Chapter 126

In the dense forest, a group of six walked silently through it.

The slanting sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting orange-red patches of light upon them.

All six wore black hooded robes, each bearing a large crimson moon emblem on their backs.

The middle-aged man at the front held a black device in his arms.

Faint red light flickered across the device, guiding their path.

"Archbishop, whose divine blood are we retrieving this time?"

One of them asked the man at the forefront.

"The blood of the Ancient Dragon God," the lead man replied coolly.

"It's the Dragon God's blood!"

The speaker's expression turned fervent. "Once we obtain this divine blood, our Celestial Fate Church will gain another powerful Divine Blood Emissary!"

Hearing this, the others nearby showed signs of eagerness.

Once a person is detected as highly compatible with divine blood,

after absorbing it, they can instantly rise to become a Divine Blood Emissary with immense power within the church!

"Silence! We are the Crimson Moon Church!"

The middle-aged man's face turned icy. "If I hear any of you mispronounce our church's name again, I'll kill you on the spot!"

The Archbishop was a man of his word—he killed whoever he said he would.

The remaining five immediately grew solemn and nodded quickly:

"Yes!"

Hum—

At that moment, the faint light on the Archbishop's device suddenly surged, turning a deep crimson!

It dyed the dim forest around them a vivid red.

"Has the divine blood emerged prematurely?"

The lead Archbishop's expression changed slightly; he had no time to wonder why.

After a quick glance at the device, he said swiftly:

"The location is not far—only about eight hours' travel.

No rest tonight. Full speed ahead!"

Under the Archbishop's lead, the group moved swiftly through the dense forest, gradually vanishing into the distance.

On the other side,

by the pond, facing an overwhelming craving that appeared out of nowhere,

Xu Jingming suppressed it deep within his mind with sheer willpower.

"Could this bloodwater be some unknown heavenly treasure?"

Xu Jingming frowned slightly.

Some heavenly treasures, condensed from the essence of heaven and earth, did trigger instinctive bodily reactions in humans.

"What's going on? The pond water turned blood-red?!"

Song Qiuyun also noticed this astonishing sight and hurried forward.

"I just used Purple Thunder Divine Lightning to cleanse the pond water, and suddenly it changed."

Xu Jingming gave a brief explanation, then, feeling the growing craving within him, asked unconsciously:

"Qiuyun, can you feel this bloodwater pulling at you?"

"Pulling at me? No."

Song Qiuyun shook her head, crouched by the pond, and gazed into the water with beautiful eyes:

"But according to the feedback from my A-rank ability, Dawn Light, this bloodwater carries a strong beast aura.

And it's somewhat similar to the peculiar beast aura on your body..."

"Similar to my aura?"

Xu Jingming immediately thought of the SS-rank, eighth-rank Lower-tier Thunder Tyrant blood he had absorbed.

"Could this also be the blood of a dragon-type beast? That's why I'm reacting?"

Xu Jingming lowered his head in thought.

If that were the case, absorbing this bloodwater would bring him benefits, not harm.

Feeling the growing hunger in his body, Xu Jingming no longer hesitated:

"Qiuyun, I'm going in. If anything's wrong, pull me out immediately!"

After speaking, he stepped directly into the pond.

Splash—

The instant Xu Jingming entered the pond, the entire water seemed to boil!

Streams of crimson blood surged toward him like serpents!

His body, like a traveler parched for ten days and nights in the desert finding clean water, greedily absorbed the blood!

And Xu Jingming himself felt an intense sense of comfort.

Soon, he didn't even notice his consciousness gradually growing hazy...

Around his body, blue-purple lightning flickered.

Endless streams of blood wrapped around him, eventually forming a massive crimson cocoon that fully enveloped Xu Jingming!

All of this happened in the blink of an eye; by the time Song Qiuyun reacted,

only the crimson cocoon remained beside the pond.

"Jingming?"

Song Qiuyun blinked, seeing no response from the cocoon, and furrowed her delicate brows.

"It seems Jingming has encountered his own opportunity—and it appears he can't be moved..."

Glancing at the bloodwater still flowing steadily into the cocoon, Song Qiuyun looked up at the darkening sky.

She tightened her Heavenly Battle Spear in hand, her beautiful eyes narrowing, and silently guarded before the cocoon.

Night passed quickly.

When the first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the clouds and fell upon the ground,

more than a dozen beast corpses lay before Song Qiuyun at the pond's edge.

The once blood-red pond water had been filtered, now only faintly tinged red.

"Good. The strongest beast that appeared last night was only eighth-rank Lower-tier."

