I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

Chapter 33: Mysterious Blood

A faint cracking sound, almost imperceptible, echoed like a thunderclap within the desolate ancient tomb, resounding in Zhang Chen's ears. He quickly followed the sound, only to find that it originated from the jade tablet in his possession.

‘Crack~’

‘Crack~’

A series of cracking sounds spread through the air, incessant and like popping beans.

Zhang Chen's eyes were fixed on the jade tablet, noticing fine cracks appearing on its surface, seemingly triggering a chain reaction. The cracks rapidly expanded, covering the entire tablet in the blink of an eye.

“It's breaking! The jade tablet is actually breaking!” Zhang Chen exclaimed, overjoyed, his breathing becoming erratic. He watched as the intricate patterns on the jade tablet multiplied, resembling shattered tempered glass, countless in number.

Yet, the closer it got to breaking, the more cautious Zhang Chen became, fearing that the strange jade tablet might still possess some terrifying counterattack.

At that moment, Zhang Chen activated his golden light for protection, his face solemn as he stared at the jade tablet before him, standing silently for a long time.

After an unknown duration, the popping sounds from the jade tablet ceased, but nothing unusual occurred. Zhang Chen stared at the jade tablet for an hour, still seeing no sign of it shattering. Finally, he mustered his courage and reached out, gently touching the jade tablet. In the next instant, the entire jade tablet exploded into dust, dissipating into the ancient tomb. When the jade tablet's powder landed on the ground, it transformed into dust, blending into the soil and becoming part of the earth.

However, at the center of where the jade tablet had been, a ball of red light fell, landing in the dust and remaining motionless.

The red light was dazzling, like a radiant crystal, emitting a striking crimson glow.

“That is…?” Zhang Chen stared at the fallen red light. His golden finger showed no reaction, indicating that it was not equipment dropped by the golden finger.

“What is that thing?” Zhang Chen scrutinized the crystal closely, noticing that it was small, only the size of a peanut, shimmering with brilliance, very eye-catching.

Just then, Zhang Chen's palm began to itch. His third skill, Bloodsucking, showed signs of activity. The bat head automatically appeared in his palm, and an extremely strong desire flooded Zhang Chen's mind.

“This thing is beneficial to the third skill?” Zhang Chen looked at the blood-red crystal on the ground, then raised his hand to look at the bat head in his palm. He directly suppressed the bat head, and his palm returned to its original appearance.

Zhang Chen stared at the blood-red crystal for a while, then slowly reached out, cautiously touching the blood-red crystal.

Upon contact with the blood-red crystal, nothing unusual occurred. Only then did Zhang Chen feel relieved and pick up the blood-red crystal, examining it in his palm.

At this moment, Zhang Chen's third skill became active again, but Zhang Chen suppressed it with a thought, not giving the third skill a chance to move.

“What treasure is this crystal?” Zhang Chen stared at the blood-red crystal, and after examining it for a while, he said with a surprised expression, “What a curious thing.”

The crystal's shell was hard, feeling like glass to the touch, but upon closer inspection, Zhang Chen discovered that the inside of the glass contained scarlet liquid, a drop of blood.

Of course, the most striking thing was that there seemed to be a blood-red light flowing within the blood, constantly tumbling up and down, as if it were a bat, constantly rushing back and forth, seemingly wanting to break the shackles of the crystal and fly out.

Zhang Chen watched for a long time and found that there was indeed a bat in the blood.

“This seems to be a drop of blood? But it doesn't quite look like it. The jade tablet was destroyed, leaving only this object. Logically speaking, this object is the core of the jade tablet, which means that this blood is the core of the jade tablet.” Zhang Chen stroked the crystal with both hands, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“My third skill, Bloodsucking, comes from the jade tablet, and this crystal also comes from the jade tablet. Now the third skill actually has an urgent need for the crystal. Could it be that there is some unknown connection between the two?”

Zhang Chen's heart was full of surprise, but looking at the scarlet blood and the blood-red bat constantly colliding in the blood, it didn't seem like it had a good origin.

“However, my third skill is conveying such an urgent need…” Zhang Chen pondered for a long time, and finally, his mind moved. A ferocious mouth appeared in his palm, two fangs flashing with cold light, directly piercing the surface of the crystal, and then the fangs suddenly stretched out, directly piercing into the blood-red liquid.

Although the blood-red liquid was very small, even the amount was only equivalent to a few drops of blood from a hare, this time the fangs sucked it up very slowly.

Zhang Chen could absorb a hare in the blink of an eye, but absorbing a little liquid from the crystal took a full six hours.

The blood seemed to be absorbed by the fangs. Seemingly sensing the crisis, the red bat in the blood flapped its wings, constantly hitting the fangs, trying to break the fangs, but the two fangs flashed with cold light, as if they were pillars supporting the sky. The waves of the small river could not do anything to Zhang Chen.

“Interesting!”

Zhang Chen looked at the changes in the blood in the crystal, a strange color appearing in his eyes.

‘Bang~’

Finally, at a certain moment, the crystal turned into a stream of light, and was directly absorbed by the fangs along with the blood. Then, the mouth in Zhang Chen's palm disappeared, as if nothing unusual had happened.

“Is that it? After absorbing the liquid from the mysterious jade tablet, there should be some reaction, right?” A dazed expression appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes, but before his thoughts could finish, a sudden burning sensation rose from his body.

“It's hot! It's as hot as a stove in summer!” Zhang Chen stood in the underground cave, and even the cold air didn't make him feel cold.

Moreover, although Zhang Chen felt very hot at this time, strangely, not a single drop of sweat fell from the pores of his body.

It's hot!

Very hot!

Moreover, the temperature was still rising, making Zhang Chen feel as if he had fallen into a furnace. The blood in his body was boiling, and even his flesh seemed to be emitting green smoke.

But from the outside, Zhang Chen was still the same as before. Except for a slightly flushed face, it seemed that nothing had happened.

“Why is it so hot! Damn it, I feel like my whole body is about to burn. It must be the effect of that crystal.” Zhang Chen walked directly to the depths of the underground cave, directly sticking to the soil covered with frost, but Zhang Chen's contact with the soil had no effect, as if the burning power in Zhang Chen's body did not exist. Even the frost hanging on the wall did not melt.