Chapter 79

Directly become a Divine Hidden One?

Hearing this, Li Youyi couldn't help but look up at the cliff carvings above his head. That was the combat technique intent of the legendary God of Nine Li; surely every Wu Xiu in the world would want to comprehend it?

This font...

It was actually very similar to the bird-track characters used to carve "Ancient Path of Chixian" on the stone pillar in his soul sea.

But he didn't have much understanding of ancient characters, so he naturally couldn't decipher them.

The youths present all had eager eyes. After kowtowing, they stared unblinkingly at the four ancient characters on the cliff, carefully experiencing every stroke and crevice, longing to be a heaven-sent genius who could quickly comprehend something from the characters.

After reaching the Five Seas Realm, the most urgent thing for a Wu Xiu to do is to cultivate their own combat technique intent. Otherwise, when facing the mental power attacks of a Great Thought Master, they could only run for their lives.

Whether one has cultivated combat technique intent, and how strong that intent is, is second only to the cultivation realm in importance within the Five Seas Realm.

Yin Twenty-Four stood quietly to the side, unfazed.

Two years ago, wasn't she the same?

After waiting for half an hour, she finally spoke: "Don't be obsessed with this. Since ancient times, only the Cang King has been able to comprehend the combat technique intent of the God of Nine Li from these four characters."

"After entering the valley, your time will be very precious. Every day is a race against death; do not waste your time here."

"I tell you this now, but most of you won't listen; everyone thinks they are the child of destiny. But in the future, you will regret it—regret wasting your time."

Li Youyi asked, "I heard that the combat technique intent of Five Seas Realm Wu Xiu is all comprehended from techniques that align with the Heavenly Dao. Do these four characters on the cliff have corresponding techniques for us to practice?"

"No!"

Yin Twenty-Four said, "But there are nine fundamental martial arts in the valley left behind by the Nine Kings themselves. They are more primitive, more precise and detailed, and possess more Heavenly Dao divine essence than what you learned in your tribal schools. Of course, they are also easier to use to cultivate Heavenly Dao alignment."

The Nine Kings were the nine founding ancestors of the nine great tribes, all of whom were children of the God of Nine Li.

Everyone looked at each other, joy in their eyes.

"Does the Hidden Gate have the Cang King's fundamental martial arts?" Yao Yin asked.

Since the Cang King had once comprehended the combat technique intent of the God of Nine Li, practicing his fundamental martial arts might be the best shortcut.

Yin Twenty-Four said, "The fundamental martial art left by the Cang King is the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Axes, and it is not suitable for everyone to practice. You have already practiced for years or even over a decade in your tribes; suddenly changing to practice other martial arts is equivalent to crippling your own martial arts."

"You must know that you only have one month, or a few months, of life left."

"Are you confident that you can cultivate the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Axes to perfection within a month or a few months?"

A youth of a tiger-like deformed race who had opened eight springs was ecstatic: "I have practiced axe techniques since I was a child. The first nine moves of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Axes are in the tribal schools of every tribe, and I have long since practiced them to a supernatural level. I have already practiced the first move, 'Opening Heaven and Earth,' to the point of being infinitely close to Heavenly Dao alignment."

Many people present showed envy; who could catch up with such a foundation in axe techniques?

Li Qing said disdainfully, "You haven't even cultivated Heavenly Dao alignment, so what is there to brag about? Since ancient times, how many geniuses and heroes have entered the Hidden Gate, and no second person has been seen to comprehend the combat technique intent of the God of Nine Li."

The tiger-like deformed youth's eyes flashed with cold light, his fighting spirit intense: "Then let's see who is the final winner in a year's time?"

The Hidden Lord had left silently while they were observing the four characters on the cliff.

Yin Twenty-Four led everyone through the misty river valley, passed through the forest of unknown trees emitting purple light, and arrived at the foot of a stone wall.

The stone wall shimmered like a red jade mine; staring closely, one would find that spiritual light was flowing inside, with scriptures floating up and down.

Because of the fog, one could not see how high the stone wall was.

But the area below the stone wall was quite flat and vast, like a martial arts practice square.

Yin Twenty-Four said, "There are actually two other ways to skip the life-and-death trials and the Hidden One competition to directly become a Divine Hidden One."

"The stone wall in front of you is a mental power mural."

"All Wu Xiu who enter the Hidden Gate and reach the Nine Springs Ancestral Field will imprint their own combat technique portraits here. At the same time, the Hidden Gate also purchases combat technique portraits of other top Wu Xiu in the Lingxiao Life Realm to imprint here."

"You only need to defeat three people in the portraits to directly become the Divine Hidden One of this generation. Including me, all Hidden Ones will become your Hidden Servants, listening to your orders unconditionally."

A commotion broke out all around.

"This is much simpler than comprehending the combat technique intent of the God of Nine Li! You only need to defeat three people, not chase after a legendary god."

