Chapter 102: Blood Wine
Duncan drained the blood of the demonic beast and collected it in a gourd he had fashioned himself.
The reason for Duncan to do such an odd thing was not as simple as quenching his thirst or planning to sell the blood of the demonic beast when he returned to the sect. No, there was a more sinister reason for that.
Duncan had stumbled upon a secret regarding the <Slaughter Demon Sutra> by accident two days into his new routine.
At that time, the wine his senior brother had given him had almost been consumed. There was only less than a quarter of the pot left in it. Duncan was naturally reluctant to go without any wine for the remainder of his time in this wilderness. He didn't know when he would once more taste wine again.
So, faced with a dilemma, Duncan decided to experiment a little.
By that time, he had collected a few gourds of demonic beast blood in his bag. As Duncan hadn't come across any water source till then, he had been using the blood in these gourds to wet his throat occasionally.
Duncan came up with the idea to dilute the wine left in the wine pot. As it was already potent, Duncan didn't mind diluting it much and having more to drink. To him, wine was an important accompaniment to the experience.
He didn't care about the potency or the level of spirit energy in it much. He just wanted some to drink occasionally. So, diluting it was the most logical choice in his mind.
However, with no water source in sight, Duncan decided to dilute it with a bit of demonic beast blood and see if it tasted right. His experiment became a huge success when the demonic beast blood he combined with the wine didn't affect the spirit energy in the wine much.
While the potency was lessened, the spirit energy was retained despite the diluted nature of the new wine. The demonic beast's blood produced a strange reaction when used to dilute. It became richer in energy and had a great taste as well.
Duncan considered this to be a success and didn't pay much attention to that for some time. However, things took a drastic change when one day he did something different.
While cultivating during the night, Duncan took a small sip of the blood wine casually before beginning to run his cultivation technique. When the <Slaughter Demon Sutra> came into contact with the energy-rich blood wine during cultivation, the effect that came out of it was a huge surprise to Duncan.
Duncan's cultivation technique not only ran more smoothly, it even exhibited signs of getting faster. Curious, Duncan drank some more blood wine to see if there will be any more changes.
The effect was immediate. The combination of the blood wine and the <Slaughter Demon Sutra> created a miraculous change in his body. Within the next few moments, Duncan actually broke through the fifth level of the Qi Gathering realm in almost an overbearing manner.
Duncan wasn't prepared for such an intense reaction. Before that, he had been a little distance away from reaching the breakthrough point. So, such a sudden increase was unexpected by Duncan.
He almost went into qi deviation as he was not able to control the berserk state his qi was in during that moment. But, as time passed, the effect became less and Duncan was able to manage to get the qi in his body under control.
After repeated experiments, Duncan came to the conclusion that fresh blood, especially blood with spirit energy in it, was the ideal supplement to cultivate <Slaughter Demon Sutra>.
Higher the spirit energy in the blood, the better effect it had on the <Slaughter Demon Sutra>. The blood of demonic beasts that were more powerful than him was the ideal supplement he could get.
However, the spirit energy in them was too much to consume directly. But, if he mixed it with the wine drops in the wine pot and consumed them, there were no problems with it.
This makeshift diluted blood wine he had created in an effort to make the wine last longer had somehow turned into a huge supplement for his cultivation technique. Paired with his cultivation technique, it helped him to break through to the sixth level of Qi Gathering realm in the next two days.
Right now, Duncan was just shy of breaking through the advanced stage of the Qi Gathering realm. The Qi Gathering realm is commonly divided into three stages. Lower stage which constituted the first to the third level of the Qi Gathering realm, middle stage consisting the fourth to the sixth level of the Qi Gathering realm, and advanced stage featuring the seventh to the ninth level of Qi Gathering realm.
The difference in power between each stage was huge and it is difficult to break through between stages. However, Duncan's luck has been good so far. His fight with the young man in the cave and his subsequent massacre had helped him to break through from the lower stage to the middle stage easily.
Now, this makeshift wine of his was helping him to break through from the middle to the advanced stage within ten days. Such a speed was top-notch among all the geniuses in the Dragon Scale continent. Even Duncan's master didn't expect him to progress this fast.
