After researching the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish for a long time, Li Weiyi believed that it was the most important treasure for countering the Bone Demon. He therefore tried various methods to activate it. First he used a few drops of his own blood, then added blood from the Golden Crow and the Black Flood Dragon, but nothing happened.
He then injected the scorching hot qi that was birthed from the sole of his right foot, yet even that vanished into oblivion.
“To activate it, it must have something to do with my blood. And every time it’s during a moment of mortal danger… Could it be that when I face life and death, my blood undergoes some change?”
Besides that, it seemed that a large amount of blood was required. The more blood there was, the stronger and more long-lasting its reaction became. Everything was mere guesswork and analysis…
Gritting his teeth, Li Weiyi decided to do something foolish. With his sword he slit his wrist to let his blood bathe the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish. He poured nearly half a bowl of blood, yet still there was no reaction.
“Forget it… I’ll have to wait until I’m in mortal peril again to try.”
Hastily, Li Weiyi recalled the scorching hot qi from the sole of his right foot that he had used to staunch bleeding and heal his wound, wrapping his wrist up. Then he picked up a cup of diluted Golden Crow blood from the table and drank it to replenish his blood qi.
Clenching his hands in the “Ziwu Taiji Seal,” he practiced the Jade Void Breathing Technique, mobilizing the surging, hot qi from his right foot and circulating it through the thirteen silver streaks of meridians, refining the scorching secret energy contained within the Golden Crow blood.
In the past few days, he had been drinking Golden Crow blood daily, and his physical strength experienced a marked improvement. Half an hour later, Li Weiyi ceased his practice.
“My body doesn’t seem to have changed much… When I drank the Golden Crow blood before, my whole body would heat up, my heartbeat and blood flow would accelerate considerably.”
“Let’s try another cup.”
A few days ago, after drinking the first cup of Golden Crow blood, Li Weiyi had lost his awe for it. Thanks to the hot qi surging within him, he could refine it. He didn’t even need to wear the Cross Pendant.
Cai Yutong had nearly been incinerated after drinking just one cup; only by virtue of the Cross Pendant did her body undergo such drastic transformation and metamorphose into something akin to an immortal spirit.
Li Weiyi, over time, had consumed ten cups in all, yet he did not experience any incineration or metamorphosis; his body merely grew stronger in its fleshly power. He wasn’t sure whether he should feel depressed or fortunate.
After drinking the eleventh cup, he felt that the Golden Crow blood was as diluted as water, and his body had no reaction.
“Perhaps my mortal body has reached another critical point; I must break through some barrier to progress further.”
How could he break through? Was it possible to use external substance alone? If the diluted Golden Crow blood was too mild, what about using it undiluted to provide a more intense stimulus?
Could sheer external force tear through this critical point? Without further seconds to lose, he decided to give it a try now—he still had a fighting chance. He couldn’t just wait for the Bone Demon to come and finish him off; that would be tantamount to waiting for death itself.
Li Weiyi then drank a cup of undiluted Golden Crow blood. As it entered his stomach, it grew hotter and hotter, as if molten lava were being poured into his body. Immediately he practiced the Jade Void Breathing Technique, mobilizing the surging hot qi from his right foot to refine it.
Yet the thirteen silver meridians could not possibly refine it all—the Golden Crow blood seemed ready to burn through his internal organs. His whole body began to emit smoke, his blood bubbling as if boiling, and it felt as though he might spew fire from his mouth.
“It’s not that terrible—I can bear it.”
The spring at the sole of his right foot roared hotter and more powerfully, clashing fiercely against the Golden Crow blood.
Suddenly— “Whoosh!”
A blast of icy, bone-chilling cold qi erupted from the sole of his left foot. With it, the first silver meridian burst forth from the icy spring at his left foot, traveling up his left leg, heading straight for his most painfully burning internal organs. Then a second silver meridian was born.
A third… a fourth… In no time, the total number of meridians emanating from the sole of his left foot reached thirteen. Together with the thirteen meridians stemming from his right foot, there were now twenty-six in all.
The blood qi and destructive secret energy contained within the Golden Crow blood were instantly suppressed. While the spring at his right foot remained scorching, that at his left foot was icy cold. What had emerged were two completely different streams of qi.
Li Weiyi’s body underwent rapid alternating changes in temperature—one moment he was drenched in sweat, and the next, the beads of sweat would freeze into tiny ice balls.
“This is so unbearable!”
He stopped his breathing and exhalation techniques and dashed out the door, heading onto the deck where he furiously practiced the Chan Sect’s Twelve Unrestricted Techniques.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Occasionally clapping his palms together, other times striking with punches, his moves were incredibly fast and his figure unpredictable.
“Heaven Shaking Palm Impression.”
He cupped his hands into a palm seal, his figure leaping a full zhang high before coming down like a descending bolt. The palm wind in front of him condensed into a form—like a massive, heavenly seal.
Although his palm didn’t directly strike the grave mound, the earth sank, forming a three-foot square depression, as if an impression of three feet had stamped down upon it.
“Taiyi Opens the Sea.”
The palm seal transformed into a palm knife. The palm wind, like an invisible blade, sliced through the air ahead of him.
“Yellow Dragon Ascends to the Heavens.”
He moved as if transforming into a dragon, stepping in mid-air for five consecutive steps, as though there were intangible stairs in the void. On the fifth step, he already appeared to be eight or nine meters high. The Twelve Unrestricted Techniques were a martial art that Li Weiyi had cultivated on the mountain for many years.
