Chapter 72 - 57 : The Blood Within (1)

Chapter 72: Chapter 57 : The Blood Within (1)

With the morning sun rising over the hills, Ethan began the journey back to the city. The road was quiet. Early sunlight stretched across the hills, turning the grass pale gold while the last traces of mist disappeared between the trees. Ethan walked at an ordinary pace, one hand resting loosely at his side while the other rested casually on the hilt of his short dao. But his thoughts, however, remained with what he had discovered the previous night.

Living Blood.

He now knew where it came from. The Blood Seed refined cultivated Qi and produced the strange substance, which then became part of his blood and circulated through his body. That much was becoming clear. But knowing where something came from did not mean understanding what it could do.

Ethan glanced toward the morning sky. He had already spent enough time experimenting for one night. There was no reason to force another attempt immediately. Besides, there was another question he wanted answered first.

What happened when he deliberately used the Living Blood already inside him?

He had already sensed its presence, felt the difference it made to his vitality, and witnessed firsthand how rapidly his body recovered from the backlash of his failed Qi Refining attempt.

But those had all been observations made while something happened naturally. He had not yet deliberately tested it. That could wait.

For now he needed a break, he had a city to return to.

By the time Ethan reached the city gates, the streets were already busy. Merchants pushed carts through the entrance. Several cultivators walked in from the opposite direction, their robes dusty from travel. A woman argued with a guard about a damaged wagon while a horse behind her impatiently stamped against the stone.

Ethan slowed slightly. His Blood Perception remained quietly active in the background.

He could feel the living presence around him. An ordinary mortal passed nearby. A cultivator followed behind him, then another. The differences were becoming easier to recognize. He didn’t need to stare anymore. Nor did he need to focus all his attention on it. He simply knew that they were there.

A small smile touched his lips.

That ability was becoming less like something he had to consciously activate and more like another sense he had always possessed.

As Ethan entered the city, the streets greeted him with a mixture of smells from the numerous vendors lining the roadside. The aromas of cooked grains, steamed buns, fried vegetables, and various spices mingled together, carried through the morning air.

Among them, however, one particular smell caught his attention. The rich, smoky aroma of roasted meat. Ethan slowed and turned his head toward the vendor, his appetite responding almost immediately.

Ethan stopped.

He looked toward the vendor. The food was being turned over a charcoal fire, fat dripping onto the coals and producing a sharp hiss. Smoke carried the smell of spices through the morning air.

His stomach reacted, reminding him that hunger was still very much a part of his new existence. Ethan laughed quietly, waked closer and bought a portion and continued walking while eating. The taste was exactly as familiar as it had been before his transformation, no doubt about it. There was no reason to think about it again. Instead, he allowed himself to enjoy the food. That was something he intended to keep doing as long as his body allowed it.

The next few days passed uneventfully. Ethan spent his time cultivating, eating, and wandering through the city, occasionally practicing his Blood Perception whenever the opportunity arose. And whenever he found privacy, he studied the Living Blood within him.

He did not attempt anything dramatic. There was no reason to. The first thing he wanted to understand was simple: how did Living Blood behave when he deliberately moved it?

With that question in mind, Ethan left the city and searched for a secluded area beyond the hills. The terrain there was broken by scattered rocks and patches of grass, with no houses nearby, no travelers passing through, and no obvious signs that other cultivators frequented the area.

Satisfied that he wouldn’t be disturbed, Ethan settled beneath a large tree and closed his eyes. As his breaths slowed, his awareness moved inward. The Blood Seed was quiet. The Living Blood within him was different.

It wasn’t like Qi.

It wasn’t like Qi. Qi flowed through his meridians according to the cultivation method, while Living Blood was already mixed into his blood, refined to a state far beyond ordinary blood.

Ethan focused on it.

Nothing happened.

He frowned slightly and tried again, but the result was the same.

He wasn’t surprised. He had expected controlling Living Blood to require more than simply willing it to move. Blood Tempering had taught him that much. His blood could be influenced, but guiding it was one thing.

Controlling it was another.

Ethan began with the simplest thing he knew. He regulated his breathing, slowly, steadily, then he used the principles he had learned from Blood Tempering. Rather than forcing the Living Blood to move, he attempted to guide it.

A faint sensation appeared, drawing Ethan’s attention. The Living Blood began to move, slowly making its way through his body.

At first, the sensation was barely noticeable. Then it gradually became clearer. A gentle warmth spread through his chest and shoulders, his muscles relaxed, and his breathing grew easier.

Ethan opened his eyes but remained still. Nothing dramatic had happened, yet something had definitely changed.

He clenched his hand. The movement felt slightly stronger than before. He released it, then repeated the motion, paying close attention to the difference.

It was small. Very small.

But it was there.

A faint smile appeared on Ethan’s face. He wasn’t interested in guessing how much stronger he had become. What mattered to him was understanding why.

He repeated the process, this time allowing a little more Living Blood to circulate through his body. The warmth intensified, and the response became more noticeable. His muscles felt more responsive, his senses sharpened slightly, and even his Blood Perception seemed clearer.

Ethan immediately stopped. That last part caught his attention. He waited while the sensation slowly faded.

He frowned.

"Interesting."

He tried the same thing again. The result was similar. The moment the Living Blood circulated more strongly, his entire body seemed to become more responsive. Not only his muscles.

His perception.

His vitality.

His stamina.

It was as if the substance wasn’t simply strengthening one part of him. It was reinforcing the body as a whole. Ethan leaned against the tree. That made more sense. Living Blood was not Qi. It wasn’t meant to replace Qi. It was something produced specifically for his vampire body.

His body was built around it. And perhaps that was why the effects felt so natural.

He closed his eyes again.

This time, he tried to maintain the circulation.

Ten breaths passed.

Then twenty.

Then thirty.

The warmth remained, steady within his body. But after a while, Ethan noticed the sensation beginning to weaken.

He stopped.

The Living Blood gradually settled back into its previous state. Ethan’s expression became thoughtful. He had expected something like this. If circulating Living Blood produced an effect, then maintaining that circulation had to consume something.

The question was how much.

Ethan spent the rest of the afternoon testing it, though never for long enough to exhaust himself. He used short periods of circulation, followed by careful observation.

A small amount produced almost no noticeable strain. Increasing the amount made the physical effects more apparent, while pushing beyond that point caused the warmth to fade more quickly. Once he stopped circulating it altogether, the Living Blood gradually returned to its previous state.

Ethan opened his journal and began recording his observations.

He wrote: