Tainted Blood

by Tinalynge

  Bai Tianyi did not decline and accepted the two snow jade vials. With a nod to the other two, he swaggered out of the room, looking extremely pleased with himself.

  Hei Gou and Xue Wei both chuckled slightly and shook their heads. Bai Tianyi was an old demon, a man who had stood at the apex, but now he was nothing more than an eccentric, slightly petty, child.

  “Well then, excuse me, I will go and see what my luck brings me!” Hei Gou said seriously as he tightly grasped the vial in his hand. Excitement shone in his eyes.

  Xue Wei nodded his head and said his farewells before he too sat down on the floor in his room on a cushion and looked at the red colored pill in his hand.

  This was a One Color Rainbow Pill. A Seven Color Rainbow Pill on the other hand was the pinnacle of pill-making; they were heaven-defying and as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

  However, even if they existed, it was impossible to buy such pills with mere money.

  Rolling the pill around in the palm of his hand, Xue Wei pondered what to do. Finally after a few seconds, he raised it and placed it in his mouth, curious as to how it would react compared to normal pills.

  The moment it came into contact with his tongue, the pill started to melt into liquid energy that slowly spread down from his throat into the rest of his body.

  For a second, Xue Wei thought he was floating as the energy gained in momentum like the waves of a storm, crashing against the azure dragon in his dantian.

  The dragon swayed in this current of energy as a small boat would in the ocean’s fury. But only until it opened its mouth. As if a black hole had manifested in his dantian region, the dragon started swallowing the energy almost ravenously.

  There was no telling when this would end; the dragon kept sucking in the waves of energy like a bottomless pit.

  The extra energy that the suction force could not take in did not go to waste. As soon as the excess energy touched the dragon’s body, its scales and body absorbed it, but not as cleanly as when it was swallowed. Still, the color of the Azure Dragon’s scales and body deepened and solidified. It was as if the more nourishment it received, the deeper the color of its body would become and the more it seemed like a real thing, no longer ethereal.

  Xue Wei was unaware of how much time had gone by. When the crashing waves of energy died down and he tried to stand up, his entire body was stiff and sore. He had clearly been sitting in the same position for an exceedingly large amount of time.

  Chapter 7 - Arrival of the Diviners

  Clenching his hand into a fist, Xue Wei felt limitless strength surge through his arm. The azure dragons of qi that circulated through his meridians had not increased in size, but they had all turned much deeper in color.

  The amount of azure Qi dragons in his meridians would never increase in number because they already fully saturated the passageways in his body, but their density of energy could increase, which manifested as a deepening of the azure color they gave off. They were like a school of fish, flooding his body.

  The usual cultivators have strands of Qi coursing through their bodies. These strands of Qi come in the shape of thin threads, all of which circulate through the body’s meridians. Xue Wei also had these strands of Qi. However, every single strand had the shape of a dragon, and as his Qi was azure in color, so were the dragons.

  These Qi dragons were all created by the Azure Dragon Spirit in his dantian. This was the biggest puzzle for Xue Wei. He understood that he was a Sovereign Beast, so he also understood that every theory he knew so far about cultivation could not be applied to himself. On top of that, he had never heard about a spirit inhabiting one’s dantian.

  This dragon spirit seemed to absorb the heaven-and-earth essence and refine it into Qi on its own, separate from Xue Wei’s input, like any other cultivator. But the Qi it refined held a different attribute than normal. Not only did it look different, it also held a trace of vastness and eternity. It was as if his Qi was unyielding and a neverending reserve of energy. The pride that was evident in Xue Wei’s entire being after the hatching of his spirit could also be found in his Qi.

  Despite the sensation of endless strength, Xue Wei could assess that his strength, albeit having improved by leaps and bounds, had not grown as much as Bai Tianyi’s had after taking a Rainbow Pill.

  Bai Tianyi had gone from the Low Heavenly Warrior spiritual energy level straight to the Low Ordinary Knight level. Xue Wei could feel that his cultivation had risen from the third layer of the Heavenly Warrior realm to the fifth layer.

  Although this increase was rather impressive and would be impossible with other pills, Xue Wei understood that this was the wonder of the Rainbow Pills. He could not help but dream about a Two Color or even a Three Color Rainbow Pill.

  Before his dream could get the better of him, he exited his suite and went down to the hotel counter.

  “Excuse me,” he called out to the manager, who instantly walked up to him with a smile on his face and cupped hands. “I was wondering, have you seen my friends exiting their rooms recently?” he asked.

  Xue Wei knew that the Golden Chamber kept an eye on both him and his friends. While they really were protecting them, it was also in their interest to know what they were doing.

  “I am sorry,” the manager said apologetically while shaking his head. “I have not seen them in the month that has passed since the trade fair.”

