Chapter 24: The Twelve Scattered Hands of the Chan Sect

Having studied the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish for a long time, Li Youyi felt that this was the most important magic treasure to restrain the skeleton demon, so he used various methods to activate it.

First, he used a few drops of his own blood, then the blood of the Jin Wu and the Black Flood Dragon, but there was no reaction.

Injecting the scorching hot air current born from the center of his right foot was like a stone sinking into the sea.

"To activate it, it must be related to my blood, and every time it happens, it's during a very dangerous moment. Could it be that when I encounter life-threatening danger, the blood in my body becomes different?"

Besides that, it seemed that a great deal of blood was also needed.

The more blood, the more intense and lasting its movement.

Everything was speculation and analysis...

Li Youyi gritted his teeth and decided to do something stupid. So, he used a sword to cut his wrist to soak the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish, releasing nearly half a bowl, but there was no reaction at all.

"Forget it, forget it... better to wait until I encounter life-and-death danger in the future before trying again."

Li Youyi hurriedly mobilized the scorching hot air current from the center of his right foot to stop the bleeding and heal the wound, wrapping his wrist. Afterward, he picked up a cup of diluted Jin Wu blood on the table and drank it to replenish his blood energy.

With both hands pinching the "Zi-Wu Taiji Seal," he performed the Jade Void Breathing Method, mobilizing the scorching hot air current gushing from the center of his right foot to circulate through the thirteen silver trace meridians, in order to refine the scorching secret energy contained in the Jin Wu blood.

In recent days, he had been drinking Jin Wu blood every day, and his physical strength had grown significantly.

Half an hour later, Li Youyi stopped.

"My physical body doesn't seem to have changed much... Before, when I drank Jin Wu blood, my whole body would heat up, and my heartbeat and blood flow speed would increase quite a bit."

"Let me try drinking another cup."

A few days ago, after drinking the first cup of Jin Wu blood, Li Youyi had lost his awe of it.

Because the scorching hot air current in his body could refine it, and he didn't even need to wear the cross pendant on his body.

Cai Yutong had only drunk one cup and almost died from being incinerated. Fortunately, there was the cross pendant, and her body changed drastically, transforming as if she were an immortal spirit.

Li Youyi had drunk ten cups in total, but there were no signs of incineration, nor was there any shedding or transformation; only his physical strength had increased.

He didn't know whether to feel depressed or fortunate.

After drinking the eleventh cup, he only felt the Jin Wu blood was as bland as water, and his body had no reaction at all.

"My physical body should have reached a critical point again, needing some kind of breakthrough to go further."

How could he break through?

The diluted Jin Wu blood was bland; what about the undiluted one? Could it bring enough intense stimulation?

Just by relying on external objects, was there a chance to break through the critical point?

No sooner said than done.

He could still take a gamble now.

He couldn't just wait for the skeleton demon to come and deal with him first; that would just be waiting for death.

Li Youyi drank a cup of undiluted Jin Wu blood. After it entered his abdomen, it became increasingly scorching, as if he had put magma into his body. He immediately performed the Jade Void Breathing Method, mobilizing the scorching hot air current from the center of his right foot to refine it.

The thirteen silver trace meridians simply couldn't refine it in time; the Jin Wu blood seemed to want to burn through his internal organs.

His whole body was emitting smoke, and his blood seemed to be boiling.

His mouth seemed capable of spitting fire.

"It's not that terrifying; I can still hold on."

The spring eye at the center of Li Youyi's right foot gushed more and more intensely, fiercely confronting the Jin Wu blood.

Suddenly.

"Whoosh!"

A bone-chilling cold air emerged from the center of his left foot.

Following that, the first silver trace meridian was born from the cold spring eye, traveling up along his left leg, straight toward his internal organs, which were the most painfully scorched.

The second silver trace meridian was born.

The third, the fourth...

Before long, the number of trace meridians born from the center of his left foot reached thirteen. Added to the thirteen trace meridians rooted in the center of his right foot, they reached as many as twenty-six.

The blood energy and destructive secret energy contained in the Jin Wu blood were instantly suppressed.

The spring eye of the right foot was scorching, and the spring eye of the left foot was ice-cold.

What was born were two completely different air currents.

Li Youyi's body changed rapidly between cold and hot; one moment, his whole body was drenched in hot sweat, and the next moment, the sweat beads froze into ice beads.

"Too uncomfortable!"

He stopped breathing and exhaling, rushed out of the door, and frantically practiced the Twelve Scattered Hands of the Chan Sect on the deck.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Sometimes forming palms, sometimes throwing punches.

The speed was extremely fast, and his figure was unpredictable.

"Heaven-Turning Palm Seal."

He pinched a palm seal with his hand, his figure leaping a zhang high, descending from the sky.

The palm wind in front of the palm seal was in a condensed state, like a great heaven-turning seal. The palm did not land directly on the grave mound, but the grave soil sank, forming a depression three feet square.

It was as if it had been pressed by a three-foot-large seal.

"Taiyi Sea-Opening."

The palm seal transformed into a palm knife.

The palm wind slashed out like an invisible blade, splitting the air in front.

"Huang Long Ascending to Heaven."

He seemed to have transformed into a dragon, taking five steps in the air in succession, as if there were void stairs. With the fifth step, his body had already appeared at a height of eight or nine meters.

