Chapter 68: Sea Demon
Chapter 68: Sea Demon
Beneath his feet, an eerie shadow, like a phantom, stretched out a ghostly claw, silently grasping towards his ankle!
“What… what is this thing?”
You Wucheng felt his scalp crawl. He leaped back several steps, pressing himself against the door.
“No need to run so far. Just don’t step into my shadow.” Weaving a complicated magical gesture, You Honghu let out a sharp shout. The agitated ghostly shadow immediately stilled.
“Cousin, what exactly are those things?” You Wucheng asked, his breathing ragged, his fear not yet settled.
“Chimei Wangliang,” You Honghu uttered four short words, pausing distinctly on each.
“Chimei Wangliang? The four Evil Ghost Lords?” Hearing this, You Wucheng was shocked and awestruck, his admiration was beyond words!
As a member of the You Clan “Black Rope,” he was quite familiar with many Lords of Purgatory.
Chimei Wangliang, the four Evil Ghost Lords! Though not the very top tier, they were still Lord-level entities, vicious and violent, ruling their territories!
“Just projection avatars, barely a drop in the ocean. Their power is less than a ten-thousandth, no, a hundred-thousandth of their true forms.” You Honghu feigned modesty, yet his eyes held a trace of smugness. “However, those four Ghost Kings are annoyingly stubborn. Forgetting it’s just an avatar, clutching so tight… Under the ‘Ghost-Tempering Lamp,’ I still need a full month to completely refine them.”
“When that time comes, Cousin, you’ll be a Superior Spell Seal, right!” You Wucheng exclaimed, his face excited. “Let’s see how that pretty boy You Kongque competes with you for the Clan Head position! Cousin, once you’ve refined the Chimei Wangliang, could you get me a Purgatory ghostly entity too?”
“You need to be tough yourself. Even if I got one, could your soul handle the burden?” You Honghu advised calmly, then asked, “What brings you here so late, anyway?”
You Wucheng remembered suddenly, his face twisting with resentment. “Cousin, you need to avenge me! Here’s what happened…”
He recounted the events chaotically, mixing in his personal feelings, inevitably adding exaggerations and painting Li Yi as a despicable scoundrel.
After listening, You Honghu’s face darkened. He scolded coldly, “Fool! Do you even think before you act? So what if Wang Sheng and I had some grudge before? He’s just a cripple now. Why stoop to his level? Your actions only make the You Clan look petty and ruthless!”
In his rage, the four ghostly figures stirred, radiating terrifying auras like demonic gods!
“So we just let it go?” You Wucheng didn’t dare argue, but his voice was thick with humiliation and reluctance.
“Of course not. Can the children of the You Clan be bullied at will?” You Honghu snorted coldly. “Besides, an Outer Manor Disciple… dead is dead.”
“Then I’ll take some men and…” You Wucheng jumped up, overjoyed.
“Already forgetting what I just said?” You Honghu scolded, sounding exasperated. “Acting so blatantly? How will other clans perceive us?”
“What should we do then?” You Wucheng felt stumped.
“I recall… ‘Dragon Raising Head’ is approaching soon,” You Honghu said thoughtfully after a moment, humming softly. “Aren’t many eager to go to the Dragon’s Burial Ground to seek their fortune? We’ll… send him his ‘fortune’! Whether he manages to come out alive… that remains to be seen.”
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant, Cousin!” You Honghu cried out joyfully.
…
Days later.
Li Yi had been worried that Wang Sheng might do something rash. Even a cornered rabbit bites, after all.
However, observing him secretly for several days and seeing him carry on as normal eased his mind.
Dawn.
The first light of dawn dyed countless clouds, chasing away the darkness as it wandered the vast world, painting a breathtaking scene.
Too busy to admire the beauty, Li Yi stood alone at the cliff’s edge, eyes wide open, facing that first strand of morning light.
His mental energy swirled, forming a layer of faint white frost over his eyes. They turned frosty bright, deep and unfathomable.
Within the dawn light, countless sparkling particles, invisible to ordinary people, drifted and danced like willow catkins, sinking into his pupils.
Time ticked by.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, Li Yi abruptly turned away, snapping his eyelids shut. He began breathing in a peculiar manner.
“Whoosh—”
His breath shot out like an arrow. Even through his closed eyes, a faint light seemed to leak out.
Not just his eyes; luminous patterns began to appear around them.
After a long while, the light faded. When Li Yi opened his eyes, countless streaks of comet-like brilliance flashed through them, then vanished.
He looked alert and full of life.
