Chapter 71: Xue Ku - The Deception Of A Rogue Blood [II]
The demonic beasts on the other hand were animals which gained sentience after absorbing large amount of demonic energy over a long period of time. Demonic energy was one of the energies of the Nether plane. But every now and then, the demonic energy would seep into the mortal plane through the occasional cracks in the fabrics of the universe.
Then, the magical beasts. They had neither awareness nor intelligence. They simply had no sentience, and they were the weakest of the lot. Their energy imbued bodies served as sources of nutrients for cultivators.
The steller eagle was a magical beast, but was acting with sentience. A sentient magical beast? That could only mean one thing.
Xue Wu.
Blood cultivator, or simply blood.
Xue Wus, blood cultivators or bloods, were powerful mortals who used the mystical life-force power of blood to gain extreme powers. They were mainly diviners. They used blood essence to power their oracle bones, for seeing the past and future. Unlike Chi cultivators that formed cores in their dantians, blood cultivators were not able to form cores. They would form eternal core bonds with mighty beasts, and the beasts would serve as their cores.
The less powerful Xue Wus, would go for magical beasts. But the more powerful Xue Wus, would make pacts with the divine beasts before forming eternal bonds with them. The divine beasts would be the blood cultivators' cores. Their power would grow as the beasts grew in power.
Generally, blood cultivators would bond with magical beasts and draw energy essence from their blood. That was much more safer, though, there would not be much increase in their power. But for them to really grow in power and advance in their levels, they had to bond with divine beasts and draw from their life-force-infused blood. The reason due to them being innate bloodline beasts.
Although, the divine beasts and magical beasts made them more powerful due to the fact they could draw directly on their power. However the more powerful divine beasts could also be their death. If the beasts died, they would no longer have any source of power. They would no longer be able to bond with any other beasts. And unless they could find the Jade Dragon spirit fruit, they would be stuck forever in their advancement.
Blood cultivators who were satisfied with their states of existence would settle for magical beasts. But more ambitious blood cultivators would go with the divine beasts since it was only through them they could attract the heavenly tribulations. And both the blood cultivator and the beast, would have to undergo the tribulations together. Hence, increasing their slim chances of survival.
Over the years, the heavenly tribulations had been incredibly strong against the Xue Wus, especially the ascension tribulations. Most of them had died from the effects of the tribulations. Only a handful had ever made it to ascension.
Due to the fact that here was no other way for them, many blood cultivators had decided against attracting the tribulations. A number of blood cultivators had decided to avoid making pacts with the divine beasts. Rather, they would obtain the much less powerful magical creatures. No ascension tribulations meant no sudden death to the blood cultivator. And also, no fright of death over a dying divine beasts.
Nevertheless, the importance of Xue Wu was significant in any cultivation world. Due to their scrying oracles, they had become an integral part of the cultivation world. Every village had a Xue Wu who carried out the village's divination.
Elder wang Xu sent out her awareness to intercept the bird.
"Xue Wu?"
"Yes, immortal one. My name is Yan Dai."
"Yan Dai?"
"Yes, immortal one. Please, help me."
"Where are you?"
"JinJin village, immortal elder."
"JinJin? Hmm. Why do you need my help?"
"They're going to kill me."
"Why? What did you do?"
"Nothing, immortal one. They are blaming me for what I didn't do."
"Continue."
"First, they accused me of being Xue Ku. And now, they''re saying I'm responsible for the disappearances of many children in JinJin and other villages too."
"Are you?"
"No, immortal one."
"You better don't tell lies. Those are serious offenses in a mortal world."
"No, immortal one. I'm not lying."
"So, why are they accusing you?"
"I don't know. But I believe the one responsible is still here in JinJin?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"Before my parents died, I heard them talking about something they discovered. There's a powerful Xu Ku who has a connection to the villages so the children could be taken. My parents were about to expose the roots of the disappearances when they were killed."
"Continue."
"Something powerful and extremely fast entered our house. But before he could enter, it had to pass through the defensive array. Although it took seconds for it to break the defense, but while trying to do that, my father used our ancestral heavenly artifact on me and I couldn't remember anything from there. By the time I came around, I found them already decayed. Please, hurry immortal elder. I can no longer hold the connection."
"Okay, go. If what you say it's true, I'll see what I can do. But if you are lying, you must face their consequences."
A Xue Ku in the village?
A Xue Ku, rogue blood cultivator. It was the forbidden side of Xue Wu, true blood cultivator.
Rogue blood cultivation. Completely draining the life-force of innocent mortals thereby turning them to Spectres before bonding them. They didn't bond with one but hundred or thousands of spectres. That gave Xu Kus more power than the Xue Wus due to the pure karmic virtues in innocent mortal souls. The power of the spectres could also allow the rogue blood cultivators to launch powerful soul attacks. Extremely powerful blood cultivators.
Elder Wang Xiu recalled her awareness and turned to the waiting group. Caution was greatly needed when facing a situation like that or else, she could easily loose her life. She began to explain what was happening to the disciples.