Chapter 280: Change (Begging for Guaranteed Monthly Votes)

Whoosh~

The night wind blew gently, and heavy snow fell.

Inside the small house, Li Yuan had stewed a large pot of spirit rice, with several dishes of stir-fried spirit beast meat, accompanied by a pot of Hundred Herbs Brew. Enjoying the snow while eating and drinking, his mood was excellent, very relaxed.

"This is true enjoyment."

One sip of wine, one bite of food, Li Yuan felt a faint sense of satisfaction in his heart, and pondered:

"Although Old Dragon Head is forgetful, he is still very reliable."

Reflecting on his previous meeting with Long Xi Xiang, he felt even more that Old Dragon Head was extraordinary; even with his mental injury and forgetfulness, he was after all a top grandmaster, once the fifth person on the Heroes List.

"Not to mention Old Dragon Head, there might be others within the sect who suspect I am Li Li Yuanba, after all, the rumors from the Xieshen Sect refer to the past two years..."

Daoist Li had many thoughts, but after pondering back and forth, he felt the problem didn't seem too big.

After all, he was not someone without a foundation.

Including him, Long Xi Xiang had nine direct disciples and twenty-one nominal disciples; on the surface, he was the one with the lowest Wu Gong.

There were still three senior and junior brothers like Dou Yue who had achieved great success in blood replacement and were expected to become grandmasters, not to mention that Old Dragon Head had senior and junior brothers...

"Having a backer is great."

Drinking a few cups on a snowy night, Li Yuan greatly enjoyed this sense of relaxation, a feeling of years of hard work finally paying off.

"Squeak~"

The little mouse popped its head out from the corner; Li Yuan's small courtyard had long been dug through and through by it, so it could appear from anywhere.

"You know to come back?"

Li Yuan glared at it, placed a bowl of spirit rice he had saved on the ground, watched the little creature burrow entirely inside, eating with loud "squeak" cries, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

The little tiger cub hadn't returned; Li Yuan thought for a moment, placed another bowl of spirit rice on the windowsill, then cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, and sat in meditation on the bed.

Feeling the subtle changes within himself after mastering the Splitting Sea Black Whale Hammer.

Buzz!

Li Yuan had just closed his eyes when he immediately opened them again, his face full of astonishment; he closed his eyes once more, and his heartbeat inevitably accelerated.

He was performing internal vision.

Looking inward at his own body; long ago, when he broke through the second level of the Black Whale Mi Jing, he had already been able to do this. Afterwards, as his spiritual power grew, the sensation gradually became clearer.

But now, as soon as he closed his eyes, the meridians and blood vessels, bones, tendons, flesh, and blood within his body appeared in every detail under his perception.

As if changing from a black-and-white silent image to a high-definition 3D one!

Blood flowing, internal organs churning, meridians trembling... Li Yuan's eyelids kept twitching; this was far clearer and more obvious than if he had been dissected!

"This is what internal vision is!"

Li Yuan whistled in his heart, savoring the sensation.

He felt like a diligent old farmer who, after a year of labor, had achieved a great harvest, possessing a simple and unadorned joy and open-mindedness.

Rustle~

Li Yuan perceived his entire body along the flow of his blood.

The enhancement from the Splitting Sea Black Whale Hammer was far superior to that of the Thunder Dragon Jun Tian Hammer; merely through the passive enhancement of his talent, the transformation in his body surpassed any previous one.

It felt as if all moisture had been squeezed out, and he had been re-forged and reshaped into something capable and efficient.

He perceived inch by inch; his bones, tendons, flesh, and blood had only undergone minor adjustments, yet these minor adjustments gave him an indescribable sense of beauty.

"Like a Jin Dan..."

This thought popped into Li Yuan's mind; he opened his eyes, took out several pills, and swallowed them one by one.

Buzz~

"Watching" the pills slide down his throat into his stomach, "watching" the pills be crushed by his intestines and stomach, and the medicinal power spreading.

Li Yuan felt a difference.

