The carriage rumbled forward, kicking up clouds of dust, while the locals along the way failed to notice any danger.
Zhang Chen had his hands tucked in his sleeves, looked up at the distant sky, where his Hunting Falcon circled high, and at the same time, Zhang Chen noticed that the sky had somehow become populated with more birds, flitting in and out of the clouds.
Soon it was evening, as the sun set, the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency chose to camp, and Zhang Chen took grits to line up. After a short while, he arrived at the shed of the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency, where he saw a dozen cooks weighing out rice, and other staff boiling water for everyone.
Zhang Chen exchanged rice, then took out jerky from his pouch. The family mixed it with rice and ate to fullness. Chengyu went to the side to meditate and cultivate, while the two little ones guarded Chengyu, sitting alertly to his left and right.
Mrs. Zhang was tidying the bedding, constructing the sanctuary. Once the sanctuary was complete, blocking off external views, Zhang Chen walked directly into it and then performed the Earth Escape Technique to disappear within the sanctuary.
Zhang Chen escaped into the forest, transforming into a Vampire Bat and soaring to the sky. As Zhang Chen ascended, his wings spread, a vast flood of moonlight gathered towards him, all absorbed by Zhang Chen’s bat embodiment.
At this moment, Zhang Chen’s ultrasonic waves spread, fluctuating amidst the mountains, while his Blood Control Technique sensed the surrounding vegetation and forest. Zhang Chen finally detected something amiss.
From all directions, there seemed to be tens of thousands of wild beasts quietly lurking in the forest, meanwhile from further afield, more beasts continued to converge towards this place.
Zhang Chen frowned: "This is troublesome! The Dragon Tiger Escort Agency has been targeted, but it’s uncertain whether they can handle it."
Zhang Chen wandered through the void for a while, unable to detect the position of the Demon Beast, leaving him no choice but to return. Had he been able to detect the Demon Beast orchestrating the wild beast army beforehand and kill it, perhaps the disaster could have been avoided, but now he had no idea where that Demon Beast was hiding, leaving Zhang Chen helpless.
That Demon Beast had blended in with the wild beasts; if the opponent didn’t expose itself, it’d be very difficult to locate its whereabouts.
Although Zhang Chen had the True God Golden Light, he could only use it in his human state; in his Vampire Bat form, he was powerless against that Demon Beast.
Zhang Chen returned to the sanctuary, where Mrs. Zhang was sitting under the moonlight pondering something. Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s presence, she turned to look inside the sanctuary: "You’re back."
"The situation is not good. It seems we’ve been targeted by the Demon Beast. If a crisis arises, I will lead everyone underground," Zhang Chen said to Mrs. Zhang: "Tonight, I will personally keep watch. Everyone should protect their belongings well."
In fact, he wasn’t too fearful of the beast tide, to him, the beast tide was also an opportunity to absorb blood. The experience points required for mastering the Blood Control Technique were immense, and stacking them by himself with experience points alone would take an unknown number of points. If he relied on the blood of living creatures to supply experience points, that would be the fastest way.
"Life itself is experience points. It’s a pity I can only create one Blood God Child right now. If I could create several Blood God Children, that would be ideal." Zhang Chen felt some regret. Gong Bai’s killing speed was too slow, at least in Zhang Chen’s view, Gong Bai’s killing speed was too slow.
Two hundred billion experience points would require the slaughter of billions of ordinary living beings to gather.
Billions of ordinary living beings may seem a lot, but in reality, they aren’t many. After this disaster, the Northern Land’s lost living beings are far more than billions.
Moreover, if he could slaughter Demon Beasts or beings that wielded bloodline power, this number would diminish infinitely. A being that has awakened bloodline power can equate to tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, millions of ordinary living creatures. A being like a Ba Snake’s body would suffice for Zhang Chen to complete accumulation with just a tenth.
The reason he spread Blood Dao in the Northern Land wasn’t merely for the sake of preaching; he was also cultivating resources for the future. He couldn’t predict how the world’s situation would evolve in the future, so he had to prepare some contingencies ahead of time.
Zhang Chen thought of the Innate Mosquito within the Underworld. If he could devour it, his bloodline power would definitely surge, and his Blood Dao cultivation could at least leap thrice. Excavating those Ancient Divine Demons’ bodies is the fastest method for me to advance my bloodline!
Unfortunately, the bodies of Ancient Divine Demons are incredibly difficult to find.
Zhang Chen’s thoughts spun in his mind, and nearby, Mrs. Zhang watched Zhang Chen’s back for a long time before suddenly speaking: "Can I learn martial arts?"
Zhang Chen turned to look at Mrs. Zhang in the darkness, listening to her say, "I don’t wish to become a burden to you. I’m just an ordinary person and cannot awaken bloodline power, but I can learn martial arts and aid you at critical moments."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen felt deeply moved, then nodded: "You certainly can learn martial arts. You’ve consumed the True Dragon Liver, eaten the five viscera of the True Dragon, which has cleansed and transformed you, making you an excellent martial arts candidate. Tomorrow, I will speak to Chengyu, and ask her to personally teach you the True Dragon Form."
