Chapter 988: Chapter 982: Ling Tian’s Blood
“They are going to the Auric Empire and the Cultivator Alliance?”
Beside the blood pool in the clan’s secret ground, a corpse hung upside down.
This person was covered in muscles, and even though Void Refinement materials sent back from the Northern Border by Li Xinghuo were used, they still couldn’t conceal the Void Refinement aura exuding from the corpse.
Within the translucent Void Refinement materials, a Low-Grade Dharma Treasure long saber, guided by the wave of Li Yaoqing’s right hand, was sawing at the corpse’s neck like a saw cutting through steel.
Even after finally cutting through the throat and dripping blood into the blood pool, the wound healed in the blink of an eye.
The spiritual energy of Merit City’s spiritual vein continuously replenished the corpse’s Spiritual power.
Inside the blood pool, a humanoid body was fusing with a spiritual plant through the blood.
Li Zhiheng glanced at the legendary “Three Corpses of Ling Tian” and the calm Old Ancestor Yaoqing, lowering his head as he cautiously relayed the words passed on by the Immortal Suppression Department faction.
No matter how revered he was in the Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven and the clan, in front of the Old Ancestors, Li Zhiheng maintained sufficient shyness and respect.
The Old Ancestors had always been mysterious.
The old friends in the clan often said that the Azure Cloud Li Clan consisted of a group of madly energetic old folks and a lifeless younger generation.
Every time he came to see the elders, Li Zhiheng felt he was one step closer to being “madly energetic”.
“Yes, Senior Zhangsun also wanted to encourage this child to go along,” Li Zhiheng scratched his head.
Watching the Three Corpses of Ling Tian drip another drop of blood, the blood pool began to permeate with violent Spiritual power.
Li Yaoqing nodded in satisfaction. Only then did she turn around, seeing the child’s stiff expression, and pinched Li Zhiheng’s face as if teasing a little kid.
“Don’t mix with them, their hearts are pitch-black.
You have the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart on you.
Now that there are occasionally some Wu tribe members coming, consuming their Qi-Destiny is already enough for your cultivation.”
Hearing Li Yaoqing’s words, Li Zhiheng nodded hastily.
His Heavenly Dao Divine Heart was beating violently. Li Zhiheng could feel that the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart was afraid.
“Is it afraid of Zishu Ling Tian’s corpse?”
“Back when the clan’s formidable enemies were in the Azure Cloud Prefecture, your Madman Great-Great-Grandfather and I went to the Auric Empire.
The Auric Empire and the Cultivator Alliance are constantly at war with each other.
Separated from our Azure Dynasty by the natural moat of the Endless Forest, the Human Emperor has no time to keep them in check.”
Li Yaoqing pondered for a moment,
“Now that the Wu tribe and the Azure Dynasty are at war, they have also charged towards the Wu tribe. Wanting to take the opportunity to seek profit does make some sense.
But your elders are in Deston Prefecture. Until they root out the Peerless Hall, they will not return.
Jianshu is now the Patriarch; let him decide. As for the route map, the old folks in the Heavenly Principle Hall have it.”
“This child understands.”
Li Zhiheng hurriedly left the place.
He became increasingly certain that the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart, which had reached Grade 2, was urging him to flee quickly.
In all the years since obtaining the Heavenly Dao Divine Heart, it was the first time he had felt it so afraid.
It wasn’t just afraid of Zishu Lingtian’s corpse, it was also afraid that the Spiritual arts on Old Ancestor Yaoqing would stew it.
Once Li Zhiheng left.
Li Yaoqing held the Golden Chapter of Enlightenment in her hand.
While comprehending the Daoist Spirit of her Divine Art, she waved her hand, and the Spirit Gathering Cauldron in the cloudy sky of Merit City came into view.
She saw Li Yaotie wielding a heavy hammer, still forging a Dharma Treasure.
“Third Brother, send a wisp of Heavenly Fire. In a few more days, Dabao will be able to break through to the Divinity Transformation realm.”
Li Yaotie was sweating like rain.
He shouted “Three Elements True Fire”, and the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree behind him shone like the sun.
A wisp of flame floated gently towards the blood pool.
In an instant, the blood pool became a fire pool, tempering the body of the Corpse-Stitching Dabao.
Li Yaotie roared: “Second Sister, when will you comprehend the next layer of the Divine Art? Lend me the Golden Chapter of Enlightenment for a bit, I’m extremely envious!”
