Chapter 262: Blood-Colored Light

Duan Rong's eyes were filled with astonishment!

If the Filthy Blood Divine Art were merely lurking within his body, he felt that by relying on his Divine Sense Envelopment ability, combined with the profound pharmacology he had inherited from the wicked doctor Shen Ping, he might just be able to find a solution.

But if the source of the Filthy Blood Divine Art was within his Spirit Sea, Duan Rong did not believe he had the ability to resolve it.

The Spirit Sea is such a mysterious and profound existence!

It was only because Duan Rong had cultivated the Womb Treasury Sutra that he had the opportunity to enter his own Spirit Sea.

He still deeply remembered the shock he felt in his heart when he looked up at the Cangqiong within his Spirit Sea and faced those two Star Bodies shining with light; it was the feeling of a devout believer on a pilgrimage!

Although Duan Rong did not think he could solve the problem within his Spirit Sea, since he had already discovered that the source of the Filthy Blood Divine Art was within the Spirit Sea, Duan Rong decided to enter his Spirit Sea to take a look.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged on the bed, his hands began to quickly change hand seals, and he murmured incantations; after a set of hand seals and incantations, Duan Rong began to try to capture the turning point of his breathing with his Mental Power...

That turning point of breathing, the moment between an inhale and an exhale, is the entrance for the Divine Soul to cut into the Spirit Sea...

Because Cold Toad Paste is a substance secreted by the Polar Cold Toad during hibernation, it is only available at the beginning of spring each year. Without the Cold Toad Paste, Duan Rong could not cultivate the Third Layer of the Womb Treasury Sutra, so Duan Rong had not entered his Spirit Sea for several months.

Having not tried for a long time, Duan Rong was clearly a bit rusty at hitting the turning point of his breathing, and it took several attempts before he finally succeeded.

The moment he hit that elusive turning point, Duan Rong's vision suddenly became blurry and dizzy, and the next moment, he was already inside his Spirit Sea.

The thin mist within the Spirit Sea rolled about; Duan Rong stood in the center of the Black Earth and looked up toward the endless Cangqiong.

He saw that above the Cangqiong, two Star Bodies, one red and one white, were shining in mutual reflection...

But the moment Duan Rong looked up, his gaze turned toward the southwest corner of the sky, where a hazy blood-colored light was actually suspended!

Duan Rong could be certain that this strange blood-colored light had newly appeared within his Spirit Sea.

Without a doubt, this blood-colored light was related to the Filthy Blood Divine Art within his body!

Duan Rong had previously devoured many Spirit Tools, and they would also enter his Spirit Sea, but after they entered the Spirit Sea, they would turn into mist and merge into his thoughts.

However, the Spirit Tool of the Filthy Blood Divine Art he had devoured had turned into a hazy blood-colored light in his Spirit Sea!

Evil!

Duan Rong stared intently at the hazy blood-colored light; unlike the two Star Bodies in the center of the Cangqiong, this hazy blood-colored light, in terms of its appearance, was more like a nebula!

Duan Rong's eyes flickered; he tried to use his Divine Soul to contact this hazy blood-colored light, but the hazy blood-colored light just hung in that part of the sky, moving and flickering on its own, and gave no response to the questioning of Duan Rong's Divine Soul.

Duan Rong's eyes revealed a look of contemplation; the two Star Bodies that appeared on the Cangqiong both had some kind of faint connection with Duan Rong's Divine Soul.

But this hazy blood-colored light was clearly different from the two Star Bodies. It repelled the connection of Duan Rong's Divine Soul.

Moreover, the two Star Bodies were floating in the center of the Cangqiong, while that hazy blood-colored light was at the far edge of the sky...

It seemed that the blood-colored light was hiding from those two Star Bodies...

Duan Rong's eyes suddenly flickered; he used the faint connection between his Divine Soul and the two Star Bodies to mobilize the two Star Bodies to move in the direction of the blood-colored light.

The response of the two Star Bodies was very slow, but they still followed Duan Rong's instructions and moved toward the blood-colored light.

The two Star Bodies did not approach the blood-colored light in a straight line.

Instead, they rotated around an invisible center of the Cangqiong; as the speed of the two Star Bodies' rotation increased, they slowly spread from the center of the Cangqiong toward the edges...

Duan Rong's eyes were surprised. "It seems that the Star Bodies floating in the Spirit Sea have their own specific operating methods and trajectories, and they cannot be moved at will."

As the two Star Bodies gradually approached, the hazy blood-colored light began to roll violently, flickering between bright and dark!

