by A P Gore
In the end, he’d died miserably. Who knows if Wang Zia kept his corpse intact or mutilated it?
Anyway. He wouldn’t have to carve his dantian with a painful method and risk damaging it all together this time.
With Five Elemental Way, he would have access to all five elementals from the start, and he could use his cultivation art to convert one hundred percent of attributeless qi into any elemental qi.
It was like a tailor-made cultivation art for him.
“Young master, why are you sweating, and where did the worms go?” Fei’er wiped his sweat with a gray handkerchief.
“Nothing, really nothing,” He said nothing. Not that he didn’t trust her, but something like this should never be told even to one’s wife. Fei’er was just a friend. “I’m trying to find a solution to this thread.” He delved deeper into the information that had come with the cultivation art.
Apparently, this cultivation art was rewarded for completing the first trial in Divine Refinement City, and only given to young geniuses in the city. This was their first Inheritance Chamber that could be reached after completing the first challenge.
The challenge was to make a way through the golden and black threads and reach the Divine Yang Worm and Divine Yin Worm. They were guardians of this place, and they rewarded the geniuses who made it through with a Divine Yin or Divine Yang power to cultivate this Five Elemental Way Qi Cultivation Art. This was just the first challenge, and every prodigy would go through another challenge after reaching a higher cultivation realm.
But somehow, he had found a way to the target location of the challenge and devoured the Divine Yang Worm and Divine Yin Worm.
But how did he do it? Was it because of the Blood Essence Body?
It had to be it. There was no other way around this. At least he didn’t know any skill in his previous life that could devour divine beasts in his dantian. But could he really cultivate Five Elemental Way Qi Cultivation Art? And also, he didn’t have the Divine Yin and Divine Yang power to start on the cultivation.
With that thought, he poured his divine sense into his dantian, and he was once again shocked to his core.
His dantian was almost repaired, and the worm bodies were emitting strange golden and dark power around them.
Was this Divine Yin and Divine Yang power?
Then he frowned. A lot.
Chapter 27 Dilemma
Li Wei’s frown deepened as he read through the other details of the challenge and reward system. When he read through everything, he looked up and gazed at the golden and black threads forming a strange structure in front of him. It formed a maze for the disciples from the other side, but from this side, he could appreciate their intrinsic details. Especially the exquisite fragrance they emanated. After the worms entered his dantian, he’d felt a strange connection with those threads. As long as he touched them, he bet they would move on their own.
Could he taste them now?
Licking his parched lips, he stared at the threads for a moment before he heard a rustle.
Fei’er sat close to him, working on the huge gray robes packed inside the storage ring. Her metallic needle moved effortlessly between her fingers and the cloth, altering them constantly. There were fifty martial robes, and she seemed to change them into his and her size in one go.
Her gaze jumped up, staring back at him. She had a loyal look in her eyes that always amused him. That lass had always stuck to him as long as he’d known her, and she had shown him dedication everyone else had failed to show. Although he was a Li clan member, servants treated him unfairly, and his stepbrothers and sisters treated him like a trash. But no matter what, this lass treated him like he was a treasure in her eyes.
Well, it didn’t feel bad to be appreciated by someone.
But today he felt sad. In his previous life, he couldn’t pay back her gratitude. But seeing her like this, full of hope, he vowed in his heart. He would take care of her in this life.
“Young master, what are we going to do next? We only have enough food left for a few meals.”
Wei sighed. That “we” had a meaning attached to it. Earlier, he’d wanted to give this lass the storage ring and let her live a happy life. But now he couldn’t do that. Being an orphan, she had no one to take care of her. Now he planned to help her break into the Refinement Realm and join Divine Fragrance Hall. That would be best for her. “We’ll get out of here soon.” He shifted his lotus position a little.
“Then why were you frowning? I thought you faced some issue again.”
“No issue, it’s just that . . .” He gulped his words down. There was no issue but the Five Elemental Way Qi Cultivation Art he’d received was only for the first six realms in cultivation. Once he reached the peak of the Heart Blood Realm, he would have to come back and search for another challenge room.
Finding a challenge room was another issue. The token should help him identify the challenge room, but he had no map of this tunnel system, and he didn’t even know if other challenge rooms had survived the destruction of Divine Refinement City. The city itself was in ruins, and this room remaining intact was a miracle in itself.
“Just what, young master?” The girl’s brow furrowed. “Is your body unwell somewhere?” She reached with her hands to touch his body.
Red flooded his face. This lass had changed his clothes, and she must have seen everything. Although he’d lived two hundred years in his previous life, he was a virgin and had done nothing that a man and a woman did. “No. Let’s go.” He rose to his feet. It was decided. He would first get out of here and make a probing round of the other trial rooms. If those trial rooms were intact, he would cultivate this awesome art. Otherwise, he would have to find something else. Now that his dantian was almost cured, he should aim for an effortless top-tier cultivation art for attributeless qi.
“But the threads? They can cut a metal knife. How can we get out then?” Fei’er got up too.
“Let’s eat first. Don’t we have some meat left?” He glanced at the hacked wolf's body. Fei’er had done a good job of skinning the wolf.
