Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 325 The Bet and the Stake
All ten spirit pets entered the blood pool, and the shopkeeper began adding the final catalytic agent.

However, everyone's attention was focused on Guagua at that moment.

Currently, the ten spirit beasts in the blood pool, except for Guagua, are all of superior quality in this world, with naturally superior bloodlines at the very least.

Only the frog was a low-grade spirit beast.

However, no one showed any contempt.

After all, this inferior toad is now at the peak of the second tier.

This further proves the extraordinary nature of this toad and its owner.

"Is it a mutated bloodline?"

"Or does this Fellow Daoist Liu possess some special cultivation secrets?"

However, witnessing firsthand that the Vermilion Toad was able to withstand the bloodline suppression and occupy the central position among all the superior spirit beasts also proved that the little Vermilion Toad had a truly good temperament.

"Hmph! Your spirit pet is just like you, truly ignorant of its own limitations." Bai Cailing's heart stirred, but she deliberately said something provocative.

Li Ji'an, who coveted the other party's secret of condensing the demon core, seized the opportunity to speak: "What? Do you think that just because you are of humble origin, you can only be lowly forever?"

"Could it be that you intend to break through the limitations of your bloodline?"

"Why not?"

"Heh~ Since you're so confident, how about a bet?" Bai Cailing couldn't hold back any longer and spoke first.

How to gamble?

"Let's bet on who can withstand the baptism of blood in the pool longer, your vermilion toad or my spirit crane!" Bai Cailing said casually.

Li Ji'an narrowed his eyes slightly, but inwardly he chuckled, having already anticipated such a bet.

However, he did have confidence in Guagua.

The essence of the Blood Pool Refinement lies in its ability to withstand the blood savagery of a third-tier wild demon. This is also a kind of bloodline suppression, a throbbing originating from the bloodline of a spirit beast.

The third-tier demonic blood essence enters the spirit beast's body through the blood pool, constantly striking the spirit beast's bloodline. The further it goes, the more demonic blood essence is absorbed by the spirit beast, the stronger the pressure on the spirit beast's bloodline becomes, and of course, the better the effect on refining the bloodline.

Although Guagua was born with a low bloodline, Li Ji'an had long discovered that it possessed a more human-like will compared to other spirit beasts after three lifetimes of companionship.

In its first life, Guagua was bought as a laborer to manage the medicinal herb field. After its temporary owner was killed by Li Ji'an, he took Guagua in and refused Yan Hong's offer to buy it at a high price, thus saving its life.

Based on their species and bloodline, most of them were simply used as tools, discarded after use, and no effort or spiritual resources were spent on cultivating them. The fate of most Vermilion Toads was to stop at the early stage of the first rank.

However, Li Ji'an, despite his limited resources, provided Guagua with some beast cores, and Guagua lived up to his expectations, actually breaking through to the mid-stage of the first rank.

In its second life, after Liu Jiuchan sold a problematic blood pill to Li Ji'an, Guagua, with the help of Xiao Qiao and Xiao Huoling, and relying on its own tenacious will, finally broke through the confinement and rose to the ranks of second-tier spirit beasts.

In the subsequent transformation of the bloodline by the Sacred Beast Pill, Li Ji'an could also feel its resilience that surpassed that of beasts.

Just now, with its innate bloodline, any other creature in the blood pool could have crushed it, but it managed to accomplish an impossible feat despite the tremors caused by the suppression of its bloodline.

"A bet!" Li Ji'an pretended to ponder for a moment before speaking with a slight lack of confidence.

Bai Cailing's eyes lit up: "I'll bet on your secret technique for raising spirit pets!"

"Hmm?" Li Ji'an was slightly taken aback and looked at him with considerable surprise.

They actually attributed Guagua's extraordinary qualities to my breeding methods?

"And what if you lose?"

"Whatever you want, I'll give you whatever you want!" Bai Cailing was quite confident, and worried that Li Ji'an might back down, so she immediately spread her arms and spun gracefully, showing off her wild and untamed figure.

