Chapter 370: Lao Hei’s Evolution

Xiao Hei was summoned out, his size now matching Su Che’s height. At this moment, he was quite obedient, allowing Su Che to control him at will through thought. Then, Su Che guided Xiao Hei step by step toward the blood pool, moving very slowly and with extreme caution.

Tian Yin observed silently, keenly sensing that this black stranger seemed even stronger than before—perhaps due to Su Che’s advancement to the Yuan Ying stage?

Xiao Hei reached the blood pool without any obstacles. Su Che turned to look at Tian Yin, who nodded, signaling that everything was fine and they could proceed. So, Xiao Hei leaped lightly, as if weightless, and dropped into the blood pool. The intense blood evil energy submerged him up to his chest.

“The pool isn’t very deep.”

With a thought, Su Che made Xiao Hei twice as tall, so that the blood evil energy only reached his thighs.

Whoosh… As someone entered the pool, the blood evil energy reacted violently, boiling like scalding water, bubbling, swirling, and eroding, trying to melt the intruder into a pool of blood…

Su Che believed this was an extremely terrifying special energy, far more dangerous than the corrosive poison mist at first. If it were him entering the pool, he would likely die instantly, his body assimilated by that blood evil energy.

Yet Xiao Hei didn’t disappoint Su Che, proving Tian Yin’s judgment correct—unaffected at all, he could almost ignore the erosion of the blood evil energy, feeling more comfortable than taking a hot bath.

The blood evil energy in the pool could block divine senses. Su Che didn’t know where those drops of the Witch God’s True Blood were, so he had Xiao Hei bend down, stretch his arms, and enlarge his palms to search slowly, relying solely on touch, like trying to find fish in muddy water.

With a whoosh, Xiao Hei suddenly stood up, holding a dark red drop in his palm—exactly the Witch God’s True Blood Su Che was well familiar with.

Whoosh! That drop of True Blood shot over like a dart, caught by Su Che, who immediately sent it into the Immortal Prison.

Xiao Hei bent down again to continue searching…

After a dozen breaths, whoosh! Another drop of True Blood shot over.

Soon, all six drops were collected by Su Che and sent into the Immortal Prison. The last drop was located in a corner of the pool, taking Xiao Hei quite some time to find it.

The task was complete. Xiao Hei could come out now.

Su Che controlled Xiao Hei to leave the pool, but unexpectedly, this time Xiao Hei refused to obey and stayed in the pool, refusing to come out.

“Could it be…?”
Su Che immediately realized something. There was only one reason why Xiao Hei was being disobedient—that is, his instinct to eat was reminding him that there was something edible in the blood pool!
Well. Su Che didn’t force him but instead released his mental control, allowing him to act on instinct.
Soon, Xiao Hei dived headfirst into the blood pool, completely submerged in the bloodish evil energy, making it impossible for Su Che to see what he was doing. The mental connection between them was also severed by the evil energy.
“What’s delicious in the pool? Could it be that bloodish evil energy?” Su Che guessed secretly. But after a while, he noticed no decrease in the evil energy in the pool or any other changes, proving that it wasn’t Xiao Hei’s food.
“What else is at the bottom of the pool?” Out of curiosity, Su Che turned to Tian Yin for an answer.
“I don’t know,” Tian Yin replied with a shake of her head. “Out of respect for the Witch God, even in my past life, I never entered the blood pool, so I’m not aware of what else is there.”
Su Che nodded silently. There was nothing else he could do but wait patiently. It felt like having a child taking an exam—parents could only wait anxiously outside.
It took half an hour. Su Che almost suspected that Xiao Hei had completely disappeared or sneaked away to the bottom of the pool, unwilling to follow him anymore…
Whoosh!
Xiao Hei’s huge figure emerged from the blood pool. Su Che’s mind immediately reached out, regaining control over him.
No matter what Xiao Hei had done at the bottom of the pool, at least now he was very obedient. Under Su Che’s control, he flew out of the pool, suddenly shrinking to the size of a three-inch figure before returning to Su Che’s dantian.
“Not bad. He’s indeed gotten stronger again. His internal energy has increased—seems he ate quite a bit down there.”
Su Che mused to himself, “But what exactly did he eat?”
Since Xiao Hei had no thoughts, no intelligence, and no memories, only the most primitive instinct to eat, even after bringing him back to his dantian, Su Che still had no idea what he had consumed at the bottom of the pool.
It seemed this would remain an unsolved mystery.
Lao Hei, on the other hand, was quite laid-back. He said slowly, “It doesn’t matter. Kids get hungry and eat something outside. As long as it doesn’t kill them and is beneficial to them, who cares what they ate?”

“That’s true too,” Su Che thought with a smile. “As long as it can boost his strength, it doesn’t matter what he eats. Judging from Xiao Hei’s greedy eating habits, he’ll surely eat up every last drop of that stuff in the pool, so there’s no need to study it anymore…”

Tian Yin, standing nearby, was equally curious but didn’t ask further. However, she knew that in the future, that black stranger would definitely become Su Che’s most powerful ally—or rather, his most powerful weapon.

