143: Chapter 143 Imminent Transformation into a Dragon
Bang!
After speaking, the Blood Jiao's soul fragment self-detonated without hesitation. It was so fast that even Tao Yao didn't have time to stop it; by the time she realized, the soul fragment had already turned into scattered shards.
"...the day you die!"
The words left by the Blood Jiao's soul fragment still drifted in the air, the resentment within them enough to make one shudder with fear and trepidation!
"The day I die? I'll be waiting for you!"
Ning Yuan's gaze narrowed. From the moment the female demon appeared, it was destined that a grudge would be formed between them, and naturally, it could not be settled peacefully!
Seeing the matter conclude, Ning Yuan was about to leave when he suddenly remembered he seemed to have forgotten someone. With a flash of sword light, he instantly appeared before the Skeleton Spirit.
"Hmph!"
His eyes turned cold as Ning Yuan gave a cold snort. 'Yuanzhi' appeared in his hand, and he raised the longsword to press it directly against her chest, speaking indifferently:
"Speak! What exactly is going on here?"
The female demon had returned to her human form by now and was slumped on the ground. Clearly, being possessed by a soul fragment was not without its side effects. She glared at him with wide eyes and cursed loudly:
"Don't think you'll get even a shred of information from me! The Lord will definitely ensure you die a horrible death!"
"Quite the backbone. I hope your mouth can stay this tough in a moment!" Since she was unwilling to talk, Ning Yuan naturally wouldn't be polite. With a thought, a Demon Seed condensed in his hand.
"You... what are you going to do?"
The Demon Seed before her gave her an ill omen. An unprecedented fear shrouded her heart, making her want to flee quickly, but no matter how she struggled, it was in vain. She could only watch helplessly as Ning Yuan planted the Demon Seed.
The result, naturally, goes without saying—from then on, the female demon was molded into Ning Yuan's shape!
"Master!" Under the effect of the Demon Seed, the female demon looked at Ning Yuan with eyes full of respect, her tone revealing total obedience.
"Under the Demon Seed, no matter how tough your mouth is, it can make you go soft!" Ning Yuan laughed with considerable pride. In the future, when encountering such situations, he would just do this to save himself the trouble of asking extra questions.
"Speak!"
"Yes, Master. All of this was the Blood Jiao..."
Following the narration of the female demon Bone Firefly, Ning Yuan understood why the Blood Jiao wanted to slaughter millions and cause such an inhuman tragedy.
The Blood Jiao had obtained a Secret Technique from somewhere. According to the contents of the technique, it could use a massive amount of blood to transform from a Jiao into a Dragon, shedding its Jiao body to become a Blood Dragon!
Furthermore, the more blood there was, the higher the probability of success. It could also take this opportunity to break through to Void Refining in one fell swoop. The temptation was undoubtedly immense!
So, the Blood Jiao sent out a large number of subordinates to wantonly collect blood in the Songyan Sea Region. To prevent any accidents, it even provided a soul fragment to serve as a safeguard.
This time, the Blood Jiao was unlucky to encounter Ning Yuan. Not only did it fail to collect the blood, but it also lost a soul fragment and a subordinate. This grudge had truly grown large.
To avoid future trouble, Ning Yuan decided to strike first and deal with the Blood Jiao before it could succeed.
Now was also the easiest time to succeed. If he waited until the Blood Jiao successfully transformed into a Dragon, things would be hard to say.
Whoosh!
Then, led by Bone Firefly, Ning Yuan and Tao Yao headed toward one of the Blood Jiao's strongholds to see if they could find it.
However, Ning Yuan felt there wasn't much hope. The Blood Jiao was no fool; how could it possibly stay behind? Still, just to be safe, it was better to go and check.
About an hour after Ning Yuan left, the situation on the island was finally discovered by patrolling Cultivators, who also found the traces left behind by the battle between Ning Yuan and Bone Firefly.
This immediately excited them. If someone had fought with the culprit, they would surely know the culprit's situation.
So, people across the Songyan Sea Region began searching everywhere for Ning Yuan's whereabouts, while secretly praying that nothing had happened to him, otherwise they would be left in the dark again... Somewhere in a secret location in the Songyan Sea Region.
"If I do not avenge this, I swear I will not become a Dragon!"
There was a massive blood pool here, covering an area of ten square zhang. A miniature little Jiao Dragon was constantly swimming within it, absorbing the energy from the blood. Suddenly, a sky-shaking roar echoed through the space.
"Human Race, just you wait!"
The Blood Jiao shifted its form, turning into a red-haired man covered in blood-colored scales, standing proudly above the blood pool. On his forehead were two red dragon horns, shimmering with a faint bloody light.
"Not bad. I am only one step away from transforming into a Dragon, and my cultivation has reached Half-step Void Refining! If not for the loss of a soul fragment causing some depletion, I would have succeeded long ago. Why would I need to spend another month!"
Sensing the condition within his body, the Blood Jiao's eyes flickered, and the hatred in his heart surged. Once he successfully transformed into a Dragon, he would definitely make that person pay the price.
Splash!
The Blood Jiao returned to the form of a miniature Jiao and re-entered the blood pool... Swish!
Ning Yuan's figure suddenly appeared in a valley. Looking at the scene before him, his brows furrowed, and he was secretly alarmed.
The valley was filled with a blood-colored mist, and the smell of blood was even more pungent. Faint traces of blood could even be seen on some of the rock walls.
He slowly descended into the valley from mid-air, looking around while also releasing his Divine Sense to probe the situation further away.
In the deepest part of the valley, a pool had been carved into the ground, but it was completely empty. Only traces of blood remained, showing that something had once been stored inside the pool.
"I'm still too late!"
After Bone Firefly collected blood, she would store it here. By the time she came back the next time, the blood pool would be emptied, and she would then put the newly collected blood into it, repeating the cycle.
From the time she put blood into the pool to when she reached the island where Ning Yuan was, only half a day had passed. He didn't expect to still be too late.
He had thought that at the very least, he could take away this blood to prevent the Blood Jiao from getting it, but he hadn't anticipated this result.
Seeing that there were no clues, Ning Yuan didn't linger and quickly left the place.
After leaving the valley, he continued to sail within the Songyan Sea Region. This time, Ning Yuan paid special attention to where the latest island-slaughtering incidents occurred, hoping to find a clue.
The result disappointed Ning Yuan. The slaughtering of islands was still happening, but news only came out after the fact. Trying to catch the perpetrators again was simply harder than reaching the heavens.
He had originally thought about having Bone Firefly contact the others to see if she could lure one or two out. He didn't know if the Blood Jiao had spread the news of Bone Firefly's capture, but all of Bone Firefly's attempts to make contact were met with silence.
Furthermore, Bone Firefly did not know the locations of the other strongholds, so there was no way to even go looking for them.
This Blood Jiao was truly cautious to the extreme!
Like this, a month passed... "In the past half month, the slaughtering of islands seems to have decreased!"
Ning Yuan stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at a looming island in the distance. His brows were tightly furrowed, his face full of worry as he muttered to himself.
"Is Master worried that the Blood Jiao is about to successfully transform into a Dragon?" Du Jiaojiao beside him voiced Ning Yuan's concern.
"Yes!"
Ning Yuan couldn't help but worry. There were still at least three months before they could completely leave the Songyan Sea Region. During that time, anything could happen.