"I can join the Fiend Trials now?" Tianming said delightedly.
The hatching of the fourth egg was something that was bound to happen, and his goal this entire time had been the Archaionfiend Eye. That was the first step for him to fulfill Li Muyang's instructions to become a true member of the Sky Plunderer Clan and evade his pursuers.
"Of course. There is no method that I can't handle," Ouyang Jianwang said.
"Thank you, Brother Ouyang."
"Hahaha, when I told the Archaic House of Xuanyuan that you had a request, they immediately sorted it out before reporting to Her Eminence to get credit."
Tianming laughed at how his fortunes had changed.
"Let’s go," Ouyang Jianwang said as he led him down from Heaven Cauldron. "Prepare yourself mentally. The Archaionfiend Eye is really terrifying, and most normal people won't be able to take it."
"Okay. I'm ready."
They landed near the side of a cliff within which a large bronze door was located. Through it was a tunnel that led into the heart of Heaven Sacred Mountain.
"Take this and you’ll be able to enter," Ouyang Jianwang said as he handed him a bronze seal on which a miniature heavenly pattern formation was engraved.
"What is this?"
"The key."
"Let me try it out." Tianming placed the key into a recess on the cliff and the bronze door shook and started to open. A sinister aura leaked out of the very small opening and filled the entire area, making the surroundings feel like a sea of corpses and blood. Even the sound of the blowing wind was becoming unpleasant to hear.
"I'll be going in now."
"Go ahead. At the pavilion next to the old path shall the big brother send you off to your next life," Ouyang Jianwang said.
"The great peng flies on days with good wind, only to be dragged down by a stinking little brother," Tianming joked before stepping through the bronze door, which closed tightly shut.
"That brat's poetry is really growing. He might even get better than me!" Ouyang Jianwang said. He turned back and saw a one-armed man standing under a snowy pine tree whose silhouette resembled a sword pierced into the ground.
"My very old friend, come drink with me if you dare."
"Cut the crap. You're just about as old as I am," the one-armed man said.
"Just wait. I’ll pierce through his arm one day," Ouyang Jianwang said before he leapt into the skies and landed on Heaven Cauldron.
"Haha...." The man sat down on the snowy ground, closed his eyes, and allowed the sword ki to swirl around his body.
After entering the mountain, Tianming continued along the dark pathway. The dense demonic aura within made him feel like he was hearing things. Even more terrifying was how the walls seemed to have eyes staring at him. There was a light ahead, and he could almost barely hear someone talking.
"It should be someone from the Trioptic True Dragon Branch training. I recall that Xuanyuan Yuheng trains here most of the time."
Tianming headed toward the light. Soon, he saw a grand palace that was large enough for Lan Huang to move around in. He gave it another look and saw around twenty Xuanyuan disciples looking upward, their third eyes emitting a black and red miasma as beams shot out of them. Obviously, they were looking at the Archaionfiend Eye.
Tianming turned his head up like the rest of them and saw a gigantic, blood-red eye embedded in the ceiling of the palace. It was at least a hundred meters wide and red like a sea of blood. The same black and red miasma lingered around it, making it look even more mysterious.
Tianming felt a little lightheaded after only taking a single look at it. Even with the Soul Tower guarding his soul, he still felt the pull of the eye tugging at his body and mind. Currently, he closed both his eyes. He also noticed that the others here had their eyes closed, except for their third ones as they trained their ocular arts.
The Archaionfiend Eye was so unbelievably big that it sent shivers up and down Tianming’s spine. He picked a spot to sit down. He didn't know any of the Xuanyuan disciples there; all of them were nearing their thirties and far more powerful than Xuanyuan Yuheng. Tianming had heard that they would one day join the main force of the Number One Summit to protect the pride and dignity of the Archaion Sect. He spotted a few people who could be on the Heaven Ranking.
Quite a lot of them noticed him coming in, but they didn't really pay attention. It was often said that one’s personality could affect their physical appearance. These disciples were cool, calm, steady, steadfast, secure, and hard-working, befitting of a house that called itself archaic.
Tianming sat down alone, but he didn't need to look up. Instead, he used the eye on his left hand to observe the Archaionfiend Eye, for only it could resist its influence. The members of the Trioptic True Dragon Branch used the sinister influence from the Archaionfiend Eye to refine their ocular arts. Some of them even used ocular arts on the Archaionfiend Eye to push back at it to improve.
The Archaionfiend Eye is suppressed by the Heaven Cauldron that’s right above it. It won't be able to budge thanks to that force and weight. How can I take it away? It won't even fit through the entrance! My dad didn't teach me how to do it!
Though he’d finally managed to see it for himself, he had no way to do anything about it. He wanted to go out to check it out but he wasn't alone, so he figured he would wait for the others to leave first and calmed down. Then, using the eye on his palm, he tried resisting the Archaionfiend Eye's influence. As expected, while it started fine, it only got worse the longer he focused. His mind felt like it was being scrambled, though the difficulty directly translated to how efficient it would be for him to cultivate his ocular art.
Wait, the third level of Godsoul Canon? he thought as he continued the staring contest. Even though I didn't spend too much time on it, I've more or less mastered the Insightful Eye.
As he expected, the Godsoul Canon's third level technique appeared in his mind. That senior said I’d be able to open my spirit core after mastering Skypolarity Eye. I wonder if the third realm is the Wondersky Realm?
Gradually, the technique cleared up in his mind. It's the Soulshaker Eye! Even though it isn't Skypolarity Eye, it still seems impressive.
The first level gave him Bewildering Eye. Even though it was effective in combat, it was basically a seduction technique so he didn't feel comfortable mastering it. The second gave him the Insightful Eye, which allowed him to see through illusions and was only useful in special situations. His third was Soulshaker Eye, and based on the name alone he knew it would be useful in combat. He couldn't wait to start training it. Perhaps the Archaionfiend Eye would also be useful for it.
He then began scanning his mind for the basics. Basically, it was a technique that could be used to shake souls. He had to first forge new meridians in his eye to allow saint ki to flow through. He could have up to nine meridians; the more meridians, the more powerful the technique.
The process of forging a new meridian would be harder than actually training the technique. Even so, he couldn't say how powerful it truly was until he tried it. Feeling the pressure from the Archaionfiend Eye pressing down upon him, he started forging a soulshaker meridian according to the Godsoul Canon. It was a really complicated process that involved countless revolutions, and the slightest mistake could ruin the eye.
Tianming's Godsoul Canon was quite different from normal battle arts, which didn't require new meridians. The Godsoul Canon revolved around his arm’s eye at the core. As he trained, the black and red light from the Archaionfiend Eye lasered in on Tianming's third eye, which absorbed the light like nutrients.
"It's actually working...." He noticed that his eye was powerful enough to resist the Archaionfiend Eye’s influence and even absorb it to nourish itself. The forging of the first meridian turned out to be easier than he had imagined. The talent of the Sky Plunderer Clan was truly insane.
After two hours, he finally succeeded. Looking at his third eye, he saw a word that resembled the character for 'soul' in his eye. It was actually a really complex meridian.
"I wonder how good it is...."
There was only one way to find out: use the move on his own two eyes. He took a deep breath and activated the Soulshaker Eye.