"Moonlight!"
The enormous Ironwing Bird screeched, clearer than in previous dreams, and its appearance could now be seen distinctly. This dream was different in other ways too. Suspended in the dream was a huge drop of golden blood—it was the essence blood of the Ironwing Bird.
The Ironwing Bird, which had been chasing Su Yu, seemed to be drawn to the blood. In the next moment, the bird's eyes focused on the golden blood, looking bewildered.
Soon, the Ironwing Bird abandoned its pursuit of Su Yu and flew toward the golden blood in the void. It flew faster and faster, and in the blink of an eye, it reached the blood. With a screech, it swallowed the essence blood.
Boom!
At that moment, the Ironwing Bird shone like a golden sun, radiating brilliant light that illuminated the entire dream. Su Yu watched with anticipation, wondering what would happen next.
The essence blood indeed worked!
As he pondered, the Ironwing Bird suddenly began to expand, growing larger and larger as if about to explode. Su Yu's face changed. Sure enough, with a thunderous boom, the dream started to collapse. The Ironwing Bird exploded into countless golden light spots, which vanished from the dream in an instant. Su Yu was also torn apart by the explosion.
In the dream's final moment, an enormous book appeared, covering the sky. The pages quickly turned; most were blank. Soon, it stopped at a page, and the golden light spots from the Ironwing Bird merged into it, lighting up the page and revealing an illustration of the Ironwing Bird.
The dream ended, and Su Yu awoke instantly.
...
"Hiss!"
It hurt. His head felt like it was splitting open, and his whole body was in pain, as if he had really been torn apart.
Su Yu woke up.
At this moment, his eyes flickered. The dream had been deciphered. Now, in his mind, a faint image of a book appeared. It was the same book from the dream!
"The dream materialized into reality..."
Su Yu's expression was serious. Deciphering the dream should have been a joyous event, but why did the dream materialize into reality? The book that had absorbed the Ironwing Bird's light spots was now faintly visible in his mind.
Was it an illusion, or was there really a book in his head?
Focusing on the book in his mind, Su Yu willed it to turn pages. Soon, it reached the page illuminated by the Ironwing Bird's light.
"Ironwing Bird (Seventh Level of Thousand Pound Realm):
Race Skills: Rend Level 1 (activated by essence blood), Iron Wing Slash (activated by essence blood)
Basic Yuan Technique: Yuan Absorption (activated by essence blood)"
There were only these three lines, and they weren't in the human language but the language of the Ironwing Bird race. If Su Yu hadn't studied it, he wouldn't have understood.
"Seventh Level of the Thousand Pound Realm... Race skills, basic Yuan technique..."
Su Yu frowned. What was this book? The so-called essence blood activation seemed to mean it required more essence blood to activate skills. What did it activate?
Skills?
Seventh Level of the Thousand Pound Realm indicated the essence blood he absorbed was from a Seventh Level Ironwing Bird. That was easy to understand. But what did the rest mean?
Su Yu's mind raced. "Does it mean that with enough essence blood, I can activate the Ironwing Bird's skills?"
"If I activate the skills, can I use them?"
"Even if I can use them, what level of power will I display—Kaiyuan Stage Level Three or Thousand Pound Realm Level Seven?"
"How long will it last? Will there be side effects?"
"And where did this book come from?"
Su Yu's eyes flickered. The dreams had started over a decade ago. Did that mean this book had been in his mind for over a decade?
Who put it there?
Was there some conspiracy?
There were many powerful races in the myriad realms. Could it be a plot by one of them to cause chaos within the human race?
Su Yu couldn't help but think so! Some races in the myriad realms were very treacherous. The human race had experienced such incidents, with many strong human warriors being tricked, influenced by the myriad races, bewitched, and eventually joining the myriad races' cults.
"But there are billions of humans. I'm just an ordinary person. Even if they wanted to bewitch someone, why plan for over a decade on me?"
Su Yu was still puzzled but couldn't suppress his curiosity.
Should he give it a try?
