Chapter 52: The Echo of Life Flowing Through the Blood
"Brother, be gentler—it hurts!"
"Now you know it hurts? Where was that ruthlessness when you bit your own paw just now?"
Fan Chen carefully bandaged the wound on Xiao Bai's paw, rolling his eyes at him in the process.
Still, he found the situation rather strange. Logically speaking, since Xiao Bai was a martial soul, injuries like this should be easily repaired with his own soul power—so why wasn't it working now?
However, this question wasn't important at the moment. There were far more pressing matters demanding his attention.
"Woof!"
Fan Chen covered his eyes, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Da Bai, don't bark. I'm bandaging Xiao Bai's wound."
Meng Xiaoyan grabbed Da Bai—who was squatting in front of Fan Chen with his tongue hanging out—and dragged him to the side, force-feeding him his meal.
Because of Xiao Bai's incident, Guang Ling had directly brought Da Bai back with them. Now, Da Bai has become the second pet raised by the Hall of Consecrations—second only to Xiao Bai.
Or rather, the first true pet. Xiao Bai didn't really count.
A single drop of Xiao Bai's blood had saved Da Bai's life and completely transformed him. Da Bai was no longer an ordinary dog—his body could now store other forms of energy and continue growing.
In other words, Da Bai could cultivate.
The price for this, however, was Fan Chen's soul power plummeting by two full levels.
From Rank 18 down to Rank 16.
Fan Chen's heart was bleeding.
Since returning from the Star Dou Forest until now, he had only managed to increase by a single level. To be honest, his cultivation speed was already quite slow.
Even he didn't understand why it was so slow. Still, slow or not, he had been improving.
And now?
With one move, he was sent straight back to square one.
Not only had the level he had painstakingly cultivated been lost, but he had even dropped an extra level on top of that.
Still, it wasn't exactly a loss. Trading two levels for such an ability was something Fan Chen could accept.
But only once.
If it happened a few more times, he was afraid he'd be completely drained.
"Without my permission, if you dare do something like this again, I'll lock you up directly!"
After finishing the bandaging, Fan Chen viciously scolded Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai lowered his head, not daring to make a sound. Seeing this, Da Bai immediately barked at Fan Chen.
"Woof!"
It seemed he was protesting Fan Chen's scolding on Xiao Bai's behalf.
"What? Have you got an opinion too? Go eat your food properly."
Meng Xiaoyan knocked Da Bai on the head as a warning.
"Whimper~"
Da Bai let out a pitiful whine and obediently lowered his head to continue eating.
Fan Chen helplessly glanced at Da Bai, then turned his attention back to Xiao Bai.
At the cost of two levels of his own soul power, not only had Da Bai been saved from the brink of death—he had even evolved.
This ability was even more outrageous than resurrection itself. It was a blatant violation of the world's rules.
That said, Xiao Bai's very existence already seemed to break the rules of the world. Fan Chen wasn't particularly shocked by it.
But just because he wasn't shocked didn't mean others weren't.
This time, it had even alarmed Qian Daoliu himself.
Inside the Angel Temple.
Guang Ling reported everything that had just happened to Qian Daoliu.
"A normal dog—not only revived by a single drop of blood, but turned into an exotic beast?"
Faced with Qian Daoliu's question, Guang Ling nodded. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it either.
The first part was still explainable—restoring life force. Many medicines could do that.
But the latter part was simply absurd. Guang Ling had never seen anything like it before.
"I brought that dog back. You'll understand once you see it yourself."
"Let's go."
Qian Daoliu didn't waste words and immediately chose to see it in person.
Soon, the two of them arrived at Fan Chen's location.
Qian Daoliu didn't hesitate. He directly strode toward where Da Bai was.
Sensing the unfamiliar aura radiating from Qian Daoliu, Da Bai instinctively became alert.
However, Meng Xiaoyan immediately pressed him down.
"Da Bai, don't bark. He's one of us."
Meng Xiaoyan had met Qian Daoliu before. Although it was only once, she clearly understood that this low-profile man was the true boss behind the scenes.
A dog that had just arrived, daring to bare its teeth at the ultimate big boss—was it trying to turn itself into a dog meat hotpot?
"This is the dog you mentioned? It really is a bit different."
With a wave of his hand, Qian Daoliu released powerful soul power that completely enveloped Da Bai's body.
Da Bai tried to resist, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree—utterly futile.
Qian Daoliu's soul power entered Da Bai's body, roaming through every part of it.
Very quickly, he finished his inspection and concluded.
"He's indeed become an exotic beast. Truly remarkable."
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu shifted his gaze toward Fan Chen.
All of this had come from Fan Chen. Xiao Bai was his martial soul—so if Xiao Bai possessed such an ability, could Fan Chen himself have it as well?
But the moment this thought surfaced, Qian Daoliu extinguished it.
Back when Bibi Dong had hunted Fan Chen, Fan Chen had bled. That blood had even splashed onto Qian Renxue's face.
Yet nothing like this had happened.
If Fan Chen truly had such an ability, it wouldn't have only manifested now.
Fan Chen seemed to have guessed Qian Daoliu's thoughts and spoke up directly.
"How about testing whether my blood works?"
Fan Chen took the initiative to propose the experiment, since this matter had already been discovered; it was better to be honest.
It was obvious that Qian Daoliu had entertained such a thought, even if he hadn't voiced it.
Rather than letting that idea take root and grow, it was better to clarify everything now and avoid complications later.
Seeing Fan Chen speak so frankly, Qian Daoliu nodded.
With a wave of his hand, powerful soul power locked onto a small bird playing in the distance.
A strong suction force pulled the bird straight into Qian Daoliu's palm.
He handed the bird to Fan Chen. Without hesitation, Fan Chen bit his finger.
A drop of bright red blood fell from his fingertip and landed on the bird's body.
Watching the panicked bird in his hand—yet seeing no change at all—Qian Daoliu confirmed that Fan Chen's blood did not possess such an effect.
That thought was completely erased from his mind.
He released the soul power restraining the bird. In an instant, it escaped and disappeared from sight.
Then Qian Daoliu placed his hand on Fan Chen's shoulder and injected soul power into his body.
The wound on Fan Chen's finger healed at a visible speed, disappearing in moments.
"Old Five, take a foundation-strengthening heavenly treasure from the vault and let this kid recuperate properly."
After instructing Guang Ling, Qian Daoliu turned his gaze back to Fan Chen.
"Use this ability sparingly. It damages the foundation."
An ability with such terrifying effects could never come at the mere cost of two soul power levels.
Through his soul power inspection, Qian Daoliu had clearly sensed other changes within Fan Chen's body.
They weren't disastrous, but there were indeed injuries that required proper recuperation. Otherwise, minor problems could easily turn into major ones later on.
After leaving these words behind, Qian Daoliu departed directly, seemingly unwilling to stay even a moment longer.
Watching Qian Daoliu leave, Meng Xiaoyan sincerely sighed to Qian Renxue beside her.
"Your grandfather really feels like that mysterious man in storybooks—coming and going like the wind."
Hearing this, Qian Renxue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She couldn't tell if this was praise or something else entirely.
...
High above the sky, the little bird that Qian Daoliu had just released suddenly began to emit specks of white light.
Two golden patterns appeared on its tiny wings.
Its speed increased dramatically, like a bolt of lightning tearing across the heavens.
But because it was moving too fast, it couldn't stop in time. In the end, it slammed straight into a solid mountain cliff.
Its frail body was buried beneath the rock, eventually merging into the earth and turning into nourishment for the land.
As a result, the vegetation growing in that area became far more lush and thriving than the surroundings.
End of Chapter