Chapter 84.1: Inspiration Bursts Forth; The Idea of a Secret Technique! (I)

Lu Changsheng arrived back at Miaoshou Garden without making a sound. Once in his room, he took out a porcelain bottle from a hidden compartment. Then, he took out some black insects he had retrieved from a corpse lying in a roadside ditch and spread them on the table.

They must've died along with their master.

The state of these insects proved that Old Wang was indeed dead. Conversely, if they came back to life, that would indicate their master's revival. Lu Changsheng did not think that was a real possibility, but you could not be too cautious with demonic martial artists.

He put the insects in the bottle and then took out the book he had retrieved from the Lin Clan's coffin hall, namely the

Blood Devil Scripture

. Scriptures were inherently valuable. For example, even though Lu Changsheng was at odds with the Myriad Poison Cult and had even killed Zhao Wuji in open battle, he still acknowledged the value of the Myriad Poison Scripture. As for the Blood Devil Scripture, it had been treasured by a demonic martial artist, so it was certainly no small thing.

He opened the scripture and proceeded to read it. The first lines that for cultivation, the practitioner must possess blood devil essence blood; even a trace would do. Without the essence blood, mastering the Blood Devil Scripture was impossible.

Blood devil essence blood?

Lu Changsheng thought back to the coffin in the hall. He had not seen anything resembling this blood devil essence blood. Perhaps it had been fused into Old Wang, but then again, his body had been blown apart. For all he knew, that essence might have vanished entirely.

Regardless, Lu Changsheng did not dwell on it, as he had no intention of becoming a demonic martial artist. He just kept reading.

The Blood Devil Scripture mentioned "bloodthirsty insects," which likely referred to those black insects. They lived in symbiosis with blood devil martial artists, and they could assist in cultivation and help them eliminate enemies.

The scripture mentioned another kind of insects, namely "corpse insects." Those were even more terrifying, and only blood devil martial artists who had undergone demonic transformation could raise them.

As Old Wang had only just completed his demonic transformation, he had not had the time to actually raise those so-called corpse insects. Had he managed to do so, he would have been even more fearsome.

In addition to those insects, the Blood Devil Scripture also mentioned a secret technique used by blood devil martial artists: the Blood Pill Secret Technique.

The technique did not refer to an actual pill, but rather to a method of accumulating essence blood. Once the martial artist had stored enough essence blood within their body, they could detonate it against the enemy, unleashing overwhelming power. Naturally, the longer they accumulated the essence blood, the more destructive the attack became.

The upper limit of blood accumulation was determined by the blood devil martial artist's own physical power. In any case, the blood pill could unleash power ten times what the martial artist could normally muster. That alone made this secret technique frightening, as sixty cauldrons of strength could soar to six hundred cauldrons.

Moreover, the scripture did not explicitly state that the tenfold amplification was the ultimate limit. Perhaps it could be twentyfold, thirtyfold, or even higher, though reaching such levels would be unimaginably difficult.

Reading the Blood Devil Scripture had left Lu Changsheng shaken. Although he had emerged victorious against Old Wang, he realized just how fortunate he had been. There was no telling how that fight would have gone if Old Wang had completed his demonic transformation months or even years prior.

The bloodthirsty insects, the corpse insects, and the blood pills... In the end, it was unclear who would have died. Lu Changsheng felt that if Old Wang had managed to refine the blood pill, he himself would have fallen to the demonic martial artist.

"Demonic martial artists completely overwhelm human martial artists of the same realm in terms of physical prowess and secret techniques. The only advantage human martial artists might possess is martial techniques, especially

intent

..."

A vague realization formed in Lu Changsheng's mind, though his understanding was still limited. What was certain, however, was the fact that the Third Transformation of the Divine Dragon could double one's physical prowess.

Lu Changsheng reread the

Blood Devil Scripture

again and again. Ultimately, he was not a blood devil martial artist; he possessed no essence blood. As such, he could not raise bloodthirsty insects or corpse insects, nor could he unleash the blood pill. Blood devil martial artists specialized in manipulating blood and refining essence blood—something Lu Changsheng simply could not do.

They can refine essence blood... but what about human martial artists? Our advantage lay in blood qi, whereas demonic martial artists seem to lack it altogether, focusing entirely on the flesh instead.

A flash of insight struck Lu Changsheng's mind.

Blood qi was a special kind of qi produced from the martial artist's vitality, and it was unique to humans. It was neither physical nor illusory, yet it possessed tremendous power. For instance, the Silken Thread Sword.

Then, he thought about the

Blood Devil Scripture

's Blood Pill Secret Technique. That secret technique relied on slowly accumulating essence blood, storing it over time, and then releasing it all at once in battle. Then what about blood qi? Could it be done the same way?

Lu Changsheng even felt that blood qi was better suited to such an approach. Blood qi could be accumulated continuously, and it could also be compressed again and again. The greater the compression, the more overwhelming the eruption would be.

If I made full use of all the blood qi that naturally leaks from my body and compressed it every day for a month, or three months, or a year, or even ten years... and then released that compressed blood qi all at once, how destructive would that power be?

Inspiration continued to well up in Lu Changsheng's mind. He already had the ability to create his own martial techniques thanks to his incredibly high Perception. Even Divine Strength martial artists rarely possessed Perception as high as his.

What Lu Changsheng had lacked was inspiration. As long as he had that, creating a powerful martial technique would not be difficult at all. However, at the moment, that was not his intention. What he had grasped was a secret technique, and once perfected, it would undoubtedly become fearsome. This secret technique would be no weaker than the Blood Pill Secret Technique—and perhaps it would even surpass it.

Realizing how important this opportunity was, Lu Changsheng devoted all his focus to this secret technique, letting his ideas flow and collide.

Compressing blood qi is definitely feasible. This might not even require deliberate accumulation. Blood qi is limited by the body and therefore has an upper limit. Yet the human body generates blood qi every day, and the excess naturally dissipates. If I can use a secret technique to gather and compress that excess blood qi, then over time it will surely condense into extraordinary power. Blood qi exists between the real and the illusory. As long as the compression can be stabilised, even further compression will not cause the volume to grow too large. It can be endlessly compressed and accumulated. This would be a secret technique with no upper limit.

An outline for this secret technique gradually took shape in Lu Changsheng's mind. It seemed crude, even wildly fanciful, yet it was precisely such a fanciful idea that carried limitless possibilities.

At that moment, Lu Changsheng's inspiration seemed to be boundless. A secret technique with no upper limit. How incredible would that be? Of course, it was still nothing more than an idea, and it remained a long way from true completion.

Regardless, Lu Changsheng decided to act while his inspiration still burned fiercely. He immediately drew out tiny threads of blood qi, which started to compress within his body.

It seemed to be working. One thread, two, three... Normally, there was no limit to how many blood qi strands could be compressed. However, for this technique, Lu Changsheng had to actively compress them himself. The blood qi was not the issue, but rather his mind. This required a great deal of mental effort, and Lu Changsheng could not realistically spend the entire day straining his mind to compress blood qi. Moreover, even if he compressed the blood qi, he still had to figure out a way to release it.

Should he release the qi through sword arts, saber techniques, or something else? He had to ponder all that very carefully. For now, all of these were rough ideas. Even with nearly 700 points of Perception, he probably could not fully perfect this limitless secret technique in a short time.