Chapter 148: Another Drop of Blood

…
Deep underground, Su Che saw a massive heart, floating before him like a small mountain.
Above the heart, countless thick blood vessels stretched in all directions, piercing into the soil layers, unknown how far they extended.
Su Che realized he was in a spherical space, as if a semi-transparent light red membrane separated him from the outer soil layers, creating an independent space.
This enormous heart was at the very center of the spherical space, suspended motionless, seemingly held in place by those blood vessels.
Bang! Bang! Bang…
What was even more astonishing was that the heart was still beating. Moreover, Su Che sensed a strange fluctuation emanating from it, which had an extremely subtle resemblance to the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Barren God Rat he had simulated.
“Could this heart be the master of the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land? Or perhaps it was sealed here by the power of divine punishment? Are the thunder and gales above the surface meant to target it?”
At this moment, various guesses arose in Su Che’s mind.
“Squeak squeak squeak…”
The Barren God Rat was extremely agitated, flapping around trying to break free from Su Che’s embrace and rush toward the heart.
“Calm down, calm down. Let’s figure out what’s going on first,” Su Che said, soothing it by stroking its head, eventually calming it down.
“Squeak.”
The rat’s small eyes remained fixed on the heart.
Bang! Bang! Bang…
Suddenly, the massive heart’s heartbeat accelerated dramatically, and the rough, blurred flesh surface outside began to wriggle violently…
Su Che grew nervous, unable to predict what would happen next.
Soon, a giant eye appeared above the heart, its blood-red pupils fixing on Su Che and the Barren God Rat.
“This is…”
Su Che’s heart also began to beat faster uncontrollably, its rhythm matching that of the giant heart.
Whoosh!
A red light shot out from the blood-red pupils of the giant eye, instantly enveloping Su Che and the Barren God Rat.
Su Che felt an irresistible force surge into his body, forming a faint blood mist in his veins that quickly flowed to his heart, eventually turning into a drop of deep red blood, floating quietly in his heart chamber.

Su Che hadn’t lost any of his original abilities. He immediately focused his mind inward and saw a strange scene: in his right atrium, that drop of the Witch Clan’s essence blood was floating quietly; in his left atrium, another drop of unknown blood that had just formed was also floating… “Great, now two of my four heart chambers have been taken over by them…” The four heart chambers—left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle, right ventricle—had two occupied by these two drops of foreign blood, and both seemed extremely complex. His own blood couldn’t dilute or dissolve them, which meant… Lao He interjected, “It means they also contain extremely powerful energy. Right now, you’re not even qualified to merge them.” “I never intended to merge them!” Su Che cried inwardly. “I don’t even know if just one of those drops is a blessing or a curse. Now there are two… If they conflict in my heart in the future, I’m doomed!” At this moment, unlike Su Che, the Barren God Rat in his arms chirped twice before falling into a deep sleep, appearing extremely satisfied and comfortable. “It seems satisfied,” Su Che mused. “If I’m not wrong, it’s receiving the same treatment as me. Likely, this is an essence drop bestowed by their ancestor—a tremendous gift to it. But what about me?” Su Che was terrified. “Their ancestor could be some ancient rat demon, right? It’s over, completely over!” In the Immortal Prison, Lao He covered his mouth, unable to suppress his mischievous giggles, clearly enjoying Su Che’s misfortune. “Master, it’s possible you’ll end up with a rat tail soon too.” Su Che regretted deeply that today’s incident—caused by mimicking the spiritual energy fluctuations of the Barren God Rat—had led his heart to treat him as one as well, bestowing such a drop of blood on him. Although he had obtained the Black Domain Immortal Lotus as he wished, he didn’t know if this would sow seeds of trouble for the future… At this moment, the giant single eye on the heart across from him slowly disappeared, and its heartbeat returned to its normal pace. For a long time, nothing else happened, and everything seemed to have returned to calm.

With a sense of unease, Su Che continued to meditate internally, keeping a close watch on his left atrium. So far, he had not noticed any changes brought about by that drop of essence blood. It seemed to have lurked silently, its effects possibly manifesting at any time…

After another while, Su Che finally had the chance to admire the Black Domain Immortal Lotus that had just been transplanted into the Immortal Prison. There were no changes in it either; despite the change in its growing environment, there were no abnormal fluctuations in its spiritual energy.

Su Che thought to himself, “I can only keep it like this for now. I don’t even know which part of the Immortal Lotus should be consumed to change one’s spiritual root aptitude, nor do I know how to take it.”

