Opening the Third Spring

After Zhao Zhizhuo left, Li Weiyi sat alone beneath an Ox Horn Bone Lamp, studying the Evil Camel Bell.

The bell was ancient and unadorned. Where bronze rust stained it, the surface was exceptionally rough, and faintly visible were scriptures corroded away by time.

It was too bizarre. It could affect the mind, lure out sin, and magnify evil thoughts.

It seemed...

It could also collect evil thoughts.

At the time, Li Weiyi had wanted to throw it into the Sea of Blood and let it sink forever. He had only kept it because it could hold physical objects and contained an unfathomable space within.

When Li Weiyi returned to the Bronze Ship, he intended to buy a batch of food to bring back.

With only Gao Huan and himself, how much could they carry?

If it truly was a treasure capable of containing heaven and earth, things would be much more convenient!

"It should also be a magical artifact. According to Elder Zhao, it can be activated with magical power. How much it can be activated depends on one's realm, as well as the strength and quantity of one's magical power."

Worried that something might go wrong, Li Weiyi plugged his ears.

He then mobilized the magical power from the two spring apertures in the soles of his feet and slowly poured it into the bell.

Not long after.

Whoosh—

Light shimmered across the bell's surface. It trembled lightly, then unexpectedly expanded several times over.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Weiyi put on the Silver Thread Gloves before reaching into the bell. His entire arm went inside. It was enormous within, and he could not touch any wall or edge.

Nor did he feel those half-real, half-illusory camels.

He had no way of knowing what lay inside. He only felt out several jars of Golden Crow Blood, which Yu Tuo Nan had evidently put into it aboard the Bronze Ship.

When he activated it again with magical power, the Evil Camel Bell no longer grew larger.

With his current cultivation, this was as far as he could go. Besides, even if the Evil Camel Bell became large enough, he would not dare enter it lightly.

As for "shaking the Evil Camel Bell," Li Weiyi did not dare try it for the time being, fearing danger that he could not handle.

"Elder Zhao said that once four springs are opened, magical power can initially overflow, and then be controlled freely. When magical power grows strong enough, one can even retrieve objects from afar."

For Li Weiyi, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, such a realm enthralled him beyond measure and filled him with yearning.

"To open four springs is to gain a certain standing, enough to be called half an Above All Others. To make up the other half, one must transcend beyond the Spring Realm." Zhao Zhizhuo had sighed this way at the time.

He put away the Evil Camel Bell.

Li Weiyi lay on the bed with both hands beneath his head, unable to sleep.

At times he thought of Cai Yutong, who had been taken away by the White Bone Demon. At times he thought of his senior brothers aboard the Bronze Ship. At other times, he thought of every little moment spent learning martial arts from his master in the mountains.

"Martial arts, martial arts—only martial remains; the Way does not."

Those were words his master had once spoken!

But now, a majestic road of martial arts had unfolded before his eyes. Whether it was magical power overflowing, retrieving objects from afar, or Shi Jiuzhai exhaling clouds and passing through cliffs and walls, all of it was simply too alluring.

The road of martial arts ahead was certain to be dazzling beyond compare, with countless divine abilities awaiting him to climb toward and pursue.

As for becoming Above All Others...

Who would willingly remain at the bottom forever, never seeing daylight, only to look up and see feet upon feet stamping on their head?

Li Weiyi rolled up from the bed, grabbed a jar of Golden Crow Blood, and took a huge gulp. He then sat cross-legged on the floor, circulated the Jade Void Breathing Technique, and mobilized the two currents of hot and cold magical power to refine it.

He cultivated through the night.

The next morning, Li Weiyi wore a dark blue cloth robe patterned with beast markings and tied with a purple sash. Sitting beside the railing of Yaohua Pavilion's second-floor terrace, he watched the endless variety of people on the street and the various savage beasts following at their sides.

Those with formidable cultivation strode atop giant pythons over ten meters long, causing everyone to flee in fear.

Wild oxen weighing several thousand jin pulled carts, while ragged commoners led them along.

Martial Cultivators from great lineages drove four-armed apes as large as houses, making them carry some sort of ore. Those beasts possessed limitless strength, yet could only be enslaved.

Li Weiyi understood clearly that Gao Huan and he were able to stay at Yaohua Pavilion, enjoy fine food, and receive treatment reserved for those Above All Others only because they had rendered the Cangli Tribe a great service. They could be respected for a short time, and someone was willing to pay for their comforts.

