Chapter 551: Only Lacking the Profound Yin

Eight Directions Temple, the Wondrous Phenomenon Reincarnation, the Cloud Demon Clan, Qin Yun!

The water is a bit deep!

In the snowfield, Li Yuan frowned in thought; he guessed that Qin Yun likely knew something, otherwise he would not have been searching for the person of the Wondrous Phenomenon Reincarnation all this time!

And that old ghost!!

Pacing in the snowfield, Li Yuan felt he had likely touched upon something!

Returning to Second Brother's residence, his sister-in-law was cooking; in the courtyard, two little ones were standing in stance and throwing punches, shouting with sound, while Li Lin was flipping through a booklet, reading very seriously!

During these days, Li Yuan wrote three targeted martial arts manuals for the two little ones and Second Brother's bone structure, focusing on Shaguashi Sect teaching!

After a meal, Li Yuan, with matters on his mind, returned to his room early!

"The Spirit Ape's internal force enters the interior, needing to start from the left index finger, pass through the wrist, elbow, shoulder, then enter the waist and abdomen before entering the right shoulder!

Until the right index finger!

Li Lin was very serious; he was not reading his own manual, but the two little ones', his brows locked tight as if facing a great enemy: "Third Brother, what if this internal force refuses to obey?"

"Stand in stance, throw punches; practice makes perfect!"

Li Yuan explained patiently, paused, then said: "Second Brother, when you have time, hire two Mr. for the children; standing in stance is indeed important, but learning to read and write cannot be delayed!"

Great Yun values martial arts over literature, and it is not just Great Yun; pushing back thousands of years, it was no different; for no other reason, practicing martial arts is indeed difficult, but practicing literature is not necessarily easy; moreover, once the former is cultivated, the benefits are greater!

Over time, those above set the example for those below; Great Yun simply has no atmosphere for studying literature!

"I'll listen to you!"

Li Lin nodded, committing it to heart!

Martial arts cannot be achieved in a day or night; reading can make one wise, which is also of great benefit to martial arts; as the saying goes, sharpening the axe does not delay the woodcutting; Second Brother, you should understand this principle!

"Yes, yes!"

Li Lin nodded repeatedly, deeply agreeing: "Before, when I cut wood, I had to sharpen the axe the night before; hmm, tomorrow I will go to the city to hire a Mr.!"

Not long after dinner, Li Yuan, with matters on his mind, returned to his room early!

He swallowed a spirit pill, practiced the stance method Xu Xu inside the room, and replaced the Thunder Beast Spirit Pill; during these days, Li Yuan had rarely relaxed, but he had not relaxed one bit regarding changing the bone structure!

By now, the modification of the Thunder Beast Spirit Pill has reached its conclusion!

"Ao Wu."

In the heart sea, the howling sound of the Star Mastiff echoed!

Over these years, Li Yuan had wielded many divine weapons capable of changing bone structure, but apart from the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, the modification of this Thunder Beast Spirit Pill was the most fierce!

He had wielded it multiple times before, having already changed at least four hundred forms, but at this final step, it still felt quite violent; spirit pills were consumed rapidly, not much different in intensity from his previous forging of a full thirteen hundred forms!

"This Star Mastiff body still has nearly a thousand forms."

Spirit pills were swallowed one by one into his belly, yet Li Yuan's movements were not violent; he continued to push the stance method Xu Xu!

At this moment, he possessed over fourteen hundred forms, plus the horizontal practice body enhanced by the Black Tortoise Shell, fully capable of accommodating the Star Mastiff body!

Buzz~

Buzz~

Gradually, Li Yuan's movements slowed more and more, yet the buzzing sound of his sinews and bones trembling had already penetrated his body!

Splash!

At a certain moment, Li Yuan opened his eyes; visibly, countless black, shiny hairs sprouted from within his body; in the blink of an eye, they covered his Golden Body; he only felt his throat itch, wanting to howl!

"Ao!"

