Archean Eon Art c1-766
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The gray-robed elder bowed and retreated.
Meng Chuan walked closer and said respectfully, “Master.”
“Meng Chuan, you’ve practiced the Dao of painting since you were young. All of Eastcalm Prefecture’s artists were hired to teach you. You managed to paint Gallant Steeds at 13. Your artistic skills are excellent, and you’re already a top-notch artist in the present world. Apart from cultivation, you spend at least two hours painting every day.” The long-haired man smiled at Meng Chuan. “Am I right?”
Meng Chuan was shocked.
Many people had seen Gallant Steeds—his father, the clan Elders, Liu Qiyue, Yun Qingping, and many others.
“Having an inborn Essence Soul is extremely rare. According to what I know, there have only been three instances in human history for someone to have inborn Essence Souls. Their father or mother must have reached the Creation realm, and they have to pass a portion of their condensed strength to their child. Only then, can a baby have an inborn Essence Soul,” said the long-haired man with a smile. “Your parents are very weak. They are too far from the Creation realm. Clearly, it’s impossible for them to pass their power to you.
“There’s only one possibility. You’re at such a high realm at the Dao of painting and reached the state of the Dao and can seek answers from your inner self. That’s how you condensed an Essence Soul as a mortal.”
The long-haired man smiled at Meng Chuan. “Am I right?”
Meng Chuan was shocked. Before he could say anything, the other party had guessed that he had condensed an Essence Soul through painting.
“Master, you are truly wise,” said Meng Chuan respectfully.
“Not at all. I can sense your Essence Soul at a glance, so I guessed it,” said the long-haired man with a smile. “In human history, other than the three infants who relied on their parents’ power, the rest formed Essence Souls through external help.
“They were either good at playing the zither, painting, calligraphy, and even blacksmithing. Once their skills reach a certain point, they can reach the Dao Seeking state. Every time they seek answers from their inner self, their heart and mind will undergo a transformation. Their souls will also undergo a transformation,” said the long-haired man. “However, it’s too difficult for people to attain the Dao through extracurricular skills. It’s too rare.
“We’ve tried grooming such people, but it was useless! It’s impossible to groom a truly-skilled artist. Even if one becomes a top artist at the age of seventy or eighty, it’ll be too late,” said the long-haired man. “Furthermore, wasting too much time on these extracurricular skills will affect their cultivation in weapon techniques.
“After reaching the Realm of Dao with weapon techniques, they too can seek answers from their inner self,” said the long-haired man. “Since one can also achieve the same with weapon techniques, there’s no need for geniuses to waste their time on such extracurricular skills.”
Meng Chuan understood.
All skills were the same. Painting was a skill, but so were weapon techniques. When one was sufficiently skilled in weapon techniques, they could also seek answers from their inner self.
However, painting was a skill that allowed one to unleash one’s inner emotions. Weapons were meant to kill enemies. To reach the state of seeking answers from their inner self, one would have reached the Realm of Dao.
Weapon techniques had several realms: Unity, Force, Intent, Soul, and Dao. One could only seek answers from their inner self after attaining Saber Dao, testimony to its difficulty.
“You can be considered a genius in saber arts,” said the long-haired man, “but you are a peerless genius at painting. Just your art alone deserves your name to be put in history for a thousand years.”
“Master, you flatter me.” Meng Chuan felt somewhat embarrassed by the compliments.
He had never publicly revealed his proudest works, People Resonance and Facing the Morning Sun. He knew that compared to the famous artists and sages in history, he was in no way inferior. The claim that the Supremacy made was indeed true.
To be able to seek answers from his inner self, it meant that his skill had reached a peak. Just a painting of his was capable of affecting the minds of others.
“Seeking answers from one’s inner self is very rare. Therefore, it’s extremely difficult to improve one’s Essence Soul,” said the long-haired man. “Essence Souls are related to the Darkstar, Incessant, and the Creation realm. Essence Souls represent your potential. Therefore, the secret of condensing an Essence Soul needs to be kept a secret. If the demons learn that you’ve condensed an Essence Soul as a mortal, demon monarchs will definitely attempt to assassinate you.”
