Blind Spot
Chapter 455: Research 2

Chapter 455: Research 2

Seeing that there was no play, the atmosphere between the two immediately lost the harmony they’d had before. Zhang Shuxiang made a few perfunctory replies and then stood up to leave.

How had this formidable Third Battalion commander ended up as a pimp?

Li Chengyi was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

However, the visit from this commander at least offered him a basic orientation to his duties and the surrounding environment.

After seeing off his guest, he continued to immerse himself in researching methods to modify his body and entice the True Seal’s spirit.

As long as he could grasp the concept, although progress was slow, he could at least see hope.

After all, he came from Earth-Moon, an era where genetic modification was exceptionally advanced and organ transplants were commonplace.

While exploring, he was also cultivating and even managed to recruit about a dozen idle martial practitioners to take up subordinate positions, patrolling his jurisdiction.

Simple modifications were easy and might suffice to gain the recognition of the True Seal’s spirit, but achieving that was extremely difficult...

After numerous personal attempts, Li Chengyi realized that the greatest difficulty in modifying himself lay in bridging the vast difference between the human body and the True Seal’s spirit.

He certainly couldn’t just graft some antlers on top of his head, could he?

In other martial arts, many rely on drugs, special techniques, and surgery to forcefully modify themselves.

But such modifications generally have low compatibility.

Li Chengyi hoped his modifications would achieve a high degree of compatibility, so following the methods of these martial arts was not an option for him.

After much thought, he turned his attention to the Flower Language Technique. Perhaps a combination of this technique with drug therapy could achieve his goal.

It just so happened that the Wang Family Ancestral House was also a medical authority and their cultivation of the Qingyuan Dan Technique might have special effects, potentially offering significant help in the realm of modification and treatment.

Three months flew by in the blink of an eye.

Li Chengyi had been diligently cultivating True Qi at Quling Mansion, refining and compressing it, and studying the creation of a fusion with the True Seal, his cultivation level officially breaking through two hundred years.

As for his research, aided by some lesser spells of dead energy, combined with the Qingyuan Dan Technique martial arts provided by the Wang Family.

To his surprise, when refining the Deer King’s energy, mingling it with the Qingyuan Dan Technique, he could distill an even more pure form of True Qi.

Or rather, the two different martial arts techniques, despite being linked to different True Seal spirits, could be combined.

This clearly indicated that the True Seals on these two spirits had a combinatory effect.

As a result, Li Chengyi straightforwardly began to cross-train in the Qingyuan Dan Technique.

Unexpectedly, the Qingyuan Dan Energy he practiced merged seamlessly with the Deer King’s energy, forming a new type of pure energy that promoted the healing and growth of bones and flesh.

This type of True Qi was extremely difficult to cultivate and required the simultaneous operation of two martial arts techniques, one of which was Grade Black and already remarkably challenging, let alone managing both at the same time.

Afterward, the amount of True Qi he refined was somewhat less than before.

Given the difficulty, even someone with Li Chengyi’s vast Consciousness Power felt a bit strained when operating it.

You should know, his Consciousness Power was now roughly estimated to be dozens of times stronger than that of other True Qi martial practitioners.

And the purity was extraordinarily high, all thanks to the power brought about by the Seven Spirit Holy Technique.

But even with such Consciousness Power, running two techniques at once was demanding, indicating the immense difficulty.

"...Using drugs and transplants, it’s fundamentally impossible to achieve a high degree of compatibility... The best way must still be self-modification..." Li Chengyi stood in the courtyard, deeply pondering.

He had tried to twist his body into a deer shape, figuring that stimulating the growth of muscles, fat, and skin and elongating the bones would make it possible.

But those antlers were tricky to get right.

The antlers he grew from his bones looked so incongruent even to his own eyes, let alone deceiving the True Seal’s spirit.

And after the modification, his body became imbalanced, various organs weren’t placed correctly, leading to a host of messy issues.

So much so that after the first completion, he quickly reverted back to his original form within ten minutes.

Because at that time, he couldn’t even stand steadily; some organ was malfunctioning, causing his body to overheat and feel extremely uncomfortable.

Li Chengyi suspected he’d encountered the issue of harmony and coordination mentioned in other martial arts.

