Chapter 363: Mutual Absorption
"Middle Meridian Sword Wave."
Zhang Ruochen extended the middle finger of his right hand, gathering the true qi from his entire body and channeling it to his fingertip, transforming it into a frigid sword wave that struck one of the blood spirits.
As the sword wave shot out, a surge of cold air erupted, leaving a long trail of ice on the ground that extended all the way to the blood spirit's position.
Just as the sword light struck the blood spirit, the blood patterns on its surface emerged, emitting a crimson radiance that blocked the sword wave.
"Boom!"
The sword wave failed to pierce the blood spirit's body, but the impact force sent it flying backward, crashing down more than ten zhang away.
Its body was sealed within a thick layer of ice, forming an iceberg over ten meters high, completely immobilized.
Just as Zhang Ruochen breathed a slight sigh of relief, the iceberg began to shake violently, cracks spreading across its surface before it suddenly exploded.
The blood spirit soared up from the ice and struck at Zhang Ruochen with another claw.
"Can't kill it, can't seal it. Is there really no way to deal with these blood spirits?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes turned cold. He immediately released his Space Domain, sweeping all six blood spirits into it.
At the same time, he began to mobilize spatial power, gathering it into the palms of his hands.
As the blood spirit charged toward him, Zhang Ruochen parted his hands, and a space rift appeared five meters in front of him, swallowing the blood spirit.
An instant later, the space rift closed again, and the blood spirit fell into the Void World, vanishing completely.
"Spatial power truly is unstoppable. Even a blood spirit with such formidable defenses is doomed once it falls into a space rift."
Zhang Ruochen breathed a little easier. Now that he had found a way to deal with the blood spirits, there was no need to fear them anymore. Even if five remained, he could face them calmly.
The remaining five blood spirits were startled by Zhang Ruochen's technique. They halted, standing ten zhang away, unwilling to approach recklessly.
Blood spirits possessed a certain level of intelligence; they knew who was easy to provoke and who was not.
"Since you're not attacking, I'll be on my way."
He dared not wait any longer. If the Blood Spirit King caught up, escape would be impossible.
Zhang Ruochen immediately activated the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow technique, releasing true qi from his body to form the phantom of a flying dragon, soaring upward to leave.
"Ha ha!"
The Blood Spirit King's laughter rang out, echoing for dozens of li, startling birds from the trees and sending leaves fluttering into the air.
Just the sound of her voice was actually quite beautiful, very pleasant to the ear.
But it carried a chilling cold air, imbued with immense power.
From the surrounding forests, over a dozen chaotic air currents surged, lifting Zhang Ruochen and sending him hurtling uncontrollably into the sky.
"Damn it! Has the Blood Spirit King caught up so quickly?"
Zhang Ruochen struggled to control his body, condensing true qi into a cyan sword energy. He slashed outward, cleaving through the chaotic currents and breaking free.
The Blood Spirit King's ethereal voice echoed again, "Zhang Ruochen, you can't escape my grasp."
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, a massive blood-energy hand materialized in the air, reaching out to grab Zhang Ruochen.
The blood-energy hand was over twenty meters long, pressing down like a blood-red cloud. Before that giant hand, Zhang Ruochen's body was as small as an ant.
"Break for me!"
Zhang Ruochen formed a sword seal with his fingers, channeling the power of Sword Heart Illumination. The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew from his hand, transforming into a beam of sword light that struck the giant blood hand.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword failed to pierce the blood hand. Instead, it was blocked, slowly repelled backward, its radiance dimming.
Zhang Ruochen quickly recalled the sword, dropping from a hundred meters high back to the ground with a loud crash. The impact cracked the earth beneath his feet.
He had just risen to flee into the distance...
Only to find the Blood Spirit King standing right in front of him, almost colliding with her.
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen's face was less than an inch from the Blood Spirit King's. Their noses nearly touched. He could clearly see his own reflection in her blood-red pupils.
Her eyes were strikingly beautiful, with long, curled eyelashes, snow-white eyeballs, and pupils as clear and sparkling as two rubies.
Yet those very eyes carried a fierce killing intent, exuding a bone-piercing chill.
In an instant, Zhang Ruochen's entire body stiffened, as if turned to stone.
A moment later, he quickly mobilized his true qi and struck a palm toward the Blood Spirit King's chest.
But just as his palm shot out, the Blood Spirit King caught his wrist with two fingers, sealing his meridians. The powerful palm force reversed and surged back into him.
True qi flowed backward; palm force rebounded.
That palm strike felt as if he had hit himself. His whole body shook, and a sharp pain spread through him.
Fortunately, his Qi Sea was protected by the Divine Marks of the gods. Otherwise, that rebounding force alone would have severely damaged it.
"Zhang Ruochen, I smell dragon blood on you. Have you drunk dragon blood? Your blood must be delicious too."
The Blood Spirit King stood upright before Zhang Ruochen, her blood-red lips curling upward, revealing two rows of clean, white teeth.
On closer inspection, she actually had two sharp, slender fangs.
Suddenly, the Blood Spirit King lunged forward, biting toward Zhang Ruochen's neck.
"Tear!"
The two long fangs pierced Zhang Ruochen's skin, beginning to drain the blood from his body.
