Chapter 138: Death Art, Mastery of the Five Elements (1/2)

Stillness descended upon Dusk City, but was quickly broken by earth-shattering cheers that shook the entire city. Moved to tears, countless cultivators spread the word that the long-dreaded uprisings of evil spirits were amazingly no longer an issue!

No one questioned a personal promise from the restriction itself.

“Agreed.” A single word, as heavy as Mount Tai.

Colossal goodwill surged into Lu Yun from all directions, wildly expanding the sal tree seed and releasing a blinding jade brilliance that bathed every meridian in his body in verdant light. The light vanished about a dozen breaths later, revealing a thumb-sized tree rooted in his dantian.

Marvelous energy rippled out from the sapling and repeatedly washed over Lu Yun’s consciousness. The hopes of all things living and the resentment of the most wicked demons deluged him again and again, keeping his mind empty and clear.

The vibrant energy generated by the small tree sent Lu Yun’s cultivation soaring. He broke past the life core realm in the blink of an eye, reaching peak origin core realm!

Too bad I didn’t break through to the spirit realm!

At the same time, he knew he hadn’t been cultivating for nearly long enough. No matter how great the feedback from the seed was, he couldn’t expect outrageous progress without sufficient accumulation of tenure and enlightenment. This much was enough.

Upon reaching peak origin core realm, he obtained another death art: Mastery of the Five Elements.

“The five elements?” Blinking, he subconsciously lifted his hand and clutched at the northern sky.

Whirr!

A current of black air solidified and dropped into his hand, twinkling into the purest of water essence.

“What—” beside him, Qing Han gasped with shock. “This is the energy of connate water in its purest form, unsoiled by any environmental influence. How did you do that?” He goggled. “Countless pill makers or master refiners would go to war over even this tiny bit...”

“I see, so that’s what this art is about.” The Mastery of the Five Elements used Lu Yun’s own body as a locus to attract nature’s elements. However, his cultivation was still too weak, so he could gather only the weakest of elemental energies, like the small amount of water essence he now held.

Upon further thought, the ability felt somewhat familiar to him. Wait, isn’t this an ability of the four sacred beasts?

Realization suddenly struck him. The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—the four legendary sacred beasts also possessed similar abilities to shape the elements into formidable arts. However, each sacred beast ruled over only one element, while this death art of his could manipulate all five.

“Connate elemental energies can be crafted into pills and treasures, but more importantly, they can also temper the flesh. If you polish your body everyday with this water essence, your physique will soon far exceed those at a comparable cultivation level,”  Qing Han explained as he stared at the water essence in Lu Yun’s hand with slight envy.

“Temper the body, you say?” Lu Yun’s eyes shone and he clutched toward the horizon in all five directions: north, south, east, west, and center.

Before long, the connate energies of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth brimmed in his hand. With a single thought, he turned them into five glittering, revolving beads and pushed them into Qing Han’s hands.

“When it comes to body tempering, you’re the one who needs it most. Just look at your build, it’s so flabby I can’t see any muscle definition. You have to really work at bulking up!” He put his hand on Qing Han’s chest and gave it a slight squeeze. “Where are your pecs? Look at me!”

He grabbed Qing Han’s hand and placed it on his chest, then flexed his chest muscles, making his friend blush bright red. Qing Han hastily yanked his hand back and fled back to the city in a flash of snowy sword light.