Chapter 203: 194. Burning Blood

194. Chapter 194: Burning Blood

At this moment, Li Yi had returned to the Peace Financial Tower.

He took a shower, cleaned the filth from his body, rested briefly, then immediately practiced the White Bone Contemplation technique and entered meditative stillness.

This meditation was not for cultivation—he wanted to learn about the supernatural events in the old district.

Right now, he needed to ask one person.

The malice trapped within the knife coin.

All events originated from him; now such a great calamity had arisen—perhaps this inherently evil malice could offer advice, devise a solution.

"Evil malice, wake up! I have questions for you."

"Evil malice, appear at once."

"Evil malice…"

Perhaps annoyed by Li Yi's incessant muttering, the knife coin's energy field rippled; energy coalesced, and a phantom, incomplete human figure emerged.

"You, a demon on the verge of corruption, stop calling me that! In my life, I acted with integrity—how did I become 'evil malice' in your mouth? Clearly, your demonic nature has sunk into your bones; even your words radiate bottomless malice. You've wasted all the merit I once accumulated with just a few sentences. Truly worthy of being a prisoner of the earth."

The malice within the knife coin revived and immediately lashed out at Li Yi.

"Stop pretending to sleep. When your grave was disturbed, a great ghost emerged—now that ghost has possessed a woman and grown powerful. Do you know what happened?" Li Yi asked.

"Oh, you mean the woman possessed by the fierce ghost? I recall her vaguely. But this all began because of you prisoners of the earth—if you hadn't disturbed my burial ground, how could that evil ghost have latched onto me? It's all your greed. You unleashed something terrible." The malice within the knife coin spoke with malicious glee.

Li Yi pressed immediately: "We've cooperated for some time now. I trust we've built a solid, unbreakable friendship. Why not be a good man to the end? Tell me the ghost's origins and a way to deal with it."

"Don't flatter yourself. I am a righteous man of high virtue—how could I form a friendship with a naturally evil prisoner of the earth? Don't delude yourself. We are not familiar. This is our first meeting." The malice within the knife coin said.

"Now that you mention it, I just remembered something—if I hold the Hanging Spear in one hand and the broken knife coin in the other, and strike them together, which do you think would prevail?" Li Yi said seriously.

The moment he spoke, the knife coin's energy field erupted in turmoil.

The half-body formed from the knife coin's lingering spirit instantly showed shock, then pointed at Li Yi: "You—you thought of such a cruel method to destroy me?"

The Hanging Spear is a spirit weapon, designed to slay fierce ghosts and damage souls—it is the knife coin's deadly antithesis.

Though in his prime he would have feared no such spear, now he was only a lingering fragment. One collision would scatter his soul entirely, erasing him from this world forever.

"I have no choice. I want to be good. I want to wear a suit, tie a tie, not be a thug. But it's up to you whether to give me the chance." Li Yi said.

He had no other option.

After all, Liu Yan's case was grave—it involved many lives.

"You've become a true demon now. I feel both pleased and heartbroken. Prisoners of the earth turn demonic as easily as eating and drinking. Had I known, I should have urged you toward goodness." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said.

"Then you should regret not teaching me to be good." Li Yi said.

"No. Even if I urged you toward goodness, you'd only become a hypocritical demon." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said.

Good. Good. Good.

So I'm destined to become a demon no matter what.

Indeed, prejudice in the human heart is a mountain—unmovable, no matter what.

Li Yi said: "I don't care what you say. This concerns many lives—including mine. So today, I must get information."

"Since your obsession is so strong, and you hold the Hanging Spear, I'll tell you then."

The lingering spirit within the knife coin no longer resisted Li Yi—it yielded. After all, it did not wish to be pierced by Li Yi's spear. It still had unfinished business, still wished to cling to life.

"That fierce ghost was born from a lingering spirit. In life, it was a cultivator too—but greedy, it tried to rob my tomb, and was killed by the traps I left behind. Because it died unjustly, its malice refused to dissipate, lingering around my grave. Originally, the evil land of the prisoners of the earth would have worn it down quickly. But then you prisoners of the earth kept arriving one after another, dying like fools."

