The Ancestor Minghe secluded himself in the deepest part of the Primordial Wilderness Blood Sea for 30,000 years. On the day he emerged, the Blood Sea surged for 3,000 miles, and a nine -Nine-Tier Blood Lotus Platform rose from the seabed. The nine petals of the Lotus Platform bloomed simultaneously, and a Blood God Clone on each petal. Styx stood up from the center of the Lotus Platform, his body surrounded by a mixture of blood and gray-white light. The Yuantu Sword, hovering three feet above his head, automatically unsheathed itself by one inch. The gray-white and blood-colored patterns on the sword's surface intertwined to form new patterns—the Dao marks formed from the fragments of laws he had devoured and refined over Heavenly Dao 30,000 years since the collapse of the Heavenly Dao. He flicked the sword, and the Yuantu Sword emitted an extremely light yet deep resonance. Where the sword's resonance passed, nine thousand blood swords condensed on the surface of the Blood Sea and shot out simultaneously in nine directions. Each sword was Blood God Clone he had condensed upon emerging from seclusion.
Nine blood swords flew into the Chaos. Styx kept only three with him, while the other six were scattered to the six directions of the Chaos. For thirty thousand years, he had been deducing the distribution of the remaining worlds in the Chaos beneath the Blood Sea. By the thirty thousandth year, he had calculated a rough estimate: among the debris thrown out by Pangu when he created the world, besides the Great Thousand World and Universe World already collected by the three families of Taiqing, Yuqing and Shangqing, and Shangqing, there were at least nine Universe World scattered deeper in the Chaos. Three of them were located in the deepest parts of the east, west, and south directions, extremely far from the Primordial Wilderness, with extremely thick shells, and the Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal inside were even more troublesome than those before.
Styx sheathed the three blood swords, stood up from the blood Lotus Platform, and headed south towards the Chaos Realm. Halfway there, Taiqing himself came from the direction of Kunlun Mountain, and the two met in a gray-white halo. Taiqing glanced into his sleeve. "Out of seclusion?"
"I have emerged from seclusion. I have attained the Hunyuan Limitless."
"Congratulations. You managed to shoot those nine blood swords?"
"Shoot. Six blades will be dispatched in six directions to collect the middle and lower thousand worlds. I'll take three blades and head due south. I need to go to those three deepest Universe World myself."
Taiqing nodded, took out the All-Spirits Diagram from his sleeve, and spread it out in front of the Styx: "Nuwa's All-Spirits Diagram expanded nine thousand miles into the depths of Chaos. Among the expanded soul points, three of the largest shells were marked, one due east, one due west, and one due south. The one due south has the densest soul points, and the number of living beings inside is more than any of the previous ones. Moreover, the soul points are flickering—the cultivation levels of the Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal inside the shell are constantly fluctuating, as if they are constantly cultivating, fighting, breaking through, and cultivating again."
Styx memorized the All-Spirits Diagram and turned to head towards the depths of the Chaos in the due south. Before leaving, Taiqing added, "Don't be too ruthless when you fight your three Blood God Clones. Taking in a shell is different from taking in a disciple. You have to keep the living creature inside to do the work. If you beat them too hard and the living creature dies, taking in the shell won't be of any use."
Styx waved his hand without turning his head. "Don't worry. Even if I flood them, I'll make sure they're in for a world of trouble."
Deep within the Chaos to the due south, the first Blood God Clone of the Styx collided with the first Universe World.
The shell was covered with dense, dark red lines, each one writhing like countless serpents crawling across its surface. The Styx Blood God Clone pressed his hand against the shell, a warmth emanating from his palm. The lines on the shell suddenly accelerated their movement, drilling into his palm from all directions. He withdrew his hand, revealing a dark red blood bead in his palm, containing a complete Slaughter Laws. He crushed the bead, and from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable is here. Who goes there?"
The Styx Blood God Clone flicked away the fragments. "Styx, the blood patterns on your shell are quite impressive. They can grow on their own and even actively burrow into people's hands. It's a pity that what burrows in is your own blood. If I crush it, you'll feel the pain."
