In all his long years, G.S.D had never encountered such a bizarre existence.
Setting aside the fact that ordinary people were fundamentally incapable of cultivating the Blood-Qi Secret Technique—a path normally reserved strictly for Berserkers—Li Ke's body bore absolutely none of the typical, irreparable damage. There was no internal clotting stagnating in his blood vessels, nor was there any structural damage to his heart or lungs. This implied that throughout his entire journey of mastering the Blood-Qi Secret Technique, Li Ke had never once made a single mistake!
That was flatly impossible. No matter how much of a once-in-a-generation genius someone was, channeling such a volatile and primal force was bound to inflict massive strain on the heart and brain. It was only because Ghost Knights possessed a Ghost Hand that they could filter and absorb that destructive feedback.
Even then, the moment a Ghost Knight tapped into the Blood-Qi Secret Technique, their body still suffered accumulating internal trauma.
Yet, Li Ke defied every established rule. His body looked as pristine as if he had never touched the technique in his life. Paradoxically, the level of active control over the blood-qi he was currently displaying was nowhere near advanced enough to explain how he was pulling this off without causing self-harm.
"Incredible... Truly extraordinary... I suppose if you live long enough, you really do get to see everything."
G.S.D rubbed his chin, his curiosity toward Li Ke deepening by the second.
Among the Ghost Knights who sought him out, many were driven by deep-seated, bitter blood feuds. Without exception, those individuals walked the path of extremes, chasing after this violent power like moths to a flame.
Yet, not a single one of them had ever managed to reach the very end of that path. In fact, very few could even reach Li Ke's current domain.
"What's the matter? Am I really that much of an anomaly?"
Li Ke was well aware of his own uniqueness. He knew full well that how the Blood-Qi Secret Technique manifested within him was drastically different from standard Berserkers. If he hadn't possessed those conceptually broken, cheat-tier medical items, he would have dropped dead more times than he could count. He was under no illusions about that reality.
"Yes. If you were a standard Berserker, your current realm would already allow you to call yourself a Hell Bringer, because your raw blood-qi is dense enough to violently suppress most other life forces. However, precisely because you have never absorbed foreign blood-qi, your actual combat output will never match a true Hell Bringer."
G.S.D couldn't help but offer a detailed critique. Hell Bringer was a legendary peak within the Berserker path.
The ultimate fate for an ordinary Berserker was an early grave—a grim certainty anyone walking the path of blood-qi understood from day one. Yet, there were always those few who refused to accept death. They frantically devoured the blood-qi of other powerful creatures to bolster their own, constantly waging a psychological war of attrition against the foreign wills trapped inside their veins, dragging themselves back from the brink of absolute madness time and time again.
This was because the volatile cocktail of mismatched blood-qi they absorbed constantly threatened to make them literally detonate from the inside out.
Through that brutal tempering, their internal energy grew fiercely oppressive, powerful enough to violently dominate hundreds of distinct, powerful life forces. They could manipulate the laws of blood flawlessly—to the point where a single scratch inflicted on an opponent was enough to instantly siphon them entirely dry.
Li Ke, however, was a complete inversion. His blood-qi was utterly pure, completely devoid of any foreign impurities. While this immaculate state ensured the power would never turn volatile and claim his life, it also meant he lacked that terrifyingly explosive, hyper-destructive output.
Strictly speaking, both paths possessed their own unique advantages and drawbacks. In G.S.D's eyes, although Li Ke was walking the orthodox path, it was far too arduous, and his raw destructive output fell drastically short compared to a Berserker who actively devoured foreign blood-qi.
Yet, it was incredibly safe... a form of safety that almost felt counterproductive.
Li Ke's current method of cultivation made it impossible to acquire explosive power in a short frame of time. The terrifying bursts of damage and near-infinite battlefield sustain characteristic of a true Berserker were entirely absent in him.
This was because until Li Ke's own life essence grew powerful enough to stand on its own, he had no way to ensure that absorbing someone else's blood-qi wouldn't permanently corrupt his own. The moment he absorbed foreign energy, all his previous foundational work would go completely down the drain.
