Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 16: The Crimson Blood Scripture

"Is this the cultivation technique that Bai Yao practices?"

Cao Xing opened the book and began to read it carefully, becoming completely engrossed in it.

After closing the book, Cao Xing looked up at the sky and realized that it had already gone from morning to afternoon. He couldn't help but stretch.

I made a profit!

Cao Xing took a deep breath, opened the deerskin bag beside him, and took out the Ruyi scepter to examine it in his hand.

The ruyi scepter was entirely gleaming gold, and two gemstones were inlaid on it, shining brightly in the sunlight.

According to the Crimson Blood Scripture, this item is called Azure Gold Ruyi, a low-grade magic weapon that is paired with the Crimson Blood Scripture. The scripture also contains corresponding incantations for controlling the magic weapon.

By using the incantation, one can also briefly unleash one-tenth of the power of this magic weapon.

To truly unleash its mysteries, one needs to reach the Foundation Establishment stage and then refine it again using the methods of the Crimson Blood Scripture before it can be used.

After playing with the Ruyi in his hand for a while, Cao Xing finally put it into the deerskin bag with satisfaction.

Compared to the weapon-refining method, Cao Xing was more concerned with the cultivation method in the Crimson Blood Scripture.

The cultivation of this demon was not as complicated as Cao Xing had imagined.

As long as it can absorb the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, even a cat, a dog, or an object can become a monster.

Just as this Crimson Blood Scripture says.

Most monsters are able to communicate with spirits by passively absorbing spiritual energy in a daze.

If you're lucky, you can gradually accumulate the spiritual essence of breathing exercises and eventually become a spirit.

Once it becomes sentient, it can gain intelligence.

Now is the time to truly begin cultivation.

After becoming a spirit, it needs to accumulate enough spiritual energy to complete the transformation and reshape its internal organs in order to cultivate.

This single step alone will consume all the spiritual energy accumulated beforehand.

The more human-like one's human form is, the smoother one's cultivation will be in the future.

The lesser demons in the Yellow Robe Monster's cave belong to this level. However, they have limited spiritual energy to accumulate, so most of them are ugly and deformed, lacking any sense of proportion and unable to shed their beastly appearance.

It sounds simple, but most animals actually get stuck on the first step.

Even with spiritual powers, it's not easy for most monsters to accumulate enough power to become spirits, especially some plant-based monsters, which often take hundreds or thousands of years to become spirits.

Therefore, monsters rely more on their origins.

Those born into good families and with a high starting point are destined to be successful.

Conversely, no matter how hard ordinary monsters train, their starting point is almost their end point.

But there are exceptions.

For example, the carp spirit in Guanyin Bodhisattva's courtyard, the white rat that stole lamp oil, the scorpion spirit that eavesdropped on Buddha's sermon, or the black bear spirit that stole the cassock—they all started from humble beginnings, but by chance they gained opportunities and achieved their own unique destiny.

In this respect, I am quite lucky. With the bloodline of a human and a god, I was born with a higher starting point than those demons. Just this human body alone is enough to surpass countless lesser demons.

Cao Xing glanced at Bixia in his arms. Bixia's background was also extraordinary. She had the bloodline of an ancient divine beast, was born with keen eyes, and had the bloodline of the Yellow Robe Monster. Her starting point was far superior to that of ordinary monsters.

It's just that they are far inferior to me.

Of course, although he had a high starting point, he could not change the fact that he was an unregistered person. Once the Heavenly Court discovered this, he would surely die.

The best course of action now is to quickly improve your strength, find a place to hide, and slowly develop your abilities.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing turned to the third page of the book again.

This is the cultivation method of the Crimson Blood Scripture, "Crimson Serpent Spirit Transformation Technique".

However, to cultivate this technique, a large amount of spiritual energy is required.

The book describes two methods for collecting spiritual essence. One method is to use the "Spirit Absorption Technique" from the Crimson Blood Scripture to absorb living beings and refine the spiritual essence within them.

Another method is the "Red Serpent Battle Technique," which involves dual cultivation to replenish one's energy.

Upon seeing this, Cao Xing immediately understood.

It's likely that Bai Yao's marriage to the Yellow Robe Monster wasn't simply due to his strength.

In addition to the two techniques mentioned above, the Crimson Blood Scripture also includes two cultivation methods, one of which is called the Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Technique, a body-refining technique.

There is a combat technique called "Soaring Shadows," which allows one to teleport rapidly within a small area.

This combat technique was used by Bai Yao when she killed the Yellow Robe Monster, but the Yellow Robe Monster saw through it at a glance and instead severely injured her.

That being said, I can't use either the "Spirit Absorption Technique" or the "Battle Endurance Technique" right now, so naturally I can't obtain a lot of spiritual energy.

Spiritual essence...

Oh right, I think I saw this thing in the deerskin bag earlier.

Cao Xing opened the deerskin bag and, after searching through it, indeed found several bottles labeled "Spirit Essence Pills".

Upon opening it, I found it filled with purple pills, six pills in one bottle, three bottles in total.

