Chapter 1152: Thunder (II)

"

Hahaha... cough... hahaha!

"

Li Ximing laughed as he coughed, not with bitterness, but with relief at surviving the calamity.

He had long been prepared to sacrifice his spirit artifact and even his dharma body itself. He had planned to leave behind a trace of his Shenyang Mansion and use the Supreme Yin Profound Light to slay Changxiao, even at the cost of his life.

Had Changxiao died, the ensuing troubles would have been endless, perhaps even worse than if he had survived. Yet now, Changxiao still lived, and he himself had escaped with both the Mountain-Charging Sea-Pacing Tiger and his dharma body intact. Though severely injured by spells, this outcome was far better than Li Ximing had dared to hope for.

He rose to his feet. Pale white insects writhed all around him, waving their slender limbs. Enduring the pain that throbbed through his spiritual sense, Li Ximing glanced at them and whispered, "Return."

The moment his words rang out, a sudden wind swept across the ground, gathering all the scattered white dust and fragments before him. The insects rushed together with a hiss, and even the clams wedged in cracks leaped out, joining the swarm to immolate themselves within a surge of purple flame.

The blood tainted by spell injuries cannot be reabsorbed into the dharma body. It must be refined into Bright Yang substances. Normally that would be fine, but in my current state, I cannot afford to leave any traces for others to deduce from.

Taking a step forward, Li Ximing sensed a demonic creature resembling a sand mite beneath the sand. Though it had not yet developed intelligence, its cultivation was decent. It had realized that a terrifying being had arrived and was trembling in fear beneath the ground. The scattered bones he had seen earlier were likely its victims.

Not wishing to expose his presence, he suppressed the urge to cough and stamped his foot lightly. The sand mite was instantly reduced to ash. Turning away, he found a reef, leaned against it, and began inspecting his injuries.

His dharma body had been scorched several times by True Fire. Cracks spread faintly across his back, and his shoulders had several holes from being pierced through by Supreme Yin. Changxiao's spell arts were Yin-based and heavy with curse techniques. Though his body bore no massive ruptures, his overall condition was grim.

The Shenyang Mansion was one of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivator's vital points, and his throbbed with pain from the influence of the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method. He could not tell what medium Changxiao had used to affect it. Meanwhile, black flames surged within his Juque acupoint, while two kinds of fire, one invisible and the other pitch-dark, intertwined across his body, roasting him from within and steadily eroding his divine ability's mana.

He gathered his thoughts as his eyes drifted over the broken fragments of boats on the sea,

I don't know which outer sea this is, but there must be people living nearby. That will do nicely.

Li Ximing feared no one in this remote corner of the world where spiritual energy was scarce. Even gravely wounded, even if his mana failed and his dharma body collapsed, killing a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator would take no more than a flick of his sleeve. As for Qi Cultivation Realm or Embryonic Breathing Realm cultivators, a single breath or glance would suffice.

Unless a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator happens to pass through here, there's little to be wary of.

The flames on his body still blazed fiercely. Not wanting to leave a scorched and uneven trail along the coast, he suppressed them using his Bright Yang divine ability. Yet after taking only two steps, the black fire within his Juque acupoint flared violently, rising to contest the purple flames of Bright Yang in equal measure.

Li Ximing hastened to suppress it with his divine ability, but the moment the black fire within his Juque acupoint subsided, the flames on his body suddenly swelled, nearly breaking through his spell and scorching his flesh, incinerating everything around him.

What a strange spell; the inner and outer flames act as one. When the surface fire is suppressed, the fire within the Juque acupoint thrives; when the fire within weakens, the surface blaze surges instead... This must be of the Douxuan Dao lineage,

thought Li Ximing.

It was not the time to interfere. Li Ximing could only allow the fire within his Juque acupoint to rage freely. He rode a streak of light forward, and emerged in the middle of a forested island with a single step.

Several villages were scattered throughout the forest. Their thatched roofs were pale yellow, and most of the buildings were made of wood; the better ones were merely rough stone dwellings. One glance was enough for Li Ximing to see that even if cultivators lived here, none would be above the Jade Capital[1] stage.

