Chapter 273: Vampire

Meng Yifan still had one portion of Demon Essence Liquid in his hand, enough to temper the body of only one person. He considered it for a moment and finally decided to concentrate his resources and prioritize the cultivation of Zhang Butou.

Because there was a battalion of ghost soldiers inside the Ghost Head Blade, and Zhang Butou was the leader of these ghost soldiers, increasing his strength would allow him to better lead the ghost soldiers in battle.

For instance, a Fourth-Grade Powerhouse would possess a Domain; if Zhang Butou advanced to the Fourth Grade, the other ghost soldiers could hide within Zhang Butou's Domain and would be able to come out and fight even in broad daylight.

Seeing Meng Shuangdao break through to the Fourth Grade—not only gaining a massive increase in strength but also being able to live under the sunlight as if reborn—Zhang Butou was incredibly envious.

Zhang Butou possessed a Yin Soul Body; after being struck by electricity, the pain acted directly upon his Divine Soul Origin, making it even more unbearable than it would be for a Zombie Body. However, for the sake of advancing to the Fourth Grade and living a new life, he gritted his teeth and endured the electric shocks.

From 220V, 380V, to 660V, and one thousand volts, the voltage gradually increased. Zhang Butou was in pain yet happy; his soul body trembled at every moment, the electricity leaving his Divine Soul dazed. The pain acting upon the Divine Soul was far more intense than pain acting upon the physical body.

At times, Zhang Butou was shocked into a state of blurred consciousness and nearly had his soul scattered. In that split second, he truly wanted to give up, but in order to become powerful, he gritted his teeth and persisted.

With the continuous electric shocks, wisps of vitality also began to emerge within Zhang Butou's Divine Soul, making his soul become somewhat different—there was Yang within the Yin, and it was transforming toward a Yang Soul.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Meng Yifan brought Zhang Butou to another secret chamber to assist him in absorbing the Nine Nether Evil Qi and the Demon Essence Liquid.

Unlike when Meng Shuangdao absorbed the Nine Nether Evil Qi and Demon Essence Liquid, Zhang Butou possessed a Yin Soul Body, which could gather or disperse without form and lacked a physical body of its own. Absorbing the Nine Nether Evil Qi was simple—he just had to merge it directly into his Yin Soul Body. However, the Demon Essence Liquid was a physical substance, and it was not easy to merge it into Zhang Butou's illusory Yin Soul Body.

Meng Yifan found a new path, directly using alchemy methods to refine the Demon Essence Liquid into a gas, then merging it with the Nine Nether Evil Qi for Zhang Butou to absorb.

Zhang Butou greedily devoured the mixed gas. He could feel that with every mouthful he swallowed, his soul body became more solid. This process of being able to clearly feel his own growth was truly wonderful; it felt almost ethereal.

Zhang Butou felt great. The electric shocks had caused him agonizing pain, but absorbing the mixed gas now made him feel very comfortable, just like soaking in a hot spring during the coldest days of winter, eating iced watermelon during the hottest days of summer, or being a bridegroom on his wedding night—this feeling was beyond words.

Meng Yifan left Zhang Butou in the secret chamber to devour the Nine Nether Evil Qi and Demon Essence Liquid, and he took Kong Sanqiang to the hospital located in the south of the city.

Having experienced several major battles, there were many wounded soldiers in Luolong County, all of whom were housed in the hospital in the south of the city. The director of the hospital was Liu Zhongyong.

Liu Zhongyong was not only skilled at making poisons, but his medical skills were also highly advanced. With him as the director, leading the doctors gathered from Luolong County to save lives and heal the wounded, he had saved many soldiers who had come down from the battlefield.

However, even in a modern hospital, many patients die every day without being cured. Likewise, in Liu Zhongyong's hospital, there were also many patients who could not be saved.

"Lord Meng, have you brought the medical equipment you mentioned last time?" Seeing Meng Yifan, Liu Zhongyong stood up excitedly.

The last time Meng Yifan came to the hospital, he saw that many soldiers were dying from excessive blood loss and suggested that they should give the soldiers blood transfusions, which might save them. This had made Liu Zhongyong's eyes light up.

The medical arts of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty were, on the whole, similar to the ancient traditional medicine of Earth, using the principles of the Five Elements Mutual Generation and Restraint of Yin and Yang to guide the treatment of illnesses and the saving of lives.

This method could treat both the symptoms and the root cause, but the speed of its effectiveness was somewhat slow. While Western medicine also had many drawbacks, it was fast-acting, making it far superior to traditional medicine for emergency treatment on the battlefield.

Upon hearing that blood transfusions could save lives, Liu Zhongyong wanted to immediately start performing them on the soldiers. Meng Yifan hurriedly stopped him; one had to know that humans had five blood types, and if the wrong blood were transfused, it would not be saving a life, but harming one.

"Uncle Liu, this is a Microscope; it can observe cellular tissue. These are Glass Slides; you can use them to test human blood types. Humans have Type Jia, Type Yi, Type Bing, Type Ding, and Type Wu—these five blood types. You must not transfuse the wrong one. These are blood transfusion devices, and these are Western medical texts."

Meng Yifan took a pile of medical equipment and some basic Western medical guidebooks out of his Space Ring and handed them to Liu Zhongyong.

"A Microscope?" Liu Zhongyong was stunned for a moment, then followed Meng Yifan's instructions to observe a specimen using the microscope.

"This is?" Liu Zhongyong looked in disbelief at the clear cellular tissue in his field of view. He had never imagined that living things were composed of these cells invisible to the naked eye.

"A divine tool; this microscope is a divine tool for those who study medicine." Liu Zhongyong clicked his tongue in wonder. Like a child who had received a beloved toy, he kept looking at one cell specimen after another, even scraping off a small piece of his own skin to place under the microscope to view.

A single microscope opened a door to the microscopic world for Liu Zhongyong, which was extremely important for his medical research.

Liu Zhongyong went off to study the microscope and the Western medical texts, while Meng Yifan took three critically injured soldiers who were on the verge of death and could not be saved to another separate ward.

"Try it, see if your blood can also turn them into vampires," Meng Yifan said.

Kong Sanqiang nodded, bit into the neck of the first wounded soldier with the fangs in his mouth, and as his internal Blood Core vibrated, a stream of deep red, viscous blood entered the soldier's body.

After a minute, the soldier suddenly acted as if he had been electrocuted; his body convulsed violently, he foamed at the mouth, his veins bulged, and he wailed in agony.

At the same time, the soldier's body was also undergoing rapid changes. First, his teeth grew longer and longer, sprouting curved fangs, and the nails on his hands and feet also grew rapidly, turning into sharp claws.

Furthermore, the fist-sized hole in his stomach was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Three minutes later, the hole in the soldier's stomach was as good as new, and even more surprisingly, this critically injured, dying soldier miraculously stood up.

However, at this moment, the soldier had two-inch-long fangs and sharp claws; he was no longer human, but had become a vampire.

This newly created vampire looked at Kong Sanqiang with gratitude, as if looking at his own parents who had given him a second life.

His gaze was filled with the dependence of a child upon a parent.

Looking at this vampire, Kong Sanqiang also felt as if he were looking at his own child; they shared a blood connection and could already be considered kin whose blood was thicker than water.

"First Grade High Stage vampire," Meng Yifan murmured. This soldier had originally been a First Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist; now, after being transformed into a vampire, his strength had increased by one level, becoming a First Grade High Stage vampire.