Blind Spot
Chapter 489: Golden City 447 One

Chapter 489: Golden City 447 One

A dark night sky.

Above the Quling Mansion, a gray-white figure suddenly flashed, and an additional person appeared within the courtyard belonging to the Yin God at the Tian Ju Pavilion.

Li Chengyi was enveloped in white vapor, bare-chested, his robust and symmetrical muscles exposed.

In the center of his chest, three intricate and delicate black imprints stood out distinctly.

With his arrival, the temperature of the entire courtyard rapidly began to rise, as if welcoming an early spring.

The light yellow lanterns hanging around were shaken by the vortex created by the crisscrossing airflow, causing the light to flicker, which in the silent courtyard, seemed to add to the tranquility.

Li Chengyi casually beckoned, and a set of spare robes on the railing of the nearby corridor shot towards him, draping over his body.

The gathering of Evil Thoughts was complete, next, it was time for the evolution of his bloodline...

He was filled with anticipation in his heart, wondering what kind of changes would occur after the enhancement of his Shadow Dragon Bloodline.

The reason he had previously multiplied his life force by ten was to prepare for this moment.

He had learned from Da Xiong that life force, which is also known as vitality, is the foundation of everything; with the most immense life force to evolve his own Shadow Dragon Bloodline, he would surely achieve the best results.

Whoosh!

Just as he was about to enter the meditation room, his footsteps suddenly halted, and he turned around.

Behind him, at some point, a person had appeared silently and without notice.

An elderly man with white hair and white eyebrows, cloaked in a black robe with silver moon patterns.

A red vertical scar on the old man’s forehead faintly emitted a red light, and his calm eyes settled on Li Chengyi.

"Master!" Li Chengyi’s heart shivered, and he promptly cupped his fists in salute.

"The cultivation of Blood Essence and True Qi is similar, but the former progresses much slower. Ten years of True Qi might only equate to one year of Blood Essence. How are your cultivation of Void NightStep and the Triple Yin Canon Techniques?" The Yin Yue true person said indifferently.

He seldom initiated contact or small talk with his disciples, yet for some reason, he sought out Li Chengyi this time.

Li Chengyi’s heart stirred, and he responded respectfully with his head lowered.

"There has been some progress, but it is basic... I am dull-witted."

Having only entered the sect for two years, what progress could he possibly have? It was clear that Yin Yue’s comment was just an opener.

As expected, Yin Yue’s line of conversation changed immediately afterward.

"Bai Lu, speaking of which, since you became my disciple, I have not yet given you any protective objects." He lightly withdrew a purple jade pendant shaped like clouds from his sleeve and tossed it to Li Chengyi.

"This is the Purple Cloud Ornament; it contains a strike from me, incredibly precious. Do not use it lightly, except in a dire emergency."

Li Chengyi quickly caught it, and joy surged in his heart. In fact, during his time in the sect, he could feel that Yin Yue’s attitude towards him was somewhat distant, as if observing something.

Now that the observation had concluded, it was clear that he had won Yin Yue’s approval, and thus received an item for protection.

"Keep it well, on another note, I need to remind you," Yin Yue continued.

"The ranks on the Heaven Earth Splitting Board are subject to change over time. Many experts listed are based on their performances from years ago. Years later, whether their strength has increased or decreased is unclear to anyone. This is especially true for the top ten of both boards. If you encounter them, remember to throw the Purple Cloud Ornament and flee immediately."

"I understand," Li Chengyi nodded.

"Good as long as you understand..." Yin Yue watched him, his eyes flickering with an unusual light. "You must understand that from the moment you joined Tian Ju Pavilion, everything from your past has become just that, the past. You are you... no matter who you were before... now, you are Bai Lu."

Whoosh.

As the words fell, the silhouette of Yin Yue vanished into thin air.

Li Chengyi was left standing alone in the courtyard, lost in thought.

He frowned slightly, suspecting that his master’s strength might be far stronger than what it appeared to be.

