Chapter 304: Unraveling Discoveries, a Drastic Transformation, and Two Divine Techniques

Chapter 304: Unraveling Discoveries, a Drastic Transformation, and Two Divine Techniques

In the quiet of the night, Lu Qing sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as he focused his mind inward.

After overcoming the tribulation earlier in the day, he had remained in the tall tower with his master and the others, choosing not to venture out again.

It wasn't until evening, when the mess outside had been cleaned up by the Celestial Mechanism Pavilion, that they moved to a new courtyard under Lin Zhirui's arrangement.

Little Yan was already asleep on the small bed next to him.

As for Xiao Li, ever since it had devoured that strand of Origin Energy, it had fallen into a deep slumber.

Not even the commotion caused by Lu Qing's tribulation had been enough to rouse it.

If Lu Qing hadn't used his abilities to check on it and discovered that it was undergoing a critical transformation, he would have thought something had gone wrong.

Only when he confirmed that Xiao Li was fine did Lu Qing finally relax.

He began to focus his attention on sensing the state of his body.

Within Lu Qing's body, tumultuous and powerful energy coursed through his veins, surging relentlessly.

Every inch of his flesh and blood seemed to be imbued with immense strength.

His internal organs were vibrant and robust, brimming with vitality.

His dantian and acupoints had transformed into a Qi Sea, containing a vast amount of Innate True Qi.

This was a perfect physical body.

"During the tribulation earlier, the nine tribulation thunderbolts not only purged all the post-heaven impurities from my body, refining it into a pre-heaven body, but they also thoroughly integrated that strand of World Origin Energy into my physique.

Now, in terms of physical strength alone, even a Pre-Heaven Realm cultivator at the peak of perfection would likely pale in comparison to me."

As Lu Qing sensed the condition of his body, his thoughts raced.

His insights were not without reason.

Earlier in the day, when he had fought against the puppet avatar of the Third Sage Master, his pure physical strength had almost overwhelmed the opponent.

It was only because the opponent's cultivation realm was two whole levels higher and their control over the heaven and earth's vitality was far superior that they had managed to match him.

It was worth noting that according to the Legacy of the Li Huo Sect, each puppet avatar, even the most basic ones, was crafted from numerous precious materials.

These puppet avatars were known for their incredible strength, far surpassing cultivators of the same level.

The fact that even a Pre-Heaven Realm puppet avatar was inferior to Lu Qing's physical might gave a clear indication of just how powerful his body had become.

Moreover, Lu Qing felt that this was just the beginning.

The baptism of the tribulation, coupled with the integration of the Origin Energy, had endowed his body with limitless potential.

From now on, as long as he cultivated diligently, his physical strength would continue to surge at a rapid pace.

After all, he had only recently entered the Pre-Heaven Realm, and he was far from reaching his limit.

"Aside from physical strength, there's also the power of my soul."

Lu Qing's consciousness sank into the acupoint between his eyebrows.

At this moment, the space within his brow acupoint had undergone a significant transformation.

Not only had the space expanded, but it also felt more resilient.

At the edges, a faint purple aura shimmered, giving it a mysterious appearance.

At the center, a purple soul talisman emanated a majestic and awe-inspiring aura, standing tall as if it were the ruler of this acupoint space.

Lu Qing first sensed the purple aura at the edges, but he couldn't quite understand its nature.

He only felt that it contained some kind of peculiar energy, but with his current realm, he couldn't fathom its true essence.

"It seems that my brow acupoint space has undergone some kind of mutation, but this change appears to be a positive one."

Unable to comprehend the purple aura, Lu Qing temporarily set it aside.

Instead, he turned his attention to the soul talisman at the center.

During this tribulation, Lu Qing's transformation wasn't limited to his physical body; his soul power had also undergone a profound change.

The tribulation thunderbolts had purged the yin energy from his soul, transforming it from post-heaven to pre-heaven, resulting in an essential metamorphosis.

This was the reason why he had been able to transmit his voice to his master despite the suppression of the Holy City—his soul power had become vastly stronger.

Compared to before the tribulation, his soul power had increased exponentially.

Especially the soul talisman, which had endured the tribulation thunderbolts without being destroyed, now exuded an air of authority.

Not only had its empowerment of the brow acupoint space strengthened, making his control over his body more effortless, but it had also elevated his understanding of the Dao of Talismans to an entirely new level.

Lu Qing extended his hand, and a speck of light appeared, quickly attracting the surrounding heaven and earth's vitality.

Soon, he condensed a basic Earth Travel Talisman with ease.

