Chapter 610: The Wandering Flying Sword

Hiss—

The sword's hum surged and churned, lightning blazing in his eyes.

In an instant, Li Yuan felt only a sheet of white before him; the You Jing that had seemed like dusk falling into night now shone bright as broad daylight, over a hundred li!

"Roar!"

The furious bellows of the Blood-Horned Oxen rose in a chorus, only to be drowned the next moment by the sword's hum.

Li Yuan's gaze sharpened; his sight pierced through that blinding lightning and found the source of the humming.

A sword?

"No—a flying sword!"

Li Yuan's eyesight was extremely keen; even the sword-light that lit up a hundred li in an instant only made him daze for a heartbeat.

It was a flying sword of an indigo-blue hue throughout, blade without hilt, covered in flowing lightning patterns, ringed by layer upon layer of sword-light, weaving through the You Jing. Wherever it passed, whether Blood-Horned Ox or anything else, all were cleaved clean in two.

"This fierce!"

Li Yuan's eyelids twitched wildly.

Over the past three years, he had dealt with these Blood-Horned Oxen more than once and knew well how ferocious the herd was.

Strange beasts originate from the Shen Jing of fallen cultivators who have tumbled into the You Jing—formed from those cultivators' spirit-forms and divine patterns, neither alive nor dead, and terribly hard to deal with.

With his current cultivation realm, even aided by the many Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing within the Soldier-Summoning Register, he had yet to slay a single one.

But wherever that flying sword passed, one Blood-Horned Ox after another was cleaved in two with virtually no chance to fight back…

"A strange weapon!"

The little mother dragon had also seen that flying sword.

"A strange weapon."

Beneath the low hill, Li Yuan stayed hidden in the shadows, motionless, until both the herd and the flying sword vanished at the edge of his sight. Only then did he shoot out, darting toward the remains the Blood-Horned Oxen had left behind.

Strange beasts come from the spirit-forms and Shen Jing of dead cultivators; the flesh and blood they leave behind after being slain is Zi Fei Fan Pin, but if not collected within a short time and left without the protection of incense and offerings, it will quickly be assimilated by the You Jing.

Whoosh!

Li Yuan moved at tremendous speed, sweeping across the battlefield.

He barely wasted a moment, but the strange beasts' corpses had already mostly dissolved. Li Yuan felt a pang of regret as he swept up clump after clump of crimson 'remains' and vanished back into the Wai De You Jing beyond the gate.

That flying-sword strange weapon was far too dangerous; better to keep well away.

……

"Hah!"

Dragon Mountain, inside a room—Li Yuan let out a long breath.

"The You Jing beyond the gate is far too dangerous."

Li Yuan's expression was solemn.

Whether the swarming Blood-Horned Oxen or that strange-weapon flying sword, both were extremely dangerous to the current him. He did not dare linger long in the You Jing outside the Eight Directions Temple.

"Although Wan Wan Zhuliu has forged a Divine Palace, if he ran into a herd of Blood-Horned Oxen or that flying sword, he would fare no better than me."

Li Yuan felt a measure of comfort.

Given how dangerous the You Jing outside the Eight Directions Temple was, even if Wan Wan Zhuliu intended—as Li Yuan feared—to offer sacrifices to outer gods or the Cloud Demon clan, it would be exceedingly difficult.

"Wan Wan Zhuliu wouldn't sweep the You Jing's strange beasts for no reason; he's most likely preparing a sacrifice… Hmm, if he truly dares hold a ritual inside the Wai De You Jing…"

Li Yuan steadied his Xin Jing for a moment, then, prodded by the little mother dragon, took out the remains the Blood-Horned Oxen had left behind.

Crimson light-clumps—twenty-one in all. That flying sword had swept through in only a few breaths, yet had slain twenty-one Blood-Horned Oxen on par with the Divine Palace realm.

"Brutal."

Li Yuan's heart still clenched at the thought; if that flying sword had fixed its gaze on him, he doubted he would even have had time to teleport back.

"Smack!"

Li Yuan's hand flashed like lightning, seizing the little mother dragon as she lunged at the crimson light-orbs. She struggled but could not break free, still drooling with desire:

"So many—share half with me, share half with me!"

"Dream on!"

Li Yuan gripped the little mother dragon in one hand and crushed a blood-red light-orb with the other.

Hum—

Blazing crimson light bloomed before his eyes.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and focused his spirit, gathering his consciousness within the Mud Pill Palace.

Within a Shen Jing in its embryonic stage, vast as Wang Yang, the phantom of a Blood-Horned Ox let out a bellow like a dragon, like an ox—then, in a flash, under Li Yuan's gaze, sank into his Soldier-Nurturing Ground.

"It's a divine pattern."

Li Yuan stared intently at the Soldier-Nurturing Ground.

In the bare Soldier-Nurturing Ground, three phantoms appeared: first, a sword-shape bearing dragon and tiger; second, a hammer-shape bearing a mystic whale; and last, the remnant shadow of a Blood-Horned Ox.

"Crimson-Blood Ox Demon!"

The instant he gazed upon that remnant shadow, all manner of scripture-summaries welled up within Li Yuan's heart—sparse, only a few hundred characters—yet they made his heart leap.

"A Dao art!"

The Crimson-Blood Ox Demon Art—a Dao art that can only be driven using the 'Ox Demon Divine Pattern' as its core. Released outward, it can transform into a Blood-Horned Ox to crush the enemy; nurtured within the Shen Jing, it can augment one's own strength with the might of a single 'Blood-Horned Ox.'

