Chapter 329: Fusion of Spiritual Power |
Having his thoughts exposed, the elder didn’t get angry. Instead, he turned to mock, “Oh, so you’re no better yourself! Acting all righteous?”
“Why are you dressed up so extravagantly today? You don’t usually bother making yourself look this pretty.”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to seduce him with a beauty trap?”
The elder teased further, “Save yourself the trouble. A figure of such extraordinary talent is certainly not short of beauties by his side. Do you really think you can tempt him?”
“Rather than playing tricks, why not join me in taking what we want by force?”
“You should understand what it means when a technique can trigger a phenomenon.”
The woman covered her mouth and laughed softly. “Don’t overestimate yourself. Someone of such unparalleled talent and brilliance isn’t someone you can just kill as you please.”
“Let me give you some advice: don’t even think about taking it by force. If you’re bent on seeking death, don’t drag me down with you.”
“But since the person has already left, there’s no need for us to discuss this any further. Let’s go home.”
In the crowd, a middle-aged man suddenly turned to look in the direction of the Thunder Swamp, narrowing his eyes in thought. “Why would someone like him come to such a godforsaken place to create a technique?”
“Could it be that he’s creating a thunder attribute technique and is here to comprehend the Way of Thunder?”
“If that’s the case, there’s a possibility he’s still inside the Thunder Swamp.”
“Is that so? Then why don’t you go in and take a look?” The woman said mockingly.
Hearing this, the man’s expression froze. That place was not somewhere he dared to enter.
The power of lightning was the bane of demonic cultivators, and this group was entirely composed of such cultivators, all deeply fearful of thunder. The Thunder Swamp was the last place they would casually venture into.
The elder also gazed in the direction of the Thunder Swamp, musing, “You might be right. Perhaps he entered to create a thunder attribute technique and is comprehending the Way of Thunder.”
“If he can survive in there for an extended period, it’s proof enough that his strength is extraordinary and not someone we can easily target.”
“Still, it’s pointless to discuss this further. If he’s already created the technique, why would he stay there? He’s probably long gone.”
“I don’t think anyone in this group has the guts to enter the Thunder Swamp and take a look. Let’s just return to Sin City.”
“That place gives me an uncomfortable feeling just by looking at it.”
With that, he turned and left, the first to walk away.
The other demonic cultivators exchanged glances but ultimately none dared to venture into the Thunder Swamp. One by one, they left as well.
---
Meanwhile, Long Xuan was entirely unaware of the situation outside. After entering the Thunder Swamp, he found a spot, set up several lightning rods in the area, and continued his closed-door cultivation.
The lightning in the sky was ordinary, and the lightning rods were enough to neutralize it.
Long Xuan had resolved to stay in this location for his retreat.
This decision was unavoidable. Since deducing the third layer of the Ten Absolute Scripture triggered a phenomenon, it was highly likely that deducing the third layers of the Purgatory True Demon Technique and the Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art would do the same.
Long Xuan did not believe that these two techniques were weaker than the Ten Absolute Scripture—if anything, their heaven-defying nature might even surpass it.
As such, he could not risk deducing these techniques outside.
The Thunder Swamp turned out to be a perfect location for his research. The area was perpetually shrouded in dark clouds, with torrential rain and violent winds. The dense clouds in the sky blocked all sunlight.
Any phenomena caused by his deducing techniques could seamlessly merge with the natural environment, avoiding attention.
Most importantly, no one would dare enter the Thunder Swamp, making it an exceptionally safe place.
As for the spirit trapped at the center of the marsh, Long Xuan had no reason to worry. That spirit had been severely injured in a past battle and could no longer suppress the Heavenly Water. It had been countered and trapped within a small pool, unable to move.
This was why it relied on others to find a body for it and was so eager to give away the Heavenly Water. It wasn’t generosity but rather desperation—the Heavenly Water had become its shackle, and it was eager to get rid of it.
Even if it managed to possess a body, it would have to start cultivating anew. Without sufficient strength, the Heavenly Water would remain uncontrollable. For now, giving it away and later reclaiming it seemed to be the plan.
Long Xuan only understood this after conducting thorough research into the Nine-Origin Heavy Water. He deduced that the spirit’s entrapment was a result of this backlash.
Both Heavenly Fire and Heavenly Water had spirits of their own. If the host weakened, these entities would inevitably counteract their hosts.
Thus, Long Xuan had no fear of the spirit, having already reached the Spiritual Sea stage. To be safe, he chose a location far from the spirit to ensure that any phenomena caused by his techniques wouldn’t be noticed.
The Thunder Swamp was vast, and Long Xuan decided that all future studies involving phenomena would take place here.
After setting up the lightning rods, Long Xuan entered the stomach of the Heaven-Devouring World Toad for complete isolation.
The stomach of the Heaven-Devouring World Toad was soundproof, shielding him from the rumbling thunder outside.
Previously, he had also used the Heaven-Devouring World Toad’s stomach to deduce the third layer of the Ten Absolute Scripture. Unfortunately, the phenomena manifested outside and not within the toad’s internal space.
Now, holding a manual titled Ten Absolute Scripture, Long Xuan studied it meticulously.
After a long time, he put the manual down and began attempting to cultivate the contents.
Although the technique was his creation, certain parts were deduced through exhaustive trial and error. Even he couldn’t fully grasp them without further study.
