Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 371 Enslaving the Saintess
The Blood Spirit Saintess's return surprised Li Ji'an somewhat.

"Fellow Daoist Chang'an, how is your recovery going?" The Blood Spirit Saintess asked with concern as soon as she appeared.

Li Ji'an looked up weakly, then his face lit up with joy: "Fairy Blood Kite, have you been able to obtain an opportunity? My essence and blood have been greatly damaged, and I have not yet fully recovered."

"Alas, fellow Daoist, please forgive me. With those two people present, I couldn't openly get close to you, and I'm sorry you suffered such an injustice." The Blood Spirit Saintess looked ashamed.

"It's alright, it's alright. I am already extremely grateful that the fairy came back to see me." Li Ji'an hurriedly waved his hand.

"I'm glad you don't blame me, fellow Daoist," the Blood Spirit Saintess said with emotion.

She then leaned down and whispered in Li Ji'an's ear, her ample breasts almost touching his face, her fragrance filling his nostrils.

She lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "Fellow Daoist Chang'an, to be honest, I have found an opportunity, but... I cannot activate it alone, and I need your help."

Li Ji'an's eyes lit up with excitement, but then he asked with some doubt, "Why doesn't the fairy join forces with those two seniors?"

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but although our four sects claim to be allied, the Blood Spirit Sect has actually been suppressed by the other three sects. Moreover, the Holy Son of the Corpse Puppet Sect has many evil thoughts about me. I am worried that if we join forces with him, we will end up with nothing but bones and dust." The Blood Spirit Saintess immediately explained.

“This…” Li Ji’an still hesitated.

"Fellow Daoist, are you worried that I might be a threat to you?" The Blood Spirit Saintess moved even closer to Li Ji'an, her voice seductive, "If that hidden place can be opened, the opportunities inside will be countless. How much could I possibly take?"

"Furthermore, if you still do not trust me, you may place a restriction on me. If you sense any inappropriate behavior from me, you may instantly activate the restriction and cause my soul to be scattered."

The Blood Spirit Saintess spoke with absolute certainty, but Li Ji'an gave a wry smile: "You jest, fairy. My magical power is mediocre, and I am a realm lower than you. How could I possibly place a restriction on you?"

The Blood Spirit Saintess suddenly realized: "That's right, I didn't think it through. Since the magic restriction won't work... Fellow Daoist, you can plant a blood curse on me. The blood curse goes straight to the source and has nothing to do with cultivation. Can you rest assured now?"

Li Ji'an looked surprised: "A blood curse? This...this is inappropriate, isn't it?"

Blood curses are unrelated to magical power; they are directly implanted into the bloodline of the other party. Once the caster activates the blood curse, no matter how advanced the other party's cultivation level is, they will find it difficult to resist.

However, generally speaking, to cast a good blood curse, the other party must cooperate by handing over a wisp of their life essence blood.

It's difficult unless your life and your path are threatened.

However, the Blood Spirit Sect's "Thousand Machine Blood Guide" secret technique obtained by Li Ji'an from the previous Blood Spirit Saintess he killed back then contains a secret method to break the blood curse.

"It's alright. As long as I can be honest with you, I'm willing. However, please don't let me down." The Blood Spirit Saintess said sincerely, her eyes revealing a pitiful look and a seductive charm.

Li Ji'an took a deep breath: "Since that's the case, then... I'll have to offend you!"

Having studied the "Thousand Machines Blood Guide" for over 150 years, and with the foundation of his refined control over blood and qi from his time in the Immortal Dynasty, he has already cultivated to the peak of the third level, which is much stronger than the Blood Spirit Saintess's Blood Guide Secret Technique, which is only at the third level.

"Fellow Daoist, please!" A hint of contempt rose in the Blood Spirit Saintess's heart as she decisively unleashed a wisp of her life essence.

Without hesitation, Li Ji'an directly collected a wisp of his essence blood, refined it in an instant, and used this wisp of blood to cast a blood curse.

From then on, Xue Yuan's life was entirely in his hands.

