Chapter 61
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhang Chen realized that he was still missing a third senior brother, so he asked, “Where’s Third Senior Brother?”
“Third Junior Brother is out on a mission and hasn’t returned yet. I called you here this time to let everyone get to know each other and take care of each other in the future.
“Although there wasn’t much pressure from the sect after we were promoted to direct disciples, the competition among us direct disciples is fierce due to the struggle for resources. Therefore, we form circles based on our master-disciple relationships to unite against the pressure.
“The sect master has the most direct disciples and is also the strongest. I’m at the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment realm, but I can only barely protect my junior brothers from being bullied.” Hong Longguang smiled.
“I’ll have to trouble you in the future, Eldest Senior Brother. I have just been promoted and do not fully understand the situation with direct disciples. Senior Brother, can you explain to me?” Zhang Chen asked with a bow.
“Then let me explain it to you…”
Through Hong Longguang’s explanation, Zhang Chen gained a general understanding of the situation of the direct disciples.
The Blood God Sect’s cultivation techniques affect the mind. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the sect’s control became weaker, and the abnormal aspects of their minds began to show, leading to frequent conflicts.
The direct disciples had sect missions once every three years, and during this period, their masters might also assign tasks to them.
Elder Blood River was in charge of the Beast Garden, and most of his missions were related to it.
If one wanted to leave the sect without a mission, they had to report to the sect. If they did not return after a certain period of time, the sect would send people to look for them.
For example, every year, the direct disciples would hold a gathering to exchange resources and so on.
“Thank you for your explanation, Eldest Senior Brother.” Zhang Chen bowed and thanked him.
Hong Longguang waved his hand. “Don’t mention it. It’s what I should do as a senior brother. You haven’t learned any attacking spells at the Foundation Establishment stage yet, have you?
“Most of the spells of our Demon Sect have side effects. You can choose spells that harm the body. With the undying attribute of the blood body, you can repair the damage with just a little blood essence.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Eldest Senior Brother.” Zhang Chen nodded.
With the undying attribute of the blood body, learning those spells that harmed the body would not have much of an impact, so most direct disciples would choose these spells.
In the future, when Zhang Chen used such spells, there was no need to hide anything.
Very few people in the inner sect learned spells that harmed the body because physical injuries and problems could affect the condensation of the blood body and the hunting of demon beasts.
“Everyone has met, and I have said what I should say. If there’s nothing else,
I’ll get Sixth Junior Brother to send you back.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. Sixth Senior Brother, please escort me down the mountain. ”
“Follow me.” Du Nanfeng led Zhang Chen out.
After the two of them walked away, Fourth Senior Brother Xu Zhenling asked with some confusion, “Senior Brother, why are you so concerned about Seventh Junior Brother?”
Hearing this, the other two also looked puzzled. When they were promoted, Eldest Senior Brother did not explain everything to them one by one so patiently.
Hong Longguang smiled. “Logically speaking, Zhang Chen should have become a disciple of Elder Blood Flame, but he became a disciple of Master. Don’t you think it’s strange?”
Everyone nodded. “It’s a little strange.”
“Zhang Chen has only just reached the Foundation Establishment realm. It’s impossible for him to influence the decisions of the sect master and elders. Therefore, Master must have taken a fancy to Zhang Chen and asked for him.
“Since Master has taken a fancy to him, it means that Zhang Chen must be extraordinary. I naturally have to be on good terms with him,” Hong Longguang explained.
“I see.” The few of them were enlightened.
“By the way, Eldest Senior Brother, you’ve been stuck at the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment realm for almost a hundred years. Are you still not confident to break through to the Golden Core stage?” Dong Fengzhen, the second senior sister, asked.
“I still have decades of life left. I’ll accumulate more foundation and take my time,” Hong Longguang replied, saying he wasn’t in a hurry, but there was a hint of gloom on his face.
Did he not want to break through to the Golden Core stage?
He did, but he was afraid!
Several disciples who had broken through to the Golden Core stage before had disappeared, and the sect’s explanation was that they had been sent on missions.
But they still hadn’t returned.
Hong Longguang was deeply suspicious and afraid of this, so he hesitated to take this step.
Seeing this, Dong Fengzhen stopped asking.
Back in his cave, Zhang Chen resumed his days of hard cultivation.
After mastering the Blood Shadow Substitute, he switched to another spell called the Blood Refining Scripture.
The Blood Refining Scripture was also one of the core spells of the Blood God Sect. It not only increased the speed of refining blood but also allowed one to devour refined blood in battle.
Once perfected, one could instantly refine the blood of those of lower realms than oneself.
In addition to its strong life-saving ability, the Blood God Sect was also skilled in enduring battles and group battles, relying on the Blood Refining Scripture to constantly absorb refined blood in battle and sustain themselves.
Therefore, this spell had to be learned, but it still had its side effects.
Zhang Chen stuck the technique’s jade slip on his forehead, and the voice of the modifier immediately sounded.
[Detecting the technique ‘Blood Refining Scripture,’ which can devour refined blood in battle and speed up the refining process.]
[Side effects: More susceptible to the residual effects of blood, becoming bloodthirsty, murderous, and insane.]
[Please wait a moment, system modification is in progress…]
[Ding! Modification complete. Side effects canceled.]
The combination of this side effect and the side effects of the Blood Nerve Technique makes it difficult to be normal! he thought.
The Blood God Sect was once glorious and was one of the top magic sects.
However, the members of the Blood God Sect were mentally abnormal, often causing disasters of blood demons and chaos in the cultivation world.
In the end, they were besieged by the orthodox sects and reduced to a mediocre sect with only one Nascent Soul realm member.
The previous sect master had caused the blood demon calamity. Now, he was still suppressed by the orthodox sects.
This was one of the reasons why the higher-ups of the Blood God Sect treated their disciples like pigs. They wanted to improve their cultivation, but didn’t want their mental state to be affected by the demonic blood, so they had to drink the blood essence of their disciples.
However, this was not what he should be concerned about.
Zhang Chen cleared his thoughts and began to practice the Blood Refining Scripture.
The Blood Refining Scripture required the use of mana to construct a mana grinding disc inside the body that could operate automatically. As long as the blood entered the body, it would be refined.
In this way, he could also refine his blood in battle and not have to divert his attention to circulate his magic power.
Although he had a modifier that could ignore the side effects of cultivation techniques, Zhang Chen’s comprehension ability was only average and he had to rely on diligent practice to make up for his lack of talent.
Compared to other disciples, he didn’t lack refined blood or suffer from side effects, which gave him the advantage of continuous practice.
After a month and a half, Zhang Chen finally mastered the Blood Refining Scripture and constructed a mana grinding disc inside his body that could operate automatically.
“Let’s try it out.”
Zhang Chen swallowed a drop of demon blood without actively refining it.
As the mana grinding disc operated, the demonic blood was gradually refined, but only at a rate of 1/20 of what he could achieve with active refining.
“I need to continue practicing and speed up the operation of the Blood Refining Scripture.” Zhang Chen was not satisfied and continued to practice with his eyes closed.
In the blink of an eye, a new year arrived.
As most of the outer sect disciples had been sacrificed in the blood ritual, the internal sect competition was canceled this year. Otherwise, Zhang Chen would have appeared in front of the inner and outer sect disciples as a judge, just like Li Mumin.
On the 10th day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Chen walked out of the cave abode and prepared to attend the direct disciple gathering.
He had learned from Hong Longguang that the direct disciple gathering was actually a trading event where resources were exchanged among each other.
Zhang Chen didn’t plan to buy anything. He mainly wanted to broaden his horizons and experience the atmosphere..