“Why should I give it to you? The Old Ancestor bestowed it upon me; go beg the Old Ancestor to lend it to you.”
“You… Old Ancestor, please show yourself and judge this!”
“Alright, alright, the two of you add up to over sixteen hundred years old, why are you still acting like children?”
Bai Rourou rolled her eyes, carrying the materials for the “Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique”, gradually gathering them into a massive block.
Then she looked at the corpse in the blood pool, wiping the heavy sweat from her forehead, “Second Sister, Ah Tie, are we really not sending the Three Corpses to Fourth Prince?”
The siblings, Li Yaoqing and Li Yaotie, exchanged a glance.
Li Yaotie grinned,
“Give him my ass! The things the Fourth Prince wants are definitely good things. As long as the Third Corpse hasn’t appeared, this thing stays with us. What’s he in a hurry for?
Madman went to ask him for a Body Integration opportunity, and he told us to go to the sea region to catch a dragon.
We haven’t even seen that thing. I really want to hammer that old bastard to death!”
“Ah Tie, if you curse him like this and he hears it…” Bai Rourou looked around warily.
Fourth Prince had heaven-reaching methods, and she was afraid Fourth Prince would eavesdrop.
“If he finds the soul, we will hand over Zishu Lingtian’s corpse with both hands. We can’t afford to provoke him, so we just can’t.”
Li Yaoqing furrowed her delicate brows slightly, “But having used this thing for so long, I really am a bit reluctant to give it back to him.”
[Ling Tian’s Corpse]
[The corpse has remained imperishable for hundreds of thousands of years, its spiritual power endless.
Holding Ling Tian’s corpse to fend off enemies can be used as a Top-Grade Dharma Treasure, capable of breaking myriad Spiritual.
By bleeding Lingtian’s corpse and bolstering it with spirit stones and spiritual veins, the blood can regenerate.
Each year, Ling Tian’s blood can be obtained, which is effective both as a material and when swallowed.]
…..
[Ling Tian’s Blood]
[Produces 5 drops of heart blood annually.
This is blood tempered layer by layer as it passes through Lingtian’s meridians to the heart.
Swallowing it can enhance one’s cultivation base, comprehension, innate bone structure, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Soul quality.
It can strengthen Spiritual Roots, cleansing the meridians and marrow.
Possesses a minuscule chance to trigger an epiphany or awaken a special physique.]
[100 drops of meridian blood can be used as a material or swallowed.
Enhances cultivation base and comprehension, possessing a minuscule chance to upgrade innate bone structure and meridians.]
[Those below the Void Refinement realm must swallow with caution, lest their bodies explode and they die.]
[1,000 drops of ordinary blood… Those below the Divinity Transformation realm must swallow with caution; it can be diluted…]
Ever since Zishu Lingtian’s corpse fell into Li Yaoqing’s hands, she had treasured this item to the extreme.
“Nowadays, the descendants of the clan practically all grew up drinking Ling Tian’s blood.
Even we elders swallow a bit of Ling Tian’s meridian blood every year.
Who knows how much time and effort that was spent meditating and seizing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth this has saved us.”
Thinking of giving this treasure to Fourth Prince, Li Yaoqing pouted. “Such a fat dairy cow is truly a supreme treasure of my Li Clan.”
The Clan’s Great Hall.
Li Jianshu swallowed the “Ling Tian’s Meridian Blood” delivered by the clan this year.
This item was also a supreme clan treasure and could not be revealed to outsiders.
Diluting a drop of blood in his wine gourd, he took only a light sip and immediately felt a majestic surge of spiritual power galloping like ten thousand horses through his limbs and bones, leaving Li Jianshu filled with deep emotion.
“With my current realm, one drop of blood takes a year to digest, saving me twenty years of bitter cultivation.
I truly don’t know how the clan’s Old Ancestors fought out in the world all those years to allow our descendants to enjoy such blessings.”
Li Xinnian had made Li Jianshu the Patriarch with a light, fluttering letter, catching him completely off guard.
Now that he truly wielded the clan’s supreme authority, he gradually understood the clan’s profound foundation.
Yet despite that power, he was still moving forward step by careful step, testing uncertain ground beneath his feet.
Thinking of his plan to turn all cultivators in the Azure Cloud Prefecture into soldiers, Li Jianshu murmured,
“Great-Grandfather has gone to Deston Prefecture, and the old man has already laid down the foundation.