"The more who died, the more vengeful spirits accumulated. Its malice absorbed many of them, survived, grew stronger, and eventually became a fierce ghost. It possessed a woman's corpse and escaped."

"Since then, it was like a fish entering the sea, a dragon soaring through the heavens."

"I've observed recently: this demon has grown powerful and gained some awareness. It remembers some of its former techniques, and now knows how to control corpses—making countless dead souls, like itself, inhabit corpses to cultivate and evolve."

Li Yi said immediately: "Cut to the point. How do I stop it?"

"You hold a spear, don't you? Destroy its vessel, obliterate its lingering spirit. This is common knowledge for prisoners of the earth—you don't need me to teach you. The only danger is its primordial spirit attack. Get close, and you'll be severely wounded. But if you have enough cultivators, even a demon cannot fight ten thousand hands. It will surely perish in the end." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said.

"Is it really that simple?" Li Yi asked skeptically.

The lingering spirit within the knife coin said: "Yes, that simple. The only difficulty is finding the demon among hundreds of corpses. But I know nothing of tracking methods—it's up to your luck. But you get only one chance. If it escapes, you'll never kill it again."

"You don't have to tell me. In three months, it grew this strong. Give it six months, a year, and the whole Earth will be its domain." Li Yi said.

The lingering spirit within the knife coin added: "Your martial arts training is weak. Your blood refinement is too slow. If you give me a Soul-Returning Pill, I can teach you the Burning Blood Technique—ignite your blood instantly, squeeze out your body's potential, skip the long process of accumulating blood energy, and help you break through to the next realm."

"You're still after my Soul-Returning Pill," Li Yi's expression shifted.

"It's useless to me now, but it can prolong my lingering spirit's existence. Whether you make this deal is up to you." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said.

Li Yi thought for a moment: "What are the drawbacks of the Burning Blood Technique?"

"One use lasts three days. After three days, you lose ten years of life." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said: "But you evil prisoners of the earth are born hardy. Losing ten or eight years won't matter. Besides, you have Ghost Bamboo—you can suck back a few years of life. This deal is very favorable for you."

"You really are an old fox. Just as I'm sleepy, a pillow appears. You knew I was seeking a breakthrough in martial arts, so you offered this so-called Burning Blood Technique. You never showed such initiative before." Li Yi said.

"Business is about timing. If I'd offered this earlier, you'd have dismissed it as trivial. With your cultivation speed, a month's blood accumulation would be enough to break through." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said.

At this moment, Li Yi hesitated.

He knew the knife coin had ill intent—it had attacked him before. If he gave it a Soul-Returning Pill now, once restored, it might cause trouble again.

But Li Yi truly needed to break through to Qi Channeling.

Whether to face the current crisis or confront Yang Yi Long, strength was essential.

But as he himself had said:

Timing mattered.

In a month, Li Yi could naturally accumulate enough blood energy to open his channels and become a Qi Channeling martial artist—but by then, it would be too late. The breakthrough would be useless.

After weighing the options,

Li Yi said: "Fine. I accept the deal."

"Payment after delivery. Not because I distrust you—I distrust the entire character of prisoners of the earth. You lie without blinking. One moment you swear by your ancestors, the next you break your word. This shameless tradition has been passed down since ancient times—deeply rooted." The lingering spirit within the knife coin said immediately.

"."

"Fine. As you say—payment after delivery. But how do I give you the Soul-Returning Pill? You have no body—how can you take medicine?" Li Yi said.

Though the lingering spirit within the knife coin was venomous, this point was true: prisoners of the earth had abysmal integrity. Swearing was as foul as defecation—untrustworthy. Even Li Yi himself didn't believe others. Between people, only suspicion and calculation existed.

The lingering spirit within the knife coin continued: "Just place the knife coin on top of the Soul-Returning Pill. Though I have no body, I can absorb the pill's essence through this lingering fragment."