Yao Yin immediately asked, "Can I challenge now?"

As a Pure Immortal Body, she had great confidence in herself.

Yin Twenty-Four shook her head: "Only those who are at least Nine Springs Wu Xiu have the qualifications to challenge."

Yao Yin fell silent. It was simply impossible for her to cultivate to the Nine Springs level within a year. It seemed that no matter what, she had to become Hidden Twenty-Six.

"Doesn't that mean I am the only one here with the qualifications to challenge? How can I not try it for everyone first?"

Li Qing stood out confidently, his eyes like torches, staring at the stone wall in front.

As if Yin Twenty-Four had expected this, she said faintly, "Press your palm onto the stone wall and inject magic power; the combat technique portrait of the first person will naturally appear to fight you."

After Li Qing did as instructed.

"Whoosh!"

Inside the red jade stone wall, spiritual light, magic power, and scriptures gathered rapidly, condensing into a vivid mural.

In the mural was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old youth, plain-looking, but with deep eyes that did not match his age, holding a giant axe that was extremely disproportionate to his thin body.

The youth walked out of the mural, a semi-virtual, semi-real glowing body: "Are you ready?"

"Let's begin!"

Li Qing drew his magic weapon sword, not daring to underestimate his opponent. All nine springs in his body erupted, and the magic power overflowing from his pores wrapped around his entire body, his state instantly climbing to its peak.

"Whoosh!"

He was the first to attack with a sword, the sword like a meteor, fast to the extreme.

"So fast, the speed exceeds Xue Zheng by quite a bit." Li Youyi watched this battle seriously to better judge Li Qing's strength level; he had to admit that a Nine Springs Supreme was indeed very strong.

Stronger than even that Pure Immortal Body, Xue Zheng.

"Clang!"

The sword strike Li Qing thrust with all his might was casually blocked by the glowing youth with an axe.

"How is this possible?"

Li Qing's eyes were full of shock; he dared not believe the opponent only had Nine Springs cultivation.

After the glowing youth deflected the magic sword in Li Qing's hand, he suddenly raised his axe and swung it down like he was splitting heaven and earth, the momentum rippling, domineering and peerless.

Everyone watching the battle was intimidated and retreated.

Li Qing's face changed in shock, the pressure in his heart immense. He couldn't care about anything else and immediately urged the magic power in his Ancestral Field, unleashing his strongest sword strike at the level of Heavenly Dao alignment.

A sword strike slashed out!

The Wind Mansion is a small sea of Qi, so those who open eight springs are called Small Five Seas.

And the Ancestral Field, the size of the sea of Qi, can rival the size of the first sea of Qi of many Five Seas Realm Wu Xiu.

Li Qing's sword strike gathered a massive amount of magic power from his Ancestral Field; it was a true trump card strike, slaughtering those who had opened eight or seven springs like pigs and dogs.

"Is the magic power in the Ancestral Field this thick?"

Without using those powerful magic weapons, Li Youyi felt that with his current cultivation of opening seven springs, if he faced Li Qing, his chance of winning would not exceed fifty percent.

This was simply terrifyingly strong; he was only two realms lower, yet it was difficult to defeat him.

Of course, the most important reason was that the Wind Mansion and the Ancestral Field could store magic power like a sea of Qi, which made Li Qing's combat power when erupting extremely heaven-defying. Li Youyi currently did not have such a means to unleash a supreme strike.

"Boom!"

All the magic power and sword Qi Li Qing unleashed were shattered by the glowing youth's axe.

Axe and sword collided.

Li Qing felt as if he had been punched in the chest; his face turned deathly pale, and he retreated again and again, his hand bleeding. The long sword in his hand had long since flown out of his grip.

The glowing youth pursued and swung a second axe.

"Admit defeat quickly," Yin Twenty-Four said.

Li Qing, as if granted amnesty, immediately shouted "I admit defeat."

That huge and sharp axe hovered above his head.

The spiritual light emitted by the axe blade made the fine beads of sweat on his forehead shine clearly.

"Whoosh!"

The giant axe disappeared.

The glowing youth dissipated like smoke.

Li Qing trembled all over, let out a long breath, his pale face unable to recover for a long time, and asked: "Who is he? Is he a Pure Immortal Body?"

Li Qing did not believe that a Nine Springs Wu Xiu of a deformed race could have such strong combat power, and a mortal was even less likely.

Yin Twenty-Four said: "He is Hidden Nine! He opened four springs at eight years old and entered the Hidden Gate, opened eight springs at eleven, and spent another two years of hard cultivation, opening nine springs at thirteen. What you encountered was him at thirteen years old."

"He is not a Pure Immortal Body, just a mortal."

All of Li Qing's confidence and pride were crushed, and he smiled bitterly: "I actually lost to a thirteen-year-old child!"