Lao He also said, “Yes, master. One must not act rashly in such matters. At the very least, one should consult a master alchemist to understand how to handle such a precious spiritual herb.”

Su Che asked further, “Have we captured enough of the three thousand dark souls in the Jinghun Ridge market?”

“Enough! Enough!” Lao He grinned. “That moment was absolutely thrilling—it kept me extremely busy… In total, we captured over three thousand three hundred ordinary dark souls, as well as more than two hundred ghost soldiers and over forty ghost guards. It was quite a successful harvest.”

“Then it seems that to open the second layer of the Immortal Prison, we only need eight hundred Earth Fiends and one Outer Realm Demonic Beast at the Foundation Establishment stage,” Su Che calculated in his mind. “You just said we’re already deep underground by tens of thousands of feet. Does that mean it won’t take long to reach the underground world?”

“Yes, based on my estimates, we should reach the underground world in less than ten thousand feet,” Lao He replied.

“If that’s the case, let’s go there as well.”

Having made up his mind, Su Che boldly called out to the giant heart, “I want to go deeper, to the underground world. Can you let me go?”

As soon as he spoke, a thick blood vessel swayed over from not far away, like a giant tentacle, slowly extending toward Su Che.

Su Che instinctively dodged, but the blood vessel then plunged vertically downward, piercing through the spatial membrane with a sound and sinking deep into the soil below.

Su Che immediately realized it was showing him the way.

So, he followed the blood vessel as it descended. Just as he stepped onto the soft spatial membrane, the blood vessel quickly retracted.

Only then did Su Che see a bottomless vertical passage appear at his feet—probably dug out by that blood vessel.

In the blink of an eye, it had penetrated so deep into the soil layer—Su Che was secretly shocked and once again realized that this heart possessed unimaginable power, far beyond what he could comprehend at his current stage.
“Well, I have to go now…”
Su Che didn’t know how to express himself properly, so he treated it as a person. Before leaving, he felt he had to say something polite: “I’ll come back to see you when I have time.”
Huh, huh!
The blood vessel swayed twice, as if waving goodbye.
“Sigh, I keep running into strange people and strange things.”
With a sigh, Su Che carried a large rat and leaped down the tunnel. After descending hundreds of feet, his feet finally touched the soil layer. He then sent the still-sleeping Wild God Rat into the Immortal Prison and immediately swallowed a Earth-Diving Pill.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
The familiar pulses of the earth reappeared. Clearly, the earth’s pulses in this area had returned to normal, no longer in the chaotic state of the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land.
EarthEarth Style!!
It was much closer than he had imagined. With just one Earth-Diving Pill, Su Che had descended only a little over two thousand feet before feeling his body lighten, completely free from the soil layer and in contact with air.
The underground world was also known as the Underground Demon Realm.
There was no sunlight in the underground world, but there were countless light sources—such as certain plants, giant crystals, and colorful auroras floating in the air. The combination of these lights provided sufficient illumination, and thanks to the night vision abilities of those who practiced cultivation, one could see objects hundreds of feet away with the naked eye.
When Su Che landed on the ground, Lao He, controlling his Asura demon body, also emerged from the Immortal Prison.
“This is the Underground Demon Realm…” Lao He patted his chest and said, “In a way, I can consider this my home.”
Su Che smiled silently. Indeed, for this Asura body, which had been imprisoned in the Xiao Mi Immortal Land for a thousand years, it had finally returned to its homeland.
An Asura’s appearance in the Underground Demon Realm was like a pass—probably, those lower-ranked Earth Fiends would bow respectfully upon seeing Lao He. After all, in the Underground Demon Realm, great Asuras with Yuan Ying strength were virtually unseen; those with Jin Dan strength were the true rulers of the underground world.
Therefore, on this underground mission to capture Earth Fiends, Lao He was the real main force.

“Master, we’ve come to the underground world. That old witch, Gui Ji, can’t wait for you. Will she die of anger?” Lao He laughed heartily.
“It’s impossible for her to die of anger.”
Su Che replied in a deep voice, “But I’m sure she won’t give up so easily. She might even go to Tianxuanzong to look for me. Unless I never return to Tianxuanzong again, I’ll inevitably have to deal with her.”
“Does she have the courage to go to Tianxuanzong?” Lao He snorted.
“A person will think of any means and do anything to survive…” Su Che said softly.