Chapter 80: The Shadow Spirit

Flames as intense as blood burned fiercely, ancient incantations reverberated in the void. In that hazy moment, Gao Wu felt as if he were repeatedly being tempered in the crimson blaze, something within him taking shape in the fire.

When the incantation ended, the blazing red flames exploded into countless showers of light, revealing a figure composed of a faint red glow. Gao Wu focused his attention, and saw that the figure was exactly like himself, but made entirely of red light, translucent and ethereal.

"This is... my own Yin Spirit!"

His gaze shifted to the Book of Infinite Merits, where the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation shone with spiritual brilliance, offering explanations about the Yin Spirit and divine incantations. These explanations appeared as written words, yet were actually a direct response from the Book of Infinite Merits, intimately connected with Gao Wu's soul, reflecting his thoughts.

According to Daoist doctrine, pure yang forms the spirit, pure yin forms the soul. The Yin Spirit exists between pure yang and pure yin, manifesting as the soul's projection. Many Daoist methods purify the soul, transforming it first into a Yin Spirit, then into a Yang Spirit, thus achieving immortality.

He had been gravely injured, and activated the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation from the Book of Infinite Merits. This incantation gathers the pure yang fire of the Vermilion Bird to temper the soul, specifically for refining the Yang Spirit. Through this extraordinary change, the incantation directly helped him forge his soul into a Yin Spirit.

Strictly speaking, the Yin Spirit is a projection manifested by the soul—a part of the soul, but not the soul itself.

When he was fourteen, he encountered a life-and-death crisis and awakened the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. Now, faced with another crisis, he had activated the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation.

So, is it only through mortal danger that divine incantations are triggered?

Gao Wu had no mind to ponder this further; all his attention was on the newly forged Yin Spirit. With a thought, the red-light-formed Yin Spirit, guided by his will, performed a set of Warrior’s Fist moves.

This was the spiritual realm, vast and empty. The red figure moved with surprising realism, though its body remained ethereal and drifting, wavering and slightly distorted as it boxed, unable to truly capture the fierce and powerful essence of the Warrior’s Fist.

“Since it’s a Yin Spirit, it should be able to travel outside…” Gao Wu had already forgotten his severe injuries, his mind completely occupied by the sudden emergence of the Yin Spirit.

Sure enough, with a shift of thought, the red figure floated upward, hovering above his head.

The sky outside was already quite dark, and the red shadow drifted like a phantom. Gao Wu could see the red figure, but he knew clearly this wasn’t through sight, but through a subtle connection between himself and the Yin Spirit.

At the same time, his consciousness merged with the red figure. Through the red shadow, he could see his own body, his pale face smeared with blood, his chest deeply caved in, and even his damaged heart within growing anew…

His awareness seemed split in two, one half in his body, one half in the Yin Spirit.

The Yin Spirit was like a mirror, reflecting his self, allowing him to observe the world through it, yet the root of everything remained in his physical self.

Perhaps the Yin Spirit could be viewed as a game character he created; he could explore the game world through this character’s perspective, while his true self remained awake, but most of his spirit was immersed in the game.

In truth, his connection with the Yin Spirit was both tight and complex. According to the Book of Infinite Merits, the soul remains within, while the Yin Spirit travels outward, both sharing his consciousness, depending on how he distributed it.

Through the red-light-formed Yin Spirit, Gao Wu could directly perceive the source energy permeating the air—endless and omnipresent.

How to describe it? For the Yin Spirit, source energy was like a mist, visible and tangible, and when the Yin Spirit touched it, he could sense a coolness seeping through.

Since entering the Void Realm, this was the first time Gao Wu had truly observed source energy. His body, though surpassing the limits of ordinary warriors, had never been able to sense this energy.

The Yin Spirit floated in the air, and Gao Wu could distinctly feel the source energy eroding it.

It was like fine rain falling on a paper figure; seemingly harmless, yet it gradually sapped warmth. Over time, one could catch a cold, and in severe cases, suffer shock or die from hypothermia.

In fact, the Yin Spirit was like a paper doll caught in the rain. Gao Wu sensed it growing rapidly weaker, its red glow fading, the outlines dissolving into scattered points of light.

If this continued, in just a few minutes, the Yin Spirit might be dissolved by the omnipresent source energy.

