A Blessing in Disguise

When Qin Yu woke, his head throbbed as though splitting apart, and every inch of his body ached. He slowly opened his eyes. Scattered sunlight filtered through the dense leaves like speckles, painfully dazzling.

A moment later, he came to his senses and abruptly sat up. Looking around, he found himself in a forest.

What had happened? Qin Yu rubbed his head and scanned his surroundings in confusion, the final scenes from the forbidden area surfacing in his mind.

"Wait!"

Qin Yu suddenly placed his hand on his chest and examined it carefully. His hands were completely unharmed. He then looked over the rest of his body and found his clothes tattered and covered in bloodstains, yet to his astonishment, there was not a single wound on him.

Filled with doubt, Qin Yu hurriedly examined his body from within. When his awareness reached his dantian, he cried out, "Ninth Level of the Martial Realm? Th-this dantian, why is it so large? Wait... this is the Nirvana Seed?"

Not only had his dantian somehow opened, but it was also enormous. As far as Qin Yu knew, when one first stepped into the Ninth Level of the Martial Realm, even the largest dantian opened would span no more than ten zhang. Yet his was like a vast lake spanning three hundred zhang!

What astonished Qin Yu even more was a bolt of purple lightning floating at the center of his dantian. Within that lightning was an oval seed. Looking carefully, he saw that it was the Nirvana Seed he had encountered before.

Yet the Nirvana Seed had changed somewhat. The black seed no longer bore only white patterns; purple patterns had appeared as well, making it look exceptionally strange.

"Th-this Thunder Power truly is one of the ultimate powers of heaven and earth? The Nirvana Seed absorbed the ultimate Thunder Power and completed its first nirvana, turning into a bolt of purple lightning? Does that mean it undergoes nirvana once whenever it absorbs one ultimate power of heaven and earth?"

"Wait, if it can absorb six ultimate powers of heaven and earth, will this Nirvana Seed truly undergo nirvana and become an immortal sacred medicine?" The more Qin Yu thought about it, the more excited he became. He had never expected to obtain such a heaven-defying fortune this time.

Afterward, he began examining his body again. What made Qin Yu shudder was the earth-shaking change in his fleshly body. Fine lightning threads, thin as hairs, actually filled his entire body.

"Were these left behind by the Thunder Power? No... even my bloodline contains lightning."

"Th-this is a Lightning Body?" Qin Yu was utterly shocked. He had not expected the Lightning Fire to temper his fleshly body into a Lightning Body.

What was a Lightning Body?

It was one type of constitution, but constitutions could be either innate or acquired, and they were further divided into ranks.

Ling Yao's Dao Body was also a type of constitution, but hers was innate. Generally speaking, innate constitutions were far more precious than acquired ones, as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. It could be said that so long as Ling Yao did not die young, she was destined for great achievements. During the Spirit Realm, her cultivation speed would be several times faster than that of ordinary people, and she would find it easier to comprehend the Dao—any Dao.

Once she reached the Dao Realm, the overwhelming strength of an Innate Dao Body would be displayed to the fullest.

Besides Dao Bodies, there were many other special constitutions, such as the Innate Sword Body, Mysterious Fire Body, Lightning Body, and so on. Though these special constitutions were not as formidable as Dao Bodies, in certain aspects they surpassed them.

Take the Innate Sword Body, for instance. Those with this constitution were born to practice the sword, born to comprehend the Sword Dao, and possessed advantages in the Sword Dao that ordinary people could never compare with.

The Lightning Body was the same. In other words, during the Spirit Realm, Qin Yu's spiritual energy would contain the power of lightning. Once used, it could produce unexpected effects.

If Qin Yu could comprehend the Dao of Lightning in the future, he would have a greater advantage than others in his comprehension of it.

"No, I can only be considered to possess the lowest grade among lightning constitutions, the Mysterious Lightning Body. I cannot yet be called a Lightning Body. What my body contains should be Mysterious Thunder Power, not Thunder Power."

Every constitution also had ranks. Take lightning constitutions, for example: they could be divided into several grades, with the Mysterious Lightning Body being the lowest and the Lightning Body the highest. Though the difference was only one word, they were worlds apart. In other words, only after the Mysterious Lightning Body continuously improved could it transform into a Lightning Body! Ling Yao's Dao Body was the same, though Qin Yu did not know much about such matters and could not determine its grade.

However, Qin Yu's body contained a trace of Thunder Power. In the future, he could use that trace of Thunder Power to raise the grade of his Mysterious Lightning Body. Given enough time, attaining a Lightning Body was not impossible!

"No, that's not right either. No matter how tyrannical the Lightning Fire was, no matter how dense the Dao charm of lightning it contained, it could not possibly transform me into a Mysterious Lightning Body. Moreover, the ancient texts state that generally, only after comprehending the Dao and being nourished by Dao charm could one's constitution possibly change. In other words, I still cannot be considered to have a Mysterious Lightning Body?" Qin Yu frowned and examined his body once more.