“I understand,” said Meng Chuan respectfully.
There were demon monarchs lurking in the world. For example, when the city passes were breached, there were demon monarchs who charged in. Many of them even remained hiding in the human world. Even if humans retook back the city pass, it would be difficult to find those hidden demon monarchs.
There were also unstable World Entrances that allowed demon monarchs to infiltrate the human race.
How did the Skydemon Sect form? It was established by infiltrating demon monarchs that tempted humans into betrayal.
These lurking demon monarchs would seek out critical moments to make trouble. The threat they posed was extremely great.
“You don’t have to worry,” said the long-haired man with a smile. “As long as you don’t use the power of your Essence Soul, no one will be able to tell that you have condensed an Essence Soul unless they’re at the Creation realm.
“Marquis and Regis Godfiends might discover your Essence Soul if you use its power. However, as long as you are more than a thousand feet away from them, they won’t be able to discover it,” said the long-haired man.
Meng Chuan calmed down.
He understood. He didn’t need to worry about using the power of his Essence Soul when he was more than a thousand feet from a Regis Godfiend.
“Actually, once you become a Great Solar Godfiend, there’s no need to hide your Essence Soul,” said the long-haired man with a smile. “With your talent, I believe you will definitely be able to become a Great Solar Godfiend in fifteen years.”
Meng Chuan nodded as he listened. Among the Great Solar Godfiends, there were already precedents of people successfully condensing an Essence Soul.
“Of course, the most important aspects of Godfiend cultivation is the physical body, Essence Soul, and your saber arts realm. Your Essence Soul is an advantage, but if your other aspects don’t reach the required threshold, you will not be able to reach the Darkstar realm,” said the long-haired man. “In these three aspects, the most important is the saber art realm. You haven’t even achieved Saber Intent yet, so you are still a distance away.”
“I understand,” said Meng Chuan respectfully. He also admitted that his love for saber arts was indeed inferior to painting.
“The saber arts realm is more important than the physical body or Essence Soul. Therefore, you need to choose a suitable saber art to cultivate,” said the long-haired man. “Our Archean Mountain has many saber art legacies. How about this? Use the saber technique you are most skilled at. Let me see which saber arts are suitable for you.”
“Okay.”
Meng Chuan immediately walked to an empty space. His Quintessential Essence condensed into one. With a flash, he traversed a hundred feet. An aqueous saber beam silently cut through the sky without stirring the wind.
This was the move he had cultivated the longest over all these years—the Saber Drawing Stance!
“Good.” The long-haired man nodded slightly when he saw this. Meng Chuan’s Saber Drawing Stance left him quite satisfied.
He executed the Saber Drawing Stance three times in a row. He then switched to Swaying Moonfall before using his defensive saber art! Finally, he used his incomplete Five Lightning Descent. The first two strikes were of the Five Lightning Descent, but the thir
d strike was Swaying Moonfall.
“I’m only good at these few moves,” said Meng Chuan respectfully as he sheathed his saber.
“Haha.” The long-haired man laughed. “I was shocked when I saw you use the Five Lightning Descent. How could you perform a complete Five Lightning Descent at your level? It turned out that you combined an incomplete move with another strike.”
Meng Chuan immediately said, “I received a Lightning Devastator Saber fragment. I accepted the legacy with my consciousness, but I can barely inherit a portion of it.”
“You are a mortal, after all. Your Essence Soul is too weak,” said the long-haired man. “Your body is like a vessel, and your Essence Soul is the water in the vessel. Your mortal body is like a cup of water, so there’s naturally very little water inside. If you reach the Great Solar realm, your body will be like a huge water vat. It can contain a lot more water.”
“Your body has restricted your Essence Soul,” said the long-haired man.
“I understand.” Meng Chuan suddenly understood.