Of course, this required the 'Ox Demon Divine Pattern,' as well as cultivating this Crimson-Blood Ox Demon Art to the ninth layer of great perfection.

"A fragment…"

Silently reciting the fragmentary scripture that had welled up in his heart, Li Yuan opened his eyes and, under the little mother dragon's resentful gaze, crushed the remaining crimson light-clumps one by one. Three, six, eleven…

"It took sixteen to piece together this Crimson-Blood Ox Demon Art…"

Within the Mud Pill Palace, gazing at the lifelike shadow of the Blood-Horned Ox above the Soldier-Nurturing Ground, Li Yuan was thoroughly satisfied.

The sixteen orbs of light not only completed the Crimson Blood Bull Demon Art, but also formed a complete 'Bull Demon Divine Pattern,' and at the same time, this Dao Art directly reached Entry Level!

"It reached Entry Level just like that?"

Feeling the embryonic form of the Divine Realm and the changes within himself, Li Yuan couldn't help clicking his tongue. According to the records of the Crimson Blood Bull Demon Art, even with the Bull Demon Divine Pattern, an ordinary Dao-Entering cultivator would need ten to twenty years to reach Entry Level.

"No wonder You Jing is so dangerous, yet so many people in Tian Shi Yuan still rush to become 'You Seekers' one after another. The 'gifts' left by predecessors are truly staggering.

If I could kill that whole herd of Blood-Horned Bulls, wouldn't I be able to cultivate this Dao Art to the ninth layer Great Perfection in an instant?"

Li Yuan only had to think about it, and he felt an urge to return to the You Jing outside the gate.

"The temptation is too great."

Not a single error in any chapter's content!

Looking at the Blood-Horned Bull shadows on Wang Yang like small mountains, Li Yuan sighed with emotion. He had long known the benefits of venturing into You Jing, but that was different from experiencing it firsthand.

Hum~

In the room, when Li Yuan opened his eyes again, he felt the Qi and blood within his body so abundant they nearly burst out of his body.

"The Crimson Blood Bull Demon Art reaching Entry Level is almost equivalent to Wan Xing Ru Xue!"

Li Yuan instantly controlled his surging Qi and blood, but his eyes were very bright.

With his current physique, he could still feel an immediate improvement, showing just how great the benefits of this Dao Art reaching Entry Level were.

Wan Xing Ru Xue took him nearly three years, yet this was picked up for free!

"Leave some for me!"

The little female dragon watched enviously.

"Can the Bull Demon Divine Pattern help you repair your Divine Realm?"

Li Yuan asked.

"Uh..."

The little female dragon then remembered that her Divine Realm was currently shattered, unable to contain new Divine Patterns, let alone cultivate other Dao Arts.

"Can't."

The little female dragon hung her head dejectedly.

"What Divine Pattern do you need?"

Li Yuan was somewhat curious. This little fellow had barely woken up on its own initiative in several years.

"You don't have any anyway."

The little female dragon was listless. Her Divine Realm Spirit Form was passed down through generations of the Mirage Dragon clan. Although the required Divine Patterns weren't rare, it was obviously impossible to find them here.

This broken place doesn't even have a single dragon...

"Smack!"

Li Yuan crushed the remaining few orbs of light one by one, feeling the restless, surging Qi and blood within his body, his viscera, muscles, and bones stretching and grinding, and he sighed comfortably.

"Compared to the slow, grinding work of accumulating over time, this method of cultivation is truly exhilarating!"

Li Yuan was momentarily intoxicated, and only after a good while did he exhale a breath of turbid air, beginning to discuss matters concerning You Jing, Dao Arts, and the Common Knowledge Orb with the little female dragon.

The little female dragon had never heard of the Crimson Blood Bull Demon Art, but Tian Shi Yuan, or rather the Grand Void Divine Realm, had its own set of standards for grading Dao Arts.

"The might of Spells and Dao Arts can be judged by the grade of their Divine Patterns. The more Divine Patterns required, the more powerful they are. However, there are also some Dao Arts that only need a single Divine Pattern yet are extremely powerful."

"... The grade of this Dao Art you obtained probably isn't high."

The little female dragon felt a little comforted. Something called Crimson Blood Bull Demon sounded like a common, run-of-the-mill item—how could it compare to her own 'Ten Thousand Transformations, Thousand Methods, Mirage Shadow You Dragon Art'?

"Divine Patterns?"

Li Yuan pondered.

A Dao Art picked up for free—he didn't care about its grade at all. He only vaguely felt that the grade of this Crimson Blood Bull Demon Art might not actually be that low.

Although this Dao Art only needed a single 'Bull Demon Divine Pattern' to cultivate, there was a whole herd of Blood-Horned Bulls in that You Jing.

The little female dragon didn't care about these things either. After saying a few words, she urged Li Yuan to go back again:

"There's at least a Third Heaven Strange Land nearby; perhaps it has the Divine Pattern I need."

"You're thinking too much."

Li Yuan waved his hand to interrupt. He had no interest in exploring any Strange Land, no matter how great the temptation.

He hadn't even walked a few steps in total before encountering a herd of Blood-Horned Bulls, and after just a slight detour, he ran into that flying sword.

The You Jing outside the Eight Directions Temple was far too dangerous!

"You!"

The little female dragon was so angry she didn't want to speak. This native's courage was truly pitifully small.

"Can you beat that flying sword? Or can you beat that herd of Crimson-Horned Bulls?"

Li Yuan glanced at this little fellow, feeling quite speechless.

No wonder you've fallen so low you don't even have a physical body.

(End of this chapter)