Cultivation through Skin Making

After an incense stick's time...

Candle Land.

...

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."

The small blood-colored pool, only about a foot in diameter and half an arm deep, contained only a few crystalline blood crystals floating inside.

Song Yan unceremoniously collected all those blood crystals into his prepared bottle, then continued to fill it.

Madam Ling kept her promise and brought him to the deepest part of the Secret Realm's blood pool in Candle Land.

From the outside, this place looked like a shadow, wrapped inside and out by countless Night Candle Soul Insects.

Song Yan filled his container to the brim with the insect blood of the Night Candle Soul Insects.

This blood pool was really small, and who knows how many years it had accumulated so much insect blood, but now he had taken away the core part of it.

However, this part was really too little, and Song Yan estimated it could only be used for the "left and right palaces" blood.

Once he finished collecting, Song Yan put away the insect blood bottle and then looked at Madam Ling, asking, "What are your plans afterward?"

Madam Ling said, "I will first handle matters here in Candle Land, then return to Snake Corpse Market, and then cultivate diligently in the Secret Realm for a long time. Whether it takes ten years or decades, I will buy the necessary items for cultivation from the market, hoping to break through to the Crimson Palace Realm as soon as possible."

Having said that, she stood quietly, her graceful figure long concealed by the cloak, her delicate face also veiled behind the sinister ghost face.

"Once I break through to the Crimson Palace Realm, there will be a day we meet again, my friend."

The two exchanged a silent farewell and then parted ways.

Madam Ling waved her hand to open the exit of the Secret Realm. Song Yan stepped forward...

One step, two steps, three steps...

Suddenly, Song Yan stopped his pace.

He slightly turned his head. Madam Ling had already turned around, walking into the depths of the insect swarm. The dense, rustling shadows parted like tidal waves, allowing her passage... yet they quickly closed again behind her.

However, seemingly sensing Song Yan's pause, Madam Ling turned back with some surprise, asking, "Friend, is there something else?"

Song Yan asked directly, "I know you've absorbed that mighty thought, and your nature might have changed, but I still want to ask you something."

Madam Ling said, "Please, go ahead."

Song Yan said, "Do you want to harm me?"

Madam Ling was taken aback, then shook her head, saying, "You're overthinking it. I've merely absorbed some memories, gained more common knowledge, and my heart has developed a fondness for insects, while my desire for power has grown more intense. But, I am still me."

Song Yan said, "Then why don't I go back to Snake Corpse Market with you?"

Madam Ling: ????

"Frien...friend, aren't you going out to seek opportunities?"

The cold Madam Ling suddenly stammered a bit.

A feeling suddenly welled up in her heart, as if "this shouldn't be the case."

Song Yan said, "Centering around Snake Corpse Market, I will search for external blood that suits me to fill the Nine Palaces.

If you need any cultivation items, in my travels, I can help you keep an eye out.

You know, so many people out there are looking for me. Staying in Chao Li County was just to hide. Is there anywhere better to hide than in your Secret Realm?"

Madam Ling remained silent.

But, isn't this the best outcome?

The person she longed for suddenly decided not to leave.

She gained a strong ally and newfound hope of breaking through to the Crimson Palace.

However, in the next instant, Madam Ling suddenly removed the ghost face, revealing the pretty face behind it.

The face was still delicate, but her pupils had undergone a strange change, becoming somewhat blurry, matte, and upon close inspection... were actually bizarre compound eyes.

The pupils were wooden, only covered with a thin film outside the ghost face, concealing the compound eyes, but as the pupils lacked focus, they naturally appeared stiff.

Madam Ling said, "Do you remember the human-faced worm you killed? You asked if I had thought it through... Now, it's my turn to ask you."

Song Yan nodded, "Of course."

Saying this, he looked toward a place on the mountainside of the Secret Realm with a good view, "Let's build a small log cabin there."

Then he looked at a clearing, "This area can be used to raise some demon beasts, and here, you can raise some pigs, but can you control these insects not to eat them?"

After learning from Granny Hu that the "Changwang Tiger Blood" matter had blown up for some inexplicable reason, even involving clans too daunting to provoke merely by name, he dismissed any thoughts of venturing out.

He wanted to find a safe place to settle for a few decades before considering anything else.

And Chao Li County obviously couldn't provide the seclusion he needed anymore.

Hua Linglong was going to cultivate in the Secret Realm, and he happened to hide there, isn't it just perfect?

Madam Ling was utterly speechless, or perhaps stunned, her mind a blank.

The direction of events had completely exceeded her expectations...

She found that this man was actually already thinking about how to build a house.

She had decided to never trust anyone in her future path of cultivation, but if she had to choose someone to trust, this man would undoubtedly be the one.

Madam Ling couldn't help it and gently grinned, then bowed, "My friend wants to stay, and I naturally can't ask for more. But standing before you now is Madam Ling, not Hua Linglong. If you want to interact with me as you did before, that's not possible."

Song Yan chuckled, "In the past, it was Hua Rong who interacted with you; now it's Song Yan.

Madam Ling, pleased to meet you.

My name is... Song Yan.

By the way, is there a blood pool in the Demon Swamp Secret Realm?"

Madam Ling covered her mouth and laughed, "Yes, but after I return, it will take some time before I can control it, and even then, I'm not sure if that blood will suit you.

There will also be some risks on the way because the Puppet Sect has been sending people to search for you around Celestial Cloud City, and we might encounter them on the way back."