Just as he opened his mouth, Li Yuan's eyelid twitched; he forcibly shut his mouth; he would not allow himself to make a dog's bark!

Wu!

Li Yuan sat down in a lotus position, circulating true qi, resisting fiercely; only after a long time did he expand his pores, with rolling sweat vapor pouring out, and the full body of shiny hairs slowly retracted!

"It is done."

Li Yuan's eyes were very bright; he stood up and opened the window for ventilation; he gazed at the night sky, where four great moons hung high, and countless stars reflected starlight!

"Starlight, very familiar!"

Li Yuan reached out his hand, feeling the starlight outside the room; it was slightly cool to the touch

, yet quickly turned warm, wrapping his arm like warm water!

His heart stirred; he pushed the door open and stepped out, his whole body bathed in starlight; instantly, he felt as if soaking in a medicinal bath, and the pain and exhaustion of changing the bone structure swept away completely!

"This feeling."

Li Yuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter!

He felt his body spontaneously absorbing the power of starlight; although extremely slow and faint, it was continuous, like soaking in a medicinal bath, capable of restoring stamina and true qi!

And!!!

The Star God Mastiff, an otherworldly beast from beyond the stars, combines the strengths of all beasts, the form of lightning, born bathing in starlight, feeding on lightning!

Li Yuan flexed and extended his five fingers, threads of true qi dancing like electric arcs at his fingertips, perfect and pure!

The Star Mastiff body modification technique did not just make the bones and muscles stronger; having the power to absorb starlight, his form combination "Long Kun" and his true qi also underwent significant changes!

Whoosh!

He flicked his finger, the electric arc cutting through the night sky; the qi traveled over twenty zhang without dissipating, and could even reverse and return, like a flying sword circling while emitting a faint hum!

"Truly worthy of being a Star-level otherworldly beast; even a young mastiff is ten times stronger than a Mirage Dragon, not just that!"

Li Yuan was very satisfied in his heart; the Star Mastiff body added a thousand forms to him, and this does not count the several previous subtle modifications!

Now, the forms he possesses have reached the number of twenty-four hundred.

"Pity, the talent has not transformed; it seems only ten thousand forms can continue the transformation!"

This small regret did not affect Li Yuan's mood; he stayed under the starlight for a long time, and only after his essence, qi, and spirit had all recovered to their peak did he return to his room to lie down!

Begin listening to sounds!

"Strange Vision Incarnation, I hope my luck is decent!"

Li Yuan muttered it inwardly, but he didn't hold out much hope. Even though the Palm Sound Seal had advanced to seventh rank, the randomness of Sound Listening was still very high, and there was no way to specify what to listen for.

He could only rely on quantity and try his luck!

Hum~

With a single thought from Li Yuan, the various incense offerings had already drowned the wooden seal

, and all manner of sounds echoed ceaselessly in his heart!

But this time his luck was bad. After listening over a hundred times, not a single one had anything to do with Strange Vision Incarnation or the Cloud Demon clan!

"Maybe it's not bad luck. Perhaps Strange Vision Incarnation requires an even higher rank of Sound Listening?"

Li Yuan frowned inwardly!

He had almost no sixth-rank incense left on him. Seventh-rank he did still have, but using it for Sound Listening would be far too extravagant. Until he had a stable channel to obtain more, he was reluctant to use incense of that rank.

"How about… trying to listen to a Heavenly Sound?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly. On the wooden seal, the number of Heavenly Sound listens had already stacked to two!

Ever since the Palm Sound Register advanced to sixth rank and the Heavenly Sound count could be stacked, he had been in no rush to listen to Heavenly Sounds.

"Sound Listening is highly random, but Heavenly Sounds may not be. Those previous Heavenly Sound listens were mostly related to me in some way."

That was why Li Yuan had not been in a rush to listen to Heavenly Sounds before. Saving them for the right moment might prove more useful—like right now!

Hum!