"Fellow Daoist, my life is now in your hands. Whether you want my life or... want to do something untoward to me, I have no choice but to accept it. So... can you rest assured?" The Blood Spirit Saintess asked seductively, sensing that the blood curse was complete.

Li Ji'an smiled faintly: "Of course I feel at ease."

His tone and attitude changed drastically, and the previous anxiety and weakness were gone.

The Blood Spirit Saintess sneered inwardly, but she didn't care. After all, this was just normal human nature.

"Would you be willing to come with me, fellow Daoist?"

Li Ji'an nodded, his voice cold: "Carry me over there."

"..." The Blood Spirit Saintess was slightly taken aback.

She then put on a smiling face again: "Fellow Daoist's injuries have not yet recovered, so it is only right that I carry you across."

Immediately afterwards, the Blood Spirit Saintess slowly squatted down, carried Li Ji'an on her back, and headed deeper into the Burial Dragon Cave.

Along the way, the Blood Spirit Saintess followed the blood-guided marks she had left behind. After a day, she passed through dozens of maze-like passageways and finally arrived at a secluded place.

This place is located in a small cave. To the naked eye, there is nothing unusual about it. There are many signs of disturbance in the center of the ground, but the signs are very old and covered by the traces of time.

A sweep of divine sense revealed nothing unusual.

However, the Blood Spirit Saintess stopped in front of a stone wall that seemed to blend seamlessly with its surroundings.

The stone wall is made of the same material as the surrounding area, and the traces are perfectly aligned, with no obvious grooves, holes, or mechanisms on it.

Just as Li Ji'an was wondering, the Blood Spirit Saintess put him down and said, "Master, this is the place."

Throughout the journey, in order to further lull Li Ji'an into a false sense of security, the Blood Spirit Saintess continued to address him as "master," and she did so again at this moment.

Li Ji'an raised an eyebrow slightly: "Don't keep me in suspense."

"Master is right." The Blood Spirit Saintess smiled playfully and hurriedly stepped forward to inject a trace of her essence blood.

Click~
Instantly, a crisp cracking sound came from the stone wall.

However, there was no further response soon after.

“Master, the fragment of the Nine Dragons Pendant and the notes that my sect obtained by chance thousands of years ago record that after the Primordial Immortal Lord slew the True Dragon, the True Dragon's true spirit and blood essence remained, and its dragon soul did not perish. That drop of True Dragon's blood essence should be sealed within this. If we obtain the True Dragon's blood essence, we may be able to undergo a true spirit cleansing and bloodline transformation... Master, please rest assured, the blood of the True Dragon is unparalleled in the world. Even after hundreds of years of baptism, we cannot withstand the power of a single drop. Perhaps, I only need one or two tenths to completely transform, and the rest will all be given to you, Master.” The Blood Spirit Saintess explained.

"True dragon essence blood!" Li Ji'an's brows trembled involuntarily.

As the head of all innate spirits, the True Dragon's essence blood is incredibly precious, and its effects are beyond comprehension.

In ancient times, humans imitated the body-refining methods of the demon race, many of which required the blood essence of demon beasts. Among them, the blood essence of the true dragon was the ultimate divine object. However, no one in history has ever obtained it. The best person obtained was the blood essence of the Qilin, which was on par with the true dragon, thus becoming the progenitor of body cultivation - the Qilin body cultivator!
However, this kind of body-refining method has long been abandoned because the conflict between humans and demons has subsided. Human powerful figures have stopped using the body-refining method to prevent humans from depriving demons of their essence and blood for many years in order to avoid a war between the two races.

Besides being effective for humans, the true dragon's essence blood is even more beneficial to the demon race, transforming their bloodline and awakening their ancestral instincts. In particular, for some demon beasts with thin bloodlines, a trace of true dragon essence blood can allow them to repeat the glory of their ancestors.

Seeing the shock in Li Ji'an's eyes, the Blood Spirit Saintess's smile deepened.

"How do I open it?" Li Ji'an asked immediately.

The Blood Spirit Saintess composed herself and said, "To activate this Dragon-Subduing Stone, one must infuse it with essence blood. However... the ancient dragon here is a male dragon, and only infusing it with male essence blood will be effective. I have tried several times but have been unable to make any further progress, which is why I have returned to find my master."

