Chapter 2918: Chapter 2918
Ye Liuyun appeared to listen attentively before finally being allowed inside. Tang Fengkuan exchanged a few more words with the elder, then went off to play chess with the clan leader, creating an opportunity for Ye Liuyun.
Upon entering the courtyard, Ye Liuyun noticed a small, unremarkable-looking blood-red pool. A formation encircled it, masking the scent emanating from the pool.
Ye Liuyun walked right up to the edge of the blood pool—the formation didn’t hinder him. Only then did he sense the power of bloodline within the pool.
However, though the bloodline energy here was strong, it didn’t strike him as particularly extraordinary. It didn’t seem all that potent.
Without hesitation, he leaped into the pool to experience it firsthand. He could feel that the rate of enhancement here was faster than what Chi Lian had previously supplied him. A single day of cultivation here could boost his power of bloodline by at least thirty percent.
Of course, it would still strengthen his bloodline, but it simply didn’t meet Ye Liuyun’s expectations.
Nevertheless, he began absorbing the energy with full force. Tang Fengkuan had promised to distract the clan leader, but there was no telling how long that would last. Every action had to be swift.
Even if he couldn’t summon his doppelganger right away, he could swap places with it later to let it absorb some of the energy as well.
At the same time, he activated his Golden Eye to scan the formation around the blood pool, transmitting all the information to Qiong Qi so the ancient beast could guide his observations.
After roughly two hours, Ye Liuyun quickly deployed the formation disk Tang Fengkuan had given him. The disk created a small isolated space, pushing back the existing formation.
He didn’t immediately summon his doppelganger. Instead, he released Qiong Qi first to study the formation. After a thorough examination, Qiong Qi remarked, "From what I can see, there must be some rare treasure beneath this formation sustaining the blood pool."
"Can you retrieve it without alerting the formation?" Ye Liuyun asked.
Qiong Qi shook his head. "Taking it is easy, but doing so undetected would take at least ten days!"
After absorbing some of the bloodline energy from the pool, Qiong Qi added nonchalantly, "This blood pool’s power isn’t all that impressive. Chi Lian could achieve the same effect—it’d just take a bit longer.
If what that fifth elder said is true, and the bloodline energy here replenishes slowly, I don’t think it’s worth the risk. Sacrificing too much for these meager resources just isn’t worth it."
"I have to admit, this Blood Spirit Pool isn’t living up to its reputation! Well, no use dwelling on it—let’s just absorb as much as we can here!" Ye Liuyun decided not to overthink it and motioned for the Qiong Qi to join him in absorbing the energy.
"I’ll pass for now. I’m not the one fighting these days—you and your clone should take priority. You two are constantly in battles, so boosting your strength comes first. The rest of us can rely on Chilian to help us improve gradually.
"Honestly, the bloodline energy in this pool probably won’t last more than a few days for just the two of you. Overthinking it won’t change anything!"
With that, the Qiong Qi wasted no time and retreated back into the spatial realm to continue its own cultivation. Ye Liuyun agreed with its reasoning and immediately summoned his clone, settling in to absorb the energy together.
As he cultivated, his thoughts wandered: *"Even if the Blood Spirit Pool is disappointing, this trip to the Tang family hasn’t been a total loss. The Fifth Elder has helped me quite a bit. Out of respect for him, I’ll let the Tang family off the hook. Once we finish here, I’ll take Tang Xinyao and the others to the An family’s secret realm for resources, then we can leave.
"Ah, right—there’s also Qin Mengxi. I’ll have to return her to the Qin family before we go."*
The thought of Qin Mengxi made him sigh. He activated a communication talisman to check in with the two martial artists assigned to protect her.
Turns out, Qin Mengxi had actually gone to work as a shop assistant in a merchant guild. But with little experience and a lack of adaptability, she barely earned anything. She could no longer afford the inn she’d been staying at and had downgraded to a cheap hostel. Even the food and wine from the inn were beyond her means now—she could only linger outside during breaks, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ye Liuyun.
*"Sigh."*
Ye Liuyun shook his head helplessly. There was nothing he could do—he couldn’t return to the Qin family yet. She’d just have to endure a little longer. *Consider it part of her training.*
A day later, Ye Liuyun suddenly sensed a noticeable decline in the bloodline energy of the pool.
"This Blood Spirit Pool really is pathetic! We’ve only been absorbing for a day, and the energy’s already dropping!" his clone grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"It seems the Blood Spirit Pool was overused by the Tang family before, and now it can’t recover easily!" Ye Liuyun speculated.
"Let’s absorb as much as we can," his clone said helplessly before refocusing on cultivation.
However, after half a day, both Ye Liuyun and his clone sensed that the bloodline energy within the pool had noticeably weakened further.
"At this rate, I’m afraid my bloodline strength won’t even double in the end," Ye Liuyun thought with some concern.
"True. Even after absorbing this much, I’ve only just reached your previous level," the clone estimated that this trip to the Blood Spirit Pool wouldn’t provide much of a boost.
"It’s fine—we should learn to be content. Honestly, this bloodline energy is already far faster than what we could achieve through normal cultivation," Ye Liuyun consoled himself.
Another half-day passed, and the pool’s energy dwindled again. This time, Ye Liuyun abruptly stopped absorbing.
He told his clone, "You go ahead and absorb the rest alone. You’ll progress faster that way. If I keep going, even if we drain the pool completely, you still won’t catch up to my current level."
The clone didn’t mind—after all, strengthening either of them was the same in the end.
Ye Liuyun hadn’t expected that in just two days, the Blood Spirit Pool’s energy would be insufficient for both of them.
Truthfully, the pool’s power wasn’t as weak as he assumed. It was just that their own bloodlines were already exceptionally strong, requiring far more energy to advance.
Afterward, Ye Liuyun retreated to his clone’s spatial world to cultivate, leaving the clone to absorb the remaining bloodline energy alone.
Another half-day later, the clone also stopped. The pool’s energy was nearly depleted, and Ye Liuyun felt that further absorption wouldn’t bring significant improvement—if anything, it might damage the pool’s foundation.
By now, the clone’s bloodline strength had nearly caught up to the original body’s, which was a substantial gain—far faster than cultivating alone.
So, he recalled the clone and the formation disk, then left the Blood Spirit Pool ahead of schedule, returning to the training hall to wait for Tang Fengkuan.
Tang Fengkuan immediately sensed that Ye Liuyun had withdrawn the formation disk and wasted no time in returning to the hall to discuss the situation with him.