"Wait here—I'll get the pill."

Li Yi rose immediately, rummaged through his storage room, pulled out a Soul-Returning Pill, then placed the knife coin atop it.

The bronze knife coin glowed softly.

The next instant,

The Soul-Returning Pill shattered instantly, turning to powder—as if its medicinal essence had truly been absorbed.

"Breathing is never easy. I ruled for a lifetime, never imagining I'd sink so low. Since you kept your word, I'll help you ignite your blood." A voice echoed in Li Yi's mind; the knife coin's glow flared.

Streams of bronze light transformed into needle-thin spikes piercing his body.

Li Yi felt intense pain in several major acupoints; then, his dormant blood energy surged violently to life.

Within moments, his skin turned red; heat radiated outward from him in all directions.

Blood energy poured from him endlessly.

Yet his strong body visibly withered.

As time passed, his blood energy rose like a column of smoke from the crown of his head, as if piercing the heavens.

With his Spiritual Perception realm body, Li Yi forcibly ignited his blood, producing the phenomenon of blood smoke.

His heart now pounded with fierce, powerful beats.

Each beat propelled his blood energy.

Li Yi opened his eyes—his pupils turned red, like a demon awakening, or a supreme martial artist emerging from the mountains—terrifying to behold.

"Your blood will peak at noon tomorrow, then gradually weaken. Your body will consume heavily—eat and drink more. Also, I'll give you one free tip: if you're wounded by the demon's primordial spirit attack, your Soul-Returning Pill can heal you. Hehehehe. Savor the Burning Blood Technique."

The lingering spirit within the knife coin fell silent again. This time, its voice was louder—clearly, its condition had improved.

Li Yi said nothing. His state was strange—every movement felt like explosive divine power. His blood energy surged, desperate to burst free.

If he didn't control it, he feared he'd lose himself, dance wildly on the streets for three days and nights until he collapsed.

"Blood enters the channels—open the Nine Channels, strengthen the body's divine power."

Li Yi took a deep breath, controlled the boiling blood energy, guiding it into his Heart Channel, Lung Channel, Kidney Channel, Liver Channel… Only when all Nine Channels were filled could he break through and become a Qi Channeling martial artist.

I have to admit, this evil lingering thought actually has some substance.

This so-called Burning Blood Technique was perfectly suited to martial arts.

With this method, martial artists across the Four Seas and Eight Continents could break through to Qi Channeling with near certainty. Though they paid ten years of life, for martial artists, those ten years meant nothing—once they became Qi Channeling, they could extend their lifespan to eighty, easily recovering what they lost.

In mere moments, Li Yi's Heart Channel was full.

This meant he could open his Heart Channel now and become a Qi Channeling martial artist.

But that would be too wasteful.

With the Burning Blood Technique, he must fill all Nine Channels—only then could his Qi Channeling path be complete.

The Burning Blood Technique lasted only moments.

Li Yi was then swallowed by hunger.

He'd always been prone to hunger while cultivating blood, but now, after using the Burning Blood Technique, his body felt drained—desperately needing nourishment, or he feared he'd starve to death.

Fortunately, he'd bought plenty of nutrient solution. He grabbed a bottle and drank greedily.

In moments, he'd finished ten bottles.

Only then did his body feel slightly full.

After eating and drinking, Li Yi noticed his blood energy surged again—stronger than before.

As the lingering thought had said, once the Blood Burning Technique is activated, one's vital energy grows ever stronger, peaking only at noon tomorrow before beginning to wane; until then, any nourishment consumed becomes fuel for the fire, and the more one eats, the fiercer the flame burns.

Li Yi had no choice but to continue controlling this surge of vital energy, channeling it into his acupoints.

With each rise and fall of his vital energy, his martial cultivation advanced at an unimaginable speed.

It truly seemed possible to open all nine acupoints within a single day and reach the peak of Acupoint Cultivation.

If this spread across the Four Seas and Eight Zones, it would shock countless people into silence.