Chapter 160: Fusion of Force Features and Ethereal Realm
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lin Yan first picked up the letter, opened it, and read it carefully. His expression gradually softened. Apart from surprise, there was also a hint of complexity.
The letter said that the fake City Lord was called Guo Fan. He had once received a gift from an ancestor, Wu Jing, in an ancient ruin. He had obtained that mysterious scripture, the Wondrous Tao To Ching, and his strength had improved greatly.
Therefore, he followed the instructions of that senior and recorded the essence of his martial arts for the fated person in the future.
“I killed you, but I got a gift from you. Is this considered the surprise of the world…”
He shook his head and threw this useless sigh to the back of his mind.
Lin Yan read Guo Fan’s records of the Wondrous Tao Te Ching carefully.
According to the notes, this Wondrous Tao Te Ching was not a martial arts cultivation technique. It was just an ordinary scripture, but it had a magical effect.
It could fuse the Force Features!
The Force Feature was originally unique. A person could only produce one. Not to mention fusing with each other, they could not even exist at the same time.
However, by reading this Wondrous Tao Te Ching, he could fuse the two independent Force Features and improve them to an even stronger, higher-grade Force Feature!
Guo Fan had fused the Black Grade Force Feature Demon Tiger Swallowing the Mountain with the Yellow Grade Force Feature Infinity through the Wondrous Tao Te Ching, producing an even stronger Jade Grade Force Feature: Nightmare Tiger Swallowing the Mountain!
Of course, the man had come up with this name himself. This was a Force Feature that did not exist in the records. At least, Guo Fan had never heard of it.
“To be able to fuse low-grade Force Features into a high-grade one, if it really has such a miraculous effect, wouldn’t this Wondrous Tao Te Ching be a peerless treasure? Its value far exceeds my imagination!”
Lin Yan had asked Wu Qinglei about it. Different Force Features required different conditions and Unusual Items.
Yellow Grade Force Features like Gloomy Wind and Heavy Mountain required Unusual Items that were not rare. They only needed five Great Merits to exchange for.
However, if it was the Black Grade Force Feature, the Unusual Items needed would be dozens of times more valuable. They would be worth at least 200 Great Merits!
In terms of Lin Yan’s current salary of one Small Merit every two days, he would need 4,000 days to buy a piece. It would take more than ten years to save up!
As for the Jade Grade Force Feature, the value of Unusual Items was even more exaggerated. It could not be converted into Great Merit at all.
It was impossible for such a treasure to flow into ordinary people.
If that was all, it would only be expensive.
Most importantly, the Force Feature was not likely to succeed in one try!
Once he failed, he still needed to prepare the same Unusual Items!
The consumption was even more terrifying!
Therefore, the higher the grade of the Force Feature, the harder it was to achieve it.
People like Liu Lanqing who possessed a top-notch Jade Grade Force Feature were simply as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. In the entire Qianyuan Prefecture City, she was one of the top figures!
This was also the reason why Wu Qinglei advised Lin Yan.
He could not feel that the Jade Grade power was close just because he saw Liu Lanqing. It was just like how he could not think that he could easily become a billionaire just because he was classmates with a rich second-generation heir.
In essence, they and Liu Lanqing were from two different worlds!
But now, Guo Fan said that the Wondrous Tao Te Ching could merge low-ranked forces into high-ranked ones?
Wouldn’t this completely break the grades of the Force Feature?!
Lin Yan read carefully again and slowly restrained his excitement.
“As expected, this fusion is not without restrictions…”
The restrictions were extremely strict. There were at least three.
Firstly, not all Force Features could be fused. Only a few Force Features that were compatible with each other could be fused through this scripture.
Secondly, if he wanted to test whether two Force Features could be fused, he had to cultivate the corresponding prerequisite technique to the Combination Realm, which was about 65% proficiency.
65% proficiency!
This was almost mastering the essence of a cultivation technique!
It was impossible for ordinary people to cultivate to this realm without a few years of effort!
The reason why Guo Fan chose to fuse the Demon Tiger Swallowing the Mountain and Infinity was not because he did not want to choose anything else, but because he had spent several years testing and only found that these two Force Features could be fused.
This was also because he was originally talented and outstanding.
If it were an ordinary person, they would probably not be able to conclude a fusion plan even after decades.
This was also the reason why Guo Fan had specially left these two force plans behind to save time for the fated people later.
“However, this 65% proficiency is not a problem for me at all!
“With the enhancement of the Enlightenment Spiritual Light, I only need two to three Enlightenment Spiritual Lights to reach 65% proficiency!
“As long as there’s enough Spirit Marrow, I can completely do a rapid test with extremely high efficiency. Even Guo Fan can find a fusion plan. 1 will definitely find more!
“Therefore, there is only the third restriction in front of me…”
Thirdly, it was the Wondrous Tao Te Ching itself!
The Wondrous Tao Te Ching was just a scripture. There was nothing mysterious about it.
Only by reciting from time to time could he develop a clear understanding at the spiritual platform. Then, he would deepen his understanding day by day. After many years, he would reach the realm of absolute clearness. Only then could he fuse the Force Feature at the ethereal realm.
Such enlightenment had an extremely high threshold. It required great wisdom, great comprehension, and great smartness to understand. Otherwise, one could not even get started.
