âYes!â Li Hao nodded. âIt does have something to do with those guys using the ultimate art of Tranquil Star. Itâs also related to my masterâs Breathing Method of the Five Styles, and the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. This character is basically a massive melting pot. Iâm still theorizing more details.â
He wouldnât have dared say this before, but the young man had gained many more reflections after reading The Accounts of Evenround. He displayed his âwaterâ character without further ado. It wasnât just the water aura, but water and fire at the same time. They melded together, demonstrating resistance at first that Li Hao forced down.
A peculiar surge of fire and water energy assimilated together. BOOM! The young man tossed it to He Yong and singed his eyebrows.
Wide-eyed, He Yong stared out of his blackened face, his fist still extended. A blank expression hung on his face. âHot damn!â He offered after a while. What the heck was that?? It was at least twice as strong as the singular character from before!
âI came across some new knowledge in the ruins,â Li Hao chuckled. âThat was my first try, so apologies, Martial Uncle He!â
He Yong was at a loss for words!
Hong Yitang smiled. âInteresting. Do you guys want to see mine?â
A âswordâ character manifested and sword intent oscillated, transforming into thunder and lightning. It morphed into flames before the group could react, which then changed into a massive mountain...
It all changed very quickly!
Hong Yitang didnât meld his two elements together like Li Hao did. Rather, he summoned each element with a casual wave. His character transfigured into a variety of elements in the blink of an eyeâtoo fast to keep up. The most astounding of all was that there was no conflict between them!
The sight made the group suck in sharp breaths. Li Hao and Hong Yitangâs characters seemed to be different, but no matter what, they could see what made this ability unique.
âDo you... guys count as martial masters? Or supernaturals?â
âI donât know either.â Li Hao shook his head. âA type of fusion, I guess? Or a melting pot like I said. Itâs different from being a martial master and different from being a supernatural... If you want to call it a new path... but this is all there is to it for now, so I donât think it counts as one. What it does do, however, is resolve the problem of mysterious power being a resource in the outside world...â
This was the only way he could think of to solve the issue!
âThereâs another key problem that hasnât been fixed!â Li Hao added after some thought. âThe one of the body!â
Indeed, the young man felt that if his path was to be smoothly taken to the end, then strengthening the body must be tackled for it to be a success. Otherwise, it would not be a new dao at all!
This path was more suited for people, but if oneâs body was weak, Water of Life was still required to protect the organs during each breakthrough. If there was no solution for this, were they all to give up cultivating if he ran out of sword energy one day, or if they could not rely on plant spirits?
There was an over reliance on plant spirits at the moment! This problem didnât exist in the ancient civilization, so ancient martial dao had been a wide avenue that led straight to great dao. Unfortunately, modern humans were not suited for it, not unless they underwent the same treatment as Deputy Zhou.
However, if everyoneâs body was forcefully modified by a premier heavyweight, that would change them from being modern humans! And was it possible to modify the bodies of tens of billions of people? Would there need to be a new dao then?
This was the great problem facing Li Hao at present; he didnât know how to resolve it. Hong Yitang said that he could coalesce more characters to resolve it, but what characters?
The characters had to do with supernatural locks; Li Haoâs energy of wind and thunder were tied to strengthening the body and blood qi. And. yet, they didnât accomplish the effect that he wanted. Did other supernatural locks exist in the body to strengthen oneâs entire being?
âThatâs hardly an issue.â He Yong was indifferent. âWe all face that problem. Being able to solve part of the problem is a win at our current stage. Having an answer for mysterious power coming from the outside is incredible enough!â
That was the truth! He hadnât thought that Li Hao wouldnât be satisfied and want to resolve even the problem of their weak bodies.
âThatâs true...â Li Hao smiled. âIâm just thinking... that there may be an answer to the issue of our bodies. My teacherâs breathing method may be the key, itâs just not complete yet.â
He somehow felt that the Breathing Method of the Five Styles might be the solution. Its effects were just too slow at present and not as noticeable.
The human body was a massive treasure hunt, not enough of it had been explored yet. The Breathing Method of the Five Styles ventured only into the five organsâthat was insufficient. Li Hao felt that his teacher confined himself to a tiny area. If his teacher incorporated a dozen more secret arts with the breathing method... he might be able to strengthen everything...
Mmhmm, it was time to seek out his teacher and have Yuan Shuo stay in one place for once. The old man should spend more effort on considering how to assimilate eighty more secret artsâones for strengthening the limbs, the brain, the bones, and blood qi...
If all of them were incorporated, wouldnât the breathing method outright enhance the entire body then? That was the direction that his teacher should proceed in!
The group thought it over and nodded as well.
âYour teacherâs idea last time was to meld the auras into the five locks and have them strengthen the body in turn. That is a good idea,â raised Sky Sword. âBut now youâre individually separating them into characters. According to your teacherâs theory, would it be the equivalent of melding all of the locks together if you combined the characters together? Would that resolve the problem of the bodyâs weakness?â
Li Hao raised his eyebrows. Sky Swordâs proposal was sound.
