Chapter 277: Bai Yun’s Bloodline
Su Yan’s expression darkened. He raised his hand to grab Xiang Ge’s shoulder, and with just a slight probe of True Essence, his face turned serious.
“Qi and Blood and True Essence have been devoured. Martial Uncle, this hand of yours is only slightly better than a dry branch. Who did this to you?”
Although Xiang Ge usually appeared carefree and laughing, he was truly sharp when it came to his own affairs, and he was also Bai Yun’s master.
Now that Xiang Ge had been injured to this extent, how could Su Yan not be angry?
Speaking of this, Xiang Ge’s face showed anger. He snorted coldly: “Qing Family’s third elder Qing Yunqian used Wind Thunder Insect larva eggs as bait. That girl Bai Yun didn’t realize something was off and rushed headlong into the mountain valley outside Tianyun City, where they blocked her. In order to seize the Wind Thunder Insect and save her, I lost an arm. Fatty Yuan took a slash, but it didn’t injure his Origin.”
As Xiang Ge said this, he glanced at Su Yan, only to see him frowning.
Long Qiushui and Yuan Hong had also arrived in the hall by now. Long Qiushui’s face was cold, and Yuan Hong was indeed seriously injured as Xiang Ge had said.
He had taken a slash to the body, and his fat cheeks were now surprisingly somewhat gaunt and extremely pale, not much better off than Xiang Ge.
“Martial Uncle Xiang, Martial Uncle Yuan, I will immediately refine pills for you. Is Senior Sister alright?”
“You go see her first. Her injuries are no lighter than ours.”
Xiang Ge sighed. Both of them were at Dan Qiao Realm yet injured to this degree. If not for them being disciples of Dharma Aspect True Persons and having some life-saving means, they probably wouldn’t have escaped so easily.
Yuan Hong said from the side: “Using insects as bait, this trap was probably aimed at you master and disciple pair. Those people must have gone mad for Yao Lixuan’s bounty.”
He was carefully reminding that this matter was not due to them being greedy for merit and acting rashly.
Among the exotic insects produced in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, Wind Thunder Insects could at least rank in the top ten among exotic species.
People from the Hundred Caves Witch Sect and Guizang Valley who cultivated Gu and poison lineages flocked to such exotic insects, no less than Natal Spiritual Artifacts.
And in Lingnan Prefecture, which power valued such exotic insects the most?
Besides Gu Sanqian’s lineage in Guizang Valley, there was probably no one else.
The Qing Family had rebelled from under the Beast King Sect and had previous conflicts with Su Yan. How could they not know that Su Yan, the grand-disciple under Gu Sanqian, was an expert at playing with insects? Someone had already speculated that he must possess some kind of Innate Martial Body related to exotic insects.
This trap was truly aimed at their lineage.
Cold light gathered in Su Yan’s eyes: “I don’t go looking for trouble with them, yet they come looking for trouble with me.”
Inside the Beast King Sect, he had feuded with Qing Yunheng. In Southern Sky City, the Qing Family remnants were also mostly wiped out by Nangong Hong Yue leading the Sacred Insect Dao people. Even if they deliberately left some tribesmen as abandoned pawns, the grudge was formed.
Long Qiushui said: “You first heal the three of them. I’ve already started inquiring about news on those three old things from the Qing Family.”
“Good.”
The materials for medicine refining and the pill prescription had already been prepared by Long Qiushui. After taking the pill prescription and materials, Su Yan first went to Bai Yun’s room.
The room was in the courtyard to the left of the City Lord’s Mansion. Su Yan knocked on the door.
“Who?”
“Senior Sister, it’s me.”
“C-come in.”
Bai Yun’s voice was somewhat hurried, but she still let Su Yan push the door open and enter.
The door creaked open as Su Yan pushed it. In the room, Bai Yun’s clothes were half-undone, with half a sleeve hanging at her waist, exposing half of her fragrant shoulder.
On her fair skin were two ferocious wound scars, like centipedes baring fangs and claws.
