Chapter 77: Alliance
Chapter 77: Alliance
The soles of his feet ached fiercely. Suspicion flickered in Li Yi’s eyes. Unwilling to accept it, he changed direction and assumed the Dragon-Elephant Pose once more, walking slowly and deliberately.
“Let’s try again…”
He enacted Mammoth Shakes the Mountain. His skin and membranes resonated, his internal organs trembled, like a vast drum echoing across the land, stirring a deep resonance.
His steps were soundless. By the twentieth step, a surge of energy welled up from beneath his feet. But it wasn’t steady and heavy; it was wild and violent, striking directly at the center of his soles!
As if electrocuted, Li Yi’s body was flung violently backward. He shot through the air like a cannonball and crashed heavily against a massive brown rib.
“Damn it, it’s awake!”
Agony wracked his entire body; his bones and tendons felt on the verge of splitting. Groaning, Li Yi lay on the ground, unable to move for a long while.
That energy carried a clear warning. Clearly, the slumbering will beneath his feet had opened half an eye and discovered this petty thief stealing its Tiger Strategy Qi.
“So stingy… What I took isn’t even an eighth of the Tiger Strategy Qi on the ground!”
After resting a moment, Li Yi smacked his own forehead as realization dawned, silently cursing his own stupidity.
“Why hang myself on one tree? If this place doesn’t want me, another will!”
You can’t just keep shearing the same sheep. Here, there were still five giant beast skeletons!
Beneath each of the other five skeletons, there was a ninety percent chance of finding something similar.
Taking a little from each skeleton would add up. Calculating, six-eighths was three-fourths—that was most of the Six Strategies Qi.
However, this way, the gathered Qi would be balanced but lack specialization. Powerful talents like Elemental Commander would probably be hard to manifest.
“Greed is a snake trying to swallow an elephant…”
Feeling some regret, Li Yi warned himself sternly.
Staying alive was key; everything else could be considered a bonus.
His gaze swept in a circle. Identifying a direction, he walked toward another skeleton.
The giant beast “Tuzhan” was of the wind attribute; its energy was Leopard Strategy Qi.
“But, what exactly is that energy beneath the skeleton?” Doubt rose in Li Yi’s heart. His eyebrows lifted slightly as he speculated, “A mountain ogre? No, definitely not!”
So-called mountain ogres were actually Undead Creatures.
Most magical beasts, once dead, would disperse into the world and return to Samsara.
But some magical beasts with heavy obsessions or resentments lingered. The weaker ones became mountain ghosts; the stronger ones became mountain ogres.
From that energy, Li Yi didn’t sense resentment or rage, but rather naivety and confusion, like a nascent will.
Could it be that the dragon’s skeleton formed a mountain, giving birth to a new mountain spirit?
This couldn’t be confirmed. The Six Beasts were Outer Realm Dragons, mysterious and profound. Even something like a phoenix reborn from ashes wasn’t impossible.
The further he walked, the lower the terrain became. Li Yi suddenly jerked his hand back. A white mark appeared on the back of it.
“We’re here!” A glint of light flickered in his eyes as he looked forward. Behind his mask, his expression was one of shock.
Ahead, a colossal wall of storms stretched across the view!
The fierce winds were chaotic and wild. Countless streams of storm energy surged recklessly, like a meat grinder with millions of serrated blades, exuding a chilling cold.
Li Yi tried to step into it. The moment he entered, turbulent currents battered him, wind blades poured in, and sharp wind pressure seeped into every pore, feeling like being sliced apart!
Looking at the ground, it was smooth as a mirror, already leveled by the gales, and it continued to sink downward.
It was foreseeable that in the near future, this place would become a basin.
“This invisible wind pressure, with its immense force, is practically no different from ocean tides!”
He exclaimed, then a spark of inspiration struck him.
This place was a natural training ground for Siren Splits the Tide!
In the deep sea, tides held immense power with countless undercurrents, yet the body of a Sea Demon could go with the flow, receiving no force, even borrowing force to counterforce, parting the seas and splitting the tides!
That level of effortless mastery was beyond Li Yi’s current ability. However, his skin and membranes were tough enough to barely withstand it.
After several deep breaths, he leaped up and dashed inside with his shoulder leading.
In an instant, fierce winds assailed him from all sides!
Within the chaotic storm, his figure blurred and sharpened intermittently. This was because his entire skin and membranes were moving with the wind, vibrating intensely to resist the terrifying wind pressure.
“This… really packs a punch!”
Li Yi grunted lightly. The grinding sound of his clenched teeth also carried a slight tremble.
It hurt so much!
If not for his sturdy skin, he would have been covered in bloody cuts already.
However, under the wind pressure, his body unleashed several times its usual potential. His skin rippled, his muscles pulsed, exerting every effort to dissipate the pressure from all directions without a trace.