The first layer of the Ten Absolute Scripture required creating five types of mutated spiritual power: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
The second layer required creating five more types: Gold, Forest, Aqua, Blaze, and Mountain.
The third layer required fusing four attributes to create five mutated types: Metallic, Verdant, Torrential, Inferno, and Tremor.
The difficulty of the third layer was exponentially higher, involving fusion on a profound level.
Theoretically, he had already succeeded in developing these powers. Now, the real challenge was whether he could cultivate them in practice.
Long Xuan sat cross-legged on his bed with his eyes closed. Although he appeared motionless, the spiritual energy within him was already in chaos.
The various attributes of spiritual energy were rampaging through his body, making his situation perilous.
The first attribute he began to fuse was Inferno Spiritual Energy.
Metal gives rise to water, water gives rise to wood, and wood gives rise to fire.
Starting with the Metal attribute and ending with Fire, one can fuse them into the powerful Inferno Spiritual Energy.
The Inferno attribute requires the fusion of four elements: Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire. Such a task is incredibly difficult.
As time ticked by, who knows how long passed before Long Xuan suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Inferno Spiritual Energy, condense for me!"
With this roar, his entire body was immediately engulfed in flames, causing the temperature in the room to rise dramatically.
This was no ordinary flame. The bed he sat on was instantly reduced to ashes.
As the flames spread and were about to ignite the entire house, Long Xuan shouted, "Withdraw!"
All the flames in the room flew into his body and vanished in an instant.
With the disappearance of the flames, the temperature in the room returned to normal.
Long Xuan exhaled a deep breath, a wisp of black smoke escaping his mouth. His skin turned red and his body radiated intense heat, but his eyes shone with excitement.
“So this is the power of Inferno Spiritual Energy? Truly terrifying! The Inferno Spiritual Energy far surpasses Blazing Spiritual Energy, which itself is leagues beyond Flame Energy.”
“And Flame Energy is already vastly superior to the fire energy cultivated by ordinary Gu Cultivators.”
At this moment, Long Xuan felt that even without using any Gu insects, relying solely on his spiritual techniques, he could annihilate most Gu Cultivators of the same rank.
Even the simplest spiritual technique, when executed with his mutated spiritual energy, could become a forbidden art.
Taking a deep breath to suppress his excitement, Long Xuan closed his eyes again, preparing to forge ahead and study the other four mutated spiritual energies: Torrential, Tremor, and more.
The first step is always the hardest. Having successfully developed Inferno Spiritual Energy, he believed the same principles would make the other energies easier to create.
Before long, loud shouts echoed again from his room.
“Torrential Spiritual Energy, condense for me!”
“Tremor Spiritual Energy, condense for me!”
...
After successfully mastering all five types of mutated spiritual energy, Long Xuan was ecstatic. He quickly passed the techniques to his clones and returned to his own tasks.
The clones perfectly replicated his abilities.
When he broke through to the Spiritual Sea stage, all four of his clones simultaneously reached the same stage.
When he developed the five mutated spiritual energies, the clones also possessed them.
Moreover, the clones’ cultivation of spiritual energy could be fed back to him.
Long Xuan only needed to solve the initial problems; after that, he could leave everything on autopilot.
With no time wasted on cultivation, Long Xuan focused his efforts on research.
Since the third layer of the Ten Absolute Scripture had been successfully deduced, it was time to create the third layers of Purgatory True Demon Art and Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art.
Breaking through each realm required corresponding cultivation techniques. Without techniques suitable for the new stage, progress would come to a standstill. Therefore, developing techniques quickly was crucial.
Time flowed like a river. In what felt like years in the Soul Library, Long Xuan focused relentlessly on his research.
Endless solitude filled his heart. Countless times, he felt the urge to escape and relax.
But his rationality suppressed all impulses. Researching other matters could be delayed, but not the development of techniques.
Enduring long years of isolation paid off. At last, Long Xuan succeeded in creating the third layers of Purgatory True Demon Art and Heavenly Demon Soul-Splitting Divine Art.
Holding the thick manuals of the techniques in his hands, Long Xuan felt an immense sense of accomplishment.
With the technique issues resolved, he could finally take some time to relax.
Exiting the Soul Library, Long Xuan glanced at the calendar on the wall and realized that a full year had passed in the outside world.
In the Soul Library, this equated to five years. No wonder it felt so long.
For a mortal, how many five-year spans could there be in a lifetime? Yet to him, it was merely a fleeting moment.
This effort on the cultivation techniques far exceeded his expectations. While it had only taken him four months to deduce the third layer of the Ten Absolute Scripture, the body refinement and soul refinement techniques posed much greater challenges.
The scarcity of such techniques in this world meant he had little reference material, leaving him frequently stuck in his research.
Ultimately, the limitations of his knowledge cost him a great deal of time.
Learning from this experience, Long Xuan resolved to collect as many body refinement and soul refinement techniques as possible.
If he truly had the talent for creating techniques, with his cheat-like golden finger, why should it take so long?
[TL: Hey guys, this chapter was little difficult to translate as while translating the original chapter didn't seem to have some words for third layer of the technique and was totally different than the technique names. So here I took the liberty to personally name the third layer elements name such as metallic, verdant, torrential, inferno and tremor. As I just didn't have the words for it. So there might be some changes if the technique are ever mentioned again. But as far as I've read, Long Xuan doesn't really use it too much or rarely even, so there is that. Just wanted to give heads up for now as names might change depending on the future chapters.]