Chapter 149: The Blood Demon Great Art is Hard to See in the Light of Day

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The two Blood Demons laughed. Qin Haoxuan’s feat of killing the Twelfth-Leaf Yan Dong was indeed a frightening accomplishment, but… a Blood Demon was not an ordinary person. Over the past few days, the two of them had learned very clearly that when a cultivator faced a Blood Demon, they couldn’t even bring out a tenth of their true strength. At least at these low cultivation levels, Blood Demons held a natural advantage over cultivators.

They weren’t even afraid of Qin Haoxuan, let alone this “Hua Lao,” who was nothing more than a bootlicker for Zhang Yang.

Moreover, after becoming a Blood Demon, their physical strength and agility far surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator to a degree they simply could not comprehend.

Xing replied to Qin Haoxuan with a look of helplessness, “I’m in human form right now. I don’t have much combat power unless I revert to my true body.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Revert. You can just change back later. With these two Blood Demons here, even if you leak some demonic energy, we can just blame it on them,” Qin Haoxuan said, sitting leisurely on his bed, completely unafraid.

After hearing this, Xing nodded in agreement.

The two Blood Demons were startled. From Qin Haoxuan’s tone, this Rooting stage “Hua Lao” was also not in his true form…

As they stood there in astonishment, Xing’s body shook, and his aura suddenly exploded. An intense demonic energy erupted from him. Soon, Xing’s true demonic body appeared before them. His power, equivalent to nearly the Twentieth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, sent a wave of terror through the two Blood Demons.

The moment Xing reverted to his true form, their hearts turned to ice. They had thought they were about to enjoy a delicious meal, but they had never expected that Qin Haoxuan had a being from the Netherworld, disguised as a Rooting stage disciple, with him.

At this moment, they felt like jackals who, after starving for days, had finally found a fox in the forest. Just as they were about to eat it, the fox shed its skin, revealing the true nature of a giant bear. The roles of predator and prey had been instantly reversed; they were now the ones being hunted.

No wonder Qin Haoxuan had been so calm and composed. It turned out he had a being from the Netherworld as a bodyguard.

“Brother Hua… Brother Hua… for the sake of our very pleasant chat this afternoon…”

Mao Can’s legs went soft with fear. Even with the agile body of a Blood Demon, he was no match for a Nether-Creature with power equivalent to the Twentieth-Leaf.

But Xing gave him no chance to speak. He lunged forward and, with a single punch, crushed Mao Can’s chest cavity. Startled, Cao Dong tried to flee, but in the hands of the wolf-like Xing, he had no chance of escape. His head was smashed with a single blow, and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

At the moment of their deaths, a bloody mist rose from their bodies and condensed into two dragon’s-eye-sized, blood-red pearls, which then fell to the ground and cracked.

“Blood Pearls!” Qin Haoxuan let out a sigh of regret. He picked up the two cracked pearls from the ground and examined them. These were the things that had turned them into Blood Demons. It was a shame they were now useless.

After the swift battle, Xing tried to change back into human form. After failing twice, he finally succeeded and swallowed another Shape-Fixing Pill.

At that moment, Qin Haoxuan sent the signal. He tore the communication talisman that had been stuck to his bedpost, the pre-arranged method for calling for help.

Soon, Elder Sun arrived with a large group of Discipline Hall disciples. When they opened the door, they felt a strong demonic energy. Frowning, they looked at the two dead Blood Demons on the ground. After Elder Sun confirmed their identities, he took the two Blood Pearls from Qin Haoxuan’s hand.

“Aigh, what a pity they’re shattered!” Elder Sun’s expression changed as he looked at the cracked pearls, and he sighed with a look of great pain. His secret mission from the Sect Master, besides capturing the Blood Demon, had been to acquire a Blood Pearl.

The moment a Blood Demon died, the pearl within its body would automatically crack. The only way to obtain an intact one was to wait for the demon to die of old age, or to use a special method to force it out while it was still alive.

Although the Blood Pearl was an evil object, a taboo in the cultivation world, no one could deny its immense value. The Blood Demon Great Art was thought to be lost, and most of the Blood Pearls had been destroyed in the war against the Blood Demon Divine Cult, making each one exceedingly precious. Especially for the Dao Fruit Realm ancestors, an intact Blood Pearl could be used to save one who was about to die, extending the sect’s prosperity by one or two hundred years.