But no matter how great a favor was, there would come a day when it was repaid.

Only by possessing strength oneself could one truly stand Above All Others, without worrying about being suddenly driven out one morning. Then they would have nowhere to go, cast adrift and homeless like beggar children by the street.

Survival and gaining a foothold were the most urgent matters.

As for how to live well and live brilliantly, he could only rely on practicing martial arts.

Beside his ears was prosperity and bustle: carriages and streams of horses, hawking and selling, the myriad faces of life.

For several moments, Li Weiyi felt that everything which had happened aboard the Bronze Ship, even his nineteen years of life on Earth, had been but a dream.

The world before him now seemed to be the real one.

He spread open his right palm. It burned fiercely, as though a miniature volcano were erupting within it.

Eleven Silver Meridian Lines used the spring aperture in his palm as their root, extending into eleven new Qi Moving Routes.

If he activated the spring aperture in his palm while using a hand technique like the Overturning Sky Palm Seal, its power would certainly far exceed what it had been before.

He had opened this third spring aperture that morning.

The total number of Silver Meridian Lines within his body had reached thirty-seven.

Li Weiyi was deeply puzzled. Zhao Zhizhuo had kept saying the previous night that opening spring apertures was a task of a thousand hardships and ten thousand difficulties. Even one with above-average talent needed ten years of bitter cultivation to open the four springs in their limbs.

Beyond four springs, it would only become more difficult.

Yet Li Weiyi felt that Zhao Zhizhuo had likely suffered too many setbacks and hardships in his life, which was why he always liked to exaggerate suffering and had already lost the confidence to face life's challenges.

When he encountered a Deformed Race that had opened one spring, he thought it had opened three and was invincible to him.

Opening spring apertures certainly had its difficulties, but it was absolutely not as hard as ascending to heaven as Zhao Zhizhuo described. Otherwise, how could he himself have opened one in just a few days?

For Zhao Zhizhuo, perhaps it was somewhat harder than for Li Weiyi. After all, everyone cultivated at a different pace and possessed different talent; one could not measure others by oneself.

But how great could the gap between people truly be?

Someone admitted to Capital University did not have an extra head compared to someone admitted to a vocational college.

Gao Huan came to Li Weiyi's room, leaned close, and said mysteriously, "Master Li, do you think the Jiu Li Tribe in this world and the Jiu Li Tribe from Earth's myths and legends might be the same tribe?"

"How would I know?" Li Weiyi said with a smile.

"I think there's a strong possibility!" Gao Huan said. "Legend says that after the Battle of Zhuolu, the surviving Jiu Li people fled into the North Sea and went to the Underworld. Didn't we also come here from the Arctic Ocean? Along the way, we even discovered the stone peak pillars and steles of the Crimson County Ancient Path. That proves people from ancient Huaxia once traveled this route."

"If we can enter the Jiu Li Tribe's inner upper ranks and investigate their ancestors' lineage carefully, we might find the answer."

Li Weiyi knew Gao Huan had always been mystical and eccentric, with thoughts that leaped wildly from one thing to another, so he did not find it strange. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"They are common folk, and so are we," Gao Huan said. "That means we likely share common ancestors. I don't know whether we can still return to Earth, but here, I've unexpectedly found an indescribable sense of belonging and peace. You don't want to return to the ship and continue drifting through the dangerous and unknown Sea of Blood, do you?"

"You want to stay?" Li Weiyi asked.

"By your reasoning, we've done the Cangli Tribe a favor. As long as we keep our heads down and behave ourselves, staying in their tribe to survive should not be difficult," Gao Huan said. "The only thing we need to consider is how to bring the First Mate and the others over."

Li Weiyi had naturally been considering this as well.

Zhao Zhizhuo arrived again in a horse carriage and stopped outside Yaohua Pavilion's main entrance.

After picking up Li Weiyi and Gao Huan, he drove as he said, "The Young Tribe Leader understands your concerns, little benefactor. But you rendered such a great favor that he must thank you in person no matter what. Rest assured, not many people will learn of this."

The Cangli Tribe being attacked was bound to cause a sensation.

If everyone learned that two people had saved Zhao Zhizhuo and brought him to Yaoguan City for help, thereby causing the enemy's efforts to fall short at the last step, then the Earth Wolf King Army and Shi Jiuzhai would certainly learn of it as well.

