Chapter 254

Watching eleven bloody octopuses suddenly appear beside him, Su Hao furrowed his brow, tightly gripping the death scythe emitting a cold light in his hand.

He knew well that in this unknown environment, fighting the enemy was not wise, especially when the enemy was hidden while he was exposed.

Without much hesitation, he immediately activated the skill inherent to his Blood Wolf Robe—Blood Wolf Extreme Speed.

Blood Wolf Extreme Speed has two effects: first, simply wearing the Blood Wolf Robe grants Su Hao a large speed boost even without activating the skill, making his movements more swift and agile.

And when Su Hao focuses his mental power and fully activates Blood Wolf Extreme Speed, his speed can increase further, allowing him to cover tens of meters in a single step—utterly effortless.

If Su Hao is surrounded by a large amount of blood, the effect of Blood Wolf Extreme Speed can be further enhanced, making his speed even faster, almost like teleportation.

When Su Hao constructs a specific rune and fully triggers Blood Wolf Extreme Speed, his body is enveloped by a blade of blood light, as if merging with the blood lake below.

Only a flash of his figure was seen as he turned into a blood-colored streak, streaking across the surface of the blood lake.

However, at that moment, the eleven bloody octopuses suddenly reacted.

They waved their massive tentacles, forming a huge net that descended upon Su Hao like a blanket covering the sky and earth.

At the same time, they manipulated the surrounding blood water, forming a hundred-meter-high wave, attempting to trap Su Hao within the blood lake.

Faced with this sudden interception, Su Hao did not panic.

His flesh was formidable; merely relying on Third Tier bloody octopuses could not break through his defense at all.

If it weren't for his worry that unknown powerful enemies lurked in the blood lake, killing these eleven bloody octopuses would be a trivial task.

"Bye-bye!"

Su Hao chuckled lightly, ignoring the bloody octopuses' fellow attacks, relying on the speed advantage of Blood Wolf Extreme Speed, he turned into a blade of blood light, smashing the octopuses' tentacles and blood waves, and broke out of their encirclement.

"Roar——!"

Watching the blade of blood light that Su Hao's body had become vanish without a trace in an instant, the bloody octopuses let out an unwilling roar.

Their massive bodies floated on the lake surface, frantically slapping the water, kicking up waves several meters high.

Although they did not witness Su Hao instantly slaying a bloody octopus, recalling his astonishing speed still left them deeply shocked.

These bloody octopuses had dominated this blood lake for a long time, never having encountered such a formidable opponent.

All along, it had been them who killed enemies; who could slay a bloody octopus in the blood lake and then easily escape their siege?

That terrifying speed was something they had never seen, even beyond comprehension.

Watching the direction Su Hao departed, they waved their massive tentacles, trying to locate his trail again to avenge their fallen brethren.

However, all this was in vain; they didn't even catch a glimpse of Su Hao's shadow…

On the other side, Su Hao had already left the blood lake's range, turning into a blade of blood light; after a short while he arrived at a secluded cave several li away, standing at the cave's entrance with his hands clasped behind his back, brow furrowed, gazing toward the distant blood lake.

The mystery and danger of the blood lake sparked his curiosity; after careful consideration, he did not simply leave.

Within this blood lake, some secret is clearly hidden; at the very least, the bloody octopuses themselves lack the ability to teleport via vortices.

Su Hao's own abilities are closely tied to blood; if he could obtain the secret in the blood lake that lets the bloody octopuses teleport, it would greatly enhance his power.

This would not only increase Su Hao's mobility and combat strength, but combined with Blood Wolf Extreme Speed, it would further improve his survivability.

However, given the situation where the enemy is hidden while he is exposed, Su Hao does not intend to personally risk entering the blood lake; he decided to use Pale Wraiths to explore it.

Pale Wraiths are numerous, and their summoning cost is basically negligible; even if they all died, Su Hao would not feel sorry.

Moreover, having many of them is more advantageous for exploration; if Su Hao were to explore alone, efficiency would actually be lower.

As long as there are enough Pale Wraiths, they can thoroughly search every inch of the blood lake's ground in a short time, seeking the hidden secret.

