On that day, True Monarch Xuanyue had personally sealed Wei Yuan's otherworldly fortune because, strictly speaking, it did not belong to Wei Yuan. Its true body still lay beyond the heavens, so Wei Yuan cultivating the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart was tantamount to theft. After three hundred and sixty-five consecutive days of absorption, True Monarch Xuanyue had also worried it might trigger changes in the otherworldly fortune—or even enrage it—which was why he stepped in to seal it off and let Wei Yuan enter Body Casting.
Afterward, Zhang Sheng had explained this matter to Wei Yuan. Yet less than two years later, how could the otherworldly fortune have appeared again?
Still, now that Wei Yuan had already begun Body Casting and was no longer converting the fortune into his own foundation, its reappearance shouldn't be much of a problem... right?
With an uneasy heart, Wei Yuan opened his mouth wide and swallowed another fierce gulp of moon essence! He then saw a wisp of black qi mingled within the moon essence, drawn right into his belly.
At this moment, Wei Yuan's sensation grew even clearer: whether it was moon essence or spiritual qi transformed from the Origin-Nourishing Pills, over ninety percent vanished into thin air, leaving him with no idea where it went or what had swallowed it.
Yet that wisp of black qi did not disappear upon entering his body; instead, it drifted suspended within his sea of consciousness. Wei Yuan was intimately familiar with this black qi—it was indeed his otherworldly fortune, and this wisp could move according to his will. Based on his past experience, this single strand of fortune was roughly enough to activate the Outlaw of Heaven and Earth once.
And so, day after day, Wei Yuan continued breathing in the moon essence. Each day, a wisp of black qi would enter his body and float at the center of his sea of consciousness.
The sect minor examination was approaching. As expected, Bao Yun was once again planning to probe the depths of the Traditionalist Faction. By "probing their depths," she meant arranging a brawl. With the exam right around the corner, they arranged a massive clash this time, with nearly all disciples from both sides turning out. The Reform Faction already had few members, making every single one a core force. Thus, despite Wei Yuan's desire to focus purely on cultivating, he could not withstand Bao Yun's relentless badgering and wheedling. He was coerced into borrowing ten thousand taels, then dragged off to the battlefield.
Several months had passed since their last arranged brawl. Cultivation in the Body Casting realm progressed with astonishing speed, and over those few months, many had acquired new abilities.
By now, Wei Yuan had cast eighty percent of his muscles and sinews. Thick-skinned and ruggedly built, he was the indisputable choice for the vanguard. Thus, he charged out in the lead straight toward the Traditionalist Faction. This charge was like a giant bear pouncing into a flock of birds, startling them into flight all at once.
The two sides had clashed several times already and knew each other inside out. Seeing Wei Yuan pounce, the disciples of the Traditionalist Faction shifted sideways, darted away, or leaped high—each move easily covering over a hundred feet. In the blink of an eye, the space around Wei Yuan was completely deserted. The surrounding Traditionalist disciples all bypassed him, lunging at the Reform Faction disciples behind him.
From that evasion alone, one could tell that the vast majority of the Traditionalist disciples had completed Blood Refinement, and more than half had their bones largely refined as well. Once blood was refined, physical prowess increased once more, making one move like the wind; after bone refinement, advancing and retreating became as swift as lightning, so Wei Yuan could not keep up with them at all.
Like a furiously strong bear facing a flock of small birds fluttering in all directions, Wei Yuan was utterly helpless, unable to catch a single one.
This maneuver by the Traditionalist Faction instantly disrupted Bao Yun's deployment, and the two sides inevitably descended into a melee once again.
A melee...
Wei Yuan sighed inwardly. He was bound to take another beating; he just didn't know how many of them he could tie down this time.
Just then, a hazy mass of emerald-green light flew in from the flank.
A Dao technique!
Wei Yuan was startled. Someone had already begun Spirit Refinement, and had been at it for some time. Most Dao arts in the Palace of Grand Beginning took the Origin Spirit as their foundation; only after the Origin Spirit was cast and tempered could one wield Dao techniques.
The cluster of light arrived exceedingly fast. With no way to dodge, Wei Yuan took a direct hit to the shoulder. The light burst apart, transforming into seven or eight tiny, razor-sharp blades of water that slashed half his clothes to ribbons and left several crisscrossing wounds.
Wei Yuan's skin carried a faint, lustrous glow, making his entire body resemble a piece of top-grade jade—the hallmark of muscles and sinews forged to great accomplishment. Others had undergone transformations too, but none were nearly as striking as his.
