Cultivation: Starting from a Fighting Cock

Chapter 116 Blood Exchange
Ji Cheng hadn't expected her to ask that question. After a moment's thought, he replied:
"Fairy Su, have you ever heard the idiom 'wisdom born from a rooster'? There are tens of thousands of fighting roosters in Wuzhen. It's quite normal for a fighting rooster as intelligent as me to emerge from among so many of them, isn't it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he flapped his wings and disappeared into the night sky.

Leaving Fairy Su alone, bewildered in the wind, so this is what "a chicken finding wisdom" means?

……

The New Year is approaching.

After handing over the affairs of Wuzhen to the Su family, Fairy Su left Wuzhen with the Azure Flame Rabbit.

Two days later, the man and the rabbit returned to the Three Immortals Cave, a sacred place of cultivation rich in spiritual energy.

Many of Su Qing's fellow disciples who were on good terms with her came to meet with her.

Among them was Cui Xiangxue, who naturally inquired about the current situation in Wuzhen.

Su Qing told her the truth about the incident at Mangshan. Finally, Su Qing mentioned that the fighting rooster in the Zhao family was actually a demon beast.

Upon hearing this, Cui Xiangxue felt a buzzing in her head.

Her long-dormant memories were awakened, and images of her wedding day, bowing to a fighting rooster, and then consummating her marriage with a stranger that night flashed before her eyes.

Her face turned deathly pale in an instant. She asked Su Qing, "Senior Sister Su, can that chicken demon transform into human form?"

After entering the Three Immortals Cave, she broadened her horizons and learned that demons and beasts could transform into humans.

Based on the events of that night, no one entered or left the bridal chamber; the only companion she had was the fighting rooster that stood in for the groom during the wedding ceremony.

She initially didn't want to believe it was that fighting rooster, but now Su Qing tells her that the fighting rooster has actually become a demon.

She couldn't help but suspect that she might have married a chicken demon—she had both paid her respects to a chicken demon and consummated her marriage with one. What else could this be but marrying a chicken demon?
"In my opinion, that chicken demon has not yet taken human form and can only speak human language."

Su Qing replied that only fourth- or fifth-order demon beasts could transform into human form. If that chicken demon had such strength, wouldn't it have been able to take down the Zhou family patriarch and the blind Taoist with a single claw when they faced each other at Python Mountain?
"is that so……"

Cui Xiangxue frowned, her doubts returning. Was it really that chicken demon?
After much deliberation, she decided that once she had achieved mastery of her cultivation, she would definitely return to Wuzhen to get to the bottom of what had happened back then.

She needed to find out clearly who she had married and who had defiled her.

……

Wuzhen, Niu Family Martial Arts School.

Ji Cheng consulted the owner of the cattle shed about the matter of blood transfusion.

Despite having read some related books, he still had doubts, as this blood transfusion did not seem to belong to the martial arts cultivation system.

The owner of the Niu Pavilion glanced at him, surprised that this kid had cultivated so quickly, already reaching the late stage of Qi and Blood, and that it was time to consider starting a blood transfusion.

Master Niu began his explanation: "Blood exchange belongs to a very ancient martial arts cultivation system. Back then, cultivators were called Qi refiners, and martial artists focused on body refinement, unlike today where it's divided into multiple realms such as Qi and blood, internal strength, and meridian opening..."

"In ancient times, the martial arts realm was divided based on the number of times one had undergone blood transfusions. A martial artist was considered to have reached a certain realm after completing a certain number of blood transfusions."

"Simply put, blood transfusion is an elevation of one's life level. Each blood transfusion is equivalent to a complete transformation for a martial artist, and their strength will increase several times over. Depending on the individual, the increase is roughly between five and ten times."

"The Blood Exchange cultivation system follows the path of physical immortality. With multiple successful blood exchanges, a martial artist's physical body gradually becomes extraordinary and immortal, impervious to all laws, and can even shatter the void with their physical body."

In ancient times, blood transfusions were a breakthrough to a higher realm, and the process became increasingly difficult as one progressed.

Ji Cheng asked, "Master, what path does our current martial arts system follow?"

He really knew very little about this, only the three realms of martial arts: Qi and Blood, Internal Strength, and Meridian Opening. After all, in a small place like Wuzhen, ordinary martial artists didn't need to know too much, and they might not be able to cultivate to the Meridian Opening realm in their entire lives.

"The current martial arts system follows the path of dragon transformation, cultivating multiple beast spirits within the body, imitating the demon race, but stronger than the demon race. When cultivated to the extreme, one can also transform into a dragon and reach the heavens."

"Master, why don't you practice the ancient blood-exchange system anymore?"

"For no other reason than that blood transfusions are simply too difficult!"

"The first blood transfusion is relatively easy and can be completed with the help of some medicinal herbs. However, the second and third blood transfusions require the essence blood of powerful demonic beasts as a catalyst. At the same time, the requirements for martial arts foundation are also very strict. If the foundation is not good enough, no matter how many rare and precious materials are available, the blood transfusion cannot be completed."

In ancient times, those with exceptional martial arts talent would undergo their first blood transfusion at a young age, becoming as strong as young beast cubs.

At that time, in order to cultivate, humans hunted demonic beasts to obtain their essence and blood. Those who could make a name for themselves in a place were all chosen ones of heaven.

The further you go on this path, the harder it becomes to make any progress, especially when you reach a certain level of power and need the essence and blood of true dragons and phoenixes as a guide to undergo another blood transfusion.