In an instant, a large amount of blood was lost. His vision darkened, and a slight dizziness set in.
"No choice. I have to use that secret technique."
A cold gleam flashed in Zhang Ruochen's eyes. Instead of retreating, he wrapped his arms around the Blood Spirit King's slender waist and lunged forward, pinning her beneath him.
That secret technique was called "Soul Summoning Art."
The Blood Spirit King was so powerful because she had merged with the "Half-Saint Radiance" left behind by the Golden Cloud Half-Saint.
The so-called "Half-Saint Radiance" was essentially energy derived from the Half-Saint's Sacred Soul.
To absorb the Half-Saint Radiance, a martial artist's body had to be compatible with that Half-Saint's sacred body. Since Zhang Ruochen had refined the Golden Cloud Half-Saint's sacred blood, he was naturally more attuned to the Half-Saint Radiance.
Zhang Ruochen immediately released his Martial Soul, which performed the Soul Summoning Art. At the same time, he struck swiftly, pointing a finger at the Blood Spirit King's brow.
"Absorb!"
Zhang Ruochen forced out the word with difficulty.
The Blood Spirit King's body trembled as if struck by lightning, ceasing to drain Zhang Ruochen's blood.
The light point on her brow shook violently, and the power of the Half-Saint Radiance surged uncontrollably within her Qi Sea.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the Half-Saint Radiance broke free from her control, flowing out from her brow and entering Zhang Ruochen's brow through his finger, into his Qi Sea.
His Martial Soul was absorbing the Half-Saint Radiance.
In just a short time, the Martial Soul, which had been injured by the Soul-Shattering Bell, was fully healed and growing stronger.
If Zhang Ruochen could completely absorb the Half-Saint Radiance, his Martial Soul could reach a level comparable to a Half-Saint in a short time.
But he had only absorbed a small fraction of the Half-Saint Radiance before the Blood Spirit King, relying on her powerful cultivation, broke free from his control.
"Boom!"
The Blood Spirit King struck Zhang Ruochen in the chest, sending him flying.
The Soul Summoning Art he had used disrupted the power of the Half-Saint Radiance within her, causing that immense energy to surge wildly beyond her control.
After that palm strike, she was completely immobilized, forced to focus all her strength on suppressing the rampaging Half-Saint Radiance.
The Blood Spirit King closed her eyes, her brows furrowed slightly, and said, "Take me away quickly."
The five blood spirits, seeing that their king seemed gravely wounded by that human, were all shocked. They immediately lifted the Blood Spirit King and fled into the dense forest.
The thick blood mist gradually dissipated.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen fell from above, crashing heavily to the ground, nearly losing consciousness.
"Thank goodness the Dragon Pearl protected me. Otherwise, that palm strike might not have pierced my body, but it would have surely shattered my internal organs."
Zhang Ruochen climbed to his feet, swallowed a healing pill, and immediately began circulating true qi to mend his injuries.
Just as the Blood Spirit King struck, Zhang Ruochen had instantly activated the Dragon Pearl's power to block her attack, saving his life.
About half an hour later, Zhang Ruochen's injuries had recovered by about thirty percent. Worried that the Blood Spirit King might suppress the Half-Saint Radiance and return, he quickly stood up and fled, not daring to stay any longer.
After escaping about three hundred li, Zhang Ruochen subdued a second-rank savage bird, the "Lion-Camel Bird." Sitting on its back, he continued healing while heading back to the Heavenly Demon Martial City.
In his current state, he couldn't go to the Yunwu Commandery. The Blood Spirit King would surely intercept and kill him along the way.
Given the Blood Spirit King's current strength, only the Heavenly Demon Martial City was a place she wouldn't dare to invade.
So Zhang Ruochen decided to return to the Heavenly Demon Martial City, hoping to enlist the help of his master, Lei Jing, to eliminate the Blood Spirit King as soon as possible, before she could fully refine the Half-Saint Radiance and become a Half-Saint-level evil entity.
"The Blood Spirit King probably drained about twenty percent of my blood. I only absorbed one percent of her Half-Saint Radiance. All in all, I still came out ahead."
Zhang Ruochen swallowed a blood pill, hoping to refine it and quickly restore his blood energy.
Losing twenty percent of his blood was serious, but with his current martial cultivation, he could endure it. He would be weak for a while, but he would recover soon enough.
One percent of the Half-Saint Radiance was a massive force. As long as Zhang Ruochen fully refined it, his Martial Soul would undoubtedly grow much stronger.
That portion of Half-Saint Radiance floated in Zhang Ruochen's Qi Sea like a cloud of white mist.
"Refining the Half-Saint Radiance should also raise my Spiritual Power to the fortieth rank. Then I'll be able to use Spiritual Power attack techniques: Opening Heaven, Severing Life and Death, Summoning Wind and Thunder, and Star Gazing."
Currently, Zhang Ruochen's Spiritual Power was at the thirty-ninth rank, just one rank short of the fortieth.
With the energy contained in one percent of the Half-Saint Radiance, his Spiritual Power would surely advance further, with a good chance of reaching the fortieth rank.
Once his Spiritual Power reached the fortieth rank, a martial artist could enter a mysterious realm, unlocking countless wondrous powers. Just thinking about it filled him with excitement.