Chapter 94: Continuous Breakthroughs

Yin Twenty-four's expression turned curious. "Why are you so concerned about her? As things stand, you are still competitors."

Li Weiyi used Yin Twenty-four's own words, previously spoken in front of Yao Yin: "Perhaps it's because she's beautiful!"

"Then I advise you not to fall for her, lest you experience the pain of separation and loss in the future. It would only bring harm to both you and her."

Yin Twenty-four sighed, "She possesses the extremely rare Jade-Shattering Ice Soul physique, which only appears in Pure Immortal Bodies. Perhaps only one in ten thousand Pure Immortal Bodies has it."

"Jade-Shattering Ice Soul..." Li Weiyi repeated the words, bewildered.

Yin Twenty-four continued, "In other words, a Pure Immortal Body that is too pure causes the body to easily shatter like jade and crack like ice. The main cause for this rare physique usually stems from the parents, being some strange bloodline mutation. Her father..." She stopped abruptly at that point.

"I've only heard of Half-Immortal Bodies; I didn't know there was such a concept as 'too pure,'" Li Weiyi remarked. He felt it was essential to find an opportunity to quickly absorb more knowledge about this world. Once he became a Divine Hermit, he would visit the Hidden Sea Pavilion's library.

Yin Twenty-four stated, "In this world, anything in excess is detrimental. Most Pure Immortal Bodies with the Jade-Shattering Ice Soul physique don't live past eighteen. Otherwise, why do you think she, as the granddaughter of the Yaoli tribe leader and a Pure Immortal Body of such immense nobility, would come to the Hidden Gate trials?"

"Can the Hidden Gate save her?" Li Weiyi asked.

Yin Twenty-four shook her head. "Historically, there are records of Pure Immortal Bodies with the Jade-Shattering Ice Soul physique who survived, pushing their physical combat power to the extreme and achieving great heights. But that required finding the Flower of Extreme Yang... something the Hidden Gate doesn't possess."

"If she can comprehend the combat intent of the Jiuli God, she might find a way to survive, but the chances are very slim."

Li Weiyi knew that many things in this world were beyond his control. Everyone had their own destiny, and in life, one experienced many encounters and inevitable partings. Beautiful things always wither. After a sigh of regret and pity, his own life still had to continue.

"Yin Twenty-four, you know too much!" Li Weiyi dropped that remark and headed straight back to the Bloodwood Forest Cliff.

Yin Twenty-four froze, then realized. This guy was actually using the issue of Yao Yin's mysterious and unique physique to probe her relationship with Yao Yin. She did indeed have an unusual connection with Yao Yin, which explained why she knew her situation inside out. Although Yin Twenty-four was only sixteen, surviving to the end among the trial participants meant she couldn't be entirely transparent in her emotions. She naturally possessed a shrewd and seasoned side.

At the end of the Spider Cave trial, Yin Twenty-four had already recognized that Li Weiyi's strength was formidable and that he was likely Yao Yin's strongest opponent. However, he also had a clear character weakness: he surprisingly hadn't seized the opportunity to kill Yao Yin in the Spider Cave. It was precisely based on these two observations that Yin Twenty-four employed her strategy to help Yao Yin, specifically targeting Li Weiyi's weakness.

"So I've been found out? What a headache; he's found another point to exploit."

Yin Twenty-four walked over to Yao Yin, deciding to confess everything to her, lest she truly become entangled. Now that Li Weiyi was practically a confirmed Divine Hermit, he would no longer be a life-or-death competitor for Yao Yin.

Cultivation in the Thought Master realm involves continuously absorbing light to nourish one's inner fire. No matter how potent a meditation technique, absorbing light from the natural world is always a slow process. Light Flame Pills are different.

Li Weiyi swallowed the first Light Flame Pill. A warmth immediately spread through his abdomen, and then his entire body was illuminated by the light emanating from within, his physique glowing brightly like red-hot glass. He immediately began to meditate. He imagined himself as two towering Fusang divine trees, rapidly absorbing all the light. All the light flames in the cave transformed into dense light particles, surging like a stream towards the Spirit Realm at his glabella. Inside his glabella, the spiritual light flames rapidly surged.

After a day and a night, the light from the first Light Flame Pill completely dissipated. Thirty percent was absorbed, while seventy percent was lost.

"His entire glabella Spirit Realm was filled with flames, an amount comparable to three months of arduous cultivation." Li Weiyi felt a pang of regret. One hundred thousand silver coins had instantly vanished, all to save three months of time.

