Chapter 97: Blood Crimson Nethe Awakens

This time it slept quite long enough.

It's been sleeping for a whole day and night.

But although it was in a state of deep slumber, its body had undergone changes.

Its original body wasn't even as tall as an adult's palm.

On the tiny stem grew five fragile little round leaves that seemed as if they'd snap off with a single shake.

But ever since it devoured that mother worm, even now in its slumber, Blood Crimson Nethe's body had grown.

It had gone straight from the sprouting stage into the growth stage.

The most obvious sign was that it had grown taller, and sturdier too.

The stem had grown taller — a full chi high — and had even sprouted two branches. The leaves had multiplied to over a dozen.

Moreover, fine, dense little thorns had grown on its stem and branches.

The tips of the thorns gleamed with a metallic sharpness; one look and you could tell those little thorns would definitely sting.

From a palm-sized little speck, it had transformed into a chi-tall young sapling. This little fellow's change could truly be called a complete rebirth.

Su Jin sensed Blood Crimson Nethe's current state.

She felt this little fellow didn't need to be woken; at the latest by tomorrow morning it would wake on its own.

So she decided not to wake it for now.

Su Jin now felt the blood in her meridians beginning to flow too fast.

It seemed her Body Tempering realm was about to break through to the second layer.

She returned to her room, picked up the Earth Core Blueberry Dew, and headed to the Spirit Spring Room.

Su Hua had long since begun closed-door cultivation in the outer chamber of the Spirit Spring Room.

Su Jin tiptoed past without disturbing her, walked through the little corridor, and went into the inner chamber.

She first poured herself two small bowls of Earth Core Blueberry Dew, then worried it wouldn't be enough and poured another bowl. Then she began her proper closed-door breakthrough.

She first drank down one bowl, then charged at the second-layer barrier.

She had to admit, hearing people say so-and-so broke through so easily, she thought she could do it too. After all, breaking through the first layer had been quite easy for her.

And then reality gave her a harsh lesson.

Nearly an hour had passed, the efficacy of one bowl of spirit dew gradually waning, and her breakthrough was still stuck.

Not the slightest sign of breaking through.

Su Jin: "..." She directly downed the second bowl.

Another hour passed, still stuck.

Su Jin truly felt tormented, thinking to herself: so my Body Tempering aptitude is actually this poor!

She thought it over and over, then directly poured another bowl of spirit dew and downed two bowls at once.

This time she finally caught that sliver of opportunity for breakthrough, seized the chance, and broke through in one go.

After breaking through to Body Tempering second layer, Su Jin stabilized her cultivation a bit more, then opened her eyes — the sky was already faintly bright.

Breaking through one Body Tempering second layer, and I actually didn't sleep the whole night.

What a blow to the spirit!!

Su Jin didn't say it out loud, but deep down she had always felt her talent was quite good. At least compared to Su Wuji, even if there was a gap, it shouldn't be by much.

But this breakthrough to Body Tempering second layer had directly slapped her in the face.

Back when she broke through Body Tempering first layer, she casually drank one bowl of spirit dew and broke through. Now she needed four bowls to break through.

If it weren't for the spirit dew, she had no idea how long she'd be stuck at Body Tempering second layer.

Trying to grind away the bottleneck bit by bit on her own, she probably couldn't finish in a few months.

This was also why students with abundant resources could break through realm after realm, while those with scarce resources could only slowly grind through their barriers.

Spending too much time grinding through low-level barriers leaves less time for breaking through to greater realms later. If you haven't broken through to a greater realm and your lifespan is already exhausted, that kind of tragedy could very well happen to you.

So the students in the clan school competed for every second during low-level cultivation.

Striving to break through realms as early as possible!

Su Jin glanced at the morning sun, and left the Spirit Spring Room with the little pot. She returned the little pot containing the remaining Earth Core Blueberry Dew spirit liquid to her room, then went to the back courtyard.

She felt that by now, Blood Crimson Nethe should have already woken up.

And indeed Blood Crimson Nethe had truly woken.

"Ancestor?" A clear, childish boy's voice went straight into Su Jin's ears.

This time it wasn't telepathy.

"Blood Crimson Nethe, you can talk now." The moment Su Jin arrived at the back courtyard, Blood Crimson Nethe burrowed out of the ground and hopped onto Su Jin's left shoe.

Su Jin quickly scooped Blood Crimson Nethe up and held it in her arms.

Anyway, Blood Crimson Nethe had thorns, but they wouldn't prick her.

Blood Crimson Nethe's thorns would go soft the moment they touched Su Jin's body. They wouldn't pierce her skin at all.

"Ancestor, I can talk now."

"Blood Crimson Nethe, how did you suddenly learn to talk?" Su Jin asked curiously.

"I can make sound by vibrating my belly." Blood Crimson Nethe held up one branch and patted its own stem. It even let Su Jin see the stem at that spot vibrating slightly as it spoke. "Humans can produce sound by vibrating their vocal cords; we can also vibrate the stems at certain special spots.

The stem at this spot is like a vocal organ that grew out of my body."

"Then Blood Crimson Nethe, why didn't you just vibrate your belly to make sound before?" Su Jin asked curiously.

"I didn't know how to do any of that before either. Isn't it because I ate that Bai Bai worm — after eating it, I grew a vocal organ, and then I could talk too." Blood Crimson Nethe honestly reported to its ancestor.

Blood Crimson Nethe thought: thanks for the great contribution, worm, for letting me, Blood Crimson Nethe, learn to talk too.

The moment a certain worm was mentioned, Su Jin felt something was a bit odd.

Who could have imagined that a mother worm would be fed to Blood Xue Chiluo just like that?

"Blood Xue Chiluo, that incredibly tasty worm you ate — would you like to eat more?"

"Is there more?" Blood Xue Chiluo was instantly intrigued. "I feel like if I eat a few more white worms, I can grow even bigger. Right now I'm only just a little shorter than my red-ginseng brothers. Not like before, when I was so much shorter that I was almost afraid to face them."

"There is, but I can't give them to you for now. You have to help me find a place called the Worm Nest for one of my brothers first. Once you find the place and lead them there, you can eat plenty of delicious things. Even better than that plump white worm you ate." Su Jin said.

"Is the Worm Nest easy to find?" Blood Xue Chiluo hurriedly asked.

"I don't know about that. It should be easy to find — if it weren't, they wouldn't have come to borrow you. After all, you've only been hatched for a few days, what skill could you possibly have?" Su Jin said.

Blood Xue Chiluo: No matter how small I am, I'm still a Blood Xue Chiluo. Grandpa, I don't like hearing you say that.

"So when you go along to help, if you run into danger, run right away. Don't hesitate at all — no matter who tells you to stay, don't stay. Just run." Su Jin said earnestly, stroking Blood Xue Chiluo as she instructed.

"Mm-hm. Then I'll go along and take a look. If I can find that place called the Worm Nest, I'll lead them there. If I can't, I'll head home early." Blood Xue Chiluo said.