Unrivaled Martial Emperor

Chapter 78 - Refining Blood Poison, Peak Stage Seventh Level

Sir Blood Shirt's sudden final attack caught Chen Fan off guard.

As Sir Blood Shirt spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, it had transformed into a blood arrow aimed at Chen Fan's brow.

Reacting swiftly, Chen Fan reached out and grabbed the blood arrow hurtling toward him.

Pain.

The pain was immediate as the blood arrow pierced through his protective primeval qi and embedded itself in his palm, seemingly with a will of its own.

“Haha, you little bastard. Now that my blood poison is in your veins, you’ll turn into a blood-sucking jiangshi even if you survive. Now, the world will hunt you like an animal!” Sir Blood Shirt said, laughing out loud. [1]

“Die!”

Chen Fan struck out with a palm, and the Golden Light Palm pierced through his opponent’s chest.

Even as he died, Sir Blood Shirt wore a triumphant smile as if to convey that even though he wouldn't survive, neither would Chen Fan.

Chen Fan’s expression turned horrid.

His youth and immaturity had led him to underestimate his enemy.

He had assumed that Sir Blood Shirt wasn’t a threat, as he was on death’s door.

Unexpectedly, Sir Blood Shirt made a final, desperate strike against Chen Fan. If he hadn't reacted quickly, the blood arrow would have pierced his forehead. Still, the blood arrow tore through his palm.

The mouthful of poisonous blood seeped into his vascular system, spreading instantly. Chen Fan felt an inexplicable thirst for blood.

“Damn it!”

Chen Fan wasted no time and quickly assumed the lotus position, his expression grim as he used his cultivation to expel the poison.

If Sir Blood Shirt’s words were true, failing to purge the poison would turn him into a blood-sucking jiangshi. He would become a monstrous being, neither human nor ghost, hunted by all.

In the Tianwu Continent, many sought to advance their cultivation rapidly and took shortcuts, resorting to demonic cultivation techniques. For example, Sir Blood Shirt used human blood to cultivate; some even turned themselves into jiangshis by consuming human blood.

Ordinary people could rapidly advance their cultivation by practicing these demonic techniques.

With enough fresh blood, they could reach the fifth or sixth level in two to three months and become Qi Grandmasters in two to three years.

The allure of quickly increasing one's cultivation was strong for martial artists, as, in this world, strength was revered, granting one power, respect, and dignity.

The temptation of such rapid cultivation led many astray.

Rumors had it that the ancient demon king had created these cultivation techniques that used blood to empower a cultivator. Seeing humans prosper, he had created the Blood Emperor Demonic Scripture—a heaven tier cultivation technique—to lure them into the demonic path, which tragically succeeded.

Deep in every human’s heart was a hidden madness that craved strength. It wanted power at all costs, leading to many tragedies worldwide.

Many martial artists had united to eliminate those who practiced demonic cultivation techniques.

Human martial artists paid a heavy price to ensure no future threats, sacrificing numerous experts to finally vanquish the ancient demon king.

However, old institutions die hard. It wasn’t a surprise that a Sir Blood Shirt popped up out of nowhere now.

......

The blood poison inside Chen Fan was potent.

Sir Blood Shirt's final strike was powerful. Despite Chen Fan's attempts to use his primeval qi to suppress the poison, he failed to expel it.

He even felt a tingling sensation in his gums, as if they were about to produce sharp fangs for bloodsucking.

“Damn it! What should I do?” Chen Fan felt a sense of panic.

Chen Fan rummaged through Sir Blood Shirt’s corpse, hoping to find an antidote.

“Oh? This is a storage ring!”

Removing the ring from Sir Blood Shirt's finger, Chen Fan infused his primeval qi into it, instantly uncovering all the items stored within.

“Not here, it’s not here...”

Sir Blood Shirt’s identity was, as expected, extraordinary. His storage ring had plenty of treasures, with more than ten thousand primeval stones in there and a martial art known as Blood Demon Cultivation Technique, an upper profound tier cultivation technique. Sir Blood Shirt had been practicing this technique.

