novelraw Chapter 140: Advancement [3]
Chapter 140: Advancement [3]
The others were in the same state, their clothes still stained with blood.
At this moment, the one being called "Master" was a tall man with a sinister expression.
Hearing this, the tall man glanced at him.
BANG!
The man didn’t receive an answer from his master.
Instead, he was met with a heavy kick.
The immense force sent the speaker flying, and he slammed hard against an elliptical support pillar.
"Idiot! I should have just eaten you from the start. Turning you was a waste of my power. Is your pathetic little brain not fully developed? Is that being someone we can possibly stand against?"
The sinister man spat, his face as vicious as an Evil Ghost’s.
Seeing this, the surrounding Blood Slaves fell deathly silent, not daring to make a sound.
As for the one who had spoken first, after rolling on the ground and spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood, he scrambled to his knees, prostrating himself humbly, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"I’m sorry, Master!"
The tall, sinister man couldn’t be bothered with him.
’This idiot has no idea how powerful that person is.’
’I personally saw that person kill another Lower-Rank Black Blood Species as easily as slaughtering a chicken or a dog.’
’If not for that, why would I be willing to stay here? I finally made it to the Surface World.’
’Only to be forced to run and hide.’
’If other Lower-Rank Black Blood Species I know found out about this, where would I, Yao Ying, ever show my face again?’
But despite these thoughts, he didn’t dare to actually go outside.
After all, he was very clear on which was more important: his life or his pride.
Just as he was thinking this...
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted overhead.
Above the garage, the light fixtures that had been emitting a faint glow, along with the concrete ceiling, blew apart.
A shower of rubble and dust rained down.
A gaping hole, about five meters in diameter, had appeared above.
The edges of the hole were jagged, revealing broken steel bars within. The rebar was twisted, jutting down menacingly.
A faint light spilled down from the opening.
The next moment, a scarred Young Man holding a Long Saber appeared at the edge of the hole, looking down with a cold expression.
"This is bad!"
Seeing this, the leader, whose face had been vicious just moments ago, felt his scalp tingle as if he were being targeted by some terrifying creature.
He understood this was the instinct of a Black Blood Species warning him: the person before him was an unbeatable foe.
Just as he was about to grab a few nearby Blood Slaves to use as shields and escape...
...the next instant, everyone’s vision was filled with a blinding, Crimson saber light.
The saber light didn’t last long. When it faded, all that was left on the ground was a pile of unrecognizable, humanoid paste and a handful of Ashes!
With a pulse of Qi Blood True Strength, the blood splattered on the blade was shaken off, leaving it perfectly clean.
"Blood Refining Spiritual Soldiers really are useful!"
A smile touched Hu Qi’s lips as he swung the blade in his hand.
It made a soft whooshing sound.
After Helinta’s death, this Blood Refining Spiritual Soldier known as Red Mirror had naturally become his weapon.
Every Blood Refining Spiritual Soldier, having been nourished by its master’s Qi and Blood over a long period, retains the original master’s unique imprint.
For an ordinary person to try and wield one is nearly impossible.
This is the underlying reason why Blood Refining Spiritual Soldiers are called Spiritual Soldiers.
Even a Martial Arts Master of the same Realm would need to spend a great deal of time after obtaining a Blood Refining Spiritual Soldier, using their own Qi Blood True Strength to slowly wear away the original master’s imprint.
This process could take as long as a year or two, or at the very least, several months.
However, Hu Qi didn’t need to do that.
For no other reason than that his Qi Blood True Strength was simply too profound and tyrannical.
Plus, with Helinta already dead, the power of the imprint on the Blood Refining Spiritual Soldier was diminished, allowing him to erase it with ease.
Now, with the boost from this Blood Refining Spiritual Soldier and the perfection of his Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Bloodline, Hu Qi could kill those Lower-Rank Black Blood Species as easily as slicing melons and chopping vegetables.
Hu Qi even had a faint premonition that with his current strength, he might not be completely helpless against a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
’It’s about time for an upgrade!’
With a thought, Hu Qi summoned the Crimson Modifier and looked directly at two of its lines.
---
[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Essence Element Chapter Ninth Layer) △]
...
[Modification Point: 89 (13%)]
The Modification Points were sufficient.
Seeing this, Hu Qi didn’t upgrade immediately. Instead, he turned and left the area first.
After all, the commotion here had been significant, and it was bound to attract Secret Martial Artists and Black Blood Species to investigate.
While he wasn’t afraid, he didn’t want to be disturbed during his breakthrough.
* * *
「Meanwhile」 Above the vortex channel on the sea’s surface, three figures were positioned in a triangular formation.
It was Chu Feng, Li Xia, and Du Wang.
From their palms, three different colored streams of True Essence—red, white, and purple—shot forth.
The three streams of True Essence Power converged in the center, shimmering brightly, and were actually holding up a small island.
The island was covered in vegetation, while its underside was a mass of mud, embedded with shells and coral.
The red, white, and purple True Essence acted like tough ropes, tightly binding the island to prevent it from falling.
The three were completely focused, with fine beads of sweat forming on their foreheads as they constantly adjusted the strength and direction of their True Essence.
Even for Qi Dao Grandmasters like them, lifting an island of this weight was quite strenuous.
Faced with this vortex channel, they had no better solution at the moment and could only try to temporarily block it with the island.
Once the angle was aligned, the island slowly descended under their control.
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH...
Instantly, countless tons of seawater were displaced, creating hundred-meter-high waves that surged in all directions.
As the island gradually sank, it slowly disappeared beneath the surface of the sea.
GLUG GLUG GLUG...
