201 Sovereign Beas (2/2)
But Xue Wei could not consider the consequences right now.
He burned his heart-blood essence without hesitation. His eyes turned bloodshot, and his strength climbed rapidly. A bloody mist surrounded his body before he lunged at the closest enemy.
The roar that escaped his mouth was so terrifying that some of the experts tried to flee, but Bai Tianyi and Hei Gou picked off the escaping experts that had turned their backs to them. With each swipe of a paw and each wave of sword energy, the experts collapsed to the ground.
Xue Wei held down the rest of them. Although they fought back, the blood mist blocked the majority of their attacks. He was overwhelmingly powerful now that he had burned a drop of heart-blood essence. No one stood a chance against him, but the price he had to pay was naturally equally frightening.
He flashed about like an azure lightning bolt. Everywhere he passed, he brought death and carnage.
None of their enemies survived. In twenty-eight breaths, they had killed every single person from the delegation sent by the two princes. Xue Wei stopped in place, gasping for air as he returned to his human shape.
His clothes were completely destroyed. They hung as rags on his body, and his own blood combined with the blood of his enemies had sept into every single piece of cloth.
Wounds covered every part of his body, and he seemed completely exhausted. The blood mist around him was almost translucent from how much it had diminished.
”Guys, quickly grab the spoils of war so we can get out of here,” Xue Wei said weakly with a hoarse voice. He quickly did as he told the others to do, holding up both hands. The storage rings on the fingers of the dead experts were forcefully pulled off and drawn toward Xue Wei by a suction force, eventually landing in his palm. As soon as they came close enough, they vanished, all entering Xue Wei's own storage ring. Now was not the time to check what they had acquired.
Xue Wei staggered backward. He was so exhausted he could barely move his fingers. When Wang Xiaoyun saw this, she rushed to his side and placed an arm around him. She tried to support him, but something made her blood freeze over the moment she made contact with him. She could not help her shock. The blood that was flowing from Xue Wei's open wounds called out to her, like a bloodline summoning.
She resisted the allure, however, and forced herself to support him as they moved forward. Bai Tianyi supported Hei Gou, more or less dragging him, who was also severely injured.
At the start, Wang Xiaoyun felt uneasy from the smell of Xue Wei's blood. It made her feel dizzy and uncomfortable, as if she had drunk too much wine.
The blood seeped through her clothes and touched her skin. At first, the pain she felt from this contact was bearable, but before she could even register it, the pain had become incredibly sharp.
It was a pain she was familiar with, a pain that she had undergone during her sixteenth birthday, but it was much more intense this time.
She had to grit her teeth hard to continue leading Xue Wei into a cave they found after entering a small forest. They had walked for half a day at that point. Xue Wei was as weak as before. In fact, his condition was worsening because he had not had the time to relax and focus on his wounds.
Because he was in constant motion, the blood continued to flow from his body, and both he and Wang Xiaoyun were bathed in it.
The tattoos on her body were shining with a golden light that made her feel incredibly weak. When they made it to the cave, she collapsed together with Xue Wei.
”Useless! Is it the ritual?” Bai Tianyi swore now that he alone had to look after his three unconscious companions.
He took care of Xue Wei first. He had the most severe injuries, so Bai Tianyiput him flat on the ground on his back before taking out some healing medicines from his storage dimension.
He did not have that many items because he gave most of their loot to Xue Wei, but he had a couple useful ones from his personal stash.
He found the pills and placed one in Xue Wei's mouth. Another was ground to dust and sprinkled over his wounds.
Then he did the same with Hei Gou before he finally turned to Wang Xiaoyun. ”This is troublesome,” he said with vexation. ”She is already strong and now she'll get stronger. The blood ritual will take her around ten hours, maybe more since she received a Sovereign Beast's blessing this time.” Bai Tianyi sighed and shook his head.
After having tended to them and placed them beside each other, Bai Tianyi sat by the entrance of the cave to keep watch. It was clear that the signs of battle outside would be noticed sooner or later. When they were found, they would all be seen as suspects.
Getting half a day's distance away was not enough to bring them out of danger.
The golden symbols on Wang Xiaoyun body turned darker and darker as time went on. Eventually, they turned dark-red like blood.
The ten hours passed quickly, accompanied by constant groaning sounds from the three wounded ones.
Hei Gou was the first to awaken. He seemed much better than before, and his eyes were filled with life and excitement despite his injuries.
”That was a fight worth fighting!” was the first thing he said. But he quickly started frowning when he saw the unconscious Wang Xiaoyun and Xue Wei beside him.
”What happened to her?” he asked, puzzled. He had known that she had not been injured in the fight, so something ought to have happened when he was unconscious.
”Have you ever wondered about Wei's real identity?” Bai Tianyi asked curiously. Hei Gou shrugged his shoulders. ”He is a sovereign beast, right?” was his answer.
”Oh, you know?” Bai Tianyi was surprised.
”Yeah. He made my bloodline mutate. Only a sovereign beast can do that. Not to mention that he is an azure dragon.”
”But he seems to think he is a human, so I can't make myself burst his bubble. If he wants to be human, then I will let him be human.”
Bai Tianyi gave Hei Gou a long glance. ”I never thought you were so shrewd and knew all along,” he said praisingly.
”His blood has triggered a mutation in that lass's body. She will undergo a mutation similar to the one you did. I don't know how they managed to create these Wayfarers, but they react to blood similarly to how Fierce Beasts and Primordial Beasts do. It is quite intriguing.
”Unfortunately, I think that Xiaoyun knows he is a beast now. We might have to fight her, and her strength is rising drastically. I don't know what to do.”