Nine Nether Heavenly Emperor
Chapter 61 Bloodthirsty

Chapter 61: Chapter 61 Bloodthirsty

Black Rat Demon, a First-stage demon beast with low spiritual wisdom, lives underground, completely black, resembling a rat but the size of a cow.

As the Black Rat Demon burst out from the exploded burrow, its ferocious and grim face opened wide, displaying two rows of black, sharp fangs, and it lunged towards a middle-aged martial master in front of the crowd.

The middle-aged martial master, armed with a Double-handed Great Axe, cleaved at the Black Rat Demon. After all, it was merely a First-stage demon beast, and he had prepared in advance. Upon contact, the Black Rat Demon let out a piercing scream and was split in two by the Double-handed Great Axe, its black blood splattering everywhere.

After the Black Rat Demon was dealt with, the middle-aged martial master crouched down and examined the corpse of the Black Rat Demon, then shook his head in disappointment and said to his companion, "No Demon Crystal."

Demon Crystals, a type of crystal stone formed inside demon beasts, have a wide range of uses—they can be used in medicine, artifact refining, and direct absorption of fire Attribute Energy by Fire Element martial artists from fire attribute demon beast crystals.

The corpse of the First-stage Black Rat Demon had practically no value, but its Demon Crystal could have fetched some money.

"Let’s keep moving forward and stay alert. Though this is only the periphery of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, there might be Second-stage or even Third-stage demon beasts, so everyone must be cautious."

A seasoned, burly man, accustomed to the grueling life within the demon beast mountains, shouted to the group. The large group then proceeded onward, venturing deeper into the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

"Kid, when do you plan to make your move? Slay all these insects here, and my power will surely increase by a small stage," said Sacred Flame from within Shi Feng, soon after they took a few steps.

"Shut up!" Shi Feng responded to Sacred Flame with his thoughts. "Stop trying to tempt me. I’ve told you before, I adhere to my own principles when it comes to killing. Don’t treat me like those Blood Pattern Tribe demons!"

"Hmph!" Sacred Flame snorted coldly and said, "Compassion of a woman! With such benevolence, you still dream of pursuing the peak of Martial Arts? Utterly delusional."

"It’s not up to you whether I achieve the pinnacle of Martial Arts! There’s another thing – tell me what is going on with the Sacred Sword?" Shi Feng demanded.

"What’s wrong with the Sacred Sword?" asked Sacred Flame, but Shi Feng could hear hesitation in its tone.

"I used to think that after the Artifact Spirit had disappeared, the Sacred Sword had become nothing but a broken sword. But a few days ago, after slaughtering those pests from the Skywind Sect, I sensed the bloodthirsty longing from the Sacred Sword, though ultimately you absorbed all the blood," Shi Feng said.

"Kid, I only did it for your own good. We are one entity now; if I am strong, you are strong, and if I am weak, you are weak. Instead of letting that broken sword absorb the power, we might as well enhance our own strength," Sacred Flame explained.

"Does that mean that if the Sacred Sword absorbs enough blood, it can be restored?" Shi Feng asked.

"Kid, stop dreaming. To restore that broken sword, who knows how much blood it needs to consume? The Sacred Sword was born from the Blood Pool; it was wielded by the Blood Pattern Tribe generation after generation, slaying countless living beings over ten thousand years, drinking the blood of innumerable beings, and only then did it give birth to an Artifact Spirit and advanced to Divine Grade."

Hearing these words, Shi Feng took out the Bloodthirsty Sword and held it in his hand. It seemed unlikely that the sword could return to its peak anytime soon. However, he could consider slowly restoring it, progressing alongside his own advancement in realm. Otherwise, without a suitable weapon, the power of his sword skills would be greatly diminished.

Currently, with his Martial Arts Cultivation at the level of a three-star Martial Spirit, using the Bloodthirsty Sword, which was only at the Second-stage, had become somewhat strenuous.

The team continued deeper into the Demon Beast Mountain Range, and they encountered numerous demon beasts along the way, including first-stage, second-stage, and eventually, third-stage beasts.

Many were wounded at first, but there were no deaths until a third-stage beast, a Double-winged Black Flame Tiger, descended from the sky and spewed black flames into the crowd, causing severe casualties.

With the concerted efforts of many martial artists, the Double-winged Black Flame Tiger was finally slain. However, after counting the casualties, there were twelve dead and more than twenty wounded, causing a wave of grief to spread quickly among the crowd.

Although many had prepared themselves mentally before entering the Demon Beast Mountain Range, seeing their friends and family members either left dead on the mountain or barely clinging to life was still hard to accept.

"Brother! Wake up, didn’t we agree, after coming out of the Demon Beast Mountain Range this time, we would use the pay to buy a house in Demon Beast City, and each of us would marry a beautiful wife!" a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy cried, kneeling on the ground beside a body charred beyond recognition.

"Brother, didn’t we agree? When we get back to Demon Beast City, we were going to organize a mercenary group together! The group name was to be the first character of each of our names."

"Father, you are so badly injured, let me carry you back home now. We’ll abandon this mission, life is more important."

Yuel Wushuang, standing at the back of the crowd, watched all this quietly, perhaps touched by the sad emotions, shook her head and sighed silently.

Although the mood was somber, Shi Feng still adhered to his principle of not wasting. He absorbed all the Power of Death from both the deceased people and demon beasts. The Sacred Flame initially wanted to absorb the souls of the dead, but Shi Feng stopped it, only absorbing the souls of the demon beasts.

Absorbing blood was too eerie and evil, something Shi Feng did not partake in, especially since the body of the Double-winged Black Flame Tiger was valuable and had been stored in the Storage Ring by the martial artist who had dealt the final blow.

At that moment, Yuel Wushuang spoke up, "Everyone, bring the wounded over here, I will treat them. The rest of you, stay alert. Feng Shi, come and help me."

Shi Feng had just absorbed the Power of Death and did not expect that among so many people, Yuel Wushuang would specifically call him over to help, and even remembered his name. He thought to himself, "Could it be that this girl has really taken a liking to me?"

The twenty or so injured were quickly brought to the rear, and Yuel Wushuang took out several bottles and jars from her storage ring, handing three jade bottles to Shi Feng, saying, "Take these three bottles of medicine, and apply them to their burns."

After handing over the three jade bottles to Shi Feng, Yuel Wushuang ignored him and busied herself with her tasks.

She took out various medicinal herbs, and then with a ’bang,’ a green flame ignited on her left hand. Yuel Wushuang started tossing the herbs into the green flames.

"Fourth-stage King Level Beast Fire," Shi Feng murmured softly, feeling the green flames on Yuel Wushuang’s left hand. However, he sensed an odd sensation from these green flames, as if the fire was more akin to the attributes of a medicinal herb. Instead of calling it ’Beast Fire,’ it would be more appropriate to call it ’Medicinal Fire.’

"This is strange! How can there be such a flame? It must be some new variety created by that freak Qin Rufan," Shi Feng shook his head, then looked at the injured lying on the ground, sighed, and muttered to himself, "If only you knew that it’s the Emperor Nine Nether himself who is applying medicine to you, even dying immediately would be worth it."

(Given the opportunity, I wish everyone a Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true and have great fortune! From today until the third day of the new year, I will only update one Chapter daily, it’s the new year after all, please allow me a few days of laziness^^

Also, I would like to extend my special thanks to the term brother who reads the book at the QD site. Thank you for your votes and rewards. I don’t have an account on that site, so I haven’t been able to respond to your messages, but regardless, thank you everyone for supporting this book.)