A female disciple nearby was helping her bandage the wound. The bandage was half-wrapped, and there was no time to fully cover the clothes.
“Disciple pays respects to True Person Su.”
Seeing the visitor, the female disciple was about to bow, but Su Yan frowned slightly and immediately said: “Continue treating the wound.”
The female disciple quickly tied the bandage, and Bai Yun neatly put on her white shirt. The female disciple then excused herself and left.
“Just some minor injuries…”
“Realm has fallen, Qi and Blood depleted, your foundation has also been greatly affected. I’m afraid it won’t be easy to break through to Divine Union Realm within two years.”
Bai Yun said it was minor on her lips, but she was merely a True Intent Realm Martial Artist. Her cultivation was hard to fully conceal in front of Su Yan, let alone now in an injured state.
Previously, she had already reached the peak of Condensing Momentum Stage. With her talent for condensing True Intent, she was inherently a female tiger, so the White Tiger True Intent became more powerful the more it condensed, faintly showing a trend to enter the forefront of the Tiger Ranking.
But now, it had instead barely maintained at the early Condensing Momentum Stage.
Bai Yun brushed aside the hair falling over her forehead, her gaze as firm as ever: “Master said he would help me recast my foundation. If not, then re-cultivation it is. We rose from humble beginnings and aren’t afraid to fall back. This time, I was too hasty.”
Su Yan looked at her expression with a hint of regret. Bai Yun did not raise exotic insects or contracted beasts, only keeping a pair of Rhinoceros Tiger and Sha Yu Tiger beasts. This Wind Thunder Insect was not something she needed in the first place.
Bai Yun looked at her junior brother, thinking incessantly in her heart: ‘Junior Brother’s cultivation is becoming more and more powerful, and there are fewer and fewer things I can help him with.’
She said softly: “Although the Wind Thunder Insect was bait, I investigated the martial artist who spread the news. He really had Wind Thunder Insect molts in hand, with Spiritual Power not dispersed, shed no more than three months ago. They have Wind Thunder Insects.”
The Wind Thunder Insect was for Su Yan; she just hadn’t obtained it.
“Why didn’t you activate the Blood Marrow Worm I left on the Rhinoceros Tiger?”
When Su Yan had previously directly controlled a nest of Rhinoceros Tigers and given them to Bai Yun as contracted beasts, he had actually left a hidden hand. If she encountered danger, the Blood Marrow Worm could notify Su Yan through its connection with the Heavenly Fiend Mother Locust and Fierce Insect Cauldron.
Although it couldn’t transmit specific information, as long as the signal was sent, Su Yan could descend his consciousness via the Insect Consciousness Seed to sense the location and situation.
Bai Yun was the master of the Rhinoceros Tiger, and when planting the Beast Taming Seal, she must have known of the Blood Marrow Worm’s existence.
“Since they were targeting you, how could I let them have their way.”
Su Yan suddenly laughed. This was indeed her temperament. If she were truly in danger, especially in a Dan Qiao Realm ambush, she wouldn’t call Su Yan over.
His palm quietly condensed a drop of Primal Blood. With a flip of his hand, the Primal Blood floated above his palm.
“Junior Brother, what are you doing?”
“An opportunity.” Su Yan said straightforwardly: “This drop of Primal Blood can recast your foundation, but the price is that you will be forever suppressed by me.”
Bai Yun’s eyes brightened slightly as she looked at Su Yan: “How to use it?”
She had no hesitation at all. If this was a side effect, it was more like her true heart.
“Just swallow it.”
He gently pushed his palm, and the Primal Blood flew toward Bai Yun.
Bai Yun caught the Primal Blood and swallowed it into her mouth. Soon, the power of bloodline transformation erupted. Her veins bulged, her body turned blood-red all over, and blood seeped from the wound.
Su Yan took out a Dragon Scale Body Strengthening Pill, split it in half, stuffed it into Bai Yun’s mouth, and used True Essence to stop the bleeding from her wound.