At a thought from Li Yuan, a flash of dazzling light had already burst forth from the wooden seal, enveloping him!

But after that radiance drowned his mind, he did not feel his spirit leave his body. Instead, accompanied by a hum, a great swathe of light and shadow seemed to materialize directly within his heart!

"Similar to the third Heavenly Sound listen, he'd had a similar experience before. Li Yuan was not alarmed, he simply focused his spirit and perceived the light and shadow manifesting within his sea of consciousness!"

"This is?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly!

It was a small room, empty inside, no tables or chairs, only two meditation cushions. On the back wall hung a mural he knew very well!

"Dragon Demon Daoist's little cabin?"

Li Yuan recognized it. He focused his gaze and, sure enough, found that the mural bore great similarity to the Eight Directions Diagram he'd seen while climbing Eight Directions Mountain!

The difference was that this mural was larger and more comprehensive. The ancient temple was faintly visible within it, with churning seas of clouds outside!

"This is the Eight Directions Diagram!"

As the thought flashed through Li Yuan's mind, he heard a bang—the cabin door was pushed open, a figure stumbled and fell inside, spitting out a mouthful of foul blood!

Hum!

Under Li Yuan's gaze, that foul blood instantly vaporized, and within it came the sound of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry. Even through the light and shadow, he seemed able to feel that blood qi, intense to the extreme!

"Dragon Demon Daoist?"

Li Yuan started. He focused his gaze and saw that the person was charred black all over, as if he had just crawled out of a fire, billowing thick smoke!

"Pfft."

That figure coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, then fell on his back onto the cabin floor,

oil flowing over his body, like a candle that had been slightly melted by raging flames. The severity of his wounds was shocking to behold!

"This fire!"

Li Yuan was somewhat shaken!

Under his gaze, that figure's body surged with extremely intense blood qi and true qi, desperately suppressing the injuries. But those scattered sparks were completely unaffected, still burning, as if they meant to burn him into vapor!

"Good, good!"

Despite such terrifying wounds, the man seemed unable to feel the pain. He chuckled coldly twice: "Fine alien race, fine Cloud Demon…"

"The Great Ritual truly carries risk. Eight Directions Temple, Eight Directions Temple…"

Fire of this intensity—Master, how on earth did you endure it?

It really hurts!

He forced himself up, sat cross-legged before the mural, and he

the flames on his body were still burning, yet he seemed not to notice, simply gazing at that mural in silence!

Li Yuan focused his spirit, observing closely, listening to the sounds emanating from the light and shadow, and a vague guess stirred in his heart: "This person is… Pang Pang Wenlong?"

A thousand years ago, the imperial court had performed the Great Ritual. The specifics were unknown to anyone, but the legend that had been passed down was that the Great Ritual backfired, the imperial city trembled for days, and in the end, Pang Pang Wenlong perished!

Legend had it that during the imperial court's Great Ritual, heavenly fire descended…

Li Yuan mulled it over in his heart as he focused his gaze!

Before the mural, the man suspected to be Pang Pang Wenlong sat cross-legged, silent as iron and stone, while those scattered sparks spread. Finally, under Li Yuan's gaze, they burned him to ashes!

He died just like that?

Li Yuan was startled inwardly, yet then sensed a change!

After the sparks that had burned the man to ashes were extinguished, a ghostly glow rose on the mural. The great sun, only faintly visible within the sea of clouds, trembled, and then someone actually walked out—walked out from within the painting.

It was a robust physique, every inch of muscle and bone containing explosive power. Powerful, unnamed patterns stretched down from his cheeks, running through his abdomen and chest, spine, both hands, both legs.

Finally, they converged at his heart into the image of a great sun!

"Pang Pang Wenlong."

Through the light and shadow, Li Yuan felt a surging, majestic blood qi, like a war god reborn from fire!

"If you hadn't experienced it yourself, who could imagine such a terrifying fire existed in this world?"

