Some things had to be let go no matter how unwilling one was. Life was full of choices.
Qianye thought of a way. He would save up documents of similar nature together and process them all in one go every ten days. That would be less efficient, but he was finally able to squeeze one full night’s time to try out the Profound Combatant Formula.
Walking into the cultivation room, he ordered his men to activate the array which served to converge origin power and protect his surroundings. He then fished out Zhang Boqian’s notes and read through them in detail. After looking through them once, he carefully put the notes away and closed his eyes in contemplation.
There weren’t a lot of words in the notes, and Qianye was already beyond familiar with the contents. Already well-acquainted with the channeling direction and methods, he slowly activated his energy and began to cultivate.
The Martial Ancestor’s Profound Combatant Formula worked by using the cultivator’s energy to draw upon the void origin power, forming a vortex. The cultivation was fast and powerful, but its disadvantages were also glaring. That was the extreme strain on the body, and the ease with which it could go out of control.
If it wasn’t for someone like Qianye whose constitution was comparable to an ancient vampire, cultivating this art would mean death. From what was known, only the Martial Ancestor and Zhang Boqian had touched upon this realm, and neither of them continued training in it. They switched to a different primary cultivation art after reaching that stage.
Zhang Boqian’s version of the Profound Combatant Formula had various changes made to it. After mastering it, Qianye found that he could spread his perception toward the void with greater ease and gained various methods to control void origin power. The vortex condensation speed was inevitably slower, but it was now easier to control, and the impact on the body was lighter.
Moments later, a massive void origin power vortex gradually took form. It was a bit smaller than the Martial Ancestor’s version but much more stable.
Even though it was stable, the pressure gradually increased until the sound of shattering glass came through. Unable to withstand the pressure, a crack appeared in the space, and threads of void origin power were drawn into the vortex.
Zhang Boqian’s version was unique in that there was a smaller vortex inside the vortex, rotating in the opposite direction. The two vortices happened to form a natural grinding stone that tore and ground down the void origin power as it was flung from the bigger vortex into the smaller one. A good amount of impurities would be centrifuged to the outside, leaving only a small amount of essence for Qianye to absorb.
The clever design allowed for the same effect as the Song Clan Ancient Scroll. The origin power produced from cultivation was purer, and the condensation process was much easier. As such, although the current segment of cultivation was slower than the Martial Ancestor’s version, the process was faster as a whole when taking the Song Clan Ancient Scroll into account.
The only issue was that not everyone could use this method. It required an extremely high standard of origin power control, which bumped up the difficulty by a notch.
The Martial Ancestor’s version required a powerful physique that was virtually impossible for normal humans. Zhang Boqian’s take on the art lowered this threshold somewhat but demanded perfect origin power control. The two requirements combined made it impossible for anyone to cultivate the Profound Combatant Formula.
Because Qianye had cultivated the Song Clan Ancient Scroll for many years, he was rather familiar with the processes in this new version. So, it took him only a bit of trial and error to master it. But at this point, Qianye realized that Zhang Boqian had tailored this art for him since it would only add to the difficulty for other people. It was probably easier to search for rare treasures and arts to reinforce the body. On the other hand, the cultivator could only rely on himself to achieve perfect origin power control.
Qianye became immersed in cultivation as sparkling wisps of purified origin power entered his body. He seemed to sense some sort of commotion outside but was in no mood to pay attention.
It was at this time that Qianye heard a crisp “ding” echo in his ears. The sound brought him out of his cultivation state but didn’t affect his origin power.
This was the awakening bell used to rouse cultivators. This particular bell was Song Zining’s, a premium quality item that could catch one’s attention but not disturb the mind. Qianye also had one back at training camp, but it was much inferior.
Once the bell rang, Qianye immediately realized that something had happened outside.
At this point, Qianye’s origin power control had reached a level where he could release and retract the art at will. He immediately withdrew his cultivation art and stood up, allowing the origin vortex in the air to revolve on its own. Although the vortex was still there, it would disperse soon since Qianye wasn’t around to control it.
He walked out of the cultivation room and saw several generals standing in front of the chamber. Some of them weren’t even properly dressed. Apparently, they had rushed over after waking up.
“What’s going on?” Qianye asked.
One of the generals hesitated. “Sire, you’ll know once you come out and take a look.”
Qianye was stunned as he walked out to the balcony and gazed out.
Southern Blue was covered by a giant swirling cloud, hanging so low it was almost touching the roofs. The slowly-revolving vortex triggered great alarm as it bore down upon the people with a formless pressure. They could no longer tell whether it was the sky or the earth that was spinning.
There was an intense aura of void origin power within the clouds, filling everyone with a sense of danger that caused their hair to stand on end. Those who had better cultivation could feel it even stronger. The generals here were fearless in the face of death, but no one dared to investigate the cloud layer. Such a clear sense of danger could only mean one thing—approaching it meant death.
