Chapter 214: Chapter 204: Sound of the Wind 6
After repeatedly toggling the Qingyuan Body on and off in the clearing, Lin Hui tested the other three great Dharma Seals.
The three seals respectively doubled his physical strength, the strength of his Heart and Spirit, and the speed of his cultivation comprehension.
Because he had gained such a large boost all at once, he had difficulty getting an accurate grasp of his own state for a time.
Only after more than two hours had passed did Lin Hui finally manage to conceal all the changes brought about by the enhancements.
’Thankfully, all four seal techniques can be deactivated at will. I just have to trace the corresponding source runes in reverse in my mind.’
After dozens of attempts, he was satisfied he could activate and deactivate them in an instant, and finally stopped.
Standing in the clearing, he considered his next steps.
’Now that the Nine Heavens Gate’s evolution is complete, I have the foundation for my own completely secure base. Next is to take control of this entire No-Fog Zone. To turn this territory into a sufficiently safe base, I first need to accomplish two things.’
’One: I need to be able to resist the fog. Whether it’s the night fog or the ordinary fog, I must have a way to fend it off. That’s the basic requirement.’
’Two: I need the ability to defend against external enemies. There are far too many monsters in the Fog Area, so I must establish a twenty-four-hour protection system that can automatically monitor and defend the area.’
Lin Hui recalled that cities like Tuyue established buffer zones. They used the inhabitants of the Outer City, combined with the walls of the Inner City, to form a human shield. Any threat attempting to breach the Inner City would inevitably cause casualties in the Outer City first.
For the Moon Tower, which constantly monitored the Outer City, this served as the perfect biological tripwire.
They didn’t care how many Outer City People died, anyway. Using the lives of Outer City People to warn those in the Inner City Moon Tower was, in essence, the same as using a signal flare.
After a moment of thought, Lin Hui placed one hand on the black earth.
In his mind, he began to trace the outline of the entire clearing.
’Land of No Fog—This is the place where a giant beast named Hemi fell. It is filled with Hemi’s powerful Bewildering Power, which prevents the outside fog from encroaching. However, the Corruption does not simply vanish; instead, Hemi’s Bewildering Power bears the cost of this region’s Corruption. When the Bewildering Power is completely consumed by the Corruption, the Land of No Fog will also perish.
Evolvable Branches: 3.’
Hemi, the giant beast?
Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. He had never heard this name in any bestiary of Fog Area monsters. Of course, it was also possible that the Blood Seal’s naming conventions differed from the Taixu Federation’s. Perhaps the beast had another name in the Federation’s codex.
Of course, that wasn’t the important part. He brushed the thought aside and proceeded to open the evolvable branches.
’1—Land of Bewilderment: Hemi’s habitat during its prime. Increases the intensity of the area’s directional disorientation by more than half.’
’2—Land of Illusions: A habitat for a mutated form of the Bewildering Power. In addition to causing disorientation, it can also make intruding creatures experience hallucinations.’
’3—Forgotten Land: A habitat for a mutated form of the Bewildering Power. Causes intruders to lose any interest or thought of entering this place. They will subjectively ignore this location.’
Lin Hui looked at the three branches and frowned. None of them were options he desperately needed.
After all, the effects that came with the maze ruins themselves were already enough for now.
What he needed were tangible methods for protection, surveillance, and patrols.
After all, this was to be his hidden rear base. It would be used to store goods and supplies, so it definitely needed creatures with combat prowess to be stationed here as guards and patrols.
’Wait!’ Suddenly, Lin Hui thought of someone.
The one currently in the manor behind Qingfeng Temple—the Waterman he had evolved in the past!
The Waterman was his own creation, imbued from its birth by the Blood Seal with a mark of absolute loyalty to him.
Weren’t these Blood Seal-evolved lifeforms perfectly suited for guarding supplies here?
As soon as the idea struck him, Lin Hui had a plan.