Though painful, this kind of cultivation was ten times better than the isolated effort in a Meditation Chamber!
Indeed, people are forged under pressure.
He chuckled to himself, then regulated his breathing, his steps slow and measured as he proceeded carefully.
“Hmm?”
A faint purple light sphere caught his attention. The sphere was large, covered in rose patterns, and a humanoid figure could vaguely be seen inside.
As Li Yi stared, the person inside seemed to sense something too, turned their head, and looked over.
Crack!
Their gazes intersected. Along the invisible straight line between them, a flash of seven-colored flame blossomed like a dazzling lotus.
The person opposite felt their vision plunge into a desolate darkness, as if seeing a sliver of bright, warm morning light.
Meanwhile, Li Yi felt as if he were gazing upon a vast, misty ocean, within which floated the skeleton of a giant beast.
“An eye technique?”
The thought that arose in both their minds was identical.
And the next thought was also the same.
“Her (Him)? Truly, you can meet anywhere in life…”
Li Yi was surprised to discover that the girl within the purple light sphere was the Mirage-Masked Maiden he had briefly encountered when he first arrived.
The Mirage-Masked Maiden was equally astonished, her heart filled with indescribable feelings.
Her eyes suddenly widened. Subconsciously, she felt a nervous jolt.
The person wearing the Baxia Mask was walking within the “Storm Domain” without any fluctuations of Mana or roiling Battle Aura, relying solely on a flesh-and-blood body!
“Is he made of iron or steel?” the Mirage-Masked Maiden marveled silently to herself.
She couldn’t see, of course, that behind the Baxia Mask was a face contorted in pain, gritting its teeth.
The two exchanged a glance. Without speaking, they nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Li Yi kept his distance and walked directly toward the skeleton of the giant beast Tuzhan.
“This woman’s eye technique is interesting… Does it encompass everything?” Li Yi pondered privately.
Not long ago, he had been thinking about how to shrink the giant beast skeletons to observe their patterns, yet this girl’s eye technique had already achieved it!
However, in this cursed place, everyone was a potential enemy. Naturally, Li Yi wouldn’t approach to inquire.
…
Within the skeleton.
“Indeed, at the eye of the storm, it’s calm and windless…”
Sighing, Li Yi collapsed to the ground. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead. He gasped for air like a fish out of water.
Holding on until here had completely exhausted him.
While resting, he lazily observed his surroundings and couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder.
Tuzhan’s skeleton, compared to Leixu’s, was more delicate and slender, giving a feeling of ethereal lightness. Occasionally, a gentle breeze passed through, and the hollow bones actually emitted sounds like string instruments!
After resting for half an hour, Li Yi brushed the dust off himself. As if possessed by a dragon-elephant, his body grew taut, and he activated Mammoth Shakes the Mountain.
About twenty paces away, a wisp of ethereal energy seemed summoned. It darted into the soles of his feet, surged upward along his meridians, faster than a swift wind!
“Leopard Strategy Qi? Indeed, it’s quite good…”
Li Yi vaguely sensed that the will beneath his feet was completely different from Leixu’s—agile, graceful, and melodious, like a gentle breeze.
Nourished by the Leopard Strategy Qi, every cell in his body seemed to rejoice, giving him an illusion of floating like an immortal.
…
Finally, the fourth day arrived.
Bam!
Li Yi’s body was flung upward, shooting vertically over twenty meters into the air before crashing back down. He landed in a daze, feeling as if his internal organs might have shifted.
“Whoa, this guy is much more temperamental than Leixu…” Li Yi coughed violently, yet an unstoppable smile spread across his face.
Through internal spiritual vision, he could clearly see a Bloodline Rune showing a faint embryonic form.
Undoubtedly, it was a new Bloodline Ability!
Judging by the current progress, even if he gathered all Six Strategies Qi, it would only complete about a quarter of the Rune. Perhaps it would need several more years of refinement to fully awaken.
However, its significance was profound.
So what if he wasn’t from a noble family? He was just a commoner, yet he could still awaken a Bloodline Ability!
“Forget it, let’s not provoke it. Next!” Li Yi tasted something slightly salty in his mouth. Wiping it, he saw his hand stained red.
Exiting Tuzhan’s skeleton, the Mirage-Masked Maiden was still there, lingering in the same spot.
Exchanging another nod, Li Yi naturally didn’t bother with pleasantries. He turned and headed toward another skeleton.
“Wait!” The Mirage-Masked Maiden caught up, though she remained vigilant, maintaining a proper distance.
“What is it?” Li Yi turned his head and asked calmly.
“I have a proposal. The two of us could form an alliance,” the Mirage-Masked Maiden said softly.