Chapter 9: Iron-Eating Crocodile

The Daoist of Charging Clouds saw the two enter, waved his hand at Qingfeng to step aside, and his piercing gaze instantly fixed on Wang Yu behind him.

Wang Yu’s heart fluttered, but his face showed no trace of it; instead, he bowed respectfully to the Daoist and called out, “Abbot.”

“Blood qi is condensed, gathered yet not dispersed—this does resemble the early signs of bodily bloodline awakening. But it’s rare for blood qi to concentrate in the head. It only fills half the skull; no matter what bloodline, it’s only half-awakened. A pity. This blood qi phenomenon will vanish in half a day—no need to worry too much.” After studying Wang Yu closely for a long while, the Daoist spoke with mixed delight and regret.

“Master, even if Qiuye has only awakened half his bloodline, it still far surpasses those with mere spiritual sensitivity. Moreover, once the bodily bloodline is awakened, certain cultivation techniques become much easier to grasp.” Qingfeng said earnestly beside him.

“That’s true. Qiuye, let me ask you—do you wish to become my disciple, a true student of this path?” The Daoist nodded, then turned solemnly to the boy.

“Of course I do! Disciple Wang Yu bows to Master!” At this moment, how could Wang Yu refuse? He immediately knelt and banged his head hard against the floor.

“Good, good. From today, you are my second disciple.” The Daoist swiftly pulled Wang Yu up, satisfied.

“Congratulations, Master, on taking Qiuye as your junior disciple!” Qingfeng also smiled and offered his felicitations.

“Since Qiuye is now my disciple, the rushed, shortcut methods you planned to teach him are out of the question. First, he must learn the fundamentals from me—build a solid foundation before anything else.” The Daoist thought for a moment, then spoke to his senior disciple.

“Naturally. Since Master intends to teach him personally, I shall take my leave.” Qingfeng quickly bowed and withdrew.

“Go ahead. Oh, leave the mirror behind—I’ll need it.” The Daoist nodded, then suddenly remembered something and added another instruction.

The young Daoist replied, handed the small bronze mirror he carried to the Daoist, then exited the room and closed the heavy door.

“Qiuye, I must test your bloodline power again—to make it manifest further, so I can determine exactly which bloodline you’ve awakened before I pass on any techniques.” The Daoist spoke seriously to the boy.

“Master, what exactly is bloodline? Is it rare for people to awaken it?” Wang Yu couldn’t help asking.

“I forgot—you don’t yet know the origin of bloodline power. Let me explain briefly.” The Daoist paused, then suddenly understood.

Wang Yu immediately strained his ears.

“Bloodline, as the name suggests, refers to non-human bloodlines. Long ago, in ancient times, some human cultivators sought greater power by implanting the essence of powerful non-human races or beast beasts into their bodies, thereby gaining talents beyond ordinary humans. When these humans later married ordinary people, their descendants had a chance to activate these talents—that’s bloodline awakening.” The Daoist explained.

“So my ancestors might have been descendants of those ancient human cultivators?” Wang Yu was greatly surprised.

“Heh, that’s not wrong—but over the millennia since ancient times, bloodline power has spread and diluted so widely across humanity that it’s now essentially part of human nature itself. It’s not unusual for someone to carry multiple bloodlines simultaneously. But compared to ancient times, these inherited bloodlines have become extremely faint. Now, for humans to awaken bloodline power and unlock its talents is exceedingly difficult.”

“If one in a thousand ordinary people possess spiritual sensitivity, then one in ten thousand awaken bloodline power—and those who possess both are rarer still. That’s why I immediately took you in the moment I saw your bloodline awaken.”

The Daoist explained without concealment, then pulled a palm-sized wooden box from his robe. Opening it, he revealed a dense cluster of fine silver needles, making Wang Yu flinch.

“Don’t be afraid. My needle technique merely further stimulates the blood qi—it causes no pain.” The Daoist spoke, then told Wang Yu to remove his outer garments and sit cross-legged facing away from him.

Though uneasy, Wang Yu did as instructed.

Soon, he felt slight numbness at several points along his bare back; his blood began flowing rapidly through his body, faster and faster, causing his limbs to grow warm.

At that moment, the Daoist of Charging Clouds slapped Wang Yu’s shoulder, causing his body to spin around, facing the Daoist directly.

Silver light flashed as more needles plunged into his chest and abdomen.

“Boom!”

Wang Yu felt all his blood surge upward at once, gathering at the crown of his head, making his skull feel as if it had swollen by half again.

“Break!”

