Vampire Cultivation Notes

The evening drum and morning bell signal the closing of Taiping Market. The drums are sounded starting at 5 PM and are repeated every hour until the last bell at 9 PM, announcing the closure of the market for the day.

Just before the last drumbeat, Li Jieqing stepped into the market gate, wrapped in a white cloak stained with dark red blood.

As he stepped in, the detection array in Taipingfang City began to fluctuate slightly.

"what?"

The guards at the entrance of the market received the signal, glanced at the gate, then looked past Li Jieqing, who had just hurriedly entered, and looked outside the market.

However, finding nothing unexpected, they could only look away in bewilderment.

"Could it be that the formation has truly fallen into disrepair due to years of neglect?"

"That's probably it. Otherwise, it couldn't be some new demon that the formation hasn't recognized before, and it even disguised itself as a market vendor to enter."

"Nonsense, utter nonsense, hahaha..."

The guards at the gate laughed it off, put the question out of their minds, and continued slacking off.

Meanwhile, Li Jieqing had already arrived at his residence.

It was a shantytown located outside South Street.

He pushed open the tightly closed door, and the room looked exactly the same as when he left.

Seeing this, Li Jieqing, who was feeling cold all over, breathed a sigh of relief and began to quickly pack up his belongings.

"Putting myself in their shoes, if the Jiang couple knew I wasn't dead, they would definitely cause trouble. One is at the sixth level of Qi Refining and the other at the fifth level of Qi Refining, I am no match for them."

I just tried it in Wangyue Valley. Even if one Qi Refining Stage 1 fighter fought two Qi Refining Stage 2 fighters, they would only last a few rounds.

The only option now is to run away and stay far away from these two scoundrels.

As for finding someone to take charge and publicize the fact that Jiang Wei and his wife committed murder and robbed treasure?

Let's not joke around then, who would help make that decision?

The Yu family, where Yu Fanyi lives, might seek revenge on Jiang Wei and his wife, but before that happens, exposing herself will definitely lead to Jiang Wei eliminating her again.

There is no such thing as justice or fairness among the independent cultivators. Most people outwardly curse and swear, but secretly they only envy Jiang Wei and his wife for making such a quick and easy heist.

"Take your belongings with you first and go out to lay low for a while. As for the job at the alchemy workshop, it's better not to do it."

Li Jieqing stretched out his skinny, bony hands and quickly found and packed up all the bottles and jars in the room.

All his personal possessions, including three spirit stones and the Azure Water Sword, were gone. All that remained were these things, which he had to take with him, or he would be back to square one overnight.

'Gulp~'

As Li Jieqing picked up a sealed porcelain bottle, he suddenly swallowed uncontrollably.

At the same time, the faint smell of blood emanating from the porcelain bottle keenly entered his nostrils.

"This is the blood of a cultivator, a raw material for refining the Heart-Benefiting Pill... How can I smell it?"

Not only could he smell the blood in the almost sealed bottle, but a desire was also welling up from the bottom of his heart, making him want to drink it without hesitation.

This seems to be something terrifying.

Li Jieqing looked at his withered hands and the hideous wound on his abdomen.

Now that things have come to this, we must face one thing squarely.

The mirror in the room was brought out, and Li Jieqing's appearance was reflected in its perfectly polished surface.

Her gray hair, now without a hairpin, cascaded down her back; her scalp was dry and brittle, clinging tightly to her bones; her cheeks were sunken; and her pupils were slightly red.

With a single opening of its mouth, two sharp fangs slowly grew and extended, following the thought in its mind.

"Am I... no longer human?"

Yes.

Normally, a person's body shouldn't be able to revive on the spot after death.

Or rather, what is resurrected will basically only be a zombie.

Li Jieqing put down the bronze mirror, trying to convince himself to accept reality.

It seems I have indeed become a zombie with memories of my past life?

After a while, he raised the bronze mirror and couldn't help but use pliers to forcefully pull out the two fangs that had grown out, dark red blood gushing from his mouth.

Don't give up on being a human being!

I want to cultivate immortality!

I want to live forever!