Indeed, now that he had entered the Pre-Heaven Realm, Lu Qing found it much simpler to refine basic talismans like the Earth Travel Talisman; he no longer needed to perform complex hand seals, and could instead create them with a mere thought.

As he sensed the fluctuations of the talisman in his hand, Lu Qing suddenly clenched his fist, causing it to dissipate.

Lu Qing's mind stirred, and once more, a speck of light appeared in his hand.

However, this time, what he manipulated was no longer the vitality of heaven and earth, but something deeper and more elusive—the ethereal and far more potent spiritual energy.

Without performing any hand seals, he attempted to gather this energy, but it was significantly slower than gathering the vitality of heaven and earth.

After dozens of breaths, a Mud-stepping Talisman, condensed from spiritual energy, finally took form in his hand.

The talisman forged from spiritual energy was far more potent than its counterpart created from the vitality of heaven and earth.

"As expected, there's a noticeable difference in power between a talisman forged from spiritual energy and one created from the vitality of heaven and earth.

Back then, when spiritual energy was scarce, the Divine Talisman Sect had no choice but to use the vitality of heaven and earth as a substitute.

However, talismans created from the vitality of heaven and earth are easier to refine.

Most talisman practitioners can refine them even in the Post-Heaven Realm.

On the other hand, to refine a spiritual energy talisman, one must wait until their spirit soul talisman transforms from yin to yang and enters the Yang Talisman realm. Only then is it possible."

Lu Qing extended his other hand, refining a Mud-stepping Talisman from the vitality of heaven and earth.

He held the two talismans side by side, sensing the differences between them.

Soon, he understood their respective strengths and weaknesses.

In terms of sheer power, the spiritual energy talisman was undoubtedly superior to the one created from the vitality of heaven and earth.

However, the latter had its advantages, too.

It was less challenging to refine, and even cultivators in the Post-Heaven Realm, still at the Yin Talisman stage, could create them.

Furthermore, talismans made from the vitality of heaven and earth had no environmental restrictions. Even in an era of spiritual energy depletion, they could still be used without issue.

After all, everything in the heavens and the earth was composed of this vitality. If one couldn't even harness that, then the true end of the cultivation era would be upon them.

"Now that spiritual energy has revived, it coexists with the vitality of heaven and earth, existing in a higher dimensional layer of space.

Only cultivators who have cultivated their spirit souls to a certain extent can vaguely sense its presence.

But sensing it and being able to use it are two different matters.

Cultivators must first extract the spiritual energy from this higher-dimensional space and then absorb it into their bodies.

This requires an exceptionally robust spirit soul, something that not many cultivators possess.

And even if one can absorb spiritual energy into their body, refining it into spiritual power is another intricate process that requires a unique method."

Having broken through the Heavenly Bridge and entered the Pre-Heaven Realm, Lu Qing now had a deeper understanding of the differences between the vitality of heaven and earth and spiritual energy.

He also realized why so few Pre-Heaven Realm cultivators, despite their insights into the martial arts in the Holy Mountains, could refine spiritual energy and cultivate spiritual power.

Just the first step of extracting spiritual energy from the spatial dimension and drawing it into the body was incredibly challenging.

One needed a powerful spirit soul and a profound understanding of the rules of heaven and earth to accomplish this feat.

In fact, over 99% of Pre-Heaven Realm cultivators would likely be stuck at this very first step.

Even powerful cultivators at the Initial Achievement stage would struggle to do so.

Perhaps only those at the Great Achievement stage and above would have a chance of success.

Unless, of course, they were like his master—a genius with extraordinary talent, capable of comprehending a fragment of domain intent while still in the Initial Achievement stage and achieving a complete domain upon reaching the Small Achievement stage.

With a profound understanding of the rules governing the spatial dimension, such a genius would effortlessly overcome this first hurdle.

"But how many geniuses like my master are there in this world? That's why, out of all the Pre-Heaven Realm cultivators who went to the Holy Mountains to gain insights, only a handful could unravel the mysteries and cultivate spiritual power.

Time is needed. It will likely take a while longer before more powerful cultivators can grasp the key to this process and achieve a breakthrough."

As these insights flowed through Lu Qing's mind, his understanding of the current state of the world deepened.

Despite the scarcity of cultivators who could truly refine spiritual energy and cultivate spiritual power, he knew that given more time, many would eventually gain a profound understanding of the rules of heaven and earth.

When that happened, a wave of breakthroughs among the world's powerful cultivators was inevitable.

After all, anyone who could reach the Pre-Heaven Realm in an era of spiritual depletion was a genius, a true cultivation prodigy.