As the bloodline continuously transformed, a strand of dark True Essence emerged around her. A powerful force surged from the bloodline, and the wound visibly healed.
Faint groans came. Bai Yun endured the pain and actually sat cross-legged, using her powerful will to sense the changes in her bloodline.
Her True Essence cultivation talent was only mid-to-upper level even in the Beast King Sect, but this willpower talent alone could be called upper level.
Combat, cultivation, condensing True Intent—all advanced daily under the drive of this vigor.
Hu Yangming valued intent over form, and what satisfied him most about this grand-disciple was precisely this point.
Cultivation has never been about who walks the fastest, but who walks the farthest.
Bloodline transformation, meridians strengthened—the pain during this was no less than shattering one’s entire muscles and bones and then piecing them back together.
During this process, Su Yan could hardly help with anything else and could only quietly watch and guard by the side. This lasted a full hour.
Buzz
A clear sound like a Dragon Roar rang out. Within Bai Yun’s body, one black and one white phantom condensed into two spears, sharp and gleaming, directly piercing through the room and nailing the red solid wood door right through the center.
Bai Yun’s aura changed, starting from Condensing Momentum Stage. True Essence and Qi and Blood climbed steadily, and in just three breaths, she returned to the peak of Condensing Momentum Stage.
Her aura continued to condense. Returning to the peak was just a brief pause, and in an instant, True Essence surged in her body again. Behind her, White Tiger True Intent and Sha Yu Tiger True Intent condensed—one black, one white—merging together and crashing into her body.
Divine Union achieved, Spirit Merging Stage formed!
Bai Yun opened her eyes, her bright eyes full of joyful expression.
She stood up, and the surrounding Netherworld Power immediately merged into her body, turning into pieces of hard, pitch-black Insect Armor. The two spear phantoms turned from illusory to real, falling into her hands, sharp and gleaming.
“Innate Martial Body, you… this Primal Blood is so precious, and you actually…”
Bai Yun looked deeply at her junior brother. Su Yan had only said it would recast her foundation, but she hadn’t expected the method to recast the foundation would actually create an Acquired Martial Body.
Compared to the Acquired Martial Body, recasting the foundation was merely an incidental effect.
Su Yan smiled and interrupted her: “Your Primal Blood originates from the Troop Devouring Ghost Moth bloodline, positioned below mine. You’ve felt the bloodline suppression—that is the price you paid.”
“This is not a price.”
Bai Yun refuted, her gaze gentle: “Even without the Primal Blood, I would always be on your side. I was just worried about not keeping up with your progress.”
She revealed a bright and charming smile, as if a burden had been lifted from her body: “But now I’m not worried.”
Su Yan had the superior Insect Lord Bloodline, while she had the subordinate bloodline. Just this bloodline connection alone meant she would forever follow her junior brother’s footsteps and never be abandoned.
“Troop Devouring Ghost Moth has the ability to control and devour weapon spirits of blades, turning them into phantom attacks. After evolving into bloodline, it will undergo some changes.”
Black and white dual spears appeared behind Bai Yun. She said directly: “Spear Master. My ability is not mastering myriad weapons, but targeting spear-class weapons, devouring spear spirits, integrating them into these Po Jun and Zhu Xie dual spears, evolving into thousands to aid in killing enemies. However, I have a premonition that my comprehension of spear arts worldwide will advance by leaps and bounds.”
“A month with staffs, a year with sabers, a lifetime with spears”—in this Archaic Martial Realm, this saying probably needed to be multiplied ten or a hundred times to reflect the difficulty.
Spear arts emphasize intent. Bai Yun originally had considerable talent in spear arts due to her intent, and now it was like adding wings to a tiger.
“That’s good then. When there’s a chance, I’ll find a Spirit Tool spear for you.”
Bai Yun nodded. This time, there was no refusal or hesitation at all. From the moment she fused the Primal Blood, she was Su Yan’s person, and what she recognized was thus.