’I can relocate the Waterman here. One Waterman isn’t enough, though; I’ll need to find more similar evolved creatures. This type of creature doesn’t take long to evolve and has extremely high loyalty. Although their intelligence is a bit low, I can select a few highly loyal disciples to form a team. The Waterman and other evolved creatures can do the grunt work, while the disciples handle supervision and monitoring. With this combination, plus the natural isolating properties of the maze ruins, it should be foolproof.’
With this new line of thinking, a steady stream of inspiration began to flow into Lin Hui’s mind.
’Right. The Blood Seal’s evolution is based on my understanding and categorization of things. So, can I use that to guide the evolution toward a desired outcome, rather than leaving it to pure chance?’
Lin Hui pondered this.
’For example, I first saw the lamb skewers as food, so most of the branches it offered after evolution were food-based. Likewise, I first defined Qingfeng Swordsmanship as a type of *swordsmanship*, so the Blood Seal continued in that direction to evolve it into Gale Swordsmanship, not Gale Sword Technique. This has all been my subjective, unconscious guidance.’
’In that case...’
Deep in thought, he walked over to a nearby wall.
Standing before the ancient, gray stone wall of the ruins, he reached out and made a light cut on its surface with his Wind Disaster Power.
The incredibly hard maze stone wall was instantly cut like tofu, leaving a gash over half a meter long.
Lin Hui didn’t stop, but continued to carve and sketch.
After a short while, with a CLATTER, he had carved an entire Stone Man out of the wall.
This Stone Man was about his height, squarish and blocky. Its body was immobile, fixed in a spread-eagled pose.
Lin Hui placed it in the clearing after cutting it out.
Then, he tentatively reached out and gently placed his hand on the Stone Man’s forehead.
The Blood Seal’s evolution actually worked from a distance, but he felt he needed a symbolic gesture to define the target, hence pressing his hand to its forehead.
’Evolve Stone Man.’
He recited silently in his mind.
The Blood Seal on the back of his hand suddenly dispersed, transforming into tendril-like patterns.
Soon, new text appeared at the bottom of his vision.
’Maze Stone Man Sculpture: A crude, humanoid sculpture made of maze rock. Texture: hard. Evolvable Branches: 5.’
’1—Maze Stone Man: A type of Stone Man possessing rudimentary intelligence. They have immense strength, a hard body, and naturally emit a Bewildering Power that causes creatures to lose their sense of direction. One of the best defenders. Can grow.’
’2—Iron Stone Man: Body is extremely hard and possesses immense strength. Has a more violent temperament than an ordinary Stone Man. Can grow.’
’3—Elemental Stone Man: Can freely absorb surrounding rock to form an enormous body. Possesses extremely immense power and exceptionally strong regenerative abilities. As long as its core remains intact, it cannot be killed. Can grow.’
’Note: Upon completion, biological evolutions will obey only the initiator, Lin Hui. Low-intelligence creatures may exhibit chaotic attacks toward non-initiators.’
".....This could work." Lin Hui had figured out a better way to use the Blood Seal. His eyes immediately lit up.
’If that’s the case, could I try to evolve a Fog Area monster directly? If that’s possible, wouldn’t I be able to control Fog Area monsters directly?’ After all, evolving something like the Waterman was like starting from scratch, a process that took far too long. Who knew how long it would be before it was actually useful.
If he could evolve them directly from existing Fog Area monsters, the payoff would be much, much greater.
Of course, there was one prerequisite for a Blood Seal evolution: the target had to be subservient to Lin Hui.
The vast majority of Fog Area monsters would never submit to him, but... there was an exception!
Lin Hui’s mind flashed to the Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Purple Crystal Ruins that had prostrated itself before him. That creature was a Purgatory-transformed Purple Crystal monster. Back then, it could understand some speech and even communicate. If he used it as the starting point for an evolution...
’It’s worth a try...’
Acting on the thought, Lin Hui immediately picked up his bundle and quickly left the area.
The place had no guards yet, so he didn’t feel safe leaving the bundle containing the Treasure Medicine. He decided to just carry it with him.
Instead of returning to Qingfeng Temple, he took a detour to the cave in the Purple Crystal Ruins.
