Chapter 314: Mythical Tianke?

Chapter 314: Mythical Tian Gu?

Liu Yu and her brother looked utterly bewildered.

Princess Huansha, on the other hand, was filled with curiosity.

Chen Fan’s words left them all perplexed.

Chen Fan’s world—only the dead could enter?

What did that mean?

The underworld?

Qi Yuan, however, seemed to ponder: “If you have to die to get in, is there another way?”

He hadn’t cleared the game yet, and he had no desire to die.

“Now it’s my turn to ask… That thing in the water you used to fish for the sea monster—was it a strange crystal with a sea monster inside?” Chen Fan asked seriously.

“Yes,” Qi Yuan nodded. “Now answer my question about the other way.”

Chen Fan continued, “Let me see it first. I’ll answer all your later questions at once.”

Seeing this, Qi Yuan didn’t waste any more time.

Scheming and calculating who got the better deal?

That wasn’t his style.

If the other party had deceived him, he could always just kill him with a single sword stroke.

With a flick of his hand, the sea surface rustled loudly.

A one-cubic-meter transparent crystal flew out of the water.

Inside the crystal, a mutated sea monster was clearly visible.

At the sight, Liu Yu and her brother’s eyes widened: “Such strength! That must be over a hundred jin, right?”

A hundred-jin object flung up like that—he must have taken a high-grade gene potion.

Chen Fan, standing nearby, looked surprised.

He hadn’t expected to find a qilin in the wilderness.

The crystal before him, along with the mutated sea monster, weighed far more than a hundred jin—thousands, nearly ten thousand jin.

An ordinary blood warrior wouldn’t have such immense strength.

His gaze fell on the mutated sea monster, growing complicated. After a few breaths, he sighed in relief: “Its aura is gone…”

He had come here because he sensed the aura of the King of the Muri Demon Fish.

When he saw the sea monster swimming away, he feared the King had broken free from its seal.

Though weapons like the Eye of Heaven were formidable now, if the King ran rampant, it would still cause considerable casualties.

So, if he found the King still alive, he would have stopped the man before him and sealed it again.

Now that the sea monster’s aura was extinguished, there was no need to interfere.

“Alright, now it’s your turn to answer me: besides death, what other way is there to enter the world you come from?” Qi Yuan asked again.

This matter was crucial to him.

He even suspected that the path of the Spirit Dao Martial Lord lay in that place the man spoke of—where one goes only after death.

Chen Fan looked at Qi Yuan with a strange expression: “Given your strength, you should have entered it by now.

Once you break the martial limit and become a blood warrior, you can sense the Bloodscape and, in a mysterious way, roam the Yellow Springs.”

Back when he broke the martial limit, he had glimpsed a corner of the Yellow Springs.

Any warrior who breaks the martial limit can sense the Bloodscape and enter the Yellow Springs in a special form, wandering through it once.

“But it’s only that one chance,” Chen Fan said, a look of recollection in his eyes. “The longer you stay there, the more benefits you gain… but the greater the drawbacks too—it pollutes your bloodline, shortening your life.”

Chen Fan revealed a great deal of useful information.

Qi Yuan listened intently, curiosity in his eyes.

“Why?”

Chen Fan hesitated, then finally chose to answer: “The martial path lies in the bloodline. The stronger the bloodline, the greater the power.

And in that place, there are many compatible bloodlines, allowing you to rapidly improve your martial cultivation.”

“But… because bloodlines differ, devouring too many leads to conflict and madness?” Qi Yuan guessed.

“Yes,” Chen Fan nodded, looking at Qi Yuan with approval.

Clearly, Qi Yuan had never entered that place, yet he could deduce such things.

It showed his profound understanding of the martial path.

“So, if you want to go further on the martial path, you must enter there.

But alas… that place is nothing but a cage.

You’ve never been inside, so I advise you not to go.”

With that, Chen Fan said no more.

