Blind Spot
Chapter 444: Accident 405 Three

Chapter 444: Accident 405 Three

Watching the small door on the ground gradually turn into black ash, along with the key, disappearing completely without leaving a trace.

Clearly, Professor Mimam had set up some sort of special self-destruct mechanism, which would activate automatically in case of unforeseen events.

But this meant that the way and passage for his return to Earth-Moon here were completely gone...

Li Chengyi stood still for a long time, unable to recover from his shock.

His mind was racing, trying to figure out how to return to Earth-Moon.

’No, there is still a way. The Celestedge Doomsday Art was able to be passed on to Earth-Moon, so there must be some connection with Earth-Moon here. Of course, it could also be someone who has been to this place and brought the technique over, but that possibility is very small. Such a divine technique, if someone were able to bring it over, they would not be unknown in Earth-Moon after cultivating.’

Hope once again rose in Li Chengyi’s heart.

’The martial arts here can direct reach the Imprint, and I have already opened the non-gate within my body, which can connect me to the Black Sea at any time. What I am missing is only a hidden and safe path to return to Earth-Moon, and to deal with the countless dangers that might appear in the Black Sea.’

’In that case, I just need to fully develop the Imprint here as much as possible, strengthen my own power, and then find a way to leave here surreptitiously and safely.’

He did not believe that a place capable of giving birth to such horrifyingly powerful beings would lack the methods to conceal one’s presence.

’It seems that the fastest route for development is to climb up through the official ranks and utilize the maximum resources of the Imperial Court.’

After quickly deciding his upcoming plans, Li Chengyi tidied up the courtyard, carefully collected the black ash the small door had turned into, put it in a small bag, then tidied himself up and went out again.

This time, he was heading to the Armory of God Martial Bureau.

In any place, as long as it’s a large organization, there would be a place that stores books of martial arts, and the God Martial Bureau was the Armory.

Generally, there are two Armories, one for the True Qi martial arts of the God Martial Bureau, and the other for the Bloodline martial arts of the Blood Guard Bureau.

Martial arts are also divided this way, into True Qi Martial Arts and Bloodline Martial Arts.

The Blood Rain Technique practiced by the State Preceptor Song Yunhe, for instance, is a Bloodline Martial Art, which many also call Blood Essence Martial Arts.

The Armory is not just for preserving martial arts but also has some retired elderly members who used to be in the God Martial Bureau; they serve here as martial arts instructors.

They can be approached with basic issues, for a fee, in search of answers.

These instructors usually have a basic salary and are, in a way, the God Martial Bureau’s pension department.

The location of the Armory is not near the compound of the God Martial Bureau, but rather in a slightly more remote place called Shenyun Garden.

This place is where county officials often come to worship their ancestors and offer sacrifices to gods and Buddha.

The Armories of God Martial Bureau and Blood Guard Bureau are both located here.

After asking some elderly people in his team, Li Chengyi went straight here. After winding around and taking several turns, he finally found a four-pointed tower enclosed by high walls.

All four corners of the tower’s rooftop were bent upward into spikes, with black roofs, dark red doors and windows, and dark green lanterns hanging above the entrance on the large wall but without any signs beyond that.

From the outside, it looked like a typical well-off household.

Li Chengyi approached and knocked on the door, which opened automatically to reveal an empty interior.

He narrowed his eyes and, lifting his robe, stepped over the threshold and entered.

In the courtyard inside the walls, some grapevines were planted, supported on frames to create patches of shade.

A woman with silver hair but a face as smooth and flawless as a young person’s was lounging in the shade on a recliner, clad in a white robe and reading a book.

"Take the books yourself if you wish to read; they cannot be taken away. If you seek instruction, refer to the wooden sign. Once agreed, you may ask your questions," the woman said languidly, without even looking at Li Chengyi.

Li Chengyi then noticed a sign beside the woman’s feet which listed different categories of questions with their clear prices.

But he was not short on money. After ransacking so many bandit disasters, it was normal for him to have a little tucked away.

