NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56: Lotus Ascension Soul Art
Tianyi wasn't so impatient as to immediately start working on the cultivator's cellphone. The most important thing was to allow Xi Ri to acclimate himself to the Spring Autumn Scripture.
Xi Ri's cultivation was at the Spiritual Pillar Stag of the Foundation Establishment Realm, so it was not too late for Xi Ri to switch his cultivation method. He only needed to demolish his partially formed spiritual pillars, which would technically harm himself but only at the moment. His hard work in the past would go up in smoke, but the new spiritual pillar formed would greatly increase his potential and strength.
If a core formation master wanted to change their cultivation method, the process would be far more complicated and require rare treasures. Even then, the chances of becoming a waste were high. Tianyi was unique in that he had nine spiritual cores, so if he shattered them, the treasures he would need to switch were less than people with only one spiritual core.
While Xi Ri was reconstructing his cultivation base, Tianyi visited the Immortal Scripture Repository. Thanks to bringing the Spring Autumn Scripture, he was allowed a chance to enter the seventh level. The seventh level was for techniques that reached the level of true immortals, and they were all top-tier techniques stored inside.
He stepped into the seventh level and felt the dense spiritual qi within. Unlike the previous floors, where there were books for the techniques, jade slips lined the shelves. Unlike books, jade slips directly imparted the knowledge into your mind, and in terms of effectiveness, they were far superior to books.
Tianyi walked through the rows of jade slips, examining their name as well as their purpose. He paused when he came to the jade slip titled War Golem Manufacturing Method.
At the highest level, the manual allowed the user to create a hulking golem ranging from a few tens of meters to even kilometers tall. The golem would be created from numerous materials and would have superior strength and toughness in comparison to monsters or demons of the same realm.
The only downfall was that it was very costly and that the user would have to control the golem from within. Even if Tianyi was a rich second generation, once he reached the Immortal Realm, the cost would even make him hurt. In addition, this was the ultimate peak of the method, and there was no higher realm version.
Although the thought of him piloting a particular mobile mecha appeared in Tianyi's mind, the fleeting sense of interest ultimately could not win against his reason.
If the War Golem Manufactory Method gave Tianyi a slight sense of regret, then the next jade slip that caught his eyes made him want to vomit blood again.
Three Union Lifebound Weapon Manual
It was an ingenious method that allowed a cultivator to form three lifebound artifacts upon the formation of their spiritual core. Not only that, but on higher mastery, the cultivator would be able to merge the three lifebound artifacts to create a single lifebound artifact with multiplicative strength instead of cumulative strength.
Tianyi wasn't planning on creating twenty-seven lifebound artifacts. His head hurt just thinking about it. He was more interested in the merging method of the Three Union Lifebound Weapon Manual.
He had nine spiritual cores. He could theoretically have nine lifebound artifacts. Just the thought of the merged strength of nine lifebound artifacts made Tianyi salivate. What would its strength be if the merged lifebound weapon was made of nine lifebound weapons?
Tianyi quickly awoke from his daydream. Forget about even forming nine lifebound artifacts. He had his hands full dealing with the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation back then. Even if he had the technique, it was unknown whether he could devote enough attention to form a single lifebound artifact.
Tianyi perused through nearly all the jade slips. Luckily for him, the number of slips was fewer than the books on the third level of the Immortal Scripture Repository. Top-tier techniques at the Immortal Realm were naturally rarer. If the Buzhou Immortal Sect, which is said to have inherited the orthodoxy of the Immortal Court, the standards of the other sects naturally need not be said.
In the end, Tianyi was split between two choices. He could choose another spacetime technique or cultivation manual and continue to perfect his martial cultivation technique. Or he could choose a soul cultivation manual in order to make up for his weakness.
His martial cultivation was actually proceeding nicely. Once Mengfei returned, Tianyi would have access to numerous spacetime manuals. Even if they were on the same level, he could still use them as a reference. Soul cultivation methods, on the other hand, were rarer. Perhaps Tianyi would also be abnormally talented in soul cultivation, just like how his talent in spacetime surprised even him.
Now that he had solved the major problem of his cultivation by balancing out his spiritual and martial way, he had leeway to experiment. The phrase, biting off more than he can chew, never occurred to Tianyi as he finally chose to get a soul cultivation manual.
Among the many choices within the seventh level, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. The Lotus Ascension Soul Art was a soul cultivation manual restructured from the fragmented Soulheart Heavenly Scripture.
Among the daoist lineages, the Heavenly Scriptures created by the birthed when Pangu split the chaos were the most coveted and revered cultivation methods: past, present, and future.
Tianyi no longer hesitated and grabbed the jade slip and activated it with his spiritual sense. Once the impartation began, Tianyi felt the knowledge flow inside his mind as he lost all sensation of the outside world. While Tianyi was accepting the knowledge within the jade slip, the jade slip itself shattered into dust.
The last blurry figure began to take shape inside Tianyi's inner world as Tianyi gained the most basic comprehension of the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. It became a void-colored lotus bud with starlight shining through the closed petals. When Tianyi opened his eyes, he expelled a turbid breath. The breath was smoky white like mist, but there was an undetectable impurity inside.
Tianyi's eyes shone brightly. He could already feel his soul being strengthened by comprehending the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. His mind became clearer, and previous blocks on his comprehension of the worldly laws loosened.
"Indeed, one of the Heavenly Scriptures. Even if it is a downgraded version, just cultivating the basics is already enough for me to reap so many benefits." Tianyi couldn't help but say aloud, but he started cursing when he looked down.
In his hands was a pile of jade dust. "This... isn't it too weird that it became dust after one use? I thought these jade slips weren't one use consumables?"