A cold laugh echoed from within the shell, and the dark red patterns on its surface suddenly exploded simultaneously, transforming into a blood-red cloud that enveloped the entire giant shell. Emerging from the cloud was an old man in a crimson robe, coiled around him by nine blood pythons, each holding a still-pulsating blood bead in its mouth, each bead sealing a complete Slaughter Laws. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper grinding iron. "This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million blood patterns, each formed from a drop of blood I release. For every blood bead you crush, I release ten more. The faster you crush them, the more I release."
The Styx Blood God Clone ignored him and took a step towards the very center of the shell. The blood-red patterns on the shell immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the blood-red patterns shattered into powder, but within three breaths, the powder regenerated into thicker blood-red patterns, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of blood-red patterns shattered, each layer twice as thick as before. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable stood in the clouds and laughed, "You've taken three steps, and the blood-red patterns on the shell have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the blood-red patterns on my shell will reach 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the blood-red patterns will wrap you in Blood Cocoon."
The Styx Blood God Clone stopped and glanced at the shell. The blood patterns on the shell were indeed growing wildly, but he noticed that the direction of the blood patterns was regular—they converged from the surface to the center, becoming denser towards the center. However, in the very center of the shell, there was a palm-sized area where the blood patterns were extremely sparse, so sparse that the shell material underneath could be seen. He pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Styx's Origin blood seeped from his fingertip. The blood droplet landed on the sparse area, and suddenly a small section of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless blood hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable.
"All ninety-nine million blood runes on your body are connected to the 'Myriad-Blood Pool' at the core of your shell." The Styx Blood God Clone withdrew his finger. "You release blood to nourish the runes; the more runes, the larger the pool, and the larger the pool, the more blood you can release. But there's a 'Blood Eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the Blood Eye is blocked, the pool can hold blood, but when the Blood Eye is open, all the blood in the pool leaks out. I just dripped a drop of Styx's Origin blood onto your Blood Eye Blood Eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."
The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable's expression changed drastically. A gurgling sound of blood leaking from within the shell emanated from it. The blood patterns on the shell began to wither, drying out layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell's inner material, which was covered in fine cracks. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable pressed the nine blood pythons onto the shell, which transformed into nine pillars of blood to support the surface. However, while the pillars could support the surface, they couldn't hold back the Blood Eye. The Blood Pool inside the shell continued to leak, the blood seeping out through the cracks. The Styx Blood God Clone a spot on the dried-out part of the shell, creating a crack. He crawled through the crack and landed beside the Blood Pool inside. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable was squatting at the bottom of the pool, trying to plug the Blood Eye with his hands; one plug, two leaks; two plugs, four leaks.
"Don't block it." The Styx Blood God Clone squatted by the pool, looking down. "Those Blood Eye of yours are the counterweight holes of the shell, the counterweight holes that came with the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You turned the shell into Blood Pool, and the counterweight holes became Blood Eye. The Blood Eye is the shell's self-regulation—if there's too much blood in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the Blood Eye to release blood and reduce its weight. You've blocked the Blood Eye, no wonder the shell is collapsing."
The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half of the Blood Eye, fill the pool with half the blood, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't spread all those blood patterns on the shell surface; leave 30% inside the shell as a blood reservoir, and 70% on the shell surface is enough."
The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable squatted at the bottom of the pool for a long time, then loosened his grip on the Blood Eye. The Blood Eye- red eye leaked for a while and then stopped on its own. The pool water level dropped from full to half, and the number of blood patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell was no longer shriveled, and the blood patterns were no longer erratic. He jumped out of the pool and handed the nine blood beads to the Styx Blood God Clone: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of regulating the Blood Eye for three days. I cultivated the Path of Ten Thousand Bloods for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I turned my own shell into a sieve. I don't even know when I blocked it."
The Styx Blood God Clone put the blood bead into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shell without using the Blood Eye, you'll have graduated."
When Styx's second Blood God Clone collided with the second Universe World, its shell was covered with a layer of translucent grayish-white mucus.
The mucous membrane wasn't thick, but the moment the Styx Blood God Clone touched it, he felt a suction force. The membrane pulled his palm in, drawing him into the shell. He struggled once but couldn't break free; only on the second attempt did he manage to pull his palm out, leaving a red mark around it from the suction. A soft, delicate voice came from inside the shell. "The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable is here. The mucous membrane on my shell is called the 'Myriad-Devouring Membrane.' Each touch absorbs a breath of cultivation. You touched it three times, and I absorbed three hundred years of your cultivation. If you touch it three more times, I'll absorb another three hundred years."
