'With my current physical fitness, even the Page of Devian, the strongest power in the bloodstained book, I can sustain for 10 minutes. Other pages will last even longer.'
Sitting in the study room that once belonged to the Xu Family, Mo Di flipped through the bloodstained book, extracting new knowledge from the new pages from time to time.
The Page of Xu Yuantu gave him many martial arts techniques, all collected by the Xu Family. Although they had their merits, their quality couldn't compare to the Golden Bell Shield gifted by Long Yutian.
As for the Page of Li Lejia, it gave him some sacrificial rituals, all pointing to the Black Sky Buddha Mother, as well as some application techniques for curses. So, it wasn't without Harvest.
'I need to research martial arts as soon as possible and find a way to combine the Golden Bell Shield with my Frost Blood Body Tempering Art.'
More than nine hours had passed since the collapse of the Xu Family, and it was now noon.
After the battle in the basement, Mo Di only slept briefly at the Xu Family Manor. After waking up, he continued to work.
Of course, he wasn't handling the follow-up work of annexing the Ling Corporation, but rather performing a curse transfer ritual for those who participated in the battle.
The participants had more or less absorbed some of the curses diffused throughout the manor. To ensure they wouldn't be watched by the Black Sky Buddha Mother, Mo Di could only resort to this method.
"Am I just working for the Ling Corporation now?" Mo Di was startled, then shook his head. "No, I'm also a shareholder of the Ling Corporation now, so I'm essentially working for myself."
It was his fourth day in Ning Country, and he had become a high-level executive in a large corporation.
However, he didn't feel particularly relaxed. Instead, Ling Tianfeng kept pulling him into various tasks.
"Senior Mo, all the relevant information on that evil sorcerer is here."
Ling Tianfeng personally handed him the documents and said gravely, "You'd best look at it yourself. The content inside is too... unbelievable."
Mo Di glanced at the documents and also frowned.
The evil sorcerer Li Lejia, who once studied at Beize University, disappeared with her boyfriend in a sudden fog while traveling outside Greenlawn City after graduation.
A week after her disappearance, Li Lejia suddenly emerged from the fog, while her boyfriend remains missing to this day.
From then on, Li Lejia became erratic, secretly promoting a deity named "Black Sky Buddha Mother," and also established a secret society called the "Earth Mother Society."
Under the guise of the Earth Mother, she secretly spread the faith of the Black Sky Buddha Mother.
"Fog, Buddha Mother..." Mo Di recalled the news he saw on his first day. "How long has the fog outside Greenlawn City existed?"
Ling Tianfeng pondered for a moment and replied, "It appeared about five or six years ago. The timing of its appearance is irregular, but its duration has significantly lengthened."
"Didn't you ever think of investigating this?"
"We really didn't."
He said awkwardly. Investigating the fog wouldn't bring any benefits, and large corporations like the Ling Family wouldn't idly focus on such matters.
Upon hearing this, Mo Di helplessly rubbed his forehead.
He remembered that Ning Country was not his home country. The government here was almost entirely controlled by aristocratic families and financial groups. To do anything, one had to consider their feelings, let alone undertake such an investigation.
Fortunately, he had now become a high-level executive in the Ling Family. After the fall of the Xu Family, the Ling Family could almost be said to be dominant in Greenlawn City and even the surrounding cities.
He could use the power of the Ling Family to investigate this matter.
"It is known that the Black Sky Buddha Mother is related to the fog, and the duration of the fog is continuously increasing.
I have reason to suspect that once the fog no longer dissipappears, she is very likely to truly descend upon the world."
Hearing this speculation, Ling Tianfeng's expression was grim. He had seen the blood sacrifice scene in the basement and personally experienced the feeling of being cursed.
As a normal person, he naturally had no good feelings for such evil cults and deviant worship.
"I will immediately arrange for people to investigate. I will notify you, Senior, of any findings."
"Also, the secret society left by Li Lejia must be dealt with. Tsk, after so many years, that Earth Mother Society has probably spawned many smaller societies."
Mo Di also had a headache over this. Li Lejia alone had sacrificed at least thirty people. What about the societies under her command?
'Some people don't deserve to live in this world.'
The person was gone, and he didn't feel any self-blame, like why he didn't discover it sooner. There was only pure killing intent in his heart.
He was no saint; he only did what was within his capabilities, such as helping when he encountered something, and he wouldn't demand himself to change the entire world.
The study room returned to peace. After finishing the aftermath, he finally found time to open the 【Golden Bell Shield.pdf】.
"This inheritance only covers the three Houtian Realms and the first Xiantian Realm. There's nothing beyond that."
This was enough. Mo Di didn't expect to immediately get a cultivation method that led directly to the pinnacle of martial arts.
"The three Houtian Realms: Essence Storage, Meridian Opening, Qi Gathering. In simple terms, they are early, middle, and late stages, corresponding to the three steps of opening the Dantian, expanding the meridians, and gathering true qi. How interesting..."
This Dantian refers to the lower Dantian located below the navel, which is also the place where essence is stored.
And the last step of the Houtian Realm is to transform internal energy into true qi, gradually opening the middle Dantian, the place where qi is stored.
"With true qi, one is considered to be in the Xiantian Realm. So, above the Xiantian Realm, would it be about opening the upper Dantian, the place where spirit is stored? That is, refining the spirit?"
