The scene turned silent at once. It was not just the disciples of the Diamond Sect who were stunned, but Chen Jingzhou, Cheng Dongfeng and the others were dumbfounded too.
What the heck?
Nonetheless, there was a wave of laugher after the silence.
Rank-nine… creating cultivating methods…
That was certainly possible.
Many martial artists tended to develop blade techniques or swordplay that fitted them best, but those were all average skills. Therefore, how could a rank-nine novice martial artists create a godly technique like the Dragon-Elephant Prajna?
The elder lama who spoke out before was about to say something again when the Diamond Sect’s head monk stopped him.
Looking at Jiang He, he smiled. “Young man, it is your providence to be able to learn the Dragon-Elephant Prajna. However, since the Dragon-Elephant Prajna is a secret technique the Diamond Sect does not teach to outsiders, and you’re not a core disciple of ours…”
Jiang He laughed coldly to cut the head monk short before he could finish, saying, “Oh? Whatever do you mean?”
“Your cultivation of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna is extensive, and it shows that you have karmic connections to our Diamond Sect. You may join us, and we naturally would train you as a core disciple… otherwise…”
The head monk breathed a long sigh, saying, “I must follow the code of the Diamond Sect.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Jiang He asked, “And that would be?”
The head monk turned to give Corban a look then, who stepped forward with the Iron Staff of Discipline, saying, “According to sect code, those that steal our secret techniques or learnt it without permission shall be penalized as traitors to the sect. However, since you are not a disciple of ours, young man, so it would suffice that we recover the cultivation method.”
Jiang He was left amused at that.
He could not help laughing. “I’ve already learned said cultivation method. How would you recover it?”
“The guru shall take action, and he certainly could wipe away your memories of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna.”
“Hahahaha!”
Jiang He suddenly broke out in loud laughter until tears were flowing from the corner of his eyes.
The many disciples of the Diamond Sect all stared at Jiang He, believing that he was upset after hearing about the Diamond Sect’s code.
On the other hand, there were uncertain looks on the faces of Chen Jingzhou, Cheng Dongfeng and the others, with Cheng Dongfeng stepping forward to say, “Venerable ones, Jiang He learned that technique by chance and did not steal it. Moreover, he is not a disciple of the Diamond Sect, and isn’t it inappropriate that you would apply your code to him?”
Cheng Dongfeng’s feet shook and his stomach churned when the head monk and the other elites turned toward him, but he kept an uncowed look, smiling flatly as he added, “By the way, I’ve neglected to introduce myself—Cheng Dongfeng, at your service, a disciple of the Eight Trigrams School, and my master Dong Haichuan is one of the Hua Nation’s Void-tier elites.”
The many elite monks reacted to that.
Any martial artist who could ascend as a Void-tier would certainly be extraordinary.
Even so, Corban insistently shook his head, saying, “The code of the Diamond Sect must not be broken!”
As a sojo who maintains discipline in the diamond sect, he certainly did not wish for anyone to break sect code.
Chen Jingzhou and He Litong stepped forward then as well, despite being rank-nine advanced and rank-seven respectively. They were unafraid even with the crowd of Diamond Sect elites before him, their presence imposing as Chen Jingzhou spoke, “Jiang He is a martial artist of the New Martial Era and has a title in the nation’s military. Anyone who makes a move against him is an enemy of our nation’s legions!”
Despite being merely rank-six, young Yang Chengwu stepped up as well instead of hanging back, saying, “If push comes to shove, we will forfeit on our entry to the Secret Realm! Let us leave, Bro Jiang!”
Meanwhile, though Zhou Rui did not say anything, she stood quietly behind Jiang He.
Indeed, Jiang He felt moved by the scene.
Holding back his laughter, he stepped forward with a smile. “What are you lot doing? Minister Wang went through great lengths to claim the entries into the Secret Realm—and you are giving up just like that? Moreover, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna I cultivated does not belong to the Diamond Sect. For what reason would they erase my memory?”
“Still trying to weasel out of this?”
A monk yelled furiously, “How could the head monk be wrong in what he sees?”
Jiang He promptly turned to stare at the monk who had spoken.
The monk was not weak—he was a rank-nine pinnacle and had grasped the Boundary of Wills, and yet he stumbled three steps backward when Jiang He stared at him, his whole body turning cold as he hung his head, afraid to look back into Jiang He’s eyes.
Even if Jiang He had learned martial arts for little over a month, there was no telling how many Sky Demon Cultists he had killed. As for Ferals, he had killed four Feral Kings and bombed countless more average ones to death—how could he be compared to these disciples of the Diamond Sect who never stepped out into the world, ever?
“Your killing intent is very strong, young man!”
Someone spoke out then.
Jiang He turned to him, chuckling, “You must be divine-tier, aren’t you? Have you cultivated the Dragon-Elephant Prajna?”
The monk moved a step forward, saying composedly, “I am a divine-conversion elite, but my disposition is lacking—I’ve only cultivated the Dragon-Elephant Prajna up to the eleventh tier.”
Jiang He was aware that divine-tier martial artists were categorized into three tiers: conversion, tempest, and union. However, he was confident that he could kill a martial artist of such level even without using his immortal arts.
“Could you show me your Dragon-Elephant Prajna?” He asked then.
The monk did not quite understand Jiang He’s and so turned to the head monk, who nodded. He hence promptly circulated his qi, and a powerful aura promptly burst out, almost tearing his monk tunic apart while his red lama robes flapped loudly despite the lack of wind.”
Through it all, a dragon’s roar and an elephant’s trumpeting could vaguely be heard from inside the monk’s body.
“Powerful!”
Jiang He clapped his hands, in praise, “As expect of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna that the Diamond Sect teaches. Such power even at the eleventh-tier… though the one I created is different.”
Rawr!
Out of the blue, another dragon’s roar and elephant’s trumpeting resounded from Jiang He’s body—it was more than ten times louder than the monk’s, and deafening when heard up close.
Most importantly, in the instant that Jiang He charged his Dragon-Elephant Prajna, its ‘special-effects’ ensued: a divine dragon’s silhouette circled over his head while a divine elephant reared its head up at the skies, trumpeting.
Be that as it may, Jiang He pulled back almost as soon as he let loose his aura, sighing, “I’ve only cultivated the Dragon-Elephant Prajna I created myself to the fifth-tier, and remain so far from the perfection at the eighteenth tier. It’s so lacking compared to that venerable one’s too… ah, isn’t my cultivation method just so weak?”
“…”
Once again, there was silence before the mountain gates of the Diamond Sect.
Cheng Dongfeng was the first to respond after a long while as he cried out in surprise, “What the hell, Jiang He? You’ve really created a cultivation method on your own? What’s the name? And isn’t it too cool?”
How could it not be cool?
I spent over an hour to draft my own version of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna out of nonsense, with another half-an-hour put in to polish as well as edit the special visual and sounds effects. Wouldn’t I be losing out if it’s not cool?
As for the name of the cultivation method…
Jiang He eyed Cheng Dongfeng with concern one would afford an imbecile, calmly saying, “Didn’t I tell you? It’s the Dragon-Elephant Prajna…”
“Oh, right!”
Jiang He then turned towards the head monk of the Diamond Sect, grinning as he asked, “Venerable one, surely using another technique’s name for my own doesn’t break the Diamond Sect’s code, does it?”
