Chapter 216

Three days later, Lu Yang finally ceased his movements.

On the other side, Ye Gu lay sprawled on the ground like a puddle of mud, her beautiful eyes devoid of spirit, her breathing so faint it seemed she was inhaling but not exhaling.

Nevertheless, the gains were substantial.

Lu Yang sat cross-legged on his cushion, silently examining the harvest of these past three days, which turned out to be a thick book with several large characters written on its cover:

"The Divine Refinement and Soldier-Dissolution Sword Art!"

This sword art was the Second Grade True Art of the Sword Pavilion held by Ye Gu, and it was also the foundation of her 【Nine-Child Mother Heavenly Demon Zhu Immortal Sword】.

The crux of this sword art lay in the word "Refinement"; it drew its name from a realm-world under the Sword Pavilion's jurisdiction called the 【Divine Weapon Realm】, where Sword Pavilion cultivators entered to gather the realm's qi, growing stronger with each strand gathered, and upon reaching the peak, could forge a flying sword perfectly attuned to the qi they had collected.

However, this so-called "qi gathering" was not merely the simple absorption of spiritual energy.

The term 【Qi Gathering】 actually referred to seizing the essences of heaven and earth; these essences could be humans, beasts, or rare treasures.

One seized these heavenly and earthly essences and then fused them into oneself.

For instance, Ye Gu's 【Nine-Child Mother Heavenly Demon Zhu Immortal Sword】 was forged by her after seizing nine demonic weapons within the 【Divine Weapon Realm】 and devoting all her effort to their creation.

"But what does this have to do with proving the Golden Core?"

Lu Yang frowned slightly; he now understood the principles of a Second Grade Art, but certain details were undoubtedly missing, specifically Ye Gu's own insights into the sword art.

Thinking of this, he immediately looked at Ye Gu: "It seems I can only do this once more."

For the sake of his future path of cultivation, Lu Yang did not hesitate, immediately plunging back into the tense and stimulating discourse on the Dao, and soon another day passed—

"So that's how it is!"

Pushing Ye Gu away with waning interest, Lu Yang's face showed a look of enlightenment: "A Second Grade True Art... in essence, is still about proving the fruit-position of this very world!"

"The difference lies in the fact that Second Grade True Arts use 【Qi Gathering】 to strip away the essences of other realm-worlds, and then use these to prove the Golden Core; this is essentially a process of fusing the fruit-positions of other realm-worlds into one's own proven fruit-position, which undoubtedly offers tremendous benefits to the fruit-position of this world."

"Therefore, it is also easier to gain the favor of the fruit-position!"

"When cultivating a Second Grade True Art, if one can reach the step of Seeking Gold, one need not even perform any rituals; the fruit-position will actively respond and manifest itself."

This was the benefit of a Second Grade Art.

Of course, while cultivating a Second Grade Art could earn the favor of one's own fruit-position, it would simultaneously attract intense hostility from the fruit-positions of the external heavens and earth where the qi was gathered.

Such hostility would not only make qi gathering extremely difficult but also easily endanger one's life, meaning heavenly and earthly killing intent could fall upon one at any moment; a single carelessness could lead to death in the external heavens and earth, which is why, compared to the stable and safe Third Grade True Arts, Second Grade True Arts were largely ignored.

However, there was another contributing factor, which was...

As he read on, Lu Yang suddenly frowned: "Why has it disappeared again?"

The memory had broken off once more.

It seemed that as the target's cultivation base increased, the effects of dual cultivation were diminishing; Lu Yang felt helpless and could only compensate by increasing the frequency.

Another day passed.

Tossing Ye Gu, who had completely fainted, aside, Lu Yang finally nodded in satisfaction.

"The other part of the factor lies in the scarcity of realm-worlds!"

"After all, not every realm-world can give birth to a fruit-position; most realm-worlds are like the former Dao-Seizing Battlefield, easily manipulated by True Persons with a casual hand."

Lu Yang sighed with emotion: "Extraordinary."

If a Second Grade True Art was like this, then what about a First Grade True Art?

If a Second Grade True Art corresponded to a realm-world possessing a Golden Core fruit-position, did a First Grade True Art correspond to a realm-world possessing a Nascent Soul Dao Lord?

If so, the fact that a First Grade True Art pointed directly to the Nascent Soul could be explained!

