"This Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art is a bit difficult."
After a night of seclusion, Lu Yang stared at the divine ability's secret manual before him, his brow deeply furrowed.
"A Great Divine Ability can only be performed by those with great magical power. It is the pinnacle of divine abilities."
The so-called Great Divine Ability was not actually a grade of divine ability, but a method of application. To put it simply, by combining several compatible superior divine abilities, one could unleash a power dozens of times greater. This was called a Great Divine Ability.
The Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art was just like that. To master this Great Divine Ability, one must first learn three superior divine abilities: the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light, the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Great Art, and the Supreme Empyrean Pardon Treasured Record.
Each of these three divine abilities was extremely difficult to cultivate, and one could not succeed without a heaven-sent opportunity. This was a common trait of all Great Divine Abilities. It was not something you could cultivate just because you wanted to.
It depended first on comprehension, second on fortune, and third on merit. Lacking any one of these would only lead to failure. Take the first divine ability, the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light.
This divine ability alone had stumped countless cultivators. After all, skinning oneself to cultivate was tantamount to severing one's own Immortal Path. Even if one succeeded, it would be meaningless.
As for the second divine ability, the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Great Art, it did not have such severe side effects. The difficulty lay mainly in external materials. To master this divine ability, one must use a "Profound Feminine Supreme Yin Treasured Jade" as a medium.
Without this wondrous treasure, no matter how high your cultivation level or how good your comprehension, you could not succeed. And yet, the "Profound Feminine Supreme Yin Treasured Jade" was extremely rare. How rare was it?
It could be described in a single sentence: the item was not on the Saint Sect's exchange list. You could not buy it even with contribution points. Even with the Saint Sect's vast lands and abundant resources, it did not possess such a wondrous object.
This showed that succeeding in cultivating this divine ability depended entirely on a cultivator's fortune and opportunities. Without that fortune, even searching the entire world would be in vain. Therefore, Lu Yang merely glanced at it before decisively giving up and turning to ponder the third divine ability, the Supreme Empyrean Pardon Treasured Record.
To his frustration, however, although this divine ability required neither precious external materials nor had significant side effects, it was truly too difficult. Lu Yang studied it for a whole night with very little gain.
"It's a bit like a formation, and a bit like a talisman, yet it's categorized as a divine ability. Whether you can learn it depends entirely on comprehension. If you can't learn it, you just can't learn it."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang scratched his hair again, unconvinced.
"I managed to grind my way through formations, which are so difficult. How long can a mere divine ability stop me? At worst, I'll spend another twenty years. Sooner or later, I'll learn you!"
The reason the Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art could make Lu Yang so determined was mainly because this Great Divine Ability was simply too tempting for him to give up. Needless to say how powerful the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light was, the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Great Art was equally domineering.
As long as one captured a person's aura and used that aura to condense a "soul shadow," one could directly kill them out of thin air by slaying the "soul shadow." Even if the two were a thousand li apart, it was still a dead end for the target. The Supreme Empyrean Pardon Treasured Record was even more absurd.
Once the treasured record was formed, it did not harm the physical body or slay the soul, but specialized in divining the karma of heaven and earth. No matter what your background was, it could figure out your eighteen generations of ancestors with perfect clarity. Of course, the most powerful aspect was the combination of the three divine abilities.
This was also the effect of the Great Divine Ability, the Supreme Yin Corpse-Shedding Form Transformation True Art, that most tempted Lu Yang: it could increase a cultivator's chances of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. For this point alone, Lu Yang was determined to obtain this Great Divine Ability! Years flew by, and time passed like a shuttle.
In the blink of an eye, five years had gone by. Inside the Blood-Robed Pavilion, Lu Yang leaned against a railing, gazing at the sky, silently circulating the Nine Transformations Dragon Transformation Art. With each breath, he inhaled and exhaled clouds and mist, transforming and manifesting numerous strange and wonderful phenomena.
The eighth transformation, the Mirage Transformation! Although the spiritual vein of Skull Mountain was poor, Lu Yang was rich. He had stockpiled a large amount of spirit stones beforehand, so his cultivation had not stagnated.
After five years of arduous cultivation, although he had made no progress with the Supreme Empyrean Pardon Treasured Record, he had a sudden inspiration while studying the divine ability. His True Qi spontaneously broke through the bottleneck. By the time he came to his senses, the Qi seed in his Dantian had already transformed again, faintly revealing a dragon shape.
Eighth level of Qi Refining!
"Although the improvement from the seventh to the eighth level of Qi Refining isn't as dramatic as from the sixth to the seventh, my True Qi and magical power have still multiplied several times over."
"In the end, one's realm is the foundation!"
"So what if I don't have a Great Divine Ability? With my current strength, I can even cross realms and kill a mid-stage Qi Refining True Disciple!"
"Besides, there's still the ninth transformation..."