The Styx Blood God Clone rubbed off the red mark on its palm and blew a breath onto the mucous membrane of its shell. That breath was imbued with Styx Blood Fiend, staining the membrane a dark red. Suddenly, a crack appeared in the dark red area, and a large amount of grayish-white viscous fluid gushed out, flowing onto the shell's surface. The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable inside the shell exclaimed, "What did you pour into my membrane?"
"Blood Fiend. Your Myriad-Devouring Membrane Absorption cultivation relies on the Devouring Law within the membrane. Blood Fiend is specifically designed to counter the Devouring Law—once Blood Fiend enters the membrane, the Devouring Law swallows it as nourishment, only to find that it can't digest the Blood Fiend, causing it to rupture inside the membrane." The Styx Blood God Clone reached out and tore at the tear in the membrane, ripping off a large piece of grayish-white membrane. The membrane turned to ash in his hand, containing hundreds of Devouring Laws that had been blocked by Blood Fiend.
The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable burst out of the shell, a thin, withered old man covered in a flowing, grayish-white membrane, from which new membranes constantly grew. He slapped his hand on the shell, causing the membrane to swell to a thickness of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), transforming the entire shell into a giant grayish-white egg. The Styx Blood God Clone kicked the egg, driving it half a foot deep, and when he pulled his foot out, a layer of the membrane stuck to his shoe. He sat down on the shell, pulled a blood sword from his sleeve, and stabbed it into the egg. Each stab created a crack, from which more membrane flowed out to seal it.
"Your membrane is getting thicker the more you try to block it." The Styx Blood God Clone plunged the blood sword into the giant egg, the sword transforming into a bloodline that burrowed into the egg's interior. The bloodline circled the egg, figuring out the structure of the Myriad-Devouring Membrane —the membrane was divided into nine layers from the shell inwards, each layer controlling a different type of devouring. The innermost layer was connected to a "Myriad-Devouring Well" in the center of the inner world, containing all the cultivation power that the Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable had absorbed over tens of thousands of years. The bloodline slipped through the cracks in the giant egg and swam towards the Myriad-Devouring Well. The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable sensed something was wrong and tried to pull all nine layers of membrane towards the well opening simultaneously, but the bloodline was faster, burrowing into the well opening first and exploding into a cloud of blood mist. The blood mist, carrying the cultivation power from the well, surged upwards, forcing the nine layers of membrane outwards. The giant egg cracked open in the middle, and the Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable fell out of the crack, crashing to the ground.
"You blew up my well?" Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable sat on the ground rubbing his back.
"It didn't explode. I stirred up the cultivation energy in your well, letting it escape on its own. Your well contained tens of thousands of years' worth of cultivation energy; it was so full the well cover couldn't hold it down. I helped you release some gas." The Styx Blood God Clone withdrew the blood threads. "Your Myriad-Devouring Membrane is quite well-cultivated, but you only absorb without spitting it out. The membrane keeps getting thicker and thicker, until it eventually wraps the shell like an egg, and no living thing can get out. If you keep three layers of the membrane for absorbing, three layers for spitting out, and three layers for storing, the shell won't wrap like an egg."
The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable stood up and patted the membrane on his body. "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll lend you my Blood Fiend to practice my membrane for three days. I've cultivated the Myriad Devouring Dao for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, my own membrane wrapped me up and killed me; even the living thing inside couldn't get out. How shameful."
The Styx Blood God Clone condensed the Blood Fiend into a blood bead and handed it to him. "I'll lend you the Blood Fiend. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you've trained to the point where your membrane can spit things out on its own, you'll have graduated."
When the third Blood God Clone of the Styx collided with the third Universe World, its shell was completely smooth, without any patterns, like a pebble that had been washed by the sea for ten thousand years.
The Styx Blood God Clone pressed against the shell three times, each time hitting nothing. The moment his hand touched the shell, it suddenly hardened, so hard that even the blood essence couldn't penetrate it. A lazy voice came from inside the shell. "The Myriad-Void Dao Venerable is here. This shell of mine is called the 'Myriad-Void Shell.' Every point on the shell is hollow. When you press it, the shell will automatically judge the force you apply—if the force is light, it will let you hit nothing; if the force is heavy, it will press harder than you. Press away, and tell me when you get tired."
