HSSB112: A solid foundation, a step further
Just the Flowing Cloud Mirror coupled together with the Blood Refining Orb naturally wasn't sufficient to produce a Blood Devil Plate.
However, with both main ingredients already available to him, if Yan Zhaoge wanted to forge a Blood Devil Plate, it would be much easier for him to do so.
Other than Flowing Cloud Mirrors, Yan Di had also brought back a large amount of Fire Patterned Jade from the Fire Domain for Yan Zhaoge, who felt very happy at this.
Mixing the Fire Patterned Jade with the Ice Dome Grease that was produced in the Heaven Domain to form a medicinal salve, Yan Zhaoge applied it on his own body.
Yan Zhaoge resembled a statue as he got into the meditative position and circulated his qi.
The medicinal salve gradually turned transparent as clouds of smoke were unceasingly absorbed by the pulsing orifices of Yan Zhaoge's entire body.
Within his dantian's qi ocean, the chaotic mass of qi concealed beneath the clear qi surged unceasingly, gradually separating into two streams of qi, one extremely cold, the other extremely hot.
Within that extremely hot stream of qi, a tiny fire seed flickered slightly.
The spiritual energy within the medicinal salve was gradually split up and absorbed by the streams of hot and cold qi, following which they gradually reformed into a chaotic mass.
Yan Zhaoge opened his eyes, swivelling his pupils about. His perception of the outside world was now much keener than it had been before.
It was not merely an improvement of his aura-qi; his spiritual sense itself had also progressed.
The Martial Scholar realm was generally divided into three major stages, the inner aura stage, the outer aura stage and the Xiantian stage, following which was the Heavenly Connection Stage from which a Martial Scholar would attempt their breakthrough into the Martial Grandmaster realm.
The greatest difference between a late outer aura Martial Scholar and an early Xiantian Martial Scholar was that the latter had refined their aura-qi to the point where it possessed spirituality.
When the aura-qi gained spirituality, it would be strengthened, and a martial practitioner would also be able to wield it with even greater ease than before.
For two opposing aura-qis of a similar density, the side possessing spirituality would be able to easily defeat the side without. To make up for this deficit, a larger amount of aura-qi would be required.
This was one of the reasons for the difference in strength between Xiantian Martial Scholars and late outer aura Martial Scholars.
In comparison to the distance between levels within the outer aura stage itself, the distance from the outer aura stage to the Xiantian stage was even greater, as great of a gulf as from the inner aura to the outer aura stage.
Other than their aura-qi undergoing a qualitative change, Xiantian Martial Scholars would also see their spiritual sense taking great strides forward, being beneficial in discovering concealed enemies as well as increasing the acuity of their senses as their reaction speed in the midst of combat was also increased.
Comparatively speaking, in breaking through from the late outer aura stage to the early Xiantian stage,enlightenment was more significant than the accumulation of aura-qi.
However, the density of Xiantian Martial Scholars' aura-qi was generally much greater than that of late outer aura Martial Scholars as well.
To Yan Zhaoge, glimpsing through the secret of how to bestow his aura-qi spirituality was not hard. On the contrary, his problem was that after having stepped into the late outer aura Martial Scholar realm not long ago in the Eastern Tang, he had been warring all over the place without any time to seriously cultivate, resulting in his current accumulation of strength being a little lacking.
But with the Ice Dome Grease and Fire Patterned Jade now, having gone through two baptisms of his body, most of the deficiencies in his accumulated cultivation had been made up for.
This way, his distance from the Xiantian Martial Scholar realm had lessened a step further.
"I can keep the Underground Fire Pith on me first; it does not have to be used immediately," Yan Zhaoge rose, rotating his neck, "There's also the Heaven Ascending Vine this time, for concocting the Heaven Reversing Pill for Grand Master. Now, only one final main ingredient is lacking. Hopefully, the information is true that it can be found in the Mountain Domain.
As Yan Zhaoge walked out of the door, for once, Ah Hu was not outside waiting for him.
"I wonder if Ah Hu has succeeded," Yan Zhaoge knew that Ah Hu was currently also in the midst of cultivating.
The him who was already a late Xiantian Martial Scholar was currently attempting to break through into the Heavenly Connection stage.
Of the ten levels of the Martial Scholar realm, the Heavenly Connection stage was the final one. The name of Heavenly Connection itself already explained everything.
Stepping into the Heavenly Connection stage, a Martial Scholar could begin making preparations for breaking through into the Martial Grandmaster realm. Once they succeeded, it would be a different heaven and earth altogether.
Ah Hu's willingness to be a retainer always caused many to unconsciously overlook him.