If it truly was the power of chaos, then even in the Immortal Realm, no other energy could surpass it. The key was whether Su Che could make good use of it and develop it further…

With all six drops of the Witch God’s true blood in hand, Su Che wasn’t in a hurry to leave the mountaintop, as there was still one very important thing to verify. He said to Tian Yin, “Let’s rest for a while.”

“Okay.”

Tian Yin understood he had something to do and readily agreed. The two left the blood pool and went to the edge of the mountaintop, sitting cross-legged on the Star Emperor Compass to rest.

In the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei silently watched the six drops of the Witch God’s true blood floating before him. The critical moment had arrived.

Could Lao Hei merge with the primal power of the Witch Clan?

The answer lay right now.

“I can merge with it, but…”

Lao Hei reported solemnly, “Master, there are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that if I merge with one drop of the Witch God’s true blood, I’ll evolve to a higher level of existence. Of course, I can also constantly cultivate what we call the power of chaos, providing energy for Xiao Hei at any time so he won’t run out of energy during battles.”

“But the disadvantage is that if I merge with the primal power of the Witch Clan this time, I’ll become a being fused from the four clans—humans, demons, and witches. When it comes to the fifth fusion in the future, I’ll need even more of that primal power to unlock the fifth layer of the Immortal Prison. The demand will double for the sixth and seventh layers as well… In other words, we’re setting higher challenges for ourselves.”

“I see.”

Su Che nodded inwardly and made a decision after a brief thought: “Merge!”

Su Che had never lacked courage. Even if greater difficulties lay ahead, the greater the challenge, the greater the rewards. If one couldn’t even think this through, they weren’t fit to be an immortal cultivator.

The path of immortality was one of constantly facing challenges and scaling higher peaks.

If one feared difficulties or high mountains, they could only stand at the foot of the mountain, gazing endlessly up at those who reached the peaks.

“Merge!”

Lao Hei shouted.

Whoosh!

Two of those drops of the Witch God’s true blood spread into a thin mist of blood, instantly merging into Lao Hei’s body. Immediately afterward, Lao Hei’s body soared upward and grew larger, turning into a giant demon hundreds of feet tall in an instant.
“Hahaha…”
Lao Hei laughed loudly, “Master, look! Don’t I resemble an ancient demon god now?”
“Yes!”
Su Che replied in his mind, “You do, but your size is too large and takes up too much space. It will take countless carts of fabric just to make clothes for you.”
“Haha, with your wealth, do you really care about a little fabric?”
After joking around, Lao Hei quickly shrank back to his normal height of over ten feet and continued, “Master, the energy within me has completely changed—it’s now identical to Xiao Hei’s chaotic energy.”
“Good!” Su Che was delighted and immediately gave orders, “From now on, don’t be lazy. You must practice diligently. If the chaotic energy you generate is too much for your body to hold, store it in the Immortal Prison so it can be used endlessly when Xiao Hei fights.”
“As you command!” Lao Hei replied loudly with a wide grin.
The Immortal Prison space could store energy in any form. Just like Su Che, who could store his life force, true essence, mental energy, and more in the Sumeru Divine Seal on ordinary days, so that he could launch fierce attacks without worrying about energy depletion during battles.
A strong energy reserve was extremely important.
Su Che was well aware that he was in a rare period of safety, preparation, and buildup… He had to use every means possible during this short safe phase to enhance his overall capabilities and accumulate more strength in various areas.
In the near future, when the people from the Spirit Realm came to trouble him, all his accumulated strength would be unleashed to fight for his survival.
Lao Hei had used two drops of the Witch God’s true blood to complete the fusion. So, what should be done with the remaining four drops?
Su Che asked, “Lao Hei, you just fused two drops of true blood. Will you need more Witch Clan true blood for the fourth fusion that’s about to take place?”
“No need,” Lao Hei replied. “Those two drops have already been counted toward the fourth fusion. We still only need three primordial beings—human, demon, or fiend—to open the fourth layer of the Immortal Prison. When we open the fifth layer in the future and I need to undergo the fifth fusion, we’ll require several times more of the Witch Clan’s original energy. These four drops of Witch God’s true blood definitely won’t be enough.”
“Then fine. In that case, let Xiao Hei enjoy these four drops.”

Su Che believed that the remaining four drops of true blood would definitely not be enough for Lao Hei’s fifth fusion in the future, and more power from the Witch Clan’s essence would need to be found then. It was better to give it to Xiao Hei now, as it could at least enhance Xiao Hei’s strength at this stage. With these four drops of true blood, Xiao Hei’s capacity to hold chaotic power could be greatly increased. What was originally just the capacity of a kettle could now be raised to that of a bucket. “Come on, Xiao Hei, turn yourself into a bucket,” Su Che called out in his heart.