Chương 14: Qi Condensation Tartare

Rowan"I think you're in a bad situation." Rowan glared into the darkness of nothing as an unimaginable pain started to cover him. Inside the Golden Pearl Flood Dragon there was no throat to fall down, or stomach to splash into - he was immediately submerged in a sea. Swimming was hopeless. He could barely twitch a finger, the two Earth Dao Marks inside of him flaring an angry black, sending bitter, gritty sludge through his meridians.

"Close your eyes," whispered the bloodstone softly.

"You're melting."

"What am I supposed to do here?" Rowan asked, more of the divine than of the stone.

"Well, isn't it the ambition of all men to be swallowed alive?" the stone jeered.

"You can try absorbing this qi too, it might help you survive." Rowan tried, but he just couldn't find the will to do so. Now that the Water qi had eaten through the top layer of his skin, suddenly, it didn't seem to hurt so much anymore. It was just warm and he could feel blood seeping out of his veins. His heart beat against the pressure of the water. He was indeed being eaten alive, but wasn't it actually a pleasant sensation?

The water, it hooked onto his bones, found little crevices and ran along the grooves in his teeth, flowed along his tendons. It swam with the whites of his eyes and ate at his marrow. Bone, in powder, in blood, washed away from him, swirling within the belly of the beast. It was just him and the Flood Dragon, together forever. His heart stopped.

"Like a mother's embrace," the stone declared.

"I do believe it's over." What would his mother think of this? Rowan grit his teeth and screamed with his charred lungs, drawing in as much of the Water qi that surrounded him as he could, through every aperture, through every meridian, through every point in his body. Agony exploded inside of him. His body dissolved completely, leaving nothing except his Qi Sea and the two Earth Dao Marks holding it together. A mottled pearl glowing in the water. Unyielding. Unrelenting.

As the last of him faded away, his mind traveled back to the past… The House Helsing Testing Hall was cold, the pillars tall and intimidating. Children aged six filtered in and out of the building with their families, a variety of expressions on their faces. Some parents were pleased, discovering their child possessed a rare and powerful Spirit Root, while others had dark faces, disappointed in the verdict. Finally, it was Rowan's turn to enter.

As the only son of the family head, there were a lot of eyes invested in the outcome.

"The boy has a Dual Spirit Root - Fire and Metal," said Elder Sorrel unsurely. Excitement rushed through Rowan, looking at his mother and father to see their reactions. A Dual Spirit Root wasn't as good as a Single Spirit Root, like what his parents had, but it was still top-tier. It was nothing to be ashamed of. His mother looked down at him fondly, stroking his hair. His father frowned, observing the elder.

After all, if a direct descendant of the main family was found to have a Dual Spirit Root, wouldn't it be cause for celebration? Why did the elder seem so subdued?

"What's wrong, Elder Sorrel? Spit it out," demanded his father.

"It's just that his spiritual output is extremely low… I'm afraid it's a "deformed" Dual Spirit Root." The lines on Elder Sorrel's face deepened.

"This can happen in the womb… if the mother's qi isn't strong enough, the fetus's Spirit Root might not develop properly…" The slender hand in Rowan's hair froze. Elder Sorrel shook his head.

"There's nothing that can be done. Your son… his cultivation journey is not destined to go far." The floating Qi Sea began to glow brightly. When he was born, he had been given - if the blood stone could be believed - the Forgegod Spirit Root. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The Bloodwood of the Helsing family coursed through him. He had claimed the earth from the seal in front of the cave. And now, he had water.

His heart, that no longer existed other than in water and viscera, stubborn if stilled, with no physical form, burst back into motion, pumping the blood and water that was still his, that would be his. This was an impossibility.

"You're not gone?" the bloodstone said with genuine shock.

"But that makes no sense… the chances of you surviving is infinitesimal…" The voice paused.

