Mythological Tianke?

Liu Yu and her younger brother were thoroughly bewildered. Princess Huansha, on the other hand, watched on with curiosity. Chen Fan's words baffled them. Chen Fan's world could only be reached after dying? What did that mean? The underworld? Qi Yuan, however, was lost in thought. "You can only enter upon death? Is there any other way?" He had not beaten the game yet; he had no desire to die. "Now it is my turn to ask... The bait you used to lure the sea monsters beneath the water—is it a strange crystal containing a sea monster?" Chen Fan asked seriously. "Yeah." Qi Yuan nodded. "Now it's your turn to tell me about other ways." Chen Fan continued, "Let me inspect it first. I will answer all your remaining questions together." Seeing this, Qi Yuan did not dither. Intrigue and scheming over who got the better end of the deal? That was not his style. If the man tried to swindle him, he could simply cut him down with a sword. With a flick of Qi Yuan's wrist, the ocean surface suddenly churned with a rushing roar. A cubic meter of transparent crystal surged out from the water. Enclosed within the transparent crystal was none other than a mutated sea monster. Seeing this, Liu Yu and her brother's eyes went wide. "What immense strength! That must weigh over a hundred jin, right?" To fling something weighing over a hundred jin into the air in a single motion surely meant he had taken high-grade gene medicine. Beside them, Chen Fan watched with surprised eyes. He had never imagined a qilin would be lurking in the untamed wilderness. The transparent crystal before them, combined with the mutated sea monster, weighed far more than a hundred jin—it was easily over a thousand, nearly ten thousand jin. An ordinary blood martial artist possessed nowhere near this kind of titanic strength. His gaze fell upon the mutated sea monster, turning complicated. After several breaths, he let out a sigh of relief. "Its aura is completely extinguished..." His appearance here was because he had sensed the aura of the King of the Moli Fiendfish. When he saw the sea monsters swimming this way, he feared the King of the Moli Fiendfish had broken free of its seal. Though powerful weapons like the Eye of the Sky existed today, if the King of the Moli Fiendfish went on a rampage, it would still inflict heavy casualties. Thus, if he found that the King of the Moli Fiendfish was still alive, he would have dissuaded the man before him and then resealed it. Now that the sea monster's life was extinguished, there was no need to interfere. "Alright, now answer me. Besides dying, what other way is there to enter that world of yours?" Qi Yuan asked again. This matter was of paramount importance to him. He even suspected that the path of the Spirit Dao Martial Master lay in the place one could only reach after death. Chen Fan looked at Qi Yuan with a strange expression. "With your strength, by all rights... you should have already been there. "Once you break through the martial arts limit and become a blood martial artist, you can... sense the Bloodscape and, in a trance, journey through the Yellow Springs." Back when he transcended the martial arts limit, he had caught a glimpse of a corner of the Yellow Springs. Every martial artist who broke through the martial arts limit could sense the Bloodscape and enter the Yellow Springs in a special form to wander through it once. "However, that opportunity comes only once." A look of reminiscence showed in Chen Fan's eyes. "The longer you stay there, the greater the benefits—but... the greater the harm as well. It will taint your bloodline, drastically shortening your lifespan." Chen Fan revealed a wealth of useful information. Qi Yuan listened attentively, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "Why?" Chen Fan hesitated briefly, but ultimately chose to explain. "The path of martial arts lies in bloodlines. The stronger the bloodline, the greater the power. "And in... that place, suitable bloodlines abound, allowing one to swiftly raise their martial cultivation." "But... because the bloodlines vary, devouring too many... easily leads to internal conflict and madness?" Qi Yuan ventured. "Correct." Chen Fan nodded, a hint of admiration coloring his gaze toward Qi Yuan. It was clear Qi Yuan had never been there, yet he had accurately deduced the truth. Evidently, his attainment in martial arts ran exceptionally deep. "Therefore, if you wish to go further along the martial path, you must enter that place. "Unfortunately... it is merely a cage. "Since you have never