Vampire Cultivation Notes

Chapter 178 Blood Demon

"Hey, come here! Don't look at other people like that, I'm talking to you!"

After Yu Qishan finished venting his anger, he landed back on the ground, ordered several corrupt stewards to be dragged away, and then pointed at something.

The crowd parted, revealing Li Jieqing who had been hiding.

"Huh? Me?"

Li Jieqing approached rather awkwardly and stood beside the delivery cart.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that the carriage was netted with a group of large clams.

Yu Qishan stroked his two-foot-long white beard, one hand behind his back, and said, "Brother Xiu, your great-grandfather was my brother, and I watched your father grow up. Let me ask you, why are you only arriving now when the clan is distributing New Year's goods?"

Li Jieqing said, "Master, I have some business to attend to outside. Also, I heard that supplies from the estate are being delivered, so it's better to arrive a little later to pick them up."

It's true; Li Jieqing heard about it on his way here.

"You've already become so cunning?!"

Yu Qishan's eyes widened.

A few laughs broke out among the surrounding crowd, and the previously serious atmosphere eased slightly.

Li Jieqing lowered his head, looking quite embarrassed.

The original owner, Yu Huanxiu, had a closed-off and taciturn personality. Judging from the reactions of those around him, this was indeed his style.

"Fine," Yu Qishan said, too lazy to scold him anymore. "I remember you have a few assignments this year, so you should take more. Here, choose ten pairs of spirit clams and cultivate diligently!"

"Ten pairs!"

Behind Yuqi Mountain, the expressions of the old men who usually managed the Yu family changed.

Even the surrounding laughter and chatter ceased.

Although they were dissatisfied, they couldn't refute him in front of them since he was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

The Yu family is a Foundation Establishment family, so naturally they have mastered superior true qi cultivation methods.

However, all superior forms of true qi require special auxiliary methods for cultivation.

For example, Li Jieqing's "Secret Record of Blood Heart Freedom" requires opening the heart orifice during cultivation. Other methods for cultivating superior true qi are similar, only the conditions differ.

The Jade Family's method requires cultivating with a pearl extracted from a magical clam to achieve great success.

"What's the big deal!"

Yu Qishan cursed aloud, his eyebrows standing on end.

"Brother Xiu, how old are you?"

"Twenty-seven," Li Jieqing replied.

"At such a young age, you've already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining, even surpassing your father. The family's resources should be allocated to those like you who are ambitious and willing to endure hardship in cultivation. Who dares to object?!"

Yu Qishan glared at them and spoke, questioning those around him.

Since your ancestors have said so, who would dare to disagree?

No one spoke, and Yu Qishan was finally satisfied. He turned around and said with a smile, "I also heard that the task you carried out last time seemed to be quite arduous. It is only right that these rewards be given to you. There is another matter after the New Year. When you have free time, come here to collect some items for protection. Go again."

It turns out that someone in the Yu family also knew about what the original owner had gone through.

Li Jieqing's mind stirred slightly.

However, this time he didn't rush to agree. Instead, he hesitated and replied, "This... to be honest, I feel that I've reached the limit of the sixth level of Qi Refining. I should have a chance to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining next year, so I'm looking forward to setting aside time for seclusion at any time."

At the late stage of Qi Refining, he was already considered a prominent figure in the Yu family.

The cultivator in charge of the Ningrong Duke's Mansion among the main branch cultivators is also only at the late stage of Qi Refining.

"...Alright, breaking through to a higher realm is a big deal. You can focus on preparing. Let someone else handle this task."

The reason given for a cultivator's breakthrough was too orthodox. After considering it for a while, Yu Qishan waved his hand listlessly and gave up on arranging for Li Jieqing to go out.

After exchanging a few more words, Li Jieqing opened his storage bag, filled it with ten pairs of spirit clams, and left.

He had his reasons for directly refuting the Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Bao Wu and Bao Cheng served as national advisors in the Eastern Lands, pushing various forces westward. Under this surging tide, the original owner of this body died directly. As a cultivator at the same Qi Refining Realm, he had to be on guard.

The Yu family has a good background, and they didn't arouse suspicion when they met Yu Qishan, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage. There was no need for them to rush to take the lead and risk going west again.

"Why not find an excuse to avoid the turmoil of exploring the demon realm and observe the plans of Master Baowu and Master Baozhang from the dry shore?"

The exploration of the demon realm in the East has only just begun. All we need to do is focus on cultivating this new identity of the Yu family, and then, when we get close to Bao Wu and Bao Zhang, we can stab them in the back.

"I received ten pairs of spirit clams. If I had them, I might be able to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining."

Yu Huanqi, with his loud voice, leaned closer, his words tinged with envy.

Li Jieqing stood there pretending not to understand.

Seeing that Li Jieqing hadn't mentioned giving some to his good brother, Yu Huanqi leaned closer and said with a grin, "You're not even thirty yet. If you really break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, you might even be able to represent our Yu family in the imperial examination and receive a Pulse Protection Pill."

"We'll talk about it later."

Li Jieqing would secretly use his divine sense to observe the capital when he had nothing to do. Over the past two months, he had gathered a lot of intelligence and knew what the palace examination this person was talking about was.

In short, it is a competition held every three years between the powerful families in the capital and the geniuses from various counties and prefectures, and the top winners can receive rewards.

Although the Pulse Protection Pill doesn't offer much benefit for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, it can prevent cultivators who fail to break through from dying. Such a treasure naturally attracts a fierce battle between dragons and tigers every three years in the Eastern Land.

This was the first time Li Jieqing had ever heard of this kind of elixir, indicating that it was a specialty product from outside Xiaoxin Island.