"..." The flowing feather robe that exuded a primal and wild aura was already quite revealing, and this turn revealed even more of her cleavage, causing the others to pause slightly in surprise.

“Okay! I’ll take the bet.” Li Ji’an agreed immediately.

"Whoosh!" Bai Cailing was overjoyed and couldn't wait to take out a spirit contract, imprint the agreement she had just made on it, and then threw it to Li Ji'an so that he could infuse it with magic power to complete the contract.

"Please wait a moment, Fairy Bai. I would also like to join the betting, is that alright?" The owner of the Thunderwing Lion suddenly spoke up.

"I'll join in too!"

"I'd also like to join."

……

Bai Cailing glanced at the lust in the eyes of the eight men, quite satisfied, but then her gaze sharpened: "What kind of equivalent wager can you offer?"

"This..." The eight people paused, realizing what Bai Cailing meant by equivalence.

In the end, they all shook their heads, truly believing that nothing could be equivalent to the price of the White Fairy's immortal body.

"Hmph! Don't get in my way." Bai Cailing snorted coldly and ignored everyone.

"Everyone, the Blood Fiend Refinement has officially begun!" Just then, the merchant poured the last catalytic agent into the blood pool.

A crimson mist instantly filled the space above the blood pool, enveloping the pool and the ten spirit beasts within it. A violent aura erupted, not only obscuring vision but also shielding the divine sense of those at the early True Core stage.

"Roar~" In an instant, the roar of a spirit beast came from the blood mist.

This demonstrates the immense pressure they are facing.

Two of the cultivators, who were participating in the Blood Refinement for the first time with their spirit pets, looked worried and tried to investigate, but their divine senses were blocked by the blood mist.

However, seeing the calm expressions of the others, he was able to suppress his inner unease.

Soon, all ten masters returned to their previous meditation spots and waited patiently.

While the others couldn't see what was happening inside the blood pool, Li Ji'an's peak mid-stage Core Formation divine sense remained unaffected, easily penetrating the blood mist and seeing the changes taking place within the blood pool.

Almost the instant the blood mist blurred, the crimson blood in the blood pool seemed to come alive, surging wildly into the nearest spirit beasts.

The blood in the center of the blood pool is the most concentrated, and the impact of the blood evil on Guagua and Linghe is the most severe.

As the blood-red aura washed over it, Guagua's big eyes instantly turned red, and its whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if it would be unable to withstand the blood pool at any moment.

However, he has been persevering.

A moment later, not only were Guagua's eyes completely stained with blood, but his entire body skin gradually turned crimson.

"Huh~" At the same time, Li Ji'an noticed that after the frog's skin turned crimson, its rejection of the blood demon was obviously much weaker.

"It turned out to be a lucky accident!" After carefully sensing for a moment, Li Ji'an smiled heartily.

The strange skin mutation of the frog is a mutated supernatural ability that it awakened during its advancement. It can adapt to the environment extremely quickly, not only through changes in color and visual appearance, but also through assimilation.

The skin will truly become the color, shape, and texture of the target.

At this moment, Guagua's skin assimilated into the blood essence of a third-tier demon beast, confusing the blood essence energy that entered his body, as if there was no rejection reaction.

If this continues, the amount of blood evil absorbed by Guagua will definitely be more than that of other spirit beasts that are repelled, and it will be able to withstand it better.

"Screech!" The seven-colored crane, which was closest to Guagua, was originally the most relaxed. It had already undergone three blood pool trials, and this was the fourth time. It was already quite used to it.

The bloodthirsty impact it suffered this time was less than 20% of that experienced by other spirit beasts in the blood pool.

It was originally proud of this and was prepared to look down on the other nine spirit beasts.

Especially that arrogant toad that dared to compete with it for the central core position of the blood pool.

However, after surviving the initial impact of the blood demon, it unexpectedly discovered that the vermilion toad beside it had undergone a complete transformation and did not show any signs of being unable to withstand the attack.

This surprised it greatly.

