Every place has a story.

Similarly, every city, village and any decent place has a market.

Each sect, clan and state hold it's own form of exchange.

Some use Spiritual Stones harvested from Spiritual Mountains or precious ores as money.

Others use 'Merit Points' and other fiat currencies, others don't even have a solid money using all kinds of precious materials for bartering. 

As for the Twilight of the Blood Crown?

It uses a very unique money of exchange.

 "Those nice robes will keep you warm for the rest of the winter!

They can be yours for just half a liter of blood."

"I'm willing to pay a 1000 Liters of Peak Body Gathering Blood Cultivator of any kind, in exchange of bringing me the head of Xue Hi Long."

"I'm selling the heart of a righteous Cultivator!

Even though I'm unaware of what technique specifically she Cultivated, I notice a huge concentration of Yin Qi in her heart and the surrounding artery, which gathered and purified the Ice Qi in her body.

If you eat her heart your blood will cool down and your blood circulation will improve!

This is truly a bargain for those who practice the Drowning Crimson Moon Sutra."

"Looking for a Dual Cultivation partner, I don't have any qualms about using an ordinary woman but I'd pay far more for one with a decent Cultivation level.

Btw, I prefer if you have already used a method to brainwash her, y'know I don't want any bitches rebelling."

Hundreds of those discussions resonated through the provisional 'marketplace' which was the agglomeration of multiple tents and decorated caves.

Two kids were strolling through the marketplace, one of them was unbothered by such sights as if he had witnessed them a thousand times, whilst the other bit his lips in disapproval.

The first kid, had a black hair with a single crimson strand and he had brown eyes.

In his shoulders there was a tiny leech who was sucking his blood.

However the kid didn't seem to mind this, he even began to pat the leech as if it was his pet.

He was Gu Ten Long.

"I'm telling you, the whole world is moved by the blood.

Blood is what allows our organs to work, and our muscles to move.

Everything is surrounded by blood!

Humans, beasts.

Trees...kinda of?

I mean, how would you call the latex that they leave when you cut them but plant's blood?

Ehem!

My point is, blood is life, blood is the essence of everything that there is.

The one who possesses the most blood is the one who will rule above all!"

The kid gestured wildly, while looking at the other kid.

"And I'm not the only one who thinks this, just ask to the sect leader Zhen Yiyi.

Even though I hate that prick, I admit that we and I we think alike.

He Cultivates the Crimson Blood Sutra that allows Cultivators to 'hold' more blood in their bodies, by compressing the blood itself by freezing it, expanding the veins, etcetera.

In his case, he even went far beyond!

He increased the size of his body in an unnatural way by more than ten meters all to allow his body to hold as much blood as possible.

Yet, I believe he made a mistake.

A single body no matter how powerful it is, it cannot hold the weight of all the blood in the world.

But if a body won't do, what about a thousand, what about a million?

That is why I Cultivate the Leech Swarm Sutra which allows me to possess the bodies of leeches.

Can't you see?

This is exactly the kind of power we will need if we want to flee."

Gu Ten Long said 'innocently', there was a fusion of both naivety and wickedness on his words, but Wu Yong ignored it.

At this point, he was used to hanging around with weirdos.

Wu Yong sighed softly, he looked at Gu Ten Long with his emerald-like eyes.

He had a blond curly hair and a relatively sharp jaw for his young age.

The kid gave an strange feeling of wisdom, despite his short age.

"That won't do." He replied.

"You may not know much about the world outside like I do.

But...

For starters, any plan involving 'overthrowing' the sect leader is doomed to fail.

That beast, has lived for more than five centuries.

His strength and knowledge about biology, physiology the mind and souls is simply beyond our comprehension.

Even if we Cultivated in a paradise with rich resources and mentors, chances are we wouldn't even be able to reach his strength in our lifetimes."

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He shrugged and then added.

"And that is ignoring your maniac speech about blood or what not.

Trust me, in the world outside people aren't obsessed with blood as much as here.

In my case for example I Cultivated a Wind and Light Sutra, which barely glossed over the power of 'blood', it focused more on the joints and muscles."

