Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 80 Yin Shen
The flames, as hot as blood, burned fiercely, and ancient incantations echoed in the void.

In a daze, Gao Wu felt as if he were being repeatedly forged in crimson flames, and something was taking shape in the flames...

When the incantation ended, the blazing crimson flames exploded into a shower of billions of rays of light, revealing a figure composed of faint crimson light.

Gao Wu focused his attention and "looked" over, only to see that the figure was exactly the same as him, except that it was made of red light, and the figure was transparent and illusory.

"This is... my own spirit!"

His gaze turned to the Book of Immeasurable Merit, where the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra shone with spiritual light, offering various explanations of the Yin Gods and divine incantations.

This explanation, expressed in words, is actually closely connected to the Book of Immeasurable Merit and the High Martial Spirit, responding naturally according to his thoughts.

According to Taoism, pure Yang is the spirit, and pure Yin is the soul.

The Yin spirit exists between pure Yang and pure Yin, and is the manifestation of the human soul. Many Taoist methods purify the spirit, transforming it into the Yin spirit, and then into the Yang spirit, thus achieving immortality.

He was seriously injured, which triggered the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra in the Book of Immeasurable Merit.

The Divine Light Incantation is a divine incantation that gathers the pure Yang fire of the Vermilion Bird to temper the soul, and is specifically used to refine the Yang God.

Through this strange change, the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra directly helped him refine his soul into a Yin God.

To be precise, the Yin spirit is a projection of the soul, a part of the soul, but not the same as the soul.

At the age of fourteen, he faced a life-or-death crisis, which activated the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Curse. This time, facing another life-or-death crisis, he activated the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Curse.

Therefore, only a life-or-death crisis can trigger the divine spell?
Gao Wu had no time to think about these things; his attention was focused on the Yin Spirit he had just cultivated.

With a thought, the Yin spirit formed from the crimson light performed a set of warrior fist techniques under his control.

This is the spiritual world, a vast and empty expanse.

Chi Ying fought quite skillfully, but the light and shadow were illusory and fleeting, and his body would sway and deform slightly when he punched, but he could not show the fierce and sharp power of Zhanbing Fist.

"Since it's a spirit of the underworld, it should be able to travel outside..." Gao Wu had even forgotten his serious injuries at this moment, his mind completely occupied by the spirit of the underworld that had suddenly appeared.

Sure enough, as Gao Wu turned his thoughts, the crimson shadow floated into the air and hovered above his head.

The sky was already very dark, and the red light floated there like a phantom.

Gao Wu could see the crimson shadow, but he knew very well that it was not through sight, but through the subtle connection between him and the Yin God.

On the other hand, his consciousness merged with the crimson shadow. He could see his own body through the crimson shadow, his pale face and mouth covered in blood, his deeply sunken chest, and even the ruptured heart deep within his chest that was constantly growing...

His consciousness seemed to split in two, one half in his physical body and the other half in his Yin spirit.

The Yin spirit is somewhat like a mirror, allowing him to reflect himself and observe the world through it. However, the root of everything lies in his own body.

Alternatively, one could view the Yin spirit as a game character he created, observing the game world from the perspective of the game character. Although his physical body maintains a clear consciousness, he is actually immersed in the game for most of his mind.

In reality, his connection with the Yin spirits is very close and very complex.

According to the Book of Immeasurable Merit, the soul dwells within, while the spirit roams without; both share his consciousness, depending on how he distributes it.

Through the Yin spirit formed by the crimson light, Gao Wu was able to directly see the source energy permeating the air, which was omnipresent and inexhaustible.

To put it simply, for the Yin spirit, the source energy is like a pervasive mist that can be directly observed. When the Yin spirit comes into contact with the source energy, it can also sense the coolness that permeates its entirety.

Since entering the Void Realm, this was the first time Gao Wu had truly observed Source Power. Although his body had already surpassed the limits of a martial artist, he couldn't sense Source Power at all.

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

It's like a light rain falling on your skin; it seems harmless, but it constantly draws away your body heat. Over time, you'll inevitably catch a cold. In severe cases, it can even lead to hypothermia, shock, or death.

In fact, the Yin Spirit was like a paper doll being rained on. He could feel that the Yin Spirit was rapidly weakening. Under the erosion of the source power, the red light dimmed, and the lines around the body had disintegrated into specks of light.

If this continues, the Yin Spirit will likely be melted away by the omnipresent source energy within minutes.

Gao Wu quickly calmed down and immediately withdrew his Yin Spirit. The Yin Spirit, back in the spiritual world, indeed stabilized.

