บท 49: Li Anjing
Taking an hour to replenish his Qi, Li Ao took out a transmission talisman to contact his grandpa.
Once he found out this place was related to his master, as well as the tattered state of the castle, Li Ao decided to be more careful. If he could obtain some sort of clues from the parts he obtained, it would only further his safety.
Furthermore, though it was a far fetched thought of his, maybe they could be of some use against the demons of their realm.
Thirty minutes later, a talisman dove through his window and burst into flames, crackling within his earshot.
''Take them to Li Anjing.''
Li Ao cast a deep look at the sunny sky.
Li Anjing was one of the Nascent Soul cultivators of the family.
His father's brother.
He was a wrecked, pitiful man—he lost all of his siblings, his children, and his wife in the calamity. Li Ao wasn't very close to him, but regarded his late wife with warmth.
After all, she was his mother's cousin.
Li Ao's mother, Li Jia, wasn't from the Li Family, but from the Yuan family of the south-east. They were one of the eight, now seven ancient clans that participated in the Liberation War against the dragons.
None of her mother's close relatives survived the Demonic Realm's strike, so he hadn't seen any of those distant relatives. Only Li Anjing remained as their connection.
Even then, Li Anjing wasn't much different from them, so Li Ao had concerns about asking for his help.
Still, he was family.
And he was an Alchemist Grandmaster. He had deep knowledge about all aspects of nature.
Taking a deep breath, checking on the snoring bubbles within the demonic blood, Li Ao gathered his formation flags and left downstairs.
Outside the courtyard, past the two ponds, were two sets of seven-floor pagodas reserved for the Nascent Soul masters of the family. There were grand formations engraved at their bottom that covered Li Estate—they also acted as a flag point for the grand formation of the Holy Capital.
Hence, it required great attention and care to preserve their integrity and safety. Its existence also showed Li Family's deep bond with the Great Wei Imperial Family.
Walking inside, then climbing to the fourth floor, Li Ao knocked on a two-meter dark stone gate. A hum sounded within, so he pushed open the door.
The gates shut behind him. In front of him was a fourteen year old boy, almost one hundred and fifty centimeters in height. He wore loose, white and yellow indoor robes without any decoration.
He had a thin mouth, small brown eyes, and a solemn gaze.
''Ao.''
Li Ao bowed at him. ''Uncle Anjing.''
''It's been a while since you visited.''
''Well...''
This boy was his uncle Li Anjing. Two months ago, they celebrated his 105th birthday.
For cultivators beyond Nascent Soul, their appearance wasn't in their exact control.
The outward appearance always reflected their inner world—hence, their view of themselves controlled the age at which they appeared.
For example, his grandpa was young, especially so within Soul Formation ranks. He could don the appearance of his younger ages if he wished so.
Yet, his tragic past had scarred him beyond simple help. The age he grew in was one of chaos and slaughter.
He always looked old and wounded. Any trace of exhaustion carved themselves into his expression.
Aunt Shu seemed more in touch with herself. She was only ten years younger than his grandpa but showed herself as a middle-aged woman.
His uncle Anjing was much more different than them.
In the past he looked like a middle-aged man with long hair, full of vigor, and resembled his father very much. Now...
Walking behind him, Li Ao took a deep breath of the medicinal air inside the room. There were dozens of cauldrons, hundreds of vials and stamped notes all around. Jars, boxes, or strings of herbs and animal parts exceeded thousands.
''What's the matter?''
Li Ao waved his hand and took out pieces of skin, scale, flesh, bone, and blood of the two different beasts.
Without his prompting, Li Anjing waved a hand and raised them towards an empty desk. ''...let me see.''
Li Ao watched him touch and caress, then smell and taste each part. The boy floated around the room, picking up herbs and other tools to find out whatever these things were.
''Do you know where these are from?''
''Grandpa sent them.''
Li Anjing cast him a sidelong glance, expression cool.
While Li Ao sat near an empty table and stool, a steaming cup flew over to him. A bubbling dark liquid swirled inside.
''Drink it.''
Ignoring the wincing smell, Li Ao obliged.
He took a sip, then vomited his breakfast right next to his feet.
''...ough!''
''Drink it.''
Without turning his head, Li Anjing continued his work. Clanks, clangs, and sizzles echoed within the room. Tools of all kinds flew over to his hands and spiritual light illuminated the dark space.
Wiping his mouth, Li Ao suddenly realized that he felt...lighter.
He stood straight and looked down at the cup of medicine.
''Uncle, what's this?''
''Oakleaf Snake Blood. It can expel Ghost Qi.''
Eyes wide, Li Ao cast a look between the cup and his uncle.
''Drink it. I won't say it again.''
Wincing, Li Ao forced himself to take another sip.
He vomited yesterday's dinner...
Whenever he vomited, a strange force carried the disgusting contents over to another table, where several tools moved by themselves to dissect and separate them.
In silence, wiping his mouth, Li Ao put the empty cup on a table beside him and watched his uncle work. He seemed tranquil as he worked. Sometimes, he would let out an oh, and a slight smile would overcome his aloof face.
''Ghost Qi isn't easy to resist.''
The sudden words woke Li Ao out of his stupor.
''Once the obsession dies, or they are broken, ghosts will disappear. Physique cultivators are fine in that regard. You can deal with them from afar— any Qi is poisonous to them.''
''Ghosts of the Spiritual Cultivators are different. They can exist so long as there is Spirit Qi. Obsession can be fuelled by it, and their Soul and Spirit nourish each other to grow further stronger.''
