139 Azure Emperor Riding Whispering Gale
[Slain a fully crystallized peacock vampire, total lifespan 6,100 years, remaining lifespan 1,726 years, fully absorbed.]
[Slain a crystallizing peacock vampire, total lifespan 5,200 years, remaining lifespan 807 years, fully absorbed.]
[Slain a nascent Crystal Realm peacock vampire, total lifespan 4,200 years, remaining lifespan 2,820 years, fully absorbed.]
[Remaining Absorbed Lifespan: 5,837 years]
...
While the others remained occupied in the secluded valley, I found a quiet spot, settled into a cross-legged position, opened my panel, and reviewed the previous prompts.
These peacock vampires were clearly extraordinary creatures, possessing lifespans far beyond others of their realm.
I opened a thin booklet and flipped to its final page.
Besides the vampire lifespan, I noticed changes in the martial arts section of my panel.
[Crystal Realm - Whispering Gale (untrained)]
[Crystal Realm - Will Embodiment of Sword (untrained)]
The first was Peter Volare's signature technique that allowed him to dominate Cascadia through speed and stealth, while the second came from a brief glimpse earlier.
The two elderly Templars weren't bad people—they had proven their worth by standing firm in battle.
A powerful vampire like this surely possessed valuable items beyond just the crystal core. I could give some of these to them later as compensation for learning their martial arts.
Perhaps due to my experience with body-tempering techniques, when I encountered these obscure martial arts, I found myself recalling the familiar feelings of deducing the Bloody Quintet and Shadow Touch.
I shook my head reflexively. Better to focus on cultivating Nine Cycles Sanguine Resurrection for now. Though it demanded much, its benefits were absolutely reliable.
I placed the fully crystallized peacock vampire core in my mouth, and an immense vampire lifespan flowed into Sanguine Resurrection.
[Year 1, you mobilize the death essence and crush towards the Toad Lord's consciousness...]
Having gone through this process many times before, I knew there would be no surprises—it was simply a matter of tracking how much absorbed lifespan would be consumed.
I let my gaze drift away as I focused on sensing the subtle changes within my body.
Within my flesh, I sensed another consciousness stirring awake. Upon realizing its predicament, it tried desperately to escape.
But the death essence had already encircled it.
As the vampire lifespan drained away, this consciousness gradually faded into nothingness.
[Year 203: The Toad Lord's consciousness perishes. You begin attempting the fourth cycle of Sanguine Resurrection.]
The vampire core dissolved in my mouth as new power began condensing within my body.
The drain on my absorbed lifespan accelerated at a staggering pace.
700 years... 1,400 years... 2,000 years...
Finally, with a piercing bird cry echoing through my mind, the power settled firmly within me.
[Year 2,430: A fierce vampire awakens within your body—one far more ferocious than any before.]
[You are the Southern Azure Emperor, a divine bird descending upon the Sunstone Altar. Your green feather cleaves mountains and rivers, your red feather mends flesh and bone. A single murderous thought makes living beings tremble; a moment of mercy brings all things to blossom.]
While this improvement did not shock me as previous ones had, I could truly feel I had crossed a significant threshold.
I had only completed the fourth cycle of the Nine Cycles Sanguine Resurrection, with two cycles remaining before improving to Master level.
Yet my physical body had already surpassed that of a Crystallizing vampire—I was now truly comparable to a fully crystallized expert.
My eyes were half-closed, hands resting on my knees.
A green light flowed from my right palm while a red glow emanated from my left.
Two completely different forces coursed through my body like natural extensions of my arms. When I activated the red glow, my arms—sore from drawing the bow—instantly recovered. Even the exhaustion from days of running at full speed vanished.
I exhaled softly.
I marveled once more at the mysterious nature of vampiric powers. Had the pursuit of such power driven the Sanguine Institute to their fervent experimentation with vampire and animal hybrids—experiments that eventually brought the apocalypse? Given what I had experienced so far, I might have done the same.
The sharp green light danced across my fingertips—with just a casual wave, it seemed capable of severing anything in its path.
Though consuming over twenty-four hundred years of absorbed lifespan seemed significant, it was less than expected. Based on my experiences with the tiger cub's and Toad Lord's crystal cores, I had anticipated it would require several hundred more years.
[Remaining Absorbed Lifespan: 3,407 years]
I opened my eyes, withdrew the green and red lights, and studied the panel.
My attention lingered on the Whispering Gale Technique.
I had just acquired the Sun-Shattering Bow. If I could also master this strange movement technique, I would be untouchable. As long as I didn't provoke those dozen or so harmonizing vampire lords, no vampire in all Cascadia could threaten my life.
With this in mind, I channeled my absorbed lifespan into the Whispering Gale.
[Year 1: You open the manual of Whispering Gale. Studying the obscure text within, you nod thoughtfully as a glimmer of innocent confusion crosses your eyes.]
I gritted my teeth.
Here it comes! Here it comes again!
That sensation, that unmistakable feeling, I hadn't experienced in so long.
[Year 3: Though you have memorized the text backwards and forward, your mind remains blank. Despite your extensive experience with movement techniques, the methods described in this book are entirely unlike anything you've encountered before.]
[Year 22: You rise to your feet. Without moving your legs, you close your eyes gently, feeling the breeze caress your body. When your eyes flutter open, you find yourself three yards away. Astonishment fills you—this is not merely a movement technique but true teleportation. Yet when you try to recreate it, that ethereal sensation slips away.]
[Year 47: After countless attempts, your anxiety melts away. As you turn homeward and take a single step, your form dissolves into the breeze, materializing ten yards away.]
[Crystal Realm - Whispering Gale (Apprentice)]
Suddenly, the faintest whisper of wind beside my ears became crystal clear.
It was as if my entire being had melted into the surrounding environment, becoming weightless. With just the slightest shift of consciousness, I could ride the wind.
The jade dew within my sea of essence began to swirl of its own accord.
It wasn't until the panel continued to display prompts that I suddenly snapped out of this dazed state.
My absorbed lifespan continued to drain rapidly.
The progress remained painstakingly slow.
Given my extensive knowledge of martial arts, I was deeply familiar with most combat moves and the manipulation of essence.
However, this Crystal Realm movement technique transcended those ordinary limits.
It was reminiscent of the mythical abilities from Eastern storybooks where figures could ride clouds and mist. Though that comparison might be an overstatement, this power to become one with the wind went far beyond any ordinary movement technique.
No wonder Peter Volare could move with such incredible speed with only one leg.
His inability to escape later likely wasn't due to his shattered legs, but rather because that my final palm strike had sealed his sea of essence.
Abruptly, the whispers of wind around my ears fell silent.
I glanced up to see the final prompt appearing on the panel.
[Year 732: You vanish from your position and materialize elsewhere. Though your feet remain still, you know with absolute certainty that you can instantly traverse three hundred yards at will. You have transcended merely riding the breeze—you have become the whispering gale itself.]
[Crystal Realm - Whispering Gale (Grandmaster)]
[Remaining Absorbed Lifespan: 2,675 years]