Chapter 144: Brilliant Red Fireworks

"I truly hope that one day you can come to my world."

"When that time comes, if our cultivation is sufficient, I will take you to hunt a烛龙." The clone said, gently raising an eyebrow.

"Ah?"

"Hunt a烛龙? The two of us?" Xu Chen looked utterly shocked.

"烛龙 and 应龙 are the most powerful rule-bound behemoths, and the ultimate enemies of my people."

"Grow up quickly, I am waiting for you."

With those words, the aura of the clone plummeted to its lowest, and it collapsed.

The entire world began to shatter, and Xu Chen's soul was dragged into an unknown realm.

In a dark, faintly luminescent underground plaza, Xu Chen possessed the body of a young boy.

The youth, alongside a group of others, was intensely practicing a set of foundational body-tempering techniques.

"We must become stronger and more ferocious in order to survive in this world dominated by behemoths!"

"The great leader defeated a giant mountain ape single-handedly three days ago, allowing our entire human tribe to have a share of meat to eat!"

"Practice diligently, become the most ferocious and unyielding warriors of the human race, and make those behemoths tremble beneath our feet!!"

A tall instructor, his scarred upper body bare, paced back and forth among the youths, waving his arms and speaking with impassioned fervor.

"Isn't this a coincidence? I've arrived in Master's world."

"Given the present situation, how on earth could this youth ever learn the Nine Transformations of 烛龙?" Xu Chen wondered inwardly.

In the days that followed, the youth displayed exceptional talent and before long became a warrior of the hunting party, venturing to the surface world alongside the other members to hunt.

However, the prey they hunted consisted merely of ordinary fierce beasts.

Until one day, while a hunting party of a hundred people was tracking a pack of nether wolves, the sky suddenly plunged into pitch darkness, instantly transforming into the main battlefield of the nether wolves.

Out of the hundred-member party, only the youth was left alive. A nether wolf clamped its jaws onto his leg and dragged him deep into its den.

With all four limbs bitten off, he lay powerlessly in the wolf's lair.

Several nether wolf cubs swarmed around the youth, tearing at the flesh on his body with their teeth from time to time.

"What kind of cultivation style is this? He's practically at death's door!" Xu Chen couldn't help but inwardly complain.

The sky remained dark, and a massive, terrifyingly auraed figure appeared within it.

In an instant, the heavens lit up as bright as day. A 烛龙 resembling a mountain range stretched across the sky, roaring between heaven and earth as if battling some unseen force.

The writhing, twisting body of the 烛龙 emanated an ultimate, supreme power.

Just as the 烛龙 roared, countless chains flew out from the void, wrapping tightly around it.

Every single iron chain radiated a terrifying heavenly might, and despite the 烛龙's desperate struggles, it could not shake off these chains of universal law.

The youth lay in the wolf's lair, quietly watching the 烛龙 in the sky.

Under normal circumstances, he would never have dared to look directly at it, but now, on the brink of death, it no longer mattered.

The immense terror between life and death allowed the youth, gazing upon the 烛龙 about to be bound, to gain a profound insight.

The binding of the chains and the struggling of the 烛龙 were like a collision between heaven and earth.

The furious roar of the dragon resounded across the cosmos, causing all behemoths and fierce beasts to flatten themselves to the ground, too terrified to even twitch.

Yet at this moment, only the youth raised his head to watch the mountain-like 烛龙 struggle.

The chains of heaven and earth could trap the laws governing the 烛龙, but they could not contain the physical strength of its flesh and blood.

Under this ultimate power, the chains radiating heavenly might actually began to strain, slowly snapping apart piece by piece.

Seeing this, the youth felt a surge of realization within his heart. Following the guidance of his inner enlightenment, he began to circulate his blood-qi energy.

His severed limbs slowly regenerated, and the wounds gnawed by the wolf cubs began to heal.

As the 烛龙 in the sky struggled, the youth's own blood-qi energy grew increasingly formidable.

