Chapter 260: The Eight Great Magnum Opuses
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Mo Wen chose this practice hall for the purpose of practicing martial arts teachings.
He considered for a while that he did not have a lot of Contribution Credits on hand. In his current situation, he could only keep practicing for three or four days. If he chose a Great Hall to help his Cultivation have a breakthrough, three or four days’ worth of time would not produce much of an effect.
However, this Martial Arts Meditation Hall was different. Using meditation methods, practitioners could “extend” time 100 times longer, causing their cognition to be completely active. If they studied martial arts teachings during this time, a day of studying would be equivalent to a year of normal time.
Though, when practicing ranked martial arts, a year of studying wasn’t considered much. After all, for many, practicing dozens of years would not guarantee that they could successfully practice ranked martial arts. For those whose comprehension levels were not too high, a year of studying would still not show any effect.
However, Mo Wen was different. He was once a Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art practitioner. His martial arts experience could not be compared to that of a normal ancient martial art practitioner. It was like how a baby that was just learning to walk would find it very difficult, but a youth who had broken his leg naturally could get out of bed and easily walk again once the leg had healed.
In reality, the martial arts teachings that Mo Wen had practiced in his past life did not need studying. He could certainly remember them clearly in his mind and readily use them.
However, the Ming Cult had many advanced martial arts teachings that Mo Wen had not studied. Due to time constraints, he had no time to practice the Ming Cult’s many magnum opuses. In order to speed up the practice of his Inner Qi, he usually could only put the Ming Cult’s martial arts teachings aside.
But now there was undoubtedly a favorable condition that was created for him. He could use the Martial Arts Meditation Hall time extension to have ample time to study the Ming Cult’s martial arts teachings, even though two or three days’ time for a normal ancient martial art practitioner was still very short and would almost certainly not have much of an effect.
However, for Mo Wen, it was enough. He could easily comprehend things he was taught and learn from analogy. He could master the essence of martial arts teachings after taking some time to understand them.
Within the empty space, there was only a futon at Mo Wen’s feet. He sat on the futon, gathered his thoughts, and very quickly entered a completely meditative state.
The Ming Cult had 1,000 years of history. In its heyday, it had dominated a dynasty. The magnum opuses that it passed on from generations ago were naturally many.
Aside from the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, there were also the Tai Yang Sword, Nine Yang Finger, and Indestructible Body of Vajrapani. They were suitable for a person who was practicing the Nine Yang Divine Technique. These three martial arts teachings had all been created by the third Ming Cult cult leader. Using his peerless talent, he had created these martial arts teachings to go most suitably with the Nine Yang Divine Technique.
In terms of rank in the ancient martial arts world, they were all equal to Absolute Rank martial art teachings, and were not any lower than the Heaven and Earth Great Shift.
Under normal circumstances, generations of Ming Cult cult leaders would practice these three martial art teachings that complemented the Nine Yang Divine Technique.
Together with the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, these were the four iconic magnum opuses of the Ming Cult cult leader and were renowned throughout martial arts circles.
Back then, the Ming Cult cult leader did not play favorites, so he also created four magnum opuses for the Nine Yin Divine Technique. There were the Tai Yin Claws, Tai Yin Sword, Tai Succubus Dance, and Soul Shuddering Demonic Sound.
Generations of Ming Cult Sacred Maidens would practice these four martial arts teachings.
The two Divine Techniques and eight magnum opuses resulted in generations of Ming Cult cult leaders and Sacred Maidens being the talents of their generation. It also resulted in the legend of the cult dominating the ancient martial arts world for hundreds of years.
Regarding the practice for the Heaven and Earth Great Shift, Mo Wen had gained some experience, as he had spent quite a lot of time studying it. However, he had never really practiced the Tai Yang Sword, Nine Yang Finger, and Indestructible Body of Vajrapani. The reason was simple. It was not because he did not want to, but because he didn’t have time.
Time flew by without a trace. Mo Wen kept his eyes closed throughout like a wooden puppet, sitting motionless on top of the futon.
He had no concept of time in the empty space. An instant could be a very long time; a very long time could also be an instant.
While Mo Wen was still, everything seemed to have stopped.
After who knew how long, maybe a day or maybe a few years, Mo Wen finally slowly opened his eyes. His eyes flashed with a clear light, and his pupils seemed to look much deeper than before.
He stood up with an indifferent look on his face. His expression was neither sad nor joyful. His thoughts seemed to still be immersed in the revelation he had before.
He slowly extended his hand, and a golden flame rose from his palm. The brilliant flame kept twisting and dancing like a ball of fire spirits.
“The Ming Cult’s 34th cult leader was truly a grandmaster of his generation and a peerless figure in the ancient martial arts world,” Mo Wen exclaimed as he looked at the flame in his hand. He clenched his fist, and extinguished the flame within his palm.