It's a pity he's only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, otherwise he would have gone straight to the Palace Trial to compete for it. Now he can only watch helplessly as those young geniuses who have already reached the eighth or ninth level of Qi Refining vie for the path to immortality.

"Oh right, what was that again?"

Li Jieqing stopped Yu Huanqi from asking further questions and gestured to a pale mirror hanging in the ancestral hall.

This mirror was only hung up a few years ago, and some members of the Yu family's collateral branches didn't recognize it and had this question.

Li Jieqing looked at the pale mirror and felt that it looked very familiar.

"Seventh Brother, you could have asked anyone else about this, but you've come to the right person!"

Yu Huanqi quietly pointed at the mirror hanging on the ancestral hall beam and said, "This was personally crafted by the Imperial Preceptor. It was sent by imperial decree from the palace and supervised by the Imperial Guard. It is said to be able to prevent the Blood Demon from invading and to reflect the blood puppets controlled by the Blood Demon."

"The Blood Demon!" Li Jieqing gasped in shock at the commotion. "Who is that?!"

"They are nothing but heretics and evil spirits. They are said to be demons from the Western Lands. Back then, the Imperial Preceptor and others were injured and died in the desert because of this encounter."

"So powerful? When I recently returned from the west, I heard rumors that the Imperial Advisor wasn't in such a sorry state, but rather actively sought help from the Xue family." Li Jieqing said suspiciously.

"You've misheard me. Let me tell you, although the Imperial Advisor wields great power in office, in reality..."

Yu Huanqi, with a hint of arrogance and smugness, recounted what he had heard.

It is said that the Imperial Preceptor Bao Wu Zhenren not only encountered a Blood Demon in the west, but was also chased by a monster after leaving the western lands. He was stranded in the desert and was in a miserable state. He was taken in by the Xue family when he was in dire straits.

Before Li Jieqing could ask what the monster that had left the Western Lands to pursue them looked like, he didn't ask any further questions.

A steward from the Jade Mansion came over and greeted them.

Seeing this, Yu Huanqi said, "I'll talk to you later. I'll talk to the manager first."

By this time, the resources of the Yu family in front of the ancestral hall had been distributed. Servants from the Duke's mansion came out to disperse the crowd, allowing those who needed to leave to do so, and those who needed to stay to stay. They also brought out sacrificial food for those who remained on night watch to eat.

"His emotions were always on full display, making him seem just like a worldly official."

Amidst the bustling activity, Li Jieqing politely declined the invitations from others to stay and enjoy the festivities. With his bulging storage bag in his hand, he discreetly greeted everyone as he left the Ningrong Duke's residence.

Once back at the original owner's residence, where the magic array had already been set up, the door was closed.

Li Jieqing finally let out a smile.

Bao Wu and Bao Zhang, these two dignified Foundation Establishment cultivators, were truly terrified by the Blood Slave incident. They even specially hung a white mirror in the capital to collect evil energy to guard against him.

Needless to say, besides the Yu family, other forces in the capital must also have Bai Jing on their side, in case blood slaves suddenly appear.

Those two must have some skill to get all the major powers in the capital to agree to hang the white mirror.

Unfortunately, there was one thing they hadn't anticipated.

Li Jieqing stayed in the Western Lands for more than ten years this time, without seeing a single person. Where would he find such useful blood slaves as the Seven True Disciples?

After arriving in the East, he personally took charge, rendering their preparations useless.

"However, these two were quite shrewd in responding to the situation. As expected of someone from the Upper Sect, they immediately took countermeasures after the Blood Slave was exposed."

"Hey... I'll be quite constrained when it comes to creating blood slaves from now on."

After more than ten years of seclusion, Li Jieqing emerged from the mortal world. Now that he was safe and secure, he was not particularly averse to the idea of ​​engaging in a battle of wits and magic with the enemy from afar.

Besides, there was something he was well aware of.

Apart from the Master Baowu surnamed Yang who could guess a little, the remaining Master Baozhang probably didn't even know who the so-called Blood Demon was.

Apart from when Fairy Shecai appeared in front of him, Li Jieqing never showed his face to Qi Zhen again.

……

It was early morning, before dawn.

A message came into the courtyard where Li Jieqing had just set up a protective array.

It was Yu Huanqi, the original owner's good friend, who said that he had also obtained some good things in the Ningrong Duke's mansion, namely half an ounce of Qianlan Jade Gold Crystal, which he wanted to exchange with Li Jieqing for a few pairs of spirit clams.

The Azure Jade Crystal is an extremely high-quality material for refining artifacts; it is more than enough to craft spiritual weapons.

Even if it's only half an ounce less, if given to a mid-grade weapon refiner to study, it might be enough to help that mid-grade weapon refiner break through and successfully refine their first high-grade magic weapon.

Li Jieqing glanced at the letter a few more times. The letter said to be careful and to conduct the transaction privately without the knowledge of the Ningrong Duke's Mansion, so as not to make others jealous. They should just secretly go to Yu Huanqi's residence.

Upon seeing this, Li Jieqing gladly went to the destination.

It's located in the west corridor of the Ningrong Duke's Mansion, just across the street.

Yu waited expectantly at home, glancing outside from time to time, pacing back and forth without ever sitting down.

Just then, the back door was quietly pushed open, and Li Jieqing, disguised as Yu Huanxiu, walked in.

Upon seeing this, Yu Huanqi eagerly stepped forward, but before he could speak, he heard Li Jieqing speak first.

"Brother Huanqi! You were careful doing this kind of thing, didn't you? You didn't let anyone else know, did you?"