Chapter Ninety-Six: Entering the City

Rumbling thunder rolled within Ye Cheng’s body. His blood essence surged like a boundless sea, revealing the full terror of its strength in that instant. Yet all of that power remained tightly confined within his dantian.

Thus, to Nangong Xue and the others outside, they could only sense that a tremendous change seemed to be taking place within him; they could not perceive his true condition.

After all, at Ye Cheng’s level, blood essence could be released or withdrawn at will, already controlled with consummate mastery. As long as he did not choose to let it out, no one else could know his true state.

Beads of sweat, large as soybeans, surfaced on Ye Cheng’s brow, only to be instantly evaporated by the blood essence within him.

In just a few breaths, he finally completed the last step of compressing his blood essence. He drew countless strands into a vortex, then followed an arcane trajectory as the blood essence circulated and fused on its own. At last, an enormous change took place within his dantian.

Only after finishing the compression did Ye Cheng cease controlling the blood essence. He did not hurry to wake; so much time had already passed that a little longer made no difference. He sank his mind into his dantian, and what he saw was this:

In the dantian, the original blood-essence vortex was gone. In its place were two round crystal-like bodies of a demonic crimson hue. Within them, threads of viscous liquid formed from compressed blood essence flowed slowly, while a frightening pulse of blood-essence power radiated from them without cease.

"So this is a Star Blood Crystal?"

Ye Cheng could feel that if he detonated these blood crystals, the terrifying blood-essence energy within them would erupt in full. Within a radius of dozens of miles centered on him, everything would likely be reduced to ruins.

Though these Star Blood Crystals were small, they contained all the blood essence that had been awakened within his body since the start of his cultivation.

With a thought, the two blood crystals seemed to resonate with one another. Blood essence instantly poured out from the crystals in his dantian, flooding every part of his body in an instant. Its purity had actually become several times more concentrated than before.

From the look of it, although the blood essence within Ye Cheng had not increased, it had become far more refined. He slowly clenched his hand, and the abundant power caused him to pause in surprise, as if his body now contained inexhaustible strength.

After calming himself, Ye Cheng slowly opened his eyes, and three figures staring intently at him came into view.

"You’re awake?" Nangong Xue said first.

"Mm. Sorry to have kept you waiting," Ye Cheng said. But when his gaze met hers, a trace of barely perceptible panic flickered in Nangong Xue’s eyes. She quickly looked away and said, "We’ve already arrived in Everlasting Glory City. There are still four days before the contest, so there’s plenty of time."

"Four days?" Ye Cheng froze, thinking inwardly, "So eleven days have already passed."

He remembered that when they first set out, there had been more than half a month left before the contest. He had not expected that after the severe injuries he suffered, he would fall into healing his wounds. He had originally thought seven or eight days would be about enough, but after the injuries had recovered, his blood essence had still been in a rather full state, and he felt that the potential of this body had yet to be fully developed. So he tried compressing his blood essence. It was this process of compression that delayed him for several more days.

"Boy, your luck is pretty good. I had originally planned to tell you about compressing blood essence and condensing Star Blood Crystals, but I never expected you to reach this step so quickly. You stumbled your way onto the right path and managed to condense two Star Blood Crystals," Mu Lao’s voice sounded in Ye Cheng’s mind.

Mu Lao’s words brought a smile to Ye Cheng’s face as well. To blunder around like a drunkard yet still stumble into the process of advancing to Great Perfection in blood essence—there was indeed an element of luck in that.

Then Ye Cheng suddenly thought of how Mu Lao had forcibly helped him control the flame within his body last time to withstand Luo Long’s strike, and hurriedly said, "Master, when you used your soul power to help me deal with Luo Long before, are you all right?"

"Heh, it was only some loss of soul power, nothing serious. Don’t worry, I won’t die that easily." Hearing Ye Cheng’s concern, Mu Lao felt warmth in his heart as well. He was very satisfied with this disciple. Not only was his talent outstanding, but this concern of his was what Mu Lao valued most.

"Still, this is good. Having such a setback is not necessarily a bad thing. When you first received the inheritance, your blood essence rose too quickly and your foundation was unstable. During this period of cultivation, you have finally eliminated the hidden flaws left behind by that inheritance. You could even call it a blessing in disguise."

Hearing this, Ye Cheng smiled. Who could have imagined that he would survive such a perilous escape from the hands of a perfected Yuan realm expert?

"Young Brother Ye’s talent truly astonishes us. At such a tender age, you are already beginning to condense Star Blood Crystals. With time, you will surely become a supreme expert who shakes an entire region. With your assistance this time, I believe the contest will be nothing to fear," said Third Commander Wang Yang with a smile.

Ye Cheng and Mu Lao’s conversation had been brief, and Nangong Xue and the others did not discover Mu Lao’s existence. Without condensing a soul, one simply could not perceive him.

"Indeed. Who would have thought that a small place like Luo Yang Town could produce such a genius? Young Brother Ye’s talent is already on par with the prodigies of South Sun Prefecture. Perhaps in several decades, your accomplishments may not be beneath those of my Nangong family’s patriarch," said Elder Wu, his old face brimming with delight.

The stronger Ye Cheng became, the greater the help he could offer the Nangong family. Besides, he was Miss Xue’s friend.

"Third Commander, Elder Wu, you praise me too much," Ye Cheng said. "At present, I have only condensed two Star Blood Crystals. To reach Great Perfection in blood essence, one must condense nine Star Blood Crystals. I still have quite a distance to go. As for whether I can reach the level of the Nangong family patriarch, that is hard to say."

"Two? You condensed two Star Blood Crystals on your very first attempt at compressing blood essence?" Third Commander Wang Yang exclaimed, staring hard at Ye Cheng before smiling bitterly. "It seems I underestimated your talent after all, young brother."

Hearing this, Ye Cheng only smiled and said nothing. He shifted his gaze and looked toward the far edge beyond the mountains, where the outline of a huge city entered his eyes.

"So this is Everlasting Glory City. It really is imposing."

Taking a deep breath, Ye Cheng turned to Nangong Xue with a smile. "Shall we go? I’d like to take this chance to have a good look around Everlasting Glory City."

Nangong Xue looked at Ye Cheng and nodded. After Third Commander Wang Yang put away the flying spirit vessel, the group headed toward the city gates of Everlasting Glory City.