Chapter Forty-Four: Swift as the Raging Storm

Blood-red light surged like a tide, and the scent of blood hung thick as the sea. Amidst the churning crimson glow, a cerulean heavenly dragon soared, its immense and graceful body gradually tinged with layers of bloody hue. Its scales, horns, claws, and sinewy form were all stained scarlet in the radiance, until even its eyes burned a deep, ominous red. Across the crimson dragon’s body, countless ancient and mysterious runes shimmered with spiritual brilliance.

In a daze, Gao Wu suddenly comprehended: the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation was now deeply fused with his flesh, organs, and consciousness. The runic glimmer grew ever brighter, until at last the bloody sheen receded entirely. The great, elegant dragon’s body returned to a vibrant blue, brimming with life. Once more, the heavenly dragon threw back its head and roared at the sky, inhaling all the surrounding blood-drenched clouds into its belly. Its body again turned crimson, and runes within it shone with ethereal light...

This process repeated six times, until every drop of blood-mist had been devoured, revealing the boundless emptiness beyond. With a triumphant roar, the azure dragon soared upon the wind. Its eyes blazed with divine light, and suddenly bolts of lightning erupted around it. Amidst the crackling thunder, the celestial dragon curled into a ball, runes flickering and interweaving, until it became a stable, egg-like sphere of blue light...

Gao Wu’s body jolted violently—he awoke abruptly from his deep, dreamlike trance.

He felt unbearably sticky all over; when he reached up to touch his face and body, he found himself drenched in sweat, his bedding soaked through. After losing so much water, an ordinary person would have shriveled up, yet Gao Wu only felt his mind clear, his breath smooth, and his whole being overflowing with endless energy.

To call it strength wasn’t quite right; rather, it was as though every cell, every strand of hair in his body brimmed with vitality and vigor—he felt as if, were there a gap in the sky, he could repair the heavens themselves.

He glanced at his phone: it was five in the morning. That meant his transformation had taken eight hours. He checked the sports camera plugged in beside him and quickly reviewed the footage. Even in night mode, the video was clear enough; the entire metamorphosis had been calm and uneventful, with none of the worrying flashes or bursts of energy he’d feared—just an excessive amount of sweat.

Once he was sure there were no issues, Gao Wu opened the Book of Infinite Merit and found that the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation had reached the Great Achievement realm. Below it, a new spell had appeared: Gale and Thunder Transformation.

As the master of the Book of Infinite Merit, Gao Wu naturally understood the meaning of Gale and Thunder Transformation—this was an evolution that only manifested when the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation reached its peak.

The Gale aspect allowed him to ride the wind and greatly increase his agility. Thunder sparked lightning energy, capable of dispelling evil and slaying demons.

As to the true power of Gale and Thunder Transformation, he’d have to test it to know for sure.

Turning to his personal attributes page, Gao Wu saw that his Constitution had risen to 15 points. He almost thought he was seeing things, double-checked, and confirmed the number.

The Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation’s breakthrough had elevated his Constitution by a full five points! In other words, after a single night’s sleep, his physical resilience was now 7.5 times stronger than yesterday!

For attributes like Strength and Agility, he’d had to rely on injections, years of training, and all sorts of supplements just to gain a point or two. Constitution had always been his strongest stat—and now it had multiplied seven and a half times in an instant. The realization was genuinely staggering.

Gao Wu silently recited the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. In twenty seconds, he finished the chant, and the azure dragon flickered to life in his mind’s eye, soaring throughout his body before coiling into a ball at his brow.

“Hm?” This was new. Gao Wu was surprised.

He touched his brow lightly—the condensed light of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation was nestled deep within his forehead...

He recited the spell again, and once more, the divine incantation gathered and merged into his brow. Repeating this several times, on the seventh attempt, the spell failed to merge and instead dissipated silently within him, like an ordinary incantation.

A realization dawned: after reaching Great Achievement, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation could be stored as glowing spheres deep in his brow, remaining stable in that form. With his current cultivation, he could store up to six incantations this way. That meant he could now unleash six spells instantly, without having to recite them.

The way the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation condensed into spheres was mysterious, and he couldn’t quite grasp the specifics, but one thing was certain: his body was now extraordinary.

His skin had become remarkably fine and smooth, almost poreless. His muscles, bones, and organs pulsed with vitality. The very structure of his body, inside and out, had clearly been refined—more stable, more compact, and far stronger.

Gao Wu had a sense that even if his heart were shattered, he could regenerate a new one with the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. Even if his head were smashed, as long as the foundation of the spell in his spiritual core remained, he could survive and slowly recover.

