Chapter 15

Nine months after entering the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp.

Two metal spiders lay one left, one right on two large stones, the ground violently shaking, angry beast roars echoing from afar.

Having grown over a foot taller, Wu Tie, his tight armor now revealing large bulging muscles, ran swiftly, occasionally picking up a stone from the ground and hurling it forcefully after turning.

The stones always precisely struck the beast's nose behind him. The beast was enormous, eight or nine meters long, over five meters tall, weighing tens of thousands of catties, roaring, blood continually spurting from its huge nostrils.

This beast resembled a hippopotamus, coming from the great river over ten li away.

Usually, the beast dwelled in the deep waters of the river, only occasionally coming ashore with its herd to nibble fern leaves.

After discovering this group of massive water beasts, Wu Tie prepared for a full two months before mustering the courage to provoke the smallest of the large ones.

The ground trembled, the beast galloped madly, Wu Tie occasionally hurled stones behind him, breaking the beast's nose and making blood spray all along the way.

"Big guy, come, come to Daddy, ha, Daddy loves you!" Wu Tie laughed loudly, his bright eyes showing no trace of fear, only barely concealed excitement and fervor.

Nine months of life-and-death frenzied hunting, nine months of being cursed day and night by Old Tie, his ears soaked and eyes stained.

Grey Master had taught him since childhood; with difficulty, the slight scholarly aura Wu Tie carried had long vanished, and Old Tie had imparted upon him a sharp yet slick aura—a unique flavor of a seasoned veteran.

"Come on, big guy, haha, Daddy's got something tasty here, oh yeah, right here!"

Wu Tie let out a loud shout, he sprang up violently, leaping over the space between the two large boulders where the metal spiders lay.

The water beast roared, closely chasing Wu Tie as he sprinted, it slammed a foot down hard on the ground, the ground suddenly sank, and one of its feet fell into a deep pit.

A crisp bone-crack rang out far away; the water beast's left foreleg twisted and broke, its massive body lodged in the gap between the two large boulders, unable to move. In agony, the beast thrashed and roared, white saliva continuously spraying from its mouth.

Wu Tie suddenly turned, sprinting full speed at the water beast, his spear bringing forth a fierce, straight spear shadow that fiercely pierced the beast's skull.

The spear produced by the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp was exceedingly sharp; it pierced the water beast's skull half a foot thick, Wu Tie twisted his wrist, the beast's massive body convulsed violently a few times, then fell still.

"Let's get to work, brothers!" Wu Tie excitedly greeted the two metal spiders, which swiftly jumped to his side, bouncing about proudly.

A crack split the carapace of one metal spider, a blob of silver-gray fluid flowed out, and in a flash of wind it became a slender, razor‑sharp blade about a meter long.

"I still can't figure out why a blob of molten metal can turn itself into a blade—amazing." Wu Tie grabbed the blade, walked to the water beast, and quickly dissected it into chunks.

In the fern thicket behind, several dozen metal spiders darted out, each seizing chunks of meat far larger than their own bodies, and swiftly scurried back to the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp.

Each metal spider can easily drag hundreds of catties of meat while running; a few dozen can together haul tens of thousands of catties of game back. Wu Tie took a full two hours to finish dissecting the water beast, bringing back at least fifty to sixty thousand catties of flesh and blood.

The flesh and blood are the foundation‑building elixir.

Wu Tie excitedly hummed a little tune he had learned from Old Tie, accompanied by a swarm of metal spiders, shouldering several huge bone sticks as he returned to the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp.

The water beast's flesh and blood had been packed into the pharmaceutical apparatus, fifty‑six bottles of foundation‑building elixir neatly lined up on the ground, flashing a dazzling emerald light that made the eyes swim, the air filled with the elixir's characteristic rich, mellow, slightly pungent aroma.

Four metal spiders lifted Old Tie, circling Wu Tie twice.

"Not a bad haul, kid—you've grown bold? Dare to provoke that herd of giant hippos?" Old Tie gave a cold snort: "Next time, be careful; these giant hippos, aside from their huge size, have no other abilities. Moreover, they are herbivores, not skilled at collective hunting… this is your luck, kid."

Wu Tie grinned.

It's precisely because these big guys are herbivores that he dared to attack them.

Otherwise, just imagine a huge herd of such hippos charging madly together… the very thought is splendid beyond words!