Other than that, there were also some blood pills, elixirs, ores, and so on.

However, Chen Fan didn’t find any antidote.

“Refine. I'll use my body as the furnace and employ the Heaven Seizing Art to refine all the blood in me. I refuse to believe it won't work!” Chen Fan's eyes turned steely as he activated the Heaven Seizing Art.

Rumble!

All of Chen Fan's pores opened up, emitting weak flames—blood fire. Using himself as the Heaven Seizing Furnace, he refined all his blood quickly.

Refining the blood poison wasn’t as simple as refining Netherworld White Bone primeval qi, as it had combined with Chen Fan's blood.

Refining the Netherworld White Bone primeval qi was to refine foreign objects, while refining his blood was to refine himself.

Chen Fan quickly felt his blood boiling and burning. Under the intense heat, his meridians twisted violently like fried dough twists; it felt like they would snap. [2]

Pain!

The pain was excruciating.

Chen Fan convulsed violently. He gritted his teeth stubbornly as wisps of blood mist floated from his pores.

Tsss, tssssss...

Seemingly sensing the danger of being refined, the blood poison emitted hissing sounds that made one's hair stand on end.

Time passed by just like that.

For three full days, Chen Fan remained motionless in the lotus position. A layer of blood scab formed on his skin, covering him from head to toe.

Crack, crack...

Suddenly, cracks appeared in the blood scab, producing faint cracking noises.

Boom!

A violent qi wave spread from Chen Fan, shattering the blood scabs enveloping him.

He opened his eyes; a sharp light flashed in them. He exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

It took three days, but he managed to refine the blood poison by refining his fresh blood multiple times and vaporizing more than half of it.

Fortunately, martial artists had robust vitality, allowing them to generate new blood at a rapid pace.

Sir Blood Shirt had formed that blood poison by condensing the essence of all his blood. In a way, it was the result of the lifetime of his efforts.

After the refining, the poison was gone from the blood poison, leaving only the thick essence. Chen Fan directly refined and absorbed it, transforming it into a vital essence. It boosted the primeval energy in his dantian, taking him to the peak of the seventh level.

“The blood poison ended up helping me? Fortune and misfortune indeed go hand in hand. Truly a testament to the lifetime of effort of a Qi Grandmaster.”

Chen Fan couldn’t help but sigh.

Of course, he felt some lingering fear.

Without the unparalleled cultivation technique—Heaven Seizing Art, he might have succumbed to Sir Blood Shirt's blood poison, becoming a jiangshi that fed on others' blood and became a target for everyone in the world. I must advance to the Qi Grandmaster realm as soon as possible and condense the Heaven Seizing Furnace. Then, I won’t have to act as the furnace. The Heaven Seizing Furnace will take care of all evil spirits and demonic objects for me in the future! Chen Fan thought.

After recent events, Chen Fan eagerly anticipated the formation of the Heaven Seizing Furnace.

After acting as the furnace himself, he had gotten a trace of Heaven Seizing Art’s ability. However, if he were struck by a Yuanfu realm expert’s blood poison, acting as the furnace himself wouldn’t suffice. He would need the real Heaven Seizing Furnace to refine that.

“The Qi Grandmaster realm isn’t all that far away.”

A glint of determination flashed in Chen Fan's eyes.

He was now at the peak of the seventh level and had sufficient primeval stones on him, so his next breakthrough didn’t seem far away.

However, he wasn’t preparing to immediately break through to the eighth level. He needed to stabilize his primeval qi first.

After all, it was refined and converted from Sir Blood Shirt’s blood essence, not cultivated through his efforts. He needed to temper it first.

1. I chose to keep Jiangshi as it is instead of translating them to zombie or vampire because there are differences in the zombies from Chinese and Western folklore, and so far, this novel’s settings have been kept oriental. ?

2. Fried dough twist or Mahua is a Chinese dough twist that is fried in peanut oil. It has a shiny and golden look. It is prepared in various ways with different flavors, which range from sweet to spicy, and usually has a dense and crisp texture. ?