Normally, humans cannot digest food one hundred percent; for some special plants, they cannot digest them at all, eating as much as they excrete.

If this is true for food, it is naturally the same for pills.

According to what was written in the Library, for a normal martial artist, when a pill enters the stomach, at best they can absorb five or six tenths, and at worst only three or four tenths; this is related to one's own constitution and also belongs to a type of talent.

The remaining medicinal power would "leak" away.

But now, as the medicinal power of these pills spread within his body, he could clearly "see" that all the medicinal power was digested by him.

This is... no leakage!

"This is possible?"

Li Yuan felt excited in his heart; his digestive ability seemed to have greatly improved, and his absorption of medicinal power was even more efficient; does one pill now equal two or three from before?

"Gulp!"

Li Yuan decisively swallowed a Jade Body Pill; this was a spirit pill that nourished the physique and healed injuries, with gentle and soft medicinal power.

Under his perception, the medicinal power of this spirit pill was evidently not leaking away; it was carried by his intestines and stomach and naturally seeped into his four limbs and hundred bones.

The digestion speed was twice as strong as before, and there was absolutely no leakage.

"Is this a physical talent?"

Li Yuan perceived it carefully.

Not only was his digestive ability improved; his bones, tendons, skin, and flesh had all undergone varying degrees of transformation, becoming more resilient, more agile and harmonious, with not a single trace left from practicing hard body cultivation.

Just like an infant, without any trace of post-natal modification.

"Gathering the breath to achieve softness, can one be like an infant?"

This thought surged in Daoist Li's heart; these were the few Taoist scriptures he had memorized from his past life.

The enhancement from the Splitting Sea Black Whale Hammer was comprehensive.

Bones, tendons, skin, flesh, internal organs, and meridians—this was the physique; beyond the physique, his spiritual power had also undergone changes that were hard to explain or describe.

Hum~

In the land of spiritual light, there is a shimmering radiance.

Li Yuan focused his spirit and perceived, seeing another 'himself'; this visualized spiritual self, merely from its appearance, already bore no distinction from him whatsoever.

Truly lifelike in the most literal sense!

Whoosh!

Following Li Yuan's thought, the visualized spiritual self assumed a stance, practicing various Wu Gong amidst the dim darkness; it was perfectly integrated and natural, flowing with ease, possessing quite the air of a grand master.

"Hah!"

After practicing for a short while, Li Yuan felt a stir in his heart; that visualized spiritual self rose to its full height and took a step toward the surrounding darkness.

Hum~

With just that single step taken, Li Yuan felt a chill explode from his brow, then extend downward.

The visualized spiritual self had walked out of the land of spiritual light and taken residence within the physical body!

"Excellent!"

Li Yuan rejoiced greatly in his heart.

Over the past half-year, he had been diligent, making great progress in various Wu Gong; the Bai Shen Fa was an exception, having nothing to do with diligence, purely lacking the latter part of the Xiu Chi Zhi Fa.

And without this part of the Xiu Chi Zhi Fa, to still have the visualized spiritual self take residence in the physical body, one would at least need to have achieved Great Completion of Blood Replacement and initially comprehended the Yin-Yang transformations of a Zhun Sect master!

Hum!

Under Li Yuan's guidance, the visualized spiritual self 'walked out' from his brow, guided by internal Qi; like an emperor on a tour, it slowly descended, and wherever it passed, a chill spread.

Li Yuan involuntarily shivered, but his spirit experienced a different sensation; beneath his abundant blood and Qi, a fierce burning sensation emanated from the visualized spiritual self.

"Blood Soul is Yang, Spirit Soul is Yin; there is conflict between these two... No wonder the Master's bottleneck is called the Dragon Gate; whether the blood and Qi are frozen or the spirit soul is scorched, both are life-threatening."

Li Yuan decisively ended the 'Spirit Soul Tour'; in such a brief time, he felt as though he had experienced both ice and fire.

"Seeking the Spirit, Seeing the Spirit, Depicting the Spirit, Worshipping the Spirit, Begging the Spirit, Soul Transformation... Since the visualized spiritual self can walk out, the next few steps should pose little problem."

