Chapter 297: Achieving the Second Layer

At the pile of straw in the corner of the ruined temple, it had already quieted down...

After a bout of intimacy, both of them were covered in sweat...

A straw stalk was stuck to the corner of Duan Rong's mouth, and dense threads of Tainted Blood were floating and wriggling all around his body...

These threads of Tainted Blood had already faded from Lv Qingzhu's body and were only floating around his own body...

The nourishment from the agitation between the primordial yin and primordial yang made these threads of Tainted Blood, like leeches that had drunk their fill of fresh blood, look blood-red and ready to drip, wriggling of their own accord around Duan Rong's body...

Just at this moment, Duan Rong suddenly woke up.

The threads of Tainted Blood floating and wriggling around his body had completely absorbed the nourishing essence from the agitation between the primordial yin and primordial yang.

Duan Rong also took this opportunity to directly achieve the second layer of the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

This was not just the realm of the second layer, but the solid, genuine cultivation power of the second layer.

Just now, while the two were intimate, the Filthy Blood Divine Art had already been operating on its own, absorbing the nourishing essence from the agitation between the primordial yin and primordial yang, and completing the "blood refining" of Duan Rong's entire body.

After this blood refining was completed, Duan Rong's lifespan also increased by fifteen years.

During the process of the Filthy Blood Divine Art completing the blood refining, the residual aphrodisiac in Duan Rong's body was also refined away as impurities were expelled along with the blood refining.

Therefore, once the blood refining was finished, the medicinal power dissipated, and Duan Rong suddenly woke up.

The moment Duan Rong became clear-headed, his mind stirred, and his Divine Sense was released.

After a round of investigation, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, there was no one in the wilderness.

Duan Rong then looked at the threads of Tainted Blood floating and wriggling in front of him; he could even faintly sense that these threads were plump from being well-fed, and at this moment, they even seemed to have a faint sense of pleasure.

Duan Rong's mind urged them, and the threads of Tainted Blood floating and wriggling around his body retreated from his pores back into his body.

As soon as Duan Rong sensed it, he already knew that his Filthy Blood Divine Art had achieved the second layer.

Duan Rong was somewhat annoyed; he had not expected that this hidden danger lurking in his Spirit Sea would not only fail to be removed, but that he had even let it seize the opportunity to grow.

Duan Rong dispersed the blood threads around his body and only then looked at Lv Qingzhu beside him.

A fine layer of sweat had broken out on Lv Qingzhu's face and body, the flush on her face had already faded, and there were a few straw stalks stuck to her fair, tender body...

Duan Rong reached out his hand, carefully picked up those straw stalks, and threw them away.

Duan Rong gazed at Lv Qingzhu's face, his eyes filled with tenderness.

A virgin for two lifetimes, this was his first woman after all.

"Qingzhu..." Duan Rong murmured her name, a strange feeling welling up in his heart; he could not help but lower his head and lightly kiss her forehead.

At this moment, a mountain breeze blew in, and the sweat-covered Lv Qingzhu shivered. Duan Rong's eyes flickered, and he immediately picked up his own clothes from the ground nearby and gently covered Lv Qingzhu's body...

He sat beside Lv Qingzhu, his fingers gently brushing over Lv Qingzhu's lips; at this moment, his heart was filled with a certain feeling of love and pity...

Lv Qingzhu's eyes were tightly shut, and as if she had felt Duan Rong's gentle touch, her arms wrapped around Duan Rong again like a snake.

Duan Rong immediately dodged away; the residual aphrodisiac in his body had been refined away due to the blood refining of the Filthy Blood Divine Art, but Lv Qingzhu's had not, and the residual potency of the potent aphrodisiac was still stimulating her...

But this ruined temple in the wilderness was surrounded by danger, and it was truly not the time...

Duan Rong got up and picked up the Porcelain Bottle he had dropped earlier not far away.

Duan Rong sat back down beside Lv Qingzhu, poured out a Medicine Pill, and gently fed it into Lv Qingzhu's mouth.

But Lv Qingzhu was unconscious; she only held the medicine in her mouth and did not swallow it.

Duan Rong looked at Lv Qingzhu, his eyes hesitating for a moment; he leaned down, kissed Lv Qingzhu's lips lightly, and slowly extended his tongue...

Feeling that Lv Qingzhu had swallowed the Medicine Pill, Duan Rong then let her go.

He wiped the saliva from the corner of Lv Qingzhu's mouth and stared at her blankly.

Lv Qingzhu was lying on her side there now, just like a sleeping child, and the daylight from a collapsed corner of the ruined temple shone softly on her face...