However, Yan Zhaoge clearly knew that this big man who looked a little simple and honest as well as slick actually possessed rather astonishing talent in the area of the martial dao!
To put it bluntly, it was in no way inferior to that of Yan Zhaoge's body's original owner!
Yan Di had not treated him badly at all, having treated him as he would a disciple, taking great care in teaching and guiding him. Therefore, Ah Hu's ability completely wouldn't lose to the likes of Xiao Shen and Chao Yuanlong at the same cultivation level.
"Oh, it's still that same bottleneck," Coming to where Ah Hu had engaged in secluded cultivation and entering it, Yan Zhaoge observed silently by the side for a moment before he shook his head slightly, "It's just that paper-thin distance away, but he just can't get past it."
The Ah Hu of this moment no longer had his usual smile on his face, instead being solemn and earnest, all his attention fully focused.
His aura blazed, resembling a ferocious tiger set on devouring everything it saw.
His aura-qi took the form of an illusory heaven and earth, the entire world shaking and distorting with black hurricanes as silhouettes flickered.
The storm vaguely solidified to form the shape of a tiger, the roars of the tiger and the howls of the wind mixing together, being hard to tell apart.
Yan Zhaoge hesitated slightly for a moment, "It's fine if it's others, but with Ah Hu just that final step away, it's not like I have no way to get him past that."
"It's just that as soon as I reveal this technique, it might very well cause some suspicion within Father…wait, I can push it to that dead dude Yan Xu."
A spark of inspiration flashing through his mind, Yan Zhaoge had an idea.
The Meteor Blade martial art of Yan Xu's had been generally browsed through by Yan Zhaoge, who had come to feel more and more certain in it.
When Ah Hu temporarily ceased in his cultivation, opening his eyes and seeing Yan Zhaoge, he was not surprised in the least, as he instead grinned, "The Heavenly Connection stage, is a little difficult ah."
Listening to Ah Hu's grumbles, Yan Zhaoge threw over a scroll at him, "Yan Xu's Meteor Blade, some incomplete Martial Art that he learnt from who knows where, does have its unique areas; you can take a look."
Ah Hu said somewhat curiously as he received the book, "Young Master, I don't cultivate in blades."
Yan Zhaoge said, "Comprehending by analogy; having also taken an overall look of it earlier, I've found that it might be of help to you now."
"Entering the Heavenly Connection Matter is not a pure matter of accumulating your strength; most important is gaining instant enlightenment. All your other preparations are complete; the only thing you need is that final flash of insight, dissipating that final fog."
"The feeling of Heavenly Connection, resonating and combining to become one with the Heavens."
Having received pointers from Yan Zhaoge whose cultivation was actually inferior to his own, Ah Hu was not impatient in the least, as he instead nodded, "Yes, that's right."
Yan Zhaoge spoke, "You might want to try viewing the stars within the night sky, sensing their faraway changes, especially that instant where the shooting stars flash by; perhaps that might be effective."
"The principles of this Meteor Blade martial art all stem from there; you can try to use it as a reference."
As he said thus, Yan Zhaoge's finger traced out an arc in mid-air, resembling a shooting star flashing past the horizon.
Ah Hu looked thoughtful as he too extended a finger and traced some imaginary arcs of his own, before taking that scroll and walking outside.
Yan Zhaoge shrugged, "Speaking of martial manuals, I still have a chance to enter the Martial Repository once."
Broad Creed Mountain's Martial Repository housed all of Broad Creed Mountain's supreme martial arts as well as all the other martial arts its disciples had inadvertently come by over the years whilst roaming the outside world.
In the Martial Repository, the higher one went, the higher the grade of the martial manuals stored.
The first floor contained Broad Creed Mountain's own foundational martial arts, and was mainly for newly-entered disciples.
The second floor contained Broad Creed Mountain's various advanced-level martial arts; other than that, the martial arts collected from the outside world were mostly also concentrated here.
Some of them, their grade being relatively lower, were then placed here. While Broad Creed Mountain didn't prohibit its disciples from dabbling in martial arts of the outside world, they had to first make sure that their own foundations had been well-established. Therefore, martial arts from the outside world weren't stored on the first floor, lest new disciples, out of a moment of greed or novelty, instead fell behind in their standard cultivation.
Coming here, Yan Zhaoge completely brushed by the first and second floors, directly heading to the third floor.
HSSB113: Martial Repository
Supreme martial arts such as the Eight Extreme Arts were all stored on the third floor of the Martial Repository.
Yan Zhaoge was actually interested in the fourth floor of the legends, where there were stored the true best of Broad Creed Mountain's martial arts.