The enhancement from the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Hammer was very direct; not only physical talent and Star-Shifting Power, but even cultivation talent showed a massive, perceptible improvement.

The visualized spiritual self had only walked out for a few steps, yet Li Yuan had already calculated the next two steps of this Bai Shen Fa.

Previously, he had been quite puzzled by his guesses regarding the Seeing the Spirit and Depicting the Spirit steps, but now his mind was clear and distinct.

"Better to be safe; prepare the spiritual pills first."

Li Yuan was not in a rush for the moment, mainly because his inventory and sorting were not yet finished.

The transformation of body and spirit was one aspect; the second, naturally, was mastering and controlling the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Hammer itself.

Hum!

At the thought, Li Yuan descended upon the Upside-Down Mountain.

The struggle of the Dark Whale Hammer Spirit froze just before being controlled by the Weapon Command Talisman; at this moment, the mountain body of the Upside-Down Mountain had cracked considerably, and wild winds howled incessantly at the peak.

"Hmm, this is quite good as well."

With the Dark Whale Hammer Spirit bound by the Weapon Command Talisman, Li Yuan's entry and exit faced no hindrance; his interest in this Dark Whale Mi Jing was also great.

Especially after witnessing the Health Preservation Mi Jing.

The temptation of a personal spatial dimension was self-evident; if one could also plant spiritual rice, its value would be even greater.

【Control Condition Two:???】

A dark light flashed in Li Yuan's eyes, causing him to frown in his heart.

The Splitting Sea Dark Whale Hammer had two layers of control conditions; the first layer was Great Perfection of the Ultimate Art Hammer Technique, the Body of Hundred Forms, and the Form of Hundred Forms; he had not satisfied these, yet by forcibly claiming mastery, he achieved control.

But even though he had already controlled the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Hammer, the second layer of control conditions remained invisible.

"Does this require me to satisfy the first layer of control conditions? Or does it require comprehending the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Diagram?"

Forcibly controlling the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Hammer also had inconveniences; the Hammer Spirit could not communicate; at the very least, it needed to calm down. Li Yuan looked at the stone tablet, guessing in his heart.

"The Splitting Sea Dark Whale Diagram."

Li Yuan reached out and pressed the stone tablet; with a shift in his mind, the wild winds at the peak grew stronger, and substantial True Qi rolled in. Under his guidance, it began to outline that Dark Whale Diagram.

"Much simpler than before?"

Upon starting, Li Yuan noticed the difference; if outlining the Dark Whale Diagram before was like a child pulling a large cart up a mountain, now, it was like a large cart pulling a child down a slope.

So smoothly that Li Yuan almost didn't react; within moments, a massive scroll covering a radius of forty to fifty meters had slowly unfolded in mid-air.

On the painting, the Upside-Down Mountain, the sea of clouds, the wild winds, and that Dark Whale were all present, and utterly lifelike.

"In the Library of the Hun Tian Hall, there are books regarding form combinations."

Looking up at the Dark Whale Diagram, Li Yuan thought of the contents of those books he had seen inside the library; those were the preparations he had made to comprehend the Splitting Sea Dark Whale Diagram.

The outer library of the Dragon Tiger Temple did not contain much Jing Miao Wu Gong, yet it lacked nothing in terms of the sages' understanding and contemplation of Wu Gong; naturally, there were many Easy Form Combinations.

He had previously flipped through a portion; that portion alone was extremely complex, yet the 'Dragon Form' had seventy or eighty different combinations; some combined 'fish, crocodile, snake, ox', while others combined 'lion, snake, fish, eagle'.

The main point was 'The Dragon Has No Constant Form'; ten thousand changes could all be called Dragon.

"The form of the Dark Whale need not be confined to constant forms; the appearance is not important; the core is the spirit essence. Even if I combine the Dragon, the Elephant, the Thunder Dragon, and a hundred beasts, as long as the spirit is there, how is this not the form of the Dark Whale?"