"Next, I need to continuously refine the spiritual light flames until they condense into a higher-grade Bright Fire."

Li Weiyi considered himself a major creditor to Yin Twenty-four and Yang Yun, and he could even extort a sum from Yao Yin, since he had saved her twice. He could afford to be a bit audacious. If he ran out of money, he'd simply collect debts. So, he quickly consumed the second Light Flame Pill.

After another day and night, the light from the second Light Flame Pill was completely gone. This time was better; he absorbed thirty-five percent. The spiritual light flames in his glabella Spirit Realm became much more condensed, their temperature noticeably higher, and their light more dazzling. However, they still seemed far from transforming into "Bright Fire."

The third, then the fourth. By the fifth day, Li Weiyi took out his last Light Flame Pill, feeling utterly displeased. He had burned through the cost of a Jiuli City mansion each day, and after four consecutive days, he still couldn't break through. This pill was such a rip-off! Unreasonably expensive. He strongly suspected that Yin Twenty-four had tricked him with fake pills.

"If this pill doesn't help me break through, I'm going to settle the score with Yin Twenty-four. She's been scheming against me every time; four million silver coins was clearly too cheap. I need to make her truly bleed."

Taking a large gulp of the golden spring water from the pottery jar, Li Weiyi then swallowed his last Light Flame Pill.

Half a day later, the spiritual light flames in his glabella Spirit Realm, after repeated compression and refinement, suddenly began to vibrate violently. They vibrated for a full half-hour, and then, in one instantaneous moment, all the flames collapsed toward the center.

"Boom!"

The glabella Spirit Realm fell silent. All the tumultuous flames contracted into a single bright flame, the size of a pea. This flame was solid, unmoving, and shone like a star.

"Haha, it's done! The Bright Fire is complete!"

Li Weiyi burst into wild laughter in the cave. Too eager to continue meditating and absorb the remaining Light Flame Pills, he quickly pulled out the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish. From his glabella, particles of Bright Fire light were released, surging towards the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish and activating it.

"Whoosh—"

As the two bronze fish rotated, a Taiji imprint appeared beneath Li Weiyi's feet, and spatial power erupted, pulling him towards the microscopic world of the Buddha's sarira. In an instant, only the Buddha's sarira remained suspended in mid-air within the cave, supported by a Taiji imprint.

After experiencing weightlessness, Li Weiyi reappeared on the blood-mud ground, which resembled a dried-up ocean bed. The surroundings had become much more expansive. The blood mist that enveloped and imprisoned the entire space receded into the distance.

"The blood-mud space seems to have only expanded, with no other changes," Li Weiyi sighed.

The voice from within the spirit tablet instructed, "Use your thought power to see if you can disperse the blood mist at the edge of this space."

Li Weiyi quickly reined in his emotions. As he meditated, he gradually became focused, using his will to peel away the blood mist in one direction, bit by bit. The mist gradually thinned. After multiple attempts, his control over his thought power and the blood mist became increasingly skilled.

When he peeled away the last veil of blood mist, an utterly breathtaking scene, unseen for several months, once again appeared before his eyes. Behind the blood mist was a magnificent, vast ocean. At the far end of the ocean stood two colossal Fusang Divine Trees, leaning against each other. They stretched tens of thousands of meters high, extending lush, bright branches and leaves towards the horizon, each leaf radiating light like the sun and moon. On the surface of the sea, countless golden flowers of various sizes bloomed, devoid of leaves, with only white roots submerged in the water.

This was precisely the Tanggu Sea, which the bronze ship had sailed through several months ago.

Fusang Divine Trees, Xihe Flowers...

What shocked Li Weiyi to the point of breathlessness was that everything before him seemed utterly real, not an illusion. He could smell the exotic fragrance emanating from the Xihe Flowers, hear the sound of waves, and feel the light bursting forth from the Fusang Divine Trees.

"This... Spirit Tablet Master, the forging of golden trace veins you spoke of—is it done by harnessing the light of the Fusang Divine Trees? How is Shaoyang Star connected to Tanggu Sea? And how did you know about this?"

Li Weiyi tried hard to calm himself, but his eyes were fixed on the Fusang Divine Trees, his facial muscles completely stiff.

The senior from the spirit tablet replied, "Shaoyang Star is an extraordinary spatial treasure. Back when we participated in battles, it transported us directly from all corners of the world. In other words, it's not surprising for it to open spatial barriers to any location."

