My Arts Evolve When Perfected

The moment the student with the droopy eyes spoke, the surrounding students from the various high schools stared, eyes wide, and recoiled as if from a venomous snake. He was instantly left standing alone, while in the lake, the two submerged corpses of the Top Tier Demon Beasts sizzled and bubbled as if being deep-fried.

"I was originally just a stray cat. It was only by the grace of the great Spider Mother that I was able to achieve Transformation and take this form. I am now responsible for ensuring you all arrive here safely. You may call me—[Ai]."

[Ai] hunched his back slightly. The thin white shirt he wore clung to his shoulders and elbows. His shifty eyes slowly rolled, scanning the crowd as they continued to shrink back.

"Sigh... don’t be afraid. This hot spring was a century in the making, created from the most precious Treasures of Heaven and Earth collected by the great Spider Mother. It can support at least ten thousand people to fully absorb its power and transform. Even a Martial Arts Grandmaster above the Dharma Realm would be singing its praises if they jumped in. And you’re not interested?"

As its gaze landed on him, Jiang Qiu’s abs clenched. He felt a prickling on his back as cold sweat poured down him.

’This gloomy-faced person is a Transformed Great Demon?’

’How come I can’t gauge his true strength?’

"Sigh, don’t look so surprised. I have a special pebble from the great Spider Mother that conceals my aura. Not even Zhu Li himself, were he alive today, could see through it," [Ai] said, spreading his hands and shaking his head. "If you don’t jump, you’ll make things very difficult for me. All the Secret Realms in the ruins of Kunlun City have been opened at once. By the time the exam proctors break through the barriers and rush in, our great Spider Mother won’t have time to give birth."

With a casual wave of his hand, a powerful gust of wind swept out, blowing several hundred students away like dust. They fell into the blood-red lake, and their screams bubbled to the surface like something being boiled in oil.

"No! No!"

"My Talent is too poor! I’m not good enough to be a supplement! I’m not! I beg you, spare me!"

A few abrupt cries were silenced by splashes of water. Even Jiang Qiu, built like an iron tower, shuddered, his fists cracking audibly.

’Fuck!’

’This year’s exam was a setup by the Red Flame Spider Mother. All the candidates, even the exam proctors, have been tricked.’

’The exam proctors must have already inspected all the Secret Realms in the ruins of Kunlun City. How could we have been teleported to a place like this?’

’The Demon King must have used one of her special pebbles to tamper with the connection pathways between Secret Realms and pull a switch!’

TAP. Suddenly, a hand landed on Jiang Qiu’s right shoulder. A voice like a scouring gale whispered in his ear, "Sigh~ Don’t overthink it. With your excellent Talent and Zhu Li’s Bloodline Talent, you’ll transform into the finest supplement in this hot spring. I have high hopes for you."

With a light shove, Jiang Qiu’s perfectly stable feet slipped as though he’d stepped on soap. He too tumbled into the lake with a SPLASH.

"Fucker! [Ai], I swear I’ll kill you!"

His final cry was quickly drowned out by gurgling bubbles. [Ai] stood on the shore of the great lake, hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the students who were writhing and flailing in the seething water like shrimp.

They were all grimacing, blood seeping from their eyes. The sound of bones dislocating, CRACK, could be heard from time to time. However, a few were gritting their teeth in silence, focusing on resisting the pain of the refinement.

"So there are some with decent Talent in the so-called Outer City High Schools?" [Ai] glanced at Liu Zili, who was hugging her knees and taking large bites of a Lantern Spirit Fruit. He clicked his tongue and sighed. "A prodigy like her should be in a provincial capital. A pity the Human Race has such poor judgment."

He observed the others for a while longer but found no one else worth sighing over. Then there was the most conspicuous one, Jiang Qiu. He was standing on the lakebed, fists clenched, glaring up at [Ai] with furious eyes. He’d jumped two meters high before falling back down.

"Sigh, young people are so full of energy. This hot spring the great Red Flame Spider Mother has me temporarily guarding is the one with the most potent Spirit Charm among the Nine Great Hot Springs. If you can’t absorb all of the Treasures of Heaven and Earth, like the hundred-thousand-year Fire Marrow, not even a Dharma Martial Artist could get out.

But how can an ant swallow a blue whale in one bite?"

After another couple of casual sighs, he walked over to the Wall, lay down, and closed his eyes to sleep.