BANG!
The entrance to the cave was slammed open.
Inside the cave, a large swarm of Purple Crystal Purgatory monsters raised their heads, casting hostile glares toward the entrance.
But then they saw a somewhat familiar black-haired man slowly walk in.
ROAR!
The Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus Rex in the center let out a roar, charged forward, and then, right in front of Lin Hui...
THUD!
The Tyrannosaurus Rex slammed its head to the ground in a deep bow, smashing a sizable crater into the floor.
"It’s been a while. Why are there so many Purple Crystal Element creatures here?" Lin Hui scanned the densely packed mass of Purple Crystal Element monsters inside the cave, frowning slightly.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex let out a few low growls and shook its head frantically, clearly indicating that it had nothing to do with it.
"Never mind." Lin Hui’s hand rested lightly on the Ruyi Sword Handle at his waist.
WHOOSH.
A faint breeze stirred.
His hand left the sword’s hilt.
The cave was empty again, and the air felt clean and crisp.
No longer crowded, no longer noisy.
All that remained was tranquility...
CREAK... CREAK...
The Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus Rex’s entire body went rigid.
It turned its head mechanically, staring at the now-empty cave, then looked back at the placid expression on Lin Hui’s face.
THUD!
Once again, it slammed its head with all its might onto the ground before Lin Hui, creating a massive thud. Then it didn’t dare to move a muscle.
"Good boy..." Lin Hui reached out, satisfied, and patted the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s forehead.
’So obedient. I should be able to evolve it with the Blood Seal, right?’
He silently called upon the Blood Seal in his mind.
The next moment.
’Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus Rex: A special individual formed when a Purple Crystal Element body was tainted by Purgatory flames and mutated. Power: high. Recovery: extremely strong. Possesses Purgatory contamination properties. Evolvable Branches: 3.’
’1—Purple Crystal Flame Dragon: An elemental dragon beast formed from an animated Purple Crystal vein. When dormant, it transforms into a Purple Crystal vein, providing a continuous supply of Purple Crystal Ore. Body strength increases by one tier. After evolution, gains Special Effect: Subterranean Stealth.’
’2—Purgatory Dragon: A species of evil dragon from the depths of Purgatory. Possesses an extremely potent Purgatory infectiousness. Creatures burned to death by it will be reanimated as its puppets, fighting for it for all eternity.’
’3—Earth Dragon King: An earth-elemental dragon with a trace of ancient dragon ancestor bloodline. Can control the topography of the earth within a certain range. Temperament: peaceful and tranquil. Regeneration: extremely strong.’
As expected, these three branches were completely different from the evolutions he had seen for things like the Waterman. The gap in power was immense.
Looking at the three branches, he quickly checked each one to see the required number of years.
Fortunately, all three had the same price: 9 years.
For him now, this amount was trivial.
’This evolution is a no-brainer. I’m definitely choosing the first one. A Purple Crystal vein is exactly what I need—it’s a resource the entire Qingfeng Temple needs. Plus, it can solve the Purgatory power contamination issue here and eliminate any future problems.’ Without any hesitation, Lin Hui confirmed his choice and started the Blood Seal’s evolution.
Groan.
The next second, the Purple Crystal Purgatory Tyrannosaurus Rex shuddered violently. Its body went limp, and it collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
’If this works out, I might as well start moonlighting as a Fog Area monster hunter. I’ll keep the obedient ones and evolve them, and kill the disobedient ones to strengthen my Wind Disaster Affinity. As for any I have no immediate use for, I can just seal them in the Nine Eyes. Nothing will go to waste.’
At this moment, Lin Hui’s inspiration was flowing freely. Since something he carved himself could be evolved, he could totally carve a suit of armor and then evolve it in a direction he desired.
Or what if he just sculpted a model car? Could it evolve into a real one?
An airplane? A rocket?
Could they all be created in the same way?
After all, as long as he had a subjective concept and a roughly similar shape, he could get the Blood Seal to start an evolution.
In that case, if he carved a Calabash Brother, could he evolve a real one?