As the human race rose to power, the demon race declined, and many powerful demon clans no longer existed in the world.

As the demon race declined and powerful demon beast essence blood became scarce, the human race's blood transfusion cultivation system could no longer continue.

After that, some powerful human cultivators abandoned blood transfusion and pioneered another cultivation system.

"Our blood transfusion today serves two purposes: to enhance our strength and to unlock our potential. Those with mediocre talent will be considered quite good if they can complete one blood transfusion. As for those martial artists who can complete two or even three blood transfusions, they can be called martial arts geniuses." With Master Niu's explanation, Ji Cheng understood.

In the current martial arts cultivation system, the more times a martial artist can complete a blood transfusion, the higher their life level will be, and the further they can go on the path of cultivation in the future.

At the same time, the surge in strength after completing the blood transfusion is also very important, which means that at the same level, whoever undergoes the blood transfusion more times will be stronger.

"By the way, besides the Blood Transformation and Dragon Transformation martial arts cultivation systems, there is another cultivation system that is even more difficult, which takes the path of transforming the body into the universe."

Master Niu continued, "It is said that this is an even more ancient cultivation method than blood transfusion. It only exists in legends and is only theoretical. To this day, no one has verified that this path is feasible."

"There is also a theory that the Dragon Transformation System is a path that originates from the transformation of the body into the universe."

"Incarnate into the universe?"

Ji Cheng felt that this method was incredibly powerful, so he asked Master Niu to explain this cultivation system in detail.

"If you are interested, you can try it after you reach the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm. After the Meridian Opening Realm, there is the Four Symbols Realm, which requires cultivating the four divine beasts of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise within your body. After that, there is the Star Official Realm, which requires cultivating the twenty-eight star officials within your body... transforming your body into the stars and the sea, and then transforming it into the sun and the moon. I don't need to say more about how strong you will be then, do I?"

Master Niu's point is that you can give it a try, since you won't really reach a very high level of cultivation anyway.

Ji Cheng listened blankly. This method of transforming one's body into a universe sounded very fantastical. Even an immortal could not create a universe within their body.

He felt that Master Niu was teasing him.

Well, he had reservations about everything Master Niu said today.

After all, Master Niu is a demon beast, and who knows what kind of trap he might have set for this human martial arts genius? We can't believe everything he says, and we need to verify it from multiple sources in the future.

However, I finally understand what this blood transfusion is all about today.

He then asked Master Niu for a list of herbs for the first blood transfusion and then left.

……

A few days later, it was Lunar New Year's Eve.

Ji Cheng and Cui Sheng had their New Year's Eve dinner together at the Zhao residence. The whole town of Wuzhen was filled with joy, and firecrackers were being set off from every household.

On this joyous occasion, even the notoriously grumpy Master Zhao had a big smile on his face.

"Father, Uncle Su has agreed. From now on, the medicinal herb business between our Zhao family pharmacy and Zishui City will be handled by the Green Bamboo Gang. We'll just give them a small delivery fee."

At the dinner table, Zhao Qian revealed some good news.

Because the Zhao family was being prevented from leaving Wuzhen by the county constables, their medicinal herb business had been put on hold. The family was large and had many expenses, and now that the income from Zhao Erye's cockfighting was gone, Zhao Laoye was constantly troubled and his hair had turned quite a bit white from worry.

Zhao Qian won a martial arts competition on behalf of Fairy Su at Mangshan, which earned him Fairy Su's favor. As a result, Su Zhe, the martial artist at the Opening Meridian Realm sent by the Su family to take over the Green Bamboo Gang, was impressed by Zhao Qian and appointed him as a minor leader in the Green Bamboo Gang.

Taking advantage of this relationship, Zhao Qian recently told Su Zhe about the predicament of the Zhao family's medicinal herb business.

Su Zhe thought for a moment and decided to have the Green Bamboo Gang's men go to Yu Zi Water City to purchase medicinal herbs.

Thus, the predicament was easily resolved.

Upon hearing this, Master Zhao and the rest of the Zhao family were overjoyed and praised Zhao Qian for his promising future.

After the meal, Ji Cheng found Zhao Yan alone and asked her about the blood transfusion medicine.

Zhao Yan was shocked: "You...you're going to have a blood transfusion?"

"No, I was just asking so that I can prepare the blood transfusion medicine as soon as possible, so that I won't be caught off guard later."

"You scared me to death! I thought you'd already needed a blood transfusion after only three months of martial arts training!"

Zhao Yan gently touched her chest. During this period, she had been quite discouraged by Ji Cheng's cultivation progress, even though Ji Cheng had only shown her the cultivation level of the mid-stage of Qi and Blood.

"Don't worry, I understand. I'll have them help you buy a blood transfusion medicine."

Zhao Yan smiled at Ji Cheng and said, "You can rest assured about what your senior sister is doing."

Ji Cheng nodded and said, "I'll give you whatever amount of silver you ask for."

Zhao Yan rolled her eyes at him and said, "You only have a few copper coins. Give them back to me. Can you even afford to pay me back?"

"But I heard that a blood transfusion costs several hundred taels of silver..."

Ji Cheng said weakly, "It's one thing for Zhao Yan to give me some body-tempering herbs on ordinary days, but she can afford to give me blood-changing herbs too?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan paused for a moment, then looked somewhat embarrassed, but still stubbornly said, "Hmph, you don't need to worry about that. Our Zhao family, would we ever lack your medicinal herbs?"

Ji Cheng nodded, agreeing repeatedly, not daring to question her abilities.

(End of this chapter)