He left with Liu Yu and her brother.

Qi Yuan watched Chen Fan’s retreating back and waved: “Thank you, random NPC commentator, for telling me so much.

Even though you have no name, if I ever make a movie as a director, I’ll definitely cast you as the lead.”

Chen Fan paid no heed to Qi Yuan’s words.

In an instant, the vast yacht was left with only Qi Yuan, Princess Huansha, and a pile of mutated sea monsters.

Qi Yuan looked at the monsters and murmured, “If you’d just lain low and not sought progress, honestly, finding you would have cost me some effort.”

With that, he showed no mercy and raised his hand.

In that moment, hundreds of sea monsters turned to mush.

This time, Qi Yuan didn’t promise to return them to the sea.

From each monster, a single drop of blood oozed out.

From the King of the Muri Demon Fish, three drops the size of soybeans emerged.

One by one, Qi Yuan collected all the blood.

“Princess Paramecium, let’s go back.”

With the blood collected, Qi Yuan didn’t want to break the martial limit out here on the sea.

According to Chen Fan, when breaking the martial limit, every warrior has a chance to sense the Bloodscape and, in a special form, roam that realm.

If he broke through now, his soul might wander off, the yacht might capsize—what then?

He needed to return to the hotel.

There, he could set up a formation and break through—that would be the simplest way.

Half a day later.

Inside the hotel.

Around Qi Yuan, formations were laid out densely.

These formations were enough to ensure his safety.

Even a great earthquake or a massive flood could not carry him away.

At that moment, he flicked his finger.

Instantly, hundreds of drops of blood floated beside Qi Yuan.

A fierce light burst from his eyes.

He took a deep breath, and in an instant, all those crystalline drops of blood entered his lower abdomen.

Qi Yuan's eyes turned bloodshot at that moment.

His forehead seemed to become greasy and shiny.

Qi Yuan closed his eyes; he seemed to hear the roar of waves, and also the swirling of yellow sand.

The blood within his veins churned and boiled continuously, until finally a single drop of extremely blood-red, eerie blood coalesced.

"Scatter."

With Qi Yuan's soft shout, that drop of blood suddenly dispersed, spreading into his five viscera and six bowels, his eight extraordinary meridians, and his four limbs.

Qi Yuan's body suddenly grew stronger at that moment.

"Is this the feeling of breaking through the martial limit?

It's completely different from the martial limit..."

Qi Yuan uttered some literary nonsense.

Now, without using Dao techniques, relying solely on martial prowess, he could contend with those at the fourth layer of Qi Refining.

"So, breaking through the martial limit and becoming a Blood Warrior is the beginning of the path to martial transcendence?"

Qi Yuan was full of anticipation.

He closed his eyes.

Before him was a sea of blood, silent and devoid of any sound—or rather, no sound reached him.

Qi Yuan was sensing the Blood Scene Land as Chen Fan had instructed.

"A place condensed from blood?"

Qi Yuan looked at the Blood Scene Land ahead, lost in thought.

If an ordinary martial artist saw this Blood Scene Land, even if they wanted to enter, they would be helpless and without means.

But Qi Yuan's own strength was extremely high, and his control over his soul and divine sense had reached its limit.

To enter the Blood Scene Land, he only needed to probe his soul into it.

His soul, like a fish, plunged fiercely into the Blood Scene Land.

At that moment, an ethereal voice entered Qi Yuan's ears.

[In the thirteenth year of Tianqi, war and chaos reigned, disasters abounded.

In Yunyan County, the genius martial artist Luo Bufan broke through the martial limit, suspected of shattering the void and ascending.

The Chen clan and the Luo clan were slaughtered by monsters.

Mission: Find out the truth.

Reward: Body-Tempering Blood Pill.]

"?? Am I playing a game within a game?" Qi Yuan was slightly stunned.

He had come here to play a game in the first place.

And now the game content was to continue playing a game.