"Croak~" Hearing the sound, the croak suddenly opened its eyes, glanced at it, and shouted back without fear.

"..." Linghe tilted his head, even more shocked.

At this moment, the other eight spirit beasts were all doing their best to resist the repulsion of the blood demon, but this vermilion toad was able to deal with it just as easily.

……

The day passed quickly.

The pervasive blood mist also thinned somewhat.

At this moment, the other eight people opened their eyes with slight worry.

Some of the spirit beasts were undergoing this cleansing before, and they knew that this was a critical point. Some spirit beasts, whose wills were not strong, would emerge during this gap after a day of cleansing.

At this point, the bloodline refinement was only 20%, which was somewhat below expectations.

Therefore, none of the eight of them wanted to see their spirit pets leave the blood pool at this moment.

By noon, the blood pool remained still, and the eight people finally felt relieved, knowing they could at least hold on for another day.

If you persist for two days, your bloodline will be refined to 40%, which is almost in line with expectations.

After all, the spirit beasts that entered the blood pool this time were all extraordinary, and they all passed the first day smoothly. At dawn on the second day, all eight of them got up and came to the edge of the blood pool.

Until the Chen hour arrives.

Wow~
A continuous sound of water flowing out rang out.

The first to emerge was a Flame Tiger, its entire body covered in what appeared to be a blood-soaked garment, and the beast was utterly listless, clearly having suffered immense mental torment.

“August!” Its owner rushed forward and carefully examined its condition.

"Good, good, the bloodline has been refined by 40%, and the demonic energy is even purer. Thank you!" After the inspection, the master was overjoyed and satisfied with the result.

Bai Cailing also subconsciously looked at Li Ji'an at this moment.

She had originally intended to make a sound to provoke him, but she found that Li Ji'an was even more composed than her, showing no sign of unease.

"So confident?"

Among the spirit beasts that appeared later, Zhuha was not seen, which stirred something within her.

"For a low-grade spirit beast to possess such a temperament, its beast-taming skills are extraordinary!"

By the time limit was about to expire, seven spirit beasts had appeared in succession.

"Brother Xu, the Thunderwing Lion is indeed extraordinary. It withstood the blood pool cleansing for three days on its first attempt. It will surely become a great force in the future!"

Currently, only three spirit beasts are not in the blood pool, meaning that these three spirit pets can withstand three days of purification.

However, everyone knew that Bai Cailing's spirit crane had already been refined three times, so it was not surprising that it could withstand three days of refinement this time.

As for Li Ji'an, this unfamiliar cultivator who kept his distance, they were unwilling to offer their warm welcome. Moreover, someone who was valued so highly by Bai Cailing was no ordinary person, so they were all self-aware enough not to try and strike up a conversation.

Only the cultivator surnamed Xu was familiar with them, and they all knew that this was the first time the Thunderwing Lion of the cultivator surnamed Xu had undergone blood refinement.

Being able to withstand three days of blood refinement on the first attempt is top-tier even in Blood Pool Workshop.

I still remember the last one who lasted three days in the first bloodline cleansing at Blood Pool Workshop was a Ground-Splitting Bear.

"Brother Xu, congratulations!"

"Brother Xu, your Thunderwing Lion possesses the potential to become a third-tier great demon!"

……

"Fellow Daoists, you flatter me. My spirit pet was fortunate, very fortunate." As the cultivator surnamed Xu spoke, his divine sense remained on Bai Cailing.

Bai Cailing did indeed glance at him, and her expression was no longer as cold as before.

After all, when Bai Cailing's Seven-Colored Crane was first refined, it was only at a normal level and lasted for two days.

However, when the cultivator surnamed Xu scanned Li Ji'an with his divine sense, he was secretly surprised.

How could his mere Toad survive for three days like his Thunderwing Lion?

This slightly diminished his sense of accomplishment.

However, it wasn't until the third day.

After the Thunderwing Lion roared and flew into the blood pool, nothing else changed in the pool.