Suddenly, the blood-colored light floated toward a very remote place!

Duan Rong's eyes tightened. "It really is hiding from the Star Bodies!"

The rotation speed of those two Star Bodies clearly could not keep climbing; after they reached a certain position, they stopped moving.

And as the Star Bodies stopped expanding and moving, the violently rolling blood-colored light quieted down...

Duan Rong's heart stirred, and the two Star Bodies slowly retracted, gradually returning to their original floating positions.

Duan Rong discovered that with the high-speed rotation of the two Star Bodies, his Divine Soul was actually consuming rapidly; in just a few breaths, he already felt a hint of lethargy.

However, this consumption was worth it.

At the very least, Duan Rong had confirmed one thing. That blood-colored light was afraid of the two Star Bodies floating in the center of the Cangqiong.

In other words, the Womb Treasury Sutra could restrain the Filthy Blood Divine Art! At the very least, it could suppress it!

As his cultivation of the Womb Treasury Sutra deepened, perhaps when he achieved a certain layer of the Womb Treasury Sutra, he would have the means to resolve the Filthy Blood Divine Art in his Spirit Sea.

Because he believed that there must be a reason why that blood-colored light was so afraid of the floating Star Bodies.

However, at this time, with Duan Rong having only achieved the Second Layer of the Womb Treasury Sutra, he clearly could not yet resolve that blood-colored light.

Duan Rong prepared to exit the Spirit Sea, but his heart suddenly stirred; he wanted to see how that blood-colored light operated the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

Duan Rong suddenly activated the Filthy Blood Divine Art within his Spirit Sea!

Instantly, the blood-colored light at the edge of the Cangqiong in the Spirit Sea rolled incessantly, and ripples of blood-colored light immediately rippled throughout the Spirit Sea...

And almost at the same time, the blood threads dormant in Duan Rong's flesh and blood suddenly awakened and burst out of his body!

Duan Rong's eyes were cold, and with a thought, he exited the Spirit Sea.

The moment he exited the Spirit Sea, Duan Rong felt a sharp pain in his skull; clearly, his Divine Soul had been somewhat over-consumed while in the Spirit Sea just now.

Duan Rong looked at the blood threads floating and wriggling around his body, feeling a wave of nausea; with a mental command, the blood threads returned to his body and returned to silence!

Duan Rong's eyes were fierce; he decided that he would never give the blood threads in his body any chance to grow in the future, because he knew that as the blood threads in his body grew, the blood-colored light in his Spirit Sea would also grow!

And that blood-colored light in his Spirit Sea was the core and main body of the Filthy Blood Divine Art!

After Duan Rong had devoured the Second Layer of the Filthy Blood Divine Art, he already understood the cultivation process and various bottlenecks of the Filthy Blood Divine Art, which was another reason why he loathed this technique.

The Tainted Blood was actually the blood of a virgin's deflowering; it was so fucking disgusting!

Thank goodness it wasn't menstrual blood?! Otherwise, even if it meant his Divine Soul would shatter, he would have controlled those two Star Bodies to crash into that blood-colored light!

Duan Rong's eyes flickered, thinking of the four statues of the Five-Passage Gods in the Secret Chamber Mandala when cultivating the Filthy Blood Divine Art, whose eyes would emit blood-colored light, and that blood-colored light would shine on the cultivation tool, the Copper Awl, with the blood-colored light filling the room and intertwining with thick smoke!

Duan Rong felt that the blood-colored light in his Spirit Sea might have some secret connection with the blood-colored light emitted from the eyes of the Five-Passage God statues!

Just as the light threads that intertwined to form the Star Bodies also had some mysterious connection with the statues of the Four Great Wisdom Kings!

Both the Womb Treasury Sutra and the Filthy Blood Divine Art were cultivated in the Mandala, which clearly indicated some similarity between the two.

The Womb Treasury Sutra and the Filthy Blood Divine Art are of the same origin yet mutually repellent.

"The Four Great Wisdom Kings? The Five Thoroughfare Gods? Could it be that these cultivation arts have some sort of secret connection to these deities?"

"The mutual repulsion of the arts, perhaps it signifies a war between gods and demons?"

Duan Rong's thoughts drifted, but he quickly realized he was thinking too far ahead. These questions were clearly not ones he had the capacity to exhaustively ponder at this moment; he needed to solve the practical problems right in front of him.

