Chapter 43: Manifestation of the Totem in the Void Realm!

The main force of the Grand Void Palace had set out. This generation’s disciples, all those whose cultivation surpassed the seventh layer of Qi Gathering, were dispatched toward Tianning City.

In the past, teams from the Grand Void Palace were usually composed of disciples with high talent and strong combat ability, rather than simply those with high cultivation levels. But times had changed. With the conquest of the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains and the opening of a road connecting to the heartland of humanity, the Grand Void Palace had new plans. No longer was it an isolated enclave; young disciples no longer had to risk their lives traversing demon-infested territories in pursuit of the path to the human domain.

Now, the palace organized an annual journey for its late-stage Qi Gathering disciples to Tianning City, where they would attend the various academies. This year, with only a few months left before the collegiate assessments, talented low-level disciples would be of little use; Li Daoyun simply dispatched all disciples in the late stage of Qi Gathering.

Among them, the palace sent its strongest spirit beast of the Qi Gathering realm to accompany the main group. At first, Yi Ya and the others were brimming with confidence. Observing the procession, Lu Wu recalled the line, “In the spring wind, one rides swiftly; in a single day, one sees all the flowers of Chang’an.”

But upon entering the territory of the Lu family, Lu Wu and his companions were struck speechless. There were many cultivators here, but every one they encountered traveled by airship. Upon inquiry, they learned that airboats—a more basic model—were used by cultivators of the Foundation Establishment realm. As for riding spirit beasts, unless the beast possessed exceptionally strong bloodlines, no one in this era traveled that way anymore.

Rumor had it that, in recent years, advocates from the Sacred Capital often promoted the idea of “equality of all living beings,” striving to secure equal rights for spirit beasts alongside human cultivators. It was said that decades ago, many demon clans had already established roots among the humans, enjoying equal rights. Yet those spirit beasts unable to take human form still held a much lower status. Nonetheless, cases of “enslaving” spirit beasts were now rare.

The other disciples saw this as a great leap forward—a testament to the advancement of the human heartland. Yet Lu Wu felt these patterns seemed strangely familiar. Slogans like “Spirit beasts are humanity’s best friends,” and “No buying, no killing,” rang a bell. The theories were sound, but the intentions behind those who promoted them were uncertain. He had seen such tactics before.

As the group drew nearer to Tianning City, their horizons broadened. At first, the regions dense with cultivators featured many novelties: rune lanterns, array vehicles, and other strange devices. Then even less-populated areas began to feature these innovations. By the time they reached the northern township of Tianning, the streets were lined with lampposts, each bearing a rune lantern. Giant screens, projection devices, and illuminated advertisements adorned the roads.

The disciples from the Grand Void Palace’s isolated domain were filled with curiosity. Lu Wu, however, wondered if someone else had traversed into this world fifty years ahead of him.

In the northern township, the disciples exchanged medicinal materials for Sacred Capital coins to spend as they pleased. The group continued on toward Tianning City.

On the way, Lu Wu rode alone in a dragon-horse carriage.

“One hundred and fifty-nine times now. It feels like this time, it’s finally going to happen,” he thought.

Lu Wu had a strong sense that he was about to advance to the Airborne Realm. After the great battle, he’d had no time to upgrade; instead, he spent many days in the Grand Void Palace’s library, scanning a multitude of books—especially those about medicinal herbs. Not only did he use the Book of Knowledge to scan them, he deliberately read them himself.

This was time-consuming, but necessary. Having entered the heart of human territory, blood-sucking could no longer be his routine method of advancement. His next phase of transformation would depend on medicinal herb juices, so he needed to prepare.

After setting out, Lu Wu hunted a few fleeing demons in the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains, completing the last few transformations. Now, he had reached his one hundred and fifty-ninth transformation—only one more to go.

He took out a vial of golden pike blood from his Sumeru belt.

“Blood of the Airborne Realm—its vitality is astonishing.”