The only record of Yin Yue’s prowess in Shaoyin Country was a battle with the State Preceptor.

There were no records of any fights since then. So Li Chengyi had reason to suspect that Yin Yue’s true strength was stronger than imagined.

Looking towards the spot where Yin Yue had stood, Li Chengyi guessed that Yin Yue might already know that he was not a native of Shaoyin Country, as Da Xiong and Chen Jiahan had let slip too many hints.

Many things, many instincts, are naturally revealed.

But since he was the one who had made the contract, that final statement was clearly meant for him to hear.

Tucking away the Purple Cloud Ornament, Li Chengyi entered the meditation room; next, he had to complete the evolution, choose a new primary flower, and move on to a new blind spot.

He couldn’t delay going to the blind spot for too long, to avoid complications, and it was also time for Da Xiong to return, as her blind spot would have accumulated a lot of difficulties in these two years.

’Now it seems, using a blind spot to dodge another truly works, but like quenching thirst with poison, it’s only a temporary solution,’ he thought to himself.

Upon entering the meditation room, he lit a candle.

He closed the door and windows, then placed the Purple Cloud Ornament on the ground, covering it with immediate death energy, isolating it within a small death-energy formation.

After completing all of this, Li Chengyi took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and lightly tapped the Mark of the Evil Flower with his fingers.

At that moment, within the slot belonging to Feilian, the evolution of the Flower Language Technique was complete and waiting for activation.

This was Feilian’s third evolution. From the very beginning with the Inferior Shadow Dragon Bloodline, to the lesser, to the common.

The first two evolutions allowed him to acquire the modifications of a common-level Shadow Dragon Bloodline.

But this third evolution... what would it be?

’Do you wish to activate the passive Flower Language Ability?’

The question from the Evil Flower came forth.

’Yes,’ Li Chengyi affirmed in his heart.

Suddenly, the slot of the Divine Flower Postion of the Feilian lit up with a purple-red glow, and a dragon shadow with bat-like wings, serpent-like in size, began to swirl and turn within it.

’Evolution begins...’

Soon, roughly ten seconds later, a new Flower Language Ability penetrated his mind.

’Feilian (Contaminated): Perennial plant...’

’Flower Language Technique: Shadow Dragon King Bloodline (Naturally talented individuals within the Shadow Dragon species, whose talents far exceed those of ordinary Shadow Dragons, are known as the King of Shadow Dragons. The Dragon King Bloodline is divided into innate and acquired, which can be refined and integrated through bloodline purification, followed by conducting the Dragon King Ceremony to become a possessor of the Shadow Dragon King Bloodline...).’

There was a bunch of other information following it, all about the introduction of the Shadow Dragon King, including its abilities and talents.

Li Chengyi took a quick look and figured that the Shadow Dragon King Bloodline was akin to the top genius of the Shadow Dragon Clan, and the gap between geniuses and common folk was similar to that of humans, sometimes even greater than the difference between humans and dogs.

"Not bad..." he thought, feeling satisfied.

He had assumed that he might receive some superior Shadow Dragon Bloodline or similar, but instead, his bloodline had taken a significant leap forward.

As for the Floral Dress, it began its fourth evolution collection.

Unfortunately, the Flowers from the Feilian were used up, and he needed to breed a new variant, otherwise...

’Should I wait another two years, breed new Flowers, complete the fourth evolution and then decide, or...’ Li Chengyi was somewhat hesitant.

The difficulty in the Blind Spot was still accumulating, and he was indecisive.

After hesitating for a moment, he quickly made a decision.

"No, I must go back first; otherwise, even if I can make it through, Da Xiong won’t survive another year," he murmured.

He had to return to Earth-Moon and call Da Xiong back.

Having made his decision, he was about to get up and rehydrate.

Thud!

In an instant, a violent heartbeat exploded from within his chest.

It was as if something was trying to struggle out from his very shadow.

The shadows twisted wildly, writhed, and spikes protruded from it.