âI can give it a try, but right now... even I havenât melded my aura into that many looks. I need some time! But even if I succeed.... I think there will still be problems as youâd have to endure this process in the beginning.â
âStop worrying over it!â He Yong agitated. âJust tell us how to do it! Just teach us! As for how to fix the body... weâll all have ideas when more of us walk this path. I feel that weâll come across the answer more quickly when thereâs more of us cultivating in this way!â
His words made sense!
âMartial Uncle He is right...â Li Hao laughed. âBut are you really not going to consider just outright breaking your locks?â
He Yong snorted. What would he consider that for? Just look around at the state of the world! He felt that he would turn into the next Golden Spear soon if he didnât catch up to the others. Tragic, depressed, and running off elsewhere to possibly die in an isolated locale. There would be nothing left of his body to recover.
âSilver Moon martial masters cultivate the heart, not internal force alone. Letâs just be more decisive and do whatever should be done!â
Li Hao agreed with his words and quickly described his process. The group found it to be easy enough, which was to be expected. A cultivation path would not be suited for all if it was too difficult. Those who needed to could learn itâthat was a new dao.
âThis will require a lot of Water of Life!â Sky Sword frowned. âI have a bit left, but it might not be enough! Based on what youâre saying, itâs still a significant sum even if itâs less than what ascending as an Arcanus needs.â
Indeed, the resource consumption required was still significant! Granted, Sky Sword was already a two element Arcanus, or rather, three element now. His physical body had already been strengthened, but the process that the young man explained was one of devouring life force. Hence, Water of Life was necessary to fortify oneself with.
Now he understood Li Haoâs worries from earlier, why the body and life force were all problems.
âDonât worry, I have Water of Life!â Li Hao smiled. The little tree had been converting this resource for him the past couple of days. Itâd been doing so to pay the fine before. Now that there was sufficient quantity to pay it off, they were swimming in Water of Life.
Heâd killed so many people this time that mysterious power stones were his greatest gain, after the mallet of the Hongs. Panther had collected roughly fifty-five million from the little lake. Most of the rest were poor, but the Sky Roc King had been very rich indeed.
The various factions hadnât seemed to want it to pay, so itâd carried five million stones on it. Itâd all gone to Li Hao in the end. Combined with the other bits and pieces he collected, that made for sixty-five million stones in total from the Evenround expedition. It was less than what he expected, but thinking of it as spending fifty million stones to visit Evenround MartialâLi Hao found it quite a good trade!
He also knew now that the little tree might need only three thousand stones to coalesce one drop of Water of Life. Itâd voluntarily lowered the price to four thousand pieces after the expedition. It, too, needed to recover and cultivate.
Li Hao actually wasnât going to hold back on payment. Even if theyâd stuck to the previous ten thousand stones per drop, his gains from this exploration were sufficient for sixty-five hundred drops. That was an astronomical sum!! Granted, the little tree couldnât just endlessly convert Water of Life from morning to night.
âThe senior helped a great deal in the ruins,â Li Hao laughed before Sky Sword could say anything. âThose who didnât are...â
âDonât look at me!â He Yong raged with tragic sorrow. âWhat are you looking at me for?! Iâll take out twenty drops, alright? Thatâs all I have!â
And it was from Li Hao!
âI remember that martial uncle has at least twenty-five drops...â Li Hao smiled meaningfully.
He Yong nearly vomited blood. How do you even remember that? Yes, the young man had given him more before, but heâd forgotten it himself! Must you really empty me out? He Yong moped. I stood guard in Skystar City, I did my part too, alright?
âThen... Light Sword...â Light Sword scowled at He Yong. That guy has some savings, but I really donât. If I did, I wouldâve used it long ago, would I wait until now? Blast you, He Yong, why must you drag me into things?
âThatâs enough, Iâm just joking,â Li Hao laughed. âIâll need everyoneâs help in the operations to come. Obtaining benefits means needing to put forth equal effort. A transaction of equal value is what Director Hou often says and what the ancient civilization often refers to as necessary competition in martial dao. You must fight for your own benefits. Only with effort expended is there reward obtained. There will be plenty of skirmishes ahead of us!â
It was a given! No matter what, he needed to seize the ruins, take care of the City of Supernaturals, nine ministries, three great organizations, and seven divine mountains... How could he do that without sufficient powerhouses? Supernaturals could easily ascend as Arcanus now without thought of anything else. His side could not fall behind.
âLetâs set this aside first and focus on the cultivation of supernatural ability characters,â Li Hao changed the subject. âAfter that, I need to see how many elements each of you can endure. Donât be afraid of using resources, itâs best if you can train to the utmost. Iâm of the mind to attack a plant spirit inside the ruin next and test our strength! It goes without saying how great the gains there will be, and Iâll also be confident of handling the various factions after that!â