Blood energy surged.
Like a crimson sky, dotted with specks of stars.
Those stars emitted strands of golden light.
Within the blood energy, a white jade-like skeleton stood, with wisps of blood energy separating from it and coiling around it.
In an instant, blood energy boiled, and spiritual power circulated.
At that moment, it seemed every meridian glowed with a strange light.
Spiritual power, like a dragon, traveled through his body, and in this process, absorbed blood energy into itself; a strange creature in the blood seemed to open one eye.
Then, Zhou You's body trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Outside, the sun was already high in the sky.
Fan Blood Realm Sixth Heaven!
Zhou You's eyes could not hide his joy; finally…
Finally, he had made a breakthrough, and was already close to the Fan Blood Realm Seventh Heaven.
At this moment, he was almost in tears.
It was too difficult!
No wonder his master always said he was dull-witted; he truly was more than just a little slow.
"The path is correct."
"The method is also correct."
Zhou You clenched his fists; he had found his own path.
Absorb more demon beast essence blood to rapidly increase his strength.
"Could it be that Master teaching me the method of extracting essence blood was intentionally leaving me a path for cultivation?"
Zhou You's eyes flickered, as if he finally understood his master's profound meaning.
After all, when he was on the mountain, he lacked neither precious pills nor demon cores. As long as his master was willing, essence blood would naturally not be lacking either.
But in fact, he had always been consuming demon cores and precious spiritual pills.
"You're awake?"
Xiao Jing looked over.
"Oh, there's someone else here."
Zhou You was startled.
Xiao Jing's expression was complex, "Didn't you ask me to guard you?"
"Oh, oh, right."
Zhou You reacted, "My apologies, I was too engrossed in cultivation and forgot about that."
Xiao Jing frowned; he had just felt Zhou You's aura change.
Had he broken through?
But he was still in the Fan Blood Realm, so it seemed he had broken through a minor realm.
"Are your injuries alright?"
Xiao Jing asked, his gaze falling on Zhou You's chest, where the wound had already scabbed over.
"As long as no bones or tendons are injured, it's nothing to worry about."
After Zhou You finished speaking, he remembered the Sand Dagger he had just obtained; his Right Hand flattened, and the Sand Dagger appeared in his hand, its sharp blade still bearing his bloodstains. Holding it, he felt a complete sense of blood connection.
"Tsk tsk."
Zhou You exclaimed in admiration, "This thing, to even have a 'Harmony' ritual, is truly interesting."
Xiao Jing couldn't help but correct him, "It's a blood recognition of the master, though it's not really about recognizing a master; it's just to give the user and the weapon a higher degree of understanding."
Zhou You didn't care that he had used the wrong word; he didn't care about such things at all.
With a thought from Zhou You, the Sand Dagger in his hand transformed into full-grained, crystal-clear flowing sand.
The flowing sand circled his Right Hand, moving rapidly.
Zhou You was pleasantly surprised, "Fun, this thing is actually so interesting?"
Xiao Jing was also surprised; he had originally thought that all spiritual artifacts were merely a matter of strength. But now it seemed that this was not the case at all.
This top-grade spiritual artifact, the Sand Dagger, possessed an extremely special ability to transform.
It could scatter into sand and gather into a dagger.
Then, the God River Sand transformed into a thin shield.
Zhou You grinned from ear to ear, "Interesting, it's truly too interesting."
Xiao Jing was completely stunned.
This was simply not on the same level as the low-grade spiritual artifact in his hand.
Seeing Zhou You playing with such enthusiasm, Xiao Jing couldn't help but let out a long sigh, "The Sha Sect, who embezzled public funds and caused the sect to go bankrupt, poured all their efforts into forging this treasure, only for it to benefit others."
He felt more and more that one must fight corruption!
If he were to establish a sect in the future, this would absolutely be an iron rule.
Zhou You was having a blast; where on the mountain had he ever seen such a novel toy?
In his life, besides eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he only had Evil Extermination.
After playing for a while, Zhou You's interest waned by half. The Sand Dagger also transformed into a bracelet worn on his Right Hand wrist, glinting golden in the sunlight, which added a few points of oddity.
"Big golden bracelet, big treasure sword."
Zhou You patted the Zhu Xie Sword at his waist, his eyes revealing excitement, "A man should dress like this."
Xiao Jing opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed the unpleasant words back down.
What kind of decent person wears such a big golden bracelet?
And it was even made of sand gold!
But alas, his words carried little weight, and looking at the situation, it seemed that the sect usually kept him too strictly confined, with no opportunities for entertainment. Never mind him, let him be.
"Uh... I say, should we go back and meet up with them first?"
Xiao Jing hesitated, mainly because he felt that too much time had passed and he was worried something might have happened over there.
After all, the old Earth Dog was injured, and he was a bit worried.
"Congratulations, Young Hero, on acquiring such a valuable treasure."
Suddenly, a sinister voice sounded nearby.
Both of them looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small demon beast sitting like a human in the shadow of a large rock, its small, green-bean-sized eyes gleaming with a greenish light.
Xiao Jing instantly drew his short sword, but felt his whole body go weak.
Zhou You tilted his head; this was a Yellow-bellied Weasel, seemingly very old, with some of its yellow fur already turned white.
The Yellow-bellied Weasel spoke, "The Earth Dog Clan has guarded this treasure for many years, yet it changed hands so easily."
Xiao Jing's expression changed, "Young Master, I might be poisoned."
He felt a chill down his spine, completely unaware of how he had been poisoned, only feeling tired all over and seeing double.
Zhou You said with a smile, "A treasure, well, it belongs to the virtuous."
The Yellow-bellied Weasel let out a sinister, low chuckle, "The Young Hero speaks truly."
Zhou You looked up at the sun, "Speaking of which, your kind of demon beast should be active at night, right? Why are you upside down day and night?"
The Yellow-bellied Weasel replied, "Of course, I came for the Young Hero."
Zhou You was curious, "You know me?"
The Yellow-bellied Weasel shook its head, "I certainly do not."
Zhou You raised an eyebrow, "Then you're looking for me?"
The Yellow-bellied Weasel revealed a strange smile, "Naturally, I want to ask the Young Hero for a favor, and only a person as handsome as the Young Hero can help."
Zhou You laughed heartily, "I, you see, I just like it when people respect me. Since you're so polite to me, then state your request."
The Yellow-bellied Weasel let out an eerie laugh, and wisps of black qi spread out, inexplicably dimming a large area, even blocking out the sunlight.
Zhou You nodded thoughtfully, "This ability is good, it can be used to escape the heat."
The Yellow-bellied Weasel stared straight at Zhou You, its eyes glowing green, "May I ask, Young Hero, do I look like a human, or like a god?"
Xiao Jing bit his tongue sharply, trying hard to stay conscious; with the appearance of that sentence, he felt as if his soul was about to leave his body, and at the same time, he couldn't help but want to answer.
The surrounding air surged, and endless black qi completely enveloped this area.
Zhou You smiled and slowly said, "I think you look like your dad!"