Chan Sect's Twelve Loose Hands

After studying the Daozu Taiji Fish for a long time, Li Weiyi felt certain it was his most crucial talisman for subduing the white-boned demon. He tried every method he could think of to activate it. First, he used a few drops of his own blood, followed by the blood of the Golden Crow and the Black Flood Dragon, but none produced any reaction. Channeling the scalding current born from the center of his right sole into it was like dropping a stone into the sea, yielding nothing. "To activate it, it definitely has something to do with my blood, and every time before, it only happened when I was in grave danger. Does my blood change when my life is on the line?" Besides that, it seemed to require an immense quantity of blood. The more blood it took, the stronger and more enduring its reaction became. It was all conjecture and deduction... Li Weiyi gritted his teeth and decided to do something foolish. Using his sword, he slit his wrist and soaked the Daozu Taiji Fish, letting out nearly half a bowl of blood, yet it showed no reaction whatsoever. "Forget it, forget it... I'll wait until I face another life-or-death crisis to try again." Li Weiyi quickly channeled the scalding current from his right sole to stop the bleeding and heal the wound, then bandaged his wrist. Afterward, he picked up a cup of diluted Golden Crow blood from the table and drank it to replenish his vitality. Forming the Meridian Taiji Seal with both hands, he practiced the Yuxu Breathing Method, directing the scalding current surging from his right sole to circulate through his thirteen silver trace veins to refine the scorching secret energy contained within the Golden Crow blood. Over the past few days, he had been drinking Golden Crow blood daily, and his physical strength had increased significantly. Half an hour later, Li Weiyi stopped. "My body doesn't seem to have changed much... Before, whenever I drank the Golden Crow blood, my whole body would heat up, and my heartbeat and blood flow would accelerate considerably." "Let me try another cup." A few days ago, after drinking his first cup of Golden Crow blood, Li Weiyi had lost his awe of it. That was because the scalding current inside him could refine it, without him even needing to wear the cross pendant. Cai Yutong had drunk only one cup and was nearly incinerated to death. Fortunately, she had the cross pendant, which caused a drastic transformation that remade her like an immortal spirit. Li Weiyi had drunk about ten cups altogether, yet showed no signs of burning up, nor did he undergo any molting transformation; his physical strength had simply increased. He didn't know whether to feel frustrated or fortunate. After downing the eleventh cup, the Golden Crow blood tasted as bland as water, and his body didn't react in the slightest. "My physical body must have reached another bottleneck. I need some kind of breakthrough to take another step forward." How could he break through? Diluted Golden Crow blood had lost its kick, but what about undiluted blood? Could that provide a strong enough stimulus? Relying solely on external aids, was there a chance to smash through the bottleneck? Action followed thought. Now was the time to take a gamble. He couldn't just wait around for the white-boned demon to come and deal with him; that would be waiting for death. Li Weiyi drank a cup of undiluted Golden Crow blood. The moment it entered his stomach, it grew hotter and hotter, as if molten lava had been poured into his body. He immediately executed the Yuxu Breathing Method, channeling the scalding current from his right sole to refine it. The thirteen silver trace veins were completely overwhelmed. The Golden Crow blood threatened to burn right through his internal organs. Smoke poured from his body, and his blood felt as if it were boiling. It felt as though fire could burst from his mouth at any moment. "It's not that terrifying. I can still bear it." The spring in the center of Li Weiyi's right sole surged with increasing violence, locked in a fierce contest against the Golden Crow blood. Suddenly. Whoosh! A bone-chilling cold air erupted from the center of his left sole. Immediately following it, a first silver trace vein was born from the frigid spring, climbing up his left leg and surging straight toward the unbearably scorched organs. A second silver trace vein emerged. A third, a fourth... Before long, the number of trace veins originating from his left sole reached thirteen. Combined with the thirteen rooted in his right sole, they totaled twenty-six. The blood vitality and destructive secret energy within the Golden Crow blood were instantly suppressed. The spring in his right sole was scalding hot, while the spring in his left sole was ice-cold. What emerged were two entirely different currents of energy. Li Weiyi's body shifted rapidly between freezing cold and blazing heat. One moment he was dripping with hot sweat, and the next, the sweat froze into beads of ice. "This is too uncomfortable!" Abandoning his breathing exercises, he burst out the door and began frantically practicing the Chan Sect's Twelve Loose Hands on the deck. Bang! Bang! Bang... At times striking with open palms, at others throwing punches. His speed was blinding, his movements unpredictable. "Heaven-Overturning Palm Print." Forming a palm seal, he leaped ten feet into the air and came crashing down from above. The gust ahead of his palm condensed, resembling a colossal seal overturning heaven. Though his hand never touched the grave mound, the earth sank, forming a depression three feet square. It was as though a three-foot stamp had been pressed hard into the ground. "Taiyi Cleaves the Sea." The palm seal transformed into a knife-hand. The wind of his strike slashed outward like an invisible blade, cleaving through the air before him. "Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven." As if transforming into a dragon, he took five consecutive steps upon the empty air, as though ascending an invisible staircase. By the fifth step, he had risen eight or nine meters off the ground. Li Weiyi had practiced the Twelve Loose Hands on the mountain for many years. Back then, he had only treated them as health-strengthening exercises, never