What is this, a nesting doll?

"So, this hidden map is a dungeon similar to the main god space?"

Qi Yuan guessed.

He had seen many such comics and animations.

He could easily accept this kind of setting.

In an instant, a vast amount of information flooded into Qi Yuan's mind.

Like an innate seed, his mind gained the memories of a game character and that character's understanding of the world's background.

After receiving this information, Qi Yuan was slightly stunned.

"This game is a mythical version... of Tianqi?"

The previous dynasty of Qinyuan Kingdom was called the Tianqi Dynasty, also the era of Luo Bufan.

After all, Qi Yuan had received compulsory education and had some understanding of ancient history.

Historically, the Tianqi Dynasty was just an ordinary feudal dynasty, without many cannons.

A plain feudal dynasty.

If there was anything peculiar, it was that there were many legends about martial artists.

Of course, the martial artists recorded in history books were somewhat mythologized.

But... in this game, the Tianqi Dynasty was a mythical version.

Martial artists could overturn rivers and seas.

And... in the Tianqi Dynasty, various monsters lived.

These monsters fed on humans.

None of this was in history textbooks.

Either the historians were all gone, and what Qi Yuan wrote was unofficial history, or this was the mythical game Tianqi.

Regardless, this game... let's play it first.

After all, in urban games, Qi Yuan had grown accustomed to leisure.

At that moment, he looked up and saw a somewhat damp earthen wall, with red curtains pasted on it, looking quite festive.

"Brother Qi... I don't want to, I'm unwilling, no..."

At that moment, a voice tinged with sobbing came.

A dark-skinned, rather ordinary-looking girl held a kitchen knife, tears still in her eyes.

She was wearing a wedding dress, which made her look even darker under the dim yellow light.

Hearing the woman's words, more memories flooded in, and Qi Yuan was quite speechless.

The girl before him had a very casual name: Xiao Mei.

It seems the game’s designer has given up and slacked off, unwilling to bother with proper names.

Calling her Xiaomei is one thing, but Xiaomei isn’t beautiful at all—dark-skinned, very ordinary.

This Xiaomei is the child bride picked up by the game character Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan’s character is set as a butcher, with a bit of family wealth, but he’s an inveterate gambler.

He always wanted to marry a pretty wife, but his child bride was plain-looking, so he named her Xiaomei.

As the saying goes, ten gambles nine losses—this character owes a huge debt to the gambling house.

Little does anyone know, the boss behind the gambling house in Yunyan County is a den of weasels.

Among them, Fourth Master Huang came to collect the debt from Qi Yuan, who couldn’t pay, so he pawned off his child bride.

Strangely enough, Fourth Master Huang fancies Xiaomei’s type.

Now, Fourth Master Huang has come to fetch the bride, ready to take Xiaomei as his wife.

At this moment, Xiaomei holds a kitchen knife, tears streaming from her eyes like rain: “You saved my life—I’ll give this life back to you. After I marry Fourth Master Huang, we’re quits!”

Xiaomei’s gaze at Qi Yuan holds anger, fear, and disappointment.

Qi Yuan shrugs: “We’re quits now.”

After all, it’s just a game setting.

Does that mean if the game gives him a father, he’d have to call that father “Dad” when he meets him?

Besides, right now, he has descended in his true form.

He’s not using the game character’s body, only adjusting his attire.

Qi Yuan’s cold, heartless words leave Xiaomei utterly despairing.

She had still fantasized that Brother Qi would have a change of heart and take her fleeing from Yunyan County.

But then…

Just then, a knock at the door shatters the night’s silence.

“Qi Er, open up! Is the wedding dress ready? You coward, hurry up and send the little lady out—don’t keep Fourth Master Huang waiting!”

Xiaomei holds the kitchen knife, her face streaked with tears, but not the delicate kind—instead, snot runs down her upper lip.

A glint of interest flickers in Qi Yuan’s eyes.

“A monster?”

