Chapter 9: Essence Blood (Part 1)

Guo Shier was sorting the scales scattered on the ground, bundling ten together and putting them into the talisman bag. The scales varied in size, and those from different parts had different uses, so they needed to be organized. There was no need to process them for now—just bundle them up and store them in the bag.

He went over to Luo Jie and asked, “Master, what are we going to see?”
Luo Jie said excitedly, “We’re going to see the Earth Dragon’s heart. Hehe, that’s one of the best materials for creating a life talisman. Let’s go in…” Unfazed by the dirt, he followed Qi Nanshan into the Earth Dragon’s abdomen.
Guo Shier followed as well.

The Earth Dragon’s belly was filled with a bloody smell, but not much odor. Along a split passage, the three of them crawled in. In some places, they had to crawl through tight spaces. Guo Shier, being the smallest, often helped his master. Fortunately, the inside of the Earth Dragon’s belly was soft, so falling wouldn’t cause injury.

It took about twenty minutes to reach the Earth Dragon’s heart. Countless thin blood vessels extended from it, holding a heart as large as a car from his past life in place within its chest cavity.

Luo Jie wiped his face and stared at the huge heart, saying, “Great stuff. Dashan, make a cut in one of the main blood vessels. Hehe, I think there’s still some essence blood inside. We might be able to extract some—that would be super valuable!”

Using the sixteen talismans for purification, Luo Jie obtained twenty-seven drops of essence blood. Despite the Earth Dragon’s massive size, only twenty-seven drops were extracted, but each drop was the size of an egg, resembling a ruby. Strangely, these drops weren’t liquid but solid.

Luo Jie picked up one drop and handed it to Guo Shier, saying, “Eat it!”
Guo Shier took the ruby-like essence blood, looked at it, and asked, “Master, can I really eat this?”
Qi Nanshan smiled and said, “This is excellent stuff. It’s a shame I’m too old to benefit from it. Shier, you’re lucky. Eating this can quickly improve your physical strength—no worse than using talismans for training. But it’s extremely rare.”

Guo Shier swallowed it without hesitation. It felt like swallowing an ice cube, cool as it slid down his throat.

After waiting for a while, Guo Shier wondered, “Why is there no reaction?”
Luo Jie laughed and said, “What reaction do you expect? This essence blood will take effect slowly. Do you think eating it will make you as strong as Dashan?”
Guo Shier gave a wry smile, realizing he had misunderstood. He said, “Master, give me four more drops of essence blood.”

Luo Jie said, “What do you need so much essence blood for? With your age and physique, you can digest at most one drop; any more would be pointless.”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Master, I still have four brothers and companions. Hehe, give them a drop too.”
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan exchanged a glance. Qi Nanshan praised, “Hmm, not bad. You still remember your companions at such a time. Old man, give him four drops.”
Luo Jie shook his head. “You kid… Hehe, never mind. It’s good that Shier has such concern. Give it to them quietly. Essence blood is only helpful for children… It’s a shame, as it’s an essential material for making spirit talismans.” With that, he handed four drops of essence blood to Guo Shier.
Guo Shier thanked him happily, carefully storing the gem-like essence blood, then asked, “Master, what should we do with this heart? Chop it down and eat the meat?”
Luo Jie laughed loudly. “Joking! If we ate this heart, I think everyone who knew about it would scold us to death. This is the heart of a Earth Dragon—the best natural talisman heart. How could we do such a thing? Your master is a great talisman master… Shier, wait a moment. I’ll turn this heart into a talisman heart right away, hehe.”
Guo Shier muttered, “It’s a shame. This heart must be delicious.”
Luo Jie pretended not to hear. He prepared a large bottle of about 300 pounds of purification liquid and handed it to Qi Nanshan, saying, “Inject it into the heart.” He then explained to Guo Shier, “This can clean out the impurities in the Earth Dragon’s heart. That’s the advantage of our profession as talisman makers. People from other professions, even if they see such a precious heart, can’t take it away. As you said, they can only eat it.”
As the purification liquid was injected into the heart, large amounts of dirty water flowed out from the blood vessels surrounding it. The huge heart began to shrink, and the blood vessels started to break. After being purified, the entire heart shrank by more than half.
Luo Jie released his life talisman book, and the talisman patterns flew from it and entered the heart.
Guo Shier watched in amazement as the heart gradually contracted until it was only the size of a water tank. Luo Jie let out a sigh of relief and said, “Shier, this is the final step—use talisman fire to purify it completely!”
The entire heart burned up. The natural talisman patterns that originally existed on the heart began to appear, with intense heat all around. Guo Shier stepped back a few steps, leaned against the nearby meat wall, and observed quietly.
Large amounts of black smoke rose, but were all eliminated by a talisman sent by Luo Jie.

The heart began to contract rapidly. In less than half an hour, the huge heart shrank to the size of a fist, resembling a heart carved from crystal. Luo Jie reached out and picked up the heart, saying, “Haha, I’ve also gotten a crystal talisman heart!” After observing it briefly, he placed the crystal talisman heart on his Life Talisman Book. In moments, it disappeared, absorbed by the book. He said happily, “My Life Talisman Book… its power has at least doubled!”

