Chapter 577 - 574: Gu Lele’s Transformation (2)

"If that happens, the one who gets hurt or killed might be you, it might be Gu Peng, or it could even be me."

Gu Lele quickly shook her head. "No! Lele doesn’t want my brother or Brother Mo to get hurt!"

"So you have to remember: being merciful to your enemies is being cruel to yourself!" Mo Qi added.

Gu Lele nodded emphatically. "Lele understands."

"Very good!" Mo Qi raised his hand, and a mass of purplish-black blood appeared in his palm. "Come on. Take back the glory that is rightfully yours!"

Gu Lele stared at the mass of purplish-black blood. ’This is it,’ she knew. ’This is the source of my suffering for so many years—the so-called Talent Bloodline.’

"What do I need to do?" Gu Lele asked.

Mo Qi explained, "All the meridians in your body are ruined, and your flesh has congealed. As the saying goes, ’one must be broken to be rebuilt.’ To house the Shadow Kill Bloodline again, we need to shatter your meridians once more, break down your flesh, and then remold your body."

Gu Lele didn’t understand any of it, but Gu Peng, standing beside her, gasped.

"Brother Mo, Lele is just an ordinary person! She has no Cultivation whatsoever, and her constitution is far weaker than an average person’s. She can’t possibly withstand that!"

’Shattering meridians and breaking down flesh... even a strong, healthy person would be left half-dead. For someone like Lele, it would probably kill her instantly.’

Mo Qi waved his hand dismissively. "You don’t need to worry about that. I have it handled; I guarantee her physical body will be unharmed. However, I can’t help Lele avoid the pain. She’ll have to endure that herself."

Hearing this, Gu Peng turned to Gu Lele. "Lele, maybe we should just forget it."

He couldn’t bear to see Gu Lele suffer such an ordeal.

"No! I can do it!" But Gu Lele was frighteningly determined.

"Brother Mo, don’t hold back. No matter how painful it is, I can take it!"

Since Gu Lele insisted, Gu Peng had nothing more to say. He could only nod in agreement.

Mo Qi took out a piece of Immortal Wood and offered it to Gu Lele.

"Bite down on this. I’ll try to make it quick."

Gu Lele shook her head, refusing. "I don’t need it. I can handle the pain."

This time, it was Mo Qi who was surprised.

’He’d told Gu Lele to bite the Immortal Wood because he was worried she wouldn’t be able to stand the pain and would bite off her own tongue. He never expected her to refuse.’

He could see that Gu Lele wasn’t joking.

Putting away the Immortal Wood, Mo Qi respected Gu Lele’s decision.

"Get ready. I’m starting."

Gu Peng turned away, unable to bear the sight of what was about to happen.

Gu Lele, by contrast, appeared much calmer. But the panic in her eyes showed that she was not nearly as composed as she seemed.

Mo Qi sliced open his fingertip, forced out a drop of Essence Blood, and flicked it into the air.

SWOOSH!

The pale golden blood expanded in the air, transforming into a flowing stream that wrapped around Gu Lele and suspended her in mid-air.

RRRIP!

Gu Lele’s clothes were torn asunder, shredded to fragments by the immense force.

Then, the blood surged like a tide, completely enveloping Gu Lele.

"Break!" Mo Qi growled, making a fist-clenching gesture toward Gu Lele.

CREAK! GRIND!

SNAP! CRACK!

The cringe-inducing sounds of tendons twisting, grinding, and snapping filled the air.

The process of shattering her meridians and breaking down her flesh had begun!

The pale golden tide of blood suddenly contracted, and Gu Lele couldn’t stop a blood-curdling scream from tearing from her throat.

Agony, overwhelming as a tsunami, assaulted her from every corner of her body. It felt as if countless coarse metal rods had pierced through her, grinding back and forth without restraint.

Gu Peng’s heart shattered. He wished he were the one suffering in her place.

Gu Lele thought she would be lost in the immense pain, that she would simply pass out. But then, a peculiar Energy seeped from the tide of blood enveloping her. It burrowed into her body, and her fading consciousness instantly became crystal clear.

An even more ferocious wave of pain washed over her!

This time, Gu Lele clenched her jaw, somehow managing to suppress her screams.

When he could no longer hear Gu Lele’s voice, Gu Peng panicked. Thinking something had gone wrong, he whirled around, only to see the tide of blood glowing with a golden light.

"Brother Mo, is Lele okay?" Gu Peng asked, worried.

Mo Qi shook his head. "She’s fine."

"If she’s fine, why isn’t she making a sound?" Gu Peng was still unconvinced.

Mo Qi’s expression was strange. "She... she’s enduring the pain of having her meridians shattered and her flesh broken down!"

"What?!" Gu Peng’s face went pale with shock.

’He himself had experienced having his Dantian crippled and all his meridians severed. Even now, he refused to recall that agony. He knew he could never have endured it so silently as Gu Lele had.’

"Brother Mo, this..."

Mo Qi clapped Gu Peng on the shoulder. "Lele’s resilience is far beyond what we imagined. The Shadow Kill Bloodline is practically tailor-made for her. Her future potential is limitless!"

What he didn’t tell Gu Peng was that his drop of Essence Blood was doing far more than just keeping Gu Lele alive.

That drop of Essence Blood came from his right index finger, which had been enhanced by the Moon Spirit Sect. Even Mo Qi himself didn’t know how terrifyingly potent its life-giving Energy and medicinal properties were.

In any case, Gu Lele’s physical body and her very essence of life were about to undergo a fundamental transformation.

Once the shattering of her meridians and the breaking down of her flesh was complete, Mo Qi fused the Shadow Kill Bloodline into the blood tide.

The Shadow Kill Bloodline would fuse with her as the blood tide reshaped her meridians, creating a perfect, fundamental bond.

"You get in there, too!" Mo Qi then kicked the black sphere, formed from Gu Zetao’s shadow, into the blood tide.

That was the culmination of Gu Zetao’s years of cultivating the Shadow Kill Bloodline, which Mo Qi had stripped from him. Now, it was all for Gu Lele’s benefit.

Soon, the light from the blood tide gradually receded, transforming into a giant, black, humanoid cocoon that hovered in mid-air.

"All done." Mo Qi dusted off his hands and let out a long breath.

"All done?" Gu Peng stared at the black cocoon, dumbfounded.

"Relax. The most critical part is over. Fusing with the bloodline isn’t a quick process. Lele will wake up in about two days."

Only then did Gu Peng breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Brother Mo, for making this possible!" Gu Peng clasped his hands and bowed deeply to Mo Qi, his body bent low to the ground.

Mo Qi quickly helped Gu Peng up. "We’re brothers. There’s no need for such formalities."

Before Gu Peng could say another word, Mo Qi’s figure flashed, and he was back in the kitchen.

Gu Peng stood stunned, staring for a long time at the spot where Mo Qi had vanished.

Finally, he sat cross-legged beneath the black cocoon, resolved to stand guard over Gu Lele until she awoke.

That day, a notice was posted outside Uncle Niu’s Kitchen God restaurant: "The Elite and VIP sections will be closed today and tomorrow."

No reason was given; it was simply a unilateral announcement. This caused quite a stir among the crowd waiting outside.

Many had come specifically for the personalized service in the VIP section. After finally paying a high price for a spot near the front, now they were being told the restaurant was closed?!

Although many were displeased, there was nothing they could do.

Meanwhile, in a valley far, far away from the restaurant, Qin Hai and three others were gathered together.

"Zetao is dead!" Gu Weitian roared, his powerful aura suddenly erupting from him.