''Making contact with them is dangerous. Ghost Qi can taint other kinds of Qi, which will poison your meridians.''
Here, he turned around and cast him a deep look. ''If left untreated, it can even erode your soul.''
Li Ao hurriedly nodded, his back sweaty.
'I was careless...but I thought I was!'
''But...how do you prevent it?''
''Let go of it.'' Li Anjing said. He raised two jade trays, each holding meticulously separated materials of the White and Black beasts, and put them in front of Li Ao.
''It is a born instinct of the cultivator to absorb the expelled Qi back. It is the same as being unable to resist the food in front of you. It promises energy, and further safety.''
''You must cultivate your instinct to let go of it. Each strike must be...alone.'' Here he stopped, regarded the trays with dreamy eyes, and pushed the black one forward. ''Or just cultivate your Soul.''
''With a strong enough Soul, you can expel any Ghost Qi below your realm with a thought.''
''As for these—'' pointing his hand at the samples of blood, Li Anjing spoke in an unhurried voice. ''Demonic Void Beast. Serpentine family, likely artificial. Its blood contains high concentration of toxins, and is further tainted with Demonic Qi by a magical technique.''
The description sounded both familiar and terrifying. Eyes glazed, Li Ao took the vial. ''It is a reared war beast.''
''Yes.'' Li Anjing's finger tapped on the scales. ''The scales are enchanted with a corrosive, slimy surface. It can soften physical blows, and disperse Spiritual strikes throughout the scales to lessen the burden. With enough scales, it might be possible to infer their exact composition.''
''The flesh—'' Li Anjing held it up to Li Ao's eye level. ''Very nutritious. It can help circulate blood flow and enhance an ordinary Physique cultivator's potential. One palm-sized slice can provide the same effect as a 80% purity Qi Gathering pill.''
''However, the demonic Qi makes it unusable. If purified it can only be a slightly more nutritious spirit meat.''
''Skin— nothing special, most likely this beast shed it before dying, so there are remnants of it left between the scales.''
''Bones are interesting. If they weren't so crudely broken, it could be used to make spiritual tools...''
After explaining some more, Li Anjing let out a breath. Li Ao could feel the trepidation in his quiet voice.
''As for its cultivation realm—it is either sixth or seventh level of Nascent Soul...it might be reared by the Demonic Emperor Of Brutal Deaths.''
'Of course, it isn't.'
Li Ao disagreed within his mind. However, the cultivation realm boggled his mind.
He hadn't seen just one or two of these corpses on the way—there were almost hundreds or even thousands of these. He only saw three or four among them that had relatively complete bodies.
And that was only one room among 1024 of them.
Whatever being reared these beasts should be infinitely more powerful than the Demonic Emperor Of Brutal Deaths.
Thinking of the memoir, Li Ao's expression fell.
Li Anjing cast him a serene look. ''There is nothing to worry.''
''You are safe here.''
''...thank you, uncle.''
Li Ao kept the truth within himself.
''Here.''
With a wave of his hand, Li Ao saw a satchel appear. It was a bag of holding, a spatial artifact much similar to spatial pouches and rings.
Swiping his divine sense, his eyes popped out of their sockets.
The inside space was almost two pagodas wide, thousands of meters in length and width. While a bag of holding didn't ignore the weight of the objects like a spatial ring, it still reduced them to a bearable enough degree that it wouldn't hinder the owner.
Most importantly, bags of holding couldn't preserve the contained materials very well. Thus, it was only used to transport large goods.
''Tell them to get more samples of this one—'' Li Anjing pointed at the other tray with the white beast's parts. ''This is the same beast, but the enchantment can attract thunder from the heavens. It is not tainted by Demonic Qi—we can use its blood and flesh to bathe or concoct pills.''
''The enchantment can help our forgers...''
Li Ao hurriedly nodded, cradled the satchel and looked at the tools still tearing apart his vomit.
''Uh, uncle, that?''
''Nothing for you to be curious about. Anything else?''
''No.''
''Away with you, then.''
With a wave of his hand, Li Anjing sent Li Ao tumbling out of the room. He swerved twice on the ground, stopped just beside the stairs, with his view upside down, and watched the gates shut close with a bang.
''...what is wrong with old people?''
Why were all of them such bullies?
Still, he was happier than before. He had obtained both knowledge and an opportunity.
It was obvious from the scenes but now Li Ao confirmed that the castle that Heavenly God, God Of Heaven, and the Heavenly Son belonged was destroyed by demons. Li Anjing's preliminary research proved not only that, but also revealed this attack was, perhaps, an organized one unlike usual demonic outbreaks.
However, demons did not have the tendency to leave behind any 'remnants' of sorts. They were special beings that held intelligence and consciousness, but no conscience.
To be more specific, to this day there was not one demon capable of good-will. There was no precedent in the past thousands of years, and there wouldn't be in the future.
Hence, someone or something stopped them from destroying the Higher Realms. It could be The Will of The Universe, or a Senior Agent of his, or anything else. Li Ao's interest laid in learning how his master was related to all these things.
The second thing, opportunity, was of course the corpses.
The strip of badly cut flesh could provide the same effect as two 9-th grade pills at worst. If he could bring in complete corpses for the clan to dissect, what kind of materials could they extract?
Thinking of the wealth coming his way, Li Ao whistled and strolled back to his room. He hopped on his bed to sit in a meditative position.
He was almost ready to go back into the mission.
But first, he had to look up Soul Arts.
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