The middle-aged man let out a long breath: "If I hadn't hidden my divine realm within the Eight Directions Record left behind by Master, then I'm afraid… hmm?"

Boom!

The middle-aged man's eyelids twitched, and Li Yuan was also startled with fright!

Before the middle-aged man finished speaking, another burst of crimson flame erupted from his body, flashing once and engulfing him entirely!

"Like a shadow that never leaves!"

The flame's heat was extreme; the man's powerful body melted like a candle, and he gasped in surprise, then sneered: "Laozi wants to see how many times you can burn me."

"Puff."

In but a moment, the giant had turned to ash; the flame vanished, and the mural's great sun trembled slightly—then the giant stepped out again, but this time the great sun motif appeared on his left chest!

Boom.

The flame reappeared!

This time Li Yuan saw clearly: the fire had sprung from nowhere, as if it had singled out Pang Pang Wenlong and would not cease until it burned him to death.

"Again."

Within the light and shadow, Pang Pang Wenlong endured the agony of being consumed by flames!

Once, twice, three times…

Until the seventh time he stepped out of the mural, his expression finally turned Solemn—this time, the great sun pattern rested on his forehead. Boom.

The fierce flame reappeared!

This time, dazzling Jin Guang erupted from behind Pang Pang Wenlong, and one after another, shapes of great suns slowly rose within it!

"Nine Great Suns Spiritual Form."

Li Yuan saw clearly: within the Jin Guang, seven of the great suns had already gone dark, while the remaining two emitted extraordinarily brilliant divine light!

Legend says Pang Pang Wenlong cultivated nine Spiritual Forms; the Great Sun Surveillance Mirror was the divine weapon he forged for himself. Now it seems this Spiritual Form has a substitute-death ability?

"Was the reason he didn't resist the first seven times to acclimate to the agony of being burned?"

A thought struck Li Yuan!

Exhausting the strength of his seven bodies, Pang Pang Wenlong fought desperately, even attempting to swallow the flame whole—this time he held out much longer, but in the end, his body ignited and turned to ash!

"Eighth time…"

Even Li Yuan felt tense!

In the light and shadow, silence stretched for a long while—then Pang Pang Wenlong's figure appeared in the mural again; this time he did not step out immediately, but sat cross-legged within the painting, as if meditating!

"This fire!!"

Li Yuan was nearly terrified!

Even through the light and shadow, he could sense Pang Pang Wenlong's immense power—leaving other things aside, his body's refinement far surpassed his own, yet it could not withstand this heavenly fire!

Hum~

Within the light and shadow, time accelerated; after who knew how long, Pang Pang Wenlong stepped out of the painting once more, burned to ash again—and then seven more times!

When the ninth body emerged, he sat cross-legged within the mural, cultivating another Spiritual Form, then stepped out one by one!

Thus, who knew how much time passed!

Li Yuan's emotions shifted from shock and tension to calm stillness—and finally, he was startled again!

After countless attempts, when Pang Pang Wenlong finally absorbed the flame into his body, his once-powerful frame had grown hunched, his vital energy plunged to its lowest ebb!

His stern, noble face was now etched with deep wrinkles, as if he had walked through countless ages!

He—he!!

"Qin Yun."

In Li Yuan's stunned gaze, the light and shadow slowly shattered; the final glimpse was the old man resembling Qin Yun pinching his fingers.

Sigh.

"Has it really been this long?"

【Over a thousand years ago, for reasons unknown, the Great Ancestor of Da Yun, Pang Pang Wenlong, mobilized the entire nation to perform a grand sacrifice to the Eight Directions Temples! That day, fire fell from heaven, and the imperial city trembled!!!!!】

【The heavenly fire, upon contact, kills instantly; only those with profound enlightenment can resist it, endure being burned a thousand times, and perhaps have a chance to refine it!】

【The heavenly fire is also a vision, containing divine patterns of unparalleled subtlety…】

Over a thousand years, Pang Pang Wenlong refined the heavenly fire into his body and comprehended part of the Eight Directions Diagrams.

