Chapter 159: Chapter 154: Second Layer
The Cold Ice Silkworm, having drunk its fill of Zhao Lin’s blood, wriggled contentedly and crawled toward a fissure in the grotto.
Its entire body was now flushed red with blood, swollen by a full size, and its movements had become sluggish.
THUD!
Zhao Lin stomped down on it, hearing a SQUISH as juices spurted from both ends of the insect.
’It’s dead just like that?’
Zhao Lin froze, not expecting it to be so easy. ’Wasn’t it incredibly vicious just a moment ago?’
Gently lifting his foot, he found the Cold Ice Silkworm had been stomped into a pulp, a messy paste of red and white fluids.
A moment later, an Essence Soul rose up.
"Looks like it’s really dead."
Zhao Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He focused his gaze on it, only to see that this Essence Soul was completely different from the previous ones.
It wasn’t rising as specks of silver light, but as silver threads that seemed almost tangible.
These silver threads intricately wove and tangled together, quickly forming a lifelike Cold Ice Silkworm in the air.
The Essence Souls Zhao Lin had seen before were mostly ethereal; those from weaker animals only formed a rough shape.
Only fierce beasts like the bear and the Golden Leopard had relatively solid Essence Souls, but compared to this Cold Ice Silkworm, they weren’t even in the same league.
Zhao Lin reached out and touched it. His fingers passed right through the middle of the Essence Soul, and only then was he certain that the Cold Ice Silkworm hadn’t come back to life.
’What is the Cold Ice Silkworm’s ability?’
’Should I absorb this Essence Soul?’
Two questions popped into Zhao Lin’s mind.
The answer to the first question was obvious: the Cold Ice Silkworm’s ability was, of course, its yin-cold attribute.
Compared to the five Essence Souls Zhao Lin already possessed, the yin-cold attribute seemed rather abstract.
Strength, speed, hearing... those abilities took effect immediately, their results instantly visible.
"It’d be great if this were a cultivation world. A yin-cold attribute would probably grant a bonus to certain kinds of Magic," Zhao Lin muttered to himself with some regret.
But on second thought, when martial arts were cultivated to a high level, they also grew closer to yin-yang and the five elements.
The fact that the inner court and the Wuxiang Institute were divided into five departments—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—was based on this same principle.
The Sea Return Skill was water-aligned, and Xiang Bao’s Fire Cloud Palm carried a fire attribute...
’If I absorb the Cold Ice Silkworm’s Essence Soul, will my Stone Roar Fist become an Ice Fist?’
At this thought, a flash of excitement crossed Zhao Lin’s eyes.
If that were the case, then a yin-cold ability seemed to be on a higher tier than basic abilities like strength and speed.
With the first question cleared up, the answer to the second became obvious as well.
’Let’s do it!’
Zhao Lin made up his mind.
In truth, even without mulling it over, he should have realized it just by looking at the Spirit Beast Scroll in his mind.
In the past, when he encountered an absorbable Essence Soul, the Spirit Beast Scroll would, at most, tremble slightly. If it was a particularly good match, it would tremble a bit more violently.
But now, the Spirit Beast Scroll was roiling as if churning rivers and seas, seeming to suggest that for Zhao Lin not to absorb this Essence Soul would be a reckless waste of a heavenly treasure.
"Fine. As you wish, and as I wish!"
Zhao Lin murmured to himself, then tilted his head back and inhaled the Cold Ice Silkworm’s Essence Soul.
WHOOSH!
The Essence Soul wasn’t large, but it was incredibly dense.
Upon entering his body, it immediately split into two streams: one red, one blue.
The red was scorching hot, the blue was icy cold.
The two streams of Essence Soul, like a pair of intertwined Yin-Yang Fish, coursed through his body.
One moment they would swim along his meridians, the next they would dart in and out of his acupoints.
Zhao Lin had originally thought absorbing the Cold Ice Silkworm’s Essence Soul would subject him to a frigid ordeal, but he hadn’t expected to be met with a trial of both ice and fire.
’Solitary yin cannot be born; solitary yang cannot grow. So, for the Cold Ice Silkworm to grant itself this yin-cold ability, did it simultaneously use a yang-fire attribute to counterbalance and foster it?’
