The heretics searching for Feng Feiyun stopped after sensing the commotion. The birds in the wild started flying and screeching in the sky, full of unrest.
“Did a beast king from the outskirts of Endless Land come here?” One heretic wondered. Only a beast king would be able to cause this level of chaos.
The beast kings in that area have cultivated for two thousand years or longer. They rarely left their lair so their appearance would invoke a great reception from weaker beasts.
A different heretic said: “Let’s not enter this area right now, too dangerous, we should wait until they calm down.”
“I agree.” The first heretic saw a claw flying above. Just the claw alone spanned more than thirty meters with thick, black scales. This was definitely a monstrous bird.
‘These powerful creatures have been alarmed. It looks like this area is truly dangerous. No way Feng Feiyun could have come here.’ The two heretics shared this thought and quickly retreated.
***
Feiyun was surrounded by a flame in the shape of a divine phoenix. The bright glow painted the lake red during the evening.
A bone located on top of his head shone like a lamp with numerous intricate runes.
The goddess watched with surprise and apprehension from the distance, wondering which merit law this was. It brought about so many powerful monsters nearby to this lake.
She stood up but didn’t dare to move due to the spectating beasts. Above were gigantic shadows the size of mountains circling around. Thunderous cries could be heard at times.
‘Just who is he? His aura is becoming stronger and stronger, reaching a quite frightening level. He said he can protect me… maybe he is actually capable of doing so.’ She couldn’t connect him to the evil and idiotic young master back then. The difference was immense.
She has been staying in Witch God Temple all these years and knew nothing of outside events, or that the rotten young master who almost slept with her has become the world-renowned Divine King.
She wanted to divine his identity but the moment she got a glimpse of the heavenly order, a different force severed her connection instantly.
“This person is incalculable, I can’t figure out his name and background. A certain heavenly dao is shrouding everything relating to him.” This only made her more curious. She watched him intensely with her big and bright eyes while occasionally furrowing her brows.
She forgot about her worries and sensed the massive force brewing in him. The divine tree within her grew a little bit. Its shiny leaves slowly stretched to absorb the heat in the air.
This tree was slowly maturing thanks to the temperature of the phoenix flame. Despite the limited growth far from maturation, she still became very excited and sat down to channel her witch technique in accordance with her master’s teachings. She controlled the tree to absorb more of the rays and heat. The leaves were taking in the various powers. In order to get more, she quietly inched closer to him.
After an unknown period of time, the energy in the beast core has depleted. It entered the wisdom bone that was more dazzling than before with numerous phoenix runes. It started issuing small popping sounds, serving as a cauldron for physical refinement.
“Boom!” A shockwave emanated from Feiyun and blew the goddess nearby flying. She glided for more than one thousand feet before landing. This force was strangely gentle and didn’t harm her.
Next, the worldly energy in the area crazily surged towards his bone then spread across his body, washing away his impurities.
It eventually condensed back to the bone. Feiyun became normal again and eventually opened his eyes. They were as bright as the stars now as he murmured: “Consolidation of the second bone is a success.”
He stood up and touched his dantian area with both hands. The Violet Central Palace shot out ten purple rays with a draconic shape; each more than three meters long. This was a symbol of his current cultivation.
“Peak fifth-level Heaven’s Mandate. Just a little bit more until the sixth level. What a shame.” The formation of the second bone earlier took in extra worldly energy. It polished his body and even boosted his cultivation. If he had absorbed a bit more, he might have been able to break through to the next level.
Alas this was heaven's will, no need to force it. He was only one step away. Just any little factor from now on could allow him to become a half-step Giant.
“Physique refinement” and “dantian” - one focused on the physical aspect while the other was all about cultivation.
They were two different paths for training.
Humans’s primary method is the dantian while demons and beasts preferred physique refinement.
The cultivation realms of Jin included Spirit Realm, Immortal Foundation, God Base, Heaven’s Mandate, Nirvana…
They represented the power in one’s dantian and had nothing to do with one’s physical potential.
There were different levels for physique users as well. For example, to be able to attack with the force of 10,000 pounds was considered “one bull”.
20,000 pounds - two bulls.
40,000 pounds - three bulls.
80,00 pounds - four bulls.
This doubling ratio continued onward…
Then, the force of ten bulls was equal to the force of one tiger.
The tiger mentioned here was a dragon-tiger with enough mighty to lift a mountain.
Feiyun’s current physical prowess allowed him to unleash nine tigers. One palm was enough to destroy a small city or fight against an early Giant.
In fact, he could even win against one with a first-level spirit treasure capable of an eightfold attack.
As for one without a spirit treasure or a top technique capable of boosting power? He could easily defeat or even kill him.
He was far inferior cultivation-wise but his physique is the key in defeating them. Both training methods were viable.
“These two methods actually complement one another. A boost in cultivation can help polish the physique and vice versa.”
“Not focusing on one over the other will yield the best result.”
A dantian-only cultivator’s body would still grow stronger. For example, a seventh-level Heaven’s Mandate Giant could still unleash a seven-tiger attack only using their body.
As for Feiyun, he cultivated a physique merit law but could still open his dantian enough to reach peak fifth-level Heaven’s Mandate.
“I need to find a scripture to cultivate the dantian too so that my cultivation will be proportional to my physique. This type of dual cultivation will accelerate my Immortal Phoenix Physique.” He understood something.
He used to think that just cultivating this physique art was the best choice. However, he had a different idea now - dual cultivation.
He had plenty of cultivation scriptures in his memories but most were physique arts for demons. The dantian ones weren’t the best ones because his tribe didn’t cultivate this path and didn’t collect enough scrolls.
Feiyun didn’t want to take out a random one. In his opinion, he needed a scripture with a merit law comparable to the Immortal Phoenix Physique or he rather not do it at all.
“The Grave Palace Treasure-seeking Record is profound, definitely on the same level as the phoenix physique. Then there are the Dao Scripture and Golden Silk Scripture. These are the ultimate merit laws for humans. If I can have these two merit laws, my cultivation will rise even faster.”
Feiyun had the Eight Arts Volume of the grave record but it only contained techniques and arts, no merit laws for cultivation.
He didn’t know why this tiny dynasty would have these top sacred scriptures. Alas, Jin really did have many secrets and wasn’t as simple as it seems. Perhaps it played a pivotal role among the many kingdoms of humans, unknown to others.
Too many strange things happened here - such as Feiyun’s reincarnation, Shui Yueting’s presence, the Evil Woman came back to life here too and started again on the heavenly dao path, then the existence of a top demon master like Feiyun’s mother? Why did she appear in Jin and married Feiyun’s father?
Also, the unbelievable teleportation altar at the earth-level in a Heaven’s Ascension grave, or the Immeasurable Tower, a broken saint vessel. Perhaps there were more mysteries inside the eight ancient ruins of Jin?
Feiyun slowly came to find that this land called Jin was special in some ways.