“Junior Brother, I want to go down the mountain to continue tracking the Wind Thunder Insect’s whereabouts.”
Su Yan frowned. Bai Yun said: “Under Fierce Insect Transformation, I am absolutely not weaker than Half-step Dan Qiao. For this investigation, as long as I’m careful and encounter trouble, I’ll directly seek you—there will definitely be no danger.”
She continued: “Wind Thunder Insect has the power of wind-thunder swiftness. With your abilities, if you obtain the Wind Thunder Insect, even a Dharma Aspect may not be able to keep you.”
Bai Yun had contacted many martial artists who spread the Wind Thunder Insect news. Her investigation would definitely have an extra layer of advantage over others.
Moreover, as the recipient of Su Yan’s Bloodline Gift, to some extent, as long as needed and she didn’t object, the Insect Consciousness Seed could descend on her body.
“The newly risen Sacred Insect Dao down the mountain is my power. Go find Nangong Hong Yue, tell her your identity, and she will mobilize forces to help you find the Wind Thunder Insect.”
‘Nangong Hong Yue’
Bai Yun’s eyes flickered slightly, and her heart suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, as if she had fallen a step behind.
But she still nodded seriously: “I will get along well with her.”
Su Yan: ?
Bai Yun acted decisively and swiftly. She was not a caged bird. Since she decided to help Su Yan with this matter, she set off resolutely.
But just before leaving the door, she suddenly hugged Su Yan and kissed his cheek.
A warm and moist sensation came. The next second, fragrant wind departed, and faintly, Bai Yun’s face was already flushed red.
“Feels pretty nice…”
When Su Yan reacted, he suddenly laughed.
Although he had been diligently cultivating, he was not an ascetic. It was just that his sense of security had always been insufficient, so he hadn’t indulged in wine, women, and revelry.
However, whether Nangong Hong Yue or Bai Yun, they were both inevitably Su Yan’s predetermined people.
Su Yan left the room and went to the alchemy room, releasing the shrunken Molten Mountain Giant Scorpion. Its body was about three meters long, continuously spewing Spirit Melting Fire from its mouth.
He placed the medicine cauldron for refining on the furnace fire and immediately began refining pills.
Xiang Ge and Yuan Hong had both stepped forward for him and were injured while seizing the Wind Thunder Insect. He must heal them completely, without leaving any sequelae.
Only after healing the injuries could they conveniently seek revenge.
‘It’s time for the Qing Family people to settle the total score.’
……
“Not only is your foundation fully restored, you’ve broken through to Spirit Merging Stage, and now you want to go track down the Qing Family’s whereabouts?”
In Xiang Ge’s room, the old man had scruffy stubble, his face full of shock and depression.
“Did that kid put knockout drugs in the healing pills he gave you? Helping him like this?”
Xiang Ge looked at his disciple, feeling as if his daughter had been taken by a playboy.
Although Bai Yun was a disciple he took later, during their time together, this girl knew propriety, kept boundaries, respected her master and valued righteousness, and the vigor in her bones was truly perfectly suited for Hundred Tiger Peak.
Even if the technique she switched to cultivating later was not the usual Dragon Tiger Suppressing Heaven Skill, she would definitely cultivate Hu Yangming’s main cultivation technique Yin-Yang Tiger Intent Skill, supplemented by Subduing Tiger Mingwang Body, becoming one of the pillars of Hundred Tiger Peak.
But it was this proud disciple whose heart was entirely with Su Yan.
‘Does this old man clash with that kid by fate?’
Bai Yun showed an apologetic expression. She said: “Junior Brother helped me recast my foundation and, by a stroke of fortune, I gained an Acquired Martial Body. The kindness is hard to repay…”
“Forget it, no need for excuses. Even without this foundation recasting or the pill granting Innate Martial Body, you would still help him devotedly.”
Xiang Ge shook his head and said: “However, this pill is probably at least top Third-order, or even Fourth-order. Go if you want, but take this Spirit Tool with you.”