It was said that after condensing an Essence Soul at the Great Solar realm, one could accept a Black Metal Sutra legacy completely. However, his Essence Soul wasn’t even able to accept a fragment of the Black Metal Sutra legacy. The culprit was his Essence Soul. The difference was too great.
“Your Essence Soul’s quality is rather high, but it’s just too small,” said the long-haired man. “When you become a Godfiend, your Essence Soul will be much larger. When you can withstand inheriting a Black Metal Sutra legacy, I’ll let you accept it.”
“Thank you, Master,” said Meng Chuan immediately.
“From the way you used your saber arts, you are clearly skilled in the swift saber,” said the long-haired man. “Our Archean Mountain has a total of nine Black Metal Sutra saber arts. Among them, three are for the swift saber. These three are the Lightning Devastator Saber you just used, the Heart Intent Saber, and the World Roving Dragon Saber.
“However, the Lightning Devastator Saber only has 30% compatibility with you! This saber art was created by Supremacy Thundergod over thirty thousand years ago. This saber art is more about being dominating. It’s extremely fast, but it’s also extremely dominating. Your saber arts aren’t that dominating, so you only have a 30% compatibility with it. However, this saber art works very well with the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body.
“The World Roving Dragon Saber is extremely fast and bizarre to the extreme. You have a 50% compatibility with it.
“The Heart Intent Saber is an even purer form of the swift saber. It has a 90% compatibility with you.”
Chapter 98 - Body Tempering With Baneful Aura
“Then should I choose the Heart Intent Saber?” inquired Meng Chuan.
The Supremacy nodded. “Choose the Heart Intent Saber. You will cultivate this saber art several times faster than the World Roving Dragon Saber, and Lightning Devastator Saber. What you should focus on now is to achieve Saber Intent. The true intent of a saber art needs to be sublime.
“Therefore, one has to specialize in a saber art if they are trying to achieve Saber Intent. Only by cultivating the Heart Intent Saber and achieving the Saber Soul, can you choose a few techniques from the World Roving Dragon Saber and Lightning Devastator Saber to complete your saber art repertoire.”
Meng Chuan nodded. “I understand.”
Before reaching the Saber Soul realm, he was only to cultivate the Heart Intent Saber.
“Heart Intent Saber has eighteen stances. The first stance is called the Heart Saber Stance. It’s the foundation of all other moves in the saber art. It’s the saber art’s core! This Heart Saber Stance is also known as the Heart Intent Saber Drawing Stance,” said the Supremacy with a smile. “The Saber Drawing Stance you’ve trained is very similar to the Heart Saber Stance. This is also why I said that you are 90% compatible with this saber art. However, you are still unable to accept a Black Metal Sutra legacy. All you can do is go to the Impartation Pavilion and choose ordinary manuals for perusal.
“If you cultivate the Heart Intent Saber, you can head to Archean Mountain’s Thousand Sabers Cavern. This saber art was created when Godfiend Guo Ke was being punished in the Thousand Sabers Cavern.”
Meng Chuan was secretly puzzled.
Being punished?
“Godfiend Guo Ke was struck at the Incessant realm due to his weak physical body. He was unable to reach the Creation realm,” said the Supremacy. “However, the Heart Intent Saber is indeed a saber art for Creation realm experts. It’s one of humanity’s most powerful weapon art legacies.”
Meng Chuan nodded slightly. For Godfiend cultivation, one’s physical body, Essence Soul, and weapon realm were indispensable.
The Heart Intent Saber’s creator was stuck as a Regis Godfiend because his physical body was too weak.
…
After Meng Chuan left Grotto-Heaven Pavilion, he was in no hurry to choose his saber art. Instead, he went to the library and searched for books regarding the three saber arts. Although he trusted his master, he still had to make his own decisions.
The Heart Intent Saber Black Metal Sutra has two identical copies. One is in Archean Mountain, while the other is in Black Sand Grotto-Heaven. Meng Chuan gained an understanding while reading. In history, powerful Godfiends would usually pay the price to create two or even three copies of their legacies. Firstly, it was to prevent unforeseen events from causing the legacy to be lost or damaged. Their legacies were ultimately products of blood, sweat, and tears, so they were willing to create one or two more copies. Secondly, the copies were traded for other Black Metal Sutras with other factions.
