Seeing this, Dongfang Cangwu's eyebrows twitched. Forgetting the Duandan grass he had just plucked, he immediately raised a hand and cast a sealing spell at Yan Jiaojiao!
Alas, his efforts were in vain. The sealing spell flew out fiercely, but before it could restrain Yan Jiaojiao, it suddenly dissipated in mid-air.
Dongfang Cangwu was abruptly pulled by a suction force. The next second, a small black dog landed with a thud a few feet in front of Yan Jiaojiao.
Yan Jiaojiao gasped.
One person and one dog looked at each other, their eyes filled with uncontrollable disappointment.
Yan Jiaojiao, whose life hung by a thread, was the first to react. She reluctantly forced out a smile and called out, "Xiao Hei, can you use your magic to help your master come out first?"
Master? You dare?
Dongfang Cangwu silently intensified his efforts, making the swamp swallow Yan Jiaojiao more rapidly.
The mud immediately submerged Yan Jiaojiao's mouth and nose, silencing her.
Having already expended a great deal of divine sense in the summoning, and now deprived of oxygen, dizziness and suffocation assailed her. Yan Jiaojiao could only desperately signal with her eyes, urging the little black dog to save her.
Has this little black dog gone stupid? What's he waiting for? Hurry up and move for this venerable one!
The mud continued to spread, already covering Yan Jiaojiao's eyes.
Just as Yan Jiaojiao was on the verge of death, the suction on her body suddenly lightened. In the next breath, Yan Jiaojiao fell heavily onto solid ground, splashing mud.
"Cough cough... spit!"
Yan Jiaojiao spat out muddy water, her chest heaving, greedily inhaling the fresh spiritual energy.
The little black dog squatted beside her, his dark eyes gazing at her intently.
He couldn't kill her.
He had thought that once Yan Jiaojiao died, the summoning bond would be broken, and Dongfang Cangwu would no longer be bothered by her.
But unexpectedly, just as Yan Jiaojiao was on the brink of death, Dongfang Cangwu's heart clenched, and immense pain threatened to tear his heart apart!
Bloodline connection!
Dongfang Cangwu suddenly regretted it.
When he broke through the restrictions that day, he shouldn't have lingered on the sweetness of her blood. He had unintentionally planted the bloodline connection.
Ordinary summoned beasts and summoners had only a normal contract. The summons would arrive, and the summoner's life or death had no bearing on the summoned beast. In fact, upon the summoner's death, the summoning contract would dissipate.
Only with a bloodline connection could the summoner and summoned beast be tightly bound. If the summoner died, the summoned beast, even if it survived, would be half-dead.
This bloodline connection could not be forcibly created through spells. It only had a very low chance of occurring when the summoner and summoned beast had exchanged blood.
By some cruel twist of fate, this bloodline connection summoning technique had befallen Yan Jiaojiao and Dongfang Cangwu.
No wonder his spells were ineffective against Yan Jiaojiao, and even rebounded.
Now that the bloodline connection between them had been confirmed, Dongfang Cangwu had no choice but to accept it, even if he was unwilling.
Therefore, when Yan Jiaojiao's life was hanging by a thread just now, Dongfang Cangwu knew he wouldn't have a good outcome. Reluctantly, at the last moment, he had to act and pull her out of the swamp.
After a long while, Yan Jiaojiao, lying on the ground, finally recovered her breath. The mud and slime on her body made her feel uncomfortable.
For the umpteenth time, Yan Jiaojiao doubted the Dao of Heaven. Was this a reward for her, or was she being punished with a tribulation?
If it weren't for the little black dog she had summoned, she would have been buried in the mud.
Yan Jiaojiao pushed herself up, mud and water still dripping from her body.
"Xiao Hei, thank goodness you're here."
She reached out to touch the little black dog, but he quickly dodged. She even thought she saw disgust in the little black dog's eyes.
However, following the direction of the little black dog's leap, Yan Jiaojiao's gaze fell upon a spot on the ground, and she froze.
There lay a spiritual grass, shimmering with faint green light. Its leaves were spread, and its spiritual energy was abundant.
Wasn't this the Duandan grass?
Yan Jiaojiao was ecstatic!
"Xiao Hei, did you pick this for me?"
As she spoke, Yan Jiaojiao had already grasped the Duandan grass, leaving a muddy imprint on it.
Dongfang Cangwu was furious: What can I do to kill this woman!
This was the Duandan grass he had just plucked. If it weren't for this damned woman's reckless summoning, would he have fallen here with the Duandan grass, only for this woman to benefit?
While Dongfang Cangwu was distressed, Yan Jiaojiao's mind was filled with thoughts of returning to her peak.
With the long-desired Duandan grass in hand, Yan Jiaojiao paid no heed to the little black dog's resentment. She raised her hand, formed a seal, and decisively absorbed the Duandan grass into her body.
Her movements were so fast that Dongfang Cangwu didn't have time to react.
Is she tired of living?
The next second, Dongfang Cangwu gritted his teeth. This woman was completely ignorant. How could a good-for-nothing like her withstand the absorption of such a great tonic as the Duandan grass without gradually digesting it?
At this moment, Yan Jiaojiao had entered meditation after consuming the Duandan grass.
In her dark, vast sea of consciousness, faint green light appeared, slowly condensing into the shape of the Duandan grass. It swayed its leaves, emitting a cool spiritual energy that attracted the fragments of the inner core in the sea of consciousness.
The light layers enveloped the fragments, making them larger and larger, revolving and shimmering brilliantly.
Yan Jiaojiao knew that the Duandan grass was condensing the inner core anew. Even with her thousand years of life, she couldn't help but feel excited at this moment.
She could finally escape her humiliating days.
But just as Dongfang Cangwu had predicted, Yan Jiaojiao's joy lasted less than three seconds. The fragments enveloped by the Duandan grass not only failed to condense into a core but also grew larger and larger. In a short while, they exceeded Yan Jiaojiao's narrow sea of consciousness, almost tearing the dark sea of consciousness apart.
Stop for this venerable one!
Yan Jiaojiao sensed that something was wrong and tried to control the Duandan grass to continue condensing, but it was all in vain.
The sea of consciousness seemed unable to contain the strong and massive fragments of the inner core anymore, and cracks began to appear.
The unique cool spiritual energy of the Duandan grass overflowed. Upon contact with the warm spiritual energy in Yan Jiaojiao's meridians, the cold and heat immediately clashed, creating continuous impacts throughout Yan Jiaojiao's limbs and bones!
While Yan Jiaojiao was in a life-and-death struggle, Dongfang Cangwu, still maintaining the form of a little black dog, had calmed down and was leisurely watching Yan Jiaojiao.
The mud on Yan Jiaojiao's body had dried, and she sat there like a mud statue.
Only her small face could vaguely be recognized as human. However, that small face turned green one moment and red the next. Even with mud smeared on it, her changing complexion couldn't be hidden.
Amusing.
Dongfang Cangwu knew she wouldn't die anytime soon, so he was happy to watch the woman who had stolen his spiritual medicine suffer a bit.
The more Yan Jiaojiao frowned, the happier Dongfang Cangwu became.
"Ugh..."
After a battle of spiritual energy within her body, Yan Jiaojiao finally couldn't bear it any longer, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.