And the book seemed very thick, with only one page activated so far. Did that mean other pages could be activated as well?
As he pondered, Su Yu suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation. The next moment, he understood—the fluctuation came from the book page. It was not a language but a kind of mental explanation.
"It can be activated. As long as I have the corresponding essence blood of the races I've dreamed about, I can activate it. But since I'm only at the Kaiyuan stage, I must consider my body's tolerance when absorbing essence blood..."
Su Yu understood. For example, he currently felt like his body was about to explode with pain from absorbing the essence blood of a Seventh Level Ironwing Bird.
If it were essence blood from the Ten Thousand Stone Realm, he would be severely injured or even dead.
"I see!"
Su Yu murmured. He somewhat understood. The dreams over the years, each representing a race, were not because the Ironwing Bird's essence blood was so powerful. Rather, as long as he had the essence blood of any race he had dreamed about, he could activate it.
But in the past, Su Yu didn't recognize those race creatures. Moreover, as a Kaiyuan Stage Level Three cultivator, how could he dare to absorb essence blood?
If he hadn't understood the hint this time, he wouldn't have taken the risk. One wrong move could have cost him his life.
"Basic Yuan Technique, Yuan Absorption..."
Su Yu stopped pondering and suddenly thought of the third line, the basic Yuan technique. Yuan Absorption was the fundamental technique of the Ironwing Bird race, with the sole function of absorbing a portion of Yuan Qi.
"Yuan Absorption... activated by essence blood?"
Su Yu's eyes flickered. "What does this mean? Can I use the essence blood to activate the Yuan Absorption Technique and absorb Yuan Qi?"
"But at the Kaiyuan stage, one cannot actively absorb Yuan Qi; it can only be passively refined."
He didn't pay much attention to the racial skills. The Rend and Iron Wing Slash were basic skills of the Ironwing Bird, which had been summarized by the human race. Essence blood activation might allow Su Yu to learn these skills or reach the Seventh Level of the Thousand Pound Realm. He wasn't particularly focused on this.
However, the fact that the Yuan Absorption Technique could also be activated by essence blood was intriguing. What did this mean?
Before reaching the Thousand Pound Realm, humans couldn't actively absorb Yuan Qi. The Kaiyuan Technique's purpose was merely to gather some Yuan Qi, making the surrounding Yuan Qi denser, which would slightly improve the passive refining process over a longer period.
"Yuan Absorption Technique..."
Su Yu suddenly felt a surge of excitement. If he could activate the Yuan Absorption Technique, did it mean he could actively absorb Yuan Qi at the Kaiyuan stage?
The lengthy time spent in the Kaiyuan stage was mainly due to the inability to actively draw Yuan Qi into the body because the human body couldn't form a coherent system of acupoints.
What if he could actively absorb it?
"However... the consequences are yet to be determined!"
"What are the consequences of absorbing Yuan Qi? Also, how much essence blood is required to activate it? If it takes one drop of essence blood, how long can it last?"
"What is the efficiency?"
"This stuff is very expensive, 50,000 per drop. If one drop only lasts a few minutes, it's not worth the money."
Countless thoughts flashed through Su Yu's mind. Moreover, activating other race pages would also require essence blood. Where would he get so much essence blood?
A myriad of thoughts overwhelmed Su Yu for a moment, making him feel a bit overwhelmed.
"Maybe... I should experiment a little!"
"Also, where did this thing come from? Should I ask my teacher?"
After thinking it over, Su Yu quickly dismissed this idea. Even if someone placed it there, the teachers wouldn't know. Their strength was too low; they couldn't come into contact with such things. This thing had been hidden for over a decade without anyone noticing. Even those at the Thousand Pound or Ten Thousand Stone realms might not know.
"It's impossible to figure it out just by thinking. The best way is to try."
As Su Yu pondered, there was a sudden loud noise at the front door!
In the next moment, Chen Hao swung his schoolbag and shouted, "I've already notified the Wind Seeker Hall! Stay if you dare! There are strong people all around! Get out!"
