novelraw Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23 : Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Mo Ling’s First Evolution
What surprised Lin Bai, however, was that over the next two days, that obsessively persistent Black Mud Monster never appeared again.
Its absence was for the best. Fighting a monster with such a ridiculously thick health bar was deeply unpleasant for Lin Bai, especially when the thing was dead and offered no benefit at all.
Lin Bai proceeded step by step, feeding Mo Ling Phosphor Fireflies and checking on her condition.
At last, on the night of the seventh day, the yin energy inside Mo Ling’s body had nearly finished accumulating.
Lin Bai opened his eyes, thought for a moment, and decided to wait a little longer. He would hold the ritual tomorrow morning instead.
Because what if the Black Mud Monster came again while the ritual was taking place?
This ritual required Lin Bai to preside over it personally. It was not semi-automatic.
In any case, there were still extra Phosphor Fireflies left, and the “private yin-energy room” had been paid for for eight days. There was no need to rush this last stretch.
Fortunately, that night remained peaceful as well. Even by the time dawn began to brighten the sky, the Black Mud Monster still had not appeared, and Lin Bai finally decided to begin drawing the final formation diagram for the evolution ritual.
This time, only two materials were needed: Black Cloud Ink Ore Ink and Brightbird Feather.
There was nothing much to say about the formation ink, but those feathers were another matter.
What was a Brightbird? In truth, it was simply a great rooster that had become a Transcendent Demonic Beast. Because roosters greeted the sun day after day, people believed that once they evolved into Brightbirds, they carried the purest yang energy and could be called the sun’s messengers in the mortal world.
In this world, names themselves carried power. Thus, once this spirit bird had been given the name “Brightbird,” it truly acquired the mystical ability to dispel evil and drive away yin. Wealthy households often invited them home to protect their residences, and naturally, their feathers were worth a great deal as well.
Once the formation was finished, Lin Bai began inserting those feathers, each carrying a faint trace of yang energy, one by one into his robes.
After thinking for a moment, he called Mo Ling over as well and carefully tucked several feathers among her black plumage.
At present, the yin energy inside Mo Ling’s body was already overloaded. Letting a little of it escape would not hurt her. On the contrary, it added another layer of safety.
With everything prepared, he steadied his breathing and silently sensed the changes outside, waiting until he confirmed that the first thread of daylight had truly pierced the darkness and descended upon the earth.
The ritual officially began!
Lin Bai’s expression turned solemn. Holding Mo Ling against his chest, he began to chant an ancient and awkward incantation.
Those rasping, discordant syllables seemed to carry some kind of heavy power, struggling to pierce through the barrier of the real world as they echoed through the stone chamber.
As the incantation continued, the formation on the ground began to glow faintly. Its purpose was not to “summon,” but rather, like sandpaper, to carefully “thin” the spatial barrier in this place.
In the next moment, a wisp of something more profound and more refined than yin energy, carrying a chill that seemed to come from beneath the Nine Netherworlds, seeped upward without a sound.
That was Netherworld Qi!
When Lin Bai had first seen that merely chanting a spell could call forth something as grand and exalted as Netherworld Qi, he had thought he was being scammed. Only now, after experiencing it for himself, did he understand the wonder of the world.
Of course, this Netherworld Qi was not being summoned for direct absorption. It was to have its energy worn away by the Brightbird feathers, leaving behind only qi of a higher order.
Anyone who dared to absorb Netherworld Qi directly would have Lin Bai’s sincere admiration for sheer nerve.
Lin Bai carefully guided the Netherworld Qi into the Brightbird feathers on his body by means of Force.
It failed!
That Brightbird feather turned into ashes.
The amount he had guided just now had been too great. That single feather simply could not endure such a quantity of Netherworld Qi.
Lin Bai did not panic. He knew that the proper amount would have to be found through gradual testing.
Wasn’t this just a matter of finding the right range? Lin Bai was familiar with that.
At last, after more than a dozen tries, another feather turned to ashes.
But Lin Bai was full of confidence, because he had already sensed that reducing it by just a tiny bit more would be enough.
Sure enough, after the next feather burned to ashes, Lin Bai felt a peculiar kind of “qi” appear inside his body.
It was terribly cold, as though it wanted to freeze him solid!
This strand of qi stood at an extremely high order and carried a conceptual sort of “coldness,” as though it could freeze even thought itself.
Fortunately, it was only a sensation. The amount of Netherworld Qi Lin Bai had guided into his body was truly minuscule, and after being filtered through the resistance of the Brightbird feather, that Netherworld Qi had already lost all of its energy, leaving only its high order behind.
Now that he had found the proper amount, the rest was simply a matter of copying and pasting.
Once the quantity was nearly sufficient, Lin Bai had also gathered almost enough Netherworld Qi inside his body.
