Chapter 256: Enhancement

The secret cave held no treasures rivaling a nation’s wealth, no legendary martial arts manuals coveted by all in the martial world, nor divine pills to enhance cultivation.

The entire cave was only ten paces across, with a small cluster of silver stalactites hanging like a forest of swords from above.

Along the wall burned a large bronze lamp, its oil thick as mercury, the flame golden-red and blazing fiercely, occasionally spitting sparks that soared upward, as if it would never extinguish.

Aside from this, the entire cave contained only one object:

A stone stele.

The stele was entirely pitch-black, about half a zhang tall, seated at the center of the cave, its surface rough and inscribed with a stele text.

Li Muxian stopped before the stele; though it appeared ordinary, according to the Abbot of Luoshen Peak,

this stele was of mysterious origin, passed down by the founding ancestor of Luoshen Peak.

It was said that when it first descended from heaven, it was wreathed in divine fire, and the founding ancestor of Luoshen Peak happened upon it by chance.

This stele was not only deeply connected to divine beings, but also the true treasure of Luoshen Peak.

Li Muxian circled the pitch-black stele once; the abbots of Luoshen Peak throughout history had called it the “Heavenly Gift Stele.”

The Heavenly Gift Stele possessed an extraordinary ability: it could sense the birth of divine beings anywhere in the world.

Whenever a divine being was born, the Heavenly Gift Stele would mysteriously sense it, then tremble and glow.

Luoshen Peak used this stele’s property to search for divine beings.

When divine beings were born, they were often accompanied by celestial omens; Luoshen Peak recorded the times of the stele’s anomalies, then searched across all states of Da Li for locations where such omens had appeared and infants had been born.

For instance, the Tianjin Guard of Shengzhou had previously acted as Luoshen Peak’s enforcers, using this method to massacre villages and towns in search of divine beings.

Li Muxian stared at the stele for a moment, then turned his gaze to the large black cat crouching beside him.

The cat now stared wide-eyed with its emerald-green pupils, utterly absorbed in studying the stele’s inscriptions.

Li Muxian reached out and tapped its head; the large black cat snapped back to awareness, immediately rubbing against his palm in affection, while using its paw to point at the stele and mewl pleadingly.

Clearly, it wanted Li Muxian to allow it to continue reading the stele’s text.

Li Muxian raised an eyebrow, stroked the cat once, and made no move to stop it from viewing the inscriptions.

The text on the stele was precisely the “Devouring Divinity Method” the Abbot of Luoshen Peak had previously told him about—divine beings who cultivated this method could devour divine blood to enhance their heavenly gifts.

Yet divine beings were exceedingly rare, and their divine blood could not regenerate; frankly, opportunities to use this method were few and far between.

Li Muxian withdrew his hand, glanced at the large black cat, then paused and warned in a low voice:

“You may look, but once we leave this cave, you must not teach this technique to anyone else.”

Upon hearing this, the large black cat’s emerald-green eyes gleamed; it immediately mewed happily in agreement, then scampered back to study the stele’s inscriptions.

Li Muxian no longer paid attention to the cat, instead crossing his arms and staring at the pitch-black stele, his expression thoughtful.

According to the Abbot of Luoshen Peak, the Heavenly Gift Stele possessed another secret, known only to the succession of Luoshen Peak’s abbots.

This was precisely the secret the Abbot had revealed to him—the key to surpassing the Martial God.

The secret hidden within the Heavenly Gift Stele had also been passed down by Luoshen Peak’s founding ancestor himself.

It was said that if one could comprehend this stele, they would gain control over the four divine forces—earth, water, fire, and wind—and ultimately seize dominion over heaven and earth.

“Sounded so impressive—was it true?”

Li Muxian rubbed his chin; the founding ancestor of Luoshen Peak, now dead, had never achieved it himself.

He suspected the man might have fabricated this mystery to give future abbots something to hope for.

Still, the Heavenly Gift Stele was undeniably extraordinary—it could sense the birth of divine beings from thousands of miles away, clearly no ordinary object.