After saying all of this, he simply frowned lightly and concluded with.

"Of course, I'm not saying that escaping is pointless.

Simply, we have to change our approach.

Instead of relying on brute force, we need to be as carefree as the wind, and as fast as lighting.

Without any burdens whatsoever to hold us back.

My Sparkly Boiling Blood Sutra focuses on speed, explosiveness and density of the blood.

By raising the temperature and electricity within, is possible to acquire further speed."

Gu Ten Long shook his head and said in return.

"It seems we won't come to an agreement.

Anyway, why did you bring me here?"

Wu Yong chuckled lightly, he patted the seat close to him and said.

"Sit down, I found a decent place to acquire delicious drinks."

He turned his head towards a waiter and said.

"We'd like to have two orders of Dragon's Breath, please."

"It will cost 2.3 Liters of blood." The waiter said.

"Take it." Wu Yong took a few bottles filled with blood.

A few minutes later, the waiter arrived with the two drinks.

The Dragon's Breath looked odd, inside it many particles of many colors were twitching, expanding abruptly and vanishing.

It was like watching popcorns exploding, there was also the vague scent of powder and burnt wood, emanating from the drink.

Perhaps any careful person would reject the drink, but Gu Ten Long took the first sip without hesitation.

"Funny, it feels like there are fireworks in my tongue------AHHHHHHHHHH"

Suddenly, from his mouth a huge flame came out.

He fell to the ground, convulsing while coughing repeatedly.

"Hahaha, there is a reason why is it called Dragon Breath." Wu Yong said with a cheeky expression.

While patting the shoulders of his friend he added.

"It has a fascinating story, truly.

You see, there was a famous Chef Cultivator, he was trying to strengthen the foundations of his students, to do so he planned to increase their Yang and Fire Qi inside their bloodstreams.

This wouldn't be anything special by itself, but he was also a stingy man.

That man, tried to create a Spiritual Drink all while using only cheap materials.

Crazy, huh?" He raised his brows, while glancing at Gu Ten Long who was watching at him with resentment.

"Ehem, ehem.

As I was saying.

He practiced for months, and months he found a recipe.

And even though he wasn't entirely satisfied with the end result, considering its...side effects.

His students actually loved it!

One of them, even jokingly called it the Dragon Breath.

He was so intrigued by the drink of his teacher that he actually asked for the recipe and began to sell it on his restaurant.

It became famous almost instantly.

The kids liked to drink it to play-pretend, whilst teenagers made all kinds of bets for whom could endure more Dragon's Breath without vomiting.

These were good times for his restaurant, unfortunately as there was no copyright on his era, his business competitors ripped off his recipe and began to sell it on masse."

He took a sip, while looking at Gu Ten Long's angry expression.

"Hey, don't be like that!

A Puppeteer Cultivator like you needs Yang and Yin Qi to Cultivate adequately, and I gave you a free spiritual drink of pure Yang Qi.

Shouldn't you be thanking me?"

Gu Ten Long snorted coldly and replied.

"I didn't need your help, I already found a very good material."

He took from his sleeves, a hidden vial.

The vial had a pinkish substance, and was shining with a brown aura.

It was diluted blood.

More precisely, due to it's shine it was actually a diluted blood drop of a Qi Gathering Cultivator.

Wu Yong's eyelids twitched.

"H-hey, where did you find that?"

Shrugging, Gu Ten Long said.

"Ah, I acquired this rich blood drop out of miss Qin Yin Hu's blood."

Wu Yong narrowed his eyes and asked.

"How did you convinced her to give it to you?"

"I didn't, I just took it." Gu Ten Long replied plainly.

Dumbfounded, Wu Yong once more glanced at the vial before sighing and saying.

"To be honest, I really don't care..."

He glanced at Gu Ten Long before saying.

"This...The blood is shining very clearly, she clearly practiced the same Sutra than me.

Could I...have her blood?"

"Why should I?" Gu Ten Long took the vial back to his sleeves.

