Chapter 26: Target of extinction

“Little fellow.”

She placed her hands on her thin hips and floated in the air. She just looked down at me like that and asked, “Did you really do good in the battle against the human adventurers, winning back prestige for Black Castle?”

I was stunned. “Yes… I-I think so…”

Her lips curled up and she wagged her finger at me. “Follow me; I’ll bring you to cultivate in the Blood Pond. Old Ding, return to the Wind Cloud Platform. Leave this matter to me.”

“Okay.Thank you, Lady Yun Yue!”

Ding Heng cupped his fists and turned into an afterimage, disappearing into the wind.

……

“Let’s go!”

Yun Yue landed on the ground. She was actually not wearing any shoes when she stepped on a ball of blood energy. We ventured into the depths of the Blood Pond just like this. Many thick pillars of spiritual energy surged into the sky and death energy charged right at my face. They turned into many different phenomenons, making me feel numb.

Si si si…

In a blood-colored pool on my left, a blade-wielding undead was inside. His eyes were teeming with killing intent, while his body was brimming with the power of death. He opened his mouth and absorbedthe death energy like a whale swallowing water. His body buzzed and his aura continuously climbed. The killing intent in his eyes got thicker and thicker.

I looked from afar and was stunned. This was actually a level 65 Unique Boss, someone that dropped orange equipment. He was far in the future in the game’s progression.

Not far away to my right was a giant stone. Above it was a young man with his eyes closed. Blood surged around his body like the waves slapping onto that stone. They formed various ghosts and also demons, but that teen did not move at all. Death energy flowed in his body and resisted the blood pool’sattempt to invade him.

Another level 70 Unique Boss.Amazing!

Not just them, there were dozens of others in the Blood Pond. All of them were far stronger than I was and any of them could easily wipe out an entire beginner village.

“Pfft~”

Yun Yue saw this and smiled. “No need to envy them. You are Old Ding’s disciple. As long as you cultivate with him, one day you will be among them and become a strong general of Black Castle.”

I nodded. “That would be great…”

At that moment, Yun Yue stopped and pointed at a forty-yard blood pool. She smiled. “The death energy in that pool isn’t too strong and it won’t cause your weak body to explode. Go, cultivate your body there today.”

“Okay, thank you, lady!”

I mimicked the way game characters spoke.

Yun Yue smiled and disappeared into the wind.

……

I looked at the blood pool with various phenomenons of death surging about. I sucked in a breath and walked over while holding my two blades. Right when my footentered the pool, its water turned into a small hand that reached out for my leg. The death energy that surged nearly made my breathing stop!

“Hu…”

I waded deeper until the water covered my waist. All of a sudden, I felt like I had stepped into a flame ocean. Scorching pain spread all over my body. The death energy in the pool gathered towardme, forming a mist which was filled with death energy. In this mist, there was sadness, dejection, grievances, et cetera. Blood energy gathered around my white bones, which turned into visible veins, muscles, and so on.

Ding!

[System notification: Attention, Body Reshaping is occuring, so please do not move!]

……

It started just like that?

I was delighted. After Body Reshaping should be Soul Cultivation, and once I got my soul, I could be like a normal player and have a human body. When the time came, I could naturally trade with Ah Fei and get back the things that belonged to me. I could continuously strengthen my Shura identity and in the end… destroy everything and be invincible!

A few minutes had passed.

Right when my arms and chest formed a layer of blood vessels and muscles, a heart which was filled with life energy started to beat. My body seemed to be rejecting everything and explosions could be heard all around. All the death energy of the blood pool then turned into dust!

“How?”

In the air, Yun Yue’s beautiful body appeared. She hovered in the air with her skirt fluttering and looked at me in confusion. “He’s actually rejecting the death energy…”

Pain spread from all parts of my body and I nearly fell into the pool. I lowered my head and realized that all the parts of the body I had just formed were inpieces. I was only left with white bones, but they were much whiter and gave off a noble energy. It felt totally different from the energy of the pool that I was in.