Setting down his spear, he rubbed his palms together, looking at the foundation‑building elixirs lined up before him, Wu Tie trembled with excitement.

"Old Tie, and… Big Tie!" Wu Tie glanced askance at the Ancient Divine Soldier Camp hovering behind Old Tie; this unlucky wretch, after repeatedly asking Old Tie for a name of his own, was finally given the offhand title "Big Tie" by an impatient Old Tie.

No matter how you think about it, that name is just a perfunctory placation.

Old Tie, Big Tie, Little Tie… but as long as Big Tie is happy, that's fine. According to Old Tie, Big Tie's overall IQ is about that of a four‑ or five‑year‑old child—sometimes a bit clever, sometimes a bit dull.

"This time, can I break through the first stage of the foundation‑building forms, the 360th form, condense essence‑blood, and form elemental power?"

Wu Tie looked hopefully at Old Tie.

The foundation‑building realm is divided into three major levels: the first is tempering the body, condensing essence‑blood qi into elemental power; the second is refining elemental power, condensing it into elemental aura; the third is using highly condensed elemental aura to counter‑infuse the flesh, tempering the entire body.

Wu Tie, at an average of three foundation‑building elixirs per month, has already painstakingly trained for nine months.

In nine months, there are a total of twelve hundred foundation‑building forms; he has only trained up to the 320th. Only by breaking through the 360th form can one be considered to have perfectly tempered the flesh, enabling the refinement of elemental power.

According to Old Tie, the 360th form is an internal control valve; being able to execute it opens the valve naturally, allowing the vast essence‑blood to spontaneously coalesce into elemental power.

Now, Wu Tie has trained to the 320th form, with fifty‑six foundation‑building elixirs still laid out before him.

"Of course, if used solely for training the foundation‑building forms, you might even break through the 400th form." Old Tie looked at Wu Tie, speaking solemnly: "But Grandfather I and Big Tie have a suggestion… perhaps this matter is even more important than breaking through the foundation‑building forms."

Wu Tie widened his eyes at Old Tie: "What matter?"

Old Tie's eyes shifted a few times, then he earnestly asked Wu Tie: "May I ask, what is your mother's esteemed surname?"

Wu Tie stared at Old Tie in disbelief, then spread his hands and shook his head vigorously: "My mother? I've never seen her… only my father, my elder and second brothers know where she is."

"Oh, then this question isn't important… quite a strange custom, husbands living apart while solely raising the sons…" Old Tie muttered "xixi gu gu": "It's an interesting custom that reminds me of… well, that doesn't matter. What matters is that your mother likely left you something very precious."

Old Tie and Big Tie's eyes suddenly brightened, especially Big Tie, whose eyes, several meters in diameter, were like two huge searchlights, the piercing Blood Light staring straight at Wu Tie, forcing him to shut his eyes.

"Big Tie… your eyes are too bright!" Wu Tie complained loudly.

Big Tie's eyes dimmed, he turned away resentfully, presenting the back of his head to Wu Tie.

"Come with me. With so many foundation‑building elixirs, according to my calculation there's a ninety‑nine percent chance of success." Old Tie ordered, and the four metal spiders carrying him headed toward the hall densely packed with crystal balls, where Wu Tie usually went to heal his wounds.

"This is a good thing, a great boon for you—your mother's bloodline power is strong, thus you… can acquire a unique divine ability much earlier." Old Tie muttered to himself along the way: "But relying on you to spontaneously awaken this talent born of bloodline power is very difficult."

"These days, you've suffered heavy injuries several times, lapsing into unconsciousness many times." Old Tie spoke in a strange tone: "I had thought you would, like the protagonists of legend, awaken your talent through your own strength in death‑defying peril… it seems I overestimated."

"You're just an ordinary child who got lucky running into me… if you want to awaken, you still need an external catalyst." Old Tie's tone grew especially grave: "Fortunately, there is something here that can serve as that catalyst, although I'm not very willing to use it."

Wu Tie's party arrived at the hall.

Yang Jian hovered silently within the crystal ball, the vertical eye at his brow emitting a faint golden light, like a god‑demon, domineering and overbearing, a powerful aura filling the entire hall.

Although Wu Tie had repeatedly become a neighbor of Yang Jian within the crystal ball, each time he saw Yang Jian he still felt his soul jolt violently, almost shattered, his body going limp, instinctively averting his gaze, unable to look directly at Yang Jian.