  Xue Wei’s eyebrow shot up in surprise. Had it been a full month already? Although his body had felt incredibly stiff and sore after the cultivation session, he would never have guessed that so much time had passed. It had felt like like a few moments had passed to him.

  “Thank you,” Xue Wei cupped his hands at the manager before he decided to start strolling about town. He had a few things he wished to purchase, and a few things he wanted to see if he could find.

  Just as he exited the Golden Chambers, he sensed that the number of people tailing had multiplied. His spiritual energy was still at the Medium Heavenly Warrior level, so it had not advanced. The only reasonable conclusion he had was that more people had been appointed to follow him.

  Xue Wei wandered around in the city for some time. He purchased a few snacks that he ate while walking down the streets, on the lookout to see whether or not this city had an underground society.

  Cloudsoar City was huge. Although this Chengzi Kingdom was not a part of the center of the continent, it was just at the border, and thus, many things that did not appear in the backwater kingdoms and the other empires could be found here.

  Xue Wei was looking for something specific. He knew that the underground societies did not care about whether or not the customer was a Primordial Beast or a human. All that mattered was money, and for the right amount of money, you could get anything.

  Xue Wei wanted to buy information. He wanted to get information on Sovereign Beasts. He knew that he could not go to the Golden Chambers to ask about information like this. He had to go to a place where he could be anonymous.

  After finishing the snacks he had purchased, Xue Wei went to the closest store selling face masks. He had been wearing a face mask for a very long time and it had become normal to him.

  The face masks were like a layer of extra skin. They were easy to breathe through and felt as natural as if they were not wearing anything.

  Xue Wei already had one face mask that altered his appearance to suit the character of Ye Xiao, but he would need another appearance should he find the underground society.

  His appearance was well known throughout the entire city, and money was what talked in the underground society. If he showed up there, someone just had to flash a few gold coins and they would be able to obtain information about what he had requested. As a result, the best option would be to alter his face again.

  Face masks were easily purchasable in this region. They were cheap to make as the materials were in abundance the closer you came to the center of the continent, and every expert always had one secret or another t
hat they wished to keep.

  Due to the high demand, many shops sold face masks, and they sold them for as low as fifty silver. If one were to try and acquire a face mask in the backwater kingdoms, they would have to pay more than double if not triple for the same thing.

  Xue Wei entered a shop. He was aware that his tail of experts would enter to find out what he had bought the moment he leaves, but he did not mind that they knew he was buying a face mask.

  He purchased three face masks and smiled at the counter lady before he left the shop, humming a song. As he had expected, it did not take long for the experts that had tailed him to enter the shop and obtain information about his purchase of face masks. Three sets even.

  Was he finally getting ready to leave Cloudsoar City? They hoped so.

  Xue Wei continued his stroll through the city for some time. Eventually he reached the center square. He had noticed that the rest of the city had seemed less bustling than normal, but now that he was at the center square he saw all the ones who had been missing from the city.

  As he got close, he could hear the roars of beasts and thousands of voices chattering and cheering. His curiosity was piqued and he sped up slightly. When he turned a corner, the center square was stretched out right in front of him. He could not help but widen his eyes in surprise.

  The entire center square was bursting with people. So many that he could hardly count them all. There was a massive podium in the middle of the square where many cages were stacked on top of one another. Beasts of all kinds and shapes were inside these cages, roaring and pacing back and forth.

  Xue Wei was stunned when he saw the sight in front of him. Although he had come to terms with the fact that he was a Sovereign Beast, he did not feel any connection with these beasts and their suffering had nothing to do with him. Still, he looked on curiously as to what was going on.

  Seven cloaked people were standing on top of the podium, next to the cages. They looked awe-inspiring as they were high above everyone else, and the way they moved was filled with vigor.

  They were clearly Diviners.

  Diviners were capable of taming beasts. They had a divine power and their ability to tame beasts was so outstanding that they were highly regarded by many if not all. Some even wished to have their own children becoming Diviners, but the recruitment was tough. First of all, any child over the age of five would be instantly declined.

  Xue Wei did not feel pressured because of the Diviners. He had previously been close to a Diviner back in the Heping Kingdom, and he had even let them examine him. Even if his spirit had hatched, Xue Wei did not believe that they would be capable of seeing through him. Hei Gou was a whole other story though.

  “Seems like I need to make Gou stay in the room until the Diviners decide to leave town again,” Xue Wei muttered. He was not willing to risk his good friend being exposed and captured, after which he would have to serve some wealthy aristocrat for eternity.

  Xue Wei released a stale breath of air and gave a last glance at the Fierce Beasts that had been put up for display. Fierce Beasts were all that would be put up for sale outside the center of the continent, while all Primordial Beasts would go to the center region because they were worth much more.