Duan Rong gazed at her, his eyes as clear as water; he truly wished that time would stop at this moment forever...

But at this very moment, Lv Qingzhu's eyelashes moved, and Duan Rong's heart jumped; he knew that Lv Qingzhu was about to wake up.

At this moment, he felt some hatred; how could this medicine of Shen Ping's be so effective? How long had it been since she took it, and Lv Qingzhu was already waking up?

Duan Rong immediately pretended to be unconscious and lay down not far from Lv Qingzhu with his legs curled up.

Lv Qingzhu woke up slowly; there was a moment of confusion in her clear eyes, and then she jumped up instantly, and the clothes Duan Rong had draped over her fell off...

She immediately remembered what had happened; although she had been intoxicated by the drug, the feeling of that intense collision was still imprinted in her mind, and even now, Duan Rong's scent still lingered on her body...

Lv Qingzhu's tears instantly gushed out.

She quickly put on her clothes, picked up the Long Sword from the ground, and walked to Duan Rong's side.

Duan Rong was lying naked on his side on the straw pile, his legs curled up. Lv Qingzhu's eyes flickered, and she saw the Porcelain Bottle by Duan Rong's hand.

Lv Qingzhu could feel something nourishing her dantian in thin, wispy strands; the hidden pain in her dantian due to the exhaustion of True Qi was being neutralized by a touch of coolness.

Lv Qingzhu touched her own mouth; in her hazy memory, it seemed Duan Rong had fed her something.

Although she was not clear what it was, it was undoubtedly something extremely good for her body.

Lv Qingzhu said coldly, "Get up! Stop pretending!"

With a flick of Lv Qingzhu's sword tip, Duan Rong's clothes landed on his body.

Duan Rong sighed lightly, took his clothes, and sat up.

As their eyes met, Lv Qingzhu's face was as cold as frost!

The moment Duan Rong sat up, the sword in her hand was already pointed at Duan Rong's throat.

At Duan Rong's throat, he could already faintly feel the chill from the tip of the sword, but no matter how cold the blade was, it was not as cold as the look in Lv Qingzhu's eyes at this moment.

Duan Rong stared blankly at Lv Qingzhu, without the slightest fear.

Lv Qingzhu looked at Duan Rong's appearance and said angrily, "Do you think I won't kill you?"

Duan Rong's gaze was calm, and he said, "This life of mine belongs to the young lady for the rest of my days. If the young lady wants to take it, just take it."

Lv Qingzhu pursed her lips, the sword in her hand trembling; her heart was clearly undergoing an intense struggle.

In this ruined temple in the wilderness, she had lost her chastity; let alone the person who touched her, even if it were someone who just looked at her, she would kill them all.

From the moment she woke up, she had already decided that no matter what, she had to kill Duan Rong, but now looking at Duan Rong's face, she could not bring herself to thrust this sword.

If Duan Rong had said it was an accident, or knelt on the ground to beg for mercy, she would have killed him. She knew this matter was not Duan Rong's fault, but she could only forget this incident if she killed him. Because, as long as she remembered that the person who had touched her was still alive in this world, she felt ashamed.

But Duan Rong had instead said in a light tone, "If the young lady wants to take it, just take it." This light, airy sentence seemed to have some kind of magical power, piercing through her heart.

Her sword could no longer be thrust!

Lv Qingzhu's lips trembled, and she said, "Duan Rong, from this day forward, I never want to see you again! Let today be the end of it! The day we meet again will be the day I kill you!"

After Lv Qingzhu finished speaking, she sheathed her Long Sword and turned to walk out of the temple.

Duan Rong held the clothes, looked at Lv Qingzhu's back, and muttered, "... The day we meet again will be the day you kill me?... Does that mean we will never meet again?"

In Duan Rong's gaze, a certain pain flickered; Lv Qingzhu's back had already disappeared at the temple entrance, but he still stared at the temple gate...

Duan Rong was stunned for a moment, as if he had only just realized that Lv Qingzhu had left. He looked at the three corpses in the dilapidated temple, his gaze suddenly turned sharp, and he put on his clothes with extreme speed...

A Mo stood by the Official Road, looking at the giant figure standing there amidst the swirling dust.

In terms of stature, A Mo was actually half a head taller than Fan Hanzhou.

It was just that Fan Hanzhou was more burly and sturdy than A Mo.

Fan Hanzhou looked at A Mo, who was like a mountain of flesh, and sneered in disgust, "Someone like you can also be considered a woman? You are simply a monster."

Although Fan Hanzhou was tall and fierce himself, he happened to like petite women.