Yet what puzzled Qin Yu was that judging from the state of his body, he was unquestionably a Mysterious Lightning Body. Otherwise, even the blood in his meridians could not possibly contain Mysterious Thunder Power.

Other than that, there was only one possibility!

That was that Mysterious Thunder Power had originally lain hidden within his body. In other words, this fleshly body possessed a Mysterious Lightning bloodline. After being stimulated by the Lightning Fire, the power of that bloodline had awakened, resulting in the Mysterious Lightning Body.

But this only left Qin Yu even more confused. From what he knew of the Qin Family, they did not seem to be some great lineage, but an utterly ordinary family. How could their bloodline contain Mysterious Lightning?

Could it... be because of his mother, whose origins were shrouded in mystery?

Qin Yu felt that possibility was extremely small. Generally speaking, bloodlines came from the paternal line rather than the mother. Though there were a very few exceptions, most originated from the father's lineage. Could this body be one such exception?

Or was the Qin Family not as simple as it appeared?

Or perhaps his father, Qin Zhan, had something else he had never told him and was still keeping from him?

Qin Yu sank into deep thought.

Recalling that his father cultivated "Hundred Refinements," Qin Yu increasingly felt that his father was not as simple as he had imagined!

Just as Qin Yu was deep in thought, a familiar howl suddenly echoed beside his ears.

Qin Yu's heart stirred, and he abruptly turned to look behind him. His instinct was to leave, but he faintly heard several murmured voices as well, stirring his curiosity. After hesitating for a moment, Qin Yu slowly rose to his feet, changed his appearance back to its original form, and rushed forward.

A moment later.

Qin Yu stood beneath a great tree. When he saw the scene more than ten zhang away, disbelief filled his face.

Three young men were busy surrounding a fierce beast. That fierce beast was actually the imposing Azure Wolf King. It lay dead ahead of them, the flesh between its brows mangled and bloody, its eyes wide open as though it had died with its eyes unclosed.

What touched Qin Yu was that the Wolf King's jaws were tightly shut, and that familiar howl was coming from within its mouth.

A wolf cub was inside its mouth!

The three young men stood around the dead Wolf King, using several iron swords to forcibly pry open the Azure Wolf King's mouth.

"Be careful. Don't hurt the little wolf cub. A wolf cub born of the Wolf King will surely become a fourth-rank existence or even higher in the future. It'll definitely fetch a good price."

"We can't worry about that now. I heard even Dao Realm experts died here. Before long, this place will definitely become the focus of the Wu Kingdom. When that happens, who knows how many experts will come here?" another young man said in a low voice.

"Put some strength into it! Let's pry it open together! This beast is still biting down so tightly even in death. Isn't it afraid of suffocating the cub to death?"

Standing beneath the tree, Qin Yu listened to the three young men and frowned slightly. Even Dao Realm experts had died? What upheaval had occurred while he was unconscious?

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, he looked at the Azure Wolf King's miserable corpse and felt deeply moved. Though he had a grudge against the Wolf King, he had been the one at fault first. Moreover, if the Wolf King had not restrained Ling Yao, who knew what the situation might have become.

It could also be said that he owed the Wolf King a favor. Now that the Wolf King had died so tragically, Qin Yu naturally would not abandon the wolf cub. He planned to bring it back to Tianwu Main City for Qin Xue to raise. Given enough time, perhaps it could become one of Qin Xue's great supports.

A moment later, after the three took turns and finally managed to pry open the Wolf King's mouth, just as Qin Yu was about to step out, a cold voice rang out. "I want this cub!"

The newcomer was a young man in black, his cultivation at the Early Astral Qi Stage.

Upon hearing the voice, the three young men abruptly turned around. Sensing the sharp aura emanating from the black-clad young man, their expressions changed slightly. The strongest among them was only at the Martial Realm Fifth Level. How could they possibly be a match for him?

"Scram!" the black-clad young man suddenly roared. A spirit sword flew out and hovered directly above the three men's heads.

Seeing this, the three young men immediately fled for their lives. They could not see through the black-clad young man's cultivation, but one who could control a sword in flight was at least in the Gangqi Realm. How could they dare linger?

The black-clad young man did not recall his spirit sword. Instead, he looked toward where Qin Yu stood and said coldly, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist wishes to suffer a little before leaving?"

Qin Yu stepped out from beneath the great tree and slowly walked toward the black-clad young man.

The black-clad young man narrowed his eyes, snorted coldly, and sent the spirit sword slashing through the air toward Qin Yu.

Qin Yu bent slightly at the waist and charged wildly toward the spirit sword like a fierce leopard. His speed made the black-clad young man's expression change slightly.

Bang! Qin Yu smashed the incoming spirit sword away with one punch. As the sword flew backward, he took a fierce stride forward and seized it in his hand. Then, slowing his pace, Qin Yu stared at the black-clad young man and said, "I want this wolf cub!"

"Courting death!"