entered, my advice to you is to stay away." Having said his piece, Chen Fan wasted no more words. He departed with Liu Yu and her brother. Watching Chen Fan's receding figure, Qi Yuan waved. "Thanks, unnamed NPC expositor, for telling me so much! "Even though you don't have a name, if I ever become a movie director in the future, I'll definitely cast you as the protagonist!" Chen Fan turned a deaf ear to Qi Yuan's banter. In moments, only Qi Yuan, Princess Huansha, and a large pile of mutated sea monsters remained on the spacious yacht. Looking at the sea monsters, Qi Yuan muttered softly, "To be honest, if you guys had just lain flat and hadn't been so eager to advance, tracking you down would have cost me quite a bit of effort." With that, showing no mercy, he raised his hand. Over a hundred sea monsters instantly exploded into minced mush. This time, Qi Yuan made no promise of returning them to the sea. From each sea monster, a single drop of fresh blood coalesced. As for the King of the Moli Fiendfish, it yielded three soybean-sized droplets of blood. Qi Yuan collected the drops one by one. "Paramecium Princess, let's head back." With the blood gathered, Qi Yuan had no desire to consume it out here on the open water to transcend the martial arts limit. According to Chen Fan, every martial artist had a chance upon breaking through the martial arts limit to sense the Bloodscape and roam that other realm in a special form. If he broke through now and his soul wandered in while the yacht capsized, what would he do? He needed to return to the hotel. There, setting up an array before breaking through would be the safest and simplest way. Half a day later. Inside the hotel room. Formations and protective arrays surrounded Qi Yuan. These arrays were more than enough to keep him safe and sound. Even if a massive earthquake or cataclysmic deluge struck, it wouldn't sweep him away. At this moment, he flicked his fingers. Instantly, over a hundred drops of fresh blood floated around Qi Yuan. An intense light burst from his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed them down. In an instant, every one of those glistening droplets of blood entered his lower abdomen. Qi Yuan's eyes turned blood-red. His forehead grew shiny and flushed. Closing his eyes, he seemed to hear the surging rumble of ocean waves, and the faint rushing of flying yellow sands. The bloodlines inside his body churned and boiled ceaselessly until finally, a single drop of peerlessly crimson, eerie blood condensed. "Disperse." With Qi Yuan's soft command, that drop of blood abruptly shattered, scattering into his internal organs, the extraordinary meridians and eight vessels, and his four limbs. His physique burgeoned with robust strength in that instant. "So this is what transcending the martial arts limit feels like? "It feels... completely different from reaching the martial arts limit." Qi Yuan uttered a bit of nonsensical tautology. Right now, without resorting to Daoist arts, his martial arts strength alone was enough to contend with someone at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement. "So breaking through the martial arts limit and becoming a blood martial artist is only the true beginning of the transcendent martial path?" Qi Yuan was brimming with anticipation. He closed his eyes. A sea of blood stretched before him, dead silent, without a single sound—or perhaps sound simply had not reached him. Qi Yuan was sensing the Bloodscape just as Chen Fan had described. "A place condensed from blood?" Looking at the Bloodscape before him, Qi Yuan grew thoughtful. If an ordinary martial artist saw this Bloodscape, even if they wished to enter, they would be helpless, lacking the method. Qi Yuan, however, possessed formidable intrinsic power, and his mastery over his divine soul and divine sense had reached the peak. To enter the Bloodscape, he needed only to extend his divine soul into it. His divine soul, like a fish plunging into the deep, dived headfirst into the Bloodscape. Just then, an ethereal voice echoed in Qi Yuan's ears: [The thirteenth year of Tianqi: war and turmoil rage across the land, and calamities run rampant.] [In Yunyan County Seat, the prodigy martial artist Luo Bufan broke through the martial arts limit and is suspected to have shattered the void and ascended.] [The Chen clan and the Luo clan were slaughtered down to the last person by demons.] [Quest: Uncover the truth.] [Reward: Body-Tempering Blood Pill.] "?? Am I playing a game inside a game?" Qi Yuan was slightly stunned. He had