【It is said that in ancient times, someone encountered the Eight Directions Temples; at that time, the Heavenly Cloud Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing spread throughout the world. The Dragon Demon Daoist obtained one diagram from the sinister land it transformed into, and studied it for years!】

【Within the heavenly fire, great secrets are hidden!!】

When Li Yuan snapped out of his trance, the characters on the wooden tablet before him flowed and changed like a waterfall—these were the revelations he had just received from listening to the Heavenly Voice!

Qin Yun was Pang Pang Wenlong.

Li Yuan's heart trembled; shock and confusion surged together!

If Qin Yun was Pang Pang Wenlong, then the repeated attempts by the Star-Picking Tower to assassinate the king made sense—but Pang Pang Wenlong had clearly been trapped in the mural for a very, very long time!

What was this heavenly fire?

Did it come from the three great suns?

Or from the Yun Mo clan?

Various doubts churned in Li Yuan's mind, giving him a headache; after a long while, he barely managed to sort out a rough outline.

"When Da Zhou held its grand sacrifice, it drew forth the Yun Mo sinister land—perhaps the Dragon Demon Daoist didn't fully exterminate them? Or perhaps, when Pang Pang Wenlong performed his grand sacrifice again, he summoned the Yun Mo clan once more…!"

"Could the old ghost inside Wan Wan Zhuliu be the one Pang Pang Wenlong spoke of?"

"No wonder he said not to ambush Wan Wan Zhuliu—that old ghost!"

Opening his eyes, Li Yuan's temples throbbed; he pondered deeply for a long while, still shaken, then rose and practiced two sets of Dragon-Tiger Stance to calm his mind.

"The water is truly deep!!"

Letting out a breath, Li Yuan felt weary; he lay down fully clothed and forced himself to sleep!

"Qin Yun!"

The next morning, Li Yuan was standing posture with the two children in the courtyard, still dazed, recalling the revelations from yesterday's listening to the Heavenly Voice.

"Is anyone there?"

At that moment, a voice came from outside the courtyard!

Li Zhou swept his gaze up and immediately saw a flash of Jin Guang—【Five Thunder Transformation Strike (Seventh Grade)!】

"Shi Shi Yu Shu?"

Li Yuan's heart leaped with joy. He immediately dropped his stance, strode quickly to the door to greet him, and from afar already spotted a plume hawk rising into the air—and Shi Shi Yu Shu, carrying a clay jar in his hand!

"Senior Brother Shi!"

Li Yuan cupped his hands in greeting!

"Junior Brother Li, what's this?"

Shi Shi Yu Shu gave a great start, lowering his voice: "At least disguise yourself a little. Do you have any idea how many people want to make trouble for you?"

"Senior Brother Shi isn't an outsider!"

Li Yuan took the clay jar in passing, then asked: "What—is it a lot?"

"Very many!"

Shi Shi Yu Shu was quite pleased by that remark, but he pulled Li Yuan off to a secluded spot: "The imperial court's that scholar's prophecy has thundered across the realm. Every city I've passed through on the way here, people are talking about you! I hear some Dao Sects have secretly linked up, wanting to make trouble for you!"

"Which one?"

Li Yuan was somewhat curious!

"They say it's Yi Qi Mountain Manor!"

Shi Shi Yu Shu transmitted his voice in warning!

"They say?"

Li Yuan was dumbfounded and immediately lost interest!

If something like this can leak out, then whoever's secretly linking up can't be much of an expert!

"In any case, be careful!"

After a few more words of warning, Shi Shi Yu Shu suddenly remembered the real business: "When Master heard you wanted to borrow blood to forge weapons, he immediately released a jar and had me deliver it!"

"Many thanks, Martial Uncle!"

Li Yuan was genuinely grateful to Old Man Jin. The Wan Wan Leishi the old man had given him was even now helping him purify his true qi, and later it could even nourish his spirit phase—Divine Realm!