Looking down at the wounds, which were as thin as red threads, and the single bead of blood that barely managed to squeeze out, Wei Yuan was somewhat bewildered.
Was this the Dao art Water Blade Technique that claimed to cut gold and cleave jade? Could it be that this fellow student across from him had cultivated some fake immortality?
While Wei Yuan was still wondering, light flickered before his eyes as four or five clusters of multicolored radiance came hurtling in succession. It seemed more than one person from the Traditionalist Faction had reached Spirit Refinement.
Dao arts were as swift as lightning, utterly impossible to evade. A burst of lightning threads, fire pellets, wind needles, and the like exploded across Wei Yuan's body, tearing his robes to shreds.
Dazed and dizzy from the barrage of Dao techniques, Wei Yuan felt disoriented. He had never been bombarded by Dao arts before. Intertwined flashing lights and fluttering shreds of clothing filled his vision, and his head felt as if several burly men were taking turns hammering it, stirring a twinge of panic in his heart.
Staggering a few steps before steadying himself, he hurriedly looked down at his body. He saw many tiny specks of blood pricked by the wind needles, several yellowish marks scorched by the fire pellets, and finally a few thin scorch trails struck by the lightning threads. Adding all these injuries together, he tried to cobble together even a minor wound—without success.
Several Traditionalist students stood dumbfounded, unable to understand what had gone wrong with the Dao arts they had cultivated so painstakingly for so long.
The Traditionalist Faction had Dao techniques, but so did the Reform Faction. With the Traditionalists' main force focused entirely on greeting Wei Yuan, the Reform Faction found themselves unopposed. Cui Yu opened with a wind serpent that swept seven or eight Traditionalist students off their feet, tumbling left and right.
Seeing that the Traditionalist Faction was about to lose this round again, an ordinary-looking student on the opposing side glared venomously at Wei Yuan. Suddenly, a streak of azure light flew from his sleeve!
The azure light reached Wei Yuan in an instant; it was actually a small dagger. A sudden sensation of danger surged in Wei Yuan's heart. At the critical moment, he could only twist his body aside with all his might.
The dagger pierced effortlessly into Wei Yuan's chest and burst out through his back, unleashing a fountain of blood!
An artifact!
Wei Yuan was stunned. Had someone already cast their Dao Foundation?
Majestic Dao power ran rampant within Wei Yuan's body; his blood, bones, and internal organs, yet unrefined, were exceedingly fragile. Wei Yuan felt the strength in his body draining from the wound along with his blood, leaving him unsteady on his feet. Yet Wei Yuan had always been stubborn by nature and refused to collapse just like that.
Seeing that Wei Yuan did not fall, the dagger looped through the air and wheeled around, shooting toward the back of his heart, evidently intent on punching another hole through him!
Wei Yuan strained with all his might to dodge, but the artifact was like lightning, and he was severely wounded and weak. How could he possibly evade it?
Right then, a figure clad in a goose-yellow dress suddenly threw herself over Wei Yuan. The dagger could not check its momentum in time and pierced straight into her back, right over her heart!
Knocked down by the impact, Wei Yuan could no longer keep his footing, and the two of them tumbled to the ground together.
"Miss Bao!!"
Seeing Bao Yun struck by the artifact dagger—and in a vital spot like the back of her heart—everyone was horrified and hastily held their hands.
Both Wei Yuan and Bao Yun lay motionless. The dagger was lodged in Bao Yun's back, with only the hilt visible. In an instant, a patch of blood appeared on her back and spread rapidly.
Xiaoyu was consumed with rage, his eyes suddenly bloodshot. Cupping his hands as if encircling something, he lifted them with immense difficulty, as though hoisting a mountain. A dazzling radiance ignited between his arms, and the spiritual qi of the surrounding heaven and earth converged wildly toward that speck of radiance, whipping up a tempest!
Amid the howling wind, that speck of light turned as brilliant as a crimson sun in the blink of an eye!
The aura surging skyward was something everyone knew all too well: it was the unmistakable sign of a Dao Foundation being cast. Xiaoyu had already been on the verge of a breakthrough; no one expected that in his blazing fury, he would break through to a Dao Foundation right on the battlefield.
"Die!"
The crimson sun in Xiaoyu's embrace suddenly hurtled forth, crashing straight down upon the one who had released the artifact dagger!
With the great sun hanging overhead, even though the person had already formed a Dao Foundation, under that terrifying pressure, he was completely unable to move. His face turned ashen as death, and he could only watch helplessly as the crimson sun plummeted toward him.
From midair came a sigh: "This goes too far."
Chapter 54