Not to mention, he often went to the wild to earn extra money.

"I have a question I’d like to ask the instructor," Li Chengyi said with a salute.

He knew that these instructors were former members of the God Martial Bureau who had retired, with no weaklings among them, and connected widely, not to be easily offended.

"You may ask if you understand the price," the woman with white hair said indifferently.

"I would like to ask the instructor, what is the biggest difference between Blood Essence Martial Arts and True Qi Martial Arts, and is it possible for one to cultivate both types simultaneously?"

Indeed, at this moment, Li Chengyi was contemplating changing his body to one with blood lineage and then cultivating both types.

However, this meant he would have to relinquish the True Qi he had cultivated all this time, which seemed too regrettable.

Therefore, he came to inquire in a different way.

"This question... you do have the guts to consider it," the white-haired woman finally turned her head to glance at Li Chengyi.

"It’s impossible. True Qi Martial Arts and Blood Essence Martial Arts are fundamentally two conflicting paths. True Qi propels one forward, while Blood Essence regresses one back."

"One is evolution, the other is returning to one’s ancestry. These two are inherently contradictory. It’s like trying to walk forwards and backwards at the same time, which results in staying in place."

"Forward, backward?" contemplated Li Chengyi. "Then why is it always said that True Qi is far inferior to Blood Essence?"

"It’s simple. How long have you been practicing True Qi? Their Blood Essence is accumulated over generations, inheriting the family’s legacy. Both methods transform oneself—you start from practicing Qi, while they have been transforming for dozens of generations. Do you think the outcomes would be the same?" The white-haired woman gave him a disdainful glance.

"Then I have one more question," Li Chengyi nodded, asking further.

"This is the third question," reminded the white-haired woman.

"Can a strong person like the State Preceptor actually pull down celestial bodies?" Li Chengyi was still somewhat skeptical.

"Hmm, many have asked this question, and the answer is... truly. Why do you think Shaoyin Country is established on this Black Soil? Do you know the reason?"

"I do not," replied Li Chengyi.

"Actually, it’s quite simple. This place used to be a range of mountains that was destroyed along with a hidden nation inside it after the State Preceptor struck a Falling Star down. It was only then that we moved here," the woman with white hair sighed. "That’s why to this day, at the very center of Black Soil Plains, there lies an immense crater left from the fallen star, forming a vast lake comparable to an ocean."

Li Chengyi fell silent. Was this something humanly possible??

"One last question, what level of martial arts is required for True Seal fusion, and how might I obtain it?"

This is what he was most concerned about.

Compared to the ephemeral nature of the "Heart of Illusionary Colored Dragon," it now seemed that the progress of integrating and cultivating the "True Seal" martial arts was faster.

The white-haired woman glanced at him, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"In Grade Black, there are only White-Level Martial Arts available here. In the entire Cangshi County, only the Town General and Town Guard can cultivate Grade Black Martial Arts, and there’s only one book, which is strictly controlled by the Imperial Court. Moreover... in the entire Shaoyin Country, there are only two places where one can find the materials needed for the integration and cultivation of the True Seal. One is the Imperial Court, the other is Wanmu Mountain."

"So, in other words, to integrate the True Seal, one must either join our Imperial Court or go to Wanmu Mountain to complete it?" Li Chengyi understood.

"Yes. To integrate the True Seal, you need a medicine called the Heart-Locking Pill. As long as you reach the level of Town General or Town Guard, you will receive one pill distributed each year."

"I see..." Li Chengyi cupped his hands in salute, "Thank you for the advice."

"Time to pay up," the white-haired woman said languidly.

Li Chengyi took out forty taels in silver notes and handed them over. Then he headed towards the main building of the Armory.

Crossing the second threshold, what he saw was a somewhat dim array of black wooden cubbies.

They were embedded into the walls, one next to the other, like display items, each cubby holding a single martial arts manual.

Underneath each manual, small characters were written indicating the name, grade, and purchase cost.

