Chapter 224: Xue Hongluan's Mischievous Nature! The Foundation of Quintessence Elemental Skills!

Chapter 224: Xue Hongluan's Mischievous Nature! The Foundation of Quintessence Elemental Skills!

The elegant and graceful calligraphy before him was undoubtedly the work of a master, a skill honed to perfection.

Su Ping couldn't help but feel envious when he first laid eyes on it. The style and technique were indeed exquisite.

It was a pity that modern times, with its reliance on computers and mechanical input, left little room for the practice of calligraphy. As he glanced at his own scrawled notes, he nodded in agreement.

The main reason his handwriting resembled a crawling cockroach was due to the modern world's lack of emphasis on calligraphy.

Su Ping's gaze then fixed on the text that had appeared.

It was evident that this was a little surprise left by the esteemed daughter of the Xue family for the beastmaster who, in the future, would uncover her secret legacy.

Su Ping enjoyed these little hidden gems:

'Future readers, upon seeing this, shall understand the profound nature of the five elements. For they, too, walk the path of the five elements. The five elements are the foundation of the laws of heaven and earth; all tangible energy is evolved from the five elements; the grand path of the five elements is the grand path of elemental changes. Future readers, take this as a lesson—the esteemed lady of the Xue family, with her unique and unparalleled profound path, has already achieved success. Those who follow in her footsteps and receive her teachings shall understand...'

Su Ping blinked.

Before this, when he saw the combination of the two five-element arrays, he felt as if he could sense the esteemed lady of the Xue family, a beastmaster who had delved deeply into the path of taming beasts, from over six hundred and thirteen years ago.

It was a wondrous feeling when the thoughts of two people from over six hundred years ago resonated across time, connecting their hearts.

This historical resonance of souls from centuries past was truly remarkable.

However, upon reading these words, Su Ping realized that this Xue Hongluan was not the gentle and refined lady he had imagined, but rather a mischievous and playful young mistress.

In the secret realm, she had left behind a playful prank.

Her message was simple:

'Future reader, I've already researched and developed the quintessence elemental skill for taming beasts. You've discovered it, and indeed, you are quite clever. But alas, I figured it out and created it before you. The path of the five elements is mighty, and you are mighty, but I am mightier.'

Unfortunately, the quintessence elemental skill for taming beasts should be powerful, but sadly, there were no beasts suitable for its cultivation.

'Of course, I believe you will have the opportunity to find other beasts to serve as vessels for the quintessence elemental skill. But if you cannot, don't fret and rush. Take your time and don't cause yourself unnecessary trouble.'

This message revealed the unconcealed mischievous nature of the esteemed lady of the Xue family.

Su Ping could almost see her, with her graceful smile and dignified demeanor, secretly chuckling at the future reader's mischievous success.

He sighed, then smiled.

History was indeed fascinating, filled with interesting people and events along its lengthy timeline.

This esteemed young lady of the Xue family, whose brief interaction showcased her talent and temperament, was ultimately only briefly mentioned in historical records as 'the beloved daughter of the Xue Siming, the Sage of the Angry Dome' and 'the Duchess of Southern Defense of the Liang Dynasty.'

Nothing more.

It was clear that compared to future generations, this Xue Hongluan, who had delved deeply into the research of the five elements, was the one who truly felt the profound regret of not having a suitable beast to cultivate this skill.

But soon, Su Ping smiled again.

When he saw the five-element array, he understood why this cultivation method was impossible to implement on any beast.

The energy flow was too complex.

This complexity wasn't in controlling the energy flow but in the intricate fusion of the five elemental energies within the body.

And all five elemental attributes had to be present.

Just this condition alone was enough to disqualify countless beasts.

From the previous photos and information about Xue Hongluan, it was clear that her research focused on five-elemental beasts.

Alas, in the end, it seemed her efforts were in vain.

But this esteemed lady of the Xue family didn't know that in the future, six hundred and thirteen years later, a beast named Origami Figure would appear.

This beastmaster's body, energy, and soul were all different from any other pet beast.

The energy transmission, with its complete Five Elements attributes, was an impossible feat in that era, like crossing a heavenly moat. After trying to piece together the Five Elements Origami Figure, the fact that it was even possible seemed trivial.

However, Su Ping didn't feel the slightest bit of pride.

Regardless, Xue Hongluan's achievement was worth his respect and gratitude.