"Child, reach for your qi. Quickly. You only have one shot at this miracle." Tendrils formed slowly around the Qi Sea like thin snakes - meridians. They were strong and flexible and contained the profound essence of Water. Thump. Thump. Thump. The Forgegod Spirit Root beat, and the Living Wood emerged. The Twin Earth Dao Marks held everything together, unwilling to let it split apart. In the past, the Forgegod Spirit Root hammered through his body, chipping away at the Bloodwood.

Now, the vibrations hit Water - tempered, transformed. An anvil. In the past, the Bloodwood grew uncontrollably, suffocating the Forgegod Spirit Root. Now, it was nourished by the Water, and its roots were contained by the Earth. Five elements. All in balance. Working together. Bones sprouted from the Bloodwood, strong and supple. Pressure from Forgegod Spirit Root tempered them, giving them sword-like strength.

They were white as jade, with striations like an aged tree or a sword that had been folded countless times. At first, they were long, branch-like strips that had gaping chasms between them, but as they joined together, they smoothed and gleamed. Flesh stitched over the bone, strand by strand of white vine. When they finished, they flowered - and the petals were swept away by the currents. Then skin. A fetus was formed in the pitch-darkness of a mother's womb, in nourishing amniotic fluid.

Slowly, part by part, Rowan was remade inside the Flood Dragon, in the waters of transformation. After all, what was a Flood Dragon but a loach who had leapt through the gate of a waterfall, hoping to become a True Dragon? The body that had been dissolved by the waters, was now being rebuilt by it. Inside this sapling of a body, organs grew like fruit, expanding and pulsating, shaped by the currents. The heart ripened.

The muscle contracted and expanded, matching the rhythm of the beating which had been echoing through the water. His meridians, which were previously dry and desolate and crumbling, flooded with qi. A spark of Fire - he gasped his first breath. In the darkness, in Water, he was reborn. Blaise Bellacanicus Thrashing. Blaise stared at the Flood Dragon, which was convulsing - its bulk coiling in on itself, its scales splashing water in a mad fury. Since it had devoured Rowan, it had descended into madness.

A plant with a bulbous head was stomping in front of her, waving its many roots forlornly at the beast. Said beast was steadily shrinking in mass. If she wasn't so unsure about what was happening, she'd use every spell art she knew to try and free him. As it was, somehow, Rowan seemed to be a poison to the beast. Blaise had never seen anything like it. Never heard of anything like it. How could a mere early-stage Qi Condensation cultivator do anything to a Flood Dragon? Hours passed. She barely blinked, watching.

The sound of a heart beating echoed in the cave. Suddenly, the Flood Dragon which was barely the size of a couch collapsed in a gush of water. A boy emerged. Water coiled around him like a serpent before rushing into his gaping mouth, eyes, nostrils, and ears like the soul-mist of a powerful ghost. Despite the large volume of water, his body didn't bloat. Every last drop went into him. Then, his eyes closed, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

The bulb stopped struggling and pointing and now it curled up against her ankle, its roots wrapping around her. Blaise crouched down over the naked body. He had been cute, in an ordinary sort of way. It wasn't his looks which caught her attention, but some indescribable something. Certainly, it hadn't been his cultivation level. Looking at the boy in front of her - his body had utterly transformed. He was tall and muscled, his skin as tender and pale as a lotus petal.

His facial features were as pure and clear as spring water in a mountain stream, radiating an innocence like he didn't know anything of the mortal world. And he smelled intoxicating. It was, undoubtedly, a physique. A physique which held the power of a Flood Dragon, the essence of water transformation. Her mouth twitched. And the world dares call me inauspicious? I led this guy to his ultimate fortune - a physique which hasn't been seen since ancient times! Hah! I'm the best!

She placed her hand on his chest - she could hear a heartbeat, but nothing pulsed in his chest. The lifeforce was very weak. In an area heavy with ambient qi, there would be no issue. The boy would wake up after a month or two. But here? In this backwater state? Could it sustain an expensive physique like this? Or would it wither and snuff out? She removed her hand from his chest. There were two things she could do: save his life… Or eat him.