Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Faulty blood?

Liang Chen did not go to sleep like Yi Huang had told him to, instead simply closing his eyes to quietly cultivate. Every time he slept, unless he passed out from exhaustion, he would always see the same nightmare, hear the same voices. By quietly cultivating, he could not only get some semblance of rest but even slowly strengthen his cultivation.

Two hours before dawn, Yi Huang tapped him on the shoulder and broke him out of his cultivation, using his thumb to indicate that it was his turn to keep watch. Liang Chen gave a short nod of his head, standing up and stretching his body. He climbed onto one of the wagons, sitting down on the arched tarp that worked as a cover. From the top, he could see the entire camp, and even keep an eye on the area around it, vigilantly keeping watch as he waited for dawn to arrive.

The hours passed quietly, nothing approaching the camp and disturbing the rest of the others. Once dawn arrived, Du Gengxin and the others ate a quick breakfast, and then the caravan continued its journey. Just like Yi Huang said, Liang Chen now had to do some actual work, serving as a guard on one of the wagons every six hours, with an hour of rest between each shift.

The third day of their journey slowly passed in peace, Liang Chen spending most of his time as a guard chatting with Yi Huang and the other guards to pass the time. As the third day dragged on, the sky slowly started filling with gray clouds, the wind picking up. Seeing that a storm was approaching, Yi Huang's expression sank a little, as it would be harder to keep watch during a storm. Liang Chen on the other hand broke into a smile when he saw the sky fill up with clouds. A storm meant that there might be lightning, which meant that he could use it to cultivate.

Liang Chen expected the caravan to stop once the sun set and night arrived, but Du Gengxin ordered the caravan to keep going, as they would arrive at a city shortly. The city they arrived at was called Rolling Hills city, the name based on the large number of hills that surrounded the city. Liang Chen was quite surprised when he learned that Du Gengxin had bought rooms for all the guards, even ordering some food for them, but Yi Huang told him that it was normal for him to do so, as they would have to leave the moment the sun rose.

Of course, even though Du Gengxin had bought rooms for them, someone still had to keep an eye on the wagons. The unfortunate three who would keep an eye on the wagon were drawn by lots, the three unfortunate people being Yi Huang, a man known as Zhou Liangxue, and a woman called Jia Daishen.

Entering the room that he had been given, Liang Chen only gave it a short sweep before sitting down on the bed and cultivating through the night. He was completely alone, so the room only felt ice-cold to him, even the bed feeling as if it was made from stone. As the night deepened, the soft sound of rain hitting the roof of the building, as well as the howling of the wind, could be heard, so it was clear that the storm had arrived.

A knock sounded on Liang Chen's door a little before dawn, Yi Huang calling him down so that they could prepare the wagons for departure. The storm had truly arrived, the sky covered in black clouds, the rain so strong that it somewhat obscured one's vision. There was no lightning in the sky, but Liang Chen could hear the subdued sound of thunder, so it seemed like they would encounter some lightning sooner rather than later.

They quickly prepared the wagons, giving the horses a little to eat while they waited for Du Gengxin and his entourage to arrive. The entourage that Du Gengxin brought with him were four somewhat older people, as well as two youths that seemed like they had just reached their twenties. Yi Huang had warned Liang Chen to not ask about the entourage, but he had not planned on doing so from the beginning, as he did not care.

The caravan quickly got back on track, but this time there was no resting for the guards, the rain forcing everyone to keep a vigilant eye on the surroundings. Liang Chen served as the sole guard of the rearmost wagon, sitting on top of the arched tarp, his gaze moving between the sky and the surroundings. He could feel a slight tingling in the air, the distant lightning getting closer and closer, calling to the lightning that was flowing within him.

Liang Chen was also not disturbed by the strong rain, relying mostly on his sense to see if there was anyone in the surroundings. Just like when he battled, he was able to sense the electricity moving around in other bodies, using it to tell the positions of everyone around him.

When a furious bolt of lightning lit up the sky, the rumbling of thunder shaking the air around the caravan, Liang Chen's mouth split into a wide and somewhat twisted grin. He quickly sent out part of his Qi and his mind, connecting with a small arc that shot away from the main bolt of lightning, dragging it back into his body.

A familiar pain flooded his entire body, the sweet taste of blood filling his mouth as his blood felt like it was boiling. Liang Chen endured the pain, taking great care to spread the lightning throughout his entire body, making sure that none of it was wasted. He did his best to keep himself from laughing, spreading out his mind once more to drag in even more lightning.