There was lightning flickering within the clouds, with purple bolts shooting out from its center. Arcs of purple lightning struck Dark Flame’s command center, causing half of the building to collapse.
The city had long since fallen into chaos in the face of this calamitous scenery. Constant screams filled the air as countless people fled outside the gates. Dark Flame could be considered calm. The roaring officers kept their men suppressed, preventing the new recruits from falling into disorder.
A mercenary general spat in dissatisfaction. “These little brats have to be trained to death! Always making a commotion out of small matters. We even survived Whitetown, what’s there to be afraid of?”
All the generals felt the same. Speaking of a deathly calamity, nothing could be worse than Whitetown. What’s a little natural disaster compared to that?
Qianye’s expression shifted drastically. “It’s nothing, all of you should disperse soon. Go and check if anyone’s injured and give them immediate treatment. Also, send people to maintain order within the city.”
A mercenary general noticed Qianye’s tone wasn’t quite right. “Sire, don’t tell me…”
Qianye said hesitantly, “This… might have a bit to do with my cultivation…”
He sounded quite guilty. The generals’ mouths fell open, flabbergasted.
Moments later, someone said, “Sire, you’re truly… I think you should let us know when you’re cultivating next time.”
Everyone nodded.
“Okay, I understand.”
The generals spread out to perform their duties. Qianye glanced at the vortex in the sky and shook his head helplessly. Prince Greensun was indeed a heavenly monarch—cultivating his art shook the earth and enraged the weather. How was he to cultivate from now on? No wonder the cultivation chambers of the major clans were highly valuable; it was almost as though they were cut from origin crystals.
While Qianye was worrying about this, Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu were drinking at the city lord’s residence. Ji Rui’s wine cup shattered to the floor, but he was completely ignorant, only staring at the swirling clouds in the sky.
Guan Zhongliu called out several times before Ji Rui returned to his senses. When asked about the issue, the city lord only laughed. “I’m old, I’m old.”
Guan Zhongliu also had some guesses. He could hardly hide his shock when he looked up at the sky.
Southern Blue gradually became peaceful as the clouds dispersed. The violet lightning had caused half of Dark Flame’s command center to collapse, but there was no one there so deep at night. Only a couple of patrolling soldiers were hurt. The only problem was that they would have to spend more time building it up again.
In the days that followed, Qianye was extra careful whenever he cultivated. Since he didn’t have the money to build a dedicated isolation chamber like the major clans, he could only rely on his own power to control the scope of the origin vortex. Although the winds and clouds would surge every night, there were no more signs of a calamity like the first day.
The effects were barely passable as cultivating like this affected his speed. The initial phase of the mass recruitment had come to an end, and next up was the recruitment of independent experts. This process couldn’t be rushed as they needed to be screened carefully. Seeing this, Qianye prepared a high-speed airship and left for the Northern Continent.
The Northern Continent was big and sparsely populated, a perfect place to let loose and cultivate. Qianye also hadn’t checked up on the construction progress there in some time.
Imperial corvettes were known for their speed. The Northern Continent could already be seen in less than half a day. Out of caution, Qianye commanded the airship to fly around the border of the eastern sea. The origins and aim of the mysterious entity at the bottom of the sea was still a mystery to Qianye, even to this day. He really did not want to repeat his previous experience.
While they were heading toward the Northern Continent, Qianye was jolted violently as an invisible consciousness washed over him. His entire body became so stiff that it was difficult to move a single finger. If even he was in such a state, the other crew would surely have it even worse. The corvette fell straight to the ground after losing kinetic power.
Soon afterward, a formless power caught the corvette and kept it suspended in the air.
Qianye sensed a pair of eyes slowly opening in the distance and glancing toward him. Those eyes seemed like they could see through everything; no secret was safe before them. This feeling of being seen through, Qianye had experienced it before. Even so, he hadn’t imagined that he would be so helpless before the mysterious entity, even after his strength upgrade.
No wonder the Wolf King, Zhang Buzhou, and the Throne of Blood kept away from the Eastern Sea. They seemed to be entirely uninterested in the large island, and rarely were there any records of them operating here in person.
The eyes closed again rather quickly and that consciousness receded like the tides. The other party had no interest in the current Qianye, nor did it want to communicate further.
The invisible force lowered the corvette slowly to the ground, and only moments later did the crew regain the power to move. The captain rushed into Qianye’s cabin and cried out, “Sire Qianye! Just now…”
“It’s all fine now, let everyone recover before heading out on our way.”
Seeing Qianye calm, the captain pulled himself together and left with his orders. The corvette took to the air once again, flying toward the Northern Continent.
Qianye sat in the airship, thinking back to his experience at the bottom of the sea. He suddenly realized that the mysterious entity in the sea felt that he was still not powerful enough to shoulder that important mission.
