After obtaining the Wind Spirit Orb, Li Xiaohu began cultivating against the clock. Although he had given Mr. Iceburg his word, facing Lucci's bizarre abilities, he had no guaranteed assurance of victory. Only by making himself stronger would his chances of success be higher.
Through the explanations of the Straw Hat Pirates, Li Xiaohu learned that in this world, there were things called Devil Fruits; eating them granted various special abilities. Straw Hat Luffy was a Paramecia-type Rubber Fruit user, which allowed his body to stretch like rubber, while Lucci was a Zoan-type fruit user, whose physical capabilities were not only vastly enhanced, but who could also undergo transformation.
Abundant spiritual energy continuously poured into his Dantian, quickly reaching a critical threshold. Enduring the agonizing pain of his meridians tearing apart, Li Xiaohu let out a roar and increased his intake of spiritual energy.
Cracks soon appeared on the Wooden Bird as if it could no longer bear the weight, but it still dutifully converted massive amounts of spiritual power. Finally, Li Xiaohu felt the barrier in his Dantian break open, and a tremendous gravitational pull surged from within his body. Fortunately, Li Xiaohu had chosen to sit on top of the carriage during his cultivation and was currently caught right in the middle of the storm. The incoming tsunami was sucked directly into his body.
After a moment, Li Xiaohu's body gradually stabilized. He inspected his Dantian inwardly; the Taiji black and white fish was spinning at high speed, and directly to its right, the White Tiger form had taken shape. Seemingly sensing Li Xiaohu's gaze, the White Tiger let out a roar, whipping up gusts of wild wind.
Li Xiaohu tested his strength and found it was several times greater than before. Originally, only the Yin-Yang Taiji diagram had existed in his Dantian, but now the four directions of front, back, left, and right had been opened up. Although only the White Tiger form was currently complete, since he had already broken through the bottleneck, cultivating the other three forms later would be much easier.
Furthermore, the White Tiger generates wind, and Li Xiaohu's comprehension of wind arts had ascended to a new level. Casting wind-type spells was now much faster for him. Combined with the assistance of the Wind Spirit Orb, Li Xiaohu's combat power after the breakthrough had multiplied manifold.
The Wooden Bird had completed its mission and was now shattered into several pieces. Li Xiaohu stored the head of the Wooden Bird into his Qiankun Bag, planning to repair it once he found suitable materials in the future.
Yet, despite having broken through to Four Images: Stage 1, he still felt that the flow of True Qi within his body was somewhat obstructed. Still, it was much better than before; at least his divine sense could now project outward within a five-meter radius. Moreover, in his perception, the spiritual energy in the air seemed to have some problems.
"The spiritual energy here... is actually exclusively of pure Yin attribute?"
Spiritual energy in nature is divided into Yin and Yang attributes. Yin and Yang are mutual bodies, transformations, opposites, and share the same root; only when they exist simultaneously can they develop in a cycle. During normal cultivation, the spiritual energy Li Xiaohu absorbed was balanced—Yang Qi transformed into True Qi, while Yin Qi nourished the body.
For some reason, however, the Yang spiritual energy here had all vanished, leaving only Yin spiritual energy. No wonder the spiritual energy Li Xiaohu had sensed earlier was so violent, for the balance had been broken. True Qi is predominantly Yang, and in a pure Yin environment it could not be replenished, while the external Yin spirits sought balance, creating pressure.
"No wonder the people here recover so quickly after getting injured. I used to think they just had great physiques, but it turns out to be the result of being forged by living in an environment full of Yin Qi for a long time."
It was only because Li Xiaohu had broken through to the Four Images Realm, possessing abundant True Qi, that his subsequent cultivation direction would focus even more heavily on the physical body. Otherwise, this pure Yin spiritual energy would have been impossible to absorb. Thus, after stabilizing his realm, Li Xiaohu continued his cultivation.
"Congratulations to Li Xiaohu for reaching Level 30. Team mode has been unlocked. You may freely select up to three people as teammates to share experience, items, equipment, and props."
"Team mode?" Li Xiaohu checked the System. It turned out that after forming a team, he could monitor the status of his teammates at any time, and the props in his inventory could also be made available for his teammates to use. Furthermore, teammates could complete System tasks, and the rewards obtained would be shared with him.
"Sounds pretty good." Since there were exactly three slots available, Li Xiaohu assigned Paulie, Tilestone, and Peeply Lulu to his teammate slots.
Inside the carriage, Paulie was still arguing with Franky's two younger sisters, Elizabeth and Mona, about how young girls shouldn't dress too revealingly, when a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "You have successfully formed a team with Li Xiaohu, Tilestone, and Peeply Lulu. Team leader Li Xiaohu has made spiritual talismans, equipment, and medicines available. You are free to use them."
Baffled, Paulie turned around to look at Tilestone and Lulu, only to find them looking around in confusion as well.
"Tilestone, Lulu, did you hear that too?"
Lulu pressed a lock of hair sticking out from the left side of his head and said, "Yeah, it said something about a team. Was this Xiaohu's doing?"
Tilestone, meanwhile, stared at the broadsword that had suddenly appeared in his hand: "Whoa, is this magic? A room suddenly appeared in my head just now, and the moment I saw this sword, it ended up in my hand. Though, this sword is still way too small for me."
Paulie and Lulu hurriedly shifted their attention to the inventory that had appeared in their minds, where talisman papers, medicine bottles, and weapons were neatly arranged: "These things... are they all Xiaohu's?"
"That's right, Paulie." Li Xiaohu walked back into the carriage. By now, he had changed back into his dark Celestial Master Taoist robe, pinned up his hair into a bun, and strapped the Longquan Sword to his back.
"This is a bit complicated to explain, but the four of us are teammates now. You can use these things however you like; they can save your lives at a critical moment."
Paulie fell silent for a moment and said, "Thank you, Xiaohu. When I first stepped onto this train, I wanted to use this chance to settle things with Lucci and Kaku, even if it meant sacrificing my own life. Now that I think about it, they simply aren't worth me doing that."
"Uh, so you're planning to turn back?"
"No, I'm going to tell them they're fired!"
"...... Whatever floats your boat."
"If I don't manage to run into them, and you happen to, you can relay the message for me just the same."
"Sure, no problem."
The Rocket Man's journey was not smooth. First, they were blocked by two carriages of Marines that had detached from the Puffing Tom. Li Xiaohu used wind-type spells to send them—people and carriages alike—airborne, only lowering them back down after the Rocket Man had passed. Next, they encountered a giant frog that suddenly appeared and swatted the Rocket Man off course with a single slap. Granny Kokoro explained to everyone that this frog was named Yugao, originally a pet of Tom's Workers. Ever since Mr. Tom was taken away by the sea train, it had challenged the sea train every day, leaving its body covered in scars. Learning that Franky had been captured, Yugao had also decided to participate in the rescue operation at Enies Lobby. Meanwhile, Sanji, the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, had also caught up with the main group on the tracks. It turned out he had previously infiltrated the Puffing Tom to rescue Robin, but failed and was thrown off the train. Accompanying him was a long-nosed man wearing a mask and calling himself Sogeking. But... wasn't this just Usopp from the Straw Hat Pirates?
Though the process was full of twists and turns, they finally arrived smoothly at their destination. The brilliantly lit island ahead was Enies Lobby, known as the "Island That Never Sleeps."