"The Blood Shadow Heaven-Devouring Formation?"
Shi Yi's double pupils contracted slightly as he recognized the formation. Legend had it that once this formation took shape, it could devour the blood essence of every living creature within a hundred li. Even a Venerable Realm expert would struggle to escape.
At the center of the canyon, the Wind-Thunder Leopard had clearly realized the danger as well. Lightning surged around its body as it tried to break out. Yet the flight paths of the Blood Shadow Bats had gradually formed an enormous blood-colored rune, sealing off the entire space.
"Roar!"
The Wind-Thunder Leopard let out a furious roar. Countless bolts of lightning erupted from its body, blasting the approaching Blood Shadow Bats into bloody mist. But more Blood Shadow Bats immediately filled the gaps, and the formation's lines grew ever clearer.
High above, a blood-colored vortex a thousand zhang across was slowly taking shape, its terrifying suction beginning to manifest. Loose stones and trees rose from the ground one after another, swept into the vortex and instantly ground to dust.
Shi Yi withdrew his gaze and lingered no longer. The outcome of this battle was already sealed-even if the Wind-Thunder Leopard survived, it would pay a terrible price.
"That saved me quite a bit of trouble."
The corners of his lips lifted slightly. His Golden Roc Wings spread, and he turned into a streak of light that vanished into the horizon. Behind him, above the Blood-Colored Canyon, the enormous vortex had fully formed. Like a gaping maw poised to devour its prey, it swallowed everything beneath it...
The earth-shaking disturbances from the Blood-Colored Canyon gradually faded into the distance. Shi Yi streaked through the air as a beam of golden light, finally returning to the ancient palace complex deep within the secret realm. Clouds and mist wreathed the scattered halls, which exuded an air of age and mystery. His master-the woman with peerless double pupils-was cultivating in seclusion deep within the main hall, and her faint, elusive pressure enveloped the entire palace.
Shi Yi did not disturb his master, instead returning directly to his own side hall. He pushed open the heavy stone door. The room was simple and tidy, with only a few ancient bronze lamps burning steadily. He sat cross-legged on the jade couch, slowly closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing.
"Whew..."
With a long exhalation, a strange change began in Shi Yi's left eye. Its ink-black pupil gradually lost its color, turning pure silver-white. Wisps of white radiance flowed from his eye, gently enveloping his entire body like the first light of an early spring morning.
Hummm...
The void trembled slightly, and a vast aura of life suddenly blossomed. In that moment, the space around Shi Yi seemed to return to the dawn of creation, when all things first came into being. That silver-white light held the most primal source of life; every strand was enough to make dead wood bloom again and flesh grow upon bare bones.
Under this sacred radiance, the wounds Shi Yi had accumulated during a month of battle began to undergo astonishing changes. Within wounds deep enough to expose bone, the enemy runes lingering in his flesh were purified one by one, replaced by dazzling life runes that intertwined and shone. Each wound was like parched earth receiving blessed rain, greedily absorbing this power of creation.
Crack.
With a faint sound, the last wound finally closed. His newly grown skin was lustrous and white as jade, glowing faintly, even more flawless than before his injuries. Shi Yi slowly opened his eyes, countless scenes of life evolving reflected in his silver-white left pupil.
"The double pupils' power of creation truly is wondrous."
He murmured softly, feeling the surging vitality within him. This past month of training on the edge of life and death had enriched his combat experience. After all, he was not the original owner of this body, and his own combat experience was rather lacking, so learning to fight was extremely important.
By the first glimmer of dawn, Shi Yi had finished regulating his breathing. As his eyes opened and closed, silver radiance flowed through his left pupil, while dark light flickered in his right. The blood and qi within him surged like dragons; he had already returned to his peak condition.
"Creation and destruction arise together within the double pupils, while the Heaven Mending Technique seizes the very mysteries of heaven and earth. Among those at my level, worthy opponents truly are hard to find."