Since he only dragged in small arcs of lightning, none of the other guards were able to notice his actions, continuing to keep a vigilant gaze on the surroundings. Liang Chen continued to cultivate, the first floor of his Ascended Tower slowly growing more resplendent, inching closer to spawning the second floor. But Liang Chen still made sure to do his job, keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings. And it was because he did this, that he noticed several living beings dashing through the forest they were passing through, rapidly getting closer to the caravan.

His expression sunk, as this meant he would be forced to put an end to his cultivation. But he had not sunk to a place where he would not do the job that was entrusted to him, so he stood up and let out a loud shout, his voice sounding like thunder as it rang out.

"Enemies approaching! A rather large group of them too, from the forest to the right!"

The caravan immediately came to a stop, the other guards tensing up as they grabbed onto their weapons, vigilantly scanning the forest to their right. They were unable to see anything themselves, but they still chose to believe in Liang Chen's words. Liang Chen's words were quickly proven true, as the other guards saw several wolves jump at the caravan, their maws dripping with rain and saliva.

The wolves were a light brown in color, their fur quite thick, almost resembling needles. There seemed to be branches coiling around their legs, so it was clear that they were not normal wolves, but rather Demonic beasts. Liang Chen quickly searched through his memories, seeing if he had read anything about these Demonic beasts.

He quickly remembered what little he had read about these Demonic beasts. They were simply called Wood Wolves, as they were Demonic beasts that specialized in the elements of plants and wood. They could only ever reach Rank 2, so they often lived in small packs led by one such Demonic beast. They were known to be voracious beasts that attacked anything that passed close to their territory.

Liang Chen swept the pack of wolves, which numbered a little over 10, quickly spotting a wolf that was almost two meters in length and was clearly far more muscular than the rest of the pack. The wolf radiated a strong pressure, and it was also the only wolf that had yet to jump at the caravan, merely observing it quietly. Liang Chen did not even have to say anything, Yi Huang charging at the large wolf with a loud shout.

"I'll handle the leader! Clear out the rest of the rabble!"

The rest of the guards responded with a loud and confident shout, ferociously attacking the wolves that had jumped at the caravan. They outnumbered the wolves, and it was only the leader of the pack that was a Rank 2 Demonic beast, the rest all had strength below the Houtian Tower realm.

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At first, Liang Chen saw no need to take part in the battle, as their side was clearly stronger than the enemy. But when he thought that he might not be allowed to take any of the Demonic beast blood if he didn't do anything, his expression quickly changed. He grabbed onto the sword he had been given, jumping down from the wagon and charging at the two closest and weakest wolves.

The moment he decided to take action, his blood started to boil, his mind filling with that now familiar aggression as his instincts started to take over, his mind cooling and calming to a frightening degree.

As he moved, golden arcs of lightning crackled around his body, his left hand releasing a faint purple glow. The lightning that crackled around his body came into contact with the rain, quickly spreading through the area. Luckily, the other guards were all focusing on protecting the frontmost wagons, so no one else got electrocuted by the lightning.

The two wolves were clearly the runts of the pack, the weakest members, which was why they had only approached the empty rearmost wagon. They had just barely managed to reach Rank 1, so faced with Liang Chen, there was only a single outcome for them, death.

Liang Chen slashed out with his sword, golden arcs coiling around the blade as he swung it downwards. His weapon smashed into the back of one of the wolves before it had the chance to react, a cracking sound ringing out as its fur and spine were smashed, lightning invading its body.

Liang Chen felt his right hand go numb, the fur and body of the wolf unexpectedly tough. But for now he could only ignore the numb feeling, his left hand stretching out and grabbing towards the head of the second wolf. The second wolf was somewhat prepared, opening its maw and snapping down onto Liang Chen's hand. Its teeth easily sank into his flesh and drew blood, but Liang Chen's eyes were still calm, not even blinking at the pain.

His left hand flooded with purple light that quickly turned into a small orb of liquid. Since the wolf had bitten down on his hand, it was incapable of preventing the liquid from entering its throat, quickly flowing through the rest of its body. He wanted to preserve the blood of this Demonic beast, so he used a weaker poison than the one he had used when he killed the bandit that attacked them on the second day.