It's perfectly normal for demons and monsters to vanish into thin air the moment they run into the formation of Taipingfang City!

and many more……

Li Jieqing, who was almost out of control, suddenly realized a blind spot.

If I've become a zombie-like monster, how did I even get into Taipingfang City?

If I was able to get in, does that mean I'm not actually a walking corpse?

Ultimately, even if those corpse refiners actively raised corpses, it wouldn't be this fast; they could be buried in the afternoon and unearthed by evening.

"Then what am I...?"

The bleeding from the extracted tooth had stopped, and in its place came an even stronger surge of hunger.

Li Jieqing put down the mirror and realized something was wrong.

The next moment, his reason was almost completely consumed by this hunger. His eyes glowed with a real red light. He pushed aside the table in front of him, walked to the side, raised his hand and precisely grabbed the porcelain bottle containing the blood of a cultivator. He opened it and gulped it down.

It was as if heaven had bestowed sweet dew, and drinking it was like drinking nectar from the heavens.

The stench of blood from the past has vanished; there is no more delicious food in the world!

One bottle, two bottles, three bottles, four bottles...

Only after drinking all the blood of the cultivators he had secretly prepared to refine the Heart-Benefiting Pill did his reason, which had been overwhelmed by desire, return.

In the blood he thirsted for, Li Jieqing finally had a glimmer of understanding.

Vampires.

A group that feeds on human blood.

They fear the sun and things of pure Yang energy, and will spend their entire lives hiding in the shadows.

This tragic race is destined to be misunderstood and rejected by humanity, and will enjoy endless loneliness in eternal life.

In the legends of the previous generation, the reason for the birth of the progenitor vampires was said to be a punishment imposed on those who blasphemed life, a curse that would condemn them to eternal loneliness...

and many more!

eternal life?!!

The porcelain bottle fell from Li Jieqing's hand, startling him. His appetite vanished, and he became fully awake.

To achieve immortality in the world of cultivation.

Have I become something extraordinary?

……

All belongings have been packed and are carried in a large cloth bag.

Li Jieqing also changed his clothes and then re-examined himself in the mirror.

It's amazing.

Perhaps due to the influence of vampire power, after eating, his entire body seemed to inflate as if it were filled with air, and his withered limbs and cheeks recovered.

Although his skin was still pale, he had completely transformed into a human form.

Moreover, he has a youthful appearance that he hasn't seen in decades, and his body has become younger from the inside out.

Immortality is indeed not an empty claim.

In addition, the wounds he had sustained from being surrounded and killed by Jiang Wei and his wife in Wangyue Valley have been completely healed, and his strength has been fully restored.

Outside, the wind was still howling and the snow was falling heavily.

But at this moment, Li Jieqing did not feel cold at all; on the contrary, he felt full of energy.

The blood of cultivators is truly a top-grade tonic; the legendary vampires from before my transmigration certainly never tasted such a delicacy…

"This regenerative ability from the vampires is quite good. It can save countless healing pills when I go out to search for treasure. More importantly, I still have true qi."

When Li Jieqing rushed back to Taipingfang, he could hardly tell whether he was dead or alive, until now.

He regained control of the body and recovered his strength at the third level of Qi Refining.

Oh, it's the peak of the third level of Qi Refining.

With his body becoming younger, his energy and spirit greatly improved, increasing his chances of breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining by at least 50%.

"—It's time to go!"

Suddenly, Li Jieqing's ears twitched, and he pushed open the door of the shantytown and walked out.

Two people were coming from opposite directions along the way, heading straight this way.

It was Jiang Wei and her husband!

"Wait a minute, friend, why do you look so unfamiliar?"

Jiang Wei, with her sharp eyes, spotted Li Jieqing leaving with his bag in the night and couldn't help but ask him what was going on.

Li Jieqing ignored him completely, reached out and pulled down the brim of his new cloak, then walked away with his head down a few steps away.

"It's not too late to meet again another day, you two."

Violence is forbidden in the market. Jiang Wei could not stop them, so he could only give up in frustration and then give his wife a meaningful look.

Without further hesitation, the two hurried forward and rushed into Li Jieqing's shanty.