Lu Yang's heart burned with excitement. The ninth transformation, the "Flying Fish Transformation," could break through bottlenecks. In other words, after he broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, he could immediately charge towards Perfection!
"The Immortal Path is in sight! This calls for a celebration!"
At this thought, Lu Yang's mood improved immensely. The gloom from failing to master the Supreme Empyrean Pardon Treasured Record was swept away, and he walked out of the Cultivation Chamber with a cheerful grin. But before that, Lu Yang first cast a Breath-Concealing Art.
The next second, the vast aura from his recent breakthrough was completely restrained, returning to the seventh level of Qi Refining, just a tiny bit stronger than he was five years ago.
"Attack the enemy with three parts of your strength, and keep seven parts for yourself. You can never have too many trump cards."
Before long, the Saint Sect disciples under the command of the Blood-Robed Pavilion swarmed over. Upon seeing Lu Yang, they immediately performed a grand salute without a second word.
"Congratulations on coming out of seclusion, Pavilion Master!"
"Rise."
Lu Yang waved his hand casually, then asked, "In the five years I was in seclusion, has there been any trouble around Skull Mountain?"
"To answer the Pavilion Master, no." An elderly-looking Saint Sect disciple took the initiative to speak, "There was only one incident. A disciple from the Divine Martial Sect of the Northern Frontier came to provoke us, but Fairy Feixia sent them away."
"What about the Profound Feminine Supreme Yin Treasured Jade? Any news?"
"None for now."
After learning about the changes over the past five years, Lu Yang dismissed the crowd, planning to enter seclusion again until the great war between the righteous and demonic paths began and the opportunity for Foundation Establishment appeared. However, just at that moment, a streak of rainbow-colored light suddenly landed beside the Blood-Robed Pavilion.
"Junior Brother Lu, may I have a moment?"
Hearing this, Lu Yang swept his spiritual sense over, then quickly rose to welcome her, smiling, "I've troubled Senior Sister to come in person. It should have been me who paid you a visit."
"Junior Brother, something has happened."
Fairy Feixia's expression was grave as she said solemnly, "Recently, the Earth Observation Instrument discovered that the corpse tide, which was supposed to erupt in fifteen years, has come early."
"Right now, tens of thousands of zombies are heading towards the market!"
"Such a change, with no prior warning, must have a mastermind behind it. I suspect it's very likely those barbarians from the Divine Martial Sect of the Northern Frontier."
"What?"
Lu Yang frowned upon hearing this. When he noticed Fairy Feixia staring straight at him, he frowned even deeper.
"Does Senior Sister need my help?"
"Indeed. Is Junior Brother willing to brave the corpse tide with me?"
Fairy Feixia smiled, "The corpse tide is a crisis, but also an opportunity. No matter who the mastermind is, they must be relying on a wondrous treasure to trigger the corpse tide early."
"If you and I join forces, perhaps we can seize it and obtain a great opportunity for ourselves."
"Even if an accident happens and we get trapped in the corpse tide, with our cultivation levels, the risk is not great!"
As she spoke, Fairy Feixia's brows rose, her face radiant, appearing exceptionally high-spirited. However, Lu Yang shook his head.
"Apologies, Senior Sister. This junior brother is not like you. My strength is low, and I haven't learned any divine abilities. I only know a little about formations. It would be better for me to stay behind and guard the place."
No matter how small the risk, it was still a risk. A gentleman does not stand beneath a collapsing wall. Right now, as long as he cultivated step by step, he was certain to break through to Qi Refining Perfection.
Why would he need to risk his life? It was not worth it! His primary goal in this life was to break through to Qi Refining Perfection.
He could be reckless after the breakthrough. Before that, he should act with prudence.
"Junior Brother, you aren't going?"
Seeing Lu Yang's refusal, Fairy Feixia's fine brows furrowed slightly. For someone as famously cold as her to show such a troubled expression, it made one's heart ache with pity.
"The Immortal Path is arduous. To achieve anything, one must burn their bridges. I thought you understood this."
Lu Yang's Dao heart was as firm as iron, completely unmoved.
"Times are different now. I hope Senior Sister understands."
"Junior Brother, you've changed."
Fairy Feixia shook her head in disappointment.
"In that case, you can stay and guard the market. But you won't get a share of the opportunity when the time comes."
"..."
Lu Yang just smiled at her words and did not reply. To be honest, he felt that Fairy Feixia was not much like a Saint Sect disciple. How should he put it?
She had an innocence that suggested she had never been beaten down by the harsh reality of the Saint Sect. With the corpse tide here, even if you obtain a heaven-sent opportunity, won't you still have to flee back to the market I'm guarding? At that time, you say I don't get a share of the opportunity?
Then don't blame me for reporting that you all fought heroically and sacrificed yourselves on the front lines against the corpse tide.