The Styx Blood God Clone blew three breaths onto the shell's surface, each breath sliding away without leaving a trace. He circled the shell once and discovered a tiny, shallow pit with a fine crack along its edge, filled with dried gray grime. He removed the grime and found a complete but withered law encased within. Following the crack, he saw it led to a grayish-white altar in the center of the shell's inner world. Seated cross-legged on the altar was a semi-transparent old man, all the laws surrounding him withered, except for a tiny, flickering grayish-white light on his chest.
"Myriad-Void Dao Venerable," the Styx Blood God Clone called out through the shell, "Your Myriad-Void Shell is powered by the altar inside. The laws on the altar have all withered, which is why the shell is so hard—so hard that it has even blocked its own power supply. You've turned your shell into a dead shell."
The old man inside the shell opened one eye. "I know. But I cultivate the Void Dao, and the Void Dao of Emptiness ultimately leads to emptiness—emptiness of the shell, emptiness of the shell, emptiness of the laws, even emptiness of oneself. I realized halfway through my cultivation that I had gone too far in emptiness, and the energy supply lines were also completely empty. I can't change it back."
The Styx Blood God Clone placed his palm on the crack and poured Styx blood into it. The blood seeped into the crack, flowing along the withered laws towards the altar. When it reached the altar, the grayish-white light spot on the old man's chest suddenly twitched; the withered laws absorbed the blood and began to turn green again. The old man looked down at the greening laws on his body, stunned for a long time. "Your blood can revive withered laws?"
"The blood of the Styx nourishes withered things. The laws within you are withered because they are too empty. Pour the blood in to fill the empty parts, and the laws will come back to life." The Styx Blood God Clone filled the cracks with blood and took two steps back. "Repair your Myriad-Void Shell again, this time leaving seven parts empty and three parts remaining. Use those three parts as energy supply lines. Seven parts empty is enough for you to cultivate the Void Dao, and leaving three parts will prevent the shell from hardening into pebbles."
Myriad-Void Dao Venerable rose from the altar, his surrounding laws transforming from withered to azure, from azure to flowing, and from flowing to solid. His Myriad-Void Shell softened, returning from a pebble to its original shape. He opened a crack in the shell and emerged, bowing to the Styx Blood God Clone: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you. Lend me your blood to nourish the altar for three days. I cultivated the Void Dao of Emptiness for tens of thousands of years, only to die in the end. If it weren't for your intervention, I'd still be squatting in the shell, waiting to die."
The Styx Blood God Clone condensed the blood into a bead and handed it to him. "I'll lend you the blood. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you reach the point of 'Seven Parts Void, Three Parts Retained,' you'll be considered a master."
As the three Blood God Clone carried the shells of the three Universe World back to the Primordial Wilderness World, the Styx True Body had already set up three Blood Jade Tables on the shore of the Blood Sea. The first Blood God Clone led the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable to the first table, the second led the Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable to the second table, and the third led the Myriad-Void Dao Venerable to the third table. The three sat down at the tables, and Styx looked at them one by one, then turned to the Taiqing True Body and said, "Now that we've collected the three Universe World in the south, where should we put the shells?"
Taiqing himself poked half his head out from halfway up Kunlun Mountain: "Those three shells to the Southern Continent of Jambu. Bring the shells back and dismantle them first. After dismantling, sort them by size: the large shells will be used to connect with the continent, the medium shells will be used for materials, and the small shells will be used to feed the earth's veins."
Styx nodded and said to the three Blood God Clones, "Each of you take one to the south of the Southern Continent of Jambu to check the shells. Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable Lord's shell is dismantled, keep the blood patterns as teaching materials; Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable's shell is dismantled, keep the membranes for practicing Inhalation and Exhalation and exhalation; Myriad-Void Dao Venerable's shell is dismantled, keep the altar for cultivating the Seven Parts Void, Three Parts Retained. Let the craftsmen of City of Ten Thousand Crafts do the dismantling work; you just watch from the sidelines."