With a Constitution of 15 and six instant-cast incantations at his disposal, as long as he wasn’t pulverized on the spot, he ought to survive almost any ordeal.

Warriors like Iron Dragon and Han Juan surely couldn’t match his Constitution now, though without testing, he couldn’t be sure.

He ran his fingers over the massive scar stretching from his throat to his chest. With the surging vitality in his body, healing this scar should be easy. In fact, it should have faded during his transformation.

Yet the scar remained.

It must be that, deep down, he wasn’t ready to let it go. This scar was a profound mark of his past, one of the pillars of his strong will. Keeping it was necessary.

After a moment’s silence, Gao Wu took a sword and lightly drew it across his palm. His skin remained unbroken—though this was clearly the limit. Constitution focused more on endurance, vitality, resilience, and immunity; no matter how high it rose, it wouldn’t make him invulnerable.

Checking his other attributes, only Root had increased by 0.5, bringing the total to 7. He still didn’t fully understand what Root represented, but as a fundamental attribute, higher was obviously better—no need to dwell on the details.

His lifespan had increased by twenty years, now reaching 150. The years he’d lost using the Flying Squirrel Serum were fully restored.

After studying the changes for a while, Gao Wu had a solid grasp of all the transformations brought by the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation’s Great Achievement. Everything was excellent—except that the Nine Forms of the Dragon hadn’t advanced alongside the spell, which was a minor disappointment.

At last, Gao Wu decided to test the power of Gale and Thunder Transformation. Technically, it was a variation of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation, and the name alone sounded impressive.

To facilitate his martial training, Gao Wu had fitted two walls of his room with enormous mirrors—like those in a dance studio. Practicing in front of a mirror was vital in the fundamentals, as it allowed him to spot flaws in his movements.

Facing the mirror, Gao Wu activated Gale and Thunder Transformation. His eyes blazed with an azure-gold light, strikingly visible in the dimness but not excessive.

He threw a punch; his speed was noticeably greater. Glancing at the wad of paper he’d prepared on the floor, his eyes flared with blue-gold brilliance. As the glow faded, the paper remained undisturbed.

Checking the Book of Infinite Merit, he saw both his Agility and Spirit had increased by 0.5. He understood: Gale boosted Agility, while Thunder enhanced Spirit. Thunder’s power could be projected outward, but it couldn’t affect physical objects—its effect was limited to influencing others’ minds.

Pity he had no target to test the full force of Thunder.

Reciting the spell once more, Gao Wu unleashed all six stored Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantations at once.

Through the Book of Infinite Merit, he could see his Agility and Spirit had each risen by three points.

In that instant, time seemed to slow to a crawl. With his heightened senses, he could perceive the air currents swirling in the room and even the motes of dust drifting within them.

In a single step, Gao Wu was at the bedside, drawing his longsword and slicing it through the air, leaving a gleaming arc in the dimness.

He didn’t use his full strength—at this level, even the air felt thick and resistant, and a full-power strike would surely alarm the old man downstairs.

Within three seconds, Gao Wu performed thirty-two sword forms. As soon as the three seconds ended, the empowerment of Gale and Thunder vanished, leaving him drained—his limbs trembling, the sword slipping from his grasp and clattering loudly to the floor.

The old man downstairs was startled, hurrying up to the second floor and calling through the door, “Wu, are you all right?”

“Grandpa, I’m fine. I couldn’t sleep and was practicing; I dropped the sword...” Gao Wu opened the door, looking embarrassed as he explained.

His grandfather looked him over—his face was pale, his clothes soaked, but otherwise he seemed fine. After the ordeal yesterday, it was no wonder Gao Wu couldn’t sleep.

The old man nodded. “It’s all over now—don’t dwell on it. Get some sleep...”

Once his grandfather had gone, Gao Wu no longer forced himself to move. He rested for nearly an hour before barely regaining his strength.

He spread his damp bedding on the floor—thanks to the underfloor heating, it would dry in a day or two. Changing into fresh clothes and laying a blanket on the bed, Gao Wu lay down gently.

Unable to sleep, he gazed at the Book of Infinite Merit, pondering. Gale and Thunder Transformation was very useful; unleashing all six spells at once was incredibly powerful. Yet doing so also exhausted his mental and physical energy.

If he failed in one blow, he’d be at his enemy’s mercy—a desperate, last-resort move, not something to be used lightly.

Now that the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation had reached Great Achievement, could it finally deal with the spirits? That would be the greatest way to thank Song Mingyue...

Lost in his drifting thoughts, Gao Wu slipped quietly into sleep.