Chapter 87: Departure
Chapter 87: Departure
Day fifteen.
The sky changed color, and evil mist surged like a tide. From all directions, countless tentacle-like wisps of Dragon-Slumber Concealing Mist, resembling rolling fog dragons, whistled as they rushed in!
Pillars of energy descended from the sky. Bodies, one after another, were enveloped by the mist, turning into nothingness, vanishing in an instant.
“He made it through after all,” Li Yi spread his arms and quietly waited for the mist to surround him, his tense heart relaxing slightly. “Consider it a lucky escape…”
During this period, he even practiced cultivation very little. Most of the time, he spent in quiet waiting and daydreaming.
Apart from meditation, he occasionally practiced the technique Siren Splits the Tide, while the technique Mammoth Shakes the Mountain was completely neglected.
Beneath the Civilization’s Dawn skeleton, there might also lie dormant Martial Strategy Qi waiting to be gathered, but Li Yi truly did not dare to take that risk.
Recall the Abundance and Void’s sinister and eerie will now, and he still felt a full-body shudder, sweat pouring down his back.
That will was as deep as an abyss, as vast as an ocean, not inferior to a deep-prison Dragon. Though it wasn’t one of the Six Beasts of War, it was a comparable existence!
Li Yi was cautious by nature and didn’t want to stir up any more trouble.
The scene before his eyes shifted. The Baxia mask on his face dispersed, and Li Yi’s figure appeared once more within that passageway.
Around him, a sparse crowd had already gathered, all on their way back.
Some were annoyed, some were indignant, some were cursing, and there were also those with expressionless faces, showing neither joy nor anger. The failures were the majority, and the myriad faces of the crowd were on full display.
Li Yi drooped his shoulders and hunched his back, walking with unsteady, somewhat furtive steps.
He couldn’t be sure if he would be recognized by his silhouette, so he was extra cautious. He even smeared some dirt on his face, looking grimy and disheveled.
Behind him, a clump of mist coalesced into a graceful, enchanting figure.
This woman was bewitching and lithe, carrying a longbow on her back. A pale Battle Aura swirled around her, seemingly cloaking her in a hazy garment of mist and rain. Her form flickered in and out of view, and her face was also obscured by clouds and mist, unclear.
“Qing Yi, you’re alright?” Not far away, a young girl exclaimed in surprise. She hurried over in a few steps, hugged this woman, and whispered, “How did it go? How many did you memorize?”
“Ziyi, you’re safe too, that’s great!” Qing Yi also wore a look of pleasant surprise. With a calm expression, she raised four fingers.
“Four?” Ziyi clapped her hands in delight, her face full of excitement. “Qing Yi, you’re amazing!”
“It’s not me being amazing, just good luck. I met a ‘benefactor’…” Qing Yi glanced around, her gaze suddenly falling on a hunched figure. Hesitating, she looked at his shoes and then shook her head.
“What’s wrong?” Ziyi asked.
“Nothing, I was mistaken,” Qing Yi said somewhat disappointedly, dismissing it with a word.
She didn’t know that Li Yi’s clothes, from head to toe, were a completely different set, and all his equipment had been stored inside his Sumeru Ring.
As he walked, he inconspicuously swept his hand lightly through the Dragon-Slumber Concealing Mist.
“Just as I thought!”
His gaze sharpened, and he nodded.
Within the Dragon-Slumber Concealing Mist, there existed a terrifying pressure known as the “Azure Dragon’s Gaze.” Anyone below the Titled rank who stepped into it would turn to stardust.
But this pressure regarded Li Yi as one of its own and ignored him completely.
Did the Six Strategies Qi transform his body?
Come to think of it, Bloodline Abilities like “Bearing the Stele” and “Lurking Abyss” made the title “Dragon-Blooded” more and more fitting.
“Dragon’s descendant?” Li Yi mocked himself. “To be honest, not bad at all.”
The misty passage reached its end. The brilliant sunshine and fresh air were refreshing and uplifting.
And at this time, scattered news about “Baxia” spread among the crowd like a plague, rapidly circulating.
“Three Six Strategies Qi? This… this is unprecedented!”
“Who… who exactly is it? Could it be an Ancient Bloodline awakening?”
“This means the terrifying talent of a three-element Elemental Commander. Tsk tsk, a monster…”
“That’s not simple addition like one plus one equals two. Three talents complement each other and can evolve new mysteries!”
“Even if they were trash, being a three-element Elemental Commander would transform them into a dragon, making them a rightful Heaven’s Pride!”
This news was like a sudden clap of thunder from a clear sky, causing instructors from various academies to become busy, hoping that Baxia was a disciple from their side.
“Three-element Elemental Commander?” Li Yi heard it and thought to himself, “Compared to Lurking Abyss, this three-element Elemental Commander seems much stronger… However, talents are hard to transform, while Bloodline Abilities can grow. So it’s not too bad a trade.”