Duan Rong's Divine Soul was exhausted, and by this time, the window was already bright; Duan Rong blew out the lamp on the desk, crawled into his quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

Over the next few days, Duan Rong read through all the miscellaneous books he had on hand regarding the Filthy Blood Sect and the Filthy Blood Divine Art once more.

Before, when Duan Rong read miscellaneous books about the Filthy Blood Sect, he had only wanted to understand some of the secret anecdotes of this world, so he had looked at them cursorily, glancing over the pages.

But now that Duan Rong had experienced the Filthy Blood Case and had the hidden danger of the Filthy Blood Divine Art in his Spirit Sea, his reading of these books was no longer out of curiosity, but to understand the Filthy Blood Sect and the Filthy Blood Divine Art more comprehensively.

Moreover, some of the records in the books might be able to corroborate some of his own ideas, and perhaps they could spark some new lines of thought.

Therefore, Duan Rong read very carefully.

In the blink of an eye, it was the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the evening was New Year's Eve.

Duan Rong climbed out of bed in the morning, and just as he finished washing up in the courtyard, a knocking sound suddenly came from the courtyard gate.

Duan Rong's heart stirred, and his Divine Sense swept over instantly; he saw it was Zhu Xiaoqi standing outside the gate.

Duan Rong walked over, opened the courtyard gate, and looking at Zhu Xiaoqi, whose cheeks were flushed red from the cold wind, he smiled and said, "Are your injuries any better?"

"There's no major problem anymore, but I haven't fully recovered yet, so I can't do any work," Zhu Xiaoqi said, her lively eyes looking at Duan Rong; she knew it was Duan Rong who had saved her that night.

Duan Rong said, "With such a large wound, how could it heal so fast?"

Zhu Xiaoqi said, "The master told me to come and tell you to come over for the New Year's Eve dinner tonight."

A warmth filled Duan Rong's heart; Xiao Lao was still quite good to him.

Just as Duan Rong was about to express his thanks, Zhu Xiaoqi smiled and said, "But I'm here to call you over to do some work."

Duan Rong laughed, "What? Are you complaining that I'm eating for free?"

Zhu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes at Duan Rong and said, "You saved Miss Xiao Yu's life, and you saved my life too; it's only right that you eat for free every day."

Seeing that Zhu Xiaoqi was speaking seriously, the smile on Duan Rong's face faded, and he said, "Don't make it sound so bitter and deep; if I eat for free every day, won't I eat you all into poverty?"

Zhu Xiaoqi chuckled and said, "The master has never been one to do work, and I have injuries, so with a whole table of dishes tonight, Miss Xiao Yu can't handle it alone; you go and give her a hand."

Duan Rong said, "I'm willing to do this work. I like preparing New Year's Eve dinner the most; it's lively!"

As he said this, Duan Rong closed the courtyard gate and went with Zhu Xiaoqi to Xiao Zongting's residence.

As soon as Duan Rong entered the door, he was arranged by Xiao Yu to go mince the meat filling.

Xiao Yu herself was so busy her feet seemed to be flying; she had rolled up her sleeves, and her originally fair and tender arms were reddened from soaking in cold water.

Zhu Xiaoqi had injuries on her body and couldn't move around too much, so she could only help with small tasks like picking vegetables.

Although Xiao Zongting didn't do any work, he was the one who couldn't sit still the most, pacing back and forth in the courtyard incessantly.

Seeing Xiao Zongting looking like an ant on a hot pan, Duan Rong asked Zhu Xiaoqi what was going on.

Once Zhu Xiaoqi spoke, Duan Rong realized that it turned out Xiao Yu had cut off Xiao Zongting's tobacco!

The cause of this matter was that night when Xiao Yu was abducted; Xiao Zongting saw Xiao Yu being taken, and in his anxiety, a mouthful of phlegm got stuck, and he almost passed away. If it hadn't been for Duan Rong, who had fed him a Medicine Pill left behind by Shen Ping that could handle acute illnesses, it would have been quite dangerous.

There are not a few people who have been choked by phlegm and couldn't catch their breath, and ended up dying.

That night, Duan Rong told Xiao Yu about Xiao Zongting's symptoms, only saying that he should smoke less in the future; he didn't expect Xiao Yu to be so reckless as to directly cut off Xiao Lao's tobacco.

Wasn't this going to cost him his old life?

No wonder he was so anxious he couldn't sit still.

Knowing the reason, Duan Rong found Xiao Zongting's anxious appearance hilarious.

The three of them busied themselves for half the day; they put up spring couplets at noon, and after eating lunch, they started wrapping dumplings.