Blood from the Foundation Establishment realm began losing spiritual energy within seconds of death, coagulated within minutes, and lost effect after half an hour. Qi Gathering realm blood started losing spiritual energy after a few minutes, began to coagulate at ten minutes, and was useless after two hours. But Airborne Realm blood was on another level. The golden pike’s blood was still fresh, thanks partly to the Sumeru space, but mainly to the beast’s own formidable constitution.

Lu Wu opened the bottle and began his meal.

“The path of evolution begins.”

“One: evolve into a fly.”

“Two: mimic the polygonum multiflorum.”

“Three: accumulate demon essence to upgrade to Qi Gathering realm.”

Reading the information in the Book of Knowledge, Lu Wu could not contain his excitement.

“Finally, a change!”

Previously, it was all about accumulating demon essence in preparation for breaking through Qi Gathering. Now, he could directly upgrade to Qi Gathering realm with every blood meal or ingestion of medicinal herbs—a leap forward! At any moment, Lu Wu could possess the true energy of the Qi Gathering realm.

“At first, I didn’t pursue Foundation Establishment because demon essence Foundation Establishment is useless,” he mused. “But if I can cultivate my origin to Qi Gathering now, it might actually be worthwhile.”

It was like playing a game: do you assign all skill points to a single tree, rushing toward ultimate spells, or do you focus on one but sprinkle points across other trees for the best basic abilities, enhancing your overall strength?

For Lu Wu, the choice was easy—his skill points weren’t fixed in number.

But now, he couldn’t choose demon essence Qi Gathering just yet. He had to mimic the polygonum multiflorum first. Lu Wu had always felt that after one hundred sixty transformations, he would reach the Airborne Realm.

“Of course, number two!”

The Book of Knowledge updated again.

“All second-stage soul totems erased.”

“Please select eight micro-plants or animals as your permanent soul totems. The remaining totem can be switched at any time.”

Finally, it had arrived! As expected, one hundred sixty transformations sufficed for this stage. The previous stage required over three hundred species, so the next would be around eighty. However, the energy required for evolution had skyrocketed, and each transformation was now much harder.

“One hundred sixty micro-plants and animals—I've mastered one hundred fifty-nine of them already.”

“Choosing eight permanent totems requires careful combination.”

For his Foundation Establishment level eight, Lu Wu had chosen species that maximized bodily attributes. Now, things had changed. With the Qi Gathering stage of the Beast Atlas, he could summon totems to fight! This was the greatest leap in Beast Atlas’s power. Other cultivators could not obtain more totems as they advanced, but Lu Wu’s mimicry method allowed him to cheat, amassing a huge number of soul totems. Summoning totems became crucial for combat.

“Rat, grass turtle, water snake, mynah, swift, carp, heartbreak grass, gecko!”

The Book of Knowledge updated again.

“Reselect soul totems. New skill activated: Madness.”

“Madness: The toxin of heartbreak grass excites poisoned creatures, boosting combat power by thirty percent as a positive effect; as a negative effect, it causes loss of composure and even the ability to think. The positive and negative effects cannot be used simultaneously.”

Lu Wu was astonished.

So, skills could be reactivated? This skill seemed to be the most powerful offensive ability so far.

He glanced at his panel in the Book of Knowledge:

Host: Lu Wu.

Species: Mosquito.

Lifespan: Fifty years (mimicry of grass turtle lifespan).

Physical realm: Weak demon beast, mortal grade.

Soul realm: Airborne Realm.

Physical strength: Grade minus two.

Mouth hardness: Grade seven.

Strength: Ten times human (feline strength x three hundredfold ant amplification = three thousand catties).

Soul Totem Stage One: Mosquito, butterfly, ant, rhinoceros beetle, leech, fly, spider, mantis (reserve).

Soul Totem Stage Two: Rat, grass turtle, water snake, mynah, swift, carp, heartbreak grass, gecko (reserve).

Skills: Sacrifice, Greed, Gecko Tail Shedding, Madness.

“Tsk tsk, these skills—none seem very wholesome. So dark! I love it!”

Just as Lu Wu was reveling in his excitement, the carriage slowed.

A voice called from outside: “We’ve arrived at Tianning City!”