A Mo furrowed her brows; she had already seen that on the treetops of the dense forest behind Fan Hanzhou, there were several figures, fast as ghosts, leaping and flying in various directions...

A Mo's mind worked like lightning; this ambush seemed to be prepared, just like the person standing in front of her, who was clearly a fellow who practiced hard-body techniques just like her.

A Mo did not believe this was a coincidence!

"Then, what about the young lady?"

A Mo understood in an instant that she must resolve this person in front of her as quickly as possible and go find the young lady. Because, in this situation, the young lady might be in danger.

Fan Hanzhou saw his cold mockery, but A Mo only looked at the treetops behind him, treating his words as nothing more than wind passing by her ears.

Fan Hanzhou naturally knew who those people were, rustling and moving in the dense forest behind him, and A Mo looked at the movement of those figures with an even more solemn expression.

Fan Hanzhou said angrily, "You can't even save yourself, yet you're still worrying about other people's affairs!"

As Fan Hanzhou spoke, he clenched his fists like buckets, took two large steps, then suddenly leaped, and a great punch smashed toward A Mo.

Fan Hanzhou's massive figure made the earth shake as if there were an earthquake.

A Mo's eyes narrowed; she stood as still as a deep pool or a towering mountain. Only when Fan Hanzhou approached did she suddenly shift her body to the side, turned one hand into a palm, and with a movement that looked slow but was actually fast, slapped her palm onto Fan Hanzhou's fist, then with a flick and a pull, she flung Fan Hanzhou away.

Fan Hanzhou's form became chaotic, and A Mo immediately leaped to attack. Her fist shadows were as large as buckets and as dense as rain, flickering all around Fan Hanzhou. With every punch that landed, the sound of metal and stone clashing rang out.

A burst of fist shadows, clanging and ringing, sounded like a pile of blunt objects colliding.

In his haste, Fan Hanzhou used his fists to meet the punches, only blocking seventy percent of the fist shadows, while the remaining thirty percent landed all over his body.

Finally, A Mo landed a heavy punch on Fan Hanzhou's chest, sending him flying backward.

Fan Hanzhou's mountain-like figure snapped a large pine tree, and amidst the swirling dust, he smashed into the ground, creating a large pit in the wild land beside the Official Road.

Fan Hanzhou clapped his hands together, jumped up, and looked at A Mo not far away with a fearful expression.

In their first exchange, they had traded more than twenty punches; by now, both of them were drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

In the end, it was A Mo who caught Fan Hanzhou's opening and sent him flying with a punch.

A Mo's hands could not stop trembling, and her eyes were fixed firmly on Fan Hanzhou.

Fan Hanzhou's state was even worse; his fists were already a bloody mess, and the white bone on his knuckles was completely exposed, smooth as mutton-fat jade, with not even a shred of flesh left on it; the entire flesh on his knuckles had been ground away.

Moreover, his chest was also sunken in a large area, and he choked up a mouthful of blood, which clearly contained bits of flesh.

Fan Hanzhou stared at A Mo's fists; he hadn't looked closely before, but now he could see that A Mo's two fists were faintly flashing with a bronze-like metallic luster.

The Zhelong Art he practiced was also a hard-body martial art, and he knew better than anyone what that meant.

At this moment, his contempt for A Mo had vanished completely, leaving only eyes full of fear.

Fan Hanzhou's mind stirred, and dense blood threads began to squirm and interweave on his knuckles and chest. In less than a breath, Fan Hanzhou's knuckles had recovered as before.

A Mo looked at the squirming blood threads on Fan Hanzhou's fists, and the solemnity in her eyes grew even more intense.

"Tainted Blood Demon?"

A Mo felt that the person in front of her was truly quite thorny.

The realm of Fan Hanzhou's hard-body martial art was naturally not as high as A Mo's, but it was not weak either, and coupled with his healing method from the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

He could just wear A Mo down and see who would be the one to fail to hold on and exhaust their strength first.

A Mo felt a bit anxious; if they kept wearing each other down like this, how could she go find Lv Qingzhu?

Since she was young, A Mo had been instilled with the concept that Lv Qingzhu's safety was more important than her own life.

Fan Hanzhou looked at A Mo, also feeling bitter in his heart; how could there be such a high-realm hard-body Martial Artist in such a remote and isolated place?

If it weren't for the next level of the Filthy Blood Divine Art, he would have wanted to burrow into the ground and flee right now!

A Mo's heart suddenly stirred, and her gaze locked tightly onto Fan Hanzhou's head.