The Twelve Scattered Hands, Li Youyi had practiced on the mountain for many years.

Previously, he only thought of it as a method for strengthening the body, never thinking it would have such power.

When facing Xie Tianshu and the others, he didn't even need to use these moves at all.

Although called "Scattered Hands," it was not all hand techniques, but a general martial arts manual of twelve moves created by gathering punches, palms, footwork, leg techniques, finger formulas, claw seals, etc.

It was not a fixed form.

Every move was infinitely changeable, following his heart and will.

He didn't know how long he had been practicing. When his internal cold and heat balanced and he stopped, the surroundings were already surrounded by scientific expedition members who had come upon hearing the sound.

Everyone had different expressions; some were shocked, some were in awe, some were admiring, some were fanatical.

Of course, some speculated that Li Youyi had swallowed a Buddha relic, but they didn't dare to have any improper thoughts at all. Just based on the momentum of the punch he had just practiced, if Li Youyi were to get serious, he would likely be able to punch through their chests with one blow.

They didn't know Li Youyi's situation and thought he was showing off his muscles to deter potential restless people.

Qin Ke walked up and wiped the sweat from Li Youyi's forehead: "Brother Youyi, you seem to have become even more powerful. Is it because you drank Jin Wu blood?"

"Yes."

Li Youyi did not deny it.

He had originally planned to let everyone on the ship drink Jin Wu blood one after another to change their constitutions, thereby increasing their ability to survive in this strange world.

Cai Yutong's body transformation couldn't be hidden; according to her, rather than hiding it and letting everyone guess and create estrangement, it was better to inform them openly.

Qin Ke was full of anticipation, yet also a bit uneasy, and asked: "Can I drink it too?"

"Of course."

Li Youyi added: "But we have to wait for the First Mate to wake up first."

Four days ago, Zhao Meng's condition worsened, and forced by necessity, Li Youyi gave him diluted Jin Wu blood and put the cross pendant on him.

But the effect of the Jin Wu blood was too slow, and Zhao Meng was about to stop breathing.

Li Youyi gave him Black Flood Dragon blood to drink and put the dragon-patterned thumb ring on his finger.

Since then, Zhao Meng had been undergoing drastic changes every day.

This morning, the broken bone injuries on his knees and shoulders had completely recovered, and his physique had grown exaggeratedly to nearly three meters tall.

Fortunately, there was no terrifying flood-dragon-like deformity like Xie Tianshu's.

Only a small amount of black scales grew on his arms and legs.

His hair turned fire-red like Jin Wu feathers.

……

After the spring eye at the center of his left foot was opened, Li Youyi's combat power greatly increased, and he finally had the confidence to go and meet the skeleton demon again.

The last time was too miserable!

Li Youyi wore corpse-clothing leather armor, the Dao Ancestor's Taiji Fish around his neck, silver-silk gloves on his hands, a three-headed snake bracelet on his wrist, a scripture belt tied around his waist, a black iron seal and Jin Wu blood in his bosom, holding a Huang Long Sword in one hand and a black long spear in the other.

Finding the black long spear too heavy and quite cumbersome, he threw it aside.

Arriving near the grave where the skeleton demon was, he took out the Jin Wu blood and poured it on the scripture belt to activate it.

Li Youyi's movement speed was swift, like a blood-colored ghost, and he rushed onto the grave mound with his sword. Standing by the edge of the cave he had dug out on top of the grave mound, he looked down, and the ice coffin had already melted.

Inside...

It was actually empty.

In an instant, Li Youyi's whole body went numb, and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his body.

Had that skeleton demon already run out?

He immediately mobilized the two cold and hot air currents to maximize his various perceptions, looking around to search, but found nothing. Even the bone wind chime on the tombstone had disappeared.

"Lying in the coffin unable to move, she was already terrifying using only her hair. Now that she's out..."

Li Youyi found it hard to imagine how strong the skeleton demon would be if she could move freely.

"Since she's out, Dr. Qi's disappearance might really be related to her."

After investigating around the grave mound, Li Youyi found the footprints left by the skeleton demon and looked up into the Nether fog.

It was the direction of the Jin Wu carcass.

"Since she attacked me and Dr. Qi one after another, she will definitely strike again. The reason why the next victim hasn't appeared yet is likely because there is some problem with her body, just like how she couldn't walk out of the grave mound before."

"I can't let her continue to recover; by then, I'm afraid I won't have any power to fight back."

After thinking for a moment, Li Youyi ultimately still believed that no matter how terrifying the skeleton demon was, he still had the power to fight now. If he retreated today because of fear, he would only be at her mercy in the future.

Following the footprints, Li Youyi carefully and cautiously arrived beneath the Jin Wu carcass.

By the blood pool, he saw that red-clothed figure.

She sat cross-legged, golden clouds overflowing from her body, her black hair floating in the air like long silk threads, and on her back was a pair of flame light wings several meters long, very similar to the Jin Wu fire wings that appeared when Cai Yutong transformed into an immortal spirit, both gorgeous and bright.

Without any hesitation, Li Youyi increased his speed to the limit, arrived a zhang behind her, leaped up, and slashed down with his sword.

"Whoosh!"

This sword strike was exactly the Taiyi Sea-Opening from the Twelve Scattered Hands.

With his whole body's strength poured into it, the sword edge flashed with yellow light, splitting the air.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 25 =====