With the poison flowing through its body, the wolf quickly fell over, its entire body twitching as a sweet-smelling foam poured out from its mouth. Liang Chen looked at his bloodied left hand, quickly tearing up the sleeve of his robe and using it as a bandage to stop the bleeding. After tightly tying up his left hand, he checked how the rest of the guards were doing.

A guard named Jin Wuying had a rather nasty wound on his right arm, but the rest of the guards were almost completely unharmed. Of the wolves, only two weak ones remained, their leader already on deaths door after fighting with Yi Huang. Looking at the dead wolves spread around the caravan, he could not help but wonder what drove the wolves to perform such a suicidal attack. The last two wolves were quickly finished off, so Liang Chen headed towards Yi Huang, who was looking at the body of the leader wolf with a pondering expression. His eyes could not help but narrow slightly when he saw Liang Chen's left hand.

"Your hand is wounded. You need to be careful while fighting, any wound you sustain will lower you combat capability, making it more likely that you might die. I have some medicine now, but once we part ways you must make sure to acquire some on your own."

Yi Huang pulled out a small vial from a pouch that hung on his belt, handing it to Liang Chen. The vial was filled with a light green paste that released a faint medicinal scent that reminded Liang Chen of the herbs that Qing Xiang had taught him about. He quickly thanked Yi Huang, applying the paste to his wounded left hand before wrapping it up again. While wrapping up his hand, he started talking.

"I was wondering if you have any bottles or vials I could borrow, I would rather not waste all that Demonic beast blood."

While Liang Chen spoke, he used his chin to point at the two beasts he had killed, causing Yi Huang to give a short acknowledging nod of his head. He walked away from the dead wolf, heading over to one of the wagons and rummaging through a bag that hung at the back of the wagon. He pulled out wooden jugs that seemed like they could hold about a liter of liquid, handing them both to Liang Chen as he spoke.

"I have two jugs that you can borrow, but there is no way for them to hold all the blood within those two wolves."

Liang Chen gave Yi Huang a quick thanks, accepting the two jugs and heading back to the two wolves, counting himself lucky that he had managed to meet a group of guards that were rather kind. He was even guessing that Lang Bai, the man who had told him to hitch a ride with this caravan, had specifically chosen this caravan because of the kindness of the guards.

Liang Chen cut a wound into the throat of the wolves, holding the two jugs up against the wound to spill as little blood as possible. But the two jugs could only hold so much, so they quickly became full. Liang Chen put on the lids, sealing the jugs and preventing any blood from spilling out. But looking at the blood that was spilling onto the ground, he could not help but feel a bit pained, so much good blood just going to waste was a true shame.

Liang Chen gave the caravan a quick glance, the other guards were starting to work on skinning and bleeding the wolves, taking as much as they could. Liang Chen guessed that they might spend a bit of time doing this, so he quickly dragged the bodies of the two wolves to the back of the caravan, out of sight. He sat down on the ground where no one could see him, grabbing onto one of the wolves and pulling it closer, bringing its neck towards him.

Since the other guards seemed like they would spend a bit of time, he decided to waste as little blood as possible, cultivating a bit right now while he could. He held the throat of the wolf over his arm, but as the blood dripped onto his bare arm, the alarm bells within his head immediately went off, his entire body filling with a horrifying sense of crisis.

Pain started to wrack his entire body, but the pain was completely unlike the pain he had felt the first time he bathed in Demonic beast blood. The pain from back then felt like it wanted to drive him mad and tear him apart, but this pain felt like it was trying to fight his entire body, his veins, and flesh revolting against the Demonic beast Qi that came from the blood. At first Liang Chen wanted to just grit his teeth and resist the pain, but as the sense of crisis got worse and worse, he decided to listen to his instincts, quickly using the downpour of rain to wash the blood off his arm.

Only when the blood was no longer on his arm did the alarm bells in his head turn silent. Liang Chen let out several rapid breaths, as even he was not yet used to pain of that magnitude. He looked at the body of the wolf, and the blood that was running out from its throat. He furrowed his brows, his eyes landing on the second wolf, the one whose spine he had broken.

He dragged it closer and tried to drip some of its blood onto his arm, but the alarm bells immediately rang again, his entire body tensing up from the feeling of crisis that almost swallowed him whole. He quickly washed off the blood, his expression turning gloomy. It was clear that he could not use this blood to cultivate, his entire body revolting against him at the mere thought. But why was it so? It had been perfectly fine when he first bathed in Demonic beast blood, what had changed since then? Was the blood simply faulty?

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