As expected, when he descended for a closer look, all he found were tribesmen, primitive people with no cultivation, babbling in a barbaric tongue he could not comprehend.

His injuries worsened by the moment, leaving no time for hesitation. As he swept the village with his gaze, he saw tens of thousands of tribesmen below. Though lacking cultivation, they had carved out their own means of survival, building a stone altar upon which they performed sacrifices. Hearts and entrails were laid bare and blood food piled high, allowing crimson liquid to flow down to where a powerful tiger demon crouched, raising its head to drink the blood.

The tiger demon appeared to possess the strength of the Qi Cultivation Realm. Judging from its aura, it was a feral creature from some distant wilderness. Its cultivation was impure, and it did not even know how to refine the blood food properly, merely drinking it raw. Li Ximing could not be bothered to spare it another glance. He raised a finger and blew lightly.

A streak of purple flame shot down from midair and landed before them. The tiger demon had no time to react, as it was still raising its head to drink when it was instantly reduced to ash. The crowd of kneeling tribesmen below erupted into chaos, stunned and bewildered. After a brief moment, they seemed to assume the tiger had ascended into the sky and departed. They hurriedly gathered their blood offerings and scattered in fear.

Good thing it was me who had come. Had it been another Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, you savages, who aren't even of our race, wouldn't survive two bites.

Li Ximing cast one final glance around before summoning the Mountain-Charging Sea-Pacing Tiger and activating the Mountain-Charging Profound Escape art, diving into the ground beneath the island.

He had searched through the great void for quite some time before selecting this island. Though its spiritual energy was thin, the earth, water, and fire veins beneath it were all present and intricately intertwined. The terrain was stable and unlikely to collapse under the strain of his cultivation. Since he was injured and lacked the skill to lay formations, healing in an ordinary area would only cause strange stones or spiritual flora to appear, drawing unwanted attention.

After burrowing through the earth veins for a while, Li Ximing found a spot where the earth and water veins were gently intertwined. He set down a simple formation plate, sat cross-legged, and focused his will. The flames within his Juque acupoint were already raging uncontrollably. Activating the Heaven-Venerating Gate divine ability, he struck downward with effort.

Boom!

A surge of black fire erupted from his body, spreading outward with a deafening roar. Deep underground, the flames gathered into a tide of Fire Baleful Qi, causing the surrounding earth veins to churn restlessly.

The Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method was extraordinary to begin with, and having been cast by Changxiao, a late stage Purple Mansion Realm cultivator who had crossed the Immortal Threshold, it was tenacious beyond belief. His strike had not just failed to dispel it; instead, it triggered the full force of the spell, setting the earth veins into violent upheaval.

Li Ximing couldn't help but cough up blood, which was immediately burned away in the fire. He pushed the Heaven-Venerating Gate to its fullest, forcing the flames within the Juque Court outward and to one side of his body.

Though Li Ximing had never studied the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method, he could now vaguely grasp its nature. Left unchecked, its power should have grown fiercer with time, but since his Heaven-Venerating Gate divine ability specialized in suppression and refinement, it had kept it from advancing even an inch.

Thus, he no longer feared it. The Heaven-Venerating Gate, driven to its limit, manifested within his Juque acupoint as a radiant white gate adorned with intricate carvings. Dragon banners and luan[2] carriages woven from cloudlight shimmered around it as they steadily ground the black flames down.

The Bright Yang Dao lineage, once the ruling orthodoxy of the northern Wei State, had few flaws save when confronted by certain exceptional Dao lineages. Thus, with the dharma body's support, the Heaven-Venerating Gate was more than enough to contend with a domineering spell like the Mulberry Concord Ninefold Profound Method. As one of the finest arts of suppression and refinement, it swiftly dimmed the black flames, forcing them into a slow and steady retreat.

1. One of the six Chakras of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. ☜

2. 鸾 (luán) refers to a mythical bird in Chinese lore, often paired with the phoenix. It symbolizes auspiciousness, grace, and divine authority, and is frequently depicted pulling the carriages of deities or immortals in classical texts. ☜