Chapter 249: Petty Tricks

Within moments, Lu Bai felt dizzy and light-headed, a wave of weakness washing over him. These were the signs of depleted Blood Qi.

Fortunately, the Ancient Mirror seemed to be constantly monitoring his physical condition and abruptly stopped the Immortal Vine from devouring his Blood Qi.

Lu Bai panted slightly, swallowing a few Blood Qi Pills as he fell into thought.

’Injecting Blood Qi directly into the Immortal Vine did nothing, but when it was in the Ancient Mirror, it devoured the Blood Qi. Why?’

’Is there some kind of power in the Ancient Mirror that the Immortal Vine needs, which requires Blood Qi to activate?’

’Even so, feeding the Immortal Vine with my own Blood Qi is still just a drop in the bucket.’

After each feeding, he had to rest for several days to fully recover.

’At this rate, there’s no telling how long this will take.’

’Perhaps I can try using other kinds of Blood Qi, like Demon Beast Essence Blood.’

’But with my current Cultivation, even if I could hunt some Golden Core Level Demon Beasts and get their Demon Beast Inner Cores, it might not be enough to revive this Immortal Vine.’

’When the Immortal Vine devours Blood Qi, it’s like a bottomless pit. I can’t sense any upper limit at all.’

Lu Bai temporarily set the matter aside and refocused his attention on raising his Martial Dao and Cultivation Realms.

「Ten days later.」

Just before nightfall, Lu Bai, who was cultivating in seclusion, suddenly opened his eyes. His Blood Qi surged within him, producing the sound of a great river rushing—a sound even clearer and more stunning than before!

The tenth Meridian of the Innate Realm!

Lu Bai let out a soft breath, retrieved the Top Grade Meridian Opening Pill, and swallowed it in one gulp.

’Tonight’s the perfect time to ride this momentum and break through to the eleventh and twelfth Meridians!’

Once an elixir reached the Top Grade, it contained very few impurities, which appeared as mere pinpricks on its surface.

The entire pill was as smooth and lustrous as jade and intensely aromatic. Its medicinal efficacy was between ninety and one hundred percent!

If it weren’t for the brilliant achievements Lu Bai had accomplished so soon after arriving at the Fuhu Camp, this Top Grade Meridian Opening Pill would never have been his.

Once ingested, the elixir quickly dissolved, unleashing a tremendous amount of energy that merged with his Blood Qi.

His Blood Qi, which was already like a great river, swelled into an erupting mountain torrent under the pill’s influence. It surged forth, crashing against the blocked eleventh Meridian.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The great river of Blood Qi surged with unstoppable force, and the previously blocked and stagnant Meridian was instantly blasted open.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the eleventh Meridian was cleared!

Its power not yet spent, the torrent of energy continued to assault the twelfth Meridian under Lu Bai’s control.

The final Meridian was the most difficult to clear and required the Blood Qi Strength to increase severalfold.

Many Innate Martial Artists went their entire lives without ever managing to clear the final Meridian.

It was the same for Cultivators, who had to absorb Spiritual Qi, condense Magical Power, and gradually clear the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

Of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the Ren and Du Meridians were the most difficult to clear.

Countless practitioners were stopped at this hurdle.

However, Lu Bai had been practicing an Ultimate Skill since the Root Bone Stage and had long since been completely reborn. Though others also possessed a Blood Qi River, his Blood Qi Strength far surpassed that of other Innate Martial Artists!

Now, with the aid of a Top Grade Elixir, the twelfth Meridian was gradually being cleared under the constant scouring of his Blood Qi.

Six hours later, deep into the night, Lu Bai’s entire body shuddered. The Blood Qi within him surged violently like a roaring mountain flood, letting out a thunderous roar!

All Twelve Meridians were cleared!

The commotion was so immense that it alarmed every Martial Artist in the Velvet Antler Medicine Garden.

The patrolling soldiers all turned to look.

Many Huben Army soldiers were startled from their sleep. They burst out of their rooms and looked around nervously, their gazes finally settling on Lu Bai’s quarters with astonishment.

"That scared the hell out of me! I thought it was a flash flood."

"What is Leader Lu doing in his room to cause such a huge racket?"

"I don’t know. It couldn’t be the sound of a Blood Qi River, could it?"

