Beast Piercing The Heavens Chapter 9 – The Cultivation of the Secret Code for Sacred Blood

Chapter 9 - The Cultivation of the Secret Code for Sacred Blood
Three days later, in a small room in one of the small eastern courtyards. It was almost dusk.
- Tick! Tick! -
Qinghan quietly sat on his bed, with his eyes closed and his sleeves rolled up to over his elbows. His right hand held his left one in a balanced position, ensuring that his scarlet red blood would drop into the barrel.
Right under his left hand, there stood a black wooden barrel, the bottom of which was almost completely covered up with blood. Judging from a simple glance, it was well over a liter.
At this time of day, the hustles and bustles in the Ye Castle had already faded into utter tranquility. Outside the window, the moon hang in the middle of the sky, emitting its silver rays all over the courtyard.
Having a deep and long sigh, Qinghan felt dizzy, while his face had long gone as pale as white paper. He snatched a nearby bandage and wrapped it around the wound, hoping that it would quicken the healing process. Looking at the blood-filled barrel, he estimated that it was roughly enough. He then shoved the barrel underneath his bed, before moving into bed himself. Out of sheer exhaustion, Qinghan lied almost paralyzed in his bed, as it only took him a couple of minutes to fall into a deep slumber.
The next morning, the sun was shining brightly outside.
“Brother, what happened? Wake up!”
When she had opened her brother’s door, the smell of blood had instantly caught Qingyu’s attention. Walking closer, she had seen the blood-stained bandages on Qinghan’s left hand, which had eclipsed her composed expression. She hastily shook her brother, frantically hoping that he was still alive.
“Er?” Qinghan opened his sleepy eyes, while he still felt lightheaded. Being giddy and wobbly, he couldn’t even identify where he was. Therefore, he closed his eyes once again to refresh his spirit. “Sister, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I just… Lost some blood. Don’t make a fuss about it...”
“But… You look so weak…”
“Hey, listen to me. I’m ok. I just feel a little bit tired and I need a good night’s rest.” He didn’t want to upset his sister because of his secret, yet brutal method. So he managed a smile and lied to his sister.
Once his sister was coaxed away by his consoling words, Qinghan was determined to continue with the next step – Enriching the blood.
By rubbing his temples on both sides of his head, he focussed himself a little bit. Despite the fact that he was still weak in the knees, he pulled himself together and took the barrel out from underneath his bed. He then brought it outside, before he started pouring the blood away.
…...
Walking through several streets, Qinghan finally arrived at the bazaar of Grey City. Here he bought several kilograms of animal liver, as well as some special medicines as per required for the Secret Code for Sacred Blood.
Qinghan grinded the livers into small bits and pieces and mingled it with the medicine powder.
“Is… Is this stuff really edible?”
Staring at the bloody mixture of liver and medicine, Qinghan felt as if something was rolling over and over in his stomach. He couldn’t stand the color, nor the smell of the liver, which made him want to vomit. How could he possibly eat this mixture raw?
“Errrrr...”
Qinghan closed his eyes before he randomly snatched up some of it and put it into his mouth. He swallowed it up almost instantly, hoping that he wouldn’t have to experience the taste. Unfortunately, however, a second later, everything he had stuffed into his mouth was thrown up over his bedroom floor.
“What do I do? This stuff is disgusting!”
It was clearly enunciated in the Secret Code that the second step was decisive in the whole process. Yesterday, he had already lost a fourth of his blood; if he didn’t replenish it with the required nourishments, his health would be permanently damaged. Actually, the first two steps, bloodletting and enriching the blood served as a prerequisite for the third step - refining the blood. In the third step, the blood would be renewed and improved, in a way that the less purified parts would be discarded and the sacred parts would be reserved. This was the most effective way to increase the density of the sacred blood.
“I have no choice!”
“I have to eat it!”
Recalling the menial life he had been living all these years, an undaunted expression emerged on his face, showing an unswerving determination.
“For my deceased parents, eat it! For all the humiliations I have suffered, eat it! For my considerate and kind sister, eat it! ”
“Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!”
Qinghan robotically picked up the powder mixture and stuffed it into his mouth. This time, he acted rather abnormally, as he chewed it and swallowed it, showing no signs of nausea. It seemed as if his sense of taste had been temporarily inactivated.
