Chapter Ninety-Three: Compressed Blood Energy

“What is that?”

“It looks like a flying spirit vessel, a ship?”

“And there seem to be people aboard?”

“What kind of power can use a flying ship like that? You have to know, that ship is even more expensive than a high-grade spirit artifact. I once saw one at the trading bazaar with my uncle, but the price was simply beyond what ordinary people could afford.”

In a place called Clear Water Town, which lay along the only road leading to Forever Joy City, countless martial artists lifted their heads toward the sky and kept whispering to those beside them, their eyes full of envy. That vessel streaked past overhead, drawing a long trail through the air until it vanished beyond the horizon.

It was an intermediate flying spirit artifact, yet in terms of price it was even more precious than an ordinary high-grade spirit artifact. Plain gold and silver could clearly not buy such a thing; only spirit stones could be used to exchange for it.

Spirit stones were formed when the essence of heaven and earth became solid under special conditions. Within them lay abundant vital energy, far more concentrated than that found in the world outside. After all, they were forged by countless streams of energy, compressed over endless years into a single stone.

In the cultivation world, spirit stones were divided into lower, middle, and upper grades, with lower being the least valuable and upper the highest. Gold and silver could only be used to purchase intermediate artifacts and those below that level. Anything above the intermediate grade had to be obtained with spirit stones.

By exchange rate, one hundred lower-grade spirit stones could be traded for one middle-grade spirit stone, and one hundred middle-grade spirit stones for one upper-grade spirit stone.

Spirit stones were immensely useful: they were both currency and an aid to martial cultivation. A martial artist could directly draw the vital energy from spirit stones to cultivate, but only experts above the Vital Energy Realm could do so.

That was because martial artists in the Blood Qi Realm could not even mobilize the solidified vital energy within a spirit stone, let alone absorb it.

Yet spirit stone veins were mostly controlled by powerful local clans and factions, and their quantity was not large. Thus, in small places like the Ye family or the Luo family, spirit stones were exceedingly scarce. Using them for cultivation was generally considered a luxury.

So while an ordinary intermediate spirit artifact could be bought through various channels with gold and silver, an intermediate flying spirit artifact was different. Its price could only be estimated in spirit stones, and in the marketplaces, even the cheapest one cost at least one hundred lower-grade spirit stones.

That was because only when a martial artist reached the Ancient Pill Realm could they fly through the air. This was what made flying spirit artifacts so valuable. Imagine two martial artists of the same Vital Energy Realm, neither able to fly. If one of them possessed a flying spirit artifact, he would stand in an invincible position.

However, Nangong Xue had not carried a flying ship with her before; otherwise she would not have been forced into such a desperate situation by Luo Long.

As time passed, night descended. A slender new moon hung high in the sky, casting a pale silver glow over the lake between the two mountain valleys and lending the water a cool chill. Suddenly, the flying ship that had passed above Clear Water Town in the daytime swept between those two valleys, stirring ripples across the lake and making the silver light glimmer and dance.

Inside the ship’s resting cabin sat Ye Cheng, Nangong Xue, and Elder Wu. Outside, the third commander, Wang Yang, was controlling the ship’s flight.

This was already the eighth day since Ye Cheng and the others had set out for Forever Joy City. In seven more days, Forever Joy City’s Nangong family and the factions led by the Bloodfiend Gang would begin the contest for the chosen quotas. So they had kept on traveling without stopping.

As long as a martial artist reached great accomplishment in the Blood Qi Realm, they could control their bodily functions. Going a whole month without eating or drinking would cause no problem at all.

“Old Wu, he has been in this state for several days now. How much longer until he wakes?”

Inside the vessel, Nangong Xue’s injuries had already healed, and her blood energy had become increasingly restrained. Within that restraint there was even a faint flavor of sword intent. It seemed the battle before had yielded her much. Yet at that moment, Nangong Xue’s beautiful eyes were fixed tightly on the slender figure of a youth sitting cross-legged, his eyelids shut and his body utterly still. There was an almost imperceptible trace of worry in her gaze.

That youth was Ye Cheng.

And the concern in Nangong Xue’s eyes could not help but surprise Elder Wu. He could feel that the young lady seemed to care very much about this youth, a look he had never once seen in her in more than ten years.

Hearing Nangong Xue’s question, Elder Wu dismissed his thoughts and looked toward Ye Cheng. After a moment, he gave Ye Cheng a strange look and said, “This old servant does not know either. Young Brother Ye seems to be in a deep sleep of sorts, but I can feel that the healing medicine the young lady gave him has already dissolved into his body and is rapidly mending his injuries.”

“But what this old servant does not understand,” Elder Wu continued.

“Is it his rate of recovery?” Nangong Xue asked.

“Yes. Young Brother Ye’s recovery seems a bit absurdly fast,” Elder Wu nodded. “By rights, given the extent of his injuries, even with the young lady’s healing medicine, an ordinary Blood Qi Realm martial artist would need about a month to recover. Yet only eight days have passed, and I can already feel that the injuries in Young Brother Ye’s body are no longer a serious concern. This is rather astonishing. It seems this Young Brother Ye is no ordinary person.”

“His talent is above even mine,” Nangong Xue said, nodding as her gaze fell on Ye Cheng, her expression complicated. “That tiny Luo Yang Town cannot confine him. I believe that in the not-so-distant future, so long as he does not die during his trials, he will surely make a name for himself throughout South Sun Prefecture.”

“This old servant believes so as well,” said Elder Wu. Just as he was about to continue, the voice of the third commander Wang Yang came from outside. “Elder Wu, come out and take over control of this vessel for a while. Let me make a slight adjustment.”

Elder Wu rose and stepped out. The side effects of the violent energy medicine had long since passed. During this period, he and Commander Wang had been taking turns controlling the vessel as they hurried toward Forever Joy City. Otherwise, over such a journey of more than ten days, constantly using vital energy to operate the ship in flight would have been a taxing business.

Soon after, the curtain was lifted and the third commander, Wang Yang, walked in wearing a fatigued expression. He asked softly, “Miss Xue, is the young brother still not awake? I can see his blood energy rising; compared with when he first started, when his blood energy was withering away, he seems much better now.”

“Yes,” Nangong Xue said, nodding, but then a surge of blood energy suddenly startled her. “This is...?”

When her gaze locked onto Ye Cheng once more, he was no longer utterly still. Instead, his blood energy was surging, like a flood bursting forth, causing his aura to rise again and again.

“Blood energy compression!” Wang Yang exclaimed in shock, staring with a peculiar expression at the cross-legged youth as his blood energy rolled and churned.

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