Xuanxin Sect.
Hall of Judgment. Kuai Shu Ge.
"Chu Lingwei, the eldest daughter of the Xuanxin Sect, has severely injured fellow disciples, seduced outsiders, and trespassed into forbidden areas. Her crimes are unforgivable! In the name of the Xuanxin Sect's sect leader, I hereby expel her from the sect."
A decisive judgment, imbued with the might of a powerful being, resounded throughout the Xuanxin Sect.
"Heh..."
"This is our once aloof Sect's eldest daughter, Chu Lingwei. Why does she look like a dog on its last legs?"
A sharp pain coursed through Chu Lingwei's body, accompanied by a searing torment from countless bites all over her skin. Chu Lingwei instantly regained consciousness.
She raised her eyes and saw her cousin, clad in white, standing before her like an immortal, a strangely terrifying smile gracing her lips.
"You're finally awake?"
Chu Xiyin's eyes flickered with intense disdain as she gazed at the confusion in Chu Lingwei's eyes. She had always detested Chu Lingwei looking at her that way.
"Cousin?" Chu Lingwei murmured, looking around and a sarcastic smile touched her lips.
She immediately recognized the location as the sect's secret prison. The Bone Water Pool within these chambers could render even a cultivator of the Three Heavens realm powerless, inflicting the agony of being gnawed upon.
Chu Lingwei stared intently at her cousin. It turned out they had framed her, expelling her from the sect in name while imprisoning her here.
What malicious intentions they harbored.
"Why would you do this?"
"Of course, to take your life!"
Chu Xiyin's face contorted with jealousy. Despite being the senior disciple of the Xuanxin Sect, she was always overshadowed by the supposed trash, Chu Lingwei, simply because she was the sect leader's daughter.
Today, she would reclaim all the humiliation of the past.
"Slap!"
Chu Xiyin waved her hand, and countless streaks of dark green spiritual energy shot towards Chu Lingwei from all directions.
"Absurd!"
A sharp, enraged female voice echoed, and a glazed umbrella appeared before Chu Lingwei, pulling her out of the bone water's reach.
"Mother!" Chu Xiyin exclaimed, startled, and grabbed Su Xianrou's sleeve.
Su Xianrou sighed softly, "Do not let the trivial obscure the significant. Chu Lingwei possesses the Sacred Blood. If you can transfer the Sacred Blood within her to yourself, you will awaken the Innate Sacred Body, and then you will be a true prodigy."
Gazing at the dying Chu Lingwei on the ground, Su Xianrou's expression hardened. She commanded the man in red behind her, "Chi Yan, drag Chu Lingwei into the formation."
Chi Yan was Su Xianrou's contracted demonic beast, a fifth-level Scarlet Flame Wolf. However, Scarlet Flame Wolves could ingest a Transformation Pill, allowing them to assume human form for two hours daily.
"Mother, is what you say true?" Chu Xiyin stared at Chu Lingwei, who lay in the formation, her eyes filled with suspicion. If Chu Lingwei truly contained Sacred Blood, how could she be so utterly useless?
"Yin'er, lie down beside Chu Lingwei."
Su Xianrou did not answer her daughter. The Sky Shuttle in her hand enveloped Chu Lingwei's entire body, and a stream of blood flew from her brow, flowing towards Chu Xiyin's forehead.
Chu Xiyin lay down beside Chu Lingwei. A cool sensation flowed from her forehead into her body, making her feel warm and at ease. Simultaneously, it caused the lightning spiritual veins within her to meld more closely with her body.
Chu Lingwei stared fixedly at Chu Xiyin beside her, this woman drinking her blood. Her body trembled, her eyes gradually becoming hazy, yet filled with hatred.
She harbored immense hatred!
Soon, Chu Xiyin finished absorbing Chu Lingwei's blood. Although her cultivation had not advanced, her absorption of spiritual energy had increased more than a hundredfold, making the Spiritual Wheel realm within reach.
Amidst her joy, she turned her head and saw Chu Lingwei, her eyes bleeding, staring at her with intense malice.
Chu Lingwei was slapped away by Chu Xiyin, crashing against the barrier-laden wall and falling heavily to the ground, her body a mass of raw flesh.
"Chi Yan, she's yours."
Now that Chu Xiyin had obtained what she desired, her greatest wish was to make Chu Lingwei disappear completely.
"Yes!"
Chi Yan's face lit up with joy. Chu Lingwei contained Sacred Blood; consuming her flesh would undoubtedly enhance his strength.
"Wait a moment."
Su Xianrou's eyes gleamed with killing intent. She channeled her spiritual power and delivered a palm strike to the top of Chu Lingwei's head, extinguishing her last trace of vital energy.
She had kept her alive for so many years precisely to transfer her physique to her daughter. Now that the task was complete, Chu Lingwei could not be allowed even a moment of respite.
There could only be one Innate Sacred Body.
...
In a valley outside the Xuan Tian Sect.
Chi Yan had reverted to his half-wolf, half-human form as a Scarlet Flame Wolf demon.
"Devour you, and my strength will surely advance to the Heaven Transformation realm."
Gazing at the motionless maiden before him, Chi Yan's eyes glowed green. He opened his massive maw, let out a wolf's howl, and lunged at the girl.
At that very instant, the girl on the ground suddenly opened her eyes, a golden light flashed, shaking Chi Yan's entire body and sending him crashing to the ground like a tattered rag.
How could this be?
Half of the red fur on Chi Yan's wolf head was scorched away, and his two arms were devoid of flesh, revealing bare white bone. His body lay bleeding on the ground, unable to move.
Chu Lingwei felt a warmth envelop her entire being. The gentle aura seemed to be constantly nourishing her body, gradually filling her desiccated form due to blood loss.
She could visibly feel her body growing stronger.
Where am I?
Chu Lingwei's heart pounded with alarm. Hadn't she already died? How could she be here?
She looked around and saw a bloodied creature with a human body and wolf's head staring at her intently. Its eyes radiated ferocity and killing intent, instantly putting Chu Lingwei on guard.
At this moment, her brow throbbed, and a torrent of memories, not her own yet somehow familiar, flashed through her mind like a film.
This recollection was both strange and familiar. She knew clearly that these were not her experiences, yet it felt as if she had lived them herself.
In this memory, the world was a bizarre realm of spirit cultivation, where strength reigned supreme.
The cultivation realms, from low to high, were: Sensing Realm, Spiritual Movement Realm, Spiritual Wheel Realm, Divine Soul Realm, Three Heavens Realm, and Supreme Realm.
The maiden was the daughter of Chu Ze, the sect leader of Xuanxin Sect. She should have been a favored daughter of heaven, but instead, she was a cripple, devoid of spiritual veins and unable to cultivate.
When she was four years old, her parents went out and never returned.
The Xuanxin Sect was temporarily handed over to Chu Ze's younger brother, Chu Chang, to act as sect leader.
During the ten years of her father's absence, her uncle, Chu Chang, and her aunt, Su Xianrou, doted on her, raising her to be spoiled, willful, and arrogant.
However, a few days ago, she was accused of a series of grave offenses by her uncle, expelled from the sect, imprisoned in the Bone Water Pool by her aunt and cousin for days, tortured until the Sacred Blood within her was transferred to her cousin, Chu Xiyin.