Chapter 37: Discovering Hidden Dangers?
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After Wu Shu’s physical body entered the Barbaric Bull Body Realm and his profound power advanced to the True Essence Realm, the bloodline curse erupted within him without warning. The curse was far more powerful than he had imagined, and the agony that accompanied it was something he would never forget.
After using the breathing technique he had obtained in the Flame Tower to draw the curse’s power into his acupoints, Wu Shu intended to continue cultivating with the profound art. If the bloodline curse erupted again because of his cultivation, he would simply guide the curse’s power into his acupoints once more.
What Wu Shu had not expected was that, the moment the thought arose in his mind, the mocking voice of the Night Demon Ancestor rang out in his spiritual consciousness.
“Hahahaha, boy, you’re already on the verge of death, yet you still have the leisure to cultivate here. You truly are an utter fool.”
The Night Demon Ancestor’s soul had been suppressed within Wu Shu’s spiritual consciousness. In order to restrain him, Wu Shu now had very little mental power left to use. Even so, when the Night Demon Ancestor taunted him, Wu Shu remained unmoved and replied calmly, “Night Demon Ancestor, stop speaking in that sarcastic tone. Even if I truly encounter danger, I will first annihilate you all.”
The Night Demon Ancestor was furious. “Boy, do not mistake kindness for weakness. If I had not seen that your Wu clan and my Night Demon race are both victims of the curse, I would never have bothered to warn you.”
What could the Night Demon Ancestor possibly warn him about? Wu Shu found the very thought amusing. If the Night Demon Ancestor was not hoping for Wu Shu to die as soon as possible while escaping his suppression, Wu Shu would already have considered himself fortunate.
The Night Demon Ancestor spoke irritably again. “Boy, do not think I know nothing about your affairs. Those two idiots, Wu Zuo and Wu You, are simple-minded and extremely easy for me to control. Through the memories of their spiritual bodies, I have seen many things.”
Wu Zuo and Wu You? Their minds were simple, but their attainments in formations were anything but. Wu Shu remembered that, while on the Forgotten Continent, he had once attempted to enter their spiritual consciousness. Most of their consciousness had been sealed by a mysterious force, and nearly everything Wu Shu had been able to see there had been an illusion.
Now the Night Demon Ancestor claimed that he had seen many things within Wu Zuo and Wu You’s spiritual consciousness. Wu Shu felt that the old demon was truly easy to deceive. He believed that although the Night Demon Ancestor could control their bodies, it would be extremely difficult for him to obtain anything useful from their minds.
Wu Shu had no desire to humor him. With an indifferent expression, he said, “Night Demon Ancestor, even if the bloodline curse brings me endless suffering and leaves me temporarily weakened whenever it appears, that still will not give you a chance to escape from my spiritual consciousness.”
The Night Demon Ancestor raged, “Boy, I have suffered countless hardships over the years in my efforts to break the shackles of the bloodline curse. If I had not seen you successfully guide the curse’s power into your acupoints today, I would not have bothered speaking to you at all.”
Although the Night Demon Ancestor was suppressed within Wu Shu’s spiritual consciousness, Wu Shu had completely severed his ability to sense the outside world. Yet the Night Demon Ancestor could still somehow perceive Wu Shu’s cultivation. Wu Shu frowned. “Night Demon Ancestor, I never expected that even after being imprisoned here, you could still make so many little moves. It seems the great formation surrounding Saint Son Mountain needs to be strengthened.”
Even after insisting that he had only intended to offer a few words of warning, the Night Demon Ancestor was still treated mercilessly by Wu Shu. Of course, the Night Demon Ancestor was no benevolent soul. His desire to warn Wu Shu was nothing more than an attempt to use him as a test subject.
If he could personally witness Wu Shu use the secret method he had obtained to dispel the bloodline curse after cultivating it to a certain level, then the Night Demon race would surely be able to learn from that method and escape the suffering brought about by the curse.
Outsiders knew nothing of the agony caused by the curse, but the Night Demon Ancestor understood it all too well. As one’s strength grew, the eruptions of the curse within the body became increasingly violent. For an existence at the level of an ancestor, enduring the pain was no longer as simple as merely possessing a strong and resolute spirit.
After calming himself, the Night Demon Ancestor spoke in a low voice. “Boy, remember what I am about to tell you. The breathing technique can indeed guide the curse’s power within your body into your acupoints, but you have overlooked one thing. On the Thick Earth Continent, only experts of the Spirit Acupoint Realm can use the acupoints throughout their bodies to store earth power.”
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After hearing this, Wu Shu’s heart began to race.
Wu Shu knew exactly what level of expert the Spirit Acupoint Realm represented. Cultivation of earth power began with the three Inner Breath Realms: the Qi Attraction Realm, the Qi Gathering Realm, and the Qi Condensation Realm. When the spiritual energy entering the body condensed into earth power, the cultivator entered the True Essence Realm. Once the earth power within the body accumulated to the tenth layer of the True Essence Realm, one could advance into the Realm of Extremity Awakening.
After the Realm of Extremity Awakening, one’s strength would undergo another tremendous improvement, allowing one to enter the Secret Art Realm. Only when a cultivator could cause secret arts to enter the acupoints could they truly be considered to possess the strength of the Spirit Acupoint Realm.
True Essence, Extremity Awakening, Secret Art, Spirit Acupoint—the distance from the True Essence Realm to the Spirit Acupoint Realm spanned two entire major realms.