"Among Nine Springs mortals, you are already very strong; you withstood one axe from Hidden Nine and only suffered some minor injuries," Yin Twenty-Four said. "Hidden Nine represents the number one combat power among all Hidden Ones of our generation when they were at the Nine Springs stage."

The youths present who had been severely struck were suddenly relieved and felt a bit better.

Some eight or nine-year-old children suddenly gained confidence.

If Hidden Nine could become the final winner of that year, they could too. The younger they were, the more benefits they would obviously receive from practicing in the Hidden Gate, and they would be even stronger in the future.

Li Youyi asked: "We need to challenge three people to directly become a Divine Hidden One. So besides Hidden Nine, who is the number one Nine Springs Hidden One, who are the other two?"

Yin Twenty-Four said: "The second person is a Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body with all hundred meridians silver."

"The third person is the Lingxiao First-Ranker at the Nine Springs realm."

"Besides this path, there is another, but it has nothing to do with you; only Five Seas Realm Hidden Ones can compete for it."

After hearing this, everyone present instantly gave up on directly storming the Divine Hidden One position.

For mortals and deformed races to want to defeat a Pure Immortal Body at the same realm is simply a pipe dream.

Even so, Yao Yin, as a Pure Immortal Body, still had a chance.

But to want to defeat the Lingxiao First-Ranker at the Nine Springs realm—this... is the Divine Hidden One of the Nine Li Hidden Gate aiming for the best in the world?

The Lingxiao First-Ranker is not just any Nine Li First-Ranker, Lizhou First-Ranker, or Southern Realm First-Ranker; it represents the best in the world for Wu Xiu under sixty years old.

Yao Yin asked: "Does 'all hundred meridians silver' mean that the trace meridians in the body exceed one hundred, and all of them must be raised to the level of silver trace meridians or higher?"

Yin Twenty-Four said: "That is exactly right."

"This requirement is the standard for those with ten-million-family heritage!" Yao Yin said.

Yin Twenty-Four said proudly: "The Nine Li tribe is the only ten-million-year-old ancient clan in the Lingxiao Life Realm. Even if the outside world has declined, the Hidden Gate must demand that the Divine Hidden Ones it cultivates meet the standards of a ten-million-year-old ancient clan."

"A Divine Hidden One should be stronger than those with heritage!"

The colors of the trace meridians in a warrior's body, from low to high, are white, red, silver, and gold.

Almost all Wu Xiu have white as their most basic trace meridians.

Reaching the opening of the seven springs is a watershed.

Some people will choose to break through directly, enter the Five Seas Realm, and pursue higher realms.

While others will stop to settle and temper their foundation. The more red trace meridians one tempers, the greater the chance of breaching the eight springs of the Wind Mansion.

To want to breach the nine springs of the Ancestral Field, one needs to temper as many silver trace meridians as possible.

Li Qing smiled: "I understand! I know the gap between me and Hidden Nine! I tempered twenty-seven silver trace meridians to break through the ninth spring, and now the number of silver trace meridians in my body is only forty-six. I must temper all ninety trace meridians in my body into silver to have a chance to compete with him."

Li Youyi was also calculating secretly: "The number of trace meridians in my body is eighty-four, and it seems I don't need to temper them; they are silver trace meridians by nature. No wonder it's hard for me to defeat Li Qing now; he has more trace meridians in his body than I do, and more than half are silver."

Li Youyi guessed that the reason he could defeat other Wu Xiu across realms must be related to the grade and number of trace meridians in his body.

Yao Yin smiled bitterly: "A Pure Immortal Body is indeed a favorite of the heavens, a one-in-ten-thousand cultivation genius. But only a Pure Immortal Body with all hundred meridians silver is a true Pure Immortal Body."

"You could say that."

Yin Twenty-Four said: "Besides constitution and trace meridians, other things affect combat power at the same realm. There are also technique skills, physical strength, breathing methods, magic power usage, mental power superposition, magic weapons... and so on, all of which can make you stronger. So everyone doesn't need to be discouraged by the gap in talent and constitution; a Pure Immortal Body is not invincible."

"Li Qing, if you had cultivated a movement technique at the Heavenly Dao alignment level, you would definitely have been able to dodge Hidden Nine's second axe just now. As long as the number of Heavenly Dao alignment techniques you cultivate is high enough, your combat power at the same realm will also be stronger."

After speaking, Yin Twenty-Four led everyone to their living quarters.

"You are not Hidden Ones yet, so you cannot enter the Hidden Gate; you can only live in the cave dwellings carved out along the river valley."

"Those who have opened four springs live on the first level. Those who have opened five springs live on the second level. Those who have opened the sixth spring live on the third level."

"The first month is a protection period. Anyone who dares to slaughter fellow Wu Xiu will be killed without mercy!"

(End of this chapter)