come here to play a game in the first place. And now the game's content was to keep playing another game? What was this, a Russian nesting doll? "So this hidden map is a dungeon instance like the Main God Space?" Qi Yuan speculated. He had read plenty of manga and watched plenty of anime of that sort. He found such a setting very easy to accept. In an instant, a torrent of information flooded Qi Yuan's mind. Much like with the Innate Seed, memories belonging to a game character were planted into his head, along with the character's understanding of the world's background. Absorbing this information, Qi Yuan blinked in surprise. "This game is... a Mythological version of Tianke?" The dynasty preceding the Qinyuan Kingdom had been called the Tianke Dynasty, which was the era Luo Bufan lived in. Having received compulsory education, Qi Yuan possessed some knowledge of ancient history. In actual history, the Tianke Dynasty had merely been an ordinary feudal dynasty that barely even possessed cannons. Just a plain, ordinary feudal dynasty. If there was anything peculiar about it, it was the abundant legends surrounding martial artists. Naturally, the martial artists recorded in history books were somewhat mythologized. Yet... in this game, the Tianke Dynasty was the mythological version. Martial artists here could overturn rivers and seas. And... within the Tianke Dynasty lived all manner of demons. These demons fed on humans. None of this was found in history textbooks. Either the official historians were all dead and the history Qi Yuan knew was unofficial folklore, or this was the game's mythological rendition of Tianke. Whatever the case, he would play the game first. After all, Qi Yuan was used to taking things at a leisurely pace in urban games. At that moment, he looked up and saw damp earthen walls draped with red fabric hangings, looking quite festive. "Brother Qi... I don't want to! I refuse! Please don't..." A weeping voice reached his ears. A dark-skinned, exceedingly plain girl stood clutching a kitchen cleaver, tears brimming in her eyes. She was wearing a bridal gown, which under the dim, yellow lamplight made her skin look even darker. Hearing her words, a further flood of memories surged in, leaving Qi Yuan quite speechless. The girl before him had a terribly generic name: Xiao Mei. It seemed the game planners had given up completely and could not even be bothered to come up with decent names. Being named Xiao Mei was one thing, but Xiao Mei was not pretty at all—she was dark-skinned and utterly ordinary. This Xiao Mei was a child bride whom Qi Yuan's game character had taken in. The character profile for Qi Yuan here was a butcher of modest means who had a terrible gambling addiction. He had always wanted to marry a gorgeous wife, but because his child bride was so plain, he had named her Xiao Mei—Little Beauty. As the saying goes, nine out of ten gamblers lose. This character had racked up a massive debt at the gambling den. Unbeknownst to most, the boss behind Yunyan County Seat's gambling den was a den of weasels. Among them was Fourth Master Huang, who came to collect the debt from Qi Yuan. Unable to pay, the butcher offered his child bride to settle the balance. Curiously enough, Fourth Master Huang happened to fancy girls just like Xiao Mei. Now, Fourth Master Huang had arrived with a bridal procession to marry Xiao Mei and take her into his household. Holding the cleaver, Xiao Mei cried as tears poured down like rain. "You saved my life, and now I'm giving this life back to you! Once I marry Fourth Master Huang, we are even!" Her gaze toward Qi Yuan held fury, terror, and bitter disappointment. Qi Yuan shrugged. "We're even right now." After all, this was just game lore. If the game gave him a father in the backstory, would he actually have to call the guy "Dad" when they met? Besides, he had descended here in his true body. He was not inhabiting the game character's physical form; only his attire had been adjusted to match the setting. Qi Yuan's callous words dashed Xiao Mei's hopes entirely. She had harbored the fantasy that Brother Qi might experience a sudden change of heart and flee Yunyan County with her. And yet... Right then, heavy pounding rattled the door, breaking the stillness of the night. "Qi Er, open the door! Is the bridal gown on yet? You coward, hurry up and bring the young bride out! Don't keep Fourth Master Huang waiting!" Xiao Mei held the cleaver tightly, her face covered in tears. But rather than looking like a weeping beauty, she just had snot smeared all