However, when it came to taking the next developmental step, Li Ke's path would become remarkably smooth.
He could bypass the intermediate struggles and step directly into a higher realm—a legendary domain that existed purely in theory, as no living Berserker had ever survived long enough to achieve it.
Blood Booming.
This was an advanced technique normally attempted only when a Berserker sought to use their own life essence to violently subjugate foreign strains of energy. By igniting their own blood, they could continuously temper their energy and steel their physical vessel.
Yet, this stage remained fraught with countless perils, presenting a path that was practically impossible to walk.
Once the process of Blood Booming began, it could not be stopped until the user's flesh and energy were forged to their absolute absolute limits.
The danger of this process wasn't merely the high probability of accidentally incinerating oneself into ash; the collateral risks were far more volatile. Throughout the ignition, every single strain of foreign blood-qi inside the vessel would be set ablaze, reacting violently with the Berserker's native energy and turning the user's body into a ticking blood-qi bomb.
Li Ke, however, faced absolutely no such risk. He could safely immerse himself in the process of Blood Booming. Though he would still experience agonizing pain, his blood-qi was entirely under his absolute control, meaning he could halt the technique at any given second without the slightest fear of detonating.
His life essence was remarkably stable, completely unlike the highly volatile, explosive nature of ordinary Berserkers.
His strength could theoretically scale upward without bounds!
All he needed to do was continuously cycle through the process of Blood Booming!
Of course, danger still lurked. Even without the threat of turning into a human bomb, a single moment of carelessness could cause him to burn his blood-qi down to nothing, leaving him to waste away and die from sheer exhaustion.
But once a warrior successfully ascended to this peak, the performance gap between the two cultivation styles would effectively cease to exist.
Yet, even though G.S.D had mapped out the next logical phase of Li Ke's progression, the old master still couldn't comprehend how Li Ke had managed to purify his own blood-qi to this extent without succumbing to severe malnutrition or fatal blood loss. Instead, the youth stood before him looking perfectly robust.
Wait... no...
G.S.D 'looked' closely toward Li Ke's kidneys and prostate.
Those two specific areas showed signs of minor overexertion and slight wear and tear...
This unexpected discovery left G.S.D even more thoroughly bewildered.
This explicitly meant that Li Ke was a highly lustful man. How could a man so deeply invested in carnal pleasures possibly maintain such an incredibly robust, overflowing reservoir of pure vital essence?
Faced with Li Ke's burning question, the old master found himself at a rare loss for words.
"It is difficult for me to weigh in on your path. I can only say... it is highly probable that this is a trajectory suited strictly for you alone." After a brief hesitation, he voiced his final assessment. "I imagine if anyone else attempted to replicate your exact path, it would only welcome a swift and miserable death."
Li Ke had long suspected as much, but he was absolutely certain that G.S.D knew exactly how he needed to take his next step!
Thus, leaning forward from where he sat on the ground, he bowed deeply and asked, "Then, what must I do if I want to advance even further?"
"That... is exceptionally dangerous."
G.S.D felt somewhat conflicted, but recalling that Li Ke had somehow successfully cultivated such a bizarre version of the Blood-Qi Secret Technique, he chose not to hold back.
"Are you familiar with Blood Booming?"
"Blood Booming?"
"Yes. It is a method of continuously incinerating your own bloodstream to radically purify your essence and drastically fortify your physical body."
A memory sparked in Li Ke's mind. If he recalled correctly, those terms usually showed up around the Second Awakening descriptions. Yet his current variant of the technique hadn't even earned the title of Hell Bringer yet.
"The fundamental nature of the Blood-Qi Secret Technique doesn't actually change much; it is simply the method of self-reinforcement that differs. If your goal is to purify your vital essence, Blood Booming is undeniably the fastest route—but it is also the most agonizing. Are you truly prepared to learn it?" G.S.D asked solemnly.
Li Ke didn't exhibit a single shred of hesitation.
"Yes!"