Stronger with Crimson Modifier

Chapter 183 - 181: Blood Feast

Time flowed by quietly, and soon, it was the middle of the night.

Looking up, the sky wasn’t pitch-black but tinged with a faint shade of blue.

In the courtyard, the light from the surrounding Fire Stones shone through lampshades, like a series of bright lamps, illuminating the area brilliantly.

Hu Qi sat quietly on a stone stool. On the table in front of him...

...a black laptop had appeared. Its screen was currently playing a cartoon about a lumberjack and two bears.

The object felt somewhat out of place in this setting.

Just then, a moth, perhaps drawn by the light, fluttered over.

But then, a strange scene unfolded.

As its body passed over the glowing laptop screen on the table, it went straight through, as if the computer wasn’t there at all.

And in fact, it wasn’t.

Hu Qi watched the scene and snapped his fingers lightly.

Instantly, the laptop on the table flickered twice, like a TV with a bad signal, before vanishing without a trace.

"Master, you are truly a prodigy! To think you learned how to cast an Illusion so quickly."

A pleasant, girlish voice rang out.

On a nearby chair, a small, thumb-sized white snake raised its head, looking at Hu Qi.

Hu Qi could actually see a fawning, sycophantic expression on her serpentine face, much like a bootlicker.

She was, of course, utterly shocked that Hu Qi had learned the technique so quickly.

Achieving this step had high requirements in every aspect: the necessary Soul Power, precise control over Spiritual Power, familiarity with the illusion being created, and more.

And yet, after she had only given him a rough verbal explanation of the techniques...

...Hu Qi had already learned it.

However, compared to her initial surprise, she was gradually getting used to it.

’This master of mine is extremely mysterious,’ she thought. ’He’s probably some ancient serpentine ancestor in human form. Otherwise, how could I feel my Bloodline being suppressed like that?’

At this thought, her reverence for Hu Qi grew even deeper.

She was also very curious about the thing in the Illusion Hu Qi had just cast. It had looked quite interesting, and she found it a pity that she didn’t get to see whether the lumberjack had managed to cut down the tree.

Hu Qi didn’t have a Mind Reading Technique, so of course he didn’t know what his newly acquired ’backup ingredient’ was thinking.

He gazed at the spot where the laptop had vanished from the table, a strange look flickering across his face.

What he had just created was, of course, nothing more than a false Illusion constructed from Spiritual Power.

Although Xiaobai was just a snake, she had lived for several hundred years. Nourished by the aura of the Yun Shen Tea Tree, her comprehension ability alone was in no way inferior to the prodigies among Secret Martial Artists.

The techniques she had taught him for utilizing Soul Power gave Hu Qi a sense of sudden enlightenment.

Hu Qi’s Soul Power was already formidable. Furthermore, because his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map had reached the Ninth Layer of the Qi Vein Chapter, allowing him to attain the Perfect Realm of the Unity of Essence and Qi, his Soul Power had ascended to an even higher level.

Once he grasped the techniques, casting the illusion wasn’t difficult.

This type of Illusion could deceive a person’s five senses, making it indistinguishable from reality.

However, the more realistic and widespread the Illusion, the more Spiritual Power it consumed to maintain.

It wasn’t very useful against enemies on the same level, but against those with weaker Soul Power, it was a devastating, overwhelming weapon.

...

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Soon, it was the third day.

"Hurry up, get a move on! It’s almost time for the meal. If you delay Lord Black Stone’s dinner, you’ll all have hell to pay!"

In the kitchen.

The aroma of meat filled the air.

A man as burly as an ox, with a sinister glint in his eyes, barked the order in a low voice.

The man had a strange appearance; a pair of thick, ghastly white tusks protruded from his mouth.

The aura he emitted revealed him to be a Lower-Rank Black Blood Species.

He was in charge of all food-related matters within the City Lord’s Mansion.

"Yes, my lord!"

Hearing the man’s reprimand, everyone in the kitchen quickened their pace.

Most of them were ordinary people, with a few Blood Slaves mixed in, though the latter mostly served as supervisors.

In a corner, two figures dressed as gray-clad servants exchanged a look. It was Wu Yu and Changzhu.

However, their appearances had changed since before.

Wu Yu had transformed into a dark-skinned man with a full, bushy beard.

And Changzhu had become a tall, thin Young Man with a sallow complexion, looking as if she were malnourished.

Only the faintest traces of their original features could be seen in their brows.

As Qi Dao Grandmasters, it was a simple matter for them to alter their bone structure and elongate their bodies to a certain extent.

Somehow, the two had managed to infiltrate the City Lord’s Mansion.

After two days of gathering information...

...they hadn’t found the location of the Yun Shen Tea Tree.

But they now had a good grasp of the City Lord’s Mansion and the strength of that Black Stone.

Based on their investigation and the descriptions from the servants in the City Lord’s Mansion...

...they could determine that this Black Blood Species named Black Stone was not among the strongest in the Dense Forest Realm, but was only Middle Class.

Realizing this, the two became even more confident.

They picked up food containers and followed the other servants out of the kitchen with the dishes, heading toward the dining hall.

...

Meanwhile, in a dining hall within the City Lord’s Mansion, nine figures were seated.

Hu Qi sat in the host’s seat at the head of the table.

Besides him, a total of eight Middle-Rank Black Blood Species had come at his invitation to the blood feast, and they had brought a dozen or so Lower-Rank Black Blood Species with them.

However, those Lower-Rank Black Blood Species were not qualified to sit at the table and could only stand to the side.

Hu Qi was quite satisfied with this turnout.

After all, there were only twelve Middle-Rank Black Blood Species in the entire Dense Forest Realm.

These eight, plus Black Stone, whom Hu Qi was impersonating, already constituted three-quarters of the total number.

"Black Stone, you sent word for us to hide our auras and come here. What does this have to do with the blood feast?"

At his side, a feminine man in a red dress leaned back in his seat.

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon a tall, burly figure with curved horns on his head.

Hearing this, the others all looked over as well.

These individuals were all bizarre in appearance. Some were completely shrouded in black robes, some were as fat as mountains of flesh, and one had a face that consisted of nothing but a giant mouth—all of them were incredibly strange.

The Blood Lizard’s question voiced their own doubts. It was just that this blood feast...

...was being handled so mysteriously by their host that they couldn’t help but wonder what Hu Qi was planning.

As Middle-Rank Black Blood Species, their Life Levels were immensely powerful. Even without making a move, their gazes alone...

...could exert immense pressure. With so many ferocious Middle-Rank Black Blood Species gathered here...

...an ordinary person would likely be scared to death on the spot.

But Hu Qi’s expression remained unchanged. He chuckled.

"Rest assured, I guarantee you will all be satisfied!"

As he said this, his expression shifted. He looked toward the door, his gaze seeming to pierce through the wood to see what was outside.

"Your bloody meal has arrived!"