“En…”

Yun Yue just stared at me as if she was judging me. She would gasp and also nod. After a short while, she waved her sleeves and swept me up from the blood pool. The blood energy in the pool was forced back and I was left standing at the side. I had so many questions and curses. Did my master not say that this was a good chance? I nearly lost my life!

“It seemed like my judgement was right.”

Yun Yue landed in front of me, poked my ribs with her jade-like finger, and smiled. “Little fellow, you do have an amazing bloodline. Since your body is unfit for the death laws, the first level of Blood Pond isn’t suitable for you. Come, follow me.”

She led the way once more.

I frowned. This was a game scenario, but there were no notifications at all, so it made me feel really nervous as I did know whether this was real or not.

In front of me was a flight of redstone stairs which led down.

Yun Yue walked in front and opened the World Ender Formation. She led me to a place where the wind blew at my face. We continued descending and very quickly the world became much wider. It was as if I had stepped into an underground world.

I looked up and there were many spiral-shaped stones which connected heaven and earth. They were covered in blood-colored energy. These should be structures connected to the blood pools, right?

She saw the questions on my face but was too lazy to explain. She just walked in front and waved to unlock a part of the formation. The moment it opened, the cave, which used to be empty, started to be filled with surging tides of red ocean. It felt really hot as the energy was charged with spiritual energy.

“We are here.”

Yun Yue smiled and said, “Your bloodline doesn’t allow you to cultivate death laws, so… this Earth Essence Pool should be able to nourish your body.”

“Earth Essence Pool?” I was totally confused.

“Right.”

She nodded. “Blood Pond’s power comes from death and weakness in the world. Most of them come from underground. Apart from these powers, earth essence is the most precious cultivation source. Be it undead, humans, or other beings, life itself comes from the earth, so this Earth Essence Pool is the purest energy source. No matter what your bloodline is, this pool will be able to nourish your body and let you fully step into the Body Refining Realm.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Thank you, Lady Yun Yue.”

“Cultivate well; I am leaving.”

“Great.”

She flew away and disappeared from the cave.

I looked at the Earth Essence Pool and sucked in a deep breath. I sank down, and when my legs stepped in this time, I felt a warm and thick power entermy body. The fiery red earth essence wrapped my legs and stretched upward. In the end, my whole body was covered in the essence as if I were turning into a crystal.

Ding!

[System notification: Attention, Body Reshaping is occuring, so please do not move!]

This time it should work, right?

……

There was a Body Training progress bar on my interface. It was a really long bar which moved really slowly. It looked like this needed above an hour.

“Ah Li?”

Ah Fei’s voice came from the outside world. “What are you doing? Do you want to go get supper?”

“Let’s talk about it later; I am in game and can’t be interrupted.”

“Okay, once you are free then tell me.”

“En!”

Not long after, an itchy feeling spread from each inch of my bones. Things were smooth this time and the earth essence steadily reshaped my body. Veins and flesh started growing on my bones. I was like a medical specimen and appeared quite terrifying. However, I found myself quite funny-looking.

A few minutes later, streaks of red earth essence crystalized on my body. Like a cocoon, I could not move at all. As my body was being reshaped, a beating heart appeared, which was then covered by bones and skin. Layers of white skin grew on the surface of my body. When I looked at my palms, I noticed that I finally had a pair of human hands. This long lost sensation really felt great!

The progress bar was near the end.

However, at that moment, a voice came from outside. I saw a lightning glow drill into one of the crystals. My eyes started to hurt. I looked at it carefully and noticed that a teen had appeared. He held a shiny sharp blade, which he stabbed at me. It turned into a streak of lightning which headed for my brows!

Instantly, an intense warning bell rang in my ears!

Ding!

[System notification: Please note,Target of Extinction has appeared!]

……

Target of Extinction?

My heart shook.Things did not seem good!