The results he produced didn't need to be flaunted by a woman who had long been lost in the annals of history.

So, after a long sigh, Su Ping returned to his study, carefully hung the jade pendant on the wall, and with a slight pursing of his lips, he performed an ancient salute to the drawing and the jade pendant with the character 'Xue' written on it.

Then, holding those two drawings, Su Ping ignored the setting sun's movement outside and returned to the underground room.

The Five Elements Paper Figure, which was originally formed, had transformed into a sword.

At this moment, as Su Ping witnessed this scene, the breakthrough progress in the Five Elements Path made him so excited that he couldn't help but stare at the little paper figure, Qian Yi.

It must be said, this little thing always managed to come up with something that made Su Ping's eyes go dark with abstract surprises.

This was undoubtedly the case at this moment.

At this moment, Qian Yi was no longer the swordsman he was before, but more like the Thousand-Armed Guanyin that Su Ping had seen before, and was all too familiar with.

Qian Yi still stood there.

However, the paper cloak behind him had disappeared without a trace at some point.

In its place were eight long swords, like four pairs of wings, embedded in Qian Yi's back, and not to mention, although the first pair seemed a bit odd, after looking at them a few more times, there was a very sacred illusion.

If you didn't consider Qian Yi occasionally drawing a sword from his back, turning this eight-winged origami figure into a seven-winged asymmetric one, the situation was even more abstract due to the relatively narrow sword body.

"Wow!"

Qian Yi was having a great time playing around.

Whether it was the Lightning Flash, Gale Severing Slash, or any other sword technique, they were all being tried in this form.

It was just unknown whether this state would allow little Qian Yi to comprehend any new sword techniques.

However, now was not the time for Qian Yi to practice swordsmanship.

Su Ping called out, and the little guy lightly leaped to Su Ping's side.

Then, under Su Ping's command, the little guy's face twitched, and the five swords instantly disassembled, transforming back into fifteen naive Five Elements Origami Figures.

Su Ping threw the five Soul Papers he had previously written and drawn at the transformed five little guys, then drew out five brand new Soul Papers, and began to write and draw on them based on the draft left by Xue Hongluan.

Still, there were solid lines, dotted lines, and arrowhead energy directions.

However, the situation was completely different from before.

Not only was it more complex, but there were also reverse direction arrows added.

This true Five Elements Array formed by Xue Hongluan's left-behind drawings was very interesting.

As expected, it was no longer just the pure Five Elements Synergy, but it also incorporated the Five Elements Antagonism, Five Elements Reverse Synergy, and Five Elements Reverse Antagonism rules, forming an extremely interesting energy lever.

The principle of this drawing was even more profound than the original Five Elements Array.

Naturally, the energy circulation route required even more precision.

Even Su Ping himself didn't know how much time had passed before he finally finished marking all five Soul Papers.

"Qian Yi!"

Qian Yi came to his senses again, sheathed his sword and returned to his master's side. After looking at the five more intricate drawings, he scratched his head.

Qian Yi was a genius, but even so, he needed to familiarize himself with these for a while.

However, regardless, Qian Yi finally called the Five Elements Paper Figure that had transformed into the Five Elements Origami Figure.

Then, these five little guys began to fold in the air.

After about an hour,

After the energy transmission error, the little paper figure Qian Yi, with Su Ping's hands-on guidance and correction, stabilized the energy conduction.

At this moment, the Five Elements Origami Figure remained in the Five Elements Paper Figure form.

However, the energy fluctuations were vastly different from before.

Then, Su Ping took a deep breath.

Through the observation of the True Eye, Su Ping didn't notice any differences.

Compared to the previous Five Elements Paper Figure, the skill level and other attributes were exactly the same.

But Su Ping also knew that the real experimental phase was just beginning.

Moreover, it was an experimental phase that Su Ping had never imagined.

He hadn't expected that what he had thought would require a long period of research would yield such unimaginable results in just a day or two.

Standing on Xue Hongluan's shoulders, Su Ping felt both ashamed and excited.

However, even the original Xue Hongluan might not have been able to complete a true experiment on an individual pet beast's body.

So, whether this array fusion would work or not was still uncertain.

Su Ping's thoughts moved, and Qian Yi immediately received the sensation and instructions. Then, the fire element part, which he was most familiar with in the Five Elements Paper Figure, began to operate.