“Yes, Fei’er is hungry too.” She rubbed her stomach while pouting.
Wei couldn’t hold his laugh inside. Her action was carefree and innocent. It reminded him of his reincarnation.
Yes, he had reincarnated, and he didn’t have to worry too much about the things that haunted him in the past. This life he wanted to live freely and become a lazy immortal, and to become one he had to gain sufficient powers.
Smiling, he sat with his back resting on the cold metal. Fire danced in front of his eyes, leaping at the piece of meat Fei’er held with a metal rod and the gray patch of cloth she had torn from the big martial robe left in the storage ring.
The aroma of roasting meat assaulted his senses and calmed him down. While waiting for meat, he suddenly realized there was some blood lying in a small pot near the wolf's body.
“Fei’er did you collect the blood?”
Fei’er nodded without looking away from the meat. She concentrated fully on her job and didn’t care what went on beside it.
“You said you can’t lift the heavy sword, right?” he asked, an idea popping in his mind.
“Yes, that’s too heavy for Fei’er.”
“Then let me make it light for you.” With a smirk, he pulled the blood closer and tore some of the skin off the dead wolf.
Chapter 28 Strength Array
Pinching the piece of wolf fur in between his index finger and thumb, Li Wei wrapped it around a small wooden stick and then tied it with the stitching thread Fei’er carried with her.
“Brush done,” he said with a proud smile appearing on his face. Well, he had refined a few low-level weapons, but he had never created a brush. It smelled like rotten eggs and threatened to burn his senses, but he still liked it.
He dipped a small wooden stick in the thick beast blood and then smelled it.
“Yikes, young master, what are you doing?” Fei’er screamed from be
hind the stove.
“Just smelling it to see how much essence energy it has.” Although it looked thick, the essence energy inside was slowly waning. So, he had to hurry up and carve arrays before the essence energy dried out and he lost the chance.
“Young master, let me stitch a good brush for you. We have a lot of clothes remaining,” Fei’er said, blinking her carefree eyes.
Wei rolled his eyes. Not again. “No, this one is fine,” he said, tapping the makeshift brush on the metal ground, scattering dust caught in the fur. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get it clear as a fresh brush made up from Ten Tail Horse’s tail, but it was okay-ish for the crude job he planned to do on the Bronze Grade swords.
Being an Array Master meant he had to dip his foot in Artificing as well. Knowing the ins and outs of the materials was an essential skill every array cultivator had to learn. Having good quality materials didn’t equal a quality end product. In fact, eight out of ten martial artifacts failed to achieve the same quality as the source materials. This sword was the same thing. It was made of Cold Thunder Iron and mixed with a Hardened Fiery Gold to give it weight and strength, but in the end, it only produced a high-tier Bronze Grade sword.
Anyway, he didn’t need to worry about such trivial matters. With the low-level Ferocious Beast blood, he couldn’t carve a temporary array on a Silver Grade martial artifact. It would definitely fail. So, this was a good fit for the temporary Strength Lightness Array and Strength Expanding Array he planned to carve on two Bronze Grade swords.
But when he tried to remember the array diagrams, he felt blank, like those diagrams had vanished from his memory.
System: Accessing dormant memory block. Search query: Strength Lightness Array and Strength Expanding Array.
Boom!
Information exploded in his mind like a textbook page separating and appearing in front of him at the same time. When it appeared in his mind, it sank into his memories, giving him a complete memory of both arrays.
His mind went blank. For a moment, dizziness filled his consciousness, and then it vanished like it never occurred.
What the heck just happened?
For a moment, Wei didn’t know what to think about this experience. Was this the storage function he’d awakened after merging with the Soul Stone?
At least it seemed like one.
Glancing at the arrays, he thought about array types and practice and the same system didn’t get invoked. Did that mean only array diagrams and corresponding memories were stored in the so-called storage function?
He didn’t know the answer, nor had the system responded to any of his thoughts. It only acted when he was in danger, or something unusual happened.
Anyway, he had beast blood, a martial artifact, and an array diagram. So, he started carving Strength Lightness Array at first.
Emotions flooded his mind when he placed his makeshift brush on the sword blade. Today he could do it on a whim, but when he’d first started, he’d struggled a lot. When he’d joined Heavenly Firmament Sect, he was forced to be a refiner at the start. After spending years doing menial jobs in the Hall of Refinement, he’d stumbled on a jade slip belonging to an Array Master. It wasn’t an inheritance, but it contained multiple array diagrams. When he showed it to the sect, they’d made a deal with him, allowing him to join the Hall of Arrays, and in return he submitted that jade slip to the sect.
That’s how his journey on the path of array had started.
He sighed in his heart. His previous life was full of struggle and pain, and that’s why he had to make this life a comfortable one and live like a lazy immortal.
Anyway, if the chance came, he should get that jade slip for himself. Although he planned to walk on the path of alchemy, he should get all the advantages he could get early on.