The Discipline Hall disciples saw the two dead Blood Demons, both at the Second-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, and looked at Qin Haoxuan in astonishment. Besides him, there was only the Rooting stage “Hua Lao” in the room. Seeing “Hua Lao’s” terrified expression, it was obvious he hadn’t killed them. For Qin Haoxuan, at only the First-Leaf, to have killed two Second-Leaf Blood Demons…

As Elder Sun was lamenting the loss, the patrol disciples breathed a sigh of relief. Their gazes on Qin Haoxuan were filled with admiration.

“What a shame the pearls are cracked!”

“This Qin Haoxuan is incredible! To single-handedly kill two Second-Leaf Blood Demons!”

“He’s a monster. The physical strength and agility of a Blood Demon are extremely high!”

“Those two Blood Demons were really unlucky to be grouped with Qin Haoxuan. He’s a famous brute; he even beat a Twelfth-Leaf cultivator to death. The sect’s secret order to capture a Blood Demon alive has failed.”

After the bodies were identified, several disciples took them away to be burned. As Elder Sun was about to leave with the cracked pearls, Xing suddenly spoke up. “Elder, our Senior Brother Qin killed the Blood Demons and rendered a great service to the sect. Shouldn’t there be some kind of reward?”

Elder Sun stopped in his tracks, his face darkening. He was already furious that the mission to capture a Blood Demon alive had failed because this Qin Haoxuan had killed them, and now someone had the gall to ask for a reward.

But regardless, killing the Blood Demons and restoring peace to the Spirit Field Valley was a joyous occasion. To lash out at the hero of the hour would be a great loss of face. So, he suppressed his anger and said in a gruff voice, “There is!” With that, he took one hundred low-grade spirit stones from his own robes, tossed them to Qin Haoxuan, and said, “This is the reward for killing the Blood Demons.”

Qin Haoxuan accepted the spirit stones and said with a smile, “Thank you, Elder Sun.”

Xing, however, pouted with dissatisfaction, thinking to himself, Human cultivators are so stingy. He solved such a thorny problem for them, and they only reward him with a hundred stones. Back in the Netherworld, I start the bidding at two stones just to shoo away beggars.

After giving the reward, Elder Sun left without looking back.

Qin Haoxuan put the hundred stones in his robes, his mind already turning to his next trip to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

After everyone had left and all was quiet again, Qin Haoxuan lay down on his bed, fully clothed. With Xing here, and the possibility of other Blood Demons, he didn’t dare to risk leaving his body.

Xing sidled up to him with a cheeky, fawning grin. “So, can I have my spirit stones back now?”

Qin Haoxuan clutched his robes, covering the bag of stones. “On what grounds?”

Xing was displeased. “I was the one who killed them!” he said, baring his teeth. “You just stood by and watched! So that reward should be mine!”

Qin Haoxuan smirked. “Yes, that’s right. You killed them. But they gave the reward to me, so it’s mine. If you don’t like it, you can go and appeal to them. Go tell the Sect Master or Elder Sun that you were the one who killed the Blood Demons. Let’s see if they believe you, or if they just decide to reward you with a flying sword to the face after they find out what you are.”

Xing was left speechless with frustration. He tried another tack. “But I did all the work! Even if you got the reward, you should at least share some with me! You can’t be so heartless! And that Shape-Fixing Pill I used cost more than a hundred stones! I’m taking a huge loss!”

Qin Haoxuan nodded thoughtfully, as if considering it. “You’re right. I can’t be more shameless than a demon. Fine, I’ll share.”

“That’s more like it!” Xing nodded happily, his eyes glowing with a green light as he stared at the bag of spirit stones.

“Here, this is yours.” Qin Haoxuan took out a single low-grade spirit stone and offered it to him.

Xing jumped up again. “Just one?! Could you be any cheaper? At least I did all the work! Back in the Netherworld, I give away two stones at a time to beggars. I’d be too embarrassed to even take out a single stone.”

Qin Haoxuan rolled his eyes. “You’re not a beggar… Do you want it or not? If not, I’m taking it back.”

Seeing that Qin Haoxuan was actually about to take it back, Xing snatched the spirit stone and quickly put it away, as if afraid he would lose it if he were a moment too slow.