Chapter 987: Chapter 986: The Opportune Moment for the Demon Martial Way_1
In the room, Shi Xiaole was sitting cross-legged on the bed, intently flipping through a bamboo scroll.
The bamboo scroll was none other than the "Wizard Scroll".
Only one day had passed since the trial, and the "Wizard Scroll" had already arrived in Shi Xiaole’s hands, which showed that the Daxia royal family was in a hurry.
After all, the Blood Sacrifice ceremony would start in just three months, and every extra day of enlightenment was beneficial.
After spending half a 2-hour period, Shi Xiaole finished reading the "Wizard Scroll" and couldn’t help but be surprised. He found that the "Wizard Scroll" was not a martial arts technique; it couldn’t even be used for actual combat or for cultivating Vigorous Air.
The sole purpose of the entire scroll was to condense witch blood.
Witch blood should be a term from the lineage of the Witch Queen. According to the "Wizard Scroll", when the first level is reached, one-tenth of the practitioner’s blood would transform into witch blood. When the second level is reached, it would be two-tenths, and so on.
Upon reaching the eighth level and extracting the essence of eighty percent of the witch blood, one could condense a drop of the Witch Ancestor’s blood. It was rumored that once the tenth level was achieved, and the body was full of the Witch Ancestor’s blood, a person would undergo a complete transformation and become an unmatched master in the world.
Of course, this was ultimately a legend, because even the Witch Queen had never cultivated the "Wizard Scroll" to the tenth level.
"This book is profound; each level is a tribulation. With my talent, I’m afraid I can’t even hope to easily cultivate the first level. Indeed, my previous idea was too naïve," he mused.
By now, Shi Xiaole had essentially given up on the plan to attend the Blood Sacrifice ceremony.
Although he had an eighty percent confidence from the royal masters that he would be selected as a Witch Heavenly Guard, there was still a twenty percent uncertainty. Moreover, even if he truly became a Witch Heavenly Guard, would there be no danger?
Rather than actively standing against the Ancestral Temple and being targeted everywhere, it would be better to step back and join forces with Xia Youying, which would also not be against Han Yanfa’s request.
Previously, Shi Xiaole had deliberately agreed and passed the royal masters’ test, just to obtain the "Wizard Scroll" and to take a look.
Having made up his mind, Shi Xiaole still subconsciously closed his eyes and tried to cultivate the "Wizard Scroll". He wanted to see how far he could get.
Time passed by the second.
Only half a 2-hour period later.
In front of Shi Xiaole, grotesque demonic figures appeared, some with ferocious faces, some sticking out their three-foot-long tongues, and some with their intestines flowing out, still pulling taut, all the while closing in around Shi Xiaole.
Worse than that was an indescribable and irresistible sense of terror. A fine layer of cold sweat appeared on the surface of Shi Xiaole’s body.
No one can truly be fearless; usually, it’s just that nothing has happened yet to evoke their fear. And the terror of the "Wizard Scroll" lies in transplanting this emotion directly into the practitioner’s body!
Moreover, as the cultivation deepened and blended into the depths of the spirit, not even the Heart Sword could extinguish it—it wasn’t that it couldn’t, but that one feared harming the spiritual source.
"No wonder! The Wizard Scroll itself is hard to cultivate, now one must overcome this fear step by step, and its effects. Even the most talented person can’t do it overnight."
Shi Xiaole sighed and was about to exit the meditative state.
Just then—
A familiar yet strange feeling surged in his heart, and a sensation began to stir in his sea of consciousness. Subsequently, the fear dwelling within him was drawn out bit by bit, gathered, and formed into a black vortex.
The position of the black vortex was right next to the Taiji Yin-Yang Plate, and on the other side was the Illusion Air Lake.
"Is this the Demon Martial Way?!"
In a distant, chaotic space filled with various human greed, anger, ignorance, and evil thoughts. These thoughts were so concentrated they formed different colors and from afar, looked like intertwining dawn skies.
At the center of this dawn, there was a dilapidated temple.
The powerful flow of thoughts emanating from the temple converged the evils, crookedness, and demons of the world. Inside the temple, a figure sat silently.
He had waist-length jet-black hair, temples frosted with age, a face as flawless as carved jade—his handsomeness was without a single imperfection—his lips were always slightly upturned, yet that gave off an eerie feeling of evil that penetrated the bones.
In a moment, this peerless handsome man opened his eyes.
What kind of eyes were these.
They were like the gates of hell, unfathomably deep, just one glance could drag one’s soul into them, never to be rebirthed again.
"More tonic has come," the peerless handsome man said with a smile, taking a breath as an inexplicable force surged into his body.
Over the years, he had thoroughly absorbed the negative energy of the Ghost King Temple, but to maintain the stability of the Ghost King Temple and constantly ingest negative energy, he let some of his own essence escape.
He had not expected his master to gain new negative energy from somewhere—truly delightful!
In a room in the back courtyard of Princess Manor in Daxia City.
Shi Xiaole awoke from his meditation, utterly shocked.
He was horrified to find that one-tenth of his blood had turned black, which must be the so-called witch blood. This meant that in less than an hour, he had cultivated the first level of the "Wizard Scroll"!
"Wizard Scroll, each level is a calamity, and all these calamities are forces of negativity. If one can overcome them, the cultivation is considered complete."
Shi Xiaole felt like he was dreaming.
The ten major tribulations were originally the most difficult part of the "Wizard Scroll," yet due to the existence of the Demon Martial Way, they became nourishment instead. While others hope for weaker tribulations, Shi Xiaole now desires the exact opposite.