Song Qiuyun dared not lower her right hand's Heavenly Battle Spear, only using her left to wipe the sweat from her brow.

All night, she had maintained peak concentration.

In the pitch-black night, she dared not unleash her ability freely.

Otherwise, activating her A-rank ability, Dawn Light,

its sun-like radiance would have drawn every beast in the vicinity.

Thus, last night's battle had been unusually grueling.

Especially that eighth-rank Lower-tier Rhinoceros—she had spent over half an hour to defeat it.

"Thankfully, this isn't the Central Zone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lasted an hour last night."

Song Qiuyun turned to look at the pond, its color growing ever paler, and a smile of relief appeared on her face:

"It seems Jingming's transformation is about to end..."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

At that moment, six black figures emerged from the forest.

"Hmm?"

The lead Archbishop immediately spotted the crimson cocoon by the pond and frowned.

This wasn't his first time retrieving divine blood—why was it taking this form?

His gaze swept over the scene and landed on Song Qiuyun, standing by the pond with wary eyes.

"She's... the second-ranked student of Devil's College?"

The Archbishop recognized Song Qiuyun's identity, and his confusion deepened.

What's going on? Why is a Devil's College freshman here?

"There are no beasts here, and the water is contaminated. If you need water, I suggest you go elsewhere."

Song Qiuyun watched the six men with sharp suspicion.

As the eldest daughter of the Song family, she knew well that in the Wild Zone, threats weren't limited to beasts.

"That is the supreme divine blood! How dare you call it 'contaminated'!"

One of the men reacted as if insulted, his emotions flaring.

"Ignore her. Take the cocoon behind her!" the Archbishop ordered sternly.

Their mission's sole objective was the divine blood.

As for this Devil's College prodigy—if they encountered her, they'd deal with her afterward.

"Yes!"

The remaining five bowed respectfully, drew their weapons, and advanced toward Song Qiuyun.

Damn it!

This group had come specifically for that peculiar bloodwater!

Song Qiuyun saw this and immediately felt overwhelmed—the leader of these six was a fourth-rank adept.

The weakest of the remaining five were all mid-third-rank; she had no chance against them!

"I don't have time to worry about that!"

Song Qiuyun bit her red lips lightly and brushed her slender fingers across the necklace at her neck!

BOOM!!!

The necklace blazed with light, and as powerful energy surged forth, a massive energy shield rapidly expanded!

Enveloping both Song Qiuyun and Xu Jingming's blood cocoon!

A man in black robes swung his blade at it.

The result? He was violently thrown backward several steps, his face filled with shock:

"What is this?"

"A protective talisman from an ancient civilization's ruins?"

The bishop's eyes gleamed with greed.

Such protective talismans were exceedingly rare—only found in ancient civilization ruins.

They could be reused multiple times.

Each activation generated a shield capable of withstanding several fatal strikes from high-rank adepts.

It was essentially a life-saving artifact!

"If you know what this is, why aren't you leaving? Wasting your time here?"

Song Qiuyun snorted coldly.

"Heh, from what I know, protective talismans have a limited duration.

We're not in a hurry—we can wait here a while longer."

The bishop's face twisted into a mocking smile, and he sat down on the spot with the remaining five.

As if prepared to wait indefinitely.

"Then go ahead and wait!"

Song Qiuyun feigned indifference on the surface, but inside, she was frantic.

They were right—the talisman could last at most an hour and a half.

After its duration ended, it required twelve hours of cooldown before reuse.

She also had another special artifact from the ancient ruins: a space rune stone.

When activated, it could teleport up to three people a hundred li away.

But Xu Jingming's blood cocoon was too large—her rune stone couldn't carry it along!

And with Xu Jingming's current state, she dared not interrupt him.

So Song Qiuyun could only hope Xu Jingming would awaken within this final hour.

But things did not unfold as she had imagined.

An hour and a half later, the shield vanished under the sunlight, yet Xu Jingming still had not stepped out of the giant cocoon...

"I told you—the shield has a time limit."

The bishop grinned greedily and led the five toward Song Qiuyun:

"I advise you to be sensible—hand over the talisman first, or I guarantee you'll die a terrible death."

Facing the six advancing figures, Song Qiuyun's expression turned grim; she drew from her space ring a third-grade Blood-Explosion Pill.

Simultaneously, her A-rank ability, Dawnlight, erupted violently from her slender frame, pushed to its limit...

Yet just as Song Qiuyun was about to launch her final desperate battle, a deep, powerful voice rang out through the cocoon.

Echoing across the open ground, lingering without fading.

"Is that so? I feel it's you who will be the one dying."