He strolled to the Alchemy Chamber deep within the secret realm. The instant the stone door opened, an ancient aura that seemed to span time and space washed over him. At the center of the chamber stood an enormous, four-sided cauldron, black throughout. The traces of countless years had settled into its body, yet it radiated a pressure that made the void tremble.
"...This is..."
Shi Yi's double pupils abruptly contracted. On the four sides of the Medicine Cauldron, he saw awe-inspiring images engraved:
On the eastern side, three thousand Chaos Gods and Demons roared at heaven and earth, each so lifelike that they seemed ready to burst out of the cauldron at any moment;
On the western side, the sun and moon alternated in endless cycles, while mountains and rivers rose and fell like dragons, embodying the ultimate truths of heaven and earth;
On the southern side, a True Dragon and a Divine Phoenix danced together, every feather and scale rendered in the finest detail;
On the northern side, stars were born, perished, and evolved amid a primordial scene from the universe's first dawn.
Most astonishing of all were the cauldron's handles-two yin-yang fish joined head to tail, ceaselessly revolving and transforming. They were actually enacting the Yin-Yang Great Dao! Its four legs resembled pillars holding up the heavens, their surfaces densely covered in Dao patterns that drew forth resonance from the void.
"Chaos as the furnace, yin and yang as the flame..." Shi Yi reached out unconsciously, only to jerk his hand back just before touching it. Countless ancient runes suddenly lit up across the cauldron, and a chaotic pressure originating from the dawn of creation erupted!
Boom!
The entire Alchemy Chamber shook violently, and the images on the cauldron seemed to come alive. Three thousand gods and demons roared in unison, the sun and moon shone together, dragons soared and phoenixes danced, and the universe unfolded anew... Before such visions, even someone as powerful as Shi Yi had to activate his double pupils to resist.
"What a Medicine Cauldron!" A brilliant gleam flared in Shi Yi's eyes. "With this cauldron's help, my path of cultivation would be far smoother."
Shi Yi's gaze sharpened. Power suddenly surged through his arms, and brilliant chains of runes appeared across his skin. His early-stage Array Formation Realm cultivation erupted in full, golden radiance rising around him. Even the air twisted and trembled beneath this divine strength.
"Rise!"
With his low shout, the ground beneath Shi Yi's feet cracked with a thunderous crash. Spiderweb fractures instantly spread across the entire Alchemy Chamber. Yet the chaotic Medicine Cauldron seemed fused with heaven and earth itself; its legs did not rise even half an inch from the ground.
"Hm?"
Shi Yi frowned slightly, runes flowing rapidly through his double pupils. He could clearly see that whenever he exerted force, the primordial Dao patterns on the cauldron's legs glimmered, channeling all the force he applied into the earth veins. This ancient cauldron was actually drawing on the power of the entire secret realm to resist outside force!
On his second attempt, the instant his palms touched the cauldron's handles, the pair of yin-yang fish suddenly spun faster, neutralizing all his strength instead.
Boom!
The recoil drove Shi Yi back three steps, leaving deep footprints in the ground. Looking at the ancient cauldron, which had not budged an inch, he suddenly chuckled. "I was too hasty. How could a supreme treasure like this be subdued through brute force?"
As he spoke, he swept his sleeve, and thirty-six mutton-fat jade bottles lined up in midair. Phantoms of different fierce beasts coiled around each bottle: Thunder Eagles wreathed in lightning, Fire Lions whose raging flames scorched the heavens, and even several bottles exuding the terrifying pressure of pure-blooded creatures.
"Blood essence from a late-stage Array Formation Realm Thunder Flood Dragon..."
"True blood from a peak Array Formation Realm Black Tortoise..."
All the jade bottles opened at once, and treasure blood of various colors poured down like rainbow waterfalls. Astonishingly, after these treasure bloods with conflicting properties fell into the cauldron, they separated and circulated on their own at its bottom, forming a pattern of the primordial eight trigrams. The engravings of Chaos Gods and Demons on the cauldron gradually began to glow with bloody light, and the entire Alchemy Chamber filled with a savage, primordial aura.
The instant the blood essence fell into the cauldron, all three thousand images of gods and demons opened their eyes at once!