At the same time, a large number of bubbles rose from the water.
As a rock on the very top of the island was submerged by the seawater...
...the entire island vanished completely into the sea.
A short while later.
With the island settled on the seabed, the constantly rotating vortex on the sea’s surface visibly shrank, and the gray mist spewing from it lessened.
"It worked!"
Seeing this, a smile appeared on Du Wang’s pale face.
Chu Feng and Li Xia also breathed a long sigh of relief.
However, they hadn’t even been happy for two seconds.
BOOM!!
A massive sound erupted.
The sea churned.
Two figures shot up from the water.
After sensing the auras emanating from the two figures...
...the expressions of the three Grandmasters changed drastically.
"Two Middle-Rank Black Blood Species!"
* * *
On a secluded rooftop, Hu Qi sat cross-legged, recalling information about Qi Dao Grandmasters in his mind.
To break through and become a Qi Dao Grandmaster, just like becoming a Martial Arts Master, one needed to open a Divine Treasure known as the Qi Vein Divine Treasure.
A Secret Martial Artist could use this Divine Treasure to refine their own Qi and Blood, transforming it into another, more powerful energy: True Essence.
Not only that, but the Qi Vein Divine Treasure could also absorb the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy to rapidly recover one’s strength.
This was why the gap between a Qi Dao Grandmaster and a Martial Arts Master was said to be enormous.
A Martial Arts Master’s power came from the Qi Blood True Strength within their own body.
But a Qi Dao Grandmaster could draw upon the power of the outside world for their own use.
’A man’s strength has its limits; a tree has its day to wither and die. All things have their own limits.’
’But no matter how strong a person is, they can never compare to the entire world.’
"The Qi Vein Divine Treasure, huh?"
Hu Qi muttered to himself.
His last attempt to break through to the Martial Arts Master realm had taught Hu Qi that when one’s foundation became exceptionally profound, the difficulty of breaking through would not decrease in the slightest, but would instead increase.
During this period, he had used his Spirit Devouring Talent to devour the blood of Black Blood Species and several Qi Blood Techniques to strengthen himself.
This had already made the Qi Blood True Strength in his body terrifyingly dense.
If his physique weren’t strong enough, he would have been blown apart by the Qi Blood True Strength that was so dense it was almost tangible.
However, being in the gray-mist-shrouded Anshan City, Hu Qi had given up the idea of trying to break through on his own.
’Now is not the time to be frugal with Modification Points. What I need to do is ensure a successful breakthrough.’
Thinking of this, he directly pulled up the panel, his gaze falling on the modification Rune behind the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
"Crimson, modify. Upgrade the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map!"
The moment the thought formed, the panel twitched. The Modification Points rapidly decreased, turning into a red light that fell upon the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map.
BUZZ!
In that instant, a massive amount of memories materialized out of thin air, flooding into Hu Qi’s mind.
Fortunately, he had previously devoured a large amount of the Light of the Soul, which had greatly increased his Soul Strength.
These memories were nothing to him. They were all scenes and images of him diligently cultivating and attempting to break through.
Scene after scene flickered past his eyes.
In the scenes, his breakthroughs ended in failure, severe injury, and even death, time and time again.
The scenes continued, showing countless versions of Hu Qi attempting the breakthrough.
Finally, in one of the scenes, a version of Hu Qi successfully broke through and became a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
But this scene didn’t disappear like the others. Instead, it froze in place.
It then transformed into a stream of Flowing Light and entered his mind.
At the same time, the Qi Blood True Strength within Hu Qi’s body—so dense it was almost liquid—began to react.
Following a specific, special trajectory...
...it surged directly toward a point three inches below his navel.
This spot was known as the Guan Yuan Acupoint in medical texts, and also as the Lower Dantian.
This location was considered the place where a person’s Primordial Energy gathered, and a key area for storing and mobilizing energy.
But it was also the location of an unopened Qi Vein Divine Treasure within the human body.
To open this Divine Treasure, one must polish their Qi Blood True Strength to a state of perfect fluidity, allowing for fine control.
Although the body’s Divine Treasures hide immense energy, the slightest mistake during the opening process can cause irreparable damage to the body.
The only saving grace was that, compared to ordinary Secret Martial Artists, as a Martial Arts Master’s Life Level increased, their Recovery Power also reached an extremely exaggerated level.
Generally, problems that occurred in the early stages of a breakthrough wouldn’t lead to immediate death or an irreversible situation.
Of course, this was only for the early stages.
If a problem occurred later while drawing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy into the body, it wasn’t impossible for the person to explode.
Hu Qi hadn’t known much about this before, having only read some descriptions of Qi Dao Grandmasters in ancient texts.
If he had progressed step by step, taking a decade or more to reach this point, and had guidance from Jiang Zuo, he might have known more.
The problem was, it had only been a little over a month since he had broken through to become a Martial Arts Master.
And the so-called guidance from that good-for-nothing master of his was non-existent.
Fortunately, this was no problem at all for Hu Qi.
Whether it was the fragmented memories he obtained from Helinta or the memory scenes provided by the Crimson panel, the memories of breaking through to the Qi Dao Grandmaster realm numbered in the hundreds.
Combined, his familiarity with this Realm far surpassed that of an ordinary Qi Dao Grandmaster.
As the Qi Blood True Strength surged through his body and converged on the Guan Yuan Acupoint...
...it suddenly seemed to reach a limit.
CRACK!
A soft cracking sound came from the area below his navel.
Where the Guan Yuan Acupoint had been, a tiny white point of light appeared.
With the influx of Qi Blood True Strength...
...this point of light grew brighter and larger.