The coordination between the endocrine and internal organs wasn’t as simple as matching external forms to function properly.

Not to mention that True Qi depended on meridians, and modifying oneself meant altering meridians - the complexity of which was staggering.

To resolve this issue, he left his courtyard and, for the first time, took the initiative to visit the family medical hall in the city.

—Wang’s Medical Hall.

Having met some of the Wang Family Ancestral House members at a recent ancestral ceremony in Quling Mansion, Li Chengyi acquainted himself with a few.

And by chance, Wang Zhijun, the son of the family clan leader, was appointed here, managing this medium-sized medical hall.

The only Ancestral House member Li Chengyi was somewhat familiar with was him.

In the afternoon, around three o’clock or so.

There was a constant flow of people at the medical hall door, mostly common martial artists and civilians coming and going.

Occasionally, a physician would also leave through the side door, heading to the homes of large clans, wealthy families, and officials in need of house calls.

Wang Zhijun, having just finished seeing a patient and simultaneously honing his True Qi and medical experience, saw Li Chengyi enter discretely and quickly concluded his current consultation, welcoming him to the back hall.

"Brother Chen, what brings you here? This isn’t exactly a prime location, what with the constant traffic of patients. It’s hard to guard against infections – they’re just too unpredictable," Wang Zhijun, after washing his hands, brewed a pot of Iron Thread Tea for Li Chengyi.

This tea, resembling iron wire with a dark red appearance, brewed into a reddish, refreshing tea that was popular among tea lovers.

It was considered a common choice of tea in the Quling Mansion area.

"I’m currently researching how to integrate with the True Seal, but I’ve encountered difficulties right from the beginning with self-modification," Li Chengyi said frankly.

"In truth, our Wang ancestors also harbored such ideas. After all, who doesn’t dream of merging with a True Seal? Our ancestors weren’t content either; they struggled and put in the effort, myself included. It’s just that now we’ve given up," Wang Zhijun said with a smile.

Li Chengyi didn’t mention his own progress. Instead, he poured out the issue of harmonizing and coordinating, asking if there was any way to resolve it.

As long as this issue was resolved, the progress of integration would greatly accelerate.

"Is there a way to fix this problem, and is there a train of thought?" Li Chengyi, after all, was not the main practitioner in this area. It was only after he truly began the work that he understood how difficult it was and how many problems he encountered.

"There is a train of thought, but it’s very difficult," Wang Zhijun indeed didn’t disappoint him.

He smiled and responded, "In our ancestral house, there was an ancestor called Wang Puxian who went the furthest in this area. Based on the issue of harmonization with the Qingyuan Dan Technique, he especially collected a large number of medical surgery modification cases. Right before his death at over ninety years old, he created a secret technique based on the Qingyuan Dan Technique."

"What secret technique?" Li Chengyi’s eyes lit up. He could work it out himself, but that would take too much time.

What he wanted now was speed—both fast and good, and it had to be strong!

"The Flesh Bodhisattva Secret Technique," said Wang Zhijun earnestly.

"And where is this secret technique?"

"It’s in the family armory. If Brother Chen needs it, I’ll go fetch it for you. But think it over carefully. This technique must be based on the Qingyuan Dan Technique, and no other True Qi can be circulated. Once it is circulated incorrectly, True Qi will instantly reverse and twist the internal organs, causing severe injury, so please remember this well!"

Seeing the eager expression on Li Chengyi, Wang Zhijun grew somewhat worried.

Being a kind-hearted person and seeing Wang Yichen as the hope for the family’s rise, he naturally didn’t want any harm to come to him.

"I understand this, naturally!" Li Chengyi nodded. "Don’t worry."

"Speaking of which, do you know you’ve made the list as well?" Wang Zhijun suddenly asked with a smile.

"Made the list? What list?" Li Chengyi was startled. The strength he had shown on the surface was that of a genius True Qi Martial Practitioner, with one year of cultivation equivalent to several years for others. He had already accumulated decades worth of True Qi cultivation, which sounded quite impressive.

In reality, if that was all his cultivation amounted to, he would probably only be able to handle a common Lurker.

And that would still have to be an injured one.

Otherwise, the supersonic movement and terrifying silent speed of a normal Lurker could give a Martial Artist of his grade a tough time.

