My Arts Evolve When Perfected

SPLASH—

Hot water sprayed continuously from the bathroom showerhead and was poured, basin by basin, into the large wooden tub in the living room. Just as before, the tub was slowly filled to the brim.

He poured in the Advanced Su Fragrance [Demon King’s Origin]. As Jiang Qiu watched the purplish-black essence drift through the hot water like a toxin, he took a deep breath of the stuffy air, ripped off his clothes, and jumped into the tub with a SPLASH.

"Damn, this water..."

With a jolt, Jiang Qiu’s wide eyes constricted into vertical slits, like a pair of swirling vortexes, as countless purplish-red veins converged within them.

The Su Fragrance essence in the water, like a mist, was imperceptibly absorbed into Jiang Qiu’s hardened body. It scrambled up his blood vessels like a mischievous monkey, even seeming to give his heart a swift kick as it passed, which terrified him so much that a cold sweat broke out on his back as he clutched his chest and gritted his teeth.

’Damn, this Advanced Su Fragrance is intense!’

A buzzing in his ears drowned out his heartbeat. All of Jiang Qiu’s consciousness surged with his blood toward his dark green, vertical pupils, like tadpoles tracing their way back to their source.

’Director Zhao mentioned that the expert said the [Demon King’s Origin] is related to a Demon King. One must possess some sort of Demon Race bloodline or foundation to trace it back to its source based on its unprecedented characteristics...’

CRACK—

The vertical pupils suddenly shattered. The gray and white world was sliced in two. His soul flickered, and the world plunged back into chaos as an ancient aura of the Demon Race pressed down from the High Heaven.

Looking up, he saw eight green moons arranged symmetrically in the High Heaven, receding into the distance. Sixteen pillars that seemed to support the sky flanked the scene below. A strange cry, like mountains grinding together, rose and fell like breath, brewing a power like that of Thunder.

’What is that?’

Jiang Qiu’s point of view was from a Pebble engraved with crimson patterns. Like a tiny ant gazing up at a giant queen, he felt awe, but not fear.

’Same bloodline... same aura frequency... absorb Qi Blood... steal characteristics...’

These latent thoughts weighed on his soul. Time seemed to flow slower than the waters of Mirror Lake. Yet, though his consciousness had only been here for a moment, the eight green moons suddenly looked down, and the sixteen pillars shifted slightly, revealing an abdomen covered in purplish-red, fiery patterns.

’Is that... a spider bigger than a mountain?!’

In that instant, a cold sweat drenched Jiang Qiu. His soul felt like a candle flickering in the wind. The [Flood Dragon Tong], existing as a form of consciousness, shattered once more with a BANG. The image stored within it froze on the moment the giant spider shrieked at the sky, its round abdomen trembling as crimson fire burned the gray and white world to ash...

[Origin Connection: 1]

[Soul Metamorphosis]

SPLASH—

Jiang Qiu shot up from the wooden tub. His vertical pupils slowly reverted to their original black-jade appearance, and his chest heaved with great gasps of air. "Was that the fucking Red Flame Spider Mother?!"

According to legend, the first Secret Realm in the Northwest Province revived in the Kunlun Mountain Range. Over several decades, the various Demon Races evolved and broke through, causing Kunlun City to fall under the banner of a Demon King.

That Demon King never appeared on the front lines, yet it could command all the sentient Demon Races in the Northwest Province. The Martial Arts Grandmasters could only piece together a few theories based on scattered descriptions from defeated demons:

"The Demon King is a female of spider-like form. She is perpetually pregnant, and all the Demon Races respectfully call her the Spider Mother.

The special spawn laid by the Spider Mother often have purplish-red flame patterns, so the Northwest Province Martial Arts Committee gave her the prefix ’Red Flame.’"

’No one in the world knows where the Red Flame Spider Mother resides, nor has anyone seen her True Form. But I think... I just did...’

Thinking of this, Jiang Qiu swallowed hard. His throat, despite having just been submerged, felt drier than the Sahara. "If that really was the Red Flame Spider Mother, and her True Form appears in the world... wouldn’t the entire Northwest Province have to go on Level One alert?"