All I could see was a scene of utter chaos!

"We're too late! We weren't the only ones eyeing Old Man Li!"

The woman was not satisfied and searched the house again.

"Needless to say, that kid beat him to it all; he's probably someone else who knew Old Li before."

Jiang Wei looked around, also angry, but too lazy to do anything about it, so she just sat down on a stool inside the room.

These days, which rogue cultivator doesn't carry all their belongings with them? He originally thought that Li Jieqing was the same, and that killing him would allow him to seize the wealth of this man who was about to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Who knew that they only found three spirit stones and a broken magic weapon in total.

Then he remembered that Li Jieqing was a man who had no one to rely on and always lived a solitary life, so he boldly came to break into the house and take the money.

Who knew someone would beat them to it?

He betrayed his friends, murdered his old acquaintances, and in the end, he only gained a little benefit.

We've really lost a lot of money.

Jiang Wei put a hand to her forehead, her feelings a mix of emotions.

"Um?"

Jiang Wei, looking down, then noticed some bloodstains on the edge of the stool, which appeared to have been dripped recently.

Could it be...?

"Could it be that someone secretly fought here, only for that kid to reap the benefits in the end?"

Even Jiang Wei couldn't have imagined that Li Jieqing's resurrection would come to mind.

He simply bent down slightly, wondering if he should gather up the remaining bloodstains so he could threaten the person who took advantage of the situation another day.

However, the next moment, flames and thick smoke billowed in, setting the entire shantytown ablaze.

"The Five Elements Techniques!"

"That kid set the fire when he came back!"

"Run! If the market patrol team catches us, we'll have no way to defend ourselves!"

Jiang Wei didn't have time to think about anything. He cursed and stormed out with his wife, disappearing into the shantytown without looking back.

After that, the fire raged, but the neighbors in the surrounding streets and alleys calmly came out to watch the spectacle.

Since most cultivators are not afraid of water or fire, some planned to brave the flames and plunder a third time. However, they had to give up when they heard that the market patrol team had arrived.

"...Who is the homeowner?"

The fire was extinguished in an instant, and the market patrol team began to gather information and quell the chaos.

"This land is registered under Master Baozhou's alchemy workshop, but it was allocated to a miscellaneous cultivator in his workshop ten years ago. His name is Li Jieqing. Others see that he is old but has little skill, and he has read a few books in the secular world. So they call him Uncle Li."

"Oh, that person? I've heard of him too... What a pity."

The patrol monk who was taking notes shook his head and crossed out the book.

What a pity?

If a shanty catches fire but no one comes to the rescue, it means that the people living inside have met with misfortune.

It's perfectly normal for a low-level cultivator to get this result. That Uncle Li had low skills, yet he survived in the market for nearly twenty years before dying, which is already quite remarkable.

"Alright, alright. Why don't you use your free time for meditation and spiritual practice instead of watching this spectacle?"

After marking the spot with an X, the patrol team dispersed the gathered crowd and instructed the neighbors on both sides that if the man was dead, that was fine, but if Uncle Li, who lived in the house, was still alive, they should remember to pay the fine.

Among the onlookers.

Li Jieqing, his body wrapped in a cloak, stared silently at the shantytown that had been burned to ashes. Finally, he disappeared into the night as the crowd dispersed.

It was just a place I lived for ten years; once it's gone, it's gone.

The rise and fall of the cultivation world can happen in the blink of an eye, but one's own cultivation level is eternal.

"As the saying goes, cultivators possess three treasures: essence, qi, and spirit. I have already reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining, and now that my youth has been fully restored, I will surely break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining tonight!"

Li Jieqing has no plans to leave Taipingfang City now.

There are several reasons.

First, breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining is imminent, and the opportunity is rare; we cannot wait any longer.

Secondly, the Li Jieqing in the public eye has disappeared. He has reverted to his appearance of being in his teens or twenties, so no one here can recognize him. He is a newcomer to the market with almost no need to disguise himself. In reality, he is already a seasoned veteran in Taipingfang. This is better than starting over in other gathering places of independent cultivators.

Thirdly, it was revenge.

This is only natural!