Although Mrs. Zhang was his stepmother, Zhang Chen was already a teenager, now fourteen years old, mindful of gender boundaries, and kept a respectful distance.
Mrs. Zhang’s expression shifted slightly, then she solemnly thanked Zhang Chen: "Thank you!"
She was thanking Zhang Chen for not abandoning her when he prospered, despite her now being a useless burden.
"If you say thank you to me, that’s too much. When my father passed, you raised me for five years before dividing the family. Even after that, you continued to raise the two little ones; your kindness to us siblings is comparable to a mother’s birthing grace. You are now my real mother; where do you see a mother and son saying thank you?" Zhang Chen’s voice was earnest: "We are family! Family never need to say thank you."
Hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Mrs. Zhang smiled in the moonlight, then said no more.
Once Chengyu finished her cultivation, Zhang Chen sat outside the sanctuary vigilantly throughout the night. During the night, he did not waste time, striving in the Spiritual World to traverse the Infinite Sea, aiming to collect a portion of Divine Power early.
"Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered something, Yellow Spring Water is mysterious, so can Yellow Spring Water be converted into points?" Zhang Chen flew over the black ocean, and a thought suddenly flashed in his mind.
Logically, Yellow Spring Water also contains mysterious power, can my Innate Mosquito mouthpiece devour Yellow Spring Water?
Zhang Chen was suddenly excited, knowing that Yellow Spring Water is endless, if he could devour it and convert it into points, he would become incredibly rich. Wouldn’t those points be limitless?
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen directly asked the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, "Do you think my Innate Mosquito mouthpiece can devour Yellow Spring Water?"
"Of course it can," the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said.
He knew that Zhang Chen had mastered the Innate Mosquito mouthpiece, after all, Zhang Chen had once used it to devour the body of the Ba Snake.
"But even if the Innate Mosquito itself, it doesn’t dare to devour the water of the Wangchuan River, because Wangchuan River Water can wash away all memories of sentient beings. Although you have some skills, I still don’t recommend you devour it," the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said.
"What if I use the Ba Snake Space to digest it?" Zhang Chen inquired.
"There’s no difference! You mustn’t take the risk, if it turns you into an idiot, then it’ll be a huge problem. I’ve already bonded with you, if you become an idiot, I’ll be useless too," the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said irritably.
Zhang Chen heard this and dismissed the thought in his mind, devouring Wangchuan River Water was still too risky.
Zhang Chen looked at the black seawater with his eyes, "Could there be remnants of Innate Gods and Demons in the second heaven of the Spiritual World?"
"Theoretically there is, but this seawater contains terrifying erosion power. Over eons, even the bodies of gods and demons should have been obliterated," the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said.
Zhang Chen fell silent upon hearing this and continued flying over the sea in his Vampire Bat form. According to the estimation of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, in another seven or eight days, he should be able to reach the second heaven of the Spiritual World.
When Zhang Chen’s spiritual power was exhausted, he meditated to absorb moonlight and restore his weary spirit. Just as he was about to continue meditating, Chengyu walked out from the Sanctuary and sat beside Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen opened his eyes and looked at Chengyu, "Why aren’t you sleeping, why are you out wandering around in the middle of the night?"
"Zhang Chen, I have a feeling something is not right, there’s an inexplicable unease," Chengyu looked at the night with her eyes, the whole camp was silent, except for the murmurings and mutterings of refugees.
"Don’t be afraid! As long as I’m here, the sky won’t fall," Zhang Chen reassured Chengyu, stroking her hair.
Chengyu smiled at his words, "I’ll keep watch, you go and take a rest."
Zhang Chen shook his head, "You still don’t know my capabilities, even if I don’t sleep, it’s fine."
He could absorb the Sun and Moon Essence to nourish his soul, whether he slept or not was irrelevant to him.
Chengyu couldn’t argue with Zhang Chen, so she got up and returned to the tent, leaving Zhang Chen sitting cross-legged, continuing his cultivation.
Looking at the dark camp, Zhang Chen felt a sense of compassion rise in his heart, but there wasn’t much he could do. How many could he save in this world?
He couldn’t save everyone!
The night passed without incident, apart from a few occasional wolf howls from the deep mountains, nothing unusual happened.
On the second day
The escort agency set out again, countless refugees with blank expressions began their new day of travel.
While everyone continued their journey, suddenly, panicked cries for help were heard from afar: ’Help! Save me!’
About thirty refugees, covered in blood, were seen running from afar, chased by dozens of strong wild wolves. When the wolves saw the large crowd, they immediately halted, looked at the crowd for a while, then turned and ran into the dense forest.
"Have those beasts already started hunting the people gathering from the outskirts?" Zhang Chen looked at those thirty or so blood-covered refugees, a trace of cold ruthlessness in his eyes.
But the following trouble was just beginning. Within half a day, a dozen more waves of blood-covered refugees, chased by wild beasts, rushed into the refugee camp.
Seeing those blood-stained refugees, not only did Zhang Chen realize something was wrong, but the people of the escort agency had also noticed something off.