Liu Jian’an glanced at the sky, which although not cloudless, could still be described as clear and sunny. The warmth of the sunlight indicated no signs of imminent rain.
Yet, under such conditions, Wang Sheng declared that it was going to rain.
Before his doubts could even form into a question, the clear sky was blanketed with countless dark clouds in the blink of an eye.
“What is this?”
Liu Jian’an was somewhat shocked. Was Uncle Wang’s word really manifesting into reality?
“It’s going to rain, call everyone back. We can rest up in the next city!”
Although he didn’t understand what had happened, he wouldn’t go against Wang Sheng’s orders.
He went to call everyone back.
Once everyone returned, Wang Sheng released the limits on his Divine Thought. Countless strands surged forth, leveraging the natural laws.
“Here it comes!”
Whoosh! The rain poured down in torrents, immediately drenching everything, turning the area around the carriage into a wetland.
“Uncle Wang, you did this, didn’t you?”
Back inside the carriage, Liu Jian’an couldn’t contain his curiosity. The arrival of the rain was too peculiar, and combined with Wang Sheng’s previous statement, he couldn’t help but suspect.
“Yes, I did!”
Wang Sheng had no intention of hiding it.
He was pleased with his ability to do this and wanted to share his joy.
There was another crucial reason: Qiao Nian wanted to pass down his “Heavenly Thought Scripture.” Although it hadn’t been fully revised, preparations could start now.
He wanted to see if Liu Jian’an and the other eleven were interested in cultivating their spiritual power. If they were, then he could discuss the rest with them.
“So it was you, Uncle Wang. Can you really control the weather now? Isn’t that something immortals do?”
The combat prowess of Qi-Blood Martial Arts was formidable, capable of moving mountains and rechanneling seas, but altering the weather wasn’t something Qi-Blood Martial Artists could do, at least not yet.
Their paths of cultivation shared similarities, including life expectancy, with no significant disparities. However, they specialized in different areas, and a comprehensive comparison would conclude that each has its strengths and weaknesses.
He couldn’t accurately judge the milestones displayed by the different cultivation paths at this stage.
However, he understood one thing: different paths of cultivation suited different people.
Despite Liu Jian’an and the others being talented in Qi-Blood Martial Arts, they could be more gifted in the spiritual path.
Therefore, if they were particularly interested and talented, Wang Sheng would suggest they follow this path.
Of course, he would explain all the pros and cons; the final decision would be theirs to make.
Now, not only Liu Jian’an, but the rest, upon hearing the two conversing, pricked up their ears.
Changing weather overthrew their preconceptions of cultivation.
“I can indeed temporarily change the weather of a region, but I’m no immortal. It’s merely a means of cultivation that one can achieve at a certain level.”
“A means of cultivation, Uncle, can we learn it?”
Wang Lingwei had asked a similar question before about Divine Thought, and now she repeated the query.
Clearly, she was very interested in such a technique.
The others hadn’t asked, but their expressions mirrored hers; they, too, wanted to know the answer.
“You can learn, but I do not recommend all of you to pursue it. First, it is a path that diverges entirely from Qi-Blood Martial Arts, and you’ll need great resolve to succeed. Thus, you must be interested in this cultivation path. Currently, you all show interest, but that might not be the case later.”
Wang Sheng had just demonstrated his ability to summon rainfall, piquing Liu Jiajian and the others’ interest, establishing a stage of intense curiosity.
However, this interest was temporary, so a second condition was necessary.
“Additionally, you need talent. If you lack it, I won’t allow you to learn.”
These young people lacked the judgment to discern their true preferences.
Hence, talent provided a safety net.
If the cultivation went smoothly without hindrances, feeling stronger could naturally sustain their interest.
However, if even the basics proved challenging, they might give up after a while.
As Wang Sheng intended to guide them on this path, he had to consider these factors thoroughly and could not act carelessly.
“How can we test for talent?”
Clearly, at this point, Liu Jian’an and the others were set on learning the spiritual cultivation path, without giving it too much thought.
“Is this too soon?” Wang Sheng couldn’t help but think, seeing the scene unfold.
Even the most prudent Liu Jian’an lacked depth in his understanding of his own cultivation path.
They were merely aware that controlling the weather was a formidable ability, oblivious to its essence.
Take this rainfall, for example.
To build upon their foundation, further expanding the spiritual cultivation path, this technique was indeed a priceless treasure, a potential path.
However, as for actual combat, rainfall provided virtually no benefits, nearly useless.
These were the details they failed to see.
Wang Sheng felt he had spoken too early.
The reason he hadn’t considered much about cultivating Qi-Blood Martial Arts was because that was the only path he knew of before, with no other choices—so it didn’t matter if he didn’t understand. But once options were available, things became much more complicated.
“Wait a while, I need to prepare something.”