But, all was not roses with using this makeshift diluted blood wine in cultivating <Slaughter Demon Sutra>. This method had a side effect to it. Consuming this diluted blood wine and using it to cultivate, left a bloodthirsty aura permeating out of Duncan's body constantly.
Moreover, Duncan also noticed that his view of things was also being changed imperceptibly by the influence of the cultivation technique. His ideals on what was acceptable and what wasn't were beginning to change slowly.
Duncan who had stepped out the Starsinger Town would have been horrified to know about cultivating in such a way. However, the current Duncan wasn't bothered by the thought of using blood to cultivate even a single bit.
The change in mentality was clearly noticeable from that. Duncan had always been self-aware and he had begun to notice that he was beginning to change for a long time. But, the strange thing was, he wasn't bothered by it.
Even if he notices, Duncan didn't mind it much. His thoughts were on how to become strong quickly. As for doing something unacceptable like using blood to cultivate, Duncan didn't care about it one whit.
The level of perversion in Duncan's thoughts was such that, he was even beginning to theorize that human blood would be more effective than beast blood. While he hadn't acted on it yet, to an observer, it was clear that Duncan was beginning to walk a slippery slope already.
Grabbing the carcass of the demonic beast, Duncan vacated the area he was in and came to a makeshift camp he had constructed out of some scrap items he had repurposed.
After skinning the beast, Duncan lit the pit and put the demonic beast's carcass over the fire to roast it. Sitting back and watching the fire flicker across the beast's body, Duncan began to relax as he sipped the diluted blood wine he had made.
"Dinner's taken care of," Duncan muttered looking at the distant sky. "The demonic beasts in this area are getting weaker. I think it is time for me to move ahead from this region."
Duncan's plan of action was actually simple.
According to what he knew, he was in the outer regions of the Grasslands. Moving towards the interior region where the Heavenly Demon Sect was, he would definitely come across stronger beasts.
So, if he followed that logic, he could slowly fight and increase his power against the stronger demonic beasts in succession and move forward, he would reach a place where other Heavenly Demon Sect's disciples would frequent.
This way he could both temper himself and also move toward the sect. It was a win-win in his book. He knew that he would never be able to traverse the entire way on his lonesome. He only had to maintain this style till he came across another disciple.
Then he can tag along with them and return to the sect.
He didn't know the way toward the Heavenly Demon Sect. After all, the last time he was taken there, someone had made him unconscious. So, there was no way for him to remember the way. Therefore, it was better to follow someone who knows the way and get back to the sect.
Duncan knew that his master would be furious by now. He was supposed to meet him after two days. Unfortunately, he was now stuck here in the wilderness. When he returned there might be repercussions for him to face.
Knowing his master, that wouldn't be something that he would like. Most probably, his master would force him to go through some other horrifying experience. So, it was better for him to increase his strength.
That way, his master's wrath might be slightly alleviated. From what he understood about his master, his master was someone who respected strength. And showing him that he had improved a lot might earn him more consideration than complaining about the senior brother who put him in such a position.
Even though he was a little miffed with that senior brother, Duncan wasn't angry with that senior brother. He knew that if the senior brother wanted, he could have killed him in the wilderness after spiriting him away from the sect.
He had been absolutely defenseless and it was he who scammed the wine out of senior brother first. He had all the right to be heavy-handed with him and the ability to do so.
But, the senior brother had been magnanimous enough to put him in a region where there are no strong demonic beasts and even leave him half pot of wine. As for the spirit stones and the Qi Gathering pills were considered, Duncan didn't care about them at all.
"Even though I am not angry, when I return, I am going to punch that senior brother in the face. After that, I am going to scam more wine out of him," Duncan said with a small smile on his face as he bit into the roasted demonic beast meat and looked at the starry sky in a relaxed manner.
*****
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Demon Sect, one particular senior brother who was responsible for Duncan's absence in the sect was currently sweating bullets as he stood before the Vice-Sect Master Liang Tianye.
"Chen Wangjie, I will give you one chance. Spill! What did you do with my disciple?"
Liang Tianye asked angrily as he looked ready to skin Foodie Chen alive.
*****
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