"That toad actually managed to withstand four days of purification? Is it really its first time undergoing purification?" The cultivator surnamed Xu was greatly shocked.

The eight people who were supposed to leave after their pets entered the blood pool were not among those who left.

Everyone wanted to see how long that ordinary-looking toad could last.
Of course, they also wanted to see the outcome of the bet between the White Fairy and him.

They originally thought Li Ji'an was bound to lose.

But now, they've hesitated.

Some people couldn't help but imagine the scene of Fairy Bai losing. Wouldn't the Fairy Bai, whose beauty was renowned throughout the region, really have her primordial yin stolen by this fat cultivator?
"Hmm?" By the time the third day had passed, Bai Cailing's expression had changed drastically.

She couldn't believe that the toad had survived until now.

"Could it possibly withstand four days of purification?"

Although her seven-colored crane has been refined for the fourth time, she estimates that she can only persist for four more days, and the refinement effect can be improved by another half to achieve her desired result.

For a moment, she felt uneasy.

"Could it have already succumbed to the pressure and exploded?" someone exclaimed as the unassuming toad began its fourth day of trials.

“Exactly! Fellow Daoist Liu’s Vermilion Toad is too weak in terms of bloodline and cannot withstand this for so long. Fellow Daoist Liu, you should ask the shopkeeper to check it out. If it is indeed injured, perhaps there will still be time to rescue it.”

"Never disregard the safety of your spirit pet because of the bet with Fairy White."

……

However, despite everyone's well-intentioned advice, Li Ji'an remained with his eyes closed, completely ignoring them.

Through divine perception, Guagua was gritting his teeth and staring at the spirit crane.

Its natural bloodline grade should have allowed it to last for two days at most, but its skin mutation ability allowed it to last for three days.

However, the fourth day was still quite agonizing for it.

At this moment, it is persevering entirely through sheer willpower.

Because Li Ji'an had already conveyed the bet to it through divine sense, and even told it that if it won, it would likely have an additional chance of condensing a demon core.

……

For others, the fourth day passed far too slowly.

It felt like the first three days didn't take as long as the fourth day.

Bai Cailing felt even more tormented.

As the nine people eagerly awaited, the fourth day finally arrived at Chenshi (7-9 AM).

We have now reached the fourth day.

The blood-fiend cleansing will pause for a while. If anyone is unable to endure the fifth day of cleansing, they can leave now.

If one fails to leave by this point in time, the fifth day of purification will begin, and the blood demon will circulate within the body, making it impossible to stop on one's own.

This means that if they do not come out now, they will have to endure the fifth day of purification.

This has never happened before in the history of Blood Pool Workshop.

In fact, Guagua, which completed four days of blood pool cleansing on its first attempt, has already broken the history of advanced blood pool cleansing in the Blood Pool Workshop!
"Why hasn't there been any movement?"

"Could the White Fairy's crane possibly withstand the fifth day of purification?"

"What's going on with Fellow Daoist Liu's Vermilion Toad? It hasn't come out for four days. Could something have really happened to it?"

……

As time passed, Bai Cailing's phoenix eyes were no longer aloof, but instead she held her breath and stared intently at the blood pool.

She both hoped that a spirit pet would emerge from the blood pool at this moment, but she didn't want it to be her own spirit crane.

The fourth day is about to pass.

Suddenly, the blood mist above the blood pool surged.

"Out!"

Immediately afterwards, a red figure flew out from it.

"Hiss~ It's the White Fairy's crane!"

Like other spirit pets, the seven-colored spirit crane was covered in blood and its aura was weak. After emerging, it fell into a deep sleep to digest the results of this cleansing.

The next moment, the fourth day passed.

"This... Fellow Daoist Liu's Vermilion Toad hasn't emerged yet?"

"Fellow Daoist Liu, are you really not worried?"

"Zhang absolutely does not believe that the toad could withstand five days of blood pool purification; something must have happened!"

……

At this moment, Bai Cailing stared at the sleeping seven-colored crane, completely frozen in place.

"I lost?"

(End of this chapter)