The terrifying aura from the few drops of blood essence had disappeared, leaving only pristine crimson drops floating aimlessly on top of Bai Jingshen's palm.
"I never realized these drops were that strong," Alex said softly. He couldn't believe something so powerful was inside of him and had remained dormant this entire time.
"My master gifted this to my granddaughter when we first met her. These drops of blood hold the bloodline of the first White Tiger in them," Bai Jingshen said. "Even just absorbing part of it, Pearl was able to use almost every single skill that was passed down through the bloodline. I can only wonder if he will be as strong as me."
Alex looked at the man in front of him with a curious look before asking, "did your master give you these as well?"
"Of course," Bai Jingshen said. "There's a reason why I am as strong as I am. Of my generation, I am the strongest."
"The hell you are," Scarlet said from the side. "If you were anything above average, none of your ancestors would ever send you down here to rule over a random piece of land. They know you aren't helpful, so they let you handle the responsibility, the same as me, senior Luhei, and Tianchui."
"You're not wrong there," the tiger said. "They sent me here because I am basically useless to them there. However, that was by design. I just wanted to hide my powers and enjoy my life. Although, that backfired when they sent me here."
Alex was surprised to see this side of the person he thought he knew. "Should we get that to Pearl?" he reminded.
"Oh, right. Let's go," the tiger walked away with the normal blood and blood essence. He took them through another few winding hallways before arriving somewhere Alex had once again never been to before.
However, this time, this place looked far more important than just a few rooms here and there.
The room was dark with the final few crystals ending just past the doorway. The room was illuminated at the door, but beyond that, there was not much light.
Bai Jingshen's wives were already there, preparing the fountain with a tiger's head sculpture on one end that seemed to glow red from the inside.
"What is that?" Alex couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Probably some sort of bloodline artifact that creates White Tiger's blood inside of it," Scarlet said from the side. "We have something like that back home too. The blood isn't that good, but its enough to help someone evolve into a heavenly beast."
"I see," Alex said.
"The blood in here is basically going to force anyone that goes in here to defend themselves from its attack. The only way to defend it is with your own blood aura," Bai Jingshen explained.
"Since most will end up losing given that this is mostly White Tiger's blood, the one that is inside either dies or is forced to evolve with their bloodline as well to fight against this force."
"The weaker ones that don't have enough bloodline in them can't evolve and most certainly die. However, if you do have it, you have the potential to evolve, and become a White Tiger."
A constant flow of blood seemed to fall into the pool below which was getting filled up very slowly. Bai Jingshen went ahead and dropped the large amount of blood that he had brought into the pool as well.
He then turned around toward Pearl and crouched before him. "Revert back to your normal size," he said.
Pearl nodded and changed, turning back into a giant White Cat that was barely any smaller than the ones around him.
"Take these. It might hurt a little, but bear it, okay?" Bai Jingshen said.
Pearl nodded. He opened his mouth and the 7 drops flew into him, absorbed by his body. He instantly felt the flaring pain throughout his body as his body tried to retake what it had lost.
It forcefully absorbed every single bit of the blood essence, even though it hurt Pearl to do so, and unlike the last time he had eaten it, he did not puke back any of the blood.
Alex was still feeling very drained after losing all of his blood, but even so, he felt bad seeing Pearl in pain.
'Hang in there, Pearl. You can do it.'
Bai Jingshen tried to remain stoic, but his tapping feet made it apparent that he was very worried as well. He too was worried for Pearl, not to mention his 7 partners.
Lady Ren wanted to help Pearl, but she had to stay where she was. She couldn't help anyway after all.
Pearl didn't cry, shout, or many any noise because of the pain. He simply stood there, taking all the pain with gritted teeth until it was all over.
He felt weak when the pain left him and at the same time very tired. "Go into the pool," Bai Jingshen breathed out in relief and spoke immediately.
Pearl weakly nodded and walked over to the pool before jumping into it. The pool wasn't deep at and only came about halfway up Pearl's body.
Pearl crouched until nothing but his head was above the pool of blood.
"You guys should leave," Bai Jingshen spoke to everyone in the room. "I will leave after I start the process."
The women nodded and left. Scarlet walked out as well.
Alex tried to leave, but he couldn't find the heart to move away from Pearl, knowing how much pain he was going to be in.
"Don't worry, brother," Pearl spoke softly. "I will be alright. I will come back stronger than ever."
Alex took a deep breath and smiled. "I'll wait for you," he said. "Good luck, Pearl." He finally walked back out of the room.
The door slammed behind him and Bai Jingshen started.
Alex waited outside the room for a while, waiting for the white tiger to walk out. In the meantime, he tried to check his blood and was surprised at how weak it had become.
"I've… completely lost the White Tiger's bloodline from within me, haven't I?" he asked Scarlet who was next to him.
"Yes," she said. "I can't sense the tiniest bit of it in you."
Alex felt a little weird hearing that. He had the White tiger's bloodline from basically the start of his cultivation journey. It was something he had acquired so early on that he never thought he could lose it.
It had put him through some tough times as well as some easier times. However, he had now lost it and would likely not gain it back again. Especially because no other blood essence could ever compare to it.
Bai Jingshen walked out after a while and saw Alex standing there. "You don't have to wait here," he said. "It will take a while before he can succeed," he said.
"How long… do you think it will take?" Alex asked.
"Hard to tell," the beast said. "His is a weird case as both he and the blood essence he is using is something that has never been put through such an ordeal before."
"So, it can take anywhere from a week, to a month to a year. It could even take a decade. As long as Pearl doesn't die, it will continue forever until he evolves, so only time can truly tell."
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