Li Ji'an raised an eyebrow slightly, staring intently at the Blood Spirit Saintess, genuinely admiring her ability to lie through her teeth.

Just now, it injected its essence blood into the Dragon Subduing Stone, and there was clearly a slight reaction, so it stopped injecting itself. Now it actually made up a distinction between male and female.

"Do you think my essence and blood are free?" Li Ji'an sneered inwardly, realizing the Blood Spirit Saintess's scheme.

"Alright, I'll give it a try!" Faced with the temptation of the true dragon's essence blood, he didn't hesitate any longer and immediately walked to the stone wall. At the same time, Ning Sujin's ghostly figure was already lying in wait to the side, while the invisible puppet also quietly came behind the Blood Spirit Saintess.

"Buzz~" Li Ji'an circulated his qi and blood slightly, and his qi and blood flowed towards the Dragon Subduing Stone.

"Crack~" As the blood and qi were poured into the Dragon Subduing Stone, a cracking sound came from within it once again.

"My lord, just a little more and it should be able to be activated." The Blood Spirit Saintess was excited and kept urging.

Li Ji'an ignored her and continued to slowly pour the water in, carefully studying the internal structure of the Dragon-Subduing Stone.

At this moment, he was displaying the Qi and Blood of a first-level body cultivator. The amount of Qi and Blood consumed was less than one or two hundredths of his original Qi and Blood, and had no effect on his physique at all.

As time passed, Li Ji'an gradually gained a clear understanding.

To activate this Dragon-Subduing Stone, the amount of Qi and Blood required is at least equivalent to the entire Qi and Blood of a late-stage first-tier body cultivator.

If one is truly a late-stage first-order body cultivator, then opening this door would require infusing all one's qi and blood into it.

Similarly, if the Blood Spirit Saintess wanted to open it alone, given her blood and qi condition, plus the enhancement of the Blood Fiend Technique, she would need to achieve nearly 90% success.

While this won't kill her, it will definitely leave her extremely weak and affect the foundation of her future path in the Blood Fiend Sect.

"Hmm?" Just as Li Ji'an was getting a sense of the stone wall, he suddenly paused, sensing the aura of the Thousand Machine Blood Guide entering the stone wall.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Blood Spirit Saintess beside him.

"Hahaha, Master? Are you satisfied with being the master of my Blood Kite?" The Blood Spirit Saintess smiled wickedly, no longer concealing the contempt in her eyes.

Li Ji'an immediately sensed that the Thousand Machine Blood Guide inside the stone wall had covered his blood and qi, and was continuously drawing blood and qi from his body and pouring it into the stone wall.

"So that's how it is!" He suddenly understood.

The Blood Spirit Saintess did not expect to be willing to contribute her life force simply because of the title "Master".

Instead, one only needs to deceive oneself into injecting blood and qi into the stone wall, and then use the Thousand Machine Blood Guide to control one's blood and qi, continuously injecting it into the stone wall.

"Insolence!" Li Ji'an's face darkened.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Chang'an, you still dare to treat me like this even now?" The Blood Spirit Saintess no longer concealed her true feelings, a cold smile on her face, as she swayed her serpentine waist and came to stand in front of Li Ji'an.

She gently breathed on his face, then slightly opened her mouth and licked her scarlet tongue, before licking from Li Ji'an's neck down to his ear: "A man with vigorous blood and energy is truly tempting. Don't worry, once you activate the Dragon-Subduing Stone, even if you only have a tiny bit of blood and energy left, this Holy Maiden won't waste it, hehe~"

Li Ji'an shook his head in disgust, but his body was unable to move due to the traction and control of the Thousand Machine Blood Guidance.

"What? Master Chang'an still wants to resist?" Seeing Li Ji'an's attitude, the Blood Spirit Saintess chuckled again.

Li Ji'an ignored her and merged his soul with Guagua once more, gaining insight into the movements of Lin Xiuzhu and the Yin Ghost Saint.