The three Blood God Clone received their orders and departed. The Styx main body sat on the edge of the Blood Sea and sent a message to the Human Dao Heavenly Net: "The Styx three Blood God Clones have collected three Great Universe World. The three Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal within have returned to the Primordial Wilderness. Any Blood God disciples of the Styx lineage who wish to learn how to collect shells may go to the southern part of the Southern Continent of Jambu to see the shells."
The message had been sent out for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea when Yin Xi replied from below, "Lord Styx, the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable Lord, and the Myriad-Void Dao Venerable have arrived at City of Ten Thousand Crafts and are squatting in front of the first level, the Character Recognition Pass. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable said he will start from the first level and break through to the ten thousandth level. The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable said he will borrow the membrane to practice Inhalation and Exhalation and exhaling for three days before breaking through. The Myriad-Void Dao Venerable said he will borrow the altar to practice the Seven Parts Void, Three Parts Retained before breaking through."
Styx replied, "Let them break it. After they're done, come find me in the Blood Sea, and I'll assign them tasks."
When the three Blood God Clones of the Styx carried the shells of the three Universe World back to the southern part of the Southern Continent of Jambu, the shell-dismantling team sent by City of Ten Thousand Crafts had already set up camp beside the shell pile. The leader was Master Mo's seventh disciple, surnamed Lu, who led three hundred craftsmen, each with Shell-Dismantling Chisel, Shell-Dismantling Crowbar, and Shell-Dismantling Hammer at their waist, and a bundle of Gray-White Wedges newly made by Master Mo on their backs. Master Lu circled the three shells three times, tapped the shell surfaces with his hammer, and turned to the three Blood God Clones of the Styx, saying, "The dismantling methods for these three shells are different. The blood-patterned shells must be dismantled from the Blood Eye inwards, the membrane shells must be peeled outwards from the membrane cracks, and the empty shells are the most troublesome—the surface looks smooth, but the inside is full of cavities. When dismantling, we have to pour gray-white glue in as we go, otherwise the shell will collapse halfway through and bury the dismantling team inside."
The first Blood God Clone of the Styx summoned the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable: "Where is the Blood Eye inside your shell? Point it out to Master Lu."
The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable squatted beside the shell and pointed to the center of the shell with his finger. "The Blood Eye is here. I originally covered it with Blood Patterns, but after you told me to leave 30% of the Blood Bank, the Blood Eye was exposed." Master Lu leaned closer to take a look. The Blood Eye wasn't large, about the thickness of a fist, and its opening was covered with dried scabs. He tapped the edge of the Blood Eye three times with his Shell-Dismantling Chisel. The scabs cracked, and a stream of old blood gushed out, mixed with fragments of Blood Patterns. Master Lu inserted Gray-White Wedges into the Blood Eye, inserting it three inches deep, and the Blood Eye was held in place, stopping the outflow. He turned and waved to the shell-dismantling team. "Dismantle from the Blood Eye inwards. The first layer is the Blood Patterns, the second is the Blood Bank partition, and the third is the Shell Core. The Blood Patterns that are removed belong to the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable, the Blood Bank partition belongs to the Medicine-Engineering City, and the Shell Core belongs to the Earthly Dao Formation Network."
The dismantling team followed Master Lu's method, dismantling the shell. The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable squatted nearby, watching for a while, then suddenly stood up and walked into the shell. "I know the blood bank partitions well; I'll help you dismantle them." He crawled inside and removed the nine layers of blood bank partitions one by one, passing them out. Master Lu took one, and they were stacked onto the cart in the Medicine-Engineering City. When they reached the seventh layer, the Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable Master Lu. A layer of grayish-white crystals was stuck to the back of the partitions, sealing hundreds of Blood-Pattern Laws within. He turned the partition over and examined it for a long time. "When did these crystals grow? I've been repairing blood banks for tens of thousands of years and I've never seen anything like this."
The first Blood God Clone of the Styx leaned over for a look. "The blood bank was too full during the years the Blood Eye was blocked, and the pressure caused the Blood-Pattern Laws to crystallize. When you removed the partition, the crystals fell down with it. Perfect timing, the Medicine-Engineering City is short of Blood-Pattern Laws for alchemy." The Myriad-Blood Demon Venerable pried the crystals off piece by piece and threw them onto the Medicine-Engineering City cart, muttering as he did so, "I've cultivated for tens of thousands of years, and I didn't even know I'd created crystals."