In the past, he had considered them merely methods to strengthen the body, never imagining they would wield such power. Against Xie Tianshu and the others, these moves were hardly used at all.
Though they were called “Unrestricted Techniques,” they were not merely hand skills; they combined punches, palm strikes, footwork, legwork, finger formations, and claw prints into a martial arts system of twelve overarching techniques. They were not fixed forms. Every move was infinitely variable, executed freely according to one’s will.
After practicing for an unknown length of time, by the time his body’s heat and cold were balanced and he finally stopped, a crowd of scientific expedition team members, drawn by the sound, had already surrounded him. Their expressions were all different—some shocked, some filled with awe, some admiring, and others wildly excited.
Some even suspected that Li Weiyi had ingested a Buddha Relic, but none dared to harbor any improper thoughts. Judging by the might of his fist just moments ago, if Li Weiyi truly became serious, a single punch might shatter their chests.
They did not know his true situation, assuming that he was simply showing off his physique to deter any potentially unruly individuals. Qin Ke stepped forward to brush the sweat from Li Weiyi’s forehead.
“Brother Weiyi, you seem to have become even more formidable. Is it because you’ve been drinking Golden Crow blood?”
“Yes.”
Li Weiyi did not deny it. He had originally planned for everyone on board to gradually drink the Golden Crow blood, so as to change their constitutions and increase their survivability in this unfamiliar world.
Cai Yutong’s body transformation could not be hidden; according to her own words, instead of concealing it and letting everyone speculate and build walls of estrangement, it was better to reveal it openly. Qin Ke, filled with anticipation and a bit of apprehension, asked, “Can I drink it too?”
“Of course,” Li Weiyi replied, adding, “But we must first wait until the First Mate wakes up.”
Four days ago, Zhao Meng’s injuries had worsened. With no other choice, Li Weiyi had given him diluted Golden Crow blood and placed the Cross Pendant on him. But the effect of the Golden Crow blood was too slow, and Zhao Meng was close to death.
Li Weiyi then gave him some Black Flood Dragon blood and had the Dragon Pattern Ring placed on his finger. Since then, Zhao Meng had been undergoing intense changes every day.
By that morning, the broken bones in his knees and shoulders that had been stabilized were completely healed, and his body had grown exaggeratedly, nearly reaching three meters in height. Thankfully, he did not experience the horrific, dragon-like mutation that Xie Tianshu had suffered. Only his arms and legs had grown a few black scales.
His hair had turned into a flame-red hue, resembling the feathers of a Golden Crow. ... After the spring at the sole of his left foot opened, Li Weiyi’s combat power increased drastically, and he finally had the confidence to face the Bone Demon once again. The last time had been utterly embarrassing!
Dressed in corpse attire leather armor, with the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish hanging around his neck, donning Silver Thread Gloves on both hands, wearing a Three-Headed Snake Bracelet on his wrist, a scripture-inscribed waist belt bound around him, and carrying both a Black Iron Seal and Golden Crow blood, he wielded the Yellow Dragon Sword in one hand and a black spear in the other.
Finding the black spear too heavy and cumbersome, he tossed it aside. Arriving near the grave where the Bone Demon resided, he took out some Golden Crow blood and poured it onto the scripture waist belt, activating it. Li Weiyi moved with incredible speed, like a bloody phantom, raising his sword as he charged toward the grave mound.
Standing at the edge of the cave atop the mound—which he had dug out himself earlier—he looked down to see that the ice coffin had long melted. Inside… it was completely empty. In an instant, Li Weiyi felt his whole body go numb, his heart seeming as if it would jump out of his chest.
Had the Bone Demon already emerged? He immediately mobilized both streams of qi, hot and cold, maximizing all his senses as he scanned the surroundings, but found nothing. Even the Bone Wind Chime on the tombstone had disappeared.
“Lying in the coffin with no movement, using only her hair—it was terrifying. And now she’s out…”
Li Weiyi could hardly imagine how powerful a free-roaming Bone Demon might be.
“Since she has emerged, it is quite possible that Doctor Qi’s disappearance is connected to her.”
After inspecting around the grave mound, Li Weiyi found the footprints left by the Bone Demon’s departure, and then he looked up toward the Nether Fog. They were in the direction of the Golden Crow Corpse.
“Since she has attacked both me and Doctor Qi, she will surely strike again. The reason no new victim has appeared yet is likely because her body has some kind of problem—just as she could not leave the grave mound before.”
“I cannot allow her to continue reviving. Otherwise, by the time she is fully restored, I might not even have a shred of defense left.”
After pondering for a moment, Li Weiyi concluded that even if the Bone Demon was extremely terrifying, there was still a chance to fight. If he retreated out of fear today, he would only be left to be slaughtered by her in the future. Following the footprints cautiously, Li Weiyi tread carefully until he reached beneath the Golden Crow Corpse.
By the edge of the Blood Pool, he saw that red-robed figure. She sat cross-legged, golden radiance streaming over her, with black hair floating in the air like long strands of silk.
On her back were a pair of flame-like wings stretching several meters long, very similar to the Golden Crow Fire Wings that had appeared when Cai Yutong transformed into an immortal spirit—both were dazzlingly brilliant. Without any hesitation, Li Weiyi increased his speed to the limit, arriving a full zhang behind her.
He leaped into the air and swung his sword down in a single stroke.
“Whoosh!”
That sword strike was none other than “Taiyi Opens the Sea,” one of the Twelve Unrestricted Techniques. With all his strength channeled through the blade, the yellow glow flashed, splitting the air asunder.
(End of Chapter)