The Azure Cloud Prefecture is prosperous, but many factions are ignorant of the world’s affairs.
Our Azure Cloud Li Clan has protected them too well.
Now is precisely the time to let them gradually accept the changes in the world.
Aside from deploying heavy troops, we must also have them expand into the sea regions and dispatch forces to various parts of the dynasty to fight the Wu tribe.”
“Our clan has been fiercely brave generation after generation, and the people of Azure Cloud have forged ahead for generations.
But as hundreds of years pass, I fear they will lose their blood-lust. If they lose even their blood-lust, what difference is there between them and weak power?
It’s time to let them see blood.
The descendants of our Li Clan should be the same. They cannot endlessly receive the protection of the clan elders for nothing, or else it will only lead to an inevitable decline.”
Just as he made this decision in his heart, he saw his grandfather, Li Zhiheng, approaching.
Li Jianshu hastily bowed. “Grandfather.”
“Sit.”
With a casual wave of Li Zhiheng’s hand, Li Jianshu was already seated back in his original position.
Sensing his grandfather’s Spiritual power, Li Jianshu was filled with utmost admiration.
Afterward, the grandfather and grandson discussed the matter of crossing the Endless Forest and going with the Immortal Suppression Department to “reap easy profits.”
“Cross the Endless Forest?” Li Jianshu pondered for a moment.
“Grandson believes it is feasible.
Great-Grandfather once replied in a letter that Duanmu Yushu of the Eternal Immortal Sect had already gone to the Wu tribe to set up schemes, intending to use the Wu tribe members for a blood sacrifice to break through the peak of the Divinity Transformation realm, or even reach the Void Refinement realm.
Duanmu Yushu must have achieved some success for them to plan on imitating him on a massive scale.”
“Currently, whether it is Deston Prefecture or the Northern Border Demon race, it is far too perilous for our clan’s descendants.
Those at the Golden Core realm could die at any moment in those two places.
The Endless Forest and those two great immortal nations, comparatively speaking, are much safer.
It is a good place for experiential learning, and the various Grotto-Heavens of our clan can easily dispatch descendants there.”
“Our ancestors fought their way out of a single village; we have not lost the courage to compete against this grand era.”
Hearing this, Li Zhiheng tapped his finger lightly on the desk.
Li Zhiheng had spent his entire life cultivating. Even though the elders had gone to Deston Prefecture and he eradicated disasters for the clan, his mindset was far more “conservative.”
Throughout his life, his philosophy had been “we will not attack unless we are attacked.”
Hearing that his grandson wanted the clan’s descendants to venture into strange lands, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of compassion and hesitation.
Finally, seeing Li Jianshu’s persistence, he could only sigh.
“That is fine as well. I will inform the clan elders, so they can request an expert to protect them. The clan acted similarly in the past and suffered a great disaster. Remember, we must not repeat the same mistakes.”
“Grandson understands.”
Li Jianshu nodded heavily. Even they knew of the incident back then, when the clan elders left Azure Cloud, arrived at the former Eternal Sun Prefecture, and were slaughtered by Tian Xing.
“This child will make a trip to the immortal sect to seek an audience with Ancestor Lan.
The interests of our two families are aligned; at the very least, the Perfected Sect Master of the Eternal Immortal Sect will devise a way to shelter our Li Clan.”
The two finalized their decision.
Suddenly, they noticed the branches and leaves of the ancient tree outside the great hall trembling, and dark clouds gathering in the sky.
How could Li Jianshu not see that this was the ancient tree’s lightning tribulation?
The grandfather and grandson hurriedly went before the ancient tree.
They saw a human face emerge on its trunk, and the two immediately bowed in greeting.
Li Jianshu said, “Divine Tree, are you going to break through to the Void Refinement realm?”
The ancient tree sighed,
“I have Mahayana blood and Body Integration blood within my body, and the Master sent me the natal artifact of a Void Refinement tree demon. Yet, I do not dare to break through.
Breaking through the barrier means becoming a Demon Venerable, but a spiritual demon breaking through is a hundred times more difficult than a human’s breakthrough.
The old snake beneath me is the same.”
Li Zhiheng took a deep breath.
The ancient tree and the old snake had followed the clan for eight hundred years.
He could already sense that their lightning tribulations were imminent and extremely perilous.
The ancient tree was to become a Demon Venerable, and the old snake… was about to turn into a dragon!
—
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 90 Chapters: Search for “Dark Tea” on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!