"Summoning Treasure Book?" Yue Jinghua faintly felt the name sounded familiar; she seemed to have heard a similar term somewhere before but could not recall it at the moment.
"This is an ancient tome left behind from times long past. Its owner was said to be a powerful Witch Summoner capable of forming contracts to summon Dark Beasts. After the ancient wizard passed away, the book was lost in an ancient battlefield. I acquired this book by chance in a fortuitous encounter. Although the book is incomplete and the Witch Summoning Clan has been extinct for many years, the might of a summoning wizard is still passed down," Old Xia said with emotion. This treasure book was the prized possession of his shop.
"Between a summoning wizard and a Dark Martial Artist, which one is more powerful?" The memories of the body that "Yue Jinghua" inhabited had no information about summoning wizards, which meant that the Witch Summoning Clan had already perished from the Canglong Continent today.
"This old man is not certain about that, but according to the 'Canglong Continent History,' the Witch Summoning Clan, as one of the most revered clans on the Dragon Road, once dominated the entire continent with just a few hundred Dark Beast Army members for about ten thousand years. They were the true God's Chosen Sons. A summoning wizard refers to those mighty beings capable of summoning contracted Dark Beasts. A Bronze Level summoner could contract two low-level Dark Beasts at once. A low-level Dark Beast could match three to four Dark Human Level martial artists. That means a Bronze Summoner could rival several times the number of martial artists at the Dark Human Ninth Layer. Now tell me, how remarkable are summoners?" As Old Xia spoke, his face showed reverence. Having run the grocery store for so long, he had heard plenty of rumors and hearsay.
Once Old Xia started talking, he couldn't stop. He kept engaging Yue Jinghua in conversation, mentioning things about the levels of summoners, and that the Summoning Treasure Book was divided into Diamond Treasure Book, Golden Treasure Book, Silver Treasure Book, and Bronze Treasure Book.
"May I take a look at that Summoning Treasure Book?" With Old Xia's silent permission, Yue Jinghua walked over to the Summoning Treasure Book.
The Summoning Treasure Book was roughly the size of two palms, its cover was painted a red hue with a special oil paint. Upon opening the book, there were only three pages inside.
"Page one: Deep Blue, born in the 110th year of Canglong, died in the 210th year of Canglong, a Light Attribute Bronze Summoner with the natural talent of Confusion, capable of briefly bewildering low-level Dark Beasts, causing them to lose their attack power. Page two: Brute Force Rabbit, a Second-level Fire Attribute Dark Beast with wings, capable of explosive power. Page three: Field Mouse King, a Dark Beast able to summon field mice, prefers to appear in groups."
Because Deep Blue was already dead and the Summoning Treasure Book was incomplete, the grade of this Summoning Manual had dropped to the lowest, and its cover was a dull grey.
Yue Jinghua closed the Summoning Treasure Book nonchalantly, with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Judging by your attire, you came from Shang Kingdom, didn't you? This season is when various academies are holding their enrollment trials," Old Xia, with sharp eyes, had noticed that Yue Jinghua, while browsing through the goods in the grocery store, had spent the longest time in front of several precious Second-level Dark Pills.
Every autumn, the nearby countries would all choose to hold their school entrance exams in the Hundred Beast Mountain.
"I'm participating in the academy's entry assessment. I need to find a Second-level Dark Pill or a spirit core," Yue Jinghua said, offering no concealment in front of this amiable old man. If the talent of the summoner named "Deep Blue" was "Confusion," then the once-known Yue Xiaoqi's talent was "Insight"; she could discern others' intentions of good or evil in an instant.
"Which academy's assessment is it? Ordinary academy assessments only require the capture of a Dark Beast Level 1 or spirit wood to pass, and there are always instructors accompanying them. It's too dangerous for you to act alone," Old Xia expressed his concern. Capturing a level one Dark Beast or finding First-grade spirit wood was much simpler than obtaining a Second-level Dark Pill or spirit core.
Yue Jinghua shrugged her shoulders, clearly indicating that the difficulty of the assessment had been designed against "Yue Jinghua."
"I'm used to acting alone," she said placidly, tucking the purchased items into her backpack. When you're alone, you don't have to worry about being betrayed by a companion at the most critical moment.
Old Xia opened his mouth but found no words. He sensed a type of solitude emanating from the depths of the soul of this not-so-elderly youngster.
Within this solitude was an unusual smidge of self-confidence.
This kind of self-confidence, usually seen in young people, prompted Old Xia, who seldom liked to meddle, to perform an action that even he would later find astonishing. "Child," Old Xia changed his address, taking out a piece of sheepskin, "this is a map of the Xuan Beast Valley area, marked with the habitats of several Second-level Dark Beasts. Perhaps it will be of use. Of course, this map is not for free."
Yue Jinghua was taken aback, then noticed that Old Xia's gaze fell on her worn Deer Skin Armor. She smiled, her eyes sparkling differently, "What should I do to repay you?"
"Just sell the Dark Beast Skin you acquire to this old man for a modest profit," Old Xia said squinting, watching Yue Jinghua disappear at the doorway.
After leaving the treehouse and relying on the map left by Qi Feng and others, Yue Jinghua quickly found a secluded spot near the stream.