imagining they possessed such power. When facing Xie Tianshu and the others, he had never even needed to employ these techniques. Although called "Loose Hands," they were not merely hand techniques. Rather, they were a comprehensive martial art comprising twelve overarching forms that integrated fist and palm strikes, footwork, leg techniques, finger seals, claw strikes, and more. They were not fixed forms. Every technique held infinite variations, flowing freely with his intent. He had no idea how long he practiced, but by the time the heat and cold within him achieved balance and he came to a stop, the surrounding area was already crowded with expedition members drawn by the commotion. The onlookers wore varied expressions—some shocked, some reverent, some admiring, some fervent. Naturally, some suspected Li Weiyi had consumed the Buddha relic, but none dared harbor any untoward thoughts. Witnessing the terrifying might of his martial practice just now, they knew that if Li Weiyi grew serious, a single punch would likely punch right through their chests. Unaware of Li Weiyi's true condition, they assumed he was flexing his muscles to deter any potential troublemakers. Qin Ke stepped forward and wiped the sweat from Li Weiyi's forehead. "Brother Weiyi, you seem to have become even more formidable. Is it because you drank the Golden Crow blood?" "Yes." Li Weiyi did not deny it. He had always planned to let the people aboard drink the Golden Crow blood in turns to alter their constitutions, thereby enhancing their chances of survival in this unfamiliar world. Cai Yutong's transformation could not be hidden anyway. In her words, rather than concealing it and letting everyone speculate and grow estranged, it was better to tell them openly. Full of anticipation yet somewhat nervous, Qin Ke asked, "Can I drink it too?" "Of course." Li Weiyi added, "But we have to wait until the first mate wakes up." Four days ago, Zhao Meng's injuries had taken a turn for the worse. Left with no choice, Li Weiyi had given him diluted Golden Crow blood to drink and placed the cross pendant on him. However, the effects of the Golden Crow blood were too slow, and Zhao Meng was on the verge of drawing his last breath. Li Weiyi had then fed him the Black Flood Dragon blood and placed the dragon-patterned thumb ring on his finger. From that point on, Zhao Meng underwent drastic changes every day. By this morning, the fractures that had been set in his knees and shoulders had completely healed, and his physique had grown to an astounding height of nearly three meters. Fortunately, he had not developed the hideous dragon-like mutations seen on Xie Tianshu. Only a small number of black scales had grown across his arms and legs. His hair had turned a fiery red, resembling the feathers of a Golden Crow. ... With the spring in his left sole opened, Li Weiyi's combat power surged, finally giving him the confidence to confront the white-boned demon once more. Last time had been far too disgraceful! Li Weiyi donned the corpse-garment leather armor, wore the Daozu Taiji Fish around his neck, put on the silver wire gloves, fastened the three-headed snake bracelet on his wrist, tied the scripture belt around his waist, and tucked the black iron seal and Golden Crow blood into his robe. In one hand he held the Yellow Dragon Sword, and in the other, the black spear. Finding the black spear too heavy and somewhat cumbersome, he tossed it aside. Arriving near the grave where the white-boned demon was located, he took out some Golden Crow blood and poured it onto the scripture belt, activating it. Moving with swift agility like a crimson wraith, Li Weiyi charged up the grave mound with his sword in hand. Standing beside the hole on top of the mound that he had dug out himself, he looked down, only to see that the ice coffin had long since melted. Inside... It was completely empty. In an instant, Li Weiyi went numb all over, his heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of his chest. The white-boned demon had already escaped? He immediately channeled both the hot and cold currents, heightening his senses to their absolute limit as he scanned all directions, but found nothing. Even the bone wind chime on the tombstone had vanished. "Lying immobilized in the coffin, using only her hair, she was already terrifying beyond measure. Now that she's out..." Li Weiyi could hardly imagine how strong the white-boned demon would be now that she could move freely. "Since she's out, Dr. Qi's disappearance might very well have something to do with her." After inspecting the area around the grave mound, Li Weiyi found footprints left behind by the white-boned demon and looked up into the nether mist. They led in the direction of the Golden Crow carcass. "Since she attacked both me and Dr. Qi one after the other, she will definitely strike again. The reason there hasn't been a next victim yet is likely because there is still something wrong with her body, just like when she couldn't step out of the grave mound before." "I cannot let her continue to recover. If I do, I won't have the slightest power to fight back." After a moment of thought, Li Weiyi concluded that no matter how terrifying the white-boned demon was, he still had a fighting chance right now. If he shrank back out of fear today, he would only be left at her mercy tomorrow. Following the footprints, Li Weiyi made his way beneath the Golden Crow carcass with the utmost caution. Beside the blood pool, he spotted the red-robed figure. She sat cross-legged, a golden glow shimmering across her body. Her black hair drifted through the air like long silken threads, and on her back was a pair of fiery wings of light several meters long. They looked remarkably similar to the Golden Crow fire wings that had appeared when Cai Yutong transformed into an immortal spirit—both resplendent and radiant. Without the slightest hesitation, Li Weiyi pushed his speed to its limit. Reaching a point ten feet behind her, he leaped into the air and slashed his sword downward. Whoosh! This strike was none other than Taiyi Cleaves the Sea from the Twelve Loose Hands. Infused with the full force of his power, the sword blade flashed with a yellow glow, cleaving the air asunder.