over her upper lip. A look of intrigue appeared in Qi Yuan's eyes. "Demons, huh?" Truth be told, he found the demons of this world rather intriguing. The bloodline martial arts of this world were quite interesting as well. However, as Qi Yuan took a step forward, he paused. Because... his cultivation... had dropped. In the real world, he was on the verge of the perfection of Foundation Establishment, just a sliver away from Origin Core. Yet right now, the cultivation in his body was merely Qi Refinement perfection. "This is..." Qi Yuan was momentarily taken aback. This was the first time he had encountered such a phenomenon. Unlike his previous gaming experiences, his cultivation had been forcefully dragged down an entire major realm. Then Qi Yuan recalled the explanation True Monarch Dazhi had shared with him before. Within the Yang God realm, there was a stage known as the realm of ultimate reason. A Yang God expert who had not reached the realm of ultimate reason would suffer a sudden drop of an entire major realm if they rashly barged into a world with completely different rules. Those who reached the realm of lesser reason would drop by a minor realm instead. Presently, Qi Yuan was facing exactly this predicament. His spell cultivation had dropped by a major realm, but his martial arts cultivation remained intact. This made Qi Yuan secretly vigilant. Though not overly so. It was just a game; having fun was what mattered most. He pushed open the bedroom door, walked across the courtyard, and swung the front gate wide open. Standing outside were several burly thugs, broad-waisted and thick-shouldered, looking thoroughly menacing. Beside them sat a palanquin. Next to the sedan chair stood an elderly man draped in silk robes. The old man wore a gentle, kindly expression and looked so benevolent that, on television, he would immediately be cast as a good guy. The old man seemed slathered in thick perfumes and spices; Qi Yuan could smell the bizarre scent from a distance. It was like someone with severe body odor who doused themselves in cheap perfume, then stood right next to you in an enclosed, derelict elevator that had not been cleaned in years—the pungent stench was overwhelming. This old man was Fourth Master Huang. At first glance, he resembled a human, but a closer look revealed a pair of rodent ears. Before these uninvited guests could speak, Qi Yuan beat them to it. "Are you a rat-eared lad?" He had seen catgirls, and now he was seeing a ratboy. This thoroughly shattered his fantasies about such... creatures. Then again, the world was vast and full of wonders; perhaps some gay folks did not care for femboys and specifically fancied rat-eared lads. "How dare you speak to Fourth Master Huang like that? Where's the young bride? Hurry up and bring her out!" A burly man wearing an open-chested linen vest barked, revealing a mat of yellow chest hair. "Hey, little blondie, you're just an NPC—who do you think you're talking to? Don't you know that under the Tianke Code, trespassing on private property is illegal?!" Qi Yuan was adept at wielding the law as a weapon. Although laws were merely tools of the ruling class, as a worthy successor, there was no harm in putting them to use. Besides, as the father of two daughters, he despised yellow-haired punks with a passion. Granted, the yellow hair was not on the man's head, but who said yellow chest hair did not count as a blonde punk? Furious and embarrassed, the yellow-haired thug prepared to give Qi Yuan a brutal thrashing. He had done this plenty of times before. Yet Fourth Master Huang spoke up in a refined, cultured tone. "Today is an auspicious day; let us not spill blood. This old master knows you are displeased that I am marrying your child bride, Qi Er. But back then, you signed the contract of indenture yourself." Fourth Master Huang was not human, yet he loved role-playing as one and conducting himself according to human decorum. "Qi Er signed it—what does that have to do with me, Qi Yuan?" Cursing loudly, Qi Yuan threw a direct punch. This time, he did not use Daoist magic, but martial arts. Having just made a breakthrough in martial arts, he needed some practice. Facing these mob minions and bosses, Qi Yuan rediscovered the joy of gaming. "Kid, you've got some nerve! You pick up a few sham moves and dare raise a hand against Fourth Master Huang? You're asking for death!" The yellow-haired man was enraged and lashed out at Qi Yuan. Clearly a trained pugilist who had thrashed Qi Er just yesterday, he did not take Qi Yuan seriously at all.