“Only nine people?” Huang Yu’s face was ugly, his withered, bark-like features gloomy and displeased. “Thirty people, and only nine returned? Were my warnings just wind in their ears?”
The nine people lowered their heads, not daring to reply.
“Did anyone obtain Six Strategies Qi?” Huang Yu held no expectations that among the remaining nine was that legendary, seemingly miraculous Baxia. In his view, if someone obtained even one, it would be thanks to heaven and earth.
“What about you?”
The youth shook his head.
“And you?”
He questioned them one by one, carefully.
When he reached the last one, he glanced at Li Yi’s disheveled appearance and observed his mere half-step cultivation. Huang Yu lost interest and couldn’t be bothered to ask further.
Li Yi, however, breathed a sigh of relief.
The old man before him was decent. Lying to him didn’t feel good.
…
Meditation Chamber ninety-five.
After the lecture and some more hassle, he finally returned to the Meditation Chamber.
Li Yi sat cross-legged, engaging in his routine summary and reflection.
In a nutshell, heavy losses!
The Reverse Halberd Type Three, the Twisted Wraith, the Grip of Serenity, and the Badou Ring which hadn’t even warmed up in his hand after he obtained it.
Furthermore, after the battle with Yazi, he discovered later that the Ethereal Bracelet had snapped in the middle.
And the Stone Fist Gauntlets, the Werewolf Mask, the Spirit Armor Pendant, etc.—in the end, they proved not very useful.
The Spirit Armor Pendant wasn’t even as effective as the Ink Earth Wall when facing a spellstorm.
As for the Stone Fist Gauntlets and Werewolf Mask, when faced with the overwhelmingly superior Yazi, there wasn’t even time to activate them.
The only thing that came in handy was the Wind-Walking Boots.
Recalling the sequence of events also prompted him to self-reflect.
“The direction was completely wrong…”
“My advantage lies in Ancient Alligator Qi and Dragon-Turtle Qi. The same spell, like the Earth Binding Spell or Water Bullet Spell, when assisted by Bloodline Abilities, could even surpass its rank, with power so immense it’s rare in the world!”
“Whereas the spells activated by that equipment… their power couldn’t even be called average, just mid to low-tier. Various spells looked good on the surface but weren’t very useful.”
“The spells I can use myself are far too few… I need to quickly cross over this half-step hurdle and become a Spell Apprentice. Then the path will be smooth.”
So, what were the gains?
Lurking Abyss!
Just these two words could offset all the losses.
A Bloodline Ability was a powerful, lifelong gift that resonated with one’s heart, could grow, and was met by chance, not sought. Many people spent their entire lives without finding one.
And among noble clans, a single Bloodline Ability often meant a change in the inheritance sequence, altering one’s entire destiny.
Moreover, this Bloodline Ability, while still somewhat niche, was absolutely practical and fiercely overpowering!
The gains weren’t limited to just that.
“Hah!”
Exhaling a light breath of turbid air, Li Yi relaxed his mind. His body flowed like water, moving with an indescribable agility and ease.
His skin rippled. The sounds of crashing waves, the ebb and flow of tides, the howling wind and beating waves—various deep-toned sounds resonated steadily from deep within his body, echoing for a long time.
The art of Siren Splits the Tide leaped from the “Cicada’s Din” realm, spanning “Frog’s Croak,” directly reaching the “Tide’s Sound” realm, crossing two realms in a row!
Within the small chamber, it was initially calm and still, then a fierce wind and violent waves arose, followed immediately by vast, boundless waves like those stirred by whales and alligators!
Upon closer look, there was no fluctuation of Battle Aura, no surge of Mana. This body, solely through physical vibration, generated tiny currents. Little by little, through silent, imperceptible accumulation, they gradually formed huge waves!
The Defensive Arrays on the four walls flickered and dimmed, showing signs they might not hold up.
“Withdraw!”
Muttering the word in his heart, Li Yi’s body calmed. After a while, the source disappeared, and the wind ceased, the waves stilled.
Reflecting the fragmented sunlight coming through the window frame, he looked at his own palm. It was crystal clear like white jade, with blood vessels and bones seemingly distinct like amber.
“The Six Strategies Qi, whether nourishing or transforming—in short, my body is already different. In what ways? Bone structure, defensive power, recovery power, physical control, and—Mana control!”
He lifted his finger. A wisp of Ancient Alligator Qi migrated from one fingertip to the next, one through five.
Next, he increased the difficulty. Three strands of Mana leaped at his will across his fingertips.
“I want to draw spell symbols!”
Li Yi suddenly felt an impulse to draw spell symbols. He knew the biggest obstacle hindering him was gone.