At nightfall, as the sun completely set behind the hills and darkness enveloped the entire valley.
Yue Jinghua lit up a campfire, sprinkled some Beast Driving powder around, took off the Deer Skin Armor, and placed the items bought from the grocery store one by one in front of her.
The needles bought in Beast Mountain were mostly Bone Needles used for sewing Dark Beast Skin, a bit thicker than common embroidery needles.
Her fingers slid past the ten or so embroidery needles, picking out seven or eight of moderate size.
Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, she waded into the water.
A sharp cold glint appeared at the tip of the needle, and with Dark Energy running through the tool, even though these were just needles, any other Dark Practitioner seeing this would be startled — this was the level of cultivation attainable only by a martial artist at Yu Xuan Great Success.
At this moment, the steel needle could pierce through even a steel plate several inches thick.
The map of one hundred human acupoints appeared clearly in her mind; Yue Jinghua accurately located the acupoints on her body, and with a lift of her hand and a drop of the needle, "Xinshu, Yingchuang, Yamen, Taiyang, Zhangmen..." with each point named, a fire-annealed and sterilized steel needle pierced into one of her acupoints.
At the same time, the Dark Energy lurking within the steel needle became active, flowing along the blood and meridians towards the Dantian.
After sorting through Yue Jinghua's body, Yue Xiaoqi immediately discovered that the Dark Energy inside Yue Jinghua closely resembled the Inner Strength described traditionally in Huaxia Country.
According to the Eastern martial arts system of Huaxia, human Inner Strength does not dissipate easily, and as time sedimented, the depth and accumulation of Inner Strength cultivation would steadily increase.
Yue Jinghua had been cultivating Dark Energy for over a dozen years. She started practicing Dark Energy at the age of three, achieved the first layer of Dark Human at seven, and by thirteen, she was just a hair's breadth away from the Dark Jade after reaching the ninth layer of Dark Human—a talent that could truly be described as top-notch.
A prodigy turned into waste in just three years. Whether the waste can recover to become a prodigy again, will be seen tonight.
Before the acupuncture began, Yue Jinghua first entered meditation to focus her spirit, scrutinizing the condition within her body.
The Dark Energy inside Yue Jinghua was enveloped by layers of black smoke-like substances, resembling spider webs, which segregated her flesh, meridians, and organs, preventing the gathering and condensing of Dark Energy in the Dantian, thus causing the illusion that Yue Jinghua could not gather Dark Energy.
In the 23rd century, research on human anatomy had reached an extreme. For work-related reasons, Yue Xiaoqi once took an elder Chinese medicine practitioner, who hailed from Shaolin, as her master. The elder taught Yue Xiaoqi how to use acupuncture to unblock the Inner Strength and blood flow throughout the body.
The saying "physician, heal thyself" only applies to resolute individuals willing to risk their lives, such as Yue Xiaoqi, who dared to apply such drastic measures on her own body.
After all, the acupoints she chose, although they were the most direct for impacting the governor and conception vessels and activating the Inner Strength of the whole body, were also the most dangerous locations. Each of these major acupoints was a fatal point on the human body, where any slight mishap could result in severe injury, or in the worst-case, immediate death.
As the needles entered, her body could not help but shudder, the mixture of pain, the pleasing sensation, and stimulation from the passing rush of Dark Energy transformed into strands of high-voltage electricity, causing one to shiver.
She fell into a state of chaos, deaf and blind to everything around her, forgetful of her surroundings.
The black smoke within her organs was forced back, retreating more and more, like sludge absorbing onto Yue Jinghua's skin's surface, oozing out with the sweat drop by drop, the black smoke inside her also gradually dispersing.
The Dark Energy gradually approached the Dantian. The entire Dantian, like a mud pill, was where the concentration of black smoke was the densest.
Watching as the Dark Power was unable to break through the confinement of the black qi outside the Dantian.
Yue Jinghua suddenly clenched her teeth, and with a hissing sound, the second-to-last steel needle aimed at the "Shenting Acupoint" at the top of her head was snapped in half.
The broken half of the needle carrying fresh red blood, while the other half pierced into the acupoint; the watery silhouette involuntarily wavered, much like a withered leaf on a tree branch in winter about to fall.
Looking again at Yue Jinghua in the water, the hideous pattern on her right face seemed more pronounced, and the right side of her face, now like a heated branding iron, shone demonically bright. In an instant, the black qi within her turned back like a reinforced assault, as if a greedy evil beast, crazily lunging towards Yue Jinghua.
The ripples of water reflected a new moon and a lovely silhouette, as well as a face that reached extreme in both beauty and ugliness.
The light shimmered on the water, and an elongated silhouette appeared on the surface.
As the water rippled, one could not clearly see the face of the newcomer. The person uttered a sound as if incredibly surprised, "The Dark Energy is changing... the fourth level of Dark Human... the third level of Dark Human..."
On the creekside, the density of the Dark Energy was constantly shifting.
The stranger had only seen Dark Energy advancing in level, but had never witnessed Dark Energy plummeting so rapidly.
Such a bizarre scene inevitably drew the curious speaker a few steps closer.
Moonlight shone on the face of the visitor, and in that moment, all surrounding scenery lost its color.