Meanwhile, the nether wolf cubs had already been frightened into pissing themselves by the majesty of the 烛龙, cowering in a corner and not daring to emerge.

With a final, earth-shaking roar, the 烛龙 broke free, shattering every single chain of universal law that bound its body.

Although freed from its restraints, the 烛龙 wore a look of lingering discontent as it plunged directly back into the void.

At that moment, the youth slaughtered every single nether wolf cub in the den, slit their throats, and drained every drop of their blood.

A surging wave of blood-qi energy emanated from within the youth's body.

The adult nether wolves, having recovered their mobility, returned just in time to witness this scene. Letting out furious roars, they charged straight at the youth.

Half a day later, the youth returned to the underground world alone, dragging two adult nether wolves behind him.

Instantly, the people of the youth's tribe let out cries of agonizing grief.

Amidst these wails, the youth returned to his stone chamber and began a period of seclusion.

Xu Chen, possessing the youth's body, experienced those profound insights firsthand and could not help sighing with emotion.

"This is the path of pure talent."

In the time that followed, the youth alternated between hunting fierce beasts on the surface and creating this foundational cultivation method related to the 烛龙.

Starting from scratch, Xu Chen watched the entire process unfold by his side.

The very moment the technique was successfully completed, a sensation of his soul being pulled away occurred, and Xu Chen knew his time of return had come.

Just then, the youth was summoned by the leader of the human tribe. The aura emanating from the leader felt remarkably similar to the clone Xu Chen had fought against.

As his consciousness returned to his original body, a sea-like torrent of comprehension merged into Xu Chen's mind.

However, because Xu Chen had experienced and comprehended much of it in advance, these insights were assimilated instantly upon entering his mind.

Once the digestion of knowledge was complete, Xu Chen's awareness fully settled back into his true form.

Outside his stone chamber, in the practice courtyard, the phantom of a 烛龙 roared between heaven and earth.

The instant Xu Chen cultivated the Nine Transformations of 烛龙 to the realm of perfect harmony between form and intent, his own blood-qi energy seemed to step into an entirely new boundary.

Without even needing to test it, Xu Chen knew instantly that he had reached the absolute limit of the Blood-Qi Realm.

"The power of nine dragons, nine tigers, and nine oxen."

Feeling the turbulent, ocean-like blood-qi energy surging within his body, Xu Chen knew that with just a single thought, he could advance to the Precious Body Realm even without a formal cultivation manual.

While experiencing this peak level of extreme power, Xu Chen also sensed that hidden beneath the strength of nine dragons, nine tigers, and nine oxen was a spark of fire, eager to ignite this vast pool of blood-qi.

Human Realm, Myriad Dao Mountain.

Xu Chen arrived inside a formation named Inquiring Dao.

"How does one ignite the lamps of flesh and bone?"

This formation could resolve any doubts across the myriad DAOs, charging a fee proportional to the complexity of the question.

"The limit of the Blood-Qi Realm, a resilient spirit, and a steadfast soul."

"Ignite the lamp with blood-qi energy, causing the blood-qi resonance to reach ten oxen."

"Ignite the lamp with a resilient spirit, triggering the fire of the mind—this requires experiencing the true, supreme terror between life and death."

"Ignite the lamp with the soul, triggering the fire of the soul—this requires a powerful expert to ignite their own soul and comprehend it through personal experience."

"Final warning: Do not attempt to simulate the ignition of the flesh and bone lamps within the Human Realm; the simulation of the Human Realm's laws is insufficient to support it."

This single question cost Xu Chen one contribution point.

Armed with the answer, Xu Chen left the Human Realm.

Above the practice courtyard, the phantom of a blazing sea of sun-fire manifested, transforming into a dragon as a whale leaped over the dragon gate.

In that fleeting instant, Xu Chen's blood-qi energy surged explosively by 0.9 oxen.

Xu Chen continuously employed the Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance secret technique to stimulate his blood-qi, but the remaining fraction of blood-qi refused to budge an inch, no matter how hard he tried.

