Chapter 661: Great Demon 24

If he hadn’t genuinely felt the mixed bloodlines being extracted from his body, Cang Long would have truly suspected Tan You of trying to take him out for good.

Bai Ze stood beside Tan You. "Can Cang Long endure it? Heart’s blood is incredibly difficult to extract."

Tan You pondered for a couple of breaths, then asked in a low voice, "There are only three bolts of Heavenly Thunder left. You should have noticed by now that all the other bloodlines in your body have been extracted."

"But your heart’s blood still contains other bloodlines. If we don’t remove them all in one go this time, it will be even more difficult to do so later."

The Nine-tailed Fox blinked. "Is it that serious? Cang Long has already been struck until he’s a bloody mess, and he still has to take three more lightning strikes?"

Tan You spread her hands. "If he wants to successfully revert to his ancestral form, of course he has to endure hardships others can’t. This Heavenly Thunder is nothing compared to the tribulation lightning I faced."

The Nine-tailed Fox flicked its tails. "It’s true, it’s not as bad as your tribulation. Cang Long, what do you think?"

Cang Long was on the verge of death from the strikes, but he wasn’t stupid, and his mind was still clear. He took a deep breath. "As long as you leave me breathing, Jin Huan, do your worst."

Tan You laughed. "How bold. Old Cang, I have to say, you’re quite the man."

Cang Long wearily closed his eyelids. "No matter how much of a man I am, I’m no match for you. You’re the real man here."

Tan You paid it no mind. Operating the Array, she sent three bolts of Heavenly Thunder striking fast, hard, and true right onto Cang Long’s reverse scale. Cang Long roared at the sky, his enormous body trying to thrash about, but he was bound tightly by chains of worldly elemental power. He couldn’t move an inch and could only endure it.

Just as the final bolt of Heavenly Thunder fell, two clusters of dark red essence blood floated out from Cang Long’s chest. With a casual wave of her hand, Tan You beckoned the two clusters of essence blood to her side.

Meanwhile, Cang Long, once large enough to blot out the sun, saw his body rapidly shrink by a full size. The entire dragon seemed to be paralyzed within the Array. If not for the slight twitching of the whiskers on his cheeks, the other demons would have thought Cang Long had kicked the bucket.

The Nine-tailed Fox stared intently at Cang Long. "Did he... succeed?"

Tan You dismantled the Array. "Of course. Go back and get some rest. These injuries are no joke."

The Nine-tailed Fox trotted over to Cang Long’s side in a few steps. Without the slightest hesitation, it tugged on Cang Long’s whiskers. Cang Long opened his volleyball-sized eyes, looked at the Nine-tailed Fox, then at Tan You. "You didn’t say it would be this painful."

Tan You gave her nose a tactical rub. "It was my first time using this Array, you know. Don’t worry, when your kid comes for his bloodline purification, I’ll adjust the intensity for him."

Cang Long’s son’s face was filled with lingering terror. "Senior Jin Huan, I’m not in a hurry. Not in a hurry at all..."

’His own father, a demon on the verge of ascension, had just been struck into that sorry state and could only lie on the ground playing dead. He was just a little Rank-Eight demon. He really wasn’t in a hurry.’

Tan You said teasingly, "Why not take a shot now while you’re still relatively weak? In the Ancient Times, the younger you were, the better the results, and the less you’d suffer."

Cang Long’s son, Cang Jue, blinked. "Really? Lord Bai Ze? Is that true?"

Bai Ze nodded. "Indeed. As far as I know, in the Ancient Times, the Demon Clan would have their young ones purify their bloodlines right after they reached the Sixth Rank, as their heart’s blood hadn’t fully fused yet."

"Furthermore, purifying the bloodline earlier leads to greater progress in subsequent cultivation."

"The first several dozen lightning strikes Cang Long took—half of them were to separate the other essence bloods from his heart, and the other half were to expel the other bloodlines from his body. Cang Long has the most right to speak on this." Tan You chimed in, playfully prying open Cang Long’s eyelid. "Old Cang, I’m not wrong, am I?"

"Right, you’re not wrong," Cang Long said. He was too exasperated by the Nine-tailed Fox and Tan You to argue. He didn’t want the other demons pulling his whiskers and prying his eyes open anymore either. Plus, covered in bloody marks as he was, he certainly lacked his former majesty.

So, for a change, Cang Long transformed into his human form. In this form, aside from his slightly pale skin, he looked no different from an ordinary person.

Cang Jue hesitated. "Dad, what should I choose?"

The Red Flame Tiger shoved Cang Jue aside. "Is it your turn to choose? Get in the back of the line, kid. Us uncles haven’t had our bloodlines purified yet."

The Golden-Winged Roc and the other demons all nodded in agreement. Though it was painful, the results were obvious. They were all Great Demons, so why should they let Cang Long have all the glory?

They wanted their bloodlines purified too!

Shoved off balance, Cang Jue glared, but then he looked ahead at the Red Flame Tiger, to his left at the Nine-tailed Fox, to his right at the Roc, and up at the Chongming Bird overhead. Cang Jue immediately shut his mouth.

’He couldn’t afford to offend any of them! Not a single one! He’d better just get in line obediently.’

Cang Long unceremoniously leaned his full weight on Cang Jue. Cang Jue’s shoulders sagged. "Dad, you clearly got smaller, so how did you get heavier?"

Cang Long retorted irritably, "Haven’t you heard Jin Huan say it? Good things come in small packages. But Jin Huan, why do I get the feeling you brought out this Array today to experiment on us?"

Tan You smiled with pure innocence. "Did I? Am I that kind of unreliable demon?"

Cang Long smacked his lips. "Didn’t you? Ah, whatever. As long as I benefited, that’s all that matters. Who’s next? The Nine-tailed Fox? Jin Huan, you absolutely can’t go easy on him. That guy was laughing his head off at me just now."

Tan You hugged an armful of fox tails, rubbing her cheek against them. "I’ve already accepted a bribe, so I can’t go back on my word, can I? If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not being fluffy."

Cang Long snorted. "I’m a scaly demon. How am I supposed to become fluffy for you?"

The Nine-tailed Fox’s tails brushed against Tan You’s neck. "Huanhuan, let me be next. If Cang Long could get through it, I’m certainly no worse than him."

Tan You smiled. "Alright. Don’t worry, I’ll make the proper adjustments."

’It wasn’t that she was biased toward fluffy things. It was just that with Cang Long being the first guinea pig, it was inevitable that she’d be a bit clumsy. So, Cang Long could forgive her for his... suffering just now, right?’

Tan You felt a little guilty, but then she thought that if it weren’t for her, Cang Long would have probably ascended with an impure bloodline. With that, she felt perfectly justified. As long as the result was good, the process didn’t matter.

As it happened, Cang Long also wanted to see how the other demons’ bloodlines were purified, so he just sprawled out boldly on the lounge chair beside Tan You. The chair was Tan You’s own, but who could blame him? He was on her territory, after all.

Besides, he was an injured party. As such, Cang Long felt not the slightest bit of guilt for using Tan You’s lounge chair.

Of course, Tan You wouldn’t bicker with Cang Long over it. ’She wasn’t a petty person, okay? At most, she’d just crank up the difficulty a bit when his kid came for his bloodline purification later.’

With experience, Tan You’s control became more and more precise as she purified the bloodlines of the subsequent Great Demons.