Guo Shier said, “Congratulations, master.” He then asked, “Master, what uses are there for the Earth Dragon’s other internal organs?”

Luo Jie replied, “They’re also good materials, but not comparable to the heart. A talisman heart is the finest thing to enhance a Life Talisman Book—it’s extremely rare… One needs luck, opportunity, strength, and skill; none of these can be missing. Just think how difficult that is.”

Qi Nanshan said, “Congratulations, old man. Hehe, let’s go outside. We’ve reaped quite a lot this time.”

Luo Jie laughed and said, “When luck comes… even mountains can’t stop it.”

Guo Shier gave Luo Jie a puzzled look. Luo Jie asked, “What’s wrong, Shier?” Guo Shier said, “Grandpa Nanshan, look at the master. Am I going blind?”

Qi Nanshan asked, “Going blind how?”

Guo Shier replied, “The master seems younger!”

Qi Nanshan said, “Joking. With an Earth Dragon’s talisman heart integrated into his Life Talisman Book, the old man can at least live another thirty years. It’s hard not to look younger.”

Luo Jie laughed heartily and said, “This is the luck Shier brought me. Hehe, ever since Shier became my disciple, everything has gone smoothly.”

Guo Shier broke into a cold sweat. His master’s favor for him was already beyond reason, and now he was saying such things—he didn’t know what to say.

The three climbed out of the Earth Dragon’s belly and stood on the ground, looking at each other before bursting into laughter. They were all covered in blood. Luo Jie shouted, “Luo Zhan, Luo Zhan… get me some clean water to wash up. Hehe, I look terrible…” Yet his face showed no sign of embarrassment; instead, it was filled with satisfaction.

Huo Bao came over to Guo Shier and said, “Shier, it’s time to train our bodies. We’ve been delaying it for days.”

Guo Shier immediately felt a headache. Training his own body wasn’t a problem, but training Chen Hong—what should he do? He said, “Wait a moment. Tell them to come over. I’ll wash up first, then I’ll talk to everyone.”

Chen Hong came over, poured a basin of clean water, and asked Guo Shier to wash his face. Clean water was in short supply here; although everyone brought plenty, most of it had been used to water the warhorses, which were now all dead. The remaining water should be enough for everyone.

With their four companions, they climbed back up to the cliff gap and arrived at a huge rock. Guo Shier took out the essence blood of the Earth Dragon and said, “One piece per person.”

Chen Hong exclaimed, “Wow, what a beautiful stone!”

Chen Bing examined the essence blood, which resembled a gem, and wondered, “What is this? What’s its use?”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “This is essence blood purified from the Earth Dragon’s heart. One piece for each of you. If you consume it, it can gradually change your physique and strengthen your body. Hehe, I got it from my master.”

Hong Shi was surprised. “Is this the essence blood bead? It’s a legendary treasure!” Without hesitation, he swallowed it and said, “It has no taste, just a cool feeling.”

Huo Bao and Chen Bing exchanged a glance and also swallowed their portions. Only Chen Hong held the essence blood bead, repeating, “What a beautiful bead… It’s really pretty…” She was reluctant to eat it.

Guo Shier said, “Eat it. It’s useless if you keep it in your hand.”

Chen Hong clutched the essence blood bead tightly and said, “Let me take another look… I’ll eat it soon.”

Guo Shier said expressionlessly, “Alright. We should have started training our bodies a few days ago. It’s a pity we were delayed. Today, I’ll train everyone’s bodies.”

Chen Hong shuddered in fear, almost throwing the essence blood bead away. She hurriedly swallowed it, looking utterly at a loss.

Guo Shier smiled bitterly inwardly. He could see clearly how uneasy Chen Hong was, but there was nothing he could do. Since Chen Hong was his follower and he had taken her in, he had to be responsible for training her. He said, “The good news is… I’ve obtained a rare blood talisman, which is a much more advanced training talisman than ordinary ones. The bad news is… I can only train two people a day.”

Chen Hong felt as if all her strength had vanished suddenly, and her body went limp as if she might sit down. Like an ostrich, she tried to avoid the situation for as long as possible. For some reason, she was very afraid of Guo Shier. Perhaps when Aunt Chen tried to suppress him, she not only failed but was also suppressed herself, leaving a deep impression on her, so she had always felt a bit fearful of this boy.

Actually, Guo Shier was quite gentle with her. Based on his behavior in his past life, he wouldn’t have troubled a young girl, let alone bullied her. But what troubled him was figuring out how to deal with this delicate girl.
Huo Bao and Hong Shi arrived first. Using blood talismans for physical training allowed them to do it without the help of a training platform, but the pain associated with blood talismans was greater than that of ordinary talismans.
The next day, Guo Shier trained Chen Bing first and Chen Hong last.
Huo Bao, Hong Shi, and Chen Bing were extremely curious. The three of them hid behind a large rock to eavesdrop. Although they couldn’t see, listening in on their conversation might be quite interesting.