"Could it be that Fellow Daoist Chang'an is still thinking about the Blood Curse?" Seeing that Li Ji'an did not answer, the Blood Spirit Saintess asked with a smile.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Chang'an, you should be more careful in your next life. This Holy Maiden's Blood Guiding Secret Technique is most skilled in this area and can instantly dissolve blood curses."

At this moment, Li Ji'an confirmed that Lin Xiuzhu and the Yin Ghost Saint were still locked in a stalemate, and his divine sense returned.

They happened to overhear the Blood Spirit Saintess's smug words.

"Oh? Then give it a try," he said casually.

The Blood Spirit Saintess's lips curved into a smile, and with a flirtatious glance, she began to activate the Thousand Machine Blood Guide to dissolve the Blood Curse.

"Hmm?" However, the next moment, her expression changed slightly.

This wasn't the first time she had used the Thousand Machine Blood Eliminator to dispel the Blood Curse; in fact, she had long since mastered it.

However, at this moment, no matter how hard she tried to break the blood curse with her Blood Drawing Secret Technique, she could not budge it in the slightest.

She even discovered at this moment that there was another Thousand Machine Blood Guidance aura within the Blood Curse, and that aura was several times stronger than her Blood Guidance Secret Technique aura.

"What's going on?" After several attempts, her expression suddenly changed.

“You…” He then looked at Li Ji’an with an incredulous expression.

Li Ji'an chuckled and shook his head, simultaneously cutting off the flow of blood and energy into the Dragon-Subduing Stone. He slowly turned around and asked, "How am I?"

"How could you break free from my Blood Guidance?" The Blood Spirit Saintess was even more astonished upon seeing this.

Li Ji'an remained silent, but the Thousand Machine Blood was activated, and the countless strands of blood and qi around his body danced like a hurricane.

"How is this possible? This... Thousand Machine Blood Spell! And so many strands! How could you know my Holy Sect's most treasured secret technique?" The Blood Spirit Saintess was completely dumbfounded.

The Thousand Machine Blood Guide can transform several streams of Qi and Blood at the first level, up to ten at the second level, and up to a hundred at the third level. To transform tens of millions of streams of Qi and Blood like Li Ji'an, one needs to be close to the fourth level.

The Blood Spirit Saintess is exceptionally talented, possessing terrifying talent in the Blood Path lineage. Her blood energy is also much stronger than that of ordinary Blood Fiend cultivators. At such a young age, she has already cultivated the Thousand Machine Blood Guide to the third level.

With this talent, she was able to rise from humble beginnings to become the Holy Maiden of the Blood Spirit Sect.

The Thousand Machine Blood Guiding Secret Technique that Li Ji'an was displaying at this moment, which was close to the fourth level, was something she simply couldn't believe.

What shocked her even more was that the blood and qi power surging from Li Ji'an at this moment surpassed that of a third-level body cultivator.

A third-tier body cultivator is a top-tier figure across the three regions.

Even as a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, she risked death in a one-on-one fight against him. Unless something unexpected happened, she would never engage in combat with a third-tier body cultivator.

The cultivator in front of her, whom she had always thought was a Core Formation stage cultivator from the Biyun Sect, was actually a dual cultivator of both Dharma and Body, and his Body cultivation had reached the third level!
"Kneel down!" Amidst the tremors in her mind, Li Ji'an's low shout brought the Blood Spirit Saintess back to her senses.

At the same time, the power of the blood curse made her feel a sense of unease, daring not to resist in any way, and she could only obey.

"Thump~" The Blood Spirit Saintess, who had always been high and mighty in the Three Realms, knelt down on the ground without any resistance.

Before she could recover from this humiliation, a familiar Thousand Machine Blood Guidance power suddenly and forcefully descended upon her, ruthlessly drawing her blood and qi toward the Dragon Subduing Stone.

"No!" She struggled frantically against the pulling force, only to find that she had no power to resist at all.

As her vital energy rapidly drained away, she finally gave up hope.

"Master, please have mercy! I don't want to die. I'll obey your every command from now on..."

(End of this chapter)