Master Lu dispatched a second team to dismantle the membrane shell. The team leader, surnamed Zhang, specialized in dismantling membrane shells. He led his men to climb onto the shell surface, inserted a Shell-Dismantling Crowbar into the crack, and pried up a large piece of grayish-white membrane. The membrane was peeled off and laid on the ground, revealing an even thinner membrane underneath, densely covered with patterns of the Devouring Law. Master Zhang tapped the inner membrane with a hammer, then turned to the Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable and said, "Your membrane has nine layers. The outermost layer is the thickest and toughest, while the innermost layer is the thinnest and most brittle. When dismantling it, you must start from the outside in, peeling off one layer at a time. Stack the peeled membrane pieces neatly according to the layers. When you practice Inhalation and Exhalation and spitting out, practice from the outside in, replacing the next layer after completing one."
Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable squatted beside him, helping to peel off the membrane. He stopped abruptly at the fifth layer, turning the membrane over to look at the back. "There are words on the back of this membrane." Master Zhang leaned closer to look. The back of the membrane was densely covered with extremely fine characters, the writing crooked and uneven, as if scratched with a fingernail. Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable held the membrane up to the light, scrutinizing it for a long time, then suddenly laughed, "I carved this 30,000 years ago. Back then, I had just begun cultivating the Wan Shi Dao, and fearing I would forget, I carved the Inhalation and Exhalation ratio of each layer of the membrane on the back. Later, the membrane grew thicker and thicker, completely covering the characters."
Master Zhang carefully placed the engraved membranes into a separate wooden box. "Don't unpack these membranes; keep them as teaching materials. When you teach your apprentices in the future, turn the membranes over and show them to them; it's more effective than just talking." The Myriad-Devouring Dao Venerable took the wooden box, hugged it to his chest, and squatted down beside the shell, wiping the dust off the membranes with his sleeve. "I cultivated the Myriad Devouring Dao for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I couldn't even find the characters I carved myself. If I hadn't unpacked them, these characters would still be buried inside the membranes."
The empty shell was the most difficult part. Master Lu personally led the team, dismantling one layer and filling it with a layer of grayish-white glue. After removing the first layer, it was indeed full of cavities, with dried remnants of laws hanging on the walls, which crumbled at the slightest touch. Master Lu filled the cavities with glue, dismantling one layer at a time, and it took three days to reach the core. The core was a grayish-white altar, covered with Void Dao patterns, and in the middle of the patterns was an extremely deep crack, the very crack through which the third Blood God Clone the Styx poured blood. Master Lu tapped the crack with a chisel, and a few drops of grayish-white blood seeped out. The blood dripped onto the altar, and the Void Dao patterns on the altar suddenly lit up.
Myriad-Void Dao Venerable squatted beside the altar, dabbing his finger with blood onto the cracks. "After the blood was poured in, the cracks slowly turned green again, taking three days to fully recover. After that, the altar itself grew a new layer of cracks, covering the original cracks." Master Lu tapped the newly grown cracks on the altar with a hammer; the sound was dull, much thicker than the old cracks. He turned to the dismantling team and said, "We won't dismantle this altar; we'll move the whole thing. We'll move it to the ninth floor of the City of Ten Thousand Crafts's Craft Tower, as a teaching material for Myriad-Void Dao Venerable. From now on, anyone who overdoes their Void Dao will have to squat on this altar for three days. After that, they'll know how to leave Seven Parts Void, Three Parts Retained."
It took seven days to dismantle the three shells. The materials were divided into three groups: the Blood-Pattern Laws Pattern Shell were loaded into seventeen trucks and sent to the Medicine-Engineering City to refine Hemostatic Pills; the Membrane Shell's membranes were stacked in nine layers into nine boxes and sent to the third floor of the City of Ten Thousand Crafts's Craft Tower as teaching materials for inhalation and Inhalation and Exhalation; the cavity wall residues from the empty shell were loaded into twenty-three trucks and sent to the Cold-Engineering City to be mixed into the ice house's paint—the cavity wall residues absorb sound, so even with a strong sea breeze, the ice house won't be noisy when coated on the walls.