Capítulo 18: Great virtue? Golden flowers cascading?
Chu Xuan cast a fleeting glance at the receding figures, then turned his attention to more pressing matters—the activation of the Blood Refining Array.
He ascended on his flying sword to midair and gazed down upon the zombies clustered within the unfinished building like headless flies, and activated the array disc.
A peculiar blood light burst forth from eighteen points, swiftly engulfing the entire area. Within the Blood Refining Array, everything was shrouded in a murky, crimson haze, obscuring all clarity. Every living creature within was visibly drained of its blood essence at a visible rate.
The zombies, initially howling with vigor, quickly wilted as their lifeblood was extracted. In less than three minutes, one after another turned into mummified corpses and collapsed to the ground. The process continued—second, third, fourth...
All the blood essence converged towards the array disc, coalescing naturally into fist-sized blood pearls. Chu Xuan, poised on his flying sword in midair, felt a surge of exhilaration. The efficiency was astounding!
Soon, the blood essence of all the zombies within the area had been completely drained by the Blood Refining Array, and the spirit stones within the eighteen array flags were also exhausted.
Upon inspection, Chu Xuan noticed thirteen large blood pearls had formed on the array disc. Each was ruby-red and glossy, resembling red jade agates, and emitted a faint scent of blood.
Chu Xuan couldn't help but marvel at them. Each of these thirteen large blood pearls was the size of a fist and of superior quality, each worth at least twenty smaller pearls.
"These thirteen large blood pearls should suffice for my cultivation up to the ninth level of Qi refining," Chu Xuan nodded slightly.
Just as he was about to depart, he suddenly noticed a strange phenomenon in the sky. A plethora of golden light spontaneously appeared, forming myriad golden flowers that cascaded from the sky and swirled around him. This spectacle lasted for about five minutes before gradually subsiding.
Chu Xuan was astonished. Golden flowers cascading! Wasn't such a phenomenon supposed to herald those endowed with great virtue? Why had it descended upon him?
After a brief moment of surprise, he suddenly recalled. He had just slaughtered thousands of zombies—not sure exactly how many, but certainly over three thousand. Killing each zombie garnered a small amount of merit. The accumulation of such merit had triggered this spectacle of golden flowers cascading!
Chu Xuan's expression turned peculiar. Demonic cultivators, great virtue, golden flowers cascading...
These terms should never be associated together. Every demonic cultivator carried a myriad of karmic deaths. Not summoning celestial thunder was already fortunate.
And yet, great virtue? Golden flowers cascading? Such contradictions made him reflect on the unexpected and peculiar path his actions had forged.
"Among all demonic cultivators throughout the ages, perhaps I am the only one to have ever drawn forth such a manifestation of merit," Chu Xuan mused with a wry smile.
At that moment, all the golden flowers were absorbed into his body. Chu Xuan blinked, suddenly feeling his thoughts become extraordinarily clear. The difficulties he had encountered while cultivating the Blood Spirit Technique now seemed to unravel effortlessly, as if divine clarity had been bestowed upon him. Problems that were once insurmountable now easily found their solutions.
Moreover, he discovered something indescribable and profound within himself—increased longevity and fortune, the true benefits of accruing merit. His comprehension soared, his fortune wrapped tightly around him, and his life span expanded. The accumulation of merit from his previous slaying of zombies had now catalyzed a profound transformation.
"No wonder those righteous cultivators clamor daily about eradicating evil and acting as the agents of heaven—they covet such abundant merit!" Chu Xuan had an epiphany.
"If I were to deploy a Blood Refining Array in the future, sacrificing tens of thousands, millions, or even hundreds of millions of zombies...wouldn't the merit flood towards me, unstoppable, enhancing my wisdom, fortune, and lifespan immensely?" The thought of such future possibilities brought a gleeful expression to his face.
This planet, Blue Star, was truly a paradise for demonic cultivators!
Chu Xuan quickly collected the array flags and departed on his flying sword. With so many blood pearls acquired, it was time for him to cultivate earnestly.
After Chu Xuan left, a helicopter roared overhead, carrying Zheng Baoshan, Zhuang Qiang, Sun Meng, and the pilot, who was also a team leader at Heifeng Security Company, Wang Yong.
"Professor Zheng, as soon as we received your distress signal, we hurried over here. Unfortunately, the helicopter hadn't been flown in a long time, and we were lacking spare parts, which delayed the repairs," Wang Yong explained apologetically.
Zhuang Qiang scoffed, "If it weren't for someone else saving us, we would have already perished in East Lake City! Delaying the institute's research and throwing you out to feed the zombies wouldn't even begin to compensate!"
Wang Yong offered an awkward smile, "Yes, yes, you're right."
He attempted to ingratiate himself with Professor Zheng, but the elder man turned his face away, giving Wang Yong not a single glance for the entire journey.
Wang Yong was visibly uncomfortable. As he was about to say something more, he suddenly pointed toward the unfinished building ahead and exclaimed, "My heavens, what happened here?"
Zheng Baoshan and the others followed his gaze and recognized the building where they had previously stayed.
However, the structure, which had been teeming with thousands of zombies just a short while ago, now lay eerily silent. A closer inspection revealed countless desiccated corpses strewn about haphazardly.
These zombies, which had been lively and energetic not long ago, were now dead. And their deaths were peculiarly unsettling.
"Stop, I need to go down and look," Zheng Baoshan said sternly.
Wang Yong hesitated, "But there might still be zombies hiding below..."
"I said I want to go down," Zheng Baoshan fixed his gaze on Wang Yong, his voice icy and deliberate.
Wang Yong dared not offend further and quickly lowered the helicopter.
Moments later, under the protection of Zhuang Qiang and Sun Meng, Zheng Baoshan approached the outside of the unfinished building. Now, standing closer, they could see the skeletal remains scattered everywhere.
Zhuang Qiang pulled out a military knife and sliced open a corpse, finding not a trace of blood. With a slight squeeze, the remains crumbled into debris as fine as gravel, as if all the blood and moisture had been extracted.
"How could this have been done?" Zheng Baoshan was speechless.
Only about half an hour had passed since they had left, and now thousands of zombies here had been drained of blood. Such a feat was beyond human capability!
"Could it have been that cultivator?" Sun Meng whispered.
Recalling Chu Xuan's actions and demeanor from earlier, Zheng Baoshan nodded gravely, "It's very likely him! This is too important; we need to hurry back and report this to General Ye."
"Yes," Zhuang Qiang and Sun Meng nodded emphatically.
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