92 A Little Golden Lotus and a Calling of Unrest 2 (1/2)
The .
A completed set of mortal cultivation and martial arts techniques that Wei Xuan praised to guarantee the practitioner to enter the realm of the Nascent Soul without trouble, a technique worthy of exuberant reverence in the Shattered Star Continent.
Simultaneously, it was the technique An Fei had blurted out to Xiao Ying when questioned regarding which cultivation technique she was practicing. It had heralded the list of the techniques in her possession after dividing the spoils of the 'plunder' at the Pagoda of Sun and Moon, thus she had uttered it in a moment of thoughtlessness.
Thus, she was placed in a dilemma that required immediate correction. From Wei Xuan's current actions, the minister appeared clueless regarding which cultivation technique An Fei had chosen or even whether she had begun cultivation after the disastrous incident a few weeks prior.
Since that day, Wei Xuan had skirted the topic of cultivation at all costs, as if to distract himself from the horror he had witnessed then.
Fortunately or unfortunate for An Fei, she had some time before Xiao Ying revealed to the minister that the Fourth Young Miss could unexpectedly cultivate, and had already completed the first pillar of Body Tempering.
All she had to do in the limited time was to mimic the 's fundamental principles via the ridiculous and seemingly impossible but tempting theory of hers.
Otherwise, as An Fei progressed in cultivation, the astute minister would instantly notice the discrepancies between the cultivation technique and the bane of mortal existence, the .
And that… would foretell a horrible ending for the young girl currently stressing over the drawing table, a dry brush pursed between her lips, shuffling through numerous pages of a large book bound in goldleaf. Having learned her lesson, An Fei dared not to dip the brush in ink before holding it in her mouth, or at least dry it with a towel to avoid splatters of ink tainting her clothing.
This lesson proved effective especially so, for the only ink she had discovered in the Archives of Time was a dark indigo. When the paper was placed on the drawing table, there was little noticeable difference, but was strikingly apparent when she raised it up to inspect her writing.
”A combination of spiritual essence gathered from a Yin acupuncture point and a Yang acupuncture point,” An Fei murmured, smoothing the sheet of snow-white paper before her.
”Form a homogenous mixture between the two, but it is to be fused only when passing through the Governing Vessel of the body. Thus, when it is expelled to… manifest in the world, it is of greater potency than a ordinary practitioner's spiritual essence…”
The was naturally secured in Xiao Ying's possession. An Fei was limited in knowledge regarding the portion of the manual she had managed to read, detailing the fundamental principles of practicing the technique.
”Then, when forming the actual , the practitioner… deposits the mixed spiritual essence in the dantian – no, the technique mentioned the Belt Meridian, the dantian was absent from all descriptions – allowing the mixed existence to congeal into inscriptions of spiritual essence… inscriptions of spiritual essence…”
The brush swept across the paper, marring the pristine, snow-white sheets with monotone lines and sweeps of ink. The ink commanded a trail of discordant, unfettered information, incomprehensible to all but its creator.
An Fei placed down the brush, her eyes carefully examining the sheet of notes resting on the drawing table. Reading the strings of characters several times, the girl finally placed the sheet of paper down, releasing a heavy sigh.
Ta!
”Why did I make such a gaffe, this is too hard…”
Raising her right hand and curling her fingers into a fist, the girl knocked her own forehead in frustration.
The mere thought of having to explain to Wei Xuan, especially regarding a rather secretive and evasive topic as her ability to cultivate, brought An Fei innumerable headaches.
Furthermore, she might only have a few days left before he found out, ah!
”The fundamental concept isn't that difficult to comprehend, but…”
The principle of the was contrary to expectation, straightforward and not difficult to understand. The fundamental source of the technique's ability was the pairing of spiritual essence gathered from sources of polar attributes by a certain degree, then expelling it out of the body to manifest as a fused existence.
Simple and complicated to the nth degree without much effort.
The driving processes of the technique was exceedingly simple, but the countless uncertainties compounded upon one another caused the young girl's task to become ever-increasingly difficult.
For example, was the 's principles even compatible with spiritual essence obtained from the Sanctum? Otherwise, would she die a gruesome death upon her first attempt of emulating the mortal technique?