thousand Spirits Saint Body Inner Chapter, the Blood Crystals must contain a minuscule amount of Blood Origin.'

'When a typical Martial Artist's body reaches a certain level of exhaustion, it will automatically absorb external energy to recover.'

'In the process, it incidentally absorbs some of the Blood Origin, producing an effect similar to my Ten Thousand Spirits Saint Body Inner Chapter.'

'But this absorption method is obviously very crude and its effects are quite limited. It can't be compared to the Ten Thousand Spirits Saint Body Inner Chapter at all.'

But even so, it was more than enough to tempt the disciples of both the Inner and Outer Sects, and even the Elders.

No matter how small the improvement, it was still an increase in strength.

If others used Blood Crystals to increase their strength and you didn't, you would be that much weaker.

So, it made perfect sense that the older disciples would target the new disciples who had just entered the Saint Extreme Sect and possessed Blood Crystals, forcing them to sell.

As for the hundred drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid, that was pure nonsense.

How could a Treasure that offered a permanent increase in strength—something that tempted even the Martial King Realm Inner Sect Disciples—be worth a mere hundred drops of Primordial Spirit Liquid!

As Mu Xiaoxiao was explaining this to Chu Qingyun, the three seventh-level Martial Spirits had already dealt with another new disciple. They found four Blood Crystals in his Storage Ring and pocketed them with satisfaction.

"Tan Xingqi, keep searching for me. Don't let a single person you've found who went through the Blood Sect ruins' sealed area in the Blood-soaked Land get away."

The leader of the trio said with some excitement.

The Blood Sect ruins had been completely sealed by a joint effort of the major sects.

This meant that the number of Blood Crystals in circulation was currently limited, and the supply was extremely scarce.

Meanwhile, there were thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people who wanted to get their hands on them!

Under these circumstances, Blood Crystals had naturally become an incredibly sought-after Treasure.

Moreover, for an Outer Disciple, the value of a Blood Crystal wasn't as simple as gaining a small boost in strength or selling it for Primordial Spirit Liquid to make a quick fortune.

An Outer Disciple who obtained a Blood Crystal could use it to curry favor with Inner Sect Disciples—even very powerful ones—and secure a powerful backer.

This was because the gap in actual strength between the true elites was minuscule, making the competition all the more fierce.

In such a situation, a single small Blood Crystal could potentially be enough to reverse the gap in strength between two people!

The shifty-eyed Tan Xingqi scanned the crowd of new disciples.

Every new disciple who met his gaze looked back with unconcealed contempt and disgust.

Faced with the bullying from the senior disciples, all the new disciples were naturally on the same side. In a situation like this, a traitor was bound to be despised.

Tan Xingqi, however, didn't care.

'If I want to find a backer in the Outer Sect, I naturally have to pay the price.'

Soon, his gaze locked onto Mu Xiaoxiao and Dai.

"Senior Brothers! Her—her name is Mu Xiaoxiao! She and that idiot personally entered the true Blood Sect ruins!"

After the outbreak of the strange disease and the subsequent resealing, the entire land, spanning thousands of miles, came to be known as the Blood Sect ruins. The core area outside Blood Abyss City, however, was referred to as the *true* Blood Sect ruins.

Due to Mu Xiaoxiao's straightforward nature and Dai's inability to ever hide anything, Tan Xingqi had deliberately pried and found out that the two of them had been inside the true Blood Sect ruins.

Chu Qingyun, on the other hand, had been training with Elder Zhu Zhijing, so Tan Xingqi hadn't heard about him. In fact, most people here didn't even recognize him.