Getting back to the Strength Lightness Array, it was a two layered array. Lightness From Strength Array made the outer layer, and a standard Qi Absorption Circle Array made the inner layer. When it was carved, the inner array would absorb qi from the cultivator to trigger the array system, and then the outer array would make the heavy artifact lighter and disperse the heaviness into added strength. This was a low-tier Silver Grade array used by many heavy weapon cultivators. It had a fairly simple process.
But he’d overlooked one thing. He was an Array Master in his previous life, so it was easy to craft for him. It might not be the case for others.
Dipping his makeshift brush in the beast's blood, he started drawing the array diagram. Unlike qi cultivators, Ferocious Beasts stored essence energy inside their blood, hence their blood was used in carving arrays. When thick beast blood was used, it could penetrate low level artifacts without damaging them. That’s how a carving was made. When a cultivator poured their qi or used an external power source to pour qi, these carvings would be activated and start functioning.
However, beast blood could only carve temporary arrays. It would vanish with wear and tear, and if one wanted to carve a permanent array, then they would need to find someone who could carve using their metal qi. In fact, anyone could use a converter talisman to change their own qi into metal qi, but it failed to match the quality and efficiency of a metal qi array cultivator. Only a metal qi array cultivator could carve a high-level array and bring the true might of the array carver to bear.
Slowly and methodically, he carved the inner array on the sword. Lack of practice almost made him miss a line a couple of times, but with his divine sense guiding him, he didn’t fail. When he’d practiced this array in his previous life, he had failed hundreds of times without the guidance of a divine sense. He’d sucked at it first, but he was known for his perseverance, and he finally succeeded.
Those were good days. He’d had many friends back then.
“Done.” When the last paint stroke appeared on the sword, it shone with a bright blue color and then the red blood vanished inside the sword, replaced by a thin red line that could only be seen when one looked carefully.
A small dainty hand reached forward and wiped sweat from his brow. Of course, it was Fei’er.
“Thanks.” Smiling, he dipped his makeshift brush in the beast blood and started carving the outer array, Lightness From Strength Array. He had to be a little more careful about this one because he had to match the source points for the whole array to work. Two Layered Arrays worked by connecting two arrays with a particular set of source points.
Every array had source points. Like an interface, they acted as connecting points between two arrays. They could also be used to for safe passage in the case of large array formations, or they could be used to deactivate an array given one was familiar with the array. Arrays also had power points, and these points acted as gateway to heaven and earth’s essence energy, or any external source like a cultivator’s qi or a Qi Stone.
Before drawing the outer array, he had to analyze and match the source points with the inner array. Matching only two would make this whole array functional, but that would be a low-quality version. He didn’t do low quality, so he had to match five points perfectly. Without divine sense, this task was very difficult, so only high-level array cultivators worked on Layered Arrays of any type. Two Layered Arrays were still simple, but for Three or Four Layered things turned complicated. Even with divine sense, people tended to fail. Only after reaching Array Master Realm could one carve a Four Layered Array.
Anyway, that was in the future. Currently, carving a Two Layered Array was as simple as eating meat for Wei.
The sword in his hand shuddered when he put down the last paint stroke, and he held his breath. Now was the time when he would know if he succeeded.
Or not.
Chapter 29 Danger
Thirty minutes letter, Li Wei finished the outer layer of the Strength Lightness Array by matching the five source points between the inner and outer layer arrays. Dazzling blue light swept across the whole room when the last source point matched, and the sword hummed lightly as the red carvings penetrated the steel, leav
ing behind only a faint mark of an array.
Unlike the sword, which seemed to come to life, Wei wore a strained expression. Now he remembered how taxing it was to carve a simple array in the initial days of array carving. Placing both hands on the metal floor, he moved into a lotus position and closed his eyes. Although he carried the experience of an Array Master, it didn’t mean he could start carving high-tier arrays right away. Experience was one thing, but muscle memory and mental fortitude was another. As he lacked practice with this body, he’d had to rely heavily on his divine sense, and it drove his mental fortitude nuts.
“Young master, are you finished? Come and eat,” Fei’er said in a soft voice as she flipped the meat on the metal skewer.
Wei studied his first creation of this life and sighed regretfully in his heart. Too bad he couldn’t test it, as he had yet to cultivate any qi.
But Fei’er had wood qi. She could test the might of this weapon. “Fei’er. Come here and push some qi inside this sword.”
She stared at him with dumb eyes while flipping the meat.
“What? Come on!” He threw his hands in the air. “You cultivate, so this should be easy to you.”
“Young master, I know nothing other than the cultivation technique. Big sister told me nothing but that.”
Wei wanted to smack Tang Sia’s forehead. Why did she only impart a half-baked cultivation art?
“Leave it. I’ll impart a new cultivation art to you. You can practice it once you reach Foundation Realm,” Wei said dejectedly.
“Can I change it at Foundation Realm?”
“Yes, you can. But only when you breakthrough to Foundation Realm and before you cultivate layer one Foundation Realm. In Refinement Realm, you only cultivate pure qi, so you can’t change it until you reach Foundation Realm. After that, your qi will be converted into wood qi. Once that happens, changing a cultivation technique is impossible, unless you want to start from scratch.”