He took a deep breath and shook his head, sending water droplets flying. The light in his eyes gradually cleared, becoming mirror-like. "That’s too far off. A Demon King like the Red Flame Spider Mother is a problem for the country to deal with. I’m not even a Martial Artist yet. I just accidentally snuck a peek at it, so nothing bad should happen... We didn’t even have any face-to-face contact. It probably can’t kill me from a distance."

With this thought, he let out a long breath, climbed out of the large wooden tub stark naked, and summoned a panel in his vision.

[Blinding]

[Features: A leaf to blind the eyes, obscuring the True Form]

A soul-related Metamorphosis Talent. It conceals one’s age, bone age, and Qi Blood characteristics, nullifying all peering-type abilities below the Demon King level.

It is said that Transformed Great Demons possess a similar ability, but for a Spirit Body Martial Artist of the same level, it could be easily seen through unless the user specialized in concealment.

"This Metamorphosis Talent pairs perfectly with my [Flood Dragon Tong]. One conceals me, the other sees through my opponent. They complement each other perfectly."

Jiang Qiu’s eyebrows rose. He glanced at the bottom of the panel, and suddenly his pupils contracted and his heart skipped a beat. "What is a [Reincarnated Medium]?"

[Status: Reincarnated Medium]

[Description: An Ancient Times reincarnation Secret Technique. You have stolen a wisp of the medium. After entering the Jade Sinew Realm, you can intercept the Heaven and Earth Spirit Charm at its Origin and forge the Ancient Returning Jade Sinews.]

’It’s on its own line, not listed under attributes or talents. And the words it uses... "Ancient Times," "reincarnation," "Origin," "Spirit Charm," "Ancient Returning"... what does it all mean?’

’Could this be the unprecedented characteristic the Su Fragrance expert was talking about?’

Jiang Qiu held his breath, his mind focused as his brow slowly furrowed. ’I don’t feel any changes in my body. The effects probably won’t manifest until the [Flood Dragon Jade Sinews] are fully nurtured. If that’s the case, it’s not something I need to worry about right now.’

Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he picked up his phone from the chair and glanced at the time. "Holy crap! I took the medicinal bath, and in the blink of an eye, two days have passed! I’ll have to set aside plenty of time for this next time!"

With that, he quickly dried himself, threw on some clothes, emptied the tub, and ran out the door, tugging at his collar.

...

A long police cordon was stretched across the entrance of Eighth Middle School. Dozens of armored vehicles were parked along the side of the road, which was completely empty of traffic.

Jiang Qiu arrived on time and joined the assembled group. After another on-the-spot speech from the principal, he and the many other students with backpacks passed through multiple layers of security checks.

As his figure stepped onto an armored vehicle, Zhao Gongzheng squinted, hesitating for a moment. He took off his glasses and rubbed the wrinkled corners of his eyes with the back of his right hand. "My [Bright Eyes] can’t even see through Jiang Qiu’s Realm today. Looks like I can’t stop using these eye drops..."

He took a test-tube-like vial of eye drops from his Storage Ring, casually applied a couple of drops, and glanced at Principal Sun De, who was at the Dharma Realm, Li Ang, who was also at the Bright Soul Realm, and the various teachers at different levels of the Spirit Body Realm. He nodded. "There, I can see clearly again."

After receiving his orders from the principal, he, as the Martial Artist escort for Eighth Middle School’s exam team, walked toward the lead armored vehicle with his hands clasped behind his back.

"It’s a pity. Eighth Middle School could only produce eighty-three candidates this time. Twenty-one are at the Iron Flesh Realm, and sixty-two are at the Copper Skin Realm. Not a single one in the Steel Bone Realm. In terms of both numbers and average level, we can’t even compare to Outer City First Middle School."

Zhao Gongzheng let out a quiet sigh, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes. "If Jiang Qiu were a student leader at one of the Inner City High Schools in the provincial capital, with his talent—enough to defeat Lin Wei—he would have a chance to become one of the top ten leading prodigies in the Northwest Province.

"This place is too small. It’s holding him back."