Chapter 86: Not the Same Game Version

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Gu Changqing was beginning to wonder if his tastes had grown more universal—or perhaps more indiscriminate. Still, he kept his blood threads within the range of his vision; outside of it, although he could direct them, his control was far from precise. As a result, there were occasionally a few escapees that managed to sneak up on him.

One such creature, its skin fissured and cracked to reveal raw flesh beneath, crawled silently over the eaves behind him and pounced without a sound. Tendrils, slightly thicker than hair, emerged from under its fingernails—on closer inspection, they turned out to be worms wriggling forth.

The monster collided with the crimson glow that surrounded Gu Changqing, as if it had hit an invisible wall. Instantly, dozens of blood threads shot from his body, piercing the monster and then dissolving into blood that flew back into him, leaving only a mangled skeleton behind.

Gu Changqing casually crushed its skull underfoot, as if stepping on nothing more than a stone, utterly indifferent to the act. He had to admit that the Tortoise-Serpent Eight Trigrams Lantern was proving its worth; otherwise, with tens of thousands of these things swarming him, even if he could deal with them, it would be a nuisance to come through unscathed.

These monsters were not terribly powerful, but he dared not let even one injure him.

Within half an hour, the roars and howls across the city dwindled. What had once surged toward him in a dense wave of humanoid creatures was now a sea of bones, piled on rooftops and streets, forming mounds everywhere.

After all, these had been tens of thousands of monsters.

From the city wall, Ning Ze and the others watched, their scalps tingling. These creatures weren't strong individually, but their numbers were overwhelming, and their speed outstripped ordinary people several times over.

If there had been only a few, they would have been manageable. But in such numbers, anyone would feel overwhelmed.

Around Gu Changqing, the air glowed red, an ocean of blood threads swirling around him. To an outsider, it seemed like a literal sea of blood. But Gu Changqing knew he was still some distance from a true "sea"—more like a large stream, or a small river of blood.

These monsters yielded little blood energy. Even after consuming two or three tens of thousands of them, it was only equivalent to five or six Xu Daoren, not enough to break through to the next level.

The stronger he became, the harder and slower his cultivation progressed.

With the last two monsters dissolving into blood, Gu Changqing beckoned, and all the blood threads in the air withdrew back into his body.

Ever since advancing to the fifth stage of Qi Refinement, he had felt a faint, persistent hunger inside, a hollowness that never quite left him. Now, at last, that hunger was gone—he even felt the urge to burp.

After all, though he always converted the blood energy into spiritual energy, some residue remained, causing his internal blood energy to swell again.

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Gu Changqing crossed several rooftops, his shoes crushing scattered bones with each careless step. After walking several hundred meters, he leapt lightly down into the street.

Ning Ze, Pei Yuntai, Xu Jin, Wei Guojiang, and Shi Qiu hurried over.

“It’s safe now, you can start exploring! Hic!” Gu Changqing couldn’t hold back a burp.

The others exchanged glances; the sound sent a shiver down their spines. They’d already suspected Gu Changqing’s blood threads had some sort of absorption property—now they were almost certain. Did that mean Gu Changqing had devoured all those monsters?

“Split into pairs and search the city. If there’s any trouble, fire a signal flare!” Gu Changqing waved them off, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled down the road, peering into shops as he passed.

Spotting a grain store, he walked in. With a thought, the Yin Soul Sword flew out, slicing open all the sacks and jars. What spilled out was moldy and blackened grain, and the jars exuded a putrid stench.

He considered the timeline of the city’s transformation. It couldn’t have been too long—two or three years, at most three or four. Any longer, and the grain would have rotted away entirely, the contents of the jars dried up long ago.

“But what did these monsters eat all this time?” Gu Changqing pondered briefly, then dismissed the thought. It wasn’t his concern, and he wasn’t about to waste his mental energy on it.

He entered a gold, silver, and jade shop. On the shelves were boxes filled with jade bracelets, thumb rings, and gold trinkets. He was mildly interested, so he tossed a few pieces into his empty pouch and moved on, heading straight for the town center.

Before the catastrophe, there would have been an official building—perhaps a yamen—here, where valuables might be found. The items in this city were steeped in the history of another civilization, a civilization that might now be extinct. With a bit of packaging, he might fetch a handsome price for them.

He entered the local yamen, heading straight to the rear courtyard, which indeed showed signs of habitation. He pushed open a door to find a folding screen, and behind it a couch and a skeleton sprawled on the floor, a sword still clutched in its bony hand.

Blood spatters marred the floor and screen; judging by the pose, the person had taken their own life.

“Hm!” Gu Changqing examined the corpse. At its waist hung a jade pendant and a metal official’s seal, both of which he promptly pocketed.

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On the nearby table lay a half-finished notebook. On the open page were tiny, cramped words: “It’s over, all is lost. Dongyang Mountain is destroyed, the Martial Lord is dead, everyone has become a monster...”

“Dongyang Mountain? Martial Lord?” Gu Changqing mulled over these terms; they seemed significant. He slipped the notebook away, then rummaged through the desk to find a porcelain bottle, but it held only a foul stench, so he tossed it aside.

There were two other books: one titled "Innate Skill," the other "Moon-Chasing Sword Art." Gu Changqing skimmed the first and found the world’s martial arts methods resembled those of the Great Dynasty.

In the Great Dynasty, one first cultivated blood, then underwent marrow cleansing and blood exchange, and only then began practicing spiritual energy. Here, too, the martial path began with blood training, strengthening blood energy from novice to warrior, eventually reaching Martial Lord or even Martial Saint—said to possess the power to move mountains and fill seas.

“Tsk, tsk—this is a boon for the body-strengthening Awakened back home,” Gu Changqing clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

The martial arts of this world weren’t as profound as the cultivation paths of the Great Dynasty, but they far surpassed those of Nan Chu. Nan Chu had swordmasters of the seventh awakening rank, famed for their swordsmanship, but that was due to the swordmasters’ unique talent—no one else could learn their ways. Qi Dynasty had only one swordmaster, never a second.

This world was now a wasteland, but martial arts manuals would surely be scattered about. Once these were brought back, those with body-strengthening talents, once unremarkable, would rise to prominence.

“So, every era has its own god-tier meta?” Gu Changqing laughed, unconcerned. After all, he wasn’t bound by anyone else’s rules.

He put away both manuals, then took a paperweight—a jade carving of an unknown beast, its eyes set with blue gems—along with several other ornaments, and proceeded to search the rest of the rooms.

After making a full circuit, his pouch was nearly full. He hopped onto the roof, closed his eyes, and once again condensed his spirit core, seeking the locations of the apertures within his body.

Hours later, Shi Qiu returned with Xu Jin and Wei Guojiang, each carrying a large bundle. “We found quite a few things!”

Gu Changqing tossed them the notebook he had picked up earlier. “Summarize the key points for me.”

(End of chapter)