"Thank you for the gift, Fifth Sister."

Cao Xing silently expressed his gratitude to Bai Yao, then took out a pill and put it in his mouth.

As soon as the pill entered his mouth, Cao Xing felt a refreshing coolness throughout his body. This coolness didn't just stay in his mouth and tongue, but quickly transformed into a pure and gentle warm current, flowing down his throat and spreading to his limbs and bones.

He dared not delay, and immediately focused his mind, beginning to guide this vast spiritual energy according to the "Crimson Serpent Spirit Transformation Technique" in the Crimson Blood True Scripture.

As strands of spiritual energy were absorbed, Cao Xing felt as if every pore on his body was opening slightly, greedily absorbing this pure power.

The spiritual energy travels through the body's energy channels, eventually gathering in the dantian and gradually coalescing into a wisp of true energy.

At first, this wisp of true energy was very weak, but after the spiritual essence continued to circulate for several cycles, it gradually began to solidify.

The effects of the Spirit Essence Pill also quickly wore off at this moment.

Cao Xing slowly finished his practice, opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance passing through them, and felt refreshed.

Gathering Qi in the Dantian transforms emptiness into reality; this is true Qi, and refining Qi is already the beginning of the process.

According to the scriptures, I am now at the first level of Qi Refining. The twelfth level of Qi Refining is the perfect level. The next step is Foundation Establishment. Only by Foundation Establishment can I be considered to have officially entered the ranks of demons. Otherwise, I can only be considered a spirit or monster.

There are three bottles of pills here, enough for me to use for a while. Combined with the Golden Light Ring, I will be able to protect myself even if I encounter some minor demons or wild beasts.

"Um."

At this moment, Bixia in his arms had woken up. It seemed that she had taken a nap and her spirit, which had been injured by the Golden Light Ring, had recovered a lot, and her face was radiant again.

What shocked Cao Xing even more was that Bixia's injuries had already healed by more than half without him even noticing.

When Bixia escaped with him, she was covered in wounds, and the Yellow Robe Monster had broken a rib in her abdomen.

But these injuries healed most of the way after just one night's sleep, which made Cao Xing sigh inwardly: "It seems that my sister's talent is no less than mine."

Bixia reached out and touched her stomach, only to find it rumbling loudly.

"eat!"

Seeing this, Cao Xing took out a pill and stuffed it into Bixia's mouth. This pill was the one Bixia had given him before, but he hadn't eaten it and had instead spat it out and hidden it in his clothes. Now he was returning it to Bixia.

"Let's go."

Seeing that Bixia had woken up and even her injuries had healed, Cao Xing didn't plan to stay here any longer and wanted to leave as soon as possible, getting as far away from the Moon Cave as possible.

Cao Xing determined the direction and decided to head west.

This was Cao Xing's idea after careful consideration.

According to the original story, the Yellow Robe Monster spent thirteen years in the mortal realm. It's hard to say how long he and Baihua Xiu were together before he had his own child.

Most likely, the mischievous monkey Bi Ma Wen hasn't climbed out from under the Five Elements Mountain yet.

Because it is clearly stated in the original work that Baihua Xiu had given birth to two children for the Yellow Robe Monster, and her own child, being her first, should be a bit earlier in terms of time.

Cao Xing is certain that the Journey to the West project has already begun at this moment.

To the east lies White Tiger Ridge, the territory of Lady White Bone. This monster is a ruthless killer who doesn't blink an eye; I can't afford to mess with her.

Even if you don't encounter them, further east you'll find Wuzhuang Temple, Liusha River (Sha Wujing), Huangfeng Ridge (Huangfeng Monster), Gao Laozhuang (Zhu Bajie), Heifeng Mountain (Black Bear Spirit), Yingchoujian (White Dragon Horse), Shuangcha Ridge, and Datang.

It's best to avoid these places.

Pigsy, Sandy, the White Dragon Horse, and even the Black Bear Spirit were all people who were targeted by Guanyin Bodhisattva early on.

This stage is the most important stage of forming the pilgrimage team, and all sides are watching closely.

Given his status as an illegitimate child of a human-god hybrid, running eastward would not be a wise choice.

Moreover, at this time, Sun Wukong was at his most ruthless; if he encountered someone like that, it would be a matter of one blow from his staff.

The western side is a complex area where the territories of Buddhism and Taoism intersect, and there aren't many powerful figures watching it. I'll go there first and see what it's like. Once I've cultivated some skills and gained the ability to protect myself, I'll find an opportunity to run to Beiju Luzhou, and then everything will be fine.

Beiju Luzhou is the territory of demons, and Buddhism, Taoism, and the Heavenly Court rarely interfere. Once I got there, I hid and avoided this Journey to the West project. I can deal with the rest later.

Cao Xing was calculating his plans meticulously. Holding Bixia's little hand, he couldn't help but hum a little tune. When they reached a hilltop, Cao Xing looked back towards the direction of Boyue Cave and thought to himself, "I hope that my journey will be like a dragon entering the sea, where the world is vast and I can roam freely."