This was – the Dawnlight Eyes.
“The person who devised this technique was a true genius…” Li Yi breathed calmly, impressed. Then a wry smile touched his lips. “…But is there no cheaper way?”
The formula stated that the first beam of dawn sunlight was the purest essence, able to dispel darkness and cleanse impurities, holding the seed of light.
Washing the eyes with this light was incredibly beneficial.
Accumulated over time, it could vastly enhance vision, granting effects like telescopic sight, X-ray vision, microscopic sight, or even the ability to see Mana flow.
While it lacked the ability to see through illusions, among ocular techniques, if not top-ranked, it was still near the front lines.
The drawback? The thirty-six precious secret herbs needed were outrageously expensive!
One ingredient included tears of the holy Unicorn!
That stuff was a hundred times rarer than dragon’s blood.
Li Yi sighed helplessly. Without the herbs, he had to rely on slow, painstaking effort, crawling forward inch by inch.
Next up, Mammoth Shakes the Mountain.
Bathing in the dawn light, he stepped upon the mountain earth. He moved with the stride of a dragon or tiger, each step booming like thunder!
For the past few days, he’d simply cultivated in the hills during the daytime.
The essence of Mammoth Shakes the Mountain lay in the “Mountain.” Training here was a full thirty percent more effective than in a Meditation Chamber!
Initially, he’d worried Yu Qian might find it suspicious. But as time passed peacefully, combined with his need to purify his eyes at dawn, Li Yi had simply stayed to cultivate.
Besides, this place was desolate. Mammoth Shakes the Mountain also allowed him to sense sounds nearby, serving as an alert, reducing the fear of discovery.
Twenty steps.
The Earth Essence churned upwards from beneath his feet, forging his body. It flowed through every muscle and bone, sending creaking, grinding tremors through them.
Though day hadn’t fully broken, besides the mountain ghosts’ wails, the faint roars of mountain imps echoed in his ears!
Li Yi remained utterly focused, utterly calm. Step by step, he labored diligently.
The sun rose, bit by bit.
Close to noon, a sharp crack sounded, like something breaking. Immediately afterwards, popping and crackling rattled all through his body.
Li Yi staggered, nearly falling. He thrust out a hand to steady himself, his fingers leaving deep grooves in the hard earth.
In that instant, his strength surged by at least thirty percent!
Li Yi’s expression was one of shock and bewilderment.
This wasn’t an isolated boost. Correspondingly, his defense, recovery rate, magic resistance, poison resistance, and even his bone constitution had leaped upwards. It felt like a Mammoth shedding old hair – a small-scale body transformation.
“Did I… break through?”
Unlike Battle-Aura or magic, physical advancement lacks clear benchmarks.
Yet Li Yi knew he must have shattered some life barrier, entering a new realm.
Suddenly, a warmth radiated from within his Sumeru Ring.
“It’s the Samsara Shroud!” Understanding dawned, and joy spread across Li Yi’s face.
Sure enough, the second image had unlocked.
– “Siren Splits the Tide.”
Unlike Mammoth Shakes the Mountain which absorbed the Earth Essence, Siren Splits the Tide wasn’t about embracing the Will of the Vast Sea. It was straightforward physical cultivation.
“The core of Siren Splits the Tide lies in two words – ‘Mastery’!”
“In the vast sea reside Sea Demons who delight in wrestling with tides. Tidal forces weigh ten thousand jun and crash like mountains collapsing. The Sea Demons dance amidst these torrents. Supple, they can drift with the waves; resolute, they can split currents and break tides. They blend toughness and flexibility perfectly, effortless and seamless.”
“A Sea Demon’s body dwarfs mountains, yet can pass through a coin-sized hole. Its form can be harder than tempered steel, or soft as thread wound around a finger – the ultimate refinement! Its mana control is equally godly, fine as silk or vast as mountains, executed as the mind wills, focused entirely.”
“Speak of wanting sleep and a pillow appears?” Li Yi’s fingers, gripping the scroll, trembled slightly.
Mastery over the physical body was marvelous enough, but control over mana? That was exactly what he desperately needed!
If he succeeded in this method, carving Runes would no longer plague him!
Reading on, Li Yi’s expression turned peculiar.
Mammoth Shakes the Mountain was complex and demanding, but Siren Splits the Tide? It was several times more intricate and tedious!
Its training progressed gradually – starting by conditioning every single inch of muscle, every bone, permeating the entire body before completion.
“In terms of time required… it might just take twice as long as Mammoth Shakes the Mountain!”