If that secret's supernatural power is at the Fourth Tier, then that secret belongs to Su Hao.

If that secret's supernatural power exceeds the Fourth Tier, then these Pale Wraiths would merely be a gift to that secret, and he would leave the Calamity Swamp without looking back.

However, he had no intention of recalling the other Pale Wraiths scattered throughout the Calamity Swamp.

Although Su Hao's main purpose for this trip has already been fulfilled, this vast expanse of the Calamity Swamp before him is undoubtedly a treasure worth exploring.

He clearly understood that once the monastery issue is resolved, conquering the Dark Forest is merely a matter of time.

After he incorporates the Dark Forest into his territory, if he wishes to continue expanding his influence, he must march into other regions.

Now, he has already set foot in the Calamity Swamp—this is an excellent opportunity to explore this region.

Even if he cannot fully conquer this place this time, he can still learn about the land through exploration, laying a solid foundation for future conquest.

Immediately, Su Hao felt a stir; through his mental power, he first issued a withdrawal order to the Pale Wraiths in the blood pool.

Next, he commanded the Pale Wraiths distributed throughout the Calamity Swamp to, during their exploration, draft a simple map.

Although Pale Wraiths are merely summoned entities, each possesses Third Tier supernatural strength and a certain degree of intelligence.

For them, drawing a simple map is hardly a difficult task.

However, one thing that leaves Su Hao quite helpless is that these Pale Wraiths cannot actively transmit information to him via mental power in real time, which undoubtedly makes the exploration process more inefficient.

"I can only send them simple one-way commands, but cannot receive any feedback from them—this is somewhat troublesome…"

"If they could communicate with me bidirectionally, it would be much more convenient."

Su Hao shook his head, his expression slightly regretful.

This thought flashed through his mind, and Su Hao immediately thought of a possible solution.

"When I return next time, I'll see if Ling'er can develop a communication device; if so, it would solve this problem."

After arranging these matters, Su Hao turned and walked toward the mechanical troop transport parked nearby.

This place is still too close to the blood lake; it is not safe, so he needs to temporarily leave.

Thus, he activated the ship and flew toward the central region of the Calamity Swamp.

After over an hour of flight, Su Hao finally returned to the vicinity of the original cave, parking the mechanical troop transport on an open space nearby.

During this time, he summoned hundreds of Pale Wraiths, intending to use them to explore the blood lake.

However, now is not the best time. The Pale Wraiths in the blood lake have not yet fully withdrawn, and the number currently summoned is not enough.

Since the cost of summoning these Pale Wraiths is minuscule, Su Hao does not worry about their loss.

He plans to wait until he summons about five thousand or more Pale Wraiths, then throw them all into the blood lake at once.

While the unknown expert in the lake had not yet reacted, he could quickly grasp the secret of Blood Lake and swiftly and thoroughly investigate its situation.

To avoid alerting that unknown expert, we must absolutely not startle the snake.

Subsequently, Su Hao left the mechanical transport ship in place as bait.

He himself quickly entered the cave, took out the corpse of the previously slain Blood Octopus from his Storage Bag, applied the Item Refining Technique to it, and wrapped it in a blood-red light sphere.

Now Su Hao's mental power has reached Supernatural Fourth Rank; even if the proficiency of the Synthesis Heart hasn't increased, the refining speed is faster than before.

In a short while, the blood-red light sphere burst into dazzling light and then dissipated.

The massive corpse of the Blood Octopus had vanished, leaving only two differently shaped objects on the ground.

One of them is an irregular sphere formed by combining nine hearts, overall deep red, its surface covered with winding blood vessels that intertwine to form a complex network.

These nine small hearts are not simply piled together; they are interconnected via those winding blood vessels, forming a unique and irregular whole.

Each small heart beats like a living organism, maintaining its own rhythm yet harmoniously responding to the others, causing blood to circulate among the nine hearts.

【Heart of the Blood Octopus】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect: Consuming this heart will significantly enhance the consumer's regenerative ability.