“In other words, only those whose comprehension far exceeds that of ordinary people can comprehend the profound essence of the ethereal… Isn’t this compatible with the effect of the Enlightenment Spiritual Light?”
So the third restriction could not limit him?
If this Wondrous Tao Te Ching was real, it would be a peerless treasure tailor-made for him!
Compared to the Jade Grade Force Feature, it was a hundred times more precious!
Lin Yan immediately took out the Wondrous Tao Te Ching and opened it in front of him.
“The Dao is formless and ingenious. It’s incorporeal and real. It’s formless and can change…”
He recited it in a low voice. Between the words, there was a deeper meaning. It seemed to contain endless philosophical principles. It was calming and soothing, as if he had comprehended something.
He quickly finished reading the entire article, but Lin Yan only felt calm and didn’t realize anything else.
Guo Fan said that after reading it once, he seemed to have understood something. After reading it a hundred times, a little clarity was born. Then, he spent three years reading it every day to reach the ethereal realm.
Was his reading posture wrong?
He flipped back to the first page and recited from the beginning.
He repeated it again, twice, thrice… By the dozenth time, Lin Yan could already memorize some of the paragraphs.
By the thirtieth time, he had already memorized most of it.
However, he felt nothing.
No matter how he read it, this scripture looked like a classic text that carried a deeper meaning. There was nothing profound about it.
“As expected, I don’t have this talent…”
Lin Yan flipped to the first page of the Wondrous Tao Te Ching and decisively activated the Golden Bodhi Scripture to release the Enlightenment Spiritual Light!
The world of thought suddenly expanded. Everything in the world was in his heart. A boundless world was filled with spiritual light.
The scripture he had read just now involuntarily lined up word by word in his mind, as if they were gilded and resplendent.
Looking at the scripture in front of him again, he felt that it was completely different.
Every word seemed to have an invisible rhythm that continuously washed and brushed his mind.
Almost instantly, Lin Yan captured that bit of enlightenment. A spiritual light bloomed, and from then on, the scripture seemed to have an anchor point. Word by word, it jumped out enthusiastically and fused into the spiritual light.
It was as if there was a horsetail whisk sweeping through his mind, blowing away the dust and distracting thoughts, making his mind even more ethereal and pure.
This was different from the emptiness of the Enlightenment Spiritual Light. Instead, it was an emptiness that allowed one to comprehend one’s existence. It eliminated all distracting thoughts, causing one’s mind to affect one’s physiology, causing one’s body to form a physical emptiness!
In this mental and physical emptiness, he seemed to see the force in his body.
Originally, he thought that his force was completely under his control.
At this moment, he saw that his strength was like a wild horse at the microscopic level. It moved like a stubborn monkey and grew savagely. It was like a rough stone embryo with burrs everywhere.
However, under the influence of this emptiness, his control was greatly enhanced. He completely controlled his force and calmed its agitation, making it gentle and round, as if the burrs had been polished clean and turned into a perfect jade!
Lin Yan came to a realization.
The reason why the Wondrous Tao Te Ching could fuse Force Features was because it could increase one’s mental strength!
From there, it greatly increased his control of the force and calmed the agitation of the force at the microscopic level, causing the quality of the force to increase and his control to be more smooth. That was why he could withstand two Force Features at the same time!
This was the same as when enchanting low-grade weapons, they could only be enchanted once, but sturdy high-grade weapons could be enchanted many times!
In that case, could the Wondrous Tao Te Ching really only fuse two Force Features?
If he had a deeper understanding of it, would he be able to fuse more Force Features?!
The Enlightenment Spiritual Light continued to bloom as Lin Yan chanted the Wondrous Tao Te Ching over and over again.
Every time he recited it, he would have a brand new comprehension, making the ethereal realm even deeper and polishing his strength, making it more harmonious and pure.
Even when the Enlightenment Spiritual Light completely dissipated, Lin Yan still continued to recite the Wondrous Tao Te Ching time and time again. His mouth was filled with saliva, and he was filled with joy.
After a while, Lin Yan let out a long breath. Divine light seemed to gather in his eyes, and he was in high spirits.
“What kind of extraordinary scripture is this Wondrous Tao Te Ching!
“Just by reading, I can actually enter the ethereal realm. It’s as if my mind and intelligence have increased.”
“It also greatly increased my control over my body, causing my force to become one. My overall strength has increased by at least 20%!
“The consumption of force has been greatly reduced. The usage of the Azure Dragon Riding Wind and Thunder can be extended for at least two seconds!”
He came to a realization. The effect of the Wondrous Tao Te Ching was not to fuse the Force Features at all!
That was just a side effect.
It was very likely that it was also a martial arts cultivation technique that was specially used to temper one’s mind!
The evidence was that the skill column on the Golden Bodhi Scripture had been updated:
Skills: Devour (100%), Five Animal Hands (100%), Dragon-Shaped Fist (100%), Iron Pagoda (43%), Thousand Pound Break (Incomplete, Growing) (40%), Wondrous Tao Te Ching (65%)
“It took Guo Fan three years to reach the ethereal realm at 35%.
“And an Enlightenment Spiritual Light can actually increase it by so much, to a full 65%!
“Looks like this skill that doesn’t require the physical body to cooperate with the movements is very effective under the Enlightenment Spiritual Light!
“I only need one or two more Enlightenment Spiritual Lights to push it to 100% proficiency.
“Then… can it also produce special effects?”