Chapter 30 – Blood-Refining Demon Crystal
"Fourth batch, survival rate only twenty percent… bloodline purity insufficient… more Wolf King blood required…"
…
"Seventh batch, survival rate only thirty percent… bloodline purity insufficient… more Wolf King blood required…"
…
A cold light flashed in Chen Chang'an's eyes as his mind involuntarily recalled the woman named A Li. Had he really been too quick to judge her earlier?
He skimmed through the contents of the booklet, letting out a quiet sigh.
"As expected… engaged in filthy, unspeakable dealings."
He closed the book, about to place it back into the hidden compartment, when he felt a faint, foreign ripple of spiritual energy.
The booklet… had been marked with a tracking seal!
Almost at that exact moment, urgent footsteps and the clatter of armor came from outside the study.
"Someone has broken into the study! Quickly!"
Chen Chang'an let out a cold chuckle. A flick of his fingers sent a thread of spiritual energy silently erasing the seal. Then his figure blurred, dissolving into a wisp of green smoke and slipping out through the narrow gap of the window.
Outside, the moonlight poured down like water, spilling across the eaves of the City Lord's manor.
Inside the study, the black-bound book still lay quietly in its hidden compartment, as though it had never been touched…
…
The night breeze was cool as Chen Chang'an drifted down onto the study's rooftop, light as a falling leaf.
He crouched low, drawing in his aura until it was compressed to the limit—his heartbeat slowing to a faint, almost imperceptible rhythm, blending seamlessly into the shadows of the night.
"Hurry! There's been movement in the study!"
Narrowing his eyes, he saw a steward in a black brocade robe rushing toward the study with dozens of elite soldiers. Two among them radiated condensed power, their bodies faintly wreathed in circulating spiritual energy—both were Tongxuan Realm cultivators.
"I thought this was just an ordinary city… seems the waters run deeper than I expected," Chen Chang'an mused inwardly, even feeling the faint urge to return to the valley and wash his hands of everything happening here.
He had lived in this world for over five centuries, yet the education of his youth still came from the modern society of Blue Star. He had long been mentally prepared for the cruelty of a cultivation world that exalted personal might, but he had no intention of becoming one of its ruthless players.
It was one of the main reasons why, despite sensing that his cultivation was far from weak in this realm, he preferred to remain at home.
Meanwhile, the black-robed steward strode into the study and soon emerged, his expression dark, holding the black-bound book in his hand.
"Someone's tampered with the hidden compartment," he said coldly. "Seal all manor exits immediately. Search every suspicious person without exception."
The two Tongxuan Realm commanders exchanged a glance. One of them asked in a low voice, "Should we report to the City Lord?"
The steward shook his head. "The City Lord is in closed-door cultivation—he must not be disturbed." His eyes glinted coldly. "Search first. If you find the intruder, throw them straight into the dungeon."
The soldiers quickly fanned out to begin their search, while the steward and the two commanders hurried away.
Chen Chang'an's gaze sharpened, his figure slipping soundlessly down from the rooftop. Without a whisper of sound, he followed after them like a shadow.
The steward led the way at a brisk pace, passing through courtyard after courtyard until they reached the most secluded corner of the manor—a seemingly abandoned pavilion.
Its wooden doors were weathered and peeling, the windows caked in cobwebs. It looked like a place no one would willingly enter.
Yet the steward stepped forward without hesitation, pushing the door open and walking in, the two commanders close behind.
Chen Chang'an did not follow them inside. Instead, he hid himself in the thick branches of an ancient tree beside the pavilion, his spiritual sense weaving like fine threads and slipping quietly into the interior.
"As expected… something strange."
The moment his spiritual sense brushed the inside, he detected a faint fluctuation of a concealment barrier. Were it not for this incarnation's spiritual sense being far keener than an ordinary Tongxuan Realm cultivator's, it would have gone completely unnoticed.
Inside the pavilion, the black-robed steward stepped up to a wall, gathering spiritual power at his fingertips to trace out a complex rune across its surface.
Click—
The wall slid open without a sound, revealing a deep, shadowed passage.
The three quickly stepped inside, and the wall closed behind them as if it had never been opened.
A glint of interest flashed in Chen Chang'an's eyes. "Now this… is interesting."
With a flicker of movement, he slipped silently into the pavilion and stood before the same wall.
The barrier on it was nothing to him. Tapping the rune with one finger, he channeled a wisp of moonlight essence into the lines, unraveling the seal in an instant.
The wall parted again, revealing the pitch-black tunnel.
He didn't rush in immediately. Instead, he extended his spiritual sense ahead. The passage twisted downward into darkness, its walls carved with strange, blood-red runes that radiated a faint, chilling aura.
"A Blood Sigil Sealing Array?" His brow furrowed. "This sort of formation is usually used to suppress ferocious creatures…"
After a moment's thought, he withdrew his presence and stepped inside.
The tunnel was cold and damp, the air thick with a faint metallic tang of blood. His footsteps made no sound, and his spiritual sense stayed locked on the trio ahead.
After about half a quarter-hour's walk, the tunnel ended at a massive bronze door. A snarling wolf's head was carved into it, eyes a vivid, lifelike red.
The steward produced a token and pressed it to the wolf's forehead.
Boom—
The bronze gate groaned open, and a wave of heavy blood-scent rolled out.
Chen Chang'an's spiritual sense swept inside—and froze on the scene.
It was a vast blood pool.
Blood churned within it, and around the edges stood dozens of stone pillars. Chained to each pillar was an unconscious wolf demon, its paws cut open so its blood could drip steadily into the pool.
At the very center of the pool floated a massive, blood-red crystal. Within its depths, the vague shape of a wolf spirit could be seen, greedily drawing in the pool's essence.
"Blood-Refining Demon Crystal?!" The term surged into his mind, and his pupils tightened. "They're actually forging something like this!"
An ancient, forbidden sorcery—it required the blood of demonkind to create, and once complete, could grant its wielder a terrifying power of demonic transformation.
The steward approached the pool and knelt respectfully. "My lord, the blood ritual record was tampered with. I suspect an intruder has entered the manor."
The crystal in the pool trembled, and a raspy voice emanated from within.
"No matter… in ten more days, the blood crystal will be complete. When that time comes…"
The voice stopped abruptly, turning cold as ice.
"Hm? Someone followed you!"
Chen Chang'an's heart tightened—he'd been discovered!
In the same instant, the crystal flared with blinding blood light. A crimson wolf phantom burst forth with a roar, charging straight toward his position!
Boom!
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