Chapter 536: Golden Blood (Three)

Seeing the blood slowly flow from his arm, Tie Ta sighed, “Changyang Xiangtian, take a look. Is my blood not red?”

“How… how did this happen?” Jian Chen whispered with a stunned voice. Tie Ta’s blood being a golden color was far too strange to even imagine.

“Jian Chen, look! His blood is even glowing!” Ming Dong suddenly pointed at Tie Ta’s arm with a finger and wide open eyes.

Looking back at Tie Ta’s arm, Jian Chen could see that the golden blood dripping down Tie Ta’s arm was indeed s.h.i.+ning. If not for the fact that they were in a relatively dim place, this glow would have been very difficult to discover.

Jian Chen could only feel even more shock at this point. Not only was Tie Ta’s blood golden, it also had a golden glow to it. Such a sight like this was completely unheard of and unprecedented.

“Tie Ta, how did your blood become like this?” Jian Chen asked in shock.

“I… I don’t know either.” Tie Ta looked helpless. He too was completely confused on how his blood had become golden in color.

“According to my knowledge, the blood of magical beasts is the only blood that can have variations in color. Humanity has never had any other color but red for their blood. This is simply too unbelievable to see. Tie Ta’s blood is golden.” Ming Dong exclaimed.

“Jian Chen, look at my body and how dark-skinned I am. Would you say I’m a human, a magical beast, or even a monstrosity?” Tie Ta looked to Jian Chen with a face of dread and terror. He was extremely afraid of what he could possibly be.

“You should be fine!” Jian Chen’s eyes narrowed together as he spoke. Whatever was happening to Tie Ta was simply too bizarre to understand.

After a while, Jian Chen asked, “Tie Ta, did you eat anything strange in the past?”

Thinking for a moment, Tie Ta shook his head, “No. I’ve only ate the standard fare, whether that is the meat of the wild animals or the food from the academy.”

“Then you never ate any strange fruit or strange plant either?” Ming Dong asked.

“None, I’ve never ate anything like that.” Tia Ta shook his head again.

“Then when did you realize that your blood was golden? Did you feel some sort of strange sensation or something different in your body at any time?” Jian Chen persisted.

Tie Ta paused to think. “One day in Kargath Academy, I was hunting for magical beasts by myself when I came across a strong one by accident. When it drew blood, I realized at that moment that my blood had become golden.”

With a questioning murmur to himself, Jian Chen spoke, “How queer. When we came across the azure wolves in the forest, I clearly remember your blood still being red. How could it have suddenly become golden!?” Jian Chen’s eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought before suddenly thinking of something. “Tie Ta, from the day I left Kargath Academy to the day you realized that your blood became golden, did you realize your body was undergoing any type of transformation?”

“None. Everything was normal. It’s only after I formed my Saint Weapon that I felt my strength increase every day. Even if I did not cultivate, it would increase without stopping. Furthermore, my body grew taller as well, just look at how tall I am now.” As he was speaking, Tie Ta seemed to have remembered something and piped up, “Ah! I remember that while I was condensing my Saint Force to form my Saint Weapon, I felt my entire body grow extremely hot. Practically every part of it felt as if there was a ball of fire within my body. Do you think that’s the reason?”

Jian Chen grew silent as he couldn’t help but think about when he had condensed his own Saint Weapon. At that time, the azure and violet light had appeared all of a sudden within his dantian. Tie Ta had felt an unbelievable wave of heat through his body. This was extremely unusual since an ordinary person materializing their Saint Weapon would only feel their strength increase and not any other symptom.

“It would appear that the problem is most likely because of that.” Jian Chen muttered.

“Where was the problem?” Tie Ta’s eyes lit up as he studied Jian Chen with an anxious, nervous face.

Hesitating, Jian Chen replied, “It should be from the moment you made your Saint Weapon. Some sort of mutation happened in your body at that time. However, that’s just my guess since I’m not clear on just what could possibly turn your blood golden.”

Left with no clear answer still, Tie Ta scratched at his head in vexation. Distressed, he asked, “Just what in the world is happening? If this continues, do you think I’ll become some sort of monster?”

“Tie Ta, you needn’t worry. Your blood is indeed unique; according to what I know, the blood of some magical beasts is quite special. Some don’t even have golden blood. With blood like yours, this may be a blessing in disguise instead of misfortune.” Ming Dong comforted him.

“But, but…” Tie Ta clearly did not seem to accept that reply.

“There’s no buts about it. Ming Dong is right. This is a blessing and not a misfortune that cannot be avoided. Tie Ta, you don’t have to be so vexed. It will do nothing to solve your problem. Instead, you should accept the fact and stop spending your time worrying about it.” Jian Chen sternly spoke. Having said that, he couldn’t help but think back to the bitter experiences he once had. At that time he didn’t know about the secrets of the azure and violet Sword Spirits, nor why they had taken up residence within his dantian. Despite being so vexed about them, they had not been a source of calamity for him. Instead, he had profited from them with plenty of good results.

“Fine then. I won’t worry so much about it anymore. Who cares if I’m a human or monster? Even if I become one, then I’ll just my live my days in a place without humans.” With the comforting of Jian Chen and Ming Dong, Tie Ta finally decided to accept his predicament.

