Chapter 122: The Harvest
The Blood-Extraction Technique could extract blood from beasts that had only recently died.
The Rift-Claw Wolf Demon lay sprawled on the ground, its body covered in wounds. Fresh blood still seeped from its gashes, but in just moments it began to coagulate, making it impossible to collect demon blood through ordinary means.
Mo Hua pointed to the wolf demon's heart vessel and said to Dà Hu, "Cut it open here."
Dà Hu didn't understand why but still drew his blade and stabbed into the heart vessel.
The Rift-Claw's flesh was tough, Dà Hu had to stab several times before opening a small slit.
Mo Hua placed a jade bottle by the slit, then pressed his palm near the creature's heart vessel. He sensed the faintly flowing blood beneath the skin, still pulsing with life, and following the principles of the Blood-Extraction Technique, he activated his Divine-Sense, guiding the demon blood into the jade bottle.
These jade bottles were made of a special stone, not particularly valuable, but capable of sealing in spiritual energy and keeping the demon blood from deteriorating or decaying for some time.
Mo Hua's bottles had originally held spirit ink, but once the ink was used up, he had repurposed them for this.
A moment later, the first bottle was full. Mo Hua sealed it carefully and switched to another.
Using the Blood-Extraction Technique, he filled one jade bottle after another, draining blood into ten bottles before stopping.
By then, the blood remaining in the Rift-Claw's veins was sparse and cooling, its flow sluggish, its usefulness much reduced. There was no point in continuing.
The process had consumed a fair bit of Mo Hua's Divine-Sense, roughly equivalent to drawing the array patterns for seven or eight formations.
For an ordinary cultivator, that might be a heavy toll. But for Mo Hua, a Formation Master, it was nothing much.
He sat cross-legged and meditated for a bit, recovering some of his Divine-Sense.
Looking at the ten bottles of demon blood in his storage pouch, Mo Hua couldn't help but smile.
That was enough to draw quite a few formations.
Dà Hu and the others peered curiously at the jade bottles, then glanced at Mo Hua.
Xiǎo Hu couldn't help but ask, "Is that blood useful?"
"Mm. For drawing arrays."
"Can we help you get demon blood too?"
"You need to use the Blood-Extraction Technique."
Mo Hua briefly explained how it worked.
After hearing him out, the three were thoroughly confused, and wisely gave up.
"Mo Hua, you sure know a lot," Shuāng Hu said admiringly. Dà Hu and Xiǎo Hu nodded in agreement.
Mo Hua chuckled. "Read more books, and you'll know too."
After storing the blood away, he asked, "What should we do with this demon beast now?"
The three brightened instantly, it was their first time killing a demon beast on their own! And now, they could even skin it and sell the parts.
Although the main credit belonged to Mo Hua's formations, they were still thrilled.
"You have to skin it, take out the bones, cut off the teeth and claws, and the heart and organs too…" Shuāng Hu explained one by one.
Mo Hua scratched his head, he was utterly clueless about that sort of thing.
Dà Hu said, "Go play around nearby, just don't wander too far. Once we finish with this beast, we'll head back together."
Then the three rolled up their sleeves, drew their machetes, and began skinning the demon beast, harvesting its valuable materials.
Just an hour ago, the Rift-Claw Wolf had been snarling fiercely, now it lay in a wretched heap.
Mo Hua felt no sympathy. If the one lying dismembered weren't the beast, it would've been them instead.
This creature's saliva reeked of blood and filth, it had probably devoured plenty of demon hunters before.
While the three worked, Mo Hua wandered around—looking at the mountains, the trees, and the streams, familiarizing himself with the Black Mountain Range.
This was his first time venturing into it.
When they'd entered that morning, he'd felt tense and uneasy. But after half a day—after successfully killing the Rift-Claw and collecting its blood—he felt far calmer.
The whole hunting process had gone according to plan.
The strategy required patience and care, but it was simple, efficient, and minimized risk while ensuring solid profit.
Later, he only needed to adjust the tactics slightly to deal with other types of demon beasts.
This way, even though Mo Hua wasn't a body cultivator, he could still participate in demon hunts, collecting blood from various beasts aligned with different Five Elements.
When the three finally finished butchering the Rift-Claw, they called Mo Hua over, and the group left the Black Mountain Range.
Morning they'd entered, noon they'd hunted, and by dusk they were leaving.
In less than a day, they had slain a mid-grade first-tier demon beast, with just four people.
If not for the heavy storage bag filled with fur, claws, and fangs, Dà Hu and the others might've thought it was all a dream.
They went to the market afterward to sell the materials.
Rift-Claws were a common species, not worth much individually, but always in demand.
After some haggling, they earned just over eighty spirit stones.
After deducting the cost of Mo Hua's formation materials and activation expenses, they each took twelve spirit stones as their share.
Holding the heavy stones in their hands, the three brothers stood dazed.
It was the most spirit stones they'd ever earned in their lives.
Mo Hua was used to such sums, but seeing their excitement, he couldn't help smiling too.
Dà Hu said, "Mo Hua, it's all thanks to you! What do you want to eat? We'll treat you!"
"Yeah! Our treat!" Shuāng Hu and Xiǎo Hu chimed in eagerly.
"No need," Mo Hua said, waving his hand. "I should be thanking you three for helping. Keep your spirit stones. We'll go hunting again sometime."
Demon beasts had tough bodies and strong vitality. Even when Mo Hua's formations blasted them half-dead, it was rarely an instant kill.
Since he wasn't a body cultivator and didn't excel in close combat, he still needed the three to finish the job.
Though he'd learned Flowing-Water Step, which let him maneuver around beasts, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
After all, even skilled swimmers drown, overconfidence leads to downfall.
Once they sold the beast and split the profits, they looked up to see the street lights flickering on.
The streets were lively in the evening.
Mo Hua, busy for so long with formations and spell practice, hadn't been out in ages.
The three brothers, ever since becoming demon hunters, had also lived under a heavy, constant pressure.
Now, after slaying a beast, they finally felt the weight lift off their shoulders. They strolled through the busy streets, admiring the noise and color of the night, before parting ways for home.
On the way, Xiǎo Hu asked, "What should we do with all these spirit stones?"
Shuāng Hu thought for a bit and said, "I want to give mine to Mom."
The three fell silent for a moment, then put their spirit stones together, more than thirty in total.
By the time they got home, it was already late. Aunt Meng was reheating food. When she saw them, she couldn't help scolding:
"Out all day, where've you been? The food's gone cold; I've reheated it several times…"
Dà Hu handed her the storage pouch.
Aunt Meng took it—surprised by its weight—and asked, "What's this?"
She opened it and saw over thirty spirit stones glittering inside.
She froze.
"Mom, this is what we earned hunting a demon beast. It's yours."
It took her a long time to react. She looked at her three boys—who had somehow grown up without her noticing—and tears welled up in her eyes.
She felt proud. She wanted to smile, but instead, tears streamed down her face.
In her life, she had shed many tears, salty and bitter ones.
But today, for the first time, they were tears of joy.
(End of Chapter)