"Pretty quick, huh!"
Through the System connection, Li Yu saw the young girl arriving on a rainbow glow and nodded lightly. "The Nine Dragons Coffin Pull's descent was bound to alert nearby cultivators. It's no surprise that this young girl named Weiwei arrived so quickly."
"Once kid Zhou Yi joins a cultivation sect, with the System in hand, he'll surely shine brilliantly. There's no need to keep watching over him."
Li Yu smiled. "What I need to consider now is my own cultivation."
His escape light flashed away.
Li Yu appeared atop a tall mountain.
This was at the border between the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Ground and Yan State, a remote stretch of barren mountains untouched by human presence.
"I'll cultivate here for a while!"
Li Yu turned and swept his gaze across the mountaintop. Finding a cliff face, he flicked out a thread of sword qi. Fine as silk, the sword qi whistled through the air and carved crisscrossing cuts into the rock wall.
"Swish, swish!"
The razor-sharp sword qi sliced easily into the cliff, sending stone chips scattering.
Li Yu waved a hand, and the System directly recovered the rubble, breaking it down into energy. Before long, a stone cave two zhang across appeared before him.
"How convenient."
Li Yu chuckled and stepped into the cave. Raising his head to inspect the smooth, level, spotless interior, he clicked his tongue in admiration. "With a trick like this, if I went back to my old world, I could make a fortune digging tunnels for people!"
At that moment, Immortal Master Li's loser nature was exposed beyond doubt.
"First, I'll cultivate in peace."
With a wave of his hand, he set sword qi at the cave entrance to ensure his safety against any unforeseen trouble.
Li Yu sat cross-legged inside the cave and prepared to begin cultivating.
"Cultivation in this world is divided into five realms: Wheel and Sea, Dao Palace, Four Extremities, Transforming Dragon, and Immortal Platform."
Reviewing the contents of the Primordial Scripture in his mind, Li Yu considered his own cultivation.
"The Wheel and Sea can be regarded as the dantian. The Dao Palace is the middle dantian at the chest. The Four Extremities are the twelve regular meridians. Transforming Dragon is the Governing and Conception Vessels and the other Eight Extraordinary Meridians. The Immortal Platform is the upper dantian, the Purple Mansion between the brows."
"Though more profound and mysterious, it still follows the path of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit into emptiness, and refining emptiness to merge with the Way. In other words..."
At that thought, Li Yu's eyes lit up. He hurriedly asked the System, "System, can I use the life force in the Crocodile Ancestor's body to open my Sea of Bitterness?"
"Yes!"
"Haha! Just as I expected!"
Li Yu was overjoyed and burst into laughter. "Opening the Sea of Bitterness is essentially refining essence into qi and opening the dantian. Even a single drop of the Crocodile Ancestor's blood contains boundless life force. Activating the dantian and opening the Sea of Bitterness will naturally be no difficulty at all!"
The Bodhi Tree Leaf had already allowed Li Yu to comprehend the first volume of the Primordial Scripture, giving him a clear understanding of his own cultivation. Yet he did not begin cultivating immediately.
"System, extract the cultivation insights of the Great Completion Saintly Body's Divine Spirit Remnant. Send me its cultivation insights for the Wheel and Sea realm."
Li Yu took out a Bodhi Tree Leaf, pressed it to his brow, and issued the command to the System.
An indescribable stream of information flowed into his mind, and Li Yu's consciousness blurred.
It was as though he had become another person. Li Yu personally experienced the entire process from opening the "Sea of Bitterness" to Mortal Shedding at the "Other Shore."
The gradual changes in his body, the steady growth of his strength—Li Yu experienced every aspect of Wheel and Sea cultivation as though he had gone through it himself from beginning to end.
"Puff!"
The Bodhi Tree Leaf turned to ash. Li Yu opened his eyes and slowly exhaled.
"As expected of the World-shattering Saintly Body, unparalleled throughout history! This Saintly Body Secret Method truly lays a foundation as firm as iron and stone."