The Armory’s martial arts were divided into two parts: practice methods and medicinal stones. Here were only the practice methods; the medicinal stone supplements needed to be purchased.

Li Chengyi skimmed over, and in the spacious building, there were about a hundred cubbies on the three walls, most of which were empty.

The cubbies were arranged left to right, in ascending order: No Grade, White-Level, Grade Black.

Li Chengyi headed straight for Grade Black.

In that section of wall, there were only two volumes.

"Azure Blood Technique," "The Sky-Reversing Technique."

Underneath "Azure Blood Technique" was clearly marked: Incomplete.

Li Chengyi reached for the complete "The Sky-Reversing Technique," only to find it empty inside.

No loopholes to exploit, indeed.

He lacked a bloodline inheritance, and could naturally only follow True Qi martial arts. Since "Pine Pattern Energy" had no method of True Seal integration, he hoped to gain inspiration from other martial arts to create his own version of True Seal integration for the Pine Deer Blade Technique.

What a pity...

This was a martial art that only the Town Guard could cultivate.

’Town Guards also have terms of service. If the Town Guard initially had martial arts to cultivate, what happens to those techniques when their term ends?’

He was puzzled.

’Moreover, since this technique is permitted for Town Guards to cultivate and there have been many Town Guards, it must have spread.’

Obviously, there must be restrictions on this technique, or methods to amend its teachings. Li Chengyi planned to make some inquiries about the former Town Guards in the county after returning to see what their current situation was and if it was possible to obtain any content related to the True Seal integration from them.

Setting aside Grade Black martial arts, he turned his attention to the No Grade section, quickly finding his family’s inherited Pine Deer Blade Technique.

Although he didn’t know how the Pine Deer Blade had made its way here, he still took it down to have a look.

It was terribly incomplete, containing only the basic methods of Pine Pattern Energy. There were no moves or applications.

This was probably the castrated version given by the Wang Family’s ancestors.

Li Chengyi put it back, then began to look through other martial arts.

"Land Travel Technique," "Earth Granting Skill," "Four-directional Buddha Blade," "River Severing Hand"...

The names of these No Grade martial arts were indeed impressive, but they too were merely different basic Qi-cultivation techniques in their castrated versions.

Li Chengyi’s photographic memory quickly took note of the dozens of Qi-cultivation techniques here.

Soon, he turned to the White-Level martial arts.

These were a level higher than the Pine Pattern Energy he practiced.

On this wall, there were more than a dozen cubbies containing classics.

He randomly picked up "True Art of Dark Void." The Qi-cultivation part was similar to the others, but there was an additional step of refinement at the end.

After cultivating Qi, it needed to be refined to make it purer.

The method of refinement in the True Art of Dark Void involved a specific prescription combined with a special Qi-circulation technique to attract and discard the impurities from True Qi, thereby making it purer.

This method was clearly one that had been painfully developed after countless tests and trials.

Li Chengyi put this book down and picked up the next one.

"Emerald Sea Shocking Wave Technique."

This book’s subsequent refining method involved using the immense pressure of the deep sea to compress the body and forcibly condense the True Qi for refinement.

He continued to the next one.

"Blue Flame Golden Realm Art" uses a special medicinal flame to scorch the True Qi, causing the impurities to burn up and evaporate.

As Li Chengyi went through them one by one, most of the methods involved using external pressure, inducement, traction, temperature, humidity, medicinal reactions and other means to achieve refinement.

This gave him quite a few ideas.

Especially concerning the common impurities in True Qi, a book called "Mingxuan Danjing" mentioned that impurities mainly consist of "mixed Qi," created from the fusion of tainted blood, and "waste Qi," resulting from the fusion of stray thoughts.

The blood essence in the human body is impure to begin with, hence the presence of mixed Qi.

The human mind is always filled with countless stray thoughts. Even with concentrated attention, the subconscious mind will generate stray thoughts, leading to the natural production of waster Qi.

Both of these need to be properly understood in terms of their properties, and then specifically targeted to achieve purification.