Seeing that the Yin Spirit was fine, Gao Wu's gaze fell on the Book of Boundless Merit, where he saw that his Spirit value had increased by 0.2, reaching 9.7 points.

There is also an additional Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra, which is at the beginner level.

The good news is that the merit points have actually increased by 300,000, reaching a total of 700,000. Clearly, Wan Cangsong and his gang were guilty of heinous crimes, and killing them yielded a huge amount of merit points! It's a pity; if only a million merit points could be accumulated, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra could be upgraded, immediately resolving the current problem.

Gao Wu hesitated for a moment, but decided to improve the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Spell first.

It is obvious that the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra corresponds to the spirit, and enhancing the spirit should indirectly strengthen the power of the mantra.

Furthermore, based on past experience, divine spells can only undergo a qualitative change when upgraded.

While increasing proficiency would have an impact, it wouldn't have an immediate effect. Therefore, he never even considered using the Book of Boundless Merit to heal his serious injuries.

With 120,000 merits invested, the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra shone with crimson light, instantly rising three levels to reach the Lesser Completion stage.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra was different from the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra; it required more merit to upgrade. This surprised Gao Wu.

Fortunately, his mastery of the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra at the minor completion stage allowed him to reach 11 points of spiritual power.

Such spiritual strength is comparable to that of Wan Cangsong and Huang Hai.

The Yin spirits hidden deep within the spiritual world have all been enhanced. The originally faint red light has become much thicker, and the images of the Yin spirits they outline have gained more texture.

If the Yin spirit was previously ethereal and like smoke, it now has a more dense and watery feel.

Gao Wu ignored the changes in the Yin Spirit. His surge of spiritual power allowed him to quickly suppress the intense pain in his body and also gave him the ability to recite the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra.

After chanting the mantra thirty times in a row, as the spiritual light transformed from the Azure Dragon continued to shine, Gao Wu's chest pain lessened, and his collapsed sternum slowly returned to its original position within the spiritual light.

With the blessing of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra, the powerful 15-point physique was truly activated.

Gao Wu always found this self-healing to be amazing; the shattered body tissues could spontaneously and orderly recombine perfectly, restoring the body to its original state.

The completely destroyed body tissues were dissolved in the self-healing process, requiring no intervention from him whatsoever.

Of course, this self-healing also consumed a large amount of his life essence. His lifespan was reduced by a full twenty years.

Fortunately, the loss of lifespan is reversible. Through continuous chanting of mantras, supplementation, and cultivation, his lifespan should be able to gradually recover to its optimal state.

To replenish his nutrition, Gao Wu drank two vials of basic platinum energy liquid. This is a powerful tonic, usually used for people who are seriously ill or injured.

A single bottle of basic platinum energy liquid costs 50,000 yuan. Gao Wu wouldn't have bought it if Song Mingyue hadn't persuaded him. He never expected it would actually come in handy.

The two doses of platinum medicine were quickly absorbed through his stomach, and Gao Wu soon felt a warm sensation throughout his body, regaining some of his mobility.

The first thing Gao Wu did after getting up was to check Wan Cangsong's body, especially the crimson goggles that looked like a mask, which actually withstood Lei Ying's close-range shooting.

If he hadn't reacted quickly and pointed the gun at Wan Cangsong's neck, he would be dead here today!

After removing his goggles, Gao Wu discovered that they were as thin as cicada wings, light and weightless.

The mirror appears to be a single piece, but it is actually composed of countless tiny hexagons, which look somewhat like the compound eyes of an insect. The density of these hexagons is enough to drive people with trypophobia crazy.

On the other hand, the intricate and complex structure gives the goggles an eerie beauty.

What's truly impressive is that the mirror surface shows no signs of gunfire, only some bloodstains.

With a flick of his wrist, Gao Wu caused the bloodstains to fall off the smooth mirror surface.

The goggles, or rather the face shield, had no securing devices.

Gao Wu tried it on his face and found that the mask fit his skin naturally, making it very comfortable and secure to wear.

Observing the outside world through the mask, Gao Wu discovered that the surroundings were coated with a layer of crimson light.

However, he could easily see through the darkness and see the pine trees swaying in the wind not far away, and a snow fox peeking out from under the pine trees... This little thing must have been attracted by the smell of blood.

The crimson light merely alters the color of the field of vision, much like infrared imaging, yet it can clearly reveal various details, making it hundreds or thousands of times better than current mainstream infrared night vision devices.

Wan Cangsong truly lives up to his reputation as a warrior; he really has some good stuff on him!

Gao Wu sighed inwardly. Wearing the crimson mask, he looked around and saw two crimson figures rushing towards his location from the depths of the forest...

(End of this chapter)