Li Chengyi was not startled but pleased, knowing that the Shadow Dragon King Bloodline had begun its transformative work.

Bloodline transformations were never instantaneous; they were a continuous process.

He quickly looked at the Flower Language Technique.

Indeed.

’Flower Language Technique: Shadow Dragon King Bloodline (Undergoing transformation...).’

His blood turned icy cold at an incredible pace, massive amounts of shadows twisted into gaseous form, and surrounded him as it began to expand.

The previously increased body temperature was quickly dropping from over eighty degrees.

Black patterns began to emerge on the surface of Li Chengyi’s body as his entire body started to sprout black scales. The scales slowly thickened and steamed with black vapor.

A vast amount of black mist gathered above his head, condensing into the phantom of an enormous Shadow Dragon.

This Shadow Dragon looked different from the common ones, with nine spike-like antlers on its head, large dragon eyes burning with cold black flames, and black smoke billowing from its mouth and nostrils.

The dragon’s body was covered in a dense network of black and red cracks, which spread between the scales, emitting black flames as if they could consume all light.

Besides these, the most striking feature was the complex, twisted imprint that emerged at the center of the dragon’s body.

It was an oval shape containing a flame symbol made up of three comma-shaped magatama.

The symbol was almost imperceptible, but Li Chengyi, based on his understanding of the True Seal, instantly recognized that it was an Imprint!

’This is... a natural Imprint!!’ he thought, shocked.

He had believed the Flower Language system was independent of the True Seal system, but now it seemed his previous thoughts were somewhat incorrect...

He already had three Imprints before, and now with the addition of the Shadow Dragon King Bloodline’s natural Imprint... he would suddenly reach the level of Four Seals!

’I didn’t expect... the bloodline upgrade to give me such a big surprise...’ he thought with joy.

Content, he quickly sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, adjusted his body state to complement the bloodline transformation, and accelerated the change.

His strength hadn’t increased; the Shadow Dragon King Bloodline didn’t boost strength but provided a new innate talent and enhanced all his previous talents.

Shadow Replacement, Shadow Flash, Dragon Breath, and Shadows Affinity, all were enhanced.

To Li Chengyi’s surprise, his physical condition saw an unexpected further enhancement in life-force.

He clearly felt that his vitality was stronger and more robust than before. Enveloped in shadows, it was as if he could never tire, with no loss to his energy or consciousness power.

An hour later.

The transformation was initially complete, and the strong vitality along with martial prowess brought about a strong physical form, significantly shortening the time required for bloodline transformation. This time it only took two hours to complete the transformation fully.

He sensed the information within the Mark of the Evil Flower and revealed a satisfied smile.

’Flower Language Technique: Shadow Dragon King Bloodline (Talent 1: High-Level Shadow Affinity. Talent 2: High-Level Shadow Flash. Talent 3: High-Level Shadow Replacement. Talent 4: Strengthened Dragon Breath. Talent 5: Shadow Spring)’

’Floral Dress Fourth Evolution Progress: 0%. Evil Thoughts: 0%’.

Li Chengyi quickly checked the information on each talent.

’High-Level Shadow Affinity: Any shadow-related abilities or spells martial arts will gain a significant learning speed boost.’

’High-Level Shadow Flash: Increases the distance of Shadow Flash to 100 meters. The larger the body, the greater the consumption of Shadow Flash, and the shorter the distance. The consumption primarily depends on the shadow energy within the body and surroundings.’

’High-Level Shadow Replacement: Allows for a more perfect embodiment of the replacement during Shadow Replacement, reducing the chance of being detected, and recalls all the information about the other person from birth to the present.’

’Strengthened Dragon Breath: Your Dragon Breath will suppress all common Shadow Dragons and burn all shadows to ashes. When the shadow vanishes, other entities aside from shadow-type existences will be forcibly erased from time and space.’

’Shadow Spring: While in the shadows, you will enter the Shadow Layer, and all your recovery abilities will be doubled. You will also gain the ability to automatically conceal your body’s aura.’