After sitting quietly for a while and settling his mind, Li Yu smiled faintly. "I've already exchanged for the Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo physique. I possess every trait of the Sacred Body, so this Saintly Body Secret Method is equally suitable for me!"
"System, extract a drop of the Crocodile Ancestor's fresh blood. Refine the pure life force within it, then slowly channel it into my body."
Li Yu drew a deep breath, adjusted his mind, breath, and spirit, entered a state of tranquil Spirit Settling, and cultivated the Beginless Sutra according to the Sacred Body insights.
As a Demon Saint, the Crocodile Ancestor possessed life force so vast in a single drop of Saint blood that it was terrifying. Previously, using only a tiny amount of that life force had restored Zhou Yi and the others to youth.
Now, as the life force poured into his body, even though Li Yu had the System slow its flow, he still felt his entire body swelling as if he were a balloon being inflated.
His short hair instantly surged in length, growing over two feet long in the blink of an eye. His skin reddened all over, sweat poured from him, and waves of heat rose from his body.
As his cultivation art circulated, a tremendous suction force arose from his lower abdomen, continuously drawing in the life force flooding his body.
Rumble!
The sound of Raging Tide surged forth, and endless violet-gold radiance illuminated the entire stone cave.
From Li Yu's lower abdomen came unceasing thunderous roars. Violet-gold brilliance spread outward like a vast ocean, with raging tides churning and enormous waves soaring into the sky.
Wave after wave of Raging Tide crashed forward with booming roars, causing even the stone cave to begin trembling.
Li Yu's mind remained clear and tranquil, unmoved as he continued circulating his cultivation art.
The sound of the Raging Tide grew louder and louder, as though a tsunami and mountain collapse were occurring at once. Violet-gold radiance rippled through the surroundings, and the immense vibrations spread outward until even the sword qi sealing the cave entrance gave off faint clanging sounds.
A moment later, a point of divine radiance rose from Li Yu's lower abdomen. At first, it was only a tiny speck of light. Slowly, it grew larger—like a candle flame, like a lamp, like a star in the night, like a bright moon.
In the end, that point of divine radiance transformed into a glorious blazing sun, its light shining for thousands of miles, dazzling beyond measure. When the radiance reached its most brilliant point, the blinding glow slowly began to recede.
Half an hour later, all the light had completely withdrawn into Li Yu's lower abdomen. The roaring Raging Tide also quieted, and no strange phenomena remained within the stone cave.
"Whew..."
He exhaled a breath of foul air. The breath condensed and lingered for a long time, forming an air column over three feet long.
Li Yu rose to his feet, his entire bearing radiant. Divine light gleamed in his eyes, his skin was crystalline like jade, his pores nearly invisible, and long black hair cascaded over his shoulders. Every strand carried a faint crystalline sheen.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Feeling the surging power within his body and sensing the vast violet-gold ocean in his lower abdominal Sea of Bitterness, Li Yu praised it repeatedly, filled with delight.
"With the pure life force refined from the Crocodile Ancestor's Saint blood, one of the strongest cultivation arts in this world—the Beginless Sutra—as well as the cultivation insights of the Great Completion Saintly Body and the Saintly Body Secret Method, the depth of my foundation is unmatched in this age."
Li Yu clenched his fist, and an indomitable spirit surged in his chest.
"Although my cultivation is still shallow, and I've only just opened the Sea of Bitterness, still far from the Wheel and Sea realm's consummation of Mortal Shedding at the Other Shore, my foundation is already exceptionally solid. From now on, I only need to advance step by step!"
He walked out of the stone cave, his loose long hair scattering and fluttering in the wind.
"My hair has gotten this long already."
Turning to look at the hair draped over his shoulders, Li Yu shook his head with a smile. He exchanged a rubber band from the System and casually tied his hair into a loose ponytail that hung down his back.
"I wonder how kid Zhou Yi is doing now?"
Li Yu suddenly thought of Zhou Yi and quickly had the System connect to the Supreme Heavenly Book to check on Zhou Yi's situation.
"Hm? Outrageous!"
When he saw Zhou Yi's situation, a surge of fury rose in Li Yu's heart. The rock beneath his feet cracked with a sharp snap.