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[...]

At the bottom of the lake, Jiang Qiu felt as if he were being crushed by Taishan Mountain. His Soul swelled with pain, his limbs and bones felt like they were shattering, and his organs were being scoured from the inside out, as if he were being reborn in flame.

His eyelids, weighing ten thousand tons, slammed shut. Countless streams of Fiery Flame Spirit Charm formed a vortex and poured into his pupils. He could vaguely perceive, deep within himself, that the egg was absorbing the Spirit Charm.

’What is Spirit Charm?’

’A spirit born of heaven and earth, nurtured by the ages.’

’It was said to exist even before the Secret Realms reappeared, but only after their resurgence could humans absorb it through special methods. As for what those methods were, no one knew.’

’But it definitely wasn’t by sucking it in through your eyes!’

Jiang Qiu’s head felt like it was splitting apart, as if a black hole had formed in his brain, endlessly absorbing the Spirit Charm from the hot spring. His Soul gradually filled.

[Flood Dragon Jade Sinews (Awaiting Incubation)]

[Spirit Charm (Flame): 1/9]

HUMMM—

Suddenly, his head buzzed. On the red egg being nurtured within his [Flood Dragon Tong], simple, golden flame patterns were slowly etched. A sliver of his eyelid cracked open.

In that instant, the pressure on his body vanished, replaced by an even greater hunger for Spirit Charm!

BOOM—

’Keep absorbing!’

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[...]

...

The turbulent fluctuations of Spirit Charm from the hot spring washed over [Ai]’s transformed body.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the hot spring. The boiling, scarlet liquid lapped against the sides of the pool, making a faint, clear sound that he found quite melodious.

"To break through to the First Rank of Jade Sinews so quickly... As expected of a prodigy who awakened the [Flood Dragon Tong]."

[Ai] sighed softly and crossed his legs, his droopy eyes seeming to hang even lower. "The quality of the others is a bit poor. The so-called Optimizers from the various cities still haven’t stepped into the Jade Sinew Realm. Their progress in the Copper Skin and Iron Flesh Realms is more obvious, though. In just a few hours, the thousand or so who are still alive have all reached the Steel Bone Realm.

Sigh. If I had been able to soak in this hot spring back in the day, why would it have taken me decades to achieve Transformation? Maybe I could have even condensed my Jade Sinews to the fifth or sixth rank and become a genius among the Demon Race..."

As he sighed, the hot spring continued to scald and burn. The commotion within grew quieter and quieter. A large number of students, like sediment from a chemical reaction, lay silently at the bottom amongst the Treasures of Heaven and Earth.

More and more Spirit Charm poured into Jiang Qiu’s eyes. Gradually, the Treasures of Heaven and Earth around his feet, once rich with Fiery Flame Spirit Charm, began to dim. The concentration of the liquid plummeted.

But the pressure only grew stronger!

His pupils began to absorb the Fiery Flame Spirit Charm from farther away, and the pure essence of the hot spring also converged into his body.

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[Absorbed Hundred-Thousand-Year Fire Marrow x1]

[...]

[Top-Grade Body Refining x1]

[Top-Grade Body Refining x1]

[...]

His soul and body underwent a dual sublimation. The golden patterns etched on the red egg hidden in his pupils grew more and more intricate, as if they had stolen the very principles of the universe and fused them into his eyes, imbuing them with the profound charm of the eternal Great Dao.

The connection to the Red Flame Spider Mother was refined into a fine thread, stealing a wondrous wisp of her Origin aura across space and time.

He immediately activated [Blinding]. Whenever his Jade Sinews advanced a rank and produced unique Spirit Charm fluctuations, he contained the entire aura within his palm, shielding himself from any probing from outside the hot spring.

[Flood Dragon Jade Sinews (Awaiting Incubation)]

[Spirit Charm (Flame): 3/9]

Jiang Qiu gritted his teeth. His eyelids were half-open, revealing dark green, slitted pupils that glinted with a sharp light for the first time, as if an Ancestral Return Flood Dragon was awakening.

Various Spear Skills, Bow Skills, and Body Techniques began to transform in his mind. The simple, unadorned principles of circulating Qi Blood were being restructured, rebuilt with Fiery Flame Spirit Charm as their new foundation.

’[Ai].’

’Just you wait. When I get out, I will kill you!’