Hun Han pinched his thigh hard.
"Hush!"
The pain shooting through his leg made Hun Han suck in a sharp breath. It also made him realize that what lay before him was real. He was not dreaming. After merely one night, He Yuan's corpse had truly turned into a shriveled mummy.
"But this isn't scientific!"
Hun Han was puzzled. How could a corpse turn into a mummy after just one night? It completely defied scientific logic! Suddenly, a possible explanation surfaced in his mind.
To verify it, Hun Han left the cave. When he returned, he was carrying a snow-white rabbit.
The rabbit was barely alive when Hun Han tossed it onto the ground. Then, he sat cross-legged again. Unlike last night, he did not close his eyes before beginning to circulate the body-tempering technique he had obtained—the Creation Ascending Dragon Art.
As Hun Han circulated the technique, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
Strands of blood drifted out from the rabbit's wounds, as though drawn by some magnetic force. The streams of blood formed a bewitching ribbon that floated through the air before finally... finally touching Hun Han's skin. A strange energy seeped out of the blood and entered his body.
Although that energy was extremely faint, Hun Han could still keenly sense its presence. As the technique circulated, the energy nourished his skin.
"This..."
Hun Han was utterly stunned.
As the blood drifted away, the rabbit's corpse, whose skin had still retained some elasticity, turned into a dried corpse right before his eyes.
"This... I actually did this."
After the shock passed, Hun Han felt even greater delight. He could not help but praise it aloud. "As expected of an advanced ancient body-tempering technique. It actually possesses such bizarre properties. By devouring the blood of living creatures, it can strengthen one's body. Well, this truly fits that saying: Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things as sacrificial dogs. Devour heaven and earth, seize the creations of heaven and earth."
As long as he had enough blood, Hun Han believed that one day, he would reach the terrifying realm described by the technique: a fist that could shatter the heavens, a kick that could split the earth, and a physical body capable of rivaling true dragons.
"Now that I have a body-tempering technique, I only lack a qi-condensing technique!" Hun Han muttered.
There were three paths of cultivation for a Dou Zhe: body tempering, qi condensation, and soul gathering.
Thinking of a qi-condensing technique reminded Hun Han of the rusty Black Sword he had obtained from the Soul Hall's Library Pavilion.
Hun Han touched his storage ring with a finger, then flicked it. A black sword appeared in his hand.
If Hun Han had chosen a technique from the Library Pavilion, he would not be troubled by lacking a qi-condensing technique now. However, Hun Han did not regret it. This was the road he had chosen. Even if it was filled with tears, he had to drink them dry.
"According to Aunt Qin, to see whether one is the owner of a treasure, one only needs to see whether one has gained the recognition of the treasure's intelligence."
Hun Han placed the Black Sword on a protruding rock. Then he sat cross-legged, drove his soul power into the sword, and tried to sense the intelligence within it.
Qin Lan had said that any artifact of Earth rank or above possessed a trace of intelligence. A Heaven-rank treasure could even attack enemies on its own.
Hun Han did not know whether he had succeeded. With his eyes closed, there was nothing but darkness around him. After searching bitterly, he still detected no unusual signs.
"Looks like this Black Sword isn't even Earth rank."
Hun Han sighed. This Black Sword had been casually piled away in that dust-covered room. Its blade had no luster and was covered in rust. It seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary black sword.
"After all these years, this Saint has finally found a successor!"
Just as Hun Han was about to give up and open his eyes, an aged voice that seemed to come from ancient times rang out in his mind.
"Who? Who's speaking?"
The moment Hun Han spoke, a speck of light like a firefly appeared in the dark space. Before long, it grew brighter and brighter, slowly expanding, as though something were about to awaken.
At last, the light condensed into an old man in white robes, with white hair, a youthful face, and an expression of unwavering resolve.
Could this be the old man hidden inside the sword?
Did Hun Han also possess a protagonist's halo, allowing him to have an old man accompany him as he roamed the world?
As someone who had transmigrated across worlds, Hun Han could not help thinking so. Looking at the old man before him, Hun Han asked, "Old Grandpa, who are you?"
The old man in white stroked his beard and smiled kindly. "Me? You may call me the Omni Sword Saint!"
"Omni Sword Saint?"
Hun Han pondered this before asking, "Then you aren't a sword spirit?"
The old man in white replied, "Of course not. I am merely its former owner. The current sword spirit has already fallen into slumber. It was I who summoned you earlier!"
Hun Han asked, "Why?"
The old man in white replied, "Because I wish to bestow a great fortune upon you and make you the successor of the Omni Sword Saint. No more nonsense. I am now only a remnant soul. Heaven has treated me well by allowing me, during the final three days of my lingering existence, to encounter a Dou Zhe with an Omni Attribute spiritual root."
Hun Han was stunned. "Old Grandpa, are you saying you are about to die?"
That was not right. Why was this not following the usual script? Weren't old men hidden within artifacts supposed to accompany the protagonist until the very end? Why was this old man going to die the moment he met him?
The old man in white nodded slightly and waved a finger. A streak of golden light entered the depths of Hun Han's sea of consciousness.
"Little fellow, do not be sad. Everyone dies eventually. This is the Supreme Nine Yuan Art, a Heaven-rank ancient scroll that I obtained from a ruin in the past. At the time, the scroll was only incomplete, yet it still allowed me to step into the Dou Sheng realm. After my fall, I spent a million years studying it and have now completed it. With this scroll, even without Source Qi, you can still break through to the Dou Emperor realm." The old man in white seemed to be explaining things to himself.
Hun Han sucked in a breath. A seemingly complete cultivation technique immediately appeared within his sea of consciousness. This technique was indeed exceptionally special; only someone with nine constitutions could cultivate it.
Hun Han clicked his tongue inwardly. Such a heaven-defying technique actually existed on the Dou Qi Continent: one could become an Emperor even without Source Qi!
Thinking of the space he was in, Hun Han quickly asked again, "Old Grandpa, how do I awaken the sword spirit?"
A sword that could serve as the weapon of a Sword Saint surely could not be ordinary.
The old man in white replied, "There is no need to awaken it. When the time comes, it will awaken naturally!"
"Oh."
Hun Han then asked, "Then how can I restore this sword to its former glory?"
The old man in white smiled. "There is no need to restore it. It looked like this when I obtained it!"
Hun Han was stunned. "What?"
After answering several questions and imparting a cultivation technique to Hun Han, the old man's glow grew fainter and fainter, nearly becoming transparent. At last, one sentence echoed through the dark space for a long while:
"It is a pity that I have so little soul power left. Otherwise, I could have passed on one or two sword techniques to you. Oh, right. If one day you ascend to the Great Desolation Plane, help me look after a woman named Mu Shanshan. If she is still alive!"
The Great Desolation Plane?
Could he be referring to the Great Ruler Plane?
After becoming a Dou Emperor, the plane one ascended to was the Great Ruler Plane!
Thinking this, Hun Han gave a slight bow toward the place where the old man in white had once stood and solemnly said, "May you have a safe journey, Senior. This junior will remember!"
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