Archean Mountain had a huge collection of Black Metal Sutras and Godfiend body formulas. Many of them were created by Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, Two World Island, and experts from other factions.
For example, Archean Mountain only had remnant copies of the Lightning Devastator Saber. However, Black Sand Grotto-Heaven had a complete copy of the Lightning Devastator Saber legacy.
Ever since the demons invaded their world, humanity’s three supreme sects had deepened their relationships with one another. In the future, they would pay a certain price to obtain the complete Lightning Devastator Saber legacy from Black Sand Grotto-Heaven.
Okay. Meng Chuan read one book after another, increasing his understanding of the three saber arts. Furthermore—with his master’s advice—he was confident.
Master is right. The Lightning Devastator Saber is too domineering. It doesn’t suit me. However, I can choose one or two moves as secret techniques in the future. Many of these saber techniques are to be unleashed frenziedly. For example, the Five Lightning Descent was a swift, devastating move.
The World Roving Dragon Saber focuses on strange, abrupt changes. I can learn from its unpredictable movement technique.
These three saber arts contained movement techniques. Meng Chuan had taken a fancy to the World Roving Dragon Saber’s movement technique. Having unpredictable movement made it very easy to kill enemies.
…
In the Impartation Pavilion, Meng Chuan chose the complete secret manual of the Heart Intent Saber and three thick books filled with supplementary notes to bring back to his cave abode. The three books were written by three Regis Godfiends—who had cultivated the Heart Intent Saber. They were left behind for their successors.
“Prepare hot water. I’m taking a bath.” Meng Chuan instructed after returning to his cave abode late at night. Following that, he began reading the Heart Intent Saber manual carefully.
Without intent guidance, he could only read and ponder over the content slowly. With the supplementary notes, he began understanding the Heart Intent Saber slowly.
After reading late into the night, Meng Chuan continued his Saber Drawing Stance repetitions when he woke up the next day. He wasn’t in a hurry to cultivate the Heart Intent Saber. Instead, he decided to spend ten days studying the manual and supplementary notes carefully. After gaining a deep understanding o
f the saber art, would he begin cultivating it.
…
Archean Mountain, Myriad Wither Peak, the next afternoon.
“Lord Meng Chuan.” There was a servant guarding the entrance to a Myriad Wither Peak cave. There were four words engraved on top of the cave—Three Yin Banefire Cave.
Meng Chuan walked over and smiled. “I would like a C-rank chamber.”
“Please follow me.” A servant immediately led the way.
Meng Chuan was astonished by Myriad Wither Peak. There were many baneful aura caves in Myriad Wither Peak. These baneful auras were transported from areas around the world by powerful Godfiends. It was hard for vegetation to survive on Myriad Wither Peak. A few special plants could survive, but Myriad Wither Peak didn’t have any trace of greenery at all.
Three Yin Banefire was the first out of nine baneful auras needed to refine his body in preparation for the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body.
Meng Chuan was a mortal; thus, the baneful aura concentration in a C-rank chamber was sufficient for him. The baneful aura would probably turn Meng Chuan into dust the moment he breathed inside an A-rank chamber.
“At the Three Yin Banefire Cave. A C-rank room requires ten credits per day,” said the servant with a smile. “As long as you don’t spend more than 24 hours cultivating inside, it will be considered a day.”
“Got it.” Meng Chuan nodded. Ten credits a day? It was already one of the lowest prices.
Rumble!
The door to the chamber opened, and Meng Chuan entered. He casually closed the stone door and shut it tight.
The chamber was 50 feet long and wide. An oil lamp—that was permanently lit—and a mat furnished the room. There was nothing else.
This baneful aura is really thin. Meng Chuan could see a faint dark red gas floating in the chamber with his naked eye. He also began to feel a slight stabbing pain on his skin.