The Eternal Sin

Jiang Chen retrieved a small jade bottle and withdrew one of the top grade Qi Nourishing Pills. The medicinal fragrance was so potent that it seemed to invade his senses.

He popped it into his mouth, feeling a surge of pure refined energy explode in his throat and flow directly into his dantian. Days and nights began to blur into a singular cycle of cultivation.

Time moved at its own pace.

Jiang Chen rarely left his meditative state. Occasionally he would need to satisfy the basic needs of his body, eating and drinking or sleeping briefly before returning to cultivation.

The Divine Concealment Array remained undisturbed.

Four days passed with no sign of the Blood Sword making an appearance.

Still Jiang Chen remained cautious.

By the eighth day the silence of the valley was broken by the rustle of leaves.

A small white creature hopped along the tree branches.

It was a Cotton Rabbit, a Rank One demonic beast. The creature’s fluffy body resembled a ball of drifting cotton. Each time it jumped from branch to branch it looked like a floating puff of cloud tossed through the air.

The rabbit seemed quite lively. It prepared for a long ambitious jump but mid flight it suddenly struck something invisible.

Thump!

The creature tumbled to the ground, landing hard on its rear. Tiny stars seemed to spin inside its eyes from the impact. For a moment it sat there stunned.

Then it grew angry.

It began kicking the dirt with its powerful feet, searching for the culprit that had dared to impede its path. Yet no matter how it searched it could not see what had blocked its path.

The rabbit let out a series of angry squeaks. Just as it prepared to hop away in frustration a hand reached out from the empty air and snatched it firmly by its long velvet ears.

The creature shrieked in terror while kicking its tiny legs wildly.

Then Jiang Chen stepped out from the space of the array, his aura flaring with uncontrolled majestic intensity. The rabbit, sensing the overwhelming pressure, immediately went limp, sticking its tongue out and rolling its eyes back while pretending to be dead.

"What a sly little fellow," Jiang Chen said with a chuckle. His cultivation had been successful. He had reached the tenth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.

The moment he broke through, the spiritual pressure within his body surged outward uncontrollably like a rising tide. The surrounding grass even bent beneath the invisible weight of his aura.

The sudden increase in spiritual power made it difficult to completely suppress his qi fluctuations.

Within his dantian a vast spiritual sea churned like a restless ocean. Compared to his previous state at the eighth layer the amount of spiritual essence had nearly quadrupled.

Every meridian within his body had also subtly widened, allowing spiritual essence to flow more smoothly and rapidly than before.

Jiang Chen firmly willed his spiritual essence to retrace through his meridians like a returning river before gathering within his dantian. It took him several long breaths to calm the spiritual fluctuations of the qi sea.

Only then did his attention return to the trembling rabbit in his grasp.

Jiang Chen lifted the rabbit slightly while examining it. ’I have heard that the Cotton Rabbit is a delicacy. Today I will see if the rumors hold weight.’

With a thought a small dagger appeared in his palm. The rabbit secretly opened one eye to peek at its captor, but when it saw the cold glint of the blade it let out a shrill rabbit scream.

Screee!!

Its tiny legs kicked frantically through the air as it struggled to escape, but Jiang Chen’s grip around its ears was like iron. No matter how violently it thrashed it could not break free.

The dagger cleanly sliced open a vertical line along the rabbit’s chest. The sound of the hide splitting open was like paper tearing.

Scree! Scree! Sreeeee!!

The rabbit screamed in violent agony. Its tiny body convulsed painfully as bright crimson blood welled instantly from the wound before spilling down its white fur in thick streams. The soft cotton like fur quickly darkened as the warm liquid soaked through it.

Jiang Chen slightly spread the opening wound and saw three small red hearts throbbing in a frantic mismatched rhythm.

’Hm, only three hearts. This is merely an early stage beast,’ Jiang Chen observed the exposed insides with curiosity. ’A King tier Cotton Rabbit is said to possess fifteen hearts, making it extremely sought after by spirit chefs.’

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

’Now time for a taste.’

He inserted the tip of the dagger beneath one of the beating hearts. The rabbit’s body trembled violently as the cold blade touched the organ. With a small flick Jiang Chen scooped the heart directly into his mouth.

SKREEEEEE-!!!

The rabbit erupted in a chorus of unspeakable pain as Jiang Chen indifferently chomped down on the organ. A sweet watery flavor reminiscent of nectar infused silk filled his mouth.

His eyes brightened with genuine surprise. "Excellent! It truly tastes like cotton candy. The texture is also just right."

He licked his lips while staring at the rabbit greedily.

The rabbit shuddered under his gaze. Its remaining hearts pounded even faster inside the exposed chest.

Despite losing one heart it had not yet died. The unique vitality of its species allowed it to survive as long as a single heart remained beating.

Jiang Chen calmly removed another heart. The rabbit’s tragic cries turned into gurgling sounds as its lungs filled with blood. Its tiny body convulsed helplessly in pain while he chewed thoughtfully.

’This flesh trait of the Cotton Rabbit is quite fascinating. The strategic value of refining this beast to possess multiple hearts would mean that a fatal strike to my chest would be nothing more than a flesh wound, allowing for a lethal counterattack against a surprised foe. I could even fake death when meeting powerful enemies and then escape. Mm, I will consider refining this in the future.’

Scree...

The rabbit had lost all of its lively energy.

Jiang Chen directly parted the torn flesh and plucked the third and final heart. The moment the organ left the body the rabbit’s limbs stiffened and its eyes rolled upward. A final weak tremor passed through its small frame before all movement ceased.

Jiang Chen swallowed the last bite and wiped his lips clean. Sunken Moon Valley was still dangerous so he quickly packed the Divine Concealment Array into his ring. With a leap that covered thirty feet he vanished into the mountain mists, setting his sights on the distant peaks of the Heavenly Tiger Sect.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

It was finally time to return.