There was no such thing as a talent stone for testing talent, so he could only consider other methods.
Wang Sheng planned to create a simple Cultivation Technique for them to try and gauge their talent based on the speed of their cultivation.
It was a crude method, but very practical.
The only issue was that it would take a bit of time to construct this Cultivation Technique, but this wouldn’t cause much delay. He was already integrating the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” and the “Heavenly Thought Scripture.”
It wasn’t a big problem to create the most basic handbook for the spiritual path of cultivation from these texts.
Although they couldn’t start cultivating immediately, Liu Jian’an and the others were still excited at the news that they would be able to cultivate later. They just didn’t know how long this enthusiasm could last.
They were unaware of the most “cruel” part that Wang Sheng hadn’t spoken of yet!
Even if one wanted to achieve the rain-calling ability he had, it would require the strength of a top-tier Great Grandmaster, because this was achieved through one’s own power, not like Qiao Nian who relied on the power of the Heavenly Father.
Of course, there was room to simplify the Rainfall Technique. However, Wang Sheng felt that even if it were successfully simplified soon, it would still require the spiritual power of a Great Grandmaster.
He would wait until the test Cultivation Method for spiritual cultivation was ready before telling them this.
For now, let them be excited.
Wang Sheng didn’t have to worry about not being able to use it, but he wasn’t satisfied with the effect of the rainfall.
A Rainfall Technique that caused no harm was useless to him.
It wasn’t as intimidating as the Divine Skills “Law Manifestation.”
“The next step is to continue integrating the two scriptures while improving the power of the Rainfall Technique and then exploring other secret techniques.”
The Rainfall Technique was the first to be successful, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Calling the wind and summoning the rain—now that the summoning of rain had occurred, how could the calling of the wind be absent?
The rain outside the tiger-drawn carriage gradually stopped, and Big White continued moving forward. It hadn’t gotten wet, protected by Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought, so it wasn’t in a sorry state.
Before long, they left the area of rainfall.
Actually, there were other martial artists on the road who were bamboozled by the rain.
It wasn’t summer, so why would it suddenly start raining?
Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought was active because he needed to change the passers-by’s perception of the tiger-drawn carriage, and he overheard quite a few comments.
“How strange, such rain, without any warning.”
“The world is increasingly baffling these days. Let’s avoid this rainy area!” said a martial artist who had intended to pass through the rainy area.
His words received a lot of agreement.
“Yes, Yu State Dream Prefecture is suffering a drought, and Dream Lake has dried up. Some strong martial artists died, and it’s said that a mighty Demon has emerged. Now there is this inexplicable rain here. It couldn’t be a similar situation, could it? Better to detour for safety!”
Those who had not entered the rain were even more determined to detour, while those who got wet were nervously worrying whether they would meet with any mishaps.
Wang Sheng silently laughed at this scene he inadvertently noticed.
He hadn’t expected that his whim to try out his newly acquired ability would have this sort of impact.
But after the laughter, he also paid attention to the information he had heard.
Yu State was a place he intended to pass through later, located to the north of Chi State. After passing through Yu State, he would head east towards Tai Mountain to deal with the matter of the little prince, and incidentally check the final battlefield of the Stargazing Valley Master.
The Dream Prefecture that the people mentioned was a city he was going to pass through. He had a basic understanding that, like Quanzhou’s Yunze Prefecture, Dream Prefecture also had a large lake—Dream Lake, which even in the great Zhou Dynasty could be considered prominent.
Yet the passers-by were saying that Dream Prefecture was experiencing a great drought, and Dream Lake might dry up, and it could even be related to a mighty Demon.
Another Demon King akin to the White Lotus Demon King?
Wang Sheng planned to go to the next city first, gather some information at Yuelai Inn, and then decide.
“Big White, speed up a bit.”
“Roar~”
Big White roared and quickened its pace, moving along the predetermined route.
“How odd, did I just hear a Mountain Lord’s roar?”
“I heard it too. Hurry and take a detour, don’t go in!”
They were neither deaf nor blind; that roar clearly wasn’t nearby, but all they saw were a few horse-drawn carriages.
Such “odd” occurrences made them even more hesitant to stay in the area.
Wang Sheng did not realize that a casual roar from Big White could cause such a stir. Once they were further away, he once again left Liu Jian’an and the others behind from the carriage.
Even if he had to change direction later, he couldn’t neglect the Qi-Blood Martial Arts now.
In case they couldn’t cultivate the spiritual path later and the Qi-Blood Martial Arts were also delayed, he’d be utterly devastated.
He, on the other hand, continued to study the two scriptures.
He had only just started, and it was a long road to Great Success.
What he didn’t expect was that while there was no significant development in his other abilities, one skill had undergone its first transformation.
“Beast Taming: Breakthrough +3 (1%)”