This was the vast gap between True Qi and Blood Essence. The two were simply on different levels.

Realizing that Li Chengyi truly didn’t know, Wang Zhijun felt a bit of admiration for him.

No wonder Wang Yichen had achieved such cultivation. In reality, he was such a diligent person behind the scenes.

In these past days, he rarely saw Wang Yichen leave his yard for rest or amusement.

That strong cultivation of True Qi was obviously accumulated bit by bit.

"This is how it is. Since Blood Essence Martial Artists have ’Crack Earth and Seal Heaven’ lists, we True Qi Martial Artists, following their example, have also created a ’True Man’ list," Wang Zhijun explained.

"The so-called ’True Man’ list purely looks at performance in battle, compiled by Raven House based on intelligence gathering, and sells very well," he said with a smile.

"I took a look, and Brother Chen, you’re just at the edge, hanging on at number five hundred. It’s quite remarkable... This means you’re already recognized as one of the top five hundred strongest True Qi Martial Practitioners in the entire Shaoyin Country... To have reached this level with unworthy Pine Pattern Energy of the Deer King, I must say, you are this!" he said, giving Li Chengyi a thumbs up.

"It’s too uninteresting. What does it matter if I’m first on the ’True Man’ list? Can I deal with the Blood Essence Martial Artists?" Li Chengyi frowned and asked.

"That... Naturally, it would be very difficult. But for a few of them, definitely not a problem," Wang Zhijun hesitated to say.

"First, give me the secret technique. As for such boring matters, pay less attention to them in the future. You are the future clan leader. It’s better for you to concentrate on improving your cultivation and medical skills," Li Chengyi reminded him.

"Yes, yes, yes..." Wang Zhijun gave a wry smile and led Li Chengyi through intricate corridors within the courtyard. After more than ten turns, they finally arrived at the ancient book room at the deepest part of the medical hall.

He rummaged through the old bookshelf for a while and quickly pulled out a gray-white booklet without a cover, handing it to Li Chengyi.

"This is the Flesh Bodhisattva Secret Technique."

Li Chengyi took it, about to speak.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside.

"Please slow down, Lord Ouyang!"

"Watch your step, my lord, be careful!"

"Get the hell away from me! Don’t dirty the lord’s boots by touching them!"

"Where’s Wang Yichen? Get him out here to see me," an arrogant and cold male voice floated in from outside the medical hall.

Li Chengyi and Wang Zhijun exchanged glances.

"It seems they are looking for me, and their surname is Ouyang..."

"The Ouyang family is powerful. It would be best to avoid their sharp edge for now..." Wang Zhijun appeared somewhat timid and intimidated. The Wang Family and Ouyang Family, although both were clans, had a great disparity.

The Ouyang Family was a truly Blood Essence Martial Artist family, with a clan leader who had integrated a True Seal, firmly in command. If push came to shove with the Wang Family, all it would take was one command and the Quling Mansion would become unbearable for the Wang Family.

"But after all, they are coming for me. The Ouyang family previously wanted me to marry into them, and I refused. Now they are probably here specifically to corner and humiliate me," Li Chengyi said seriously.

"As long as you don’t show up, pretending not to be here, at most they’ll make a fuss and then leave on their own. Don’t worry..." Wang Zhijun explained.

"Do they come often?" Li Chengyi suddenly asked.

"Er..." By the look on Wang Zhijun’s face, Li Chengyi knew that the Ouyang family’s harassment of the medical hall was not the first occurrence, only that Wang Zhijun and the ancestral home hadn’t told him about it before.

"They’re big and powerful, so we just endure it. After a while, when they cool off, it’ll be over..." Wang Zhijun explained, his expression a bit helpless.

Seeing his look, Li Chengyi also felt some helplessness. Even if he went out now and defeated them, there would still be a whole bunch of Ouyang family Martial Practitioners. Was he supposed to go through this with each and every one of them?

Besides, this was Quling Mansion, directly under the watchful eyes of the Yin Gods. Unless he could defeat True Master Yin Yue and the Four Great Yin Gods.

But now it seemed unlikely, the gap was probably still very large.

So he heeded Wang Zhijun’s advice and waited quietly in the back.