Li Muxian pondered, scanned the entire cave once more, confirmed no other useful objects remained,

Then stepped closer to the Heavenly Gift Stele, slapped it with his palm—immediately, the entire pitch-black stone stele rang with a deep thudding sound.

Seeing this, Li Muxian nodded slightly and murmured:

“Solid enough—could rival the divine sword, Yu Long.”

But the large black cat beside him was startled by the sound, lifting its head in confusion, emerald-green eyes fixed on Li Muxian, clearly wondering what he was doing.

At that moment, Li Muxian glanced at the cat and asked:

“Finished?”

The cat instinctively nodded its head.

Then it softly mewed, as if expressing gratitude.

But Li Muxian paid it no mind; instead, he suddenly raised his hand and levitated the half-zhang-tall pitch-black stele into the air.

Instantly, he struck six times, imprinting his palms upon all six faces of the stele.

Immediately, the once uniformly pitch-black, rough stone stele cracked visibly, shedding chunks of rough black stone.

These fragments, previously as unbreakable as divine weapons, now crumbled and fell away, revealing the smooth, dark-green inner surface beneath.

In an instant, the half-zhang-tall pitch-black stele became a dark-green jade stele roughly one meter tall.

The inscriptions once carved on its surface vanished with the falling stone fragments.

The large black cat stared, eyes wide with astonishment, then patted its chest with its paw—as if relieved it had memorized every character.

But the next moment, it hurried to Li Muxian’s side, curiously examining the dark-green jade stele.

“Notice anything?”

Li Muxian asked the cat, then frowned—he saw nothing himself.

If this was meant for contemplation, at least some characters or clues should remain.

But the dark-green jade stele before him was utterly smooth, not even a single mark.

Seeing Li Muxian actually ask him, the cat felt profoundly honored; it immediately wore a solemn expression, circling the jade stele meticulously, studying every inch.

As if being asked by Li Muxian was a sacred, momentous duty—even as a cat, it must give its full devotion.

Yet after circling several times, the cat drooped its head—clearly, it had seen nothing either.

Seeing this, Li Muxian narrowed his eyes and murmured:

“Looks like we must proceed further.”

He struck again, several palm blows landing on the jade stele before him.

This time, however, the jade stele did not crack or shed fragments; instead, it bore six palm prints, each about half an inch deep.

Li Muxian rubbed his chin, studying the marks he had left.

The palm prints were visibly healing, slowly returning to their original state—soon, they would vanish entirely.

“Interesting. It seems the secret of the Heavenly Gift Stele lies within—perhaps only by splitting the entire jade stele open can we uncover its mystery.”

Li Muxian’s expression grew thoughtful.

But the Abbot of Luoshen Peak had said one must contemplate the Heavenly Gift Stele to gain the four divine forces—was his method correct?

Thinking this, Li Muxian shook his head, then formed his hand into a blade and slashed downward at the dark-green jade stele.

What appeared to be a simple, unremarkable motion caused the large black cat beside him to instantly bristle.

In its emerald-green pupils, it seemed to see a heavenly blade descending from the heavens, wielding unimaginable power, as if ready to cleave heaven and earth in two.

The next instant, the jade stele—which had withstood Li Muxian’s six palm strikes—split cleanly in half like butter under a knife, toppling to either side.

The large black cat stood frozen in shock; Li Muxian hurried to the split jade stele.

There, for the first time, he noticed something unusual on the freshly cut surface.

Inside the jade stele, a faint glow emanated, and within that radiance, faint, ethereal patterns floated—half-real, half-illusory.

These patterns were not any script Li Muxian recognized; they resembled ghostly scribbles.

“How do you contemplate this?”

Li Muxian stared for a while; though his insight was extraordinary, these patterns were utterly incomprehensible—he had no idea where to begin.

At that moment, the split halves of the jade stele suddenly trembled violently, as if magnetically drawn to each other, rising upright and rushing together with immense force.

