Level Up in Martial World

So, Lu Zhen was shocked when he heard that he needed to give his blood essence.

"What\'s the guarantee that it works?" Lu Zhen said with a sneer on his face.

"You must have felt the language, right? This contract is a special one that binds one with their blood, and if anyone breaks it, the breaker\'s lifespan will decrease by at least 50%..."

Lu Zhen frowned when he heard this. Actually, even if the lifespan of the person decreased, it wasn\'t a fully binding contract since the person would still be alive, and it didn\'t have much binding power either. But that wasn\'t the main problem.

Lu Zhen\'s eyes turned golden as he looked at the contract again.

[Blood Contract]

[Grade: ???]

[Remark: A contract that binds one with their blood essence, and once it is broken, the person who broke it will have their blood essence drained, causing permanent damage to one\'s blood, decreasing the lifespan of the person who broke the contract by at least half.]

Lu Zhen was a little surprised by its rank since the contract as he has seen the "???" in grades when the thing is too far away from Lu Zhen\'s realm it meant that the contract was higher than intent grade, which means it is in a higher realm than even a first stage martial artist. However, since the contract details weren\'t much different from what the girl had told him, he nodded his head.

Still, he needed to verify one thing.

"What about your blood essence?" Lu Zhen looked strangely at the girl. Since she was possessing Ju Ji\'s body, it should not be possible for her to give her blood. He spotted a simple loophole in the contract after briefly contemplating it.

Both persons had to give their blood essence, which meant that if one gave another\'s blood essence, it would still work. It was a loophole that could be easily exploited to the max.

Lu Zhen quickly grasped the potential loopholes in the contract – a person could use the blood essence of a different being to bind the contract, thus making them free from the contract\'s binding force. This realisation made him feel a sense of freedom.

The girl\'s white eyes quivered slightly as she retrieved a vial from thin air. The vial was crystal clear and see-through, but it wasn\'t made of glass. Inside the vial was a blackish liquid that seemed to teem with vitality, and the aura it emitted conveyed a sense of life force.

Lu Zhen\'s eyes widened as he saw the vial materialise before him. He began to realise that this girl might have planned everything from the beginning, and this sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn\'t underestimate the calculations of a mage.

"I must never underestimate the calculations of a mage," Lu Zhen thought as he examined the vial with his golden eyes.

**[Blood Essence of Elv]**

**[Grade: ???]**

**[Remark: Blood essence from a powerhouse that has lived for at least an era.]**

"Since we are partners now, what is your name?" Lu Zhen said with a peculiar smile on his face as he looked at her.

"The sorceress of death."

"I mean your real name," Lu Zhen said as his eyes shined.

"Why do you need my real name..." the girl responded, but she was cut off by Lu Zhen.

"Just tell me. Since we need to form trust if we want to work together," Lu Zhen thought with a sneer.

"Elv," she simply responded with a confused expression.

"Alright, we have a deal," Lu Zhen nodded decisively, closing his eyes as he sensed his blood essence circulating through his body from his heart.

He moved his hands as if holding a sword, then slashed at his wrist.

Elv\'s eyes widened when she saw Lu Zhen\'s hand movement almost like an image of a sword.

"Wasn\'t he previously proficient in the art of the saber? Is he also skilled in swordsmanship?" she thought with shock. Although she was not a martial artist, she wasn\'t totally ignorant about the martial arts realms. After spending an entire era in seclusion, her servant occasionally went out in search of information.

Elv knew how hard martial artists had to train to master their weapons, gaining proficiency in the principles of using their weapons imaginatively. This realm was quite different from one\'s cultivation, as it involved understanding the weapon. In the mage era, this was rarely used, as primitive weapons were no longer in common use.

As his hands, swinging like a sword, met his wrist, he could barely cut his skin by a small amount before his momentum died down.

He focused on the wound, closed his eyes, and subtly manipulated his body, stopping all the blood flow before forcing out a drop of his golden blood from his heart.

Under the widened eyes of Elv. Instead of blood gushing out, a small drop of goldenish blood emerged.

"This... how is this possible?" her eyes widened in disbelief. Extracting blood essence was a complex procedure that required careful handling. It wasn\'t easy to extract blood essence like that. Even in the mage era, various technologies were used to extract blood essence easily without harming the person. What Lu Zhen had just done was truly remarkable.

"Has his level of body control reached such a high level?" The girl\'s white eyes fluctuated with a strange light.

"So, are we in agreement?" Lu Zhen\'s cold voice brought her back to the moment. She looked directly into Lu Zhen\'s eyes and nodded.

"Let me out."

"Okay." Lu Zhen slashed with his hands, creating a wind pressure that sliced through the cage revealing Elv unharmed.