This is an absolute suppression on the level of life.

Even though Yang Jian has been dead for who knows how many years, he still exerts absolute suppression over Wu Tie.

Old Tie gazed silently at Yang Jian, for a long, long time.

Big Tie shifted uneasily, his massive skull lightly bumping Old Tie.

"Let's do it!" Lao Tie said coldly: "Although unwilling, but resources are limited……for……"

Lao Tie closed his mouth, after a long while, he then softly said: "for……"

Da Tie gave a grunt.

The crystal ball where Yang Jian was silently rippled with a sheet of blue electricity; the crystal ball slid open, and Yang Jian's body slid out from it.

A metal spider the size of a fist dropped from the ceiling, landing squarely on Yang Jian's face; several sharp forelegs rose high, then lightly pierced the vertical eye at the center of his brow.

With a "hiss", a slit split open on the tiny metal spider's belly; an extremely fine needle tube shot out, precisely piercing the pupil of the vertical eye. Through the transparent tube, one could see strands of golden liquid being continuously drawn out.

Lao Tie watched silently; the blood light in his pupils flickered rapidly, giving an extremely chaotic feeling.

Wu Tie dared not make a sound.

The intense sorrow and despair emanating from Lao Tie made him inexplicably feel heavy-hearted, likewise infected by the deep sadness.

He looked at Lao Tie, then at Yang Jian; he didn't know what had happened between them, but it was clear they shared deep feelings……

The vertical eye at Yang Jian's brow dimmed, and not a trace of golden light remained.

A bolt of electricity shot from the crystal ball; Yang Jian's body was sucked in again, suspended in the dark red liquid.

The fist-sized metal spider turned entirely golden-yellow, emitting intense golden light from within, blindingly bright.

"Begin!" Lao Tie shouted loudly.

The golden-yellow metal spider leapt up violently, lunging at Wu Tie's nape; an extremely fine needle tube drove deep into his nape, and a scorching heat flow bearing tremendous power surged in.

The heat flow swirled violently around his body a few times, then rushed swiftly toward Wu Tie's head.

Wu Tie let out a muffled groan; his whole body felt emptied, as if all his essence had been drained. His eyes rolled back, his body convulsed, spewing out a large amount of hot air, and he collapsed heavily to the ground, unconscious.

"The power remaining in Yang Jian's divine eye is a million times stronger than any awakening elixir." Lao Tie looked at the convulsing unconscious Wu Tie and murmured: "Give him the foundation-establishment elixir, fifty-six bottles, that'll be enough."

Several metal spiders returned carrying a heap of elixir; they pried open Wu Tie's mouth and kept pouring the viscous foundation-establishment elixir into his mouth.

The foundation-establishment elixir was absorbed upon entry; Wu Tie's muscles violently writhed, and the hot air emitted from his body had already formed a milky mist.

His whole body felt as if being roasted in a furnace.

Not only his body, but his soul was also wrapped in flames.

Wu Tie felt he was in boundless darkness, with black flames on all sides frenziedly scorching his spirit and flesh, as if he would be burnt to ash at any moment.

In the boundless darkness, far away, there existed two extremely fine threads of light.

The two lights twined around each other, forming a strange double helix, shuttling rapidly through the darkness.

Wu Tie instinctively sprinted toward those two lights, wanting to catch up and see their true appearance.

The next instant, the two lights shot toward Wu Tie; their strong light tore through the darkness.

Wu Tie roughly saw that within the spiraling intertwined lights were two human figures.

Before he could make out the figures' appearance, an unprecedented pain struck; the surrounding darkness suddenly burst with a tremendous cracking sound, the whole dark world shattered, and a spring-like force surged wildly from the depths of his soul.

In the hall, Lao Tie and Da Tie waited silently.

The air around Wu Tie trembled strangely; gradually, the air around his body spun rapidly, forming a howling wind column several meters high.

"Done?" Lao Tie cheered.

"Boom!"

An invisible wave swept outward in all directions; Lao Tie, Da Tie, and several metal spiders were simultaneously blown away by the invisible force field.

Wu Tie rose to his feet, hovering in the air; the space around him violently undulated like water, and faint golden light flickered within his pupils.

The innate power brought by the bloodline of his mother clan awakened!