Su Mansion, the study.
A night breeze drifted through the window lattice, making the candlelight dance.
Su Yu sat before his desk, flipping through the many ancient books he had gathered from the Outer City’s merchant guilds. A moment later, his gaze landed on a yellowed copy of the *Great Xia Hundred Treasures Manual*.
"Found it."
Su Yu flipped open the coarse pages and read the entry from the ancient tome aloud:
"*The Great Xia Hundred Treasures Manual·Treasure Volume states: The Essence of Taibai is born in lands of extreme sharpness and slaughter. Its color is dark gold. Though not a Profound Tier spiritual material, it is exceedingly rare. A single drop fused with common iron can bestow a sharpness that pierces armor and shatters jade, a blade that never dulls in battle...*"
’This stuff might not be a Profound Tier spiritual material, but it’s just as rare. Divine Weapon Manor really went all out this time.’
Su Yu thought for a moment and understood.
Divine Weapon Manor wasn’t just trying to resolve the conflict Jiang Xuan had caused; they were making a genuine effort to befriend him.
Su Yu was not one to refuse such goodwill, especially since they were a power from Jian’an Prefecture.
’First thing tomorrow, I’ll have someone deliver this drop of Taibai Armor-Piercing Golden Liquid to the blacksmith. It’s a good chance to check on the reforging progress of my Mo Yuan Saber, too.’
Putting the porcelain vial away, Su Yu’s gaze fell upon the mahogany brocade box on his desk.
Inside, a small, ice-blue segment of Flood Dragon bone lay quietly on the silk lining, emanating an aqueous aura.
’I’ll try infusing it in wine. If that ancient thunder beast bone filled with Thunder Power could be dissolved, there’s no reason this Flood Dragon bone can’t be.’
Su Yu reached for the Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd at his waist. With a POP, he pulled out the stopper, picked up the piece of Flood Dragon bone, and pushed it straight into the thumb-sized opening.
The Flood Dragon bone was disproportionately large for the tiny opening, but the moment they touched, a gentle, greenish-blue halo flashed from the gourd’s mouth. The bone vanished inside as if it were a clay ox dropped into the sea.
Su Yu had seen this before. He knew the gourd was extraordinary, so he wasn’t surprised.
He guessed it contained a special array—either one that had formed naturally or one that a great power had carved into it later. In any case, it was anything but simple.
Next, Su Yu pulled out a clay-sealed jar of aged wine from under his desk.
The wine was called Drunken Immortal Spring, a strong liquor specially supplied to the Inner City. Li Jingxuan had sent it over some time ago. A single jar was worth several dozen taels.
SPLASH—
As the clear, viscous liquor poured in, the ancient cyan patterns on the surface of the Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd began to glow faintly. Immediately after, the entire gourd began to tremble violently, beyond his control!
Finding this strange, Su Yu raised an eyebrow. He leaned in closer, squinting to peer inside the gourd’s opening.
One glance was all it took; he couldn’t look away.
The once-calm liquor inside the gourd was now a tempestuous sea! It was no longer the sloshing of wine but had transformed into a bottomless ocean!
Su Yu felt an invisible force pulling at his very mind, as if he had been instantly plunged into that endless, raging sea.
RUMBLE!
The scene before his eyes abruptly changed.
A torrential downpour, like the heavenly river overflowing, fell between heaven and earth. On a river so wide it stretched beyond sight, the waves churned. Vast, black waters crashed madly against the perilous peaks on either bank, letting out a deafening roar.
Beneath the dark, murky water, a massive black spine, like a sprawling mountain range, slid slowly just below the surface.
The rolling undercurrents stirred by its movement formed terrifying whirlpools hundreds of meters in diameter on the river’s surface!
Suddenly, the black behemoth beneath the water seemed to sense Su Yu’s gaze from beyond the ninth heaven.
Its mountain-sized body came to a sudden halt.
Immediately after, the sky above the river abruptly darkened, and every raindrop seemed to freeze in midair.
SWISH!
Deep beneath the water, two dark red lanterns as large as palaces suddenly lit up. They were a pair of vertical pupils filled with brutality and endless killing intent!
The instant their gazes met across the void, Su Yu’s scalp went numb. An icy chill shot up his spine, and beads of cold sweat slithered down his back like vipers.
Just as the beast opened its abyssal maw, preparing to surge into the sky...
Above the ninth heaven, heavenly thunder rumbled!
BOOM!!!
A divine bolt of lightning from the nine heavens, as thick as a mountain peak, tore violently through the curtain of rain. Carrying the brilliant might of the world’s will, it smashed down hard on the beast beneath the water!