Given enough time to refine spiritual energy and cultivate spiritual power, breaking through to a new realm was only a matter of time.

"But this is what makes it exciting. A brilliant era is far more interesting than a dull one."

Lu Qing smiled as he looked at the two talismans floating above his palms.

Soon, he dispersed the Origin Energy Talisman and stored the Spiritual Energy Mud-stepping Talisman into his brow acupoint.

The several Origin Energy Talismans he had originally stored in his acupoint space had been destroyed by the tribulation lightning earlier in the day.

Now was the perfect opportunity to replace them with Spiritual Energy Talismans.

With that thought, Lu Qing's hands began to glow as he continuously drew upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, refining one Spiritual Energy Talisman after another, and storing them in his brow acupoint.

They transformed into orbs of light that revolved slowly around the soul talisman.

After his Talisman Technique reached the Yang Talisman realm, Lu Qing found that he could accommodate even more talismans within his brow acupoint space.

The capacity had doubled, allowing him to store up to ten talismans simultaneously.

However, he hadn't fully decided on the best combination of talismans to carry, so after replacing the five Origin Energy Talismans with Spiritual Energy Talismans, he stopped for the time being.

As Lu Qing refined the Spiritual Energy Talismans, the elderly doctor in the adjacent room naturally sensed the fluctuations as well.

But understanding that Lu Qing was cultivating, he didn't disturb him.

Instead, he quietly activated his own innate domain and began to meditate and cultivate as well.

The scene of Lu Qing's tribulation earlier in the day had also inspired the elderly man.

The old doctor didn't feel jealous of his disciple.

On the contrary, he felt guilty for not being able to shield Lu Qing from the tribulation.

As a master, he could only watch as his disciple endured the torment of the lightning tribulation, coming close to death, and he was powerless to help.

This deeply pained the old doctor.

If only he had been stronger, perhaps he could have done something to aid Lu Qing.

"Hmm? Master is cultivating as well?"

In the moment that the old doctor activated his domain, Lu Qing also sensed the slight disturbance.

He was initially surprised but then smiled.

"Looks like Master is becoming more diligent in his cultivation as well."

Withdrawing his attention, Lu Qing continued to reflect on his gains from the tribulation.

Aside from refining his physical body and officially entering the Pre-Heaven Realm, the greatest additional harvest from his tribulation was the two divine techniques granted to him by the dissipating tribulation clouds.

"Two divine techniques, one for the physical body and one for the soul.

Did the heavens bestow these upon me because they sensed the depth of my accumulation in these aspects?"

The two divine techniques Lu Qing obtained were completely different from each other.

One was a physical body technique called Titan's Strength.

When this technique was activated, his physical body would enter a frenzied state, with his strength and defensive capabilities increasing tenfold.

After using it, aside from some physical exhaustion, there would be no other negative effects.

It could be considered a powerful secret art with no side effects.

The other divine technique was a soul technique called Illusion.

This illusion-type technique, once deployed, would entrap anyone whose soul power was weaker than Lu Qing's.

They would remain trapped in an illusion until Lu Qing chose to release them or they perished.

Otherwise, there would be almost no chance of escape.

Even if their soul power exceeded Lu Qing's, without any precautions, they would still fall into the illusion and would need a significant amount of time to break free.

When used skillfully, it could be a lifesaving technique in critical moments.

These two techniques, one aggressive and one subtle, one overt and one covert, complemented each other.

While they might not be earth-shattering, they were extremely suitable for Lu Qing's current situation.

Earlier in the day, when he had only preliminarily utilized the Titan's Strength technique without perfect mastery, he had still been able to injure the Third Sage Master's puppet avatar and force it to concede.

If he had used both techniques together then, he might have been able to defeat the Third Sage Master in an instant, despite the latter's higher cultivation realm.

After all, the Third Sage Master's realm was higher, but this technique specifically targeted the soul, and its bizarre nature would pose a challenge even for an absolute powerhouse at the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Of course, Lu Qing hadn't done that.

Firstly, simultaneously activating both techniques would have been extremely taxing for him, having just broken through to his new realm.

Secondly, there hadn't been any point in doing so.

After all, his opponent had merely been a puppet avatar.

Destroying it instantly would have only served to anger the Third Sage Master, and it wouldn't have benefited Lu Qing in any other way.

It was better to keep a trump card in reserve.

Moreover, divine techniques granted by the heavens were never ordinary.

In fact, the two divine techniques Lu Qing had obtained were growth-type techniques.

In other words, they were techniques that could be cultivated and continuously strengthened.

The methods for cultivating them were already imprinted in Lu Qing's mind.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end