Both Xiao Yu and Zhu Xiaoqi were dexterous and wrapped very pretty dumplings, but Duan Rong was clumsy, and compared to theirs, his dumplings looked extremely ugly.

Both of them began to mock Duan Rong for the ugly appearance of his dumplings.

Duan Rong said, "Dumplings are for eating, not for looking at! What's the use of wrapping them so beautifully? They still end up in the belly!"

By evening, just as the sky was turning dark, Xiao Yu began to get busy in the kitchen, and Duan Rong was also inside helping her.

Meanwhile, Xiao Zongting and Zhu Xiaoqi were already sitting at the dining table, waiting to eat the New Year's Eve dinner!

The firelight from the kitchen illuminated Xiao Yu and Duan Rong; as Xiao Yu stir-fried the dishes, she would glance from time to time at Duan Rong's face, which was reddened by the firelight, and her heart felt warm and very happy!

The wine and dishes were all served, and the steaming dumplings were brought up; everyone was full of joy, and they began to feast!

After finishing his meal, Xiao Zongting drank a few bowls of hot yellow wine and went to sleep feeling dizzy; Zhu Xiaoqi had injuries and was tired from a day of work, so she also went to sleep early after eating.

Only Xiao Yu and Duan Rong remained, facing a large table of dishes, drinking heavily; both of them had the capacity to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, and as they drank, they began to compete with each other...

At noon, Ximen Kankan had run to Liu Lu to knock on the door; Ximen Yong knew that Duan Rong had no relatives or friends and was afraid he would be lonely during the New Year, so he had sent Ximen Kankan to call him to the manor for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Ximen Kankan lingered for a while, and seeing that Duan Rong was not there, he had to leave dejectedly. When the sky turned dark, Ximen Kankan came to Liu Lu again, but by that time Duan Rong was already in the kitchen stir-frying with Xiao Yu, so Ximen Kankan naturally missed him again.

Every household was lively, and the sound of firecrackers could be heard from all around from time to time.

But the City God Temple, which usually had a flourishing incense trade and was bustling with activity, appeared even more desolate on this New Year's Eve.

The Temple Keeper, Xu Dongyang, was over sixty years old and also had few relatives, so he spent New Year's Eve alone every year.

As soon as the sky turned dark, the old Temple Keeper finished cooking his dishes and ate his fill of steaming dumplings. After the meal, the old Temple Keeper carried a lantern and a shovel, and walked slowly to the base of a paulownia tree by Wild Lake.

This was his habit of many years. Every first lunar month, he would bury a jar of good wine under this paulownia tree.

Buried in the ground for a year, the fragrance of the wine became even stronger; the old Temple Keeper relied on this jar of wine to survive one lonely New Year's Eve after another.

The old Temple Keeper aimed for the spot, placed the lantern by his feet, and with one shovel, he turned over the soil layer.

Before long, a jar of wine was dug out by the old Temple Keeper; he brushed the dust off the wine seal and picked up the lantern, preparing to leave.

But he suddenly saw that at the edge of the pit he had dug, there seemed to be another jar; that jar was only half-exposed, and it was only because he had picked up the wine jar in his hand and caused some of the soil to collapse that it had been revealed.

The old Temple Keeper looked at the wine jar in his hand, confirmed he hadn't dug in the wrong place, and said, "How is there another jar here? Could it be that I buried two jars during the first lunar month?"

The old Temple Keeper couldn't quite remember, so he skeptically dug out that jar as well.

That was clearly not the wine jar he had buried, because it had no seal at all; the old Temple Keeper felt surprised in his heart, reached his hand into the jar to grope around, and before long, he pulled out a round object.

Under the illumination of the dim, yellow light nearby, what he held in his hands was, shockingly, a human head!

Moreover, it was a withered head!

The skin on that head was all as dry as firewood, and the two eyeballs in the eye sockets had also shriveled up like two tufts of cotton.

Looking at the withered head held in his hands, the old Temple Keeper almost spat out a mouthful of old blood; he was all too familiar with this thing.

"Is it the Filthy Blood Divine Art?!"

The old Temple Keeper hurriedly stuffed the withered head back in, looked around vigilantly, and after confirming that there was no one in the vicinity, he buried the jar back again.

On the way back to the City God Temple while clutching the wine jar, the old Temple Keeper's heart kept pounding. "I don't know which ignorant person buried a dried corpse from practicing that art here. It seems I'll have to find a new place to bury my wine next year."

(End of this chapter)