Stronger with Crimson Modifier

Chapter 205 - 202: Life Acupoint [1]

After dismissing him, Hu Qi looked at the unconscious Han Luan.

He reached out and tapped a finger.

A streak of Flowing Light lit up at his fingertip, snaking into the space between Han Luan’s eyebrows. Han Luan, who had fainted because her Qi Blood True Strength had been sealed, stirred her fingers and quickly regained consciousness.

"I... How did I get here? ...Huh... It’s you. Where is Liang Si?"

Han Luan’s eyes opened, and she glanced around.

Her face filled with shock and anger, and she tried to struggle to her feet. However, before she could finish speaking, her body lifted off the ground.

Hu Qi pulled her into his grasp, grabbing her by the neck.

The intense feeling of suffocation prevented her from saying another word.

"Han Luan, isn’t it? Long time no see. It’s a shame. If only you’d been a little stronger, a little more cautious back then, perhaps you wouldn’t have met this fate today!" Hu Qi said.

His smile didn’t reach his eyes, which held a coldness that could freeze one to the bone.

As he spoke, a flash of Twisted Light emanated from his body.

His appearance began to change. As if to prevent her from not recognizing him, Hu Qi thoughtfully transformed into the appearance he had back when he was in the Qi Blood Realm.

"GURGLE... You... you..."

Seeing this, Han Luan’s pupils widened instantly. As a member of a Martial Arts Family, she possessed a powerful memory and had clearly recognized Hu Qi.

And for that very reason, she was stunned and filled with disbelief.

The aura coming from him actually made her feel as if she were facing the Holy Rain Sect’s Sect Leader, her master, Li Xianyu.

Unfortunately, with her neck in his grip, she couldn’t form a complete sentence.

"Be more careful in your next life."

After saying this, Hu Qi’s five fingers pierced Han Luan’s pale neck. Then, he activated his Spirit Devouring Talent, and Han Luan turned into a pile of Ashes right before his eyes.

As for why he didn’t use the Gorging Domain to devour her, there was no other reason than Hu Qi wanting to savor the despair and indignation in her eyes.

It couldn’t be helped. He, Hu Qi, wasn’t some benevolent saint who could just forgive and forget.

Since she had dared to hunt him, now that he was powerful, it was only natural to get his revenge.

’Hmm, besides, the feeling of making an enemy die with their eyes wide open in despair is indeed quite satisfying.’

However, for a Han Luan whose Light of the Soul was devoured by his Spirit Devouring Talent, whether she even had a next life was another question entirely.

...

"Master, the task you assigned has been completed!"

"Mm, you may go."

In a room within the Holy Rain Sect.

Before a massive floor-to-ceiling window.

Dressed in blue, Li Xianyu stood motionless, her gaze fixed outside as she spoke softly.

"Yes, Master! You can call for me anytime if you need anything!"

Liang Si glanced out the window.

Without lingering, he turned and left.

Li Xianyu didn’t even turn her head.

Outside the window.

Strands of rain fell like a curtain, drifting down gently.

Raindrops hit the glass with a faint PITTER-PATTER, then gathered into small streams that snaked their way down.

The distant city blurred in the rain, the outlines of its skyscrapers faint and indistinct, as if submerged in a hazy mist.

The dim light fell upon her face, blurring the lines of her features.

...

「As time slowly passed.」

A week flew by in the blink of an eye. With Hu Qi’s tacit approval, the news that the Shexin Sect’s Sect Leader had broken through the Divine Barrier and advanced to the Refining God Realm exploded like a bombshell within the circles of the Secret Martial Arts Schools.

Everyone who heard the news was initially filled with doubt about its authenticity.

After all, breaking through to become a Qi Dao Grandmaster was barely acceptable, but how much time had passed since then?

To now become a Refining God Venerable was simply too hard to believe.

It was completely unprecedented.

A Refining God Venerable and a Qi Dao Grandmaster were on completely different levels.

One had to understand that the Xia Federation was formed partly due to the threat of the Black Blood Species, but also because of the push from Refining God Venerables behind the scenes.

Refining God Venerables were immensely powerful.

However, the difficulty of breaking through to the Refining God Realm was unimaginably high.

Over the past two hundred years, despite the massive accumulation of Secret Martial Artists, some had luckily reached the third stage of a Qi Dao Grandmaster, the Unity of Essence and Qi, and had the chance to challenge the Divine Barrier.

Yet not a single one had succeeded.

How could one possibly appear now?

But after verification from multiple sources, no matter how incredible it seemed, the facts were right in front of them. They had no choice but to believe it.

Of course, no one would believe that someone could go from a newly-minted Qi Dao Grandmaster to a Refining God Venerable who had broken the Divine Barrier in just a few months.

They were more inclined to believe that she had broken through long ago and had been hiding her strength for some reason.

After all, ’Helinta’ was publicly in her seventies or eighties. This was the only reasonable explanation.

The leaders of the various Schools, having concocted their own explanations, were shocked by her profound scheming and couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

They secretly congratulated themselves for not having any improper thoughts about the Shexin Sect when disaster struck in Anshan City and their Sect Leader, Jiang Zuo, died.

Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Some even connected this to the earlier incident where the Sealed Wolf Sect was wiped out. They hadn’t thought much of it before, but now it seemed there might be a hidden story behind it.

However, no one dared to speak up about such matters.

Subsequently, the leaders of these Schools, one after another, brought lavish gifts and went to the Shexin Sect’s headquarters to offer their congratulations.

The appearance of a new Refining God Venerable meant that the political landscape of the Federation was about to change again.

