Elder Mo adjusted the long, single-tube wooden binoculars to get a clearer view. Si Yin, standing behind him, was also spying with another pair of wooden binoculars.
The duo, along with the members of the Fifteenth Division, were hiding behind rocks, trees, or on top of tree trunks.
"Master, this phoenix guy is so strong." Si Yin stammered. "Shouldn’t we run?"
He couldn’t understand why his master, who would run even at the slightest risk, was now planning to face a fight that would surely end in their deaths.
"Yes! We should run." Mo Xuan nodded bitterly. "However, I want to trap him..." He swallowed. "If it works out, great. If not, we run."
"Trap?" Si Yin frowned, his brows knitted. "What if we fail?"
"We’ll..." Mo Xuan whispered, explaining the plan.
Su Yang mused, ’Should I use the Blood-Strengthening Pills now or exchange them?’ He held a pill in his hand. It was an inch long and dark red in colour, but unlike the twelve-lined pattern he was familiar with, it had only two or three lines. The highest-grade pills he had found had only four lines.
"Low-grade." His lips twitched. "Of course, if they were high-grade, why would they cultivate demonic cultivation techniques?"
’Hmm.’ He spun the pill between his fingers. "Low-grade pills have more impurities and less medicinal potency."
He recalled his elder sister’s explanation of why his parents had brought him twelve-patterned pills. ’More lines mean fewer impurities and a more powerful medicinal effect.’
He narrowed his eyes. "Twelve patterns mean no impurities, and the medicinal purity and power have reached their maximum."
He paused. "I can even digest demonic Qi." He held the pill. "Can a few minor impurities stop me?"
He threw the pill into his mouth to test it out. He swiftly performed the Phoenix Stance.
In just a few seconds, he refined the Level 1 low-grade Blood-Strengthening Pill. He scanned his body for any remaining energy or poison. Even after a few minutes of checking, his body was fine.
"As expected, this pill poison is far less powerful than demonic Qi." He grinned. "Pill poison..." He remembered his elder sister’s words when he had once asked what would happen if he took low-grade pills constantly.
’The impurities and pill poison don’t mean someone is adding poison to the pill...’
He felt as if she were speaking to him again.
’It simply means the pill wasn’t made properly, and medicinal power from various herbs was left behind in the condensed pill without combining into one.’
’This leftover medicinal power is difficult to refine. The human body needs time to digest these impurities. But if someone takes many low-grade pills in a row, it creates a mess of medicinal power in the body, also known as pill poison.’
As his elder sister had explained, pill poison wasn’t very powerful on its own. It would slowly build up, and the human body was quite capable of enduring it up to a certain level. Taking a few low-grade pills wouldn’t cause any trouble, but many people liked to take them in quick succession, hoping to break through or improve their realm. This caused dangerous amounts of pill poison to accumulate.
"Hahaha!" Su Yang laughed. "Pill poison? It’s just energy to refine." He thought about how his Nirvana Flames refined low-grade pills faster than they refined demonic Qi itself.
’Though not even a single Blood Qi Wisp was produced, it’s still a resource.’ He nodded to himself. He quickly glanced over his loot.
"I have more than ten thousand bottles of Blood-Strengthening Pills." He wanted to jump for joy. Low-grade pills? They were no different from Superb-grade pills to him.
He tilted his head. "How could there be such a coincidence?" he wondered. "Just when I lacked resources, the Blood Fiend Sect showed up."
He folded his arms across his chest. "And they didn’t dare go after Master. They only targeted me."
Su Yang’s pupils widened in astonishment. "Master... Master must have calculated this."
He stood up. "She knew I would lack resources, so she sent me out to hunt. She knew I could refine Demonic Qi from beasts!" he exclaimed. "Then I would get a bit stronger and fight off the Blood Fiend Sect for more resources."
He felt that every step he took had been calculated by Bai Ruo. His body trembled. ’Just how powerful is Master?’
He patted his cheeks. "Now, just focus on reaching Great Perfection of Blood Qi."
Su Yang took another Blood-Strengthening Pill, and just as he was about to swallow it, a roar rang out.
"Grr!"
A monster’s shriek echoed throughout the area. He quickly got out of the cave. A few metres away from him was a one-metre-tall fox standing on all fours, its orange fur gleaming as its green eyes locked onto him.
He didn’t attack. He simply emitted his phoenix Blood Qi. The fox pivoted and ran away.
"Master, it’s not working." Si Yin sighed, watching everything from a large tree a few hundred metres away from Su Yang.
Elder Mo, standing beside him, shook his head. "Don’t worry. Just watch."
"Master, wouldn’t it be better to bring our gang?" Si Yin glared at Su Yang with greedy eyes. ’His blood... How would it taste?’
"Fool! Didn’t you see how he killed all of Elder Go’s followers?" Elder Mo scolded him harshly.
They had witnessed everything, including how Su Yang had killed the Blood Fiend Sect members until Elder Go ran away. So Elder Mo hadn’t brought anyone else from his gang, only himself and Si Yin. They had found Su Yang just as Elder Go had arrived in the forest.
Su Yang, who had been about to return to his cave, paused as he noticed a palm-sized orange jade emblem attached to the fox’s ear. It had the words Blood Fiend Sect Ninth Elder written on it.
"Blood Fiend Sect medallion." He muttered. He recognised it instantly, as he had more than fifty such sect identification tokens.
Whoosh!
He dashed after it.
"Good, right there." Elder Mo raised his hand, ready to activate the talisman.
The fox had already covered a few dozen metres, as Su Yang wasn’t following it at full speed.
’Let’s see where it’s going.’ Su Yang rubbed his palms together. ’Will it lead me to the Blood Fiend Sect’s hideout?’
After covering almost a hundred metres, Su Yang stepped on a raised patch of grass. Noticing this, Mo Xuan grinned. He used all his Blood Qi to send the signal to activate the sealing talisman.
Since the distance was great, he needed more Blood Qi. He instantly broke into a sweat as he used up more than ninety percent of his reserves.
Bang!
The ground beneath Su Yang exploded as large orange chains formed in midair and tied him up, coiling tightly around his body.