ROAR!!!
A bloodcurdling shriek echoed between heaven and earth. The beast thrashed in agony, throwing up black walls of water hundreds of meters high, as if trying to drag the entire world down into apocalypse with it.
But then, countless enormous chains formed from golden runes materialized in the void.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
With irresistible force, the chains pierced through the rain and river water, pinning themselves deep into the beast’s collarbones and dragging it forcefully toward the riverbed!
ROAR!
The beast let out an unwilling roar. Its massive shadow thrashed wildly underwater, and a colossal tail, thousands of meters long, whipped the river’s surface. It kicked up a black tsunami that blotted out the sky, crashing straight toward Su Yu’s consciousness!
GASP—
Su Yu gasped sharply. His consciousness finally broke free from the terrifying vision and crashed back into reality.
He heaved for breath, finding himself still standing at the desk in his study. The Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd in his hand had returned to its calm state, emitting a gentle, warm green glow.
’What in the world was that just now?’
Su Yu subconsciously wiped his forehead and found that not only his brow but the shirt on his back was also completely soaked in cold sweat. An irrepressible tremor of fear still pulsed in his heart.
’It seems the Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd triggered some kind of hidden imprint while refining the Flood Dragon bone?’
The more Su Yu thought about it, the more alarmed he became. This Flood Dragon bone was no simple item.
’Damn it!’
’The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect must have had malicious intentions giving this to me!’
’If this were a normal treasure, how could such a terrifying consciousness remain within it?’
’If I had been unprepared and made this Flood Dragon bone into a pendant for the Cyan-Scaled Eagle to wear, who knows what horrible things might have happened!’
’So that’s how the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect plays. I’ll settle this debt with them, and it’ll be a fight to the death!’
Rage flared in Su Yu’s heart. If it weren’t for his Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd, he would have fallen right into their trap.
Still shaken, Su Yu immediately stored the Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd safely in his Storage Ring. Only after feeling its substantial weight did his heart calm down a little.
’Infusing wine with the Cyan-Spirit Transformation Gourd takes a few hours at the very least. Since heavenly thunder and golden chains manifested inside the gourd to suppress it, there shouldn’t be any more problems. I’ll check the results tomorrow. I’ll most likely get a jar of top-grade Spirit Wine!’
...
「The next day.」
Su Yu maintained his unshakable routine: practicing Martial Arts, consuming Treasure Medicines and treasure fish, and absorbing resources, continuously solidifying his Martial Arts foundation.
[Martial Arts]: Mountain-Shaking Demon Ape Fist (Great Success 8010/10000)
[Breakthrough Point]: 1 (Progress 26%)
’My Breakthrough Point has finally passed 1. I can initiate a new Martial Arts Limit Break.’
Su Yu’s gaze swept across the panel. He currently had two Martial Arts that met the requirement for a Limit Break:
[Martial Arts]: Seven Fiends Thunder Collapse Step (Perfection)
[Martial Arts]: Bibo Fish Dragon Skill (First Layer) (Perfection)
Su Yu mulled it over for a moment. ’I’ll save it for now. Let’s see if I can eat all the remaining Treasure Medicine and accumulate two points in one go!’
His current combat strength was sufficient. The priority now was his next Realm breakthrough. There was no rush for the Limit Break; he could save the point and decide how to use it later.
His gaze continued down the panel.
Besides the accumulation of Martial Arts proficiency and Breakthrough Points, there was more good news: his Thunder Summoning authority had also cooled down.
[Authority]: Thunder (Completeness: 0.01%) (Thunder Summoning available)
’Excellent. With this trump card, I have the confidence I need!’
The terrifying power he could now unleash with Thunder Summoning was comparable to a strike from a Divine Skill! It was no exaggeration to say that within the Muscle Forging Realm, absolutely no master could withstand a blow that channeled the might of heaven and earth!
This meant that as long as he had this move, he was invincible in the Muscle Forging Realm!
But to Su Yu, the Thunder Summoning authority was more like an extremely powerful nuclear warhead.
A nuke held in hand but never fired was the ultimate source of confidence.
As long as he had this nuke, he had the guts to venture outside Black Stone City and roam freely. But once he used it and it entered its cooldown period, he would be at a huge disadvantage if he encountered another enemy he couldn’t defeat.
’The world is getting more and more chaotic, and Profound Bone Realm masters are starting to appear one after another...’ Su Yu took a deep breath. ’I’ll hold on a little longer. When my Divine Skill, Silent Extinction, is also off cooldown, I’ll truly have two trump cards. Then, no matter what kind of death trap I face, I’ll have the power to flip the table!’