"It's very helpful to me, besides you have been really mean with me.

If you really want it, what you should be saying?" He said sarcastically.

"I'm very sorry!

Please, give it to me, I'll pay you back with the power I'll acquire once I breakthrough." Wu Yong said while stuttering, that thing was truly too valuable to him.

"Alright, alright, you're forgiven." Gu Ten Long waved his hand away in dismissal.

Without any hesitation, Wu Yong drank the blood drop inside his body.

Immediately, Gu Ten Long's body began to tremble.

He began to giggle softly.

"You really should have asked where that blood came from."

Wu Yong turned his head, surprised.

"What did you say?"

"Hehehe, tell me, how do you think could I have exactly acquired a drop of her blood?

With her Cultivation, her perception must be too profound.

If I tried to sneak in, even if by using a Puppet Leech, she would have figured it out, and would have immediately struck back.

I wouldn't even be alive to tell you the tale!

Lastly, why did you think I didn't directly used that blood on myself?

And I instead, put it on a vial?

Is because I wanted to sell it to some poor fool.

Can you tell me why?"

Wu Yong paused in the spot, he began to think slowly analyzing every probability.

A terrible possibility appeared in his head.

"The color of the aura...It was brown, why the blood was pink?

Don't tell me...It was the blood of her menstruation." He said uncertain.

Gu Ten Long raised his two thumbs in approval.

"Bingo!"

Immediately, Wu Yong tried to force himself to vomit by putting his two hands on his windpipe.

"I'm just messing with you, I actually used this."

Hidden inside his pockets a tiny fly appeared.

"Heh, I created a variant of the Leech Swarm Sutra that focuses on manipulating flies instead of leeches.

Through this I managed to get close to her neck and acquire a bit of her blood."

Wu Yong, nodded relieved before saying worriedly.

"Thank the Heavens!

But still, even though I admit is impressive that you created a new technique, don't you think is a bit too risky?

Cultivation is anything but safe, even by following the guidelines.

Innovating in a path is truly too hard!"

But, Gu Ten Long didn't seem bothered by this, he replied.

"A true leech expert isn't limited by literal leeches.

Instead, a true leech Puppeteer should be able to manipulate each and every creature that thrives by drinking the blood of others.

Besides, why would I care about the risks?

Life by itself is already risky enough!

With the sect leader constantly sending people to the sacrificial altar for his goddamn crown.

In my opinion, the real risk is to not take any risk!

Or what, are we going to wait until someone comes to rescue us?

How has this gone for you in the past two years?

Has your Wu Clan come to rescue you, even once?"

Before Wu Yong had a chance to reply, the two heard a husky voice say.

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE.

ANOTHER RITUAL OF SACRIFICE WILL BEGIN IN AN HOUR.

PREPARE YOUR VIALS OF BLOOD AS OFFERINGS TO THE GRAND LEADER.

THOSE WHO DON'T, WILL ALSO BE A PART OF THE SACRIFICES.

IF YOU DON'T COME IN AN HOUR, YOU'LL ALSO BECOME ONE OF THE SACRIFICES.

IF YOU SPEAK TOO MUCH IN THE CEREMONY YOU'LL ALSO BECOME ONE OF THE SACRIFICES.

IF YOU..."

The husky middle-aged man said a dozen of imposing norms, but the two didn't felt to threatened by this.

They're already used to the unfairness of their situation.

"Sigh, this is the third one of the month." Wu Yong complained.

"Hopefully, we won't be one of the sacrifices." Gu Ten Long said.

After saying this, the two begrudgingly began to follow that husky's man steps.

While they're moving, Gu Ten Long recalled their conversation and thought to himself.

"Actually, the fly trick wouldn't have worked at all by itself!

I mean, at her level she can already use a single one of her hairs to stab a small rat, let alone a fly, with her reflexes I couldn't have done shit to her.

I couldn't enter either by myself or by using my leeches it would have been to conspicuous.

Thus, what I really did was to use a fly to get close enough to her menstruation's blood so it could drink it.

...

Of course, I'm not going to tell him this."