He looked at the surrounding space, then touched the Vermilion Bird ring on his finger. A blue light from the ring suddenly enveloped him, and then he disappeared from the empty space with a flash.
Outside the Martial Arts Meditation Hall, a light flashed, and a silhouette slowly walked out of the loft.
Mo Wen looked around. The outside seemed to look exactly the same as before, as though there had been no change, but he knew that two days had quietly passed. He had spent two days practicing in the Martial Arts Meditation Hall.
In reality, according to the Martial Arts Meditation Hall timekeeping, two years of time should have passed. Mo Wen had spent two full years studying martial arts teachings.
Maybe it was because of the difference in time, but Mo Wen actually felt a pang of loneliness. He felt as though he had practiced for a long time in a virgin forest in the deep mountains, finally emerging one day and coming out into the outside world.
Two years’ worth of practice was a big gain for Mo Wen. He had pondered most of the eight Ming Cult magnum opuses at least once. Although he had placed particular emphasis on some of them, he had understood all eight Ming Cult magnum opuses.
If one were to call him the successor of the Ming Cult now, he would absolutely deserve the title, because even among the generations of Ming Cult cult leaders, it was impossible to learn all eight Ming Cult magnum opuses. At most, they could practice four of them. It was because the only person within the Ming Cult who could practice the Nine Yang Divine Technique and Nine Yin Divine Technique simultaneously, aside from the 34th Ming Cult cult leader, was Mo Wen.
Mo Wen was very satisfied with the Huatian Palace’s practice area. Although two days of practice had not increased his Cultivation, his ability had improved by a large margin.
Maybe he still was no match for those Embryonic Breathing realm ancient martial art practitioners, but he could absolutely escape calmly and unscathed from a beginning stage Embryonic Breathing realm expert.
The practice area had six practice main halls, and each hall had a different function. They were the Qi Circulation Hall, Martial Arts Meditation Hall, Physical Fitness Hall, Wuxin Hall, Battle Simulation Hall, and Challenge Hall, respectively.
The Qi Circulation Hall was considered an Inner Qi Practice Main Hall. People practicing in the Qi Circulation Hall could increase their Inner Qi. The effect was many times higher than what it would be in a normal environment. Depending on individual talent, the practice speed could be more than three to five times greater.
The Martial Arts Meditation Hall did not need to be explained. It was the Practice Main Hall purely used to meditate upon martial arts teachings.
As for the Physical Fitness Hall, it was used to train the body’s various fundamental abilities, to improve the body’s overall quality, and to unleash and develop hidden potential.
The Wuxin Hall had many mysteries. It was used by ancient martial art practitioners who had reached a bottleneck stage in practice and were looking for a breakthrough.
Once an ancient martial art practitioner reached a certain stage, they would encounter bottlenecks. At that stage, continuing to practice would yield few results. For example, at the pinnacle of the Qi Nucleation realm, if one could not break through to the Embryonic Breathing realm, there was not much room for improvement.
This was why although the Qin clan eldest great grandfather had clearly reached the pinnacle of the Qi Nucleation realm 20 years ago, after practicing for 20 years, his ability still did not show much growth.
That was the bottleneck being reached. Only by breaking through to the next realm could one continue to practice. Otherwise, no matter how much you practiced the Inner Qi, there would be no effect.
The Wuxin Hall was a mysterious place that could help people break through the bottleneck and ascend to the next realm. The success rate of ancient martial art practitioners breaking through in the Wuxin Hall was much higher. Maybe an ancient martial art practitioner with normal practice could not break through, even with a lifetime of practice, but in the Wuxin Hall, it was highly likely he would break through.
The Battle Simulation Hall was a place that could increase an ancient martial art practitioner’s actual combat ability. Within the Simulation Great Hall, they could emulate various difficult encounters, desperate situations, and fatal environments.
Once an ancient martial art practitioner entered the Battle Simulation Hall, they would be completely immersed in the mirage. In the mirage, they would hone their actual combat ability and ability to survive in desperate situations. Although the Battle Simulation Hall could not directly increase the ancient martial art practitioner’s Cultivation, it could improve the ancient martial art practitioner’s overall quality quite well.
As for the Challenge Hall, it was unique among the six Practice Main Halls. The Challenge Hall was the only one out of the Practice Main Halls where not only was it possible to not spend a single Contribution Credit, but one could even earn Contribution Credits there.
Normally, the Challenge Hall’s popularity was always the greatest among the six Practice Main Halls, receiving the favor of many Huatian Palace Executors.
Mo Wen only had 1,000 Contribution Credits left. He naturally could not visit the Practice Main Halls that deducted Contribution Credits upon entering. He could only blame the fact that he was too poