Stronger with Crimson Modifier-Chapter 120: Omen [1]

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, several more days went by.

Thanks to Zhu Xi’s deployments and the patrols conducted by its members, the once-frequent murders had become much rarer.

As an officially recognized enforcement agency of the Xia Federation, Zhu Xi could mobilize all official forces in any given location.

Once it got going, the power it could wield was astounding.

Even though its members lacked Hu Qi’s ability to directly perceive the location of the Black Blood Species,

under such intense scrutiny, and with the high frequency of murders, it wasn’t difficult to uncover some Blood Slaves.

Those who managed to survive this city-wide manhunt were generally powerful Blood Slaves or even Lower-Rank Black Blood Species.

Of course, during this process,

the number of casualties among Zhu Xi members also inevitably increased.

The relationship between hunter and prey could indeed be reversed at any moment.

The hunter was not always at an advantage, nor was the prey always on the defensive.

...

Evening fell. Outside the window, the wind was bone-chillingly cold.

Inside a vast office at Zhu Xi,

Helinta was sitting at her desk, seemingly reviewing files on her computer.

Suddenly, she sensed something.

She looked up toward a corner of the room.

There, in a spot that had been empty just a moment ago,

a mass of writhing, twisting black mist had suddenly appeared. The mist roiled and squirmed.

Within it, a vague, slender figure was hidden.

"What do you want with me?"

Seeing this, Helinta didn’t appear overly surprised.

Her expression was indifferent; she only frowned slightly.

"Heh heh, I’ve come to help you, of course," the figure chuckled. Its voice was like fingernails scraping across metal—harsh and grating.

"Help me?" Helinta’s gaze darkened.

"That’s right. We can help you advance further, even to become a Qi Dao Grandmaster."

The dark figure chuckled, and with a wave of its arm, a ball of black mist flew out.

As it reached Helinta, the black mist disintegrated.

A red fruit, the size of a baby’s fist, fell out.

Helinta reached out and caught it, her eyes fixed on it.

She saw that the fruit’s surface was smooth and dazzling. Faint golden threads, like veins, ran through it, emitting a light, intoxicating fragrance.

As a Martial Arts Family who had opened an Essence Element Divine Treasure, Helinta could clearly feel the surging Life Force within it.

"Is this a Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruit?"

Helinta stared at the object as if she had just remembered something.

A flash of astonishment crossed her face.

"Indeed!"

The dark figure chuckled.

"This is a show of sincerity for our grand feast. Regarding the matter we discussed last time, once it’s done, we will deliver two more Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruits to you."

Hearing this, Helinta stared at the Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruit in her hand and fell silent, the light in her eyes growing ever darker.

The Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruit was a powerful Treasure Medicine from the Inner Earth World.

This kind of thing was of little use to the Black Blood Species.

But for a Martial Arts Family who cultivated Qi and Blood, it was an incredibly rare, top-tier Treasure Medicine. It could increase a Martial Arts Family’s Qi Blood True Strength and even raise the probability of breaking through to become a Qi Dao Grandmaster.

A single Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruit could increase the chances by thirty percent. With three, the probability of breaking through to Qi Dao Grandmaster was as high as ninety percent.

With odds like that, failure was practically impossible.

After a long moment,

Helinta spoke coolly.

A smile had also appeared on her face.

"A pleasure doing business with you!"

At her words, the dark figure chuckled. "You are indeed a person who understands the times. I’ll take my leave then. A pleasure doing business with you."

With that said,

it turned and left.

Helinta watched the spot where the dark figure disappeared without trying to stop it.

Her eyes were dark and gloomy, like a flickering candle flame.

A moment later,

the smile vanished from her face, replaced by her usual indifference.

’What a pity...’

Although three Vermilion Fruits could help a Secret Martial Artist at the peak of the Martial Arts Family level break through to Qi Dao Grandmaster, Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruits were inherently rare.

’Instead of pinning my hopes on what these guys promise, I might as well just take this Vermilion Fruit now.’

’After I increase my strength, I can try to break through the bottleneck to Qi Dao Grandmaster on my own.’

...

After leaving Zhu Xi Mansion, the dark figure traveled all the way to a warehouse dozens of kilometers away.

Several figures were already waiting there, each one exuding a powerful and bizarre aura.

If a Secret Martial Artist of the Martial Arts Family level were present, they would have discovered that these were all Lower-Rank Black Blood Species.

Su Xing and Wolf Stream, the two who had previously arrived through the whirlpool passage at sea, were also among them.

"How did it go?"

the short-statured Su Xing asked.

He had the appearance of a bald twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy, but the expression on his face was not as naive as a normal child’s.

"Don’t worry, it’s done!" the dark figure chuckled. The black mist around it dissipated, revealing a wrinkled old man.

"I’ve known that Helinta for a long time.

Although she is the second disciple of the Shexin Sect, she has a cold personality.

She’s self-centered, puts her own interests first, and craves power above all else.

Now that the chance to break through is right in front of her, there’s no way she can resist the temptation. As long as she eats that Blood-Gold Vermilion Fruit, the situation will spiral out of her control."

The little old man chuckled, a look of complete control on his face.

"Excellent. When the great one of the feast arrives, those so-called Secret Martial Artists will be nothing but blood-food for us."

Wolf Stream, who was tall and built like a strongman, gave a dark laugh.

He stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.

A savage grin spread across his face.

"I can’t wait to taste this feast."

The others didn’t speak, but their eyes were all filled with crimson, greedy light.

...

「Several days passed.」

At night, leaden clouds hung low in the sky.

The world seemed to be veiled by a silvery-white gauze.

On the streets, the accumulated snow glimmered faintly under the dim yellow streetlights, like countless tiny scattered diamonds.

An occasional gust of cold wind would sweep up a small flurry of snowflakes, which danced lightly in the air before slowly drifting down again.

CRUNCH!

A black leather shoe crunched on the snow, making a soft sound.

A figure carrying a long saber on his back appeared on a rooftop.

It was Hu Qi.

Over the past few days, he had acquired another Exotic Beast, and combined with the eggs from the Camphor Tea Duck, he had accumulated over ten Modification Points.

This time, he directly upgraded his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map, raising it to the Fourth Layer of the Essence Element Chapter. This also meant he had successfully reached the Qi Blood Wolf Smoke Realm, taking his strength to the next level.

Aside from that, he had been wandering around outside every night, in one district today and another tomorrow.

He relied on his powerful Perception Power to search for any Black Blood Species that might be lurking about.

Anshan City was not small; it was impossible for an ordinary person to traverse it all in a short amount of time.

The reality was far more complex.

Anshan City had many buildings, tall skyscrapers, mountains, lakes, and other varied terrain. Some places couldn’t be reached directly on foot.

But relying on the mobility granted by his powerful physique as a Martial Arts Family, he had managed to cover several districts of Anshan City in just a few days.

During this time, he also ran into members of Zhu Xi, but he always avoided them in advance.

It seemed Zhu Xi had also taken notice of his existence. His speed and efficiency in hunting Blood Slaves were too high; a single person was as effective as dozens.

However, because he had disguised his appearance, although Zhu Xi had noticed, they didn’t have the extra energy to focus on him during this special period.

They simply treated him as an ordinary, unaffiliated Martial Arts Family.

This kind of situation was not unheard of.

After all, Anshan City had a population of tens of millions; the presence of a few Secret Martial Artists was nothing unusual.

As long as they weren’t causing major disruptions to public order or were Black Blood Species themselves, Zhu Xi wouldn’t interfere too much.

Besides, having someone help hunt the Black Blood Species wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the members of Zhu Xi, who were already swamped with work.

Moreover, based on on-site investigations, they had deduced he was likely an expert who had reached the Martial Arts Family level.

An expert of this caliber deserved a certain degree of respect.

Suddenly, Hu Qi sensed something and looked in a particular direction.

Within his perception, an extremely dense aura of a Black Blood Species appeared, and he could even smell the faint scent of blood on the wind.