Other than the second half of the Clear Qi Profound Art, there were also the three great martial arts of Broad Creed Mountain whose fame shook the entire Eight Extremities World.
However, according to the rules, the fourth floor of the Martial Repository could only be freely accessed by the Chief as well as the two First Seat Elders of the Martial Repository itself.
Everyone else, including Yan Zhaoge's father Yan Di, Fang Zhun, Shi Tie and the two Grand Elders, were not allowed to go in there wherever they liked, and could only do so when granted special permission by Yuan Zhengfeng or when entering together with him.
With the amount of potential that Yan Zhaoge had displayed now, being granted permission to enter the fourth floor was only a matter of time.
According to common precedent, he first had to enter the Martial Grandmaster realm.
"Actually, it's still that fourth floor that I'm rather more interested in," Yan Zhaoge smacked his lips, "To see to what stage the peak martial arts of the current Eight Extremities World has developed to."
Although the martial scriptures of the Divine Palace encompassed a wide range of fields and were incomparably profound in their teachings, Yan Zhaoge had always taken great care to properly assimilate into his current environment. That way, cultivating and being familiar with Broad Creed Mountain's direct lineage martial arts had become something that was absolutely necessary.
This time, entering the third floor of the Martial Repository to select a martial art, Yan Zhaoge had long since come up with an answer.
Precisely the Wind Fire Calamities of the Eight Extreme Arts.
With the Wind Calamity being a movement technique and the Fire Calamity being a force exertion technique which allowed one to erupt with power, both of them, when trained in simultaneously till the point of proficiency, merging and assimilating them, a martial practitioner's speed could reach a shocking level.
Basically, all of Broad Creed Mountain's martial practitioners would, at some time or other, choose to cultivate in the Wind Fire Calamities.
Generally speaking, the stronger a martial practitioner, whilst possessing a fierce fighting style, their movement technique would also not be too weak.
If they couldn't defeat their opponent, they could run. If they could but it was their opponent who ran, they could give chase.
In actual combat, many martial arts needed to be coordinated with movement techniques in order to unleash their greatest strength, in order to avoid being played around with in circles by opponents like a wooden target.
Of course, some martial arts which suppressed the active with the passive or countered the intricate with the rough did not fall within this radius.
Yan Zhaoge was already familiar with many powerful force exertion techniques as well as movement techniques. Looking at it this way, selecting the Wind Fire Calamities might seem a little overlapping.
However, it was not wasteful at all.
It was precisely possessing the concealment of the Wind Fire Calamities that Yan Zhaoge would be able to execute many other techniques without any reservation whatsoever.
After all, Yan Zhaoge had never lacked in profound martial arts, and, what's more, the Wind Fire Calamites themselves weren't bad at all.
Also, from before the Great Calamity and after, there existed a difference in the density of the world's spiritual energy and how it flowed towards one's body.
Cultivating in scriptures of the Divine Palace of before the Great Calamity as well as the new martial arts developed following the time of the Great Calamity and comparing the two could, conversely, be of benefit towards Yan Zhaoge's improvements.
"The quality of the Wind Fire Calamities is actually also not bad," Yan Zhaoge nodded satisfiedly, thinking within his heart, "The Wind Calamity can coordinate with the Divine Palace's Aura Wind Heavenly Warping Qi, whereas the Fire Calamity can coordinate with the Mighty Ape Demonic Fist of the Six Spirits Demonic Fist."
"En, the Howling Wind Stance of the Tiger Roar Demonic Fist, leaping and lunging out like a tiger, can also be matched with the Wind Calamity's movement technique."
"Let me see; a combination of these two techniques, it actually seems like it would be able to birth a whole new variation…"
After pondering for a moment, Yan Zhaoge quelled his thoughts and prepared to leave.
Looking at the Martial Repository before him, Yan Zhaoge's thoughts wavered momentarily.
Although this wasn't the Divine Palace's book storage building, as a similarly constructed building, standing within it always made Yan Zhaoge think of the first time he had come to this world, standing within the book storage building of the Divine Palace.
"That Great Calamity that year; what exactly happened?" Yan Zhaoge wondered.
That scene of the very heavens and the earth seemingly decimated would forever be etched within Yan Zhaoge's heart.
Even having been reborn now, it had always been affecting him, spurring him to move forward unceasingly, diligently working to become stronger with all his might.
Because he didn't know: that terrifying tribulation of the heavens and earth-would it descend once more?
The ripples within Yan Zhaoge's gaze gradually subsided, as all was calm once more.