Mo Di began to ponder.
If this were true, then the two steps of refining essence into qi and refining qi into spirit would align.
"My Frost Blood Body Tempering Art's first realm is called 【Essence Refinement】. Although it might not be the same thing as in martial arts, it's enough to show that the martial arts of this world are fated with me!
Oh, and the first Xiantian Realm, True Yuan Realm, where all internal energy transforms into true qi, condensing a qi seed... it has the flavor of the extraordinary seeds on the Eternity Continent. Even more fitting!"
Mo Di was overjoyed and became even more engrossed in his research of the Golden Bell Shield.
Three months later, Mo Di looked at himself in the mirror, lost in thought.
In the mirror, he glowed with a red light. Not only did he not achieve the auspicious golden light of the Golden Bell Shield, but he looked like someone from a demonic sect.
"Is this right?" He relaxed his mind slightly, and a desire for slaughter immediately surged into his heart, making him want to kill something immediately.
Clearly, he had gone astray in his cultivation.
Perhaps it was the influence of the Blood Feast Meditation Method, or perhaps due to the Frost Blood Body Tempering Art, but somehow he had managed to cultivate the upright and peaceful Golden Bell Shield into a demonic art.
The golden light on his body being replaced by an evil blood-red light was one thing, but this blood light could also release two negative effects: frost and blood flame, allowing enemies who touched it to enjoy double the pleasure.
"Although it's a bit strange, it's at least integrated into my system. Perhaps I should rename it."
Let's call it the 【Cold Blood True Aura】.
Besides the core Golden Bell Shield, he also referenced the cultivation methods of the Xu Family and Ling Family, as well as the circulation routes he had obtained from Long Yutian, eventually developing this martial art that primarily cultivated Cold Blood True Qi.
This was a finished product he had experimented with after spitting blood countless times and breaking his meridians countless times. If not for Scarlet Healing and the Page of Devian as a safety net, he would have died countless times already.
Ordinary people wouldn't have so many opportunities for trial and error.
"Both the lower Dantian and middle Dantian have been opened. According to the martial arts classification of this world, I should be in the first Xiantian Realm, with the Cold Blood Qi Seed located in the middle Dantian."
How could he cultivate so quickly, achieving in just three months what most people could not achieve in a lifetime?
The answer was taking medicine and finding blood bags.
Mo Di was not a conventional person. With the Scarlet Healing spell, he was fearless of excessive medicinal power tearing his meridians or bursting his Dantian. Naturally, he took the fastest route possible.
Moreover, he had meditated for many years, and his spirit was already much stronger than that of an average Xiantian Realm cultivator, fully capable of suppressing the expanding power in his body.
This was the benefit of multiple systems; different systems interacting could achieve an effect greater than one plus one equals two.
As for the downsides, there were some: it consumed time and energy, and required a good brain and the ability to think, otherwise it wouldn't work.
"My martial arts progress is faster than my primary Blood Mage profession. Unfortunately, the Aether in this world is too thin to support me in condensing an extraordinary seed, otherwise I could advance in both paths simultaneously."
Mo Di sighed, then drank another sip of the Ling Family's special refined potion. The qi seed in his body quickly absorbed and transformed the external nutrients.
Inside his lower Dantian, the amount of Cold Blood True Qi increased again, and the excess was absorbed by his body.
He removed the blood-red light from his body and thought of his other projects, one of which was a project entrusted to him by the Ling Corporation.
"Human body modification for elite troops? This stuff needs to be handled carefully, after all, other people aren't as tough as me, they're quite fragile..."
..."Teacher, are you sure this thing is really safe?"
At a research institute under the Ling Corporation, Long Yutian looked at the orange potion in his hand and couldn't help but swallow.
"Don't worry, this enhanced serum has gone through seventeen iterations. At most, there are some minor side effects after use. Look at those eight people over there, aren't they still alive and well?"
Mo Di patted his shoulder, pointing to the team members on the other side who were adapting to their new powers.
Noticing his gaze, they all saluted him.
"What are the side effects?" Long Yutian asked cautiously.
"It varies from person to person," Mo Di said, indicating he wasn't sure. "If you don't want the injection, that's fine. After all, Ling Tianfeng..."
"No, I want the injection." Long Yutian said decisively, his eyes firm.
At this, he resembled him by five points.
"Would you mind telling me why?" Mo Di always felt that this young man had been a bit off ever since the battle at the Xu Family Manor.
Overall, he was becoming more and more like him.
"I need all the power I can use to blast all those who deserve to die."
Long Yutian was not a traditional or conservative person. On the contrary, he strongly advocated combining martial arts with technology.
Over these four months, he had been leading a team to eradicate Li Lejia's lingering influence. The bloody sacrifices of those secret societies had truly opened his eyes.
In the past, he would never have imagined that there were people in this world who were so deserving of death, so undeserving of living.
This experience, though far from the ultimate insult, was enough to reshape his character, allowing the seeds Mo Di had sown to take root and sprout in his heart.
"That goal is a bit grand," Mo Di said with an indifferent smile, "but I can certainly lend you a hand."
He could tell that although Long Yutian wanted to commit acts of slaughter, he actually harbored great love in his heart.
Though he killed people, he was actually helping them escape the bitter sea of the world, and also making space for others to live.
He was simply a born lover of humanity!