Chapter 167: Sparks Ignite Light

As his study of runes deepened, Wang Ping's insight grew deeper; the Dao is vague and general, and without the aid of rune study, most cultivators may never touch it in their entire lives.

It's just like before characters were created, for the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, one had thousands of words in mind but could not express them.

After having characters, you can describe mountains as layered peaks and overlapping ridges, and describe water's momentum as vast and mighty.

To write a waterfall, you can write "Flying straight down three thousand feet"; to write rivers, you can write "The endless Yangtze flows eastward".

These are undoubtedly the refined essence of characters; if applied to cultivation, it means studying runes to an extremely profound degree, where a simple arrangement of runes can unleash powerful attacks—this is the supreme simplicity of the Dao.

Since being pressed to the ground, Wang Ping has been studying for a month amidst constant resistance; perhaps because his spiritual root belongs inherently to himself, his research speed is very fast.

His Wood Spirit Root has comprehended fifty runes, his Fire Spirit Root forty-five; Wang Ping estimates he needs only three more days to research another five runes.

The facts proved Wang Ping's guess correct; the threshold of Dao Intent is fifty runes. After thoroughly studying fifty wood runes, he felt that gravity had lessened slightly, and he naturally grasped a hint of the Dao of Wood.

From those runes, Wang Ping knew that wood has yin and yang: above-ground branches and trunks are yang, underground roots are yin; it can bend and stretch, similar to a certain trait of dragons—no wonder the Azure Dragon has always been praised as the wood-system divine beast, once contending for the throne beneath the True Dragon.

The runes he understood only let him grasp some superficial aspects of the Dao of Wood; nevertheless, he crossed the threshold of Dao Intent.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed; Wang Ping again comprehended the Dao Intent of Fire, by now he had nearly reached his limit, able to study at most two more runes.

Wang Ping frowned slightly; if he truly wanted the Modern Method to surpass the Ancient Method, he must overcome this sense of oppression that runes place on the sea of consciousness.

If this problem were truly solved, at least most practitioners of the Modern Method could grasp Dao Techniques; compared to practitioners of the Ancient Method, once a Modern Method practitioner thoroughly studies fifty runes, they can unleash many suitable rune combinations, each combination being a Dao Technique.

This is merely the tip of the iceberg of the terrifying potential of Modern Method practitioners; Wang Ping believes the potential of spiritual roots goes far beyond this.

Now, the forces of Wood and Fire have both grasped the power of fifty runes; it's time to construct his own Dao Technique.

This is the terror of Modern Method practitioners: once they comprehend runes, they can create the Dao Technique most suited to themselves.

Now Wang Ping is like someone who has learned many characters and begun to write an essay! How splendid this essay is depends on his talent.

For this, Wang Ping had long prepared his approach: take the Yin of Wood, combine it with the Yang of Fire, thereby achieving Yin-Yang union, and also conforming to the principle that Wood gives birth to Fire in the Five Elements.

How to take the Yin of Wood requires the arrangement of runes, just like writing an essay—some write with fervor and vigor, others with despair and sorrow; the principle is the same.

The middle-aged cultivator sat motionless for a month; to him this had become routine, but today he felt a hint of abnormality, the source of which came from the Modern Method cultivator he was pressing to the ground.

"Mmm! Have you comprehended your own Dao Intent? Truly a genius—able to grasp Dao Intent in just a short month."

"The yellow-robed cultivator's face showed admiration, but his gaze remained calm; no matter how strong a Dao Intent, it could not surpass his Gravity Dao Technique!"

But soon, his expression suddenly changed; upon the Modern Method cultivator, he sensed another Dao Intent.

For a moment, even with his state of mind, he could not help but be shocked—in just one month, he had comprehended two Dao Intents.

However, this shock lasted less than three breaths; the middle-aged cultivator then returned to his calm demeanor, though his curiosity remained—he wanted to know how the opponent broke his Gravity Field.

Time flowed breath by breath; blue and red light gradually emerged from Wang Ping's body, growing ever brighter, yet this light was only suppressed within three inches around him.

"Hehe! Gravity can suppress many substances, but it cannot suppress light!"

Wang Ping's voice suddenly sounded!

Light!

The middle-aged cultivator's brow furrowed, but he soon understood the meaning; however, understanding aside, he did not know what medicine the Modern Method cultivator was selling from his gourd.

"What's the difference between fire and light? They probably both have heat!"

"Fire brings people warmth and hope!"

"Why can a spark start a prairie fire? Because there is a continuous expanse of grass!"

Wang Ping's murmured whisper gradually echoed throughout the venue.

"I use wood to burn fire, fire to transform light; thus this move is named: Star! Fire! Burn! Light!"

Sparks Ignite Light!

After Wang Ping spoke the four characters, each character sounded with a boom—!

Bang!

The blue and red light on Wang Ping's body intertwined, then gradually merged, forming a leaping red flame.

That flame was so dazzling that seeing it felt like seeing hope.

One inch! Two inches! Three inches!

One foot! Two feet! Three feet!

The red flame kept expanding! Finally, that mass of red flame expanded to a radius of one zhang!

Wang Ping's figure slowly rose from within this firelight!

"Sparks Ignite Light! Great name! Is light unaffected by the Gravity Field? I really don't know!"

The middle-aged cultivator smiled faintly and said.

Wang Ping lightly lifted his head, gazing at the middle-aged cultivator, and likewise smiled as he said: "Of course! Why not give it a try? After holding me down on the ground for so long, if I don't beat you up, I won't vent the frustration in my heart!"

The middle-aged cultivator gave a dumbfounded smile, looked at Wang Ping, and lightly said: "Come on! Let me see what wonders your Sparks Ignite Light holds!"

Wang Ping curled the corner of his mouth and said: "Be careful!"

No sooner had his words fallen than he vanished from the spot; a streak of red light crossed ten li of space in an instant.

Although the middle-aged cultivator spoke nonchalantly, he had actually already prepared his defenses; yet when Wang Ping truly launched his attack, he was still caught off guard.

Bang!

He watched helplessly as a delicate white fist came smashing toward him, yet he could not dodge it.

The Modern Method cultivator's speed was too fast; the gravity field seemed to have completely lost effect on him!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The middle-aged cultivator was enveloped by a mass of red light, and the continuous sound of fist-to-flesh blows rang out in this fifty-li arena space.

The middle-aged cultivator's control over gravity technique had reached the point of doing as he pleased; even while under attack, a casual thought could make his gravity field change endlessly.

In just a breath, the gravity field had increased and decreased several times over, yet the opponent remained unaffected; even if he used a reverse gravity field to boost his own speed to the maximum, he still could not escape the opponent!

"Stop!"

Unable to bear it any longer, he directly shouted "Stop!"; Wang Ping did not press further, simply retreating backward, but looking at the opponent's pig‑like face, he silently smirked—the frustration from being pressed to the ground for a month finally dissipated.

The middle-aged cultivator's face looked extremely grim as he asked Wang Ping, "How could you possibly be completely unaffected by the gravity field?"

Wang Ping replied in a good mood, "That's because my weight became lighter!"