Long before now, Shi Xiaole had sensed that the progress of the Demon Martial Way was becoming slower, now only reaching the late eighty percent stage. Of course, even this slow progress was better than regressing, but to achieve the full one hundred percent, who knows how much more time it would take.
Little did he expect that he would be coerced into cultivating the "Wizard Scroll" by Han Yanfa’s "kind threat," which inadvertently became a source of rapid advancement for the Demon Martial Way.
It truly embodied the old saying, "Every sip and bite is predestined by the heavens."
"I underestimated the function of the Demon Martial Way! Since the Wizard Scroll can provide negative energy, could the Witch Queen’s temple also be related to it?"
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but have some associations. But he quickly shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. What mattered most was focusing on the present.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated ten times harder than before and began cultivating the second layer of the "Wizard Scroll."
The difficulty of the second layer was several times greater than the first, and the tribulations were no longer fear, but despair, a despair that penetrated the soul. Shi Xiaole had no doubt that slightly weaker-willed individuals could very well end their own lives if they lost control during the process.
His guess wasn’t wrong. Over the past thousands of years, many exceptional individuals among the royal and Ancestral Temple disciples indeed perished during the second layer’s cultivation.
However, for Shi Xiaole, the process was more enjoyment than torment. In this world, what could excite him more than self-improvement?
The Demon Martial Way advanced daily, and Shi Xiaole was engrossed in it beyond escape.
The late eighty percent stage of the Demon Martial Way was equivalent to the late one hundred percent stage of top-tier martial arts. In fact, if one were to compare them, the former would still outdo the latter, for the Supreme Martial Arts possessed unique abilities not found in ordinary martial arts.
Such as the life and death transformation of the martial arts of life and death.
And the natural martial arts of Wudao Xuan, though only at the semi-Supreme level, could already evolve the myriad paths and encompass all things. Once it transformed into Supreme Martial Arts, Wudao Xuan’s strength would increase exponentially.
And the Demon Martial Way could absorb all negative energies in the world, as well as release them, to be used in combat, with effects that are simply unimaginable.
Shi Xiaole couldn’t help but wonder, once he ascended into the Void Origin Realm and combined it with the Demon Martial Way, to what extent would his strength reach.
Time swiftly elapsed amidst cultivation.
On the third day, a knock on the door interrupted him.
"What are you doing here?"
Glancing at the visitor, Shi Xiaole spoke indifferently.
Undeterred by his tone, Xia Youying walked closer with a smile on her bewitching face, "My dear husband, Youying is your wife. Isn’t it a bit hurtful to speak like that?"
As she reached to touch Shi Xiaole’s chin, he swiftly grabbed her hand and, with a flick, sent her crashing onto the bed.
Xia Youying cried out in pain. It had to be said, with her seductive looks and mellifluous voice, she easily stirred a man’s desire to conquer, particularly when she purposely rubbed her bottom.
"Husband should be gentler."
Xia Youying joked, seeing Shi Xiaole ignore her, she wasn’t saddened but laughed to herself, "Are you cultivating the Wizard Scroll? Foolish man, instead of wasting time on this, why not enjoy the finer things in life with Youying? They all say I possess the ’Demon Bone’; it’s said to be very pleasurable for men!"
"What’s the point of your cultivation? Could it be that in three months, you’ll be able to match Min Tianliang? Even if you are a Kirin, it’s impossible, so why bother making an enemy out of the Ancestral Temple?"
Xia Youying shook her head. In her view, a person who knows what to grasp and what to avoid, seeking benefits and steering clear of harm, is the one who lives long.
The two paths in front of Shi Xiaole seemed to her to clearly favor a union with her. If he was acting out of spite and deliberately taking the hard route, she would not only be unimpressed but also disappointed.
"If Supreme Lord Xia has nothing else, please leave now."
Shi Xiaole had no interest in entertaining this woman.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Xia Youying’s phoenix eyes. She smiled and asked, "May I ask the husband, what exactly does the phrase ’Supreme General Palace’ mean?" Unable to wait for a response, she sat up by herself.
"If you don’t want to answer, never mind. I came to take you to the Wuzi Temple."
Cultivating the "Wizard Scroll" actually had a specific place, which was the three great Wuzi Temples, standing deep within the Daxia royal palace, arranged in a triangular distribution.
Only after Xia Youying’s introduction did he learn that one of these three Wuzi Temples belonged to the royal family and the other two to the Ancestral Temple. Cultivating the "Wizard Scroll" inside them could double the effectiveness.
Of course, only those with permission could enter. Otherwise, just the many Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors lurking in the shadows would be enough to give you a hard time. Not even Xia Xiaonine was an exception.
After thorough checks, Xia Youying brought Shi Xiaole to a temple made of earth and stone, rising three Zhang high. After some flirtatious remarks, she finally left, swaying her ample behind.
The Wuzi Temple looked quite ordinary, spanning less than a hundred square meters, with a large stone pillar at each corner that would take two people to embrace. But once inside, Shi Xiaole could feel the difference.
The aura here seemed to naturally immerse him in the atmosphere of the "Wizard Scroll."
Choosing a corner, Shi Xiaole wasted no time and immediately resumed his cultivation.
"Is this man the Kirin?"
"I heard he became the princess’s husband and is preparing to participate in the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony in three months."
Inside the Wuzi Temple, there were several other figures, some from the royal family and others, like Shi Xiaole, who were affiliated with the royal family from the outside world. Upon seeing Shi Xiaole, they all showed a hint of surprise.