No matter how severe the injury, as long as a piece of living flesh remains on the body, it can trigger powerful life-restoring force, rapidly healing wounds by absorbing surrounding blood.

However, note that if the consumer's physique cannot withstand this immense life force, they may lose self-awareness and become an unconscious mass of flesh, driven solely by the instinct to seek flesh.

Moreover, if there is a formula for a Third Tier Blood Mage's potion, this heart can also be used to concoct such a potion.

……

"No wonder this heart can serve as the main ingredient for concocting a Third Tier Blood Mage's potion; this regenerative power is quite strong...."

Su Hao's gaze fell upon the 【Heart of the Blood Octopus】 before him, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

As long as he can withstand the backlash, consuming this heart will grant him an almost indestructible body.

Then, wouldn't the effect of a Third Tier Blood Mage's potion refined from this heart inevitably be even more astonishing, perhaps making it impossible to kill by ordinary means?

And his own advancement method is far superior to that of an ordinary Third Tier Blood Mage.

"If my Supernatural Sequence advances to the third stage thereafter, my survivability..."

Upon thinking this, Su Hao's heartbeat involuntarily quickened a bit; perhaps after his advancement, even facing a Supernatural Fifth Rank would make it hard to kill him!

Subsequently, Su Hao's gaze turned to another material—a huge tentacle.

This tentacle is enormous, over fifty meters long, thick and powerful, composed entirely of blood, lying on the ground like a winding red snake, appearing extremely bloody and eerie.

The tentacle's skin is covered with dense suckers, each like a small vortex that can automatically absorb surrounding liquids.

Just like the Heart of the Blood Octopus, this tentacle retains its vitality, constantly wriggling.

【Tentacle of the Blood Octopus】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect: Consuming this tentacle will likely cause a powerful new tentacle to grow at any location on the body.

This tentacle functions like a limb, can move freely in the air, and has the ability to devour blood to enhance its own recovery.

However, there is also a tiny chance that after using it, one may gain a special ability—Summon Bloody Tentacle.

……

"Such a tiny chance? Better forget it."

Su Hao shook his head lightly; he clearly understood that such a tiny chance equated to zero success rate, and he didn't want to gamble on that near-zero probability.

Regarding his current body, Su Hao is quite satisfied; he does not want his body to sprout an aberrant tentacle.

Thus, Su Hao immediately stored this tentacle in his Storage Bag.

However, Su Hao currently does not fancy the Blood Octopus's tentacle; this does not mean the tentacle is useless.

In Su Hao's eyes, the Supernatural Third Rank skill still holds considerable value.

Especially such skills related to blood and tentacles are even more so; if he could learn this skill and synthesize it with the Crimson Tentacle, perhaps some special change might occur.

As for how to increase the probability of acquiring the skill after consuming the tentacle, Su Hao is not too worried.

With the Synthesis Heart in hand, performing a few syntheses should surely solve this problem.

Moreover, there are still eleven Blood Octopuses in Blood Lake, so material is not an issue.

After refining the Blood Octopus completely, Su Hao did not leave the cave but instead used the Pale Bone Pearl to summon Pale Undead Creatures.

Until he had summoned over three thousand Pale Undead Creatures, Su Hao then stopped and walked out of the cave.

Adding the two thousand undead withdrawn earlier from the Blood Lake, over five thousand pale undead creatures now gather outside the cave, a vast white expanse, looking immensely oppressive.

This undead army mainly consists of pale skeleton warriors, numbering about three thousand five hundred, each with four arms wielding four bone blades, standing at the very front of the formation.

Beside these pale skeleton warriors stand about one thousand two hundred pale skeleton warhorses, their eyes flickering with eerie green flames, always ready to charge.

Most striking of all are the three hundred pale Bone Dragons, their massive silhouettes circling in the air, casting large patches of vague shadows on the ground.

Su Hao stood at the cave entrance, watching the undead legion he had personally summoned, a flicker of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"It's time to see what secrets lie hidden within the Blood Lake."

He let out a light chuckle, then divided the undead legion into fifty squads, sending them from different angles to the Blood Lake for exploration.

(End of chapter)