If the pill was digested so quickly, the spiritual power of the pill should have been transferred to his body. It should be acc.u.mulated at the core of his body by now. 

Gu Xijiu carefully traced his veins. There was nothing wrong with his blood circulation. Additionally, everything in his system seemed smoothly regulated. However, she was disappointed as she could hardly feel any spiritual power in his body. 

It seemed that his body was a bottomless pit that managed to absorb the pill and its power along with it. The magical pill that worked wonders for her was obviously ineffective to him.

Gu Xijiu stood in a daze, trying to comprehend the situation.

Di Fuyi was equally confused. "I have had one of these pills before, and it worked very well for me back then. Have they lost their effectiveness in the Shura World?"

Suddenly, he was reminded of a past incident. His mother once had a strange encounter where there was a bottomless pit in her body that would swallow all sources of spiritual power almost instantaneously, leaving her body with none. Finally, she found out that it was all because of a sinister being in her body. All of her spiritual power was drained to nourish the growth of the sinister being.

Was the same sinister being in his body as well? The scary thought gave him a shudder. He tried to examine his body, but could not find anything odd.

Gu Xijiu carefully read his pulse and realized that his condition remained just the same. There was only a slight increase in his spiritual power, which was still very limited. The effect of the pill was even worse than the spiritual stone. Hence, perhaps the most logical explanation was that the pill had lost its power. 

Gu Xijiu was ready to give up. She kept the pills away but was abruptly distracted by a sudden scream.

"Watch out!" A man called out in a panic.

"Ahh! There are so many b.l.o.o.d.y Bats."

"Quickly! Defend!"

The chaos continued. Soon, the sound of a fierce battle could be heard. Gu Xijiu was utterly surprised by the presence of the bats. These b.l.o.o.d.y Bats would usually come right before the blood rain. Was the rain going to pour anytime soon?

She flipped the curtain away, and the sight sent a s.h.i.+ver down her spine. A compact ma.s.s of b.l.o.o.d.y Bats surrounded the top of the carriage. They spread themselves around the carriage, blotting out the sky and the sun. 

The notorious bats dived sharply from high alt.i.tudes towards the carriage, as if there was a precious treasure within it that was driving them crazy. There were already more than 70 of these bats approaching the carriage.

Guardian Jin and Guardian Hua were fighting them off in a frenzy, killing the bats and turning them into pools of blood. However, there were undoubtedly too many for them to handle at once. Dozens of b.l.o.o.d.y Bats finally found a way through and were likely to collide with Gu Xijiu as soon as they approached.

Gu Xijiu unsheathed her sword. With a few swings, these bats were dead. However, that was just the beginning. A compact ma.s.s awaited them in the sky. If they all launched themselves toward the carriage at once, it would certainly spell the end for carriage.

The carriage was not a concern for Gu Xijiu. It was Di Fuyi that she was worried about. He barely had any strength left to defend himself. There was no way that he could fend off the bats. 

...

The rising sun was just about to s.h.i.+ne its first faint streaks of dawn in the east, indicating the start of a new day.