"Don’t scare me. How strong would someone’s Blood Qi have to be to make a sound like that?"

The Huben Army soldiers muttered amongst themselves, but seeing no immediate crisis, they dispersed.

At the exact moment Lu Bai broke through the Twelve Meridians, his Blood Qi overflowed through his pores, shrouding him in a rising mist. Suddenly, he sensed something amiss nearby!

"Hm?"

Lu Bai’s gaze shifted to the shadows at the foot of his bed, his eyes gleaming. He instantly snatched up the Cyan Cloud Sword.

HUMMM!

The blade left its sheath.

A streak of crimson-gold sword light tore through the air, slashing down toward the foot of the bed.

SWOOSH!

A dark glimmer of light flickered, dodging the sword’s path and shooting out the window with extreme speed.

’A Gu Insect?’

A cold glint flashed in Lu Bai’s eyes. Swords in hand, he leapt up, shattered the window, and chased after the fleeing Gu Insect.

"Lord Lu?"

Seeing Lu Bai burst from his room radiating killing intent, many of the Huben Army soldiers cried out instinctively.

"Don’t follow me."

Leaving that command behind, Lu Bai shot through the air after the Gu Insect, his figure disappearing into the darkness in an instant.

’The Witch Race has found me again!’

’If I hadn’t just broken through and elevated my Blood Qi, I never would have noticed it. That Gu Insect would have been a huge problem!’

’Last time, I was only able to kill that Lifebound Gu because Ah Ming was by my side.’

’Now, Ah Ming is far away in Jingzhou City. I have to deal with this threat myself!’

’I have to admit, some of the Witch Race’s methods are truly dark and insidious, making them impossible to defend against.’

’If it had been any other Innate Martial Artist, they would have fallen for the trap by now.’

Lu Bai hadn’t chased far from the Velvet Antler Medicine Garden when four blank-faced Martial Artists with bizarre makeup burst out from the jungle. Wielding Long Halberds and Large Sabers, they strode through the air, surrounding him to attack from four directions!

’Evil spirits?’

Lu Bai took a look with his Eye of Illusion.

’No, that’s not it.’

’They aren’t Ghost Souls, and it’s not an Illusion Technique.’

’It’s the Paperman Technique!’

’The Lady Governor of Bluestone City used it once before.’

’But these four papermen are far stronger than the ones I saw before. They can even walk on air, their Blood Qi flaring like flames, no different from True Masters of the Martial Dao!’

"Petty tricks!"

Lu Bai’s eyes were ice-cold. Wielding the Cyan Cloud Sword, he was utterly fearless.

He had just broken through to the Innate Twelve Meridians, and his Blood Qi was at its peak. He would have tested his might against a genuine True Master Martial Dao, let alone a few papermen!

HUMMM!

Lu Bai moved as one with his sword, achieving Sword and Man Unity. He became a blazing, dazzling white rainbow that tore through the night, crashing directly into one of the papermen.

CLANG!

The sound of metal on metal rang out.

RIIIP!

It was followed by a sound like tearing silk. Lu Bai’s momentum barely faltered as he sliced the paperman before him clean in two!

After all, it was only a paperman created with Witchcraft and a Witch Race bloodline. It was still a far cry from a True Master Martial Dao of flesh and blood.

As his ’White Rainbow Piercing the Sun’ briefly illuminated the night sky, Lu Bai caught sight of a blurry figure hidden in the darkness not far away!

’To be able to create papermen on the level of a True Master Martial Dao, this Witch must be equivalent to a True Master Golden Core.’

’And while the methods of the Witch Race are bizarre, their weakness is also glaringly obvious.’

’Once their position is exposed, they place themselves in grave danger!’

Lu Bai’s eyes blazed. With a long roar, he charged toward the figure.

"Blood Poison Curse!"

Suddenly!

A bizarre wave of power suddenly descended.

A ghostly green halo materialized, and no matter how Lu Bai twisted and dodged in mid-air, he could not evade it.

The ghostly green halo enveloped Lu Bai, and he could clearly feel his Blood Qi rapidly draining away!

The ceaselessly flowing Blood Qi River within him quickly dwindled to a mere trickle.

Worse, the drain showed no signs of stopping!