“That’s the spirit, just learn to accept it. You fear your golden blood, but it might be a symbol of your innate uniqueness. Don’t forget that you have an natural blessing.” Jian Chen laughed as he took out a towel from his s.p.a.ce Ring to wipe away the blood on Tie Ta’s arm. When the towel wiped away the blood, Tie Ta’s arm was without any traces of the injury as if it had never happened.

“Eh? Your injury has already healed, what a powerful recovery rate!” Jian Chen cried out in shock.

Tie Ta laughed, “My body heals quickly even after being injured.”

“Could this be the magic of your golden blood?” Ming Dong was astonished as well.

Jian Chen waved his hand in resignation, “Forget it, there’s no point in talking about it anymore. No matter how much we try to find an answer, we’ll only be making blind guesses as things stand. Tie Ta, it’s been years since we last met, let me see just how much you’ve improved since then.”

Tie Ta had finally cracked open a smile at his words. “I haven’t slacked off at all these past few years. Everyday I’ve cultivated so that even now, I’m a middle Great Saint Master. Changyang Xiangtian, how’s your strength now? You may have beaten me when we were in Kargath Academy, but who knows whether or not you’ll beat me today?”

It was between laughter and tears that Ming Dong looked at Tie Ta, “Tie Ta, you look down too much on Jian Chen! Even Heaven Saint Masters find themselves dying at Jian Chen’s hand. As a Great Saint Master, Jian Chen could move a single finger to defeat you.”

Turning pale with fright, Tie Ta cried out, “What? Even Heaven Saint Masters died because of him? Is that really true? Forget it then! We’re not fighting. There’s no way I’ll fight with you!” Frantically, Tie Ta shook his hands and stared at Jian Chen as if he was the true monster.

Laughing, Jian Chen was about to say something when Ming Dong suddenly piped up first, “Tie Ta, I’ve heard from Jian Chen that you’re unnaturally strong. Why not fight with me then?”

The naturally straightforward Tie Ta was not modest this time as he inquired, “My strength is quite strong, yes. Can you take it? What if I hurt you somehow?”

Unable to laugh or cry, Ming Dong replied, “If you can injure me, I’ll ram my head into the tree and kill myself!”

“No no no, that won’t do! You’re the brother of Changyang Xiangtian and the brother of mine by extension. How could I possibly allow you to do such a thing? Let us not fight and wait for another opportunity then.” Tie Ta didn’t realize the meaning behind Ming Dong’s words, so they had scared him greatly.

Ming Dong’s leg staggered so violently that he nearly fell to the ground. Smiling hollowly, he said to Jian Chen, “Jian Chen! Your brother here is… he’s… he’s too naive!”

Jian Chen couldn’t help but smile. Tie Ta was truly a simplistic thinker and wouldn’t think too much on such problems like these.

“Tie Ta, you shouldn’t underestimate Ming Dong. He already stands at the pinnacle of the realm of Earth Saint Masters. There is only a string’s width of a step before he becomes a Heaven Saint Master, but even a Heaven Saint Master wouldn’t be able to easily harm him. You needn’t worry about this.” Jian Chen spoke to Tie Ta.

“Aaah? That can’t be, even Ming Dong is that strong? How can you two be so amazing? I already thought that I was strong enough, but even now, you two are even stronger than I am.” Tie Ta’s self confidence had taken a tremendous setback after that.

Ming Dong pulled back at his sleeves with a smile, “Tie Ta, you can rest a.s.sured now. Come, fight me without holding back. If I as a Sixth Cycle Earth Saint Master am injured by a Great Saint Master, then I, Ming Dong, won’t be able to continue my life in this Tian Yuan Continent anymore.”

“Fine then. Since you’re already an Earth Saint Master, I shouldn’t be able to harm you. Prepare yourself then, I’ll start now!” Tie Ta stood up. He was serious now. With a crackling sound from both of his giant fists, he immediately struck at Ming Dong’s chest with the slight booming sound of thunder following close behind.

Ming Dong stood there without a proper stance, but his palms were filled with the wind element energy. Becoming a blur, his hands flew up to his chest to block Tie Ta’s fist.

“Bang!” When the palm and fist collided, there was a deep m.u.f.fled sound as if the sound of thunder could be heard echoing through the air, forcing the hearts of anyone that heard it to skip a beat.

Jian Chen was slightly startled. Staring in bewilderment at Tie Ta, he could sense that Tie Ta’s fist had a strength that was far beyond what was to be expected. When Tie Ta’s fist impacted against Ming Dong’s palm, there had been a thunderous sound that penetrated the bones and organs with enough force to rupture them.

After the vibrational force from the palm and fist subsided, Tie Ta staggered back a few steps. Ming Dong’s body shook violently for a moment, but instead of staggering back, his feet dug deeper and deeper into the ground.

There was a startled expression on Ming Dong’s face as well as he exclaimed, “What force! No wonder Jian Chen said you are naturally blessed!”

Seeing that Ming Dong was still standing there, Tie Ta had a look of wors.h.i.+p on his face, “Brother Ming Dong, you’re truly amazing! My fist wasn’t able to even knock you back. Then I’ll go with my full power then, be careful now!”