"Besides that, there are also Nuqing Eggs!"

Shi Shi Yu Shu smiled: "Not many, just three hundred jin—should be enough to last a year or so!"

"Many thanks, Senior Brother Shi!"

Li Yuan naturally cupped his hands in thanks. The taste of Nuqing Eggs was excellent, and paired with spirit rice it was an absolute match. He hadn't had them in a long time and truly was feeling a bit nostalgic!

"As long as Junior Brother Li likes them!"

After a few words of conversation, Li Yuan invited him inside. Shi Shi Yu Shu waved his hand and politely declined: "The manor has too much going on, and Master is in closed-door cultivation. I shouldn't be away too long!"

"There's no need to be in that much of a rush, is there?"

"Next time, next time we meet, I'll drink three hundred cups with Junior Brother Li."

"Good."

Shi Shi Yu Shu had no intention of lingering, and Li Yuan didn't press him. Carrying the clay jar, he saw him off, watching him hurry away!

"Old Man Jin must have cultivated the Bai Shen Fa."

Li Yuan saw it clearly in his heart and felt somewhat fortunate!

If this old man hadn't switched to cultivating the Bai Shen Fa to extend his lifespan, he probably wouldn't have been able to gather enough blood of the five sacrifices!

"Now, only the last kind remains!"

Li Yuan frowned slightly!

These past days, while staying in the mountains—besides waiting for Shi Shi Yu Shu to deliver the blood—he had also been waiting for news of Yun Yun Xianyu. But no matter how long it dragged on, he still didn't know where she was!

The information Long Yin Hall had on this person was still stuck at her blocking the gates of Yi Qi Mountain Manor, forcing True Person Yuan Qing to dare not show himself. After that, there was no news!

Li Yuan waited another three days. Long Yin Hall still hadn't found any information on Yun Yun Xianyu, and his own Listening Sound hadn't struck it rich either!

"Sigh."

At dawn on the fourth day, Li Yuan went to Long Yin Hall. Seeing there was still no news, he

couldn't be bothered to wait any longer—his blood-swapping had already reached perfection!

Returning to the mountain, after bidding farewell to his brother and sister-in-law, Li Yuan went to find the Old Dragon Head!

Long Xi Xiang had long known he was about to leave and had already prepared all the spirit pills he needed. Most came from Longhu Temple, the rest from Qinglong Pavilion and the Xinyi Sect!

All five of the Wudadao Sect produced spirit pills, but the other four combined still couldn't match Longhu Temple's output!

"Those two old seniors sent word that there's some business in their sects that needs handling, and they don't trust their disciples to transport it. So the promised offerings will have to be delayed by a year or so!"

Long Xi Xiang took out two sealed letters!

A year or so?

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly!

Those two old seniors had very deep pockets. After drawing their blades, they let him name his price without batting an eye—mountains of gold, mountains of silver—but when offerings were mentioned, their faces turned bitter. It wasn't that they were unwilling to give; it was that these two houses simply didn't have any either!

The Wudadao Sect needed offerings to enshrine their founding patriarchs, and only through this could they indirectly control the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing!

But since the demand wasn't great, hardly any houses were willing to flout the imperial court's ban to gather offerings!

"Here, there are still two Longhu Longhu Dadan and one Longhu Longhu Dandan!"

Long Xi Xiang took out two porcelain bottles, didn't give Li Yuan any room to refuse, and waved him off to go on his own!

"Take care, Master!"

Li Yuan bowed, turned and found a secluded spot. With a thought, he had already entered the Shan Xuan Jing Mi Jing, and then entered the You Jing!

Even if others didn't know where Shan Xuan Yin Jade Rabbit was, True Person Yuan Qing surely must know, right?

Four of the five sacrificial bloods are now complete; Li Yuan could hardly contain himself and, without seeking out Zhou Ying, instantly vanished back to the Eight Directions Temple!