Sensing his own immense vitality, Xu Chen hardened his heart and attempted to forcefully stimulate that life force.

Yet at that very moment, an indescribable terror of death coiled around his heart.

A dim premonition told him that if his blood-qi grew by even a single hair's breadth more, he would inevitably burst apart and die.

Enveloped by this terrifying sensation of impending death, Xu Chen dared not push further and directly gave up.

"The laws of the Human Realm are insufficient to support the ignition of the flesh and bone lamps."

"Then I shall try within the Pristine White Space."

Xu Chen immediately returned to his stone chamber and entered the Pristine White Space.

He drove the Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance secret technique to its absolute limit, pouring his immense vitality into it as well.

The sensation of death once again coiled around Xu Chen's heart, but within the Pristine White Space, Xu Chen felt no fear.

"Boom—!"

Like a brilliant red firework, he exploded into a mist within the Pristine White Space.

A breath later, his conscious avatar re-condensed.

Xu Chen panted frantically, terror lingering in his eyes.

At the exact moment of his death, he felt as though he had brushed against some nameless, terrifying existence.

After taking a long time to calm down, Xu Chen's gaze grew firm once again.

"Damn it, what is there for me to fear inside the Pristine White Space?"

"Continue!"

Before long, Xu Chen transformed into a firework once more, exploding across the Pristine White Space.

"I haven't quite grasped the trick yet, but it doesn't matter; opportunities are endless."

Following that, the entire Pristine White Space resembled a themed fireworks show executed in shades of red.

Sometimes, just as Xu Chen's conscious avatar condensed, the bloody mist from the previous explosion had not even completely dissipated.

After exploding over twenty times within the Pristine White Space, his consciousness was forcibly yanked back to his physical body, and Xu Chen immediately passed out cold.

During the subsequent period, Xu Chen spent his days at Myriad Dao Peak studying Dao scripts.

By night, he performed his red-fireworks themed show inside the Pristine White Space.

As the frequency of self-detonations increased, Xu Chen genuinely began to summarize a few threads of experience.

The moment his blood-qi reached the power of ten oxen, his internal blood-qi would begin to expand at a terrifying speed.

It was this uncontrollable surge of blood-qi that caused him to rupture and explode every time.

Henceforth, whenever his blood-qi reached the threshold of ten oxen, Xu Chen would immediately rack his brain for ways to rapidly consume that terrifying excess of energy.

It did have a slight effect: the spread of the bloody mist upon detonation became just a fraction smaller.

"Boom!"

Another cloud of bloody mist burst forth within the Pristine White Space.

As his conscious avatar re-condensed, Xu Chen reviewed his performance right after reaching the ten-oxen threshold.

"Consuming that blood-qi plainly doesn't work."

"If that path fails, the only alternative is to forcefully integrate this blood-qi back into the body, though that route seems equally impossible."

"Still, whether it's possible or not, I'll know once I try."

Xu Chen skillfully maneuvered the Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance secret technique, fully burning both his blood-qi and his life force.

Reaching his extreme limit once more, his blood-qi attained the strength of ten oxen.

At that exact second, Xu Chen drew in a sharp breath and frantically drove every ounce of his blood-qi.

A terrifying surge of blood-qi erupted from his heart, internal organs, meridians, vessels, and bones, accelerating with each passing moment.

His face flushed crimson as he exhausted every trick at his disposal, desperately compressing this abruptly materialized blood-qi.

His entire body swelled red, the violent energy causing him to expand slowly like a balloon.

"Boom!!"

The brilliant red fireworks blossomed once more.

His conscious avatar condensed again, and looking at the lingering smoke, Xu Chen briefly reviewed the attempt.

"In a snap of a finger, let's try again."

With those words, Xu Chen continued to push the secret technique forward.

Yet the result was identical to before—his body swelled like a balloon and blew apart.

The only difference was that, having absorbed the lessons of the previous attempt, he managed to hold on for a tiny fraction of a second longer this time.

"There is a method, there definitely is a method." Xu Chen felt as though a crack had opened in his line of reasoning.