As long as they investigated, they would definitely be able to dig out the two people who had ruined their plans.

Whether events would truly develop in that direction or not, Li Weiyi had to consider that possibility first. That was why he had refused to accompany Zhao Zhizhuo to meet the Cangli Tribe's Young Tribe Leader the previous night. After all, where there were many people, there were many eyes.

His current strength was still far from sufficient for him to leap about in the open.

At the very least, he needed to become one of those Above All Others who had transcended beyond the Spring Realm before he could be said to possess some confidence and capital in this cruel world where people could be killed at will.

"Elder Zhao, don't call me little benefactor anymore. If you don't mind, you can call me little brother, or Brother Xie," Li Weiyi said.

"Very well."

Zhao Zhizhuo was naturally happy to address him more intimately.

Led by Zhao Zhizhuo, Li Weiyi and Gao Huan met this Young Tribe Leader within Jujube Plum Manor, where the Cangli Tribe members had temporarily settled.

"Young Tribe Leader, Miss Ling, this is Brother Xie. Yesterday, he killed those two Deformed Race experts from Buddha's Crossing Bandits, saved me, and then brought me to Yaoguan City to seek aid."

Zhao Zhizhuo added, "Brother Xie is called Xie Jin! This Brother Gao is called Gao Huan. He has a Congenital Language Barrier... and only speaks his hometown dialect..."

Li Weiyi secretly observed Cangli and inwardly sighed.

This was what a true member of the upper class in this world looked like. Merely from his clothing, ornaments, and bearing, he gave off a sense of incomparable nobility.

Any woman who saw him would likely fall in love at first sight.

He was about the same age as Li Weiyi. He was extraordinarily handsome, and like Gao Huan and Cai Yutong, seemed to have shed his shell and undergone transformation. His skin had become Spiritually Transformed, without the slightest flaw.

Even more remarkable was the aura he gave off invisibly due to his lofty cultivation. It directly set him apart in essence from everyone else present.

Li Weiyi had never felt inferior, nor did he belittle himself, but everyone had a ruler in their heart, used to measure both themselves and others.

Cangli tried his best to appear approachable as he thanked Li Weiyi and Gao Huan. He was gentle, polite, and friendly, yet the distance between them remained vast.

He stood too high. Being able to achieve even this much was already far from easy.

He said, "Zhao Zhizhuo has told me about your circumstances. The world has been at war for ten years. Outside, there are Departed Spirit Fiends and Fierce Insect Curse Monsters; within, there is Bandit and War Chaos. The people of every province have found life harder with each passing year. Now, it seems Lizhou is about to descend into chaos as well!"

These words did not sound as though he were speaking to Li Weiyi, but rather as though he were lamenting to himself.

Cangli was clearly uninterested in where Li Weiyi and Gao Huan had come from. He asked, "You follow the martial cultivation path, correct? How many spring apertures have you opened?"

"Three," Li Weiyi said.

"That's not bad."

At his age, having opened only three spring apertures, in Cangli's eyes as one with Exceptional Talent, was honestly worthy only of a reluctant "acceptable."

But the old tribe leader had always warned him that to become a tribe leader, he first needed to watch his mouth and not speak too bluntly. When treating worthy men with courtesy and recruiting talent, he had to speak pleasantly and avoid offending people before anything else.

Li Ling stood behind Cangli. Barefoot and appearing fifteen or sixteen, she wore nine silver bangles on her arms and a brilliantly colored robe. Her long hair was braided into many lengthy plaits, while Blue Mist Light Traces swirled around her body.

Ever since Gao Huan, standing beside Li Weiyi, saw Li Ling, he had been unable to look away.

Though the transformed Cai Yutong was also beautiful as an immortal, Gao Huan had always kept a respectful distance from such a cold and ill-tempered female doctor.

But this young girl before him was different. Like an elf within the mist, her features were exquisite, sweet, mysterious, and tranquil. Every part of her seemed to have grown exactly upon his heart.

As for Liu Ying...

He simply did not dare think back on her even a little. He always felt she was a hurdle he would never be able to cross in his lifetime.

Cangli had long noticed Gao Huan, and his interest in him far surpassed his interest in Li Weiyi.

This was a Pure Immortal Body!