"As for why you came directly under the Fusang Divine Trees after peeling back the blood mist, I don't know the reason myself. The Fusang Divine Trees and this ocean briefly appeared when you first entered Shaoyang Star and first peeled back the blood mist. That's why I guessed that once your thought power became stronger, you might be able to connect to this sea."

"Perhaps... it's related to you arbitrarily modifying the 'One Blade of Grass' meditation technique!"

"When you meditate, you imagine yourself as a Fusang tree. It's possible that, to some extent, Shaoyang Star sensed your desire to come here. So when you peeled back the blood mist, this is where you arrived."

Li Weiyi felt disbelief and murmured to himself, "Then if I imagine returning to Earth, wouldn't I be able to open a spatial barrier to Earth?"

"You can try," the senior from the spirit tablet said.

Excited, Li Weiyi immediately began to visualize, imagining himself in Shouqiu, in the ancient temple where he cultivated with his master. Then, he mobilized his thought power, peeling away the blood mist in another direction, layer by layer. However, behind that blood mist lay only the endless, desolate blood-mud ground, the familiar landscape of Shaoyang Star.

"Perhaps I wasn't focused enough." He tried several more times until he felt somewhat disheartened, only then giving up.

The Spirit Tablet Master said, "Perhaps your thought power cultivation isn't strong enough yet. The stronger your thought power, the greater your control over Shaoyang Star will be."

"Or perhaps I don't have such a strong desire to return; it was just a fleeting impulse."

Li Weiyi gave a wry smile, then rubbed his temples and stood up again. He walked towards the magnificent sea where the Fusang Divine Trees were, knowing that forging the golden trace veins was his immediate priority.

However, just as he reached the edge of the blood-mud space, he was blocked by an invisible spatial barrier, preventing him from truly reaching the sea.

"This isn't a true spatial passage?" Li Weiyi asked.

The Spirit Tablet Master replied, "No, your thought power isn't strong enough yet. If you become a Grand Thought Master, you might be able to pass through this spatial barrier."

Breaking through from Square-Inch Flame to Square-Inch Bright Fire had consumed five Light Flame Pills, equivalent to the cost of five mansions. Li Weiyi dared not imagine how much it would cost to break through from Square-Inch Bright Fire to the greater realm of Square-Foot Earth Fire. Forget it. He would just continue absorbing light and nourishing his fire gradually.

"Although there was a spatial barrier, the light of the Fusang Divine Trees was undeniably real. "Surely there's no place between heaven and earth more suitable for forging golden trace veins than here?""

All of Li Weiyi's shock was replaced by excitement. Immediately, while drinking the golden spring water, he simultaneously performed the Fusang Divine Tree meditation technique. At the same time, he continuously absorbed the light emanating from the Fusang Divine Trees using the Cang King Forging Method, integrating it into his silver trace veins. Instead of fusing all ninety-six trace veins at once, as he had before, he focused on fusing them into one particular vein.

Time quickly passed.

"Whoosh!"

On the other side of the spatial barrier, the sea boiled as endless divine flames burned beneath the seabed, then transformed into a Golden Crow that burst out of the sea. The moment the Golden Crow burst forth, the light transmitted through the spatial barrier intensified by countless times.

Li Weiyi, who was performing the Cang King Forging Method, felt as if all the light particles had gone out of control, cascading like a waterfall and pouring into his body like a tempest, merging into his trace veins. The silver trace vein connected to the palm of his right hand first glowed with a golden light, then became increasingly bright, releasing hot and potent energy. Like a dragon vein, it surged out of his arm, extending towards his internal organs and back, then shot straight up to the crown of his head.

The first golden trace vein was forged in just one day.

Li Weiyi looked at his right arm, then suddenly stood up from the ground, gazing at the Golden Crow soaring into the distance. "Fusang and the Golden Crow have a relationship of mutual achievement," he muttered. "And when I meditate... I am the Fusang Divine Tree."

"Spirit Tablet Master, I feel that the key to forging golden trace veins using the Cang King Forging Method is to simultaneously cultivate the Fusang Divine Tree meditation technique and martial arts. The combination of the two, plus this treasure land of Tanggu Sea... okay, I'm adding too many factors! In any case, I feel it won't be long before I can forge all the silver trace veins in my body into golden ones."

"Master Can, how many golden trace veins did you say you forged previously?"