The fire element's energy slowly ignited, and the adjacent gold and earth elements lit up, while the entire Five Elements Paper Figure was thus activated.

Fire overcomes metal, giving birth to earth.

At the same time, fire nurtures earth, which in turn generates wood.

Wood overcomes earth, giving rise to fire.

...

It was merely a conversion of a single attribute's energy, but during this transformation, it triggered the activation of four distinct attribute energies to drive this conversion.

In the next instant, the earth attribute energy lit up.

Earth overcomes water, giving birth to metal.

Earth nurtures metal, which in turn generates water.

...

Su Ping's eyes remained fixed, intently staring at the Five Elements Array Origami Figure undergoing this energy conversion.

The energy detector by his side also responded at this moment, providing feedback.

The first released fire attribute energy, enhanced by the Elite Rank Pet Beast and the Five Elements Array, exhibited a fluctuation of 130 points.

This was a rather impressive outcome for an Elite Middle-tier effect.

It was worth noting that this was merely an Elite Rank Origami Figure that had just evolved.

However, after undergoing this seemingly complex but actually instantaneous conversion, as the earth attribute energy turned, a new number appeared on the energy detector—157 points!

Compared to the initial fire attribute energy, without considering any fluctuations, it was a full 20% stronger!

This was an increase, not a consumption! What did this represent?

Before Su Ping could think further,

Then, earth nurturing metal, the metal attribute energy was detected at 184 points. The amplification ratio slightly decreased but was still extremely high.

Metal nurturing water, the water attribute energy was detected at 236 points. The ratio increased again.

Water nurturing wood, the wood attribute energy was detected at 270 points!

Finally, with the perfect manifestation of the Quintessence Elemental Rotation and Quintessence Elemental Antagonism, the energy continued to shift from wood to fire.

Wood nurturing fire, after this complete Quintessence Elemental Rotation, the initial 130 points of fire attribute energy had already transformed into 313 points!

This was almost approaching the energy display value of an Overlord Rank.

A complete Quintessence Elemental Rotation could amplify the energy by more than 160%.

If each increase was around 20%, according to the progressive situation, this number was not far off.

It worked!

It truly worked. Even before, when the first amplification occurred, Su Ping had already prepared himself, but at this moment, seeing the original energy doubling after a complete rotation, Su Ping's heart was filled with indescribable joy that he couldn't contain! Indeed, in this wondrous Beastmaster world, any miraculous situation could happen.

Any impossibility could become possible here.

The effect of this Quintessence Elemental Rotation had already surpassed some basic thermodynamic theories from his previous life.

Su Ping thought for a moment, then activated True Eye again, glancing at the Origami Figure and the Quintessence Elemental Paper before him, and as expected, even in this rotation and energy accumulation, the Quintessence Elemental Paper remained unchanged at this moment.

The change he wanted to see still hadn't occurred.

Su Ping could confirm that the effect and ability of this were no less than the effect of Old Sand's Sun Core.

Even the Sun Core had some constraints, such as needing sunny weather to exert its maximum effect.

This requirement wasn't too high, but it wasn't low either.

After all, the effect of this Quintessence Elemental Rotation had no such constraints.

At this moment, the Quintessence Elemental Rotation had no such limitations.

The orange-red fire attribute energy rose in the air, exuding scorching heat.

Then, the five elemental energies began to transform again.

In an instant, with the activation of this energy, the Quintessence Elemental Paper lit up with four of the five elements, except for the water element, which remained unlit.

Then, there was no more.

A crisp cracking sound echoed, followed by a booming blast from the basement.

The energy explosion, not overly powerful but still captivating, erupted in the basement, with Qian Yi's sword blocking the full force of the blast.

Simultaneously, the sword aura protected the scattered Origami Figures.

Su Ping blinked, looking at the smoke and dust, then quickly moved past the small paper figure Qian Yi to see the original Quintessence Elemental Paper.

It was evident that the Five Elements Origami Man had already disassembled and could no longer maintain its combined form. It had split into separate parts.

Several of the Wu Xing Zhe Zhi Ren had sustained injuries, among which the Water Element Origami Man, being the smallest, was barely affected and could be considered almost unscathed.

Its body was only slightly charred.

As for the other four—the Metal, Wood, and Earth Origami Men—they were relatively unharmed.

However, the Fire Element Origami Man, being the focal point of the explosion, suffered the most severe injuries.