The Daoist uttered a low command; in his fingers, a yellow talisman had appeared, instantly pressed onto Wang Yu’s crown. A coolness surged from the talisman, instantly clearing Wang Yu’s dizziness and heaviness.

“Hmm? You’re…” The Daoist glanced once at his second disciple’s face, then frowned slightly.

“What is it, Master?” Wang Yu asked quickly.

“Hmm, take a look yourself.” The Daoist had already prepared the small bronze mirror and handed it over.

Wang Yu took the mirror and looked: the yin-yang pattern on his face had vanished, but a strange crimson mark now appeared on his brow.

“That mark on your third eye is a bloodline pattern—called a blood Wen . Usually, each bloodline manifests a unique pattern. But since you’ve only awakened half your bloodline power, the pattern is incomplete, making it hard to identify clearly.” The Daoist spoke slowly.

“What should we do now?” Wang Yu asked obediently.

“Tricks won’t work, but there’s still a brute-force method. Long ago, I paid a high price for a copy of the Blood Pattern Compendium—it records many common complete bloodline patterns. If we compare them one by one, we’ll likely find a match. Qiuye, wait here—I’ll be right back.” The Daoist spoke hastily and left the quiet chamber.

Wang Yu could only stare helplessly in place.

Not long after, the Daoist of Charging Clouds returned, clutching a thick tome, sat on his cushion, opened the book, and studied it, occasionally glancing at Wang Yu’s brow.

Wang Yu sat cross-legged facing the Daoist, his mind curious—what bloodline had this body awakened?

“Found it! Here it is! This half of the pattern matches yours exactly… Yes, you’ve awakened the ‘Iron-Eating Crocodile’ bloodline power.” The Daoist suddenly brightened as he flipped halfway through the book.

“Iron-Eating Crocodile? Is that beast very powerful?” Wang Yu asked eagerly.

“According to the compendium, the Iron-Eating Crocodile is only a low-rank beast—not particularly strong. But its awakened talent is extremely practical. Most commonly, it grants ‘Copper Skin, Iron Bones,’ making the awakener’s flesh thick and tough, greatly accelerating body-strengthening cultivation. Another talent, ‘Stone Armor,’ allows control of stone to form a natural armor on the body… Here, take a look yourself.” The Daoist grew increasingly pleased, his satisfaction with Wang Yu rising, and he handed the book over.

Wang Yu took the book and studied it closely.

The opened page clearly displayed a crimson bloodline pattern; the left half matched exactly the mark on his brow. Below it, dense small characters described the Iron-Eating Crocodile’s habits and abilities, and also listed the possible talents humans with this bloodline might awaken.

According to the text, besides the two talents the Daoist had mentioned, the Iron-Eating Crocodile bloodline had two rarer ones: one called ‘Blood Rage,’ a power to induce blood-fueled berserker rage; the other, ‘Golden Touch,’ which was merely a faint ability to sense metal ore deposits.

Wang Yu memorized every detail carefully—these supernatural facts, if brought back to his original world, would be major achievements.

“Enough. Just glance at this. Of the Iron-Eating Crocodile’s talents, I hope you awaken ‘Copper Skin, Iron Bones’ or ‘Stone Armor.’ The other two are auxiliary—they offer little power boost and may even have drawbacks. ‘Blood Rage,’ for instance, often clouds your judgment in battle. ‘Golden Touch’ is even more useless—modern methods of prospecting metal ores are plentiful; who would rely on such a feeble talent? First, focus on activating your full bloodline power—that’s how you’ll awaken one talent.” The Daoist stopped Wang Yu as he finished reading.

“Master, after fully awakening a bloodline, can you only gain one talent? And why did I suddenly become much stronger when I awakened?” Wang Yu returned the book reluctantly, then asked another question.

“Most beast beasts have strong bodies, and the Iron-Eating Crocodile is especially tough among low-rank beasts. So when you awakened, your body naturally underwent a one-time massive strengthening—but that’s not a true talent. As for whether you can awaken only one talent—it’s not absolute, but usually only one manifests. Awakening multiple talents is exceedingly rare. Enough speculation. Let me remove the needles now.” The Daoist explained briefly, then lightly tapped Wang Yu’s shoulder.

“Whoosh.” “Whoosh.”

Wang Yu felt his body tremble; the silver needles instantly shot out of his skin. His blood flow slowed rapidly, the blood Wen on his brow faded and vanished, and his face returned to normal.

The Daoist’s large hands moved like wind and lightning, snatching up every needle and returning them to the wooden box.

Wang Yu watched this, marveling inwardly once again.