Seeing Wu Shu grow serious, the Night Demon Ancestor continued in a deep voice. “To be able to use the power of the curse to open up acupoints is truly astonishing. The bloodline curse is terrifying indeed; it can actually transform a cultivator’s body across levels of cultivation. If there is truly someone in this world who can open up the spaces within all their acupoints before entering the Spirit Acupoint Realm, then once that person reaches the Spirit Acupoint Realm, I will not even mention how rich the earth power within their body will be. At the very least, the spaces within their acupoints will be several times larger than those of other cultivators.”
The Night Demon Ancestor continued, “Of course, if one can obtain such benefits by using the curse’s power, then the suffering one must endure will surely exceed all imagination. In my view, your method of guiding the curse’s power into your acupoints will inevitably result in the curse turning against you in the future.”
Would guiding the curse’s power into his acupoints truly cause a backlash? Wu Shu still did not entirely believe the Night Demon Ancestor’s words.
The Night Demon Ancestor added, unconcerned whether Wu Shu believed him or not, “Boy, if you have doubts, I advise you to inspect your body carefully. After the curse’s power entered your acupoints, did anything unusual appear in the acupoint that it opened?”
The Night Demon Ancestor’s words caused Wu Shu to waver. If the old demon was telling the truth, then using the breathing technique to control the curse’s power and cultivate with it would certainly lead to disaster.
Not wishing to let the Night Demon Ancestor spy on his daily cultivation, Wu Shu immediately ordered the stele spirit to guard Saint Son Mountain. The stone stele was inherently a powerful tool for suppressing souls and spiritual bodies. With its assistance, the expressions of the Night Demon Ancestor, Wu Zuo, and Wu You became visibly more unpleasant.
Seeing that Wu Shu was preparing to leave, the Night Demon Ancestor cursed angrily, “Damn you, Wu Shu! I kindly warned you, yet this is how you repay me. If I ever escape, I will certainly take your miserable life.”
The stone stele suddenly expanded several times in size. The stele spirit said languidly, “Stop shouting. Otherwise, no one will have an easy time of it.”
After leaving his spiritual consciousness, Wu Shu prepared to depart from the Flame Tower. Apart from its abundant spiritual energy, the tower now contained nothing but inexhaustible flames. As for other treasures, there was not even a decent weapon. For the moment, Wu Shu’s most urgent task was to calm his mind and examine the condition of the acupoints within his body.
Until he had resolved the hidden danger in his body, Wu Shu did not want to remain in the Flame Tower and, because of the blazing flames that constantly tempered his flesh, inexplicably increase his body-refinement cultivation yet again.
He summoned the tower spirit once more and asked gently, “Tower Spirit, do you know how to leave the Flame Tower?”
After understanding his words, the tower spirit nodded earnestly.
Wu Shu continued, “I am preparing to leave now. Can you help me?”
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After understanding Wu Shu’s words, the tower spirit nodded earnestly once again.
Wu Shu was delighted. “Good. Then send me out of the Flame Tower now.”
Just as Wu Shu was rejoicing, however, the tower spirit, in the form of a little girl, came closer and tugged at the corner of his clothing while gesturing with her hands.
Wu Shu saw her point at him, then point at herself, and finally turn around and point toward the outside of the tower. His head began to ache at once. No matter how he looked at it, the tower spirit seemed to be asking whether she could leave with him.
Could the Flame Tower’s spirit be trying to acknowledge Wu Shu as her master?
Wu Shu knew perfectly well what condition his spiritual consciousness was in. The tower spirit was far too weak. Even if Wu Shu wanted to take her away, there was nowhere for her to reside.
Without thinking too much about it, Wu Shu smiled and said, “Little Tower Spirit, I would very much like to take you with me. Unfortunately, I am still too weak to bring you out of the Flame Tower. But do not worry. If I grow stronger in the future and you still wish to leave the Flame Tower, I will certainly fulfill your wish.”
Hearing this, the tower spirit was overjoyed. She pointed at Wu Shu’s palm, then at herself, looking as though she meant that if he did not mind, she could leave with him right now.
Wu Shu continued smiling. “Are you saying that you have a way to leave with me?”
The little tower spirit nodded happily. Then she vanished on the spot.
The next moment, a small tower-shaped totem appeared on the back of Wu Shu’s right hand. At the same time, a childish little girl’s voice rang out inside his head.
“Big Brother, Little Tower can live inside your body.”
Just like that, the tower spirit took up residence on Wu Shu’s right palm, leaving him utterly stunned. He had not obtained a single decent treasure inside the Flame Tower, yet the tower spirit—who had not even developed true intelligence—had become parasitically attached to his palm.
After residing on Wu Shu’s palm, the tower spirit could sense his thoughts. She hurriedly explained, “Big Brother, once you obtain Little Tower, the Flame Tower will be under your control from now on. The Flame Tower may not be much of a treasure, but at the very least, the true fire within it can temper treasures of the spirit artifact level. Even if that is not enough, the tower’s enormous interior can help Big Brother store countless treasures.”
Thinking of the Flame Tower’s immense size, Wu Shu felt that even if it could be used for storage, carrying it around would surely be inconvenient.
At once, the tower spirit said, “Big Brother, the Flame Tower can change its size. If you wish, it can shrink to the size of a fingernail.”
The fact that the Flame Tower could shrink to the size of a fingernail delighted Wu Shu beyond measure. Although there were no particularly valuable treasures inside it, the Flame Tower itself was an excellent treasure that could serve as a storage artifact. Such a vast tower, even if used merely as a portable storage device, would be a supreme treasure coveted by every powerful expert in the world.
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