Zhao Lin didn’t know if his understanding was correct, only that the sensation was extremely unpleasant.
One moment he was drenched in sweat from the heat, the next he was shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
Fortunately, the unbearable period only lasted for a moment. The two streams of Essence Soul finally merged into one, turning back to silver-white.
Strangely, however, the Essence Soul didn’t return to its grid space. Instead, it transformed into more than twenty broad bean-sized balls of Qi that lingered in his acupoints, refusing to leave.
’What’s going on?’
Puzzled, Zhao Lin observed carefully and discovered that these acupoints all had one thing in common.
They were all Yin Meridian acupoints that he had not yet broken through!
Zhao Lin was currently twenty-five acupoints away from breaking through to the Second Layer of the Qi Realm, and these Essence Soul Qi clusters were hovering right over those very acupoints.
’If that’s the case, then the breakthrough is now.’
As if struck by inspiration, Zhao Lin immediately activated his Sea Return Skill, driving his vital energy along his Yin Meridian to assault those acupoints.
With the help of the Essence Soul Qi clusters, he broke through the acupoints’ barriers with ease.
One, two, three...
In one fell swoop, he burst through all twenty-five acupoints.
The Yin Meridian and Yang Meridian were completely connected. He had entered the Second Layer of the Qi Realm!
Zhao Lin immediately felt the changes brought by his advancement in realm. Both the quantity and quality of his vital energy had risen to a higher level.
When he used his Turtle Shell Force, vital energy extended from his acupoints, forming a one-inch-thick armor of energy on the surface of his skin. Its thickness had doubled.
’No wonder higher-realm martial artists don’t like using weapons. As long as one’s vital energy is strong enough, it can completely replace blades and armor for both offense and defense—and with even greater power!’ Zhao Lin mused.
Looking at the Spirit Beast Scroll in his mind now, he saw a goofy-looking Cold Ice Silkworm appear in the sixth grid space.
"Heh heh. You drank so much of my blood, and now you’ve become my Essence Soul. I suppose it’s all come full circle."
The realm advancement was just a side effect; the biggest change brought by the Cold Ice Silkworm’s Essence Soul was the yin-cold qi.
Zhao Lin looked within his Qi Sea and discovered that, in addition to his original vital energy, there was now a coiled mass of silver-white energy exuding a sense of yin-coldness.
The two resided in the same space, yet remained perfectly distinct.
Zhao Lin tried to guide this mass of yin-cold qi with his Sea Return Skill and found it was as easy as moving his own limbs—even smoother than controlling his vital energy.
’I wonder what its effects are?’
After a moment’s thought, Zhao Lin activated the energy of his Stone Roar Fist, gathering vital energy in his fist and slamming it into the ground.
The cave was damp, and the ground, having been eroded by moisture over a long time, wasn’t very solid. Zhao Lin didn’t dare use too much force, otherwise a collapse might bury him inside.
He only used forty percent of his strength in this punch.
With a muffled thud, the ground gave way, and his entire fist sank into it.
When he pulled his fist back, a pit about a foot in diameter appeared in the ground.
Zhao Lin moved to another spot and gathered the power in his fist again.
This time, he also merged the yin-cold qi into his vital energy, pushing them together into the acupoints of his arm.
Vital energy suffused his fist, and within it ran several hairline-thin, silver patterns of light.
Even before throwing the punch, Zhao Lin could already feel waves of coldness.
’I wonder what will happen when I throw this punch?’
Feeling a faint sense of anticipation, Zhao Lin used the same amount of force as before and punched down.
BANG!
The sound was crisper this time, and there was more shattered rock than before.
He focused his gaze and saw a pit in the ground, the same size as the last one.
’No difference?’
’Am I using it wrong, or does this yin-cold qi not actually enhance attacks?’
Zhao Lin frowned slightly, feeling a little disappointed.
KRAK... KRA-ACK...
The next moment, several cracks suddenly appeared where his fist had struck, constantly extending outward.
Then, with a CRASH, the ground within a five-foot radius suddenly caved in.
