Cultivating in Different Professions

Chapter 171: Chapter 125: Blood Transformation Realm

Wuling City, Inner City.

In the northeast corner of the Demon-slaying Bureau compound was a cluster of courtyards.

This was the residential area for Taiping Capital Captains, Taiping Captains, and the like.

Some of the Taiping Imperial Guard also lived here, though several of them had to share a single courtyard, unlike the Taiping Capital Captains and Taiping Captains who were entitled to private ones.

As night fell, the sound of heavy breathing echoed from within one of the courtyards.

Su Mu was naked, drenched in sweat. The surface of his skin was flushed a blood-red color, like the face of someone overly agitated.

He gritted his teeth for one final push, and then collapsed onto the ground, his entire body feeling completely drained.

’This is too hard.’

He lay on his back, gasping for fresh air.

The Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique was just too difficult.

Ever since officially becoming a Taiping Capital Captain, Su Mu had relinquished his position as the East City Bureau Captain, handing it over to Yu Xiujiang.

Yu Xiujiang’s former post was then filled by Chen Song, and as for Zheng Wang, he took over Chen Song’s position as the East City Chief of Police.

Naturally, Luo Anning had a hand in all of this.

Su Mu didn’t much care about these matters. Now that he had left the post, he had no intention of interfering in the East City Bureau’s affairs. However, he wouldn’t refuse an opportunity for his former subordinates to advance their careers.

After settling these matters, Su Mu remained at the Taiping Bureau to cultivate.

Thanks to the Hu Family, Su Mu had confiscated three drops of Jiao Dragon Blood from the Golden Wind Tower’s assassins.

Using the Jiao Dragon Blood as the main ingredient, Su Mu concocted the Spiritual Medicine required to practice the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique.

Then, he began to cultivate the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique.

This Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique, hailed as the strongest Blood Exchange Technique in the world, was something you could only understand by practicing it—and anyone who tried it was left speechless.

Every time he cultivated, Su Mu felt completely drained. And this was him, someone with a physique at the Body Tempering Limit.

If even he felt this way, it was needless to say how a regular Body Tempering Martial Artist would fare.

The more advanced a Blood Exchange Technique was, the higher the requirement for one’s foundation.

Blood exchange was, in essence, a process of immense consumption. The Spiritual Medicine required for the technique was meant to compensate for the body’s expenditure.

But if one’s foundation was insufficient, not even Spiritual Medicine could make up for the body’s depletion. Over time, not only would they fail to master the technique, but their body would also collapse.

This was Su Mu’s experience cultivating the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique. After every session, he felt excessively depleted.

’I’ve practiced so many times, but the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique still hasn’t appeared on the system panel. The Jiao Dragon Blood is all used up. If it doesn’t show up soon, I won’t be able to continue cultivating this technique. Or could it be... that there’s a problem with the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique itself?’

With this in mind, Su Mu’s thoughts stirred, and he summoned the system panel.

[Name: Su Mu]

[Status: Taiping Capital Captain (Seventh-Rank)]

[Points: 2,180]

[Realm: Body Tempering Extreme Realm]

[Divine Technique: Indestructible Golden Body]

[Cultivation Technique: Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique (0/100,000/+)...]

[Martial Arts: Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique (Perfection), Mountain-Opening Saber Technique (Perfection), Kan Water Realm (Lesser Achievement), Xun Wind Realm (Lesser Achievement), Archery (Beginner/+)]

Seeing the contents of the system panel, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on Su Mu’s face.

It finally appeared!

After so many days of hard work, the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique had finally manifested!

Focusing his attention on the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique, a piece of information surfaced in Su Mu’s mind.

Unlike the Lesser Achievement, Greater Achievement, and Perfection stages of Body Tempering Techniques, the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique was different.

The Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique was about converting all the ”mortal blood” in his body into ”true blood.”

Thus, progress in cultivating the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique was measured by how many drops of blood had been exchanged.

Su Mu had about 100,000 drops of blood in his body, and converting one drop into true blood required one Point.

One Point for one drop of true blood sounded like a good deal.

But 100,000 drops of blood would require a full 100,000 Points!

’After my promotion to Taiping Capital Captain, even though I’m still seventh-rank and my other titles have been removed, the status of Taiping Capital Captain alone brings in a base of three hundred Points per day.’

’A Taiping Capital Captain is considered one rank higher when dealing with other officials. Perhaps that’s why the base Points are much higher than what I got as an East City Bureau Captain.’

’Based on the principle that performance-based Points can at most equal the base amount, I can now earn between three hundred and six hundred Points per day.’

Su Mu calculated silently. At the maximum rate of six hundred Points, it would take one hundred and sixty-seven days to accumulate 100,000 Points.

’Half a year to complete the blood exchange... although getting six hundred Points every day is unlikely, so it will definitely take longer. But even at a rate of three hundred Points a day, a year would be enough. Yes, that’s acceptable.’

Blood exchange was a slow, grinding process. For an ordinary Blood Transformation Realm martial artist, completely transforming all their blood could take anywhere from three to five years at the minimum, to over a decade at the maximum.

One year wasn’t just fast.

It was incredibly fast!

’The Taiping Bureau is a great place. For the same rank, the prestige is a notch higher. This way, even without other titles, my rate of earning Points hasn’t slowed at all—in fact, it’s gotten faster.’

Su Mu thought to himself, ’In the Taiping Bureau, the stronger you are, the higher your status becomes. The higher your status, the faster you earn Points, and the faster your strength increases. It’s a virtuous cycle.’

With that thought, Su Mu pressed the [+] symbol after the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique.

All two thousand one hundred and eighty of his Points were poured into the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique!

BUZZ!

As his Points were depleted, a violent tremor ran through Su Mu’s entire body.

In an instant, he felt every bone in his body begin to tremble. It was the same vibration he felt when cultivating the Xuanhuang Blood Exchange Technique, a tremor that passed through his jade-like bones and shook his very marrow.