...
Su Yu was stunned.
Chen Hao's schoolbag swung with a whoosh, and after his shout, there was some commotion upstairs and downstairs.
Soon, someone upstairs shouted, "What's going on?"
"Did those bastards from the Myriad Races Cult come?"
"How dare they!"
"Surround them!"
...
Su Yu snapped out of his stupor and quickly shouted, "It's okay, it's okay! Uncle Zhou, Chen Hao is just joking with me, sorry, sorry!"
Soon, an old man rushed over, holding a kitchen knife. He brushed aside Chen Hao, who was blocking the door, and seeing that Su Yu was fine, he sighed with relief. "I thought those bastards from the Myriad Races Cult came. Your dad just left, be careful, and call us if anything happens!"
With that, he slapped Chen Hao on the head, making him dizzy.
"Damn it, who told you to shout? Don't shout if it's nothing serious. If the Myriad Races Cult really comes next time and we don't take it seriously, won't we be in trouble?"
The old man was very angry, though not at Su Yu, but at Chen Hao.
"Chen family boy, if you dare to give a false alarm again, I'll have your dad drag you downstairs, strip you naked, and hang you up!"
Chen Hao looked aggrieved and wanted to explain, but it wasn't me!
It was Su Yu!
That guy suddenly sent me a message, telling me to break in. How could I not overthink it?
It's unjust!
Su Yu stood up, still feeling some pain in his body, but it wasn't too bad. Most of the essence blood's power was probably absorbed by the book. He felt a bit sore but wasn't injured.
Not bothering with that, Su Yu hurriedly apologized. Uncle Zhou looked relieved but couldn't help giving Chen Hao another slap on the head.
Look at you, how come you're so different from the Su family boy?
So silly!
Chen Hao wanted to cry but had no tears!
Su Yu also smiled bitterly and quickly asked, "Did you really notify the Wind Seeker Hall?"
"No, just bluffing!"
Chen Hao said gloomily. He didn't know if there was real trouble, so he wouldn't have notified the Wind Seeker Hall.
"That's good."
Su Yu sighed with relief. Chen Hao grumbled, "What's good about it? Why did you send me that message? I thought you were in trouble."
By now, the elderly people upstairs and downstairs, seeing that everything was fine, began to leave.
Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief, pulled Chen Hao inside, closed the door, and said, "I just felt a bit dizzy and was afraid I might faint, so I sent you a message. Didn't I tell you to knock first?"
"Oh, are you okay?"
Chen Hao didn't pursue the matter further and asked with concern, "Are you hungry? Since Uncle Su left, have you not been eating? Why don't you come to my house for meals from now on? My dad told me to invite you before, but I was afraid you'd feel embarrassed and didn't say anything..."
Su Yu couldn't help but laugh. Would I starve myself to death?
However, he felt a bit touched. This guy was naggy and had a big nerve, but he was genuinely concerned about his friend.
"I'm fine. I just practiced the Kaiyuan Technique for too long last night and felt a bit unwell this morning. I'm fine now."
"That's good!"
Chen Hao sighed with relief and quickly said, "So, are you still going to school today? If not... you can call the instructor and say you're sick, and I went to the medical center with you, so you can help me get a leave too?"
...
Su Yu's earlier feeling of being touched vanished!
This guy, there's no saving him!
Not daring to skip class himself, he wanted Su Yu to help him get a leave.
"Get lost!"
Laughing and scolding, Su Yu thought for a moment and said, "No leave. I'm going to school today. I have something to do at the academy."
"You're going too?"
Chen Hao looked puzzled. Why are you so fickle?
I asked you before, and you didn't want to go. Now you want to go. Are smart people all so changeable?
Su Yu ignored him. He wanted to go to the academy to find a way to get some Ironwing Bird essence blood or other essence blood, preferably cheaply.
The Xia family trading company was too greedy!
50,000 per drop, and with Su Yu's remaining money, it wasn't even enough for a snack.