If Lu Cheng at the very beginning of the simulation had only been aiming for only increasing the white moonlight rating, wanting only to turn the world upside down without caring about the chaos that might follow, then now...
He wanted to leave something behind.
Something that is able to help this girl, who once had eyes only for him, and secure her footing in life.
After all, after he left, this world might continue to run, and perhaps he would never see her again.
[Chapter Four, Side Quest: Save Zhang Lexuan, Completed. Quest Reward: Secret Manual for Seizing Others' Martial Soul (Scroll)]
A flash of light streaked by, and a scroll appeared in his palm.
"Step one: Infuse your own blood into the subject's body, force them to mobilize their Martial Soul, and circulate this Secret Manual to accelerate the Fusion of the Martial Soul and blood. One drop of blood per day until it is completely dissolved..."
"Step two..."
Lu Cheng carefully perused the secret manual, memorizing the method of circulation before storing it away in his storage martial soul tool ring.
Examining the bright red blood in the small green bottle, Lu Cheng pondered for a long while before dripping it into his palm. The blood wasn't scalding, but it still held a trace of residual warmth.
Lu Cheng exhaled a long breath of stale air. He found a giant rock in a lush green valley, hidden by the surrounding forest in a quiet environment. He sat cross-legged upon it, tilted his head back, and dripped the blood into his eye socket.
His eye socket glowed with a dark red hue, and his Soul Power suddenly churned. It seemed as though the blood pupils' martial soul within this body was desperately resisting this foreign blood...
Zhang Lexuan's blood was clearly incompatible with his own Martial Soul, and ensuring that the girl's body wouldn't reject his Martial Soul in the future would likely be quite difficult.
Since that was the case, he would first make his Martial Soul adapt to her blood.
As he dripped the blood in, Lu Cheng activated the Secret Manual, beginning the agonizing process of adaptation.
Immediately, it felt as if raging flames were burning his eyes. The pain swept from his eyes throughout his entire body, scalding and scorching, especially in such a vulnerable area.
"Hiss..."
Even though Lu Cheng's mental fortitude was quite resilient and he had fully prepared himself, he still gasped sharply, grimacing in pain.
He clenched his fists tightly, trying his best to calm his mind, but the pain in his eye socket intensified, making him wish he could gouge his own eyes out...
A full quarter of an hour later.
Only then did the bone-deep agony slowly recede. Lu Cheng, like a drowning person pulled from the water, gasped for air. He stood up, bracing himself against the rock face; his clothes were drenched in sweat, and his face was slightly pale.
That was damn painful.
However, according to the Secret Manual, this pain would diminish each time. As the blood and martial soul gradually fused and ceased to reject each other, this pain would completely dissipate.
"Whew..."
Lu Cheng slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, his complexion visibly returning to a healthy, rosy glow, as if all that pain had never happened.
The vigorous soul power around his body surged once more.
He slowly clenched his fist.
Caw, caw~
A black crow flew over.
"Grand Elder sent a message. Return quickly; do not linger in the Star Dou Great Forest to prevent retaliation from Shrek Academy..."
"Understood." Lu Cheng frowned slightly, then nodded.
Ye Xishui was truly worried about his safety.
Ever since she learned that he had been recruited by Long Xiaoyao back then, she had even personally visited the outskirts of Shrek Academy several times, speaking to him quite kindly, as if she were a relative or elder.
However...
Forget it; everything will pass.
They were just some virtual characters, after all.
... Inside the cave.
Zhang Lexuan secretly glanced at Lu Cheng. Seeing that his expression was off, she curled her red lips and mocked coldly.
"Could it be that you've been Cultivating some evil technique and caused your body to go awry? Be careful, one day you might suffer from some deviation, and I won't even need to kill you myself."
"..."
Lu Cheng sat cross-legged on the ground and leisurely glanced at Zhang Lexuan.
"Confidence is a good thing, but don't be overly ambitious. If you could kill me, pigs could fly."
The corner of Zhang Lexuan's eye twitched, and she clenched her fair hands.
Still that same infuriating, lazy tone.
And what was even more infuriating was that what he said was the truth...
Wanting to kill him was indeed as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Based on the battle strength he had displayed previously, unless an existence like Dean Yan came in person, it would be impossible to kill him. Moreover, his other Martial Soul, Blood Pupils, had strange abilities and could create mirror image clones, making it impossible to distinguish the real body. Often, you would think you had killed him, but when you actually severed his head, it turned out to be a mirror image clone, which was very frustrating.
Three months passed in a flash.
Inside the cave.
"Eighth Soul Skill: Blood Moon Eclipse!!"
Zhang Lexuan's eyes were resolute as she cried out.
By now, she had completely digested the massive energy brought by the Blood-Eroding Demon Python. Her Soul Power had climbed to level 85 Spirit Douluo. Coupled with the hot spring nourishing her body and her daily battles with Lu Cheng (crossed out—being brutally beaten), her Soul Power had completely stabilized. There was no instability or shaky foundation caused by absorbing a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring; on the contrary, she was more stable than the average person.
It was just that she had to be brutally beaten by that guy every day.
Coughing up three liters of blood...
Fortunately, there was the hot spring and the herbs he brought daily to nourish her physical body, so she didn't become depleted of blood.
"Not bad."
Lu Cheng, on the other side of the cave, raised an eyebrow, revealing a look of appreciation, but soon, a playful expression appeared on his face.
A crimson longbow appeared in his left hand.
He casually pulled the bowstring to the full and shot an arrow...
The fire-red arrow collided with the ray falling from the blood moon, erupting with a dull sound in the narrow cave.
With a bang, it burst open like fireworks.
Zhang Lexuan's eyes were calm, as if she had long been accustomed to this. Her Soul Power was completely exhausted, so she ignored Lu Cheng and turned to skillfully remove her clothes, dropping into the hot spring to recover.
Day after day of defeat did not leave her feeling too dejected; instead, it filled her with a sense of eager anticipation.
Because she could clearly feel herself growing stronger day by day.
Even though that guy remained like a great mountain, standing there unshakable, as long as she was alive for one more day, she would never give up the idea of climbing that peak.
And when she finished her meditation and got dressed.
A black crow flew in.
Zhang Lexuan frowned instinctively, but the black crow spoke first.
"I'm leaving. I hope that next time we meet; you will have the qualifications to fight me. Keep it up, girl. Don't disappoint me too much~" That is what Lu Cheng said—"
"Damn it!" Zhang Lexuan gritted her teeth, her pretty face full of anger: "Why didn't that guy come to say goodbye to me in person! What's the meaning of sending a crow?"
"Speak!"
Zhang Lexuan was full of anger, her fair hands gripping the black crow, her pair of pale blue eyes staring coldly at the crow.
As if this black crow didn't provide an explanation, she would definitely...
"If you're angry, go find him..."
The black crow cawed twice, sounding somewhat speechless.
'It's hard being a messenger this day'… a nameless crow.
Notes:
(1/2)
Hmmm... If this fic can break the 150th barrier maybe this one will be happy to give more chapters. (Currently 150th place has 8 PS... And we have 7 PS)
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Read advanced chapters at p@atreon/holyangelicdemon
Goals
50 PS (Achieved)/ 5 Reviews 1 chapter
100 PS/ 10 Reviews 2 chapters
150 PS/ 15 Reviews 3 chapters