Tianyi felt a headache coming. 'I should report this to the sect master before anyone else. There should be some immortal elders that are constantly monitoring this place. Since they didn't say anything, that means I should be okay, right?'
He shook his head at the thought. 'It's better to be safe than sorry. I'll report it to the sect master before anyone else can. He who strikes first, wins!'
Tianyi stepped out of the seventh level and out of the Immortal Scripture Repository. When he stepped out, he paused for a moment as he saw a white-robed inner disciple. He looked incredibly familiar to Tianyi, and he had a sense of deja vu, but Tianyi couldn't quite recall who he was.
Just as the disciple seemed to want to step forward towards Tianyi, Tianyi had already disappeared. Right now, his greatest worry was the issue of the jade slip, so he had no other time for anything else.
Sima Ming felt his face turn ashen as Tianyi just directly left, not even deigning him the time of day. After his defeat at Tianyi's hand, he had trained harder than ever, even to the point of running himself ragged. Just as he felt that he might have a chance, five years ago, he suddenly heard that Tianyi had entered the Core Formation Realm, dealing a blow to his pride.
His confidence dropped even more when he heard that Jiang Daoyi, Grand Elder Xi's second apprentice, reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Sima Ming had started to cultivate since young, yet a girl who didn't even start cultivating until her mid-teens already reached the same realm as him.
Although he was still considered a genius, his glory had almost reached rock bottom. The higher he was, the harder he fell. Even those disciples that he had easily overtaken years ago have caught up to him. And the ultimate blow came from Tianyi today.
The rippleless eyes of Tianyi when he looked at Sima Ming was incredibly infuriating, as if he, Sima Ming, was just another nameless disciple. All his pride and perseverance from before became a joke in front of Tianyi.
Sima Ming clenched his fist until his nails drew blood. 'Xi! Tian! Yi! This humiliation, I'll pay you this humiliation back a hundredfold!'
Tianyi, unknowing of Sima Ming's thought, waited outside the hall for Sect Master Xia's summon. It wasn't like the Sect Master was idle all day and able to meet at Tianyi's convenience. But at Tianyi's insistence and his status as Xi Mengfei's son, Sect Master Xia allocated a time to meet Tianyi.
When Tianyi explained his purpose for meeting him, although Sect Master Xia still had his amiable expression, Tianyi felt a change in the air.
"Little Xi, it's good that you brought this matter up to me." Sect Master Xia said. "Do you feel different after cultivating the Lotus Ascension Soul Art? Any change in your senses at all?"
Tianyi shook his head. "I feel fine. I feel as if my head is even clearer, and I grasp concepts more easily. Sect Master, what about the jade slip?"
Seeing Tianyi still concerned about the jade slip, Sect Master Xia chuckled. "No worries, Little Xi. The jade slip is a minor inconvenience at most. There is nothing to worry about. After cultivating the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, how is your soul, any changes?"
"No, my soul feels fine. Except being a little denser, it's still the same." Tianyi replied, confused why the Sect Master would ask about the Lotus Ascension Soul Art. "Is there a problem with the Lotus Ascension Soul Art?"
"I won't hide it from you, Little Xi. The Lotus Ascension Soul Art is incredibly hard to cultivate, on the same level as the Primordial Heavenly Scripture. Aside from you, the number of people able to cultivate the Primordial Heavenly Scripture in our sect's history numbered less than twenty."
Sect Master Xia stroked his beard as he spoke. "You seem to have great fate with the Heavenly Scriptures."
"I only cultivated two scriptures related to the Heavenly Scriptures. Maybe it's a coincidence." Tianyi said, his voice laced with confusion.
Sect Master Xia shook his head. "The Spring Autumn Scripture was created in an attempt to merge the Timeless Heavenly Scripture and the Spatial Heavenly Scripture. In other words, you have come into contact with four Heavenly Scriptures."
"How many scriptures are there?" Tianyi asked upon the revelation, gulping down some saliva.
"Ten, only ten since the creation of time." Sect Master Xia said.
"Then what would happen if someone cultivated all ten?" Tianyi asked, an absurd idea forming in his head.
Sect Master Xia laughed. He could already guess what idea Tianyi thought up. "Little Xi, give up on that idea. The chances of you cultivating all ten are abysmally small, and cultivating all ten is not necessarily a good thing. Of the twenty who cultivated the Primordial Heavenly Scripture, seven of them suffered from qi deviation and died."
"This... it won't happen to me, right? I don't feel anything wrong, though." Tianyi asked, his body tensing slightly.
"No worries, you've already cultivated the Primordial Heavenly Scriptures for years now. If you have any problems, you should have been able to sense them by now. Stop trying to rely on elders and have more confidence in yourself. Cultivation is the process of cultivating one's self just as much as it to reach immortal ascension." Sect Master Xia said.
Afterward, Tianyi left as Sect Master Xia had many more duties to attend.
Once Tianyi left, the amiable smile on the Sect Master's face disappeared and was replaced with a contemplative look.
The defect of the Lotus Ascension Soul Art wasn't as simple as he had described to Tianyi. Under the Lotus Ascension Soul Art's effect, the cultivator's soul would become pure like a newborn baby's and allow them to close the distance between them and the world, but at the same time, it would slowly turn the soul into a lotus.
This was the Lotus Ascension Soul Art's greatest flaw, and it can only be categorized as a flawed fragment of the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture. Because of this, the Lotus Ascension Soul Art was locked on the ninth level and forbidden from being imparted unless under the implicit instruction of the sect master or the grand elders.
"Genyi, go search the records to see if anyone visited the ninth level of the Immortal Scripture Repository."
A shadow wearing brocade robes appeared behind Sect Master Xia in a kneeling position. "Understood."
As a core building of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the Immortal Scripture Repository was under constant surveillance. Every cultivator who came in and out at what time was precisely recorded.