The young lady often chatted with her about the Taiyi Sect and the Filthy Blood Divine Art. She remembered one point: the blood threads of the Filthy Blood Divine Art could not invade a person's brain.

Even if an arm were severed, as long as one's internal energy was sufficient, it could be regrown immediately, but if the head were lost, one would still die!

"The head!?"

A Mo's gaze narrowed, fixing on Fan Hanzhou's square face and large head.

A Mo leaped, closed in again, and threw a punch at Fan Hanzhou.

Fan Hanzhou did not dare to take it head-on this time and immediately dodged to the side. He had already thought of a strategy: he only needed to drag A Mo out until Xueseng Wuxiang and Ge Qingchuan resolved their opponents and came to support him in surrounding A Mo. He alone could definitely not kill A Mo.

He was almost certain that the person in front of him was definitely the most formidable opponent on the entire field!

But Fan Hanzhou still underestimated A Mo; not only was his strength inferior to A Mo's, but his speed and agility were also inferior to A Mo's.

Just as he dodged to the side, A Mo's fist shadows flashed, smashing toward his waist.

Fan Hanzhou had no choice but to use offense as defense, smashing a fist toward A Mo's chest, and A Mo retracted her fist to protect herself; the two's fist shadows collided instantly.

The sounds of metal and stone clashing rang out densely!

A layer of cold sweat seeped from Fan Hanzhou's forehead; his bucket-sized fists were reduced to bare, protruding bones after a few breaths.

A Mo struck Fan Hanzhou until his breathing was chaotic, then suddenly darted, leaping behind Fan Hanzhou; with a ruthless look in her eyes, the moment she flashed over, she abruptly raised her foot and kicked Fan Hanzhou in the buttocks.

To cope with A Mo's fist shadows, Fan Hanzhou's breathing was already disordered; at this moment, being suddenly kicked in the buttocks by A Mo, his mountain-like body abruptly flew horizontally through the air.

While Fan Hanzhou was in mid-air, his body off-balance, A Mo patted his shoulder, causing his head and shoulders to tilt slightly downward in mid-air, and then she abruptly struck a punch onto the crown of his head!

Fan Hanzhou was knocked flying a distance; A Mo's figure flashed, she pressed down on his shoulder again, and then smashed a punch into his crown.

The most formidable thing about A Mo was not her hard-body training, nor her strength and speed, but her precise grasp of power and the human body.

At this time, Fan Hanzhou's mountain-like body was controlled by her in mid-air, and she smashed punch after punch into his head.

When A Mo threw the second punch, Fan Hanzhou's vision went black; with heavy punches like that landing on his crown, he could not even withstand the concussive force alone.

Fan Hanzhou was in mid-air, clutching his head with both hands, but A Mo turned a blind eye, still smashing punch after punch into his crown; that concussive force continued to batter his brains.

He wanted to change his posture in the air, but A Mo patted his shoulder, and the bones throughout his body collided like levers, causing him to strangely return to his original position.

A Mo threw ten punches in a row; Fan Hanzhou's scalp was a bloody mess, and the repeated concussive force had already shaken his consciousness into a blur, causing him to lose control of his bowels.

The skull he had forged through the Zhelong Art, though showing bare, glistening bone and covered in blood, had taken A Mo's ten punches head-on and remained intact.

The skull was clearly harder than the fists; after ten punches, blood cracks had already split open on A Mo's right fist.

A Mo finished her flurry in one breath and took a deep inhalation; at this juncture, Fan Hanzhou clutched his head and rolled on the spot, landing on the ground.

Fan Hanzhou's consciousness was blurred, but the desire to survive was an instinct; the moment he touched the ground, he immediately prepared to execute the Zhelong Art to burrow into the earth.

At this moment, he feared A Mo like a god or ghost; where was there even a shred of fighting spirit left?

But the instant he burrowed into the ground, A Mo suddenly jumped and landed, her two large feet inserting into the earth like blades up to the middle of her calves; she bent over, reached out, and grabbed hold of Fan Hanzhou beneath the ground.

A Mo's large hand, like iron pincers gripping a gourd, seized Fan Hanzhou's skull and pulled him out from the underground.

A Mo's ferocity was fully unleashed, and she smashed punch after punch into Fan Hanzhou's crown.

A Mo's face was splattered with blood, the muscles on her face twitching, looking as fierce and terrifying as a ghost.

The cracks on Fan Hanzhou's skull were as dense as a spiderweb, with white paste faintly seeping out.

His brains had already been shaken into a thin paste by A Mo; he was dead beyond any doubt...

(End of this chapter)