Now the final step could begin. Lin Bai’s body contained no yin energy, so the Netherworld Qi could not stir up any trouble within him. Mo Ling, however, was different. She had a great deal of yin energy inside her body. If he poured Netherworld Qi directly into her now, he would simply be harming her.
This final step was to imprint this now-tamed strand of Netherworld Qi completely with Lin Bai’s own unique aura, and only then pass it into Mo Ling’s body.
Relying on the tight bond brought by the Beast-Taming Martial Artist Dao Path, once the Netherworld Qi bore Lin Bai’s aura, entering Mo Ling’s body would drive the yin energy there to merge with it, achieving true evolution.
So how was Lin Bai supposed to imprint the Netherworld Qi with his own mark?
By enduring time.
That was right. He would simply have to wait it out. The Netherworld power within Lin Bai’s body had already lost its energy, and would only be slowly stained by him.
But during this process, Lin Bai did not feel well either. It was too cold. Not bodily cold, but a cold that came from his perception itself, from his very soul.
At last, after sitting there motionless for half a day, the Netherworld Qi inside Lin Bai’s body had finally been marked by him. If not for the fact that he was currently wrapping it in Force, it would already have merged into his body.
Seeing that the hardest part was done, Lin Bai did not feel even the slightest excitement. Instead, he told Mo Ling to get ready. He was about to begin guiding the Netherworld Qi.
Lin Bai knew full well that celebrating before the end was a grave taboo. Of a hundred miles, the last ninety were the hardest.
After confirming that Mo Ling was ready, Lin Bai transmitted the Netherworld Qi through the Brightbird feathers on her body. Although the losses in doing so were high, it was the safest and least accident-prone method.
He had deliberately prepared a little extra beforehand precisely to account for this loss.
Once the Netherworld power entered Mo Ling’s body, it immediately fused into her frame. In doing so, it also drew along the yin energy that had already accumulated within her, causing that to fuse as well.
After Lin Bai transferred all the Netherworld Qi into Mo Ling, a dim and shadowy radiance gradually began to emerge from her body. It grew heavier and heavier, almost becoming tangible, until at last it wrapped around Mo Ling entirely and turned into a black egg.
But when he saw this scene, a faint smile appeared on Lin Bai’s face.
It succeeded!
Mo Ling was now in a state much like that of a bird still inside its egg. If this state were placed in human terms, it would be akin to returning to the Innate.
What Mo Ling now needed was time to reshape her bloodline. Since this was only a low-level evolution, it would not take too long. Three days would be enough.
Lin Bai reached out and touched the “bird egg.” It felt roughly like iron in hardness and ice in coldness.
That was enough. There was no need to remain in this wretched place any longer.
Lin Bai was in excellent spirits, not only because Mo Ling’s evolution had succeeded, but because he could finally bid farewell to this dark and sunless stone chamber.
This room was little different from a confinement cell. Even for someone as fond of quiet as Lin Bai, it had still been unbearable.
But the result was gratifying. Mo Ling had evolved successfully.
Lin Bai opened the door. Judging by the sun, it was probably around three or four in the afternoon.
The sun above the Profound Yin Cavern still carried little warmth, but reflected in Lin Bai’s eyes, it seemed exceptionally bright. Even the black, oppressive mountain now looked a good deal more pleasing than before.
He returned to the room and destroyed the two formations. Someone would come to clean things up eventually, but he still felt more at ease after disrupting them himself.
He pulled out the token, carefully packed away the bird egg that Mo Ling had become, and placed it into a specially made box.
When he had come, he had been loaded down with materials and weighed down by worries.
When he left, it was one man and one egg, light and carefree.
On the way down the mountain, the sun was still blazing, and Lin Bai encountered nothing uncanny.
Since the original mountain watchman was not there, Lin Bai handed the token to another mountain watchman and left.
Throughout the entire process, he did not mention the “Black Mud Monster” once.
When it came to uncanny things, the people of this world had strong safety awareness. They researched them, but did not spread stories about them. They did not even tell many ghost stories, because names carried weight. If a false tale somehow became real, that would be no fun at all.
And besides, who knew what rules such uncanny things followed?
Of course, the most important point was that none of this had anything to do with Lin Bai. The ones who ought to deal with it were the Zhong Family and Yunmeng City, not Lin Bai with his small arms and legs.
But Lin Bai felt that those uncanny things were probably impossible to clean up completely, because the Profound Yin Cavern itself was a machine for producing them.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the Profound Yin Cavern, Lin Bai looked at the reemerging green scenery and felt even better.
What Profound Yin Cavern? What Black Mud Monster?
Irrelevant. Unknown. Not my problem.
This young master was gone.
After straightening out his thoughts,
Lin Bai carried the box, fixed his gaze on the direction of Yunmeng City, and sprinted away.