'Whose blood should I suck tonight...'
The first person Chu Sheng ruled out was his "long-term meal ticket," Gu Yuexi.
It wasn't that he was picky. The truth was, this Empress was still too weak right now. As a First-Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist, she had so little Qi Blood that taking a sip from her would be like drinking plain water—not even enough to get caught between his teeth.
'Heh heh, my target, of course, is...'
Chu Sheng's gaze passed through the slit he had cut with his wings, locking precisely onto the large black bag under the bed.
Inside that bag lay a "snake blood buffet" of a High-Level Bloodline!
However, it wasn't time yet. Gu Yuexi wasn't asleep, and if he tried to sneak a snack in front of her, he would definitely be stopped!
'I have to be sneaky about this!'
Chu Sheng decided to restrain himself for now, lying in the plastic box and playing dead.
After her initial shock, Gu Yuexi also gradually calmed down.
She took a deep look at the ferocious-looking "monster" in the box. With a heavy heart, she cleaned up the dried snake corpse on the floor, then dragged her exhausted body and mind to bed. Soon, drained from the mental and physical ordeal, she fell into a deep sleep.
'She's asleep!'
'This is my chance!'
Once Chu Sheng confirmed that Gu Yuexi's breathing had become even and steady, he carefully crawled out of the box. He took flight without a sound, deliberately suppressing the vibration of his wings to its absolute minimum, like an imperceptible night breeze.
He landed lightly beside the large black bag under the bed.
The mouth of the bag was tied loosely, leaving a sizable gap. To him, it was practically a wide-open door!
Chu Sheng slipped inside effortlessly, and the rich, sweet scent of blood instantly enveloped him.
'It's time to feast!'
He landed on the snake's corpse and, without a second thought, viciously plunged his proboscis—an Armor-Piercing Spike Lv3 comparable to a micro-drill—deep into it!
PFFT!
This time, he met almost no resistance! There was no need to search for a weak spot!
The Spiritual Cyan Snake's scales, which would have been impenetrable to an ordinary mosquito, were like paper in front of his Level 3 proboscis. He pierced through them with ease!
The next second, a tide of Demon Beast Essence Blood—far richer and purer than what he had drunk before—surged through his proboscis and into his body!
'So satisfying!'
Chu Sheng felt every cell in his body cheering with joy!
[Qi Blood +3.2]
[Qi Blood +3.5]
[Qi Blood +3.3...]
System notifications spammed his vision. This time, there wasn't even a warning!
Apparently, after his evolution, his body's tolerance was on a whole new level. He could completely withstand the impact of this Energy!
He was like a burly man who hadn't eaten in three days, wolfing down a royal banquet. His abdomen swelled at a visible rate, quickly becoming like a red balloon attached to his body, looking almost bigger than he was.
[Ding! Host has absorbed 10.5 Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 22.1!]
[Ding! Blood is being digested. Estimated digestion time: one hour. 3.2 Evolution Points will be obtained! Lifespan +10 hours!]
One sip!
Just one sip, and his Qi Blood increased by more than ten points!
Moreover, the digestion time had also been reduced from the previous three hours to just one!
'Holy crap! The efficiency has tripled!'
Chu Sheng contentedly pulled out his proboscis. Seeing the numbers on his panel, he was blooming with joy inside.
'At this rate, I can get at least forty or fifty Qi Blood tonight!'
He settled down contentedly beside the snake's corpse and began his "post-meal digestion" exercise.
...
An hour passed quickly.
[Ding! Digestion complete! Evolution Points +3.2! Lifespan +10 hours!]
Chu Sheng felt his round abdomen deflate in an instant, and an intense hunger washed over him again.
Without a word, he plunged his proboscis back into the snake's corpse.
The second sip!
[Ding! Host has absorbed 9.8 Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 31.9!]
Another hour later.
The third sip!
[Ding! Host has absorbed 8.5 Qi Blood! Current Total Qi Blood is 40.4!]
And so, in the dark of night while Gu Yuexi slept, Chu Sheng entered a frenzied all-you-can-eat buffet mode.
Take a sip, digest for an hour, then take another sip...
He was tireless, enjoying every moment of it.
He was like a diligent thief, emptying his master's granary bit by bit.
Throughout the night, Chu Sheng went back and forth, drinking a total of seven times!
It wasn't until the eighth attempt that he realized he could no longer draw any useful blood from the snake's corpse. All that was left was ordinary, watery blood.
Hic~
As the sky began to lighten, Chu Sheng let out a satisfied burp. After the final digestion was complete, he opened his panel.
Seeing the glorious string of numbers, he felt like he was flying high!
[Host: Chu Sheng]
[Race: Blade-winged Blood Mosquito]
[Lifespan: 95 days]
[Qi Blood: 48.5]
[Evolution Points: 16.5]
One night! His Qi Blood had skyrocketed by more than thirty points! And he had gained a solid sixteen Evolution Points!
'It's mainly because the Spiritual Cyan Snake's corpse is completely dry, or I could've gotten even more...'
'Sigh, what a pity!'
Chu Sheng sighed softly. Then he quietly slipped out of the bag, flew back to the table, and crawled back into his plastic box.
Closing his eyes to rest, he began to ponder how to spend his sixteen-plus extra Evolution Points.
'I need one hundred Qi Blood to evolve again anyway. There's no point in just letting these Evolution Points sit here. I might as well use them to upgrade my Skills!'
'Should I upgrade Armor-Piercing Spike or the new skill, Wing Blade Slash? Or maybe I should level up Blood Food Tracking and Insect Race Space too?'
Just as he was calculating how to maximize his gains...
Gu Yuexi, on the bed, slowly began to stir.
She stretched languidly, feeling much more refreshed, and prepared to start her new day of Cultivation.
She habitually walked to the side of the bed and bent over to pull out the large black bag.
However, the feeling of it in her hands made her freeze.
'Huh? Why... is it so light?'
A sense of foreboding washed over her.
She yanked the bag out and ripped open the top!
The next second, her pupils constricted.
Inside the bag, there was no plump snake corpse. All that remained was a shriveled, wrinkled snakeskin that looked like it had been air-dried for a decade, lying limply within.
...
Silence. A dead silence.
A full ten seconds passed before a thought, thick with suppressed, monstrous rage and endless bewilderment, exploded in Chu Sheng's mind!
'My Spiritual Cyan Snake!!!'
The emotion contained in that furious roar was incredibly complex.
There was heartache, anger, and frenzy, but more than anything, there was the bewildered disbelief of someone whose entire worldview had just been shattered.
Gu Yuexi stared intently at the corpse on the floor, which had been reduced to a "dried snakeskin." She whipped her head around, her gaze shooting like a sharp sword toward the "culprit" on the table, who was currently playing dead!
'It has to be it!!'
'It's the only thing in this entire room that sucks blood! Who else could it be?!'
'Gone!'
'It's all gone!'
The Cultivation Resources she had sold her house for, that she had gambled her entire fortune on... her entire hope of breaking through to become a Second-Grade Martial Artist in the next half-month... was just... sucked dry by a mosquito in a single night?!
'What in the world is this?!'
'You... What in the world are you?!'
Gu Yuexi's thoughts were trembling.
She couldn't understand!
How could a single mosquito possibly withstand such a massive amount of Demon Beast Essence Blood?
How did its tiny body contain such terrifying Energy? Why didn't it just explode on the spot?!
This completely defied common sense! It defied all the knowledge she had accumulated across two lifetimes!