But Li Muxian’s reflexes were swift—he unleashed powerful qi, seizing both halves and forcibly prying them apart.

“Hmm?”

Li Muxian suddenly narrowed his eyes, gazing at the jade stele before him.

Just as he touched the stele, in that fleeting instant, he sensed a subtle change in the divine blood he had collected from the Abbot of Luoshen Peak, the Elders, and others.

Previously, through the “Devouring Divinity Method” and the “Azure Dragon’s Vast Void Scripture,” Li Muxian had absorbed divine blood, breaking the limitation that ordinary humans could not absorb it—but the process had been slow.

Yet in that instant, he clearly felt the speed at which he absorbed the divine blood stored in his arms had increased dramatically.

“Could this be how it’s used?”

Li Muxian’s mind shifted—he pressed his palm directly onto the ethereal, ghostly patterns within the jade stele.

The next instant, the patterns’ radiance seemed to sense the divine blood in his arm, surging forth and completely engulfing his entire limb.

Simultaneously, Li Muxian clearly perceived that when he activated both cultivation methods together, the jade stele’s patterns catalyzed the absorption speed—increasing it by dozens of times.

Instantly, streams of divine power flowed rapidly into Li Muxian’s body; unlike heavenly qi that circulated through meridians and dantian,

this power resembled Qilin blood and Azure Dragon qi—fully merging into his flesh, muscles, and bones.

At this moment, Li Muxian felt the same sensation he had when absorbing Qilin blood and Azure Dragon qi—these divine forces continuously enhanced his physical constitution.

After roughly half a cup of tea’s time, all the divine blood he had accumulated from the Abbot of Luoshen Peak and others was fully absorbed.

Li Muxian carefully sensed his body—the divine blood from the Abbot, the Four Elders, and the former senior disciple had raised his physical condition by one and a half tenths, surpassing even the effect of absorbing Azure Dragon qi.

Moreover, Li Muxian clearly sensed faint threads of divine power lingering within him; though he lacked heavenly gifts and could not directly manipulate celestial forces like wind or thunder,

he now perceived more directly than before—when observing Chi Huo Elder and others—the subtle connection between divine power and heavenly forces.

Of course, he still could not control this connection; divine beings and martial cultivation were entirely different systems, and his martial achievements could not yet influence it.

Thinking of this, Li Muxian gazed at the dark-green jade stele in his hands—still desperately pulling toward each other, striving to reunite.

Perhaps the Abbot of Luoshen Peak had spoken the truth—if one could truly comprehend this mystery, and master the invisible connection it held,

then even an ordinary person could wield the heavenly gifts only divine beings could command.

"It's truly a treasure."

Li Muxian released his grip on the black-green jade stele, and in an instant, the two stone tablets drew together and merged.

Before long, it returned to its original form as the complete black-green jade stele—even the palm prints Li Muxian had left on it had fully healed during this time.

Seeing this, Li Muxian paused briefly in thought, then reached out and seized the entire Talent Divine Stele.

This stele certainly held great value for contemplation, but he had no time for it now; he could only take it away entirely.

Then, Li Muxian glanced at the large black cat lying at his feet.

After being stunned by Li Muxian’s palm-blade, the large black cat had quickly become captivated by what was happening inside the black-green jade stele.

Moreover, it seemed utterly entranced by the radiance emanating from within the stone tablets, and thus, almost against its will, it had stayed close to Li Muxian, lying on the ground and greedily absorbing the stele’s light.

Only when the stele sealed shut and all the light vanished did the large black cat stretch lazily, then persistently rub against Li Muxian’s robes.

Its emerald-green eyes rolled about, as if deciding it would cling to Li Muxian from now on.

Li Muxian observed all of this, but paid it no mind; he crouched down and stroked the cat.

Yet he noticed that after absorbing the jade stele’s radiance, the cat seemed slightly larger than before.

"Interesting."

Li Muxian studied the large black cat for a moment, then patted its head and rose to leave the secret cave.

(End of Chapter)