Watching the scroll undulating in the air, Daoist Li murmured to himself, feeling inspiration surge and thoughts constantly collide; he already had a clue on how to combine the form of the Dark Whale.

"Seems, it isn't difficult after all?"

Li Yuan felt a significant stir in his heart.

He was still him, but the problem that had troubled him for several years appeared simple and clear in his eyes.

It was like a question where many options made perfect sense; to choose, one had to try and deduce them one by one, but now, only two options stood before his eyes: 'Right' and 'Wrong'.

This feeling of a failing student transforming into a god of learning deeply shocked Daoist Li; this was no longer an open-book exam; this was literally using a cheat!

"Does anyone in this world truly possess a mind like this?!"

The contrast was too obvious; Li Yuan was dazed for quite a while before coming back to his senses:

"No wonder Old Dragon Head was so excited; I almost wanted to take myself as a disciple..."

After a long while, Li Yuan released his hand, letting the scroll formed of true qi dissipate. He glanced around the mountain peak and walked toward that ancient, massive palace complex.

The struggles of the Shan Xuan Whale Hammer Spirit caused the Inverted Mountain to crack, yet this palace complex showed not the slightest change. On the hundred-meter-high gateway, there were still characters or perhaps patterns that he could not understand.

"If the Split-Sea Shan Xuan Whale Hammer was forged from that Split-Sea Star Core, then these should be the characters of the Split-Sea Star?"

Li Yuan inspected this palace. It was an architectural style completely different from the present world; every single building was far too large for humans to inhabit.

Even for the wealthiest households, the gate tower couldn't possibly be built dozens of meters high, could it?

"How do I get in?"

Li Yuan reached out. An invisible barrier still existed at the mountain gate. He tried pressing it and found this barrier extremely tough and Qie Chen Zhong, like a mountain; he could not push it.

"If this were a normal master of the Shan Xuan Whale Hammer, at this moment, the Hammer Spirit should be guiding and introducing."

Li Yuan walked halfway around and found the palace had no blind spots. He could only temporarily give up, planning to properly train that Shan Xuan Whale Hammer Spirit before exploring again.

He estimated that the opportunity to fully master the Split-Sea Shan Xuan Whale Hammer lay within this palace complex.

"Rumors in the Jianghu say the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing chooses its master; if the master dies, it hides. The reason the Wudadao Sect is an exception is likely because they have completely mastered their respective Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing."

Inside the room, Li Yuan opened his eyes and saw the little tiger cub walking in from the wind and snow with elegant steps. It gave him a Longhu Longhu Dandan glance, then jumped onto the windowsill, preparing to eat.

"Swish!"

Suddenly, the little tiger cub seemed to sense something. It turned its head sharply to look at Li Yuan, as if struck by great terror, its pupils contracting instantly into dots:

"Mrr?!"

The little tiger cub pounced like lightning, its speed absolutely supreme. Yet Li Yuan merely raised a hand and blocked it.

"Smack!"

With a casual grab, he lifted it by the scruff of its neck. Li Yuan realized belatedly that the little tiger cub's speed had not decreased; rather, his own senses and striking speed had increased by a huge margin compared to before.

"Mrr?!"

The little tiger cub was truly frightened. As soon as Li Yuan let go, it jumped back to the windowsill, pacing back and forth to inspect Li Yuan, its small eyes filled with huge shock and confusion.

"Truly becoming a spirit."

Li Yuan shook his head. Sometimes he even suspected this little tiger cub was a Zhun Sect master who had achieved the Great Completion of Blood Refinement, or perhaps a Sect Master who had transformed, for its spiritual nature was truly too abundant.

For this reason, during one previous visit to see Long Xi Xiang, he had specifically brought this little fellow along, which eliminated his doubts.

"Even an iron lump can have a spirit; it is not surprising that the little tiger cub has some spiritual nature."

Li Yuan looked up; the sky had already brightened. It was time to attend the banquet.

However,

"Should I go during the day or at night?"