  These Fierce Beasts were all equivalent to the Ordinary and Earth Knight realms, either with their physical strength or with their Qi-level.

  The moment Xue Wei looked at the beasts, it was as if the beasts could feel it. All of them quieted down and stopped their pacing forth and back. Instead, they were still like statues. The audience of experts went wild thinking that this was something that the Diviners had ordered them to do.

  The Diviners were shocked when they saw this behavior. The Diviners were capable of taming beasts, able to make them heed their every order, but when so many beasts were gathered together, they would struggle against their bonds.

  They would roar and pace around, some might even try to attack the cages in an attempt to escape.

  Never before had they seen all their beasts turn into stone. Never before had they experienced what they were experiencing right now.

  Xue Wei chuckled and shook his head when he saw the shock on the faces of the seven Diviners. He then turned around and returned to the hotel. Although he was curious about the beasts and the Diviners, he knew that it was more important to warn Hei Gou.

  Hei Gou still had not left his suite. Xue Wei stayed outside for a few days before Hei Gou came out. “Sorry,” Xue Wei said while pushing his friend back into the suite and followed behind him.

  Hei Gou’s eyes widened by the gesture. “Please no!” he called out, “I know I am prettier than Xiaoyun, but I don’t swing that way. Please save my chrysanthemum!”

  “Oh stop it,” Xue Wei felt black lines on his forehead when he listened to the joking Hei Gou. “There are Diviners in town,” he said, going straight to the reason he had pushed him back into the room. “You have to stay here until they’re gone.”

  “How many are there?” Hei Gou instantly became serious when he heard the word Diviners. He had never come across one before, but he had heard much about them. They were the ultimate threat for all Primordial Beasts.

  “There are seven, and I fear that they will have some kind of interaction with the Golden Chambers before they leave. I really doubt that the Golden Chambers will allow such a golden goose to slip past them.”

  “I see.” Hei Gou nodded his head. “In that case, I will stay here and cultivate. The Rainbow Pill raised my physical strength to the ninth layer. My Qi-level is still in the second layer. Heavenly Warrior, of course.”

  Chapter 8 - The Intelligencer

  After securing that Hei Gou would not leave his suite, Xue Wei returned to his own chambers where he started cultivating.

  He had purchased three masks, which left their pursuers guessing at when and if Xue Wei and his friends were exiting Cloudsoar City. They could not help but curse at him.

  If they each wore a mask and blended into the crowd, it would be impossible for the pursuers to locate their targets. Only Bai Tianyi was easily noticeable because of his tiny size, so the three great sects had their men pursue every single child that exited the hotel.

  To their annoyance, none of these children were Bai Tianyi. They were instead message boys that worked for the hotel to deliver messages on behalf of the patrons.

  This really made them all wonder whether or not Xue Wei had bought the masks to mislead them, or if he had something planned. In the end, the pursuers were incapable of seeing even the slightest shadow of Xue Wei and his companions.

  What they were unaware of was that Xue Wei had long since left the hotel. He was completely unaware of the fact that many of these pursuers were left grinding their teeth and filled with anger due to his stunt.

  He wandered the streets of the city in an aimless manner for some time, before he finally headed, in a casual way, towards the poor residential area.

  This residential area was a place filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Here, anyone could be an extreme expert, but they could also be an unfortunate beggar.

  There were many people here who had lost limbs and who had turned into cripples from their years in the army. They had lost their ability to earn money for their families, which as a result forced them to beg and live in this area where every day was a struggle.

  There were also a lot of criminals who lived in this area. Because of the abundance of cripples, beggars, and criminals living in this area, the city guards had decided not to funnel resources into cleaning the area up, or even patrol it.

  In the end, a parallel society had appeared in Cloudsoar City’s poor area, a society that thrived on its own lawlessness; a society that did not care about the war between humans and beasts. All that mattered in this place was the profit that was to be made from selling information and items to the highest bidder.

  Xue Wei had previously walked around Cloudsoar City. He had seen the signs and heard the rumors about this black mark
et, but he had not been deep into the poor area before.

  Even as a Heavenly Warrior, he was still far from being strong enough to look after himself in this area. Ordinary and Earth Knights were common, and even the leader of the black market was a Sky Knight, one of the few Sky Knights in the entire kingdom!

  Xue Wei was careful. He did not speak to anyone, but he was tense and his mind was alert. He observed everything around him. He had charged up Forbidden Rush to escape at a moment’s notice.

  Frankly, he was almost too vigilant. The black market was indeed interested in people’s wealth and they would kill for said wealth, but if they killed every single person that steps into their territory, no one would dare to set a foot into the shadows, and that would end in them losing money.

  The territory of this underground society was located right beneath the western side of the city walls, in the shadows of the city walls where all the ugly and disfigured people were hiding. In this darkness, many things that could never see the light of day were occurring.