"Moreover, because realm-worlds are scarce, different Second Grade True Arts sometimes refer to the fruit-position of the same external heaven and earth, differing only in their intended meaning."

Thinking of this, Lu Yang felt somewhat disappointed: 'Pity that the 【Divine Weapon Realm】 seems to be something like a Dharma Refining Secret Realm, likely unique to the Sword Pavilion; unless I reincarnate and enter it, I cannot gather qi there to cultivate this Second Grade Sword Art; I'm afraid I'll have to plan for it after restarting.'

Thinking of this, Lu Yang shifted his train of thought.

After all, besides the Sword Pavilion's "Divine Refinement and Soldier-Dissolution Sword Art," he also held in his hands a Second Grade True Art produced by the Holy Sect, given to him by Master Master Chongguang.

The "Qian Heaven One Yuan Unified Control of All Heavens Divine Art"!

In principle, this Second Grade True Art was not vastly different from the "Divine Refinement and Soldier-Dissolution Sword Art," differing only in the targets and methods of qi gathering.

"If the 'Divine Refinement and Soldier-Dissolution Sword Art' uses 【Qi Gathering】 to ultimately forge a native flying sword, then the 'Qian Heaven One Yuan Unified Control of All Heavens Divine Art' uses 【Qi Gathering】 to ultimately cultivate a supreme Dharma Body; therefore, the realm-world it corresponds to is also different, named the 【Ten Thousand Martial Arts Realm】."

Upon reading to the end, Lu Yang suddenly frowned.

"Besides the Holy Sect, the Pure Land has also discovered the 【Ten Thousand Martial Arts Realm】, and even created a corresponding Second Grade True Art to compete directly with the Holy Sect?"

This was also one of the difficulties in cultivating Second Grade True Arts.

Besides the hostility from the heavens and earth where qi was gathered, one might also encounter cultivators from other factions, further increasing the difficulty of qi gathering.

"However, entry has become much simpler."

"After all, Second Grade True Arts have no connection to the Dao Foundation, so they can be cultivated alongside other arts; one can cultivate them even after establishing a Foundation, without needing to start from Qi Refining."

Just then, a loud boom suddenly echoed from the dome of the sky.

"Boom!"

In an instant, the heavens shook and the earth quaked; the originally dim and colorless sky suddenly ignited with a star-like golden lamp light, which immediately illuminated the entire world.

Wherever the brilliant light passed, it outshone the sun and moon and brightened the unlit heavens and earth, pushing aside all thirty-six layers of罡clouds in one breath to reveal a blue sky as deep and endless as an abyss, finally manifesting a majestic region that spanned the universe, within which lights blazed brilliantly, and one could vaguely see towers of jade and palaces of琼.

"Master Master Chongguang... Junior Uncle succeeded!?"

Seeing this, Lu Yang was first startled and looked up at the sky, but he quickly noticed something strange: "No... it's still a blessed land; it hasn't ascended into a grotto-heaven!"

Lu Yang had witnessed a grotto-heaven with his own eyes.

After all, back then overseas, when that True Person of the Sword Pavilion fell and their grotto-heaven collapsed, he had been present at the scene, so he could discern the differences between the two.

In his view, although the majestic region manifesting now possessed imposing momentum, it still lacked the transcendent atmosphere of a grotto-heaven standing above the mortal dust; this was like the gap between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment; without ascending, the status remains unchanged, and mere numerical strength, no matter how great, is meaningless.

In other words—it had failed!

"Crack!"

The next second, a crisp snapping sound echoed in the hearts of all True Persons below, and an indescribable sorrow suddenly surged into everyone's hearts.

This was especially true for Foundation Establishment True Persons whose cultivated divine abilities included 【Chen Earth】.

This was not an emotional fluctuation of their own, but rather Master Master Chongguang's thoughts, at this moment, transmitting via the fruit-position into the hearts of all corresponding cultivators.

One thought, and the whole world responds!

To a certain extent, this was already a symbol of a True Monarch; one could even say that at this moment, Master Master Chongguang was standing almost at the position of a True Monarch.

Alas, it was still water without a source.

"One step short... still defeated."

In a trance, Lu Yang seemed to hear a long sigh.

Like a lamp meeting a fierce wind, in an instant, the golden lamp light that had been illuminating the world suddenly dimmed, and together with it, the brilliantly lit blessed land collapsed with a crash!

(End of Chapter)