There was bloody liver powder left on the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t seem to notice it. Instead, he continued putting more and more of this powdery mixture into his mouth. Occasionally, he would chuckle in a low voice, almost to himself, which made the whole scene even more horrible and grotesque.
A few moments later, the contents of this bowl had been eaten clean. Qinghan grabbed the nearby cup of water and drank it off. He then wiped his mouth with the napkin, before he went to bed.
Qinghan stripped off all of his clothing, except for his shorts. He then pricked the twelve meridians with silver needles accordingly to the chart depicted in the Secret Code - Two on the head, eight on both hands and feet, and the last two on his body. All the meridians were on the conjunction parts of his blood vessels. Thankfully, the required positions were not on his back, otherwise he would fail to finish this step.
“Er?”
After a short while, the needle-pricked parts became warm and itchy, as if there were twelve ants gnawing at him.
“Does that mean this step has taken effect?” A sense of achievement struck Qinghan, as he believed that any response was better than no response, though he had no clue whether it was a good one or not.
Strangely, the twelve meridians continued to heat up until it reached a very high temperature, to the extent that it became unbearably painful. Now, Qinghan felt as if there were thousands, or even millions of ants gnawing on him! Despite the anguish and itchiness, he had to refrain himself from scratching these twelve parts, or the whole process would be in vain. As per the Secret Code, these were only normal symptoms, which served as an indication that his body was undergoing the process of refining its blood.
“This is the most pleasant misery!” Qinghan thought to himself. Despite the physical misery he was suffering at this moment, there was hope flowing strongly through his heart. If the Secret Code could really lead him to a higher quality of blood with a thick density of sacred blood, then everything would turn out to be rosy. He might finally be able to summon a high ranking battle beast at the awakening ceremony, which was only a couple of days away. If that was the case, he would be enlisted as one of the key descendants of the Ye Family. And his oath to put his parents’ memorial tablets in the Sacred Temple would then also become a possibility for the future. In a single sentence, he would avenge those who had humiliated him and finally be the true captain of his own life.
Hope was the best cure to all forms of anguish, without it, life would be passionless and dull.
Thank goodness, the feeling of ants gnawing on his meridians only lasted for a couple of minutes. However, to Qinghan, it felt like several years! His whole body was wet with sweat, as if he had just taken a shower, leaving a large part of his bed sheet soaked.
“Ohhhh!”
Qinghan let out a long sigh of relieve. “Oh, daddy! You live up to your reputation as a genius. This Secret Code for Sacred Blood really has an effect on me. Even though I don’t know the final result yet, I believe that it’ll be breathtaking!”
Since the most unbearable part of the whole process was over, the following days of cultivation would be much easier. Qinghan had been keeping himself locked in his own bedroom, as he was busy refining his blood.
On the third day of his cultivation of the Secret Code, he surrendered to his inquisitive sister and told her the truth. Looking at her emaciated, yet determined brother, Qingyu chose to support him like she always did. She even prayed for her brother whenever she offered incense to their deceased parents.
……
Now it was already the fifteenth day of his cultivation of the Secret Code.
Qinghan had wrapped up the needles and put them into a clothing bag. During these days, he had lost some weight, as he was visibly skinnier. Every day, apart from the animal livers and the medicines, he only ate some vegetables and fruits, as he really didn’t have the appetite for any more meat.
Nevertheless, in general, Qinghan’s spirit was much higher than before. He also looked more energetic and blush, rather than his original weak and pale appearance. His eyes also seemed more stern and determined.
“Finally! This inhuman way of cultivation is over. Fifteen days! Tomorrow I’ll finally see the result!” Qinghan sat beside his window, as he murmured to himself and looked up into the moonlit sky. The fifteen-day’s inferno-like cultivation had finally come to an end. Qinghan would’ve turned insane, if this period would’ve lasted any longer.
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow was the day for the awakening ceremony, which was held annually by the Ye Family. For Qinghan, it was his third, as well as his final time to participate in this event, as he was fifteen years old now.
Fifteen-years of diligent cultivation, plus fifteen-days of crazy blood refinement. Tomorrow, he would finally know the value of all of these efforts. His mother’s will, as well as his sister’s future life… Everything depended on tomorrow’s result!