Coming out of the rural manor and heading north along the main road is Blood Emperor City, a chaotic city backed by the Blood Emperor Sect.
Because the Blood Emperor Sect is a standard Demon Sect, Blood Emperor City is filled with demon cultivators from the entire Nanzhuo Domain.
In this city, except for the enslaved captives, there is not an innocent soul.
Due to the chaos, medical clinics have become an indispensable presence.
A year ago, Lu Jin'an opened Lu's Medical Hall in the center of Blood Emperor City.
With perfect limb reattachment that doesn't affect Qi circulation, the repair of seriously damaged meridians, the sale of uncommon Spiritual Elixirs and cultivation techniques, and the rumors of connections with the upper echelons of the Blood Emperor Sect, Lu's Medical Hall seized 80% of the business in the city. Even disciples of the Blood Emperor Sect frequently visit, so no one dares to cause trouble here.
But the most crucial reason for Lu's Medical Hall's constant influx of visitors is its payment method of 'blood donation.'
As long as you donate a certain amount of blood, you can receive treatment and even exchange it for Spiritual Elixirs and cultivation techniques. Thus, as soon as the hall opened, countless people crossed its threshold.
Compared to paying with Spirit Crystals, blood is incredibly cheap for cultivators.
As long as Essence Blood isn't harmed, ordinary blood for cultivators is an endlessly renewable resource that can be restored to normal with blood-replenishing Spirit Pills in less than a day.
"To exchange blood for elixirs and techniques, enter through the left door. For medical treatment, enter through the right door."
Few people entered through the right door.
Sitting behind the consultation desk, listening to the bustling outside, Lu Jin'an glanced at the other side where the hired enslaved apprentices expertly performed 'revenge-style' wrist-slitting for blood collection, then casually helped several patients reattach limbs and repair meridians.
With the techniques he mastered, he was like a divine intervention in a small place like the Nanzhuo Domain.
"Alright, go over there to donate blood to pay the fee."
In less than thirty minutes, there was no one left at the consultation desk.
Lu Jin'an, looking rather disinterested, glanced outside. Originally, there were quite a lot of people seeking medical treatment and healing... especially women.
"Doctor Lu, I have a grape-sized lump here, can you help me see what's wrong?"
"Doctor Lu, I'm not sick, but my house is, the water isn't flowing. Can you treat it?"
"Doctor Lu, I've always wanted a child. Can you help?"
Two months ago, there were quite a few such female patients, and although Lu Jin'an never touched a leaf, he would sometimes tell a few dirty jokes to send them away.
But in these past two months, these women and female demons have vanished completely... disappearing rapidly.
Originally, Lu Jin'an thought that the Blood Emperor Sect used them as suicide squads, but they suddenly disappeared, and now he suspects it has a lot to do with Zhu Nanzhi.
His nominal wife warned him not to treat female patients, but he didn't take it to heart. After all, to him, everyone in this city, regardless of gender, is a mobile blood bank.
Missing out on a large batch of sustainable blood sources!
Lu Jin'an tapped his fingers on the table, the sound of wings flapping reached his ears, and a beast resembling a Red Kestrel landed on the table.
Lu Jin'an smiled, as someone who defied the river of time, he casually scattered some grains on the table: "I thought you'd gone back."
"I am a kestrel, a bird of prey!"
The angry Red Kestrel disdainfully kicked the grains, landed on the ground, and transformed into a young girl with double bunches, glaring at him unhappily: "I just arrived here yesterday, and you haven't even given me a decent meal."
"So I thought you went back." Lu Jin'an said with a smile, aware of what she was going to say next.
"I wish I could." The girl named Xia Ming snorted lightly: "But the Deputy Sect Master said, if I don't bring you back, I can't return to the sect either."
"That's good, getting out for a walk."
"I prefer staying beside the Deputy Sect Master." Xia Ming proudly raised her chin: "And I'm very much looking forward to how the Deputy Sect Master will punish you once you return to the sect!"
Listening to this, Lu Jin'an asked intentionally: "How angry is Master?"
Counting her fingers, Xia Ming recited: "First, a year ago, when the Ruins Cave Heaven appeared, our Wandao Sect and Hengshui Academy jointly secured the exploration rights. For the first time, there were unprecedented casualties, and you went missing. Because your Life Plate was not broken, the Deputy Sect Master wasn't overly worried;
Second, you had no contact with the sect during this period. The Deputy Sect Master publicly stated you were in secluded cultivation until ten days ago when you finally made contact, and then the Deputy Sect Master sent me here..."
She paused, then continued: "But what angers the Deputy Sect Master the most..."
"Is that in such a small place, I quietly married someone, right?" Lu Jin'an took over the conversation: "I clearly told you that I would explain it myself once I returned, so why did you sell me out?"
Xia Ming's eyes widened: "How did you know? No, as the Deputy Sect Master's maid, of course, I stand on her side, and I never promised to keep it a secret!"
"But because of this matter, Master tore down the entire hall and kept scolding me as a 'rebellious disciple'. Why did you snitch? Isn't it going to be you who presides over the rebuilding of the palace when we return?"
"How do you know even about this?" Xia Ming looked at Lu Jin'an in surprise: "Did the Deputy Sect Master tell you? No way, she's so angry, she wouldn't talk to you."
"You told me." Lu Jin'an joked.
"When did I tell you?" Xia Ming looked at Lu Jin'an in confusion, but he just smiled silently.
Xia Ming pouted: "Fine, don't say anything... Also, you're definitely responsible for rebuilding the palace. After all, you made the Deputy Sect Master angry, and you just called her 'old'. I'll tell her as soon as we get back!"
"Master cares about me." Lu Jin'an leisurely said: "So in the end, it's you who has to take responsibility."
Xia Ming opened her mouth, finding herself unable to retort.
She looked at Lu Jin'an's clean and neat brocade robe and the Water Cloud Crown atop his head, thinking that in the sect, the Deputy Sect Master also liked to oversee his daily attire, and even outside, there was someone minding him. Clearly, as the senior brother of Wandao Sect, Lu Jin'an could manage all this.
The senior brother's freeloading way with women is impressive...
"Hmph!" Xia Ming put her hands on her hips: "If not for the upcoming triennial Immortal Seed Selection Conference at the sect, the Deputy Sect Master would definitely have come to teach you a lesson immediately."
"Mm-hmm." Lu Jin'an nodded perfunctorily.
Seeing that she couldn't scare him, Xia Ming pouted and shifted to business: "The inner hall Blood Pool in the backyard has reached the limit for refinement."
Lu Jin'an nodded, seeing no more people seeking treatment, he got up and walked toward the medical hall's backyard with a short blade engraved with blood-red patterns in his hand appearing from nowhere.
At the junction of the handle and blade, an oval Blood Pearl, like an eye, emitted an eerie and chilling aura.
Xia Ming took one glance and looked away because it felt uncomfortable.
"Why do you need to refine blood?"
"Naturally, it's useful."
Xia Ming wisely didn't ask further, following in Lu Jin'an's footsteps to the inner hall, looking at the Blood Pool covering hundreds of square meters, she couldn't help but speak—
"Instead of going through the trouble to collect blood, why not just sacrifice this entire city?"
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