To be honest, he finds the monsters of this world quite intriguing.

The bloodline martial arts of this world are rather interesting.

But as Qi Yuan takes a step, his mind falters.

Because… his cultivation… has dropped.

In the real world, he was nearly at the peak of Foundation Establishment, just a step away from Core Formation.

But now, his cultivation here is only at the peak of Qi Refinement.

“This is…”

Qi Yuan is stunned.

This is the first time he’s encountered such a situation.

It’s different from his past experiences in games.

His cultivation has been forcibly reduced by one major realm.

At that moment, Qi Yuan recalls the teachings of Great Sage Dazhi.

Among the Yang Spirit realms, there is one called the Realm of Ultimate Truth.

A Yang Spirit that has not reached the Realm of Ultimate Truth, when rashly entering a world with entirely different rules, will have its cultivation abruptly drop by one major realm.

If one reaches the Minor Realm of Ultimate Truth, it drops by one minor realm.

Now, Qi Yuan faces this very situation.

His magical cultivation has dropped by one major realm, but his martial cultivation remains.

This puts Qi Yuan on subtle alert.

But not much.

It’s just a game—have fun.

He pushes open the door, walks into the courtyard, and throws the gate wide.

Outside the gate stand several burly men, thick-waisted and broad-shouldered, with fierce, menacing looks.

Beside the men is a sedan chair, and outside it stands an old man in a silk robe, his face kind and benevolent, with a gentle brow—the sort who, on TV, would look like a good person.

The old man seems drenched in thick perfume; from a distance, Qi Yuan catches a strange odor.

It’s like a person with body odor drenched in cheap, strong perfume, standing next to you in a cramped, dusty elevator that hasn’t been cleaned in years—the smell is overwhelming.

This old man is Fourth Master Huang. At first glance, he looks human, but on closer inspection, he has a pair of rat ears.

Before the uninvited guests outside can speak, Qi Yuan speaks first: “Are you Rat-Ear Man?”

He’s seen cat-eared girls, and now he’s encountered a rat-eared man.

This completely shatters his fantasies about these… creatures.

But then again, the vast world has all sorts of wonders—maybe some gay men don’t like effeminate boys but prefer the rat-eared type.

“How dare you speak to Fourth Master Huang like that? Where’s the little lady? Come out now!” The burly man, wearing a short linen shirt open at the chest, reveals yellow chest hair.

“Little yellow-hair, an NPC—how dare you speak to me like that?

Don’t you know that, according to the laws of Tianhuo, trespassing is illegal?” Qi Yuan is adept at wielding legal weapons.

Though the law is a tool of the ruling class, as a successor, Qi Yuan doesn’t mind using it.

Besides, as a father of two daughters, he has always detested yellow-hairs.

Even if this yellow hair isn’t on his head, who says yellow chest hair doesn’t count?

The yellow-haired man, enraged and humiliated, is about to throw a punch at Qi Yuan.

He’s done such things many times before.

But then, the refined Fourth Master Huang speaks: “Today is a joyous day—no bloodshed.

I know you’re displeased that I’m marrying your child bride, Qi Er.

But the contract of sale was signed by you.”

Fourth Master Huang isn’t human, but he loves playing the part of a human, acting according to human nature.

“Qi Er signed it—what’s that got to do with me, Qi Yuan?”

Qi Yuan curses loudly and throws a punch directly.

This time, he doesn’t use magic, but martial arts.

Having just broken through in martial arts, he needed to practice his skills.

Facing these minor bosses and mobs, Qi Yuan once again found the thrill of playing a game.

"Kid, you've grown bold? Learned some fake moves and dare to lay a hand on Master Huang? You're asking for death!"

Huang Mao flew into a rage and struck directly at Qi Yuan. Clearly, he was also a trained fighter—just yesterday he had thrashed Qi Er, and he didn't take Qi Yuan seriously at all.

(End of this chapter)