Gao Wu quickly regained composure, immediately retracting the Yin Spirit. Back in the spiritual realm, the Yin Spirit stabilized.

Seeing it unharmed, Gao Wu looked at the Book of Infinite Merits and noticed his spiritual value had increased by 0.2, reaching 9.7 points.

He had also gained the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation, now at the beginner stage.

The good news was his merit had increased by three hundred thousand, reaching a total of seven hundred thousand.

Clearly, Wan Cangsong and his accomplices were guilty of heinous crimes; killing them had granted him a vast amount of merit! Unfortunately, if he could amass a million merit, he could upgrade the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation and immediately resolve his current predicament.

Gao Wu hesitated, but decided to first enhance the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation.

Obviously, it was related to spiritual strength—improving it should also increase the power of the incantation.

Moreover, from past experience, only upgrades brought qualitative changes to divine incantations.

Increasing proficiency had some effect, but never produced instant results. Thus, it never occurred to him to use the Book of Infinite Merits to heal his severe injuries.

He invested one hundred and twenty thousand merit; the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation shone with crimson brilliance, rapidly advancing three levels to reach the minor accomplishment stage.

Surprisingly, this incantation required more merit to upgrade than the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation, which caught Gao Wu off guard.

Fortunately, at the minor accomplishment stage, his spiritual strength reached 11 points.

At this level, his spiritual force was likely comparable to Wan Cangsong and Huang Hai.

The Yin Spirit hidden deep in his spiritual realm was also strengthened. The previously faint red glow became much richer, and its outline gained more substance.

If before the Yin Spirit was as ethereal as smoke, now it was more dense, almost fluid.

Gao Wu ignored the changes in his Yin Spirit; the surge in spiritual strength quickly suppressed the agony wracking his body, granting him the power to recite the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation.

Reciting the incantation thirty times, with the Azure Dragon’s spiritual light flashing continuously, Gao Wu felt less pain in his chest, and his collapsed ribs slowly realigned under the glow.

With the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation’s support, his robust constitution of fifteen points was truly activated.

Gao Wu had always found this self-healing remarkable; shattered tissue would reorganize itself perfectly, restoring his body to its original state.

Even completely destroyed tissues would dissolve and regenerate, requiring no intervention on his part.

Of course, this self-healing consumed a great deal of his life essence—his lifespan was reduced by twenty years.

Fortunately, the loss of lifespan was reversible; with continued incantation, supplements, and cultivation, he could gradually restore it to peak condition.

To replenish his nutrition, Gao Wu drank two bottles of basic platinum energy solution—a potent medicinal fluid usually reserved for those gravely ill or injured.

Each bottle cost fifty thousand; if not for Song Mingyue’s persuasion, Gao Wu would never have bought them. Unexpectedly, he now truly needed them.

The two bottles were quickly absorbed through his stomach, and Gao Wu soon felt warmth spreading through his body, regaining some ability to move.

His first act was to inspect Wan Cangsong’s corpse, especially the crimson visor-mask he wore, which had withstood the close-range attacks of the Thunder Eagle.

Had Gao Wu not reacted swiftly, turning the gun on Wan Cangsong’s neck, he would have died there today!

Removing the visor, Gao Wu found it as thin as cicada wings, light and nearly weightless.

The surface appeared seamless, but was actually made of countless tiny hexagons, reminiscent of an insect’s compound eye, so densely packed it would drive anyone with trypophobia mad.

Yet its intricate structure lent the visor a bizarre, alluring beauty.

The remarkable thing was that the visor showed no trace of gunfire, only some bloodstains.

With a flick, Gao Wu sent the blood sliding off its smooth surface.

The visor—more accurately, the mask—had no fastening mechanism.

Trying it on, Gao Wu found it naturally adhered to his face, fitting comfortably and securely.

Looking through the mask, Gao Wu saw the world tinged with crimson light.

Yet he could easily pierce the darkness, spotting the swaying pine trees nearby, and a snow fox peering from beneath them—drawn by the scent of blood, no doubt.

The red glow merely altered the color of his vision; it was like infrared imaging, but revealed every detail with astonishing clarity, far superior to any current infrared night vision device.

Wan Cangsong truly lived up to his status as a warrior—he possessed extraordinary equipment!

Gao Wu sighed inwardly. Wearing the crimson mask, he scanned his surroundings and saw two red figures deep in the woods, heading straight toward his location…