"Striking iron requires one to be tough; I've got to continually strengthen myself, and at the same time also find a way to discover what exactly happened with the great tribulation of that year," Yan Zhaoge murmured to himself, "Grab it with both hands; both hands must also be tough ah…"
In comparison to the people of this current world, as someone who had experienced the Great Calamity himself, Yan Zhaoge naturally knew more about it than they did.
That disaster known as the Great Calamity which descended that year; it was more possible that it was artificially induced, as opposed to having been a natural disaster…
And it was precisely because of that that this matter felt so pressing to him, causing him to feel that he just had to get to the bottom of things, with emotions far stronger than people of the current era.
Tapping his finger on one of the shelfs, Yan Zhaoge unconsciously raised his head, looking up towards the fourth floor of the Martial Repository, "Broad Creed Mountain's legacy is extremely ancient, to the point that even some of the past Divine Palace has rubbed off on it. Perhaps there might be some clues up there."
"Zhaoge?" Hearing his name suddenly being called, Yan Zhaoge swivelled his head, as a tall, handsome youth now appeared before his eyes.
The newcomer was around twenty-five, twenty-six years of age, his features quite resembling that of the King of the Eastern Tang Kingdom, Zhao Shicheng.
Wearing white clothes covered by a blue robe, he was garbed in the clothes of Broad Creed Mountain's elite disciples. He lacked Zhao Shicheng's deep steadiness, instead appearing rather unruly and high profile.
He was Zhao Shicheng's fourth sun, Zhao Ming, who had officially entered Broad Creed Mountain to learn martial arts.
Of Zhao Shicheng's sons, Yan Zhaoge was actually the most acquainted with him.
"Brother has performed a great merit?" Looking at him, Yan Zhaoge smiled.
An elite disciple like Zhao Ming could already freely access the first floor of the Martial Repository as and when he liked, while being granted a one-time access to the second floor as a form of reward.
Generally speaking, it would be hard for him to get a chance to come up to the third floor.
Zhao Ming said, "Don't mock me, Zhaoge; I'm very clear that this reward was due to Royal Father."
Zhao Shicheng having greatly supported Broad Creed Mountain in the Eastern Tang, even having nearly perished himself, Broad Creed Mountain naturally wouldn't treat the Eastern Tang shabbily. Making an exception in granting Zhao Ming this reward was also a sign of their gratitude.
He said with a serious look on his face, "Speaking of which, I really have to thank you for saving Royal Father in the Eastern Tang."
Yan Zhaoge smiled, "With the relationship between our two families, why're you still saying this?"
Zhao Ming nodded, also smiling. Just like currently, meeting in private with only the both of them, neither would ever address the other as apprentice-brother, instead calling each other Brother based off the close ties between their families.
Although he was older, having entered the clan a little later, only after he had stepped into the Martial Scholar realm, in order of who had first become the clan's disciple, he was to address Yan Zhaoge as senior apprentice-brother.
"This time, thanks to our clan making an exception, I gained the chance to come to the third floor for the first time," Zhao Ming sighed as he came beside Yan Zhaoge, the latter asking, "Have you chosen yet?"
Zhao Ming nodded, "I've chosen the Big Dipper Sword."
Yan Zhaoge laughed, "Magnificent and vast; I also guessed that you would choose the Big Dipper Sword."
"The sword intent of the Big Dipper Sword is mysterious and profound, possessing innumerable variations; you're in for much training this time."
Before Zhao Ming had the time to say anything, a voice resounded from the stairway between the second and third levels, "A thousand mysteries, ten thousand variations; you just have to firmly keep in mind that the seven stars all face the north. Within the north sky, the seven stars converge; that is its basis, from which all variations stem."
Hearing these words, the corners of Yan Zhaoge's mouth arched lightly upwards.
A person entered. Clearly seeing his appearance, Zhao Ming could not help but frown.
He also recognised the other party: he was actually Fang Zhun's direct disciple, a member of Broad Creed Mountain's core direct lineage alongside Yan Zhaoge, a leading figure of their younger generation, Lu Wen!
Zhao Ming suddenly recalled that amongst Broad Creed Mountain's younger generation, in terms of attainment in this Big Dipper Sword, Lu Wen was the undisputed number one.
In the past, for the person beside him who had similarly cultivated in the Big Dipper Sword, it was precisely because he had been unable to best Lu Wen in it that he had switched to creating his own sword art, resulting in the birth of the Coiling Dragon Sword…
Zhao Ming looked first at Yan Zhaoge, then at Lu Wen who had just come up by route of the stairs, the wariness within his heart instantly surging.