One could even describe it as being on the brink of death, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Its paper body was riddled with cracks and shattered fragments, some still smoldering with ash-like remnants from the fire.

Without hesitation, Su Ping immediately activated his innate talent, 'Rapid Recovery.'

His psychic energy was converted into the purest life force, healing the Fire Origami Man at that very moment.

Simultaneously, he took out several recovery resources he had prepared beforehand and applied them to the Fire Origami Man.

Only then did he manage to barely halt the deterioration of the little creature's injuries.

This was the advantage of the Origami Man; such injuries would likely have turned other Pet Beasts into ashes, but as an Undead creature, the Origami Man had no fatal weaknesses. As long as a part of its body remained, it could resurrect and recover at the fastest speed.

After this series of actions, Su Ping was no longer worried about the injuries of these little creatures, but he had witnessed the situation just now.

Disappointment was inevitable, but it was only to be expected. However, the fact that the Five Elements Origami Man was only at the Elite Rank was undeniable!

At this rank, enduring the energy surge of an Overlord-level attack was challenging, especially when it involved amplifying the power according to the Five Elements principles. It was indeed a difficult task for these low-level Origami Men.

Nevertheless, even after just five rotations,

Su Ping could draw a conclusion.

This explosion proved the feasibility of the Five Elements Rotation.

However, as Xue Hongluan had stated in the Five Elements Diagram, the issue was with the materials!

The evolved Origami Men could now withstand such transformations, but they still couldn't sustain multiple consecutive transformations.

But this was not an unsolvable problem.

For Su Ping, it was even a straightforward issue.

All he needed to do was continue to enhance the Origami Men's rank and quality!

Simultaneously, he had to find the opportunity to fuse skills and create a true Transcendent Skill!

With this in mind, Su Ping exhaled and glanced at Qian Yi:

"Keep a close eye on these little ones' recovery, and don't let them combine into the Five Elements Origami Form for now. You can practice your sword skills."

"Wow!"

After the little one's response, Su Ping left the eerie basement.

As expected, after a busy day, the setting sun painted the sky with a picturesque sunset.

The continued growth of the Origami Men simply required ample resources.

However, the single-element Origami Men had a racial limit, reaching the peak of the Elite Tenth Rank.

To advance further, it was evident that breaking through the Origami Men's evolution at this level was necessary.

This aspect was indeed troublesome.

The fusion of Five Elements skills into a Transcendent Skill, the cultivation of the Elemental Heart, and the continued evolution of the Origami Men's race presented numerous challenges.

However, this time, Su Ping didn't plan to research these issues alone.

The primary reason was the tight schedule.

The Special Forces Beastmaster Selection in mid-March, for the secrets of the Heavenly Tomb, was an opportunity Su Ping couldn't afford to miss.

Therefore, with only three months left, the evolution and combination of the Origami Men into a perfect fusion had to be achieved.

Only with perfection could he have the confidence and assurance to participate in the Beastmaster Selection.

But how long did it take for Lao Sha's Sun Formula and the Sun Core's Transcendent Skill to manifest?

It took a full six months.

If it took half a year to cultivate a Transcendent Skill for the Heavenly Tomb Selection, Su Ping's chances of being selected would diminish.

Therefore, this time, the cultivation speed had to be increased, regardless of other factors.

Moreover, Su Ping felt he couldn't monopolize Pet Beast cultivation.

To be fair, Lao Liu had been genuinely kind to him.

Although during the celebration banquet, insisting on a sworn brotherhood had put him in an awkward position.

But this time, cultivating a Transcendent Skill required Lao Liu's involvement, adding a significant achievement to his resume, as he would soon officially assume the role of President of the Jianghai Beastmaster Association.

Speaking of which,

Lao Liu had mentioned making him the Honorary Vice President of the Jianghai Beastmaster Association during the celebration banquet.

It was a position with benefits and little actual work, and Su Ping wondered if it had been finalized.

And what about Master Zhu Hong's application for the Master of Cultivation treatment? There had been no news in the past few days.

Although Su Ping enjoyed the quiet cultivation environment, he couldn't forget about matters affecting his interests.

This was a perfect opportunity to discuss the matter with Lao Liu.

He wanted to make Lao Liu his assistant in researching the Origami Men.

The question was whether Lao Liu's pride would allow it.

Without hesitation, Su Ping took out his phone, opened Lao Liu's contact, and made the call.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end