And if they could latch onto this powerful figure, the benefits they could gain would be unimaginable.

...

In the courtyard of a massive villa, a pond sat in the center, as clear as a mirror, reflecting the azure sky.

Ripples spread across the pond’s surface under the gentle breeze, shimmering with sparkling light.

In the pond, a few colorful fish swam about merrily, occasionally leaping from the water and creating small concentric ripples.

SPLASH!

The sound of splashing water rang out.

On the water’s surface, a completely black duck seemed to have discovered something.

It suddenly plunged its head into the water.

Its body tilted forward slightly, leaving only its round bottom and upturned tail bobbing on the surface.

After a moment, it quickly pulled its head out.

Water droplets slid down its feathers. It shook its neck nimbly, causing its head to whip from side to side, flinging the water off.

QUACK! QUACK!

The Camphor Tea Duck seemed very angry, letting out two dissatisfied quacks.

"Xiaocha, the fish are over there! Aiya, how can you be so stupid!"

On a nearby lotus leaf, a small, jade-white snake was coiled.

It was Xiaobai.

Its mouth opened and closed, and a pleasant voice, like that of a commander, emerged.

The Camphor Tea Duck was naturally displeased with this situation.

Although it couldn’t speak, its intelligence was not low.

At first, it naturally paid no mind to Xiaobai’s commands and had even been defiant.

Unfortunately, a single whip of Xiaobai’s tail sent it flying.

Duck feathers flew everywhere.

After that, the Camphor Tea Duck completely became the other’s lackey.

After all, it had always been the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. Back when they first met, it had only quieted down after Hu Qi slapped it twice.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse leaves, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow.

In a wooden pavilion to the side, Hu Qi leaned against the railing.

He held a golden badge in his hand.

The badge was about half the size of a palm and made of fine material.

In the center of the badge was an inlaid red gemstone, dazzling and eye-catching.

The edges were decorated with ornate patterns, like the stems of flower pistils, adding an air of elegance and nobility to the badge.

His Power of the Heart swept over it, but he found nothing unusual.

This thing was similar to the ring he had received when he broke through to Qi Dao Grandmaster.

This badge was forged from some kind of special Spiritual Material.

A simple test revealed that it could gather Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy and possessed a sturdy Trait.

Although its effect of gathering Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy was decent, even far surpassing the previous ring, it wasn’t of much use to a Refining God Venerable.

It wasn’t that Spiritual Materials and Treasure Medicine that could help a Secret Martial Artist who had broken the Divine Barrier didn’t exist, but they were extremely rare.

As for this badge, its greater purpose was as a symbol of status.

Besides this, there was another piece of news: the Federation council meeting in a little over two months.

This kind of council wasn’t held annually. It was generally held once every three to five years, with no fixed schedule.

According to what Hu Qi knew, this Federation council had been held the year before last; only two years had passed.

This couldn’t help but make him suspicious. Could it be related to the recent fluctuations in Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy?

Shaking his head, Hu Qi blocked out these distracting thoughts.

Glancing at the badge in his hand, he casually tossed the symbol of ultimate power aside.

Although he had used his Light of the Soul to almost completely permeate its material and found no problems, he wouldn’t choose to wear it unless absolutely necessary.

It’s better to be safe than sorry. If there was some hidden mechanism within it that could evade his detection, wearing it would be a huge hidden danger.

He had been able to get this far, and while Crimson had provided considerable help, in the end, his unparalleled talent and cautious nature were the most important factors.

Otherwise, no matter how strong Crimson was, if his temperament was lacking, he would have died long ago.

Hu Qi summoned his panel, his gaze falling on one of the columns.

[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Celestial Heart Chapter: Second Layer) △ Traits: Wolf Transformation...]

...

[Modification Points: 301 (13%)]

After accumulating for the past few days, and adding the remaining two hundred Modification Points from before, the value had once again surpassed three hundred.

A Rune that could be upgraded appeared.

Hu Qi glanced at it and said, "Crimson, modify and upgrade the Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map!"

As he spoke, the Modification Points column emptied almost instantly.

The next second, that familiar sensation returned.

Even though Hu Qi suppressed and restrained it, the faint wisp of aura that leaked out still startled the two beasts playing on the pond’s surface.

The Camphor Tea Duck, in particular, trembled all over and plunged headfirst into the water.

"That guy sure runs fast!"

Xiaobai muttered. She felt her body go a little weak and couldn’t help but tremble.

Her pair of pitch-black serpentine eyes looked at Hu Qi.

’Master seems to have gotten stronger again...’

Hu Qi didn’t pay much attention to the actions of these two.

He carefully savored the changes within his body.

Only when the feeling of being strengthened subsided did Hu Qi open his eyes.

[Three-Eyed Primordial Snake Spirit Devouring Map (Celestial Heart Chapter: Third Layer) △ Traits: Wolf Transformation...]

...

[Modification Points: 1 (13%)]

’Self-Image Realm Peak... The next step is the Dharma Realm. At this rate, it won’t be long before I no longer need to worry about anything. But this also means... I’m about to reach the limit...’ Hu Qi muttered to himself.

Inside his body.

Streams of invisible, intangible Power of the Heart gushed out from the Celestial Heart Divine Treasure in his mind, transforming into a special frequency that spread throughout his body.

It was as if it were searching for something.

After a long moment, Hu Qi’s expression shifted, and he raised his palm.

His fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles. The lines on his palm were clear, and you could even see the blue veins within.

Other than that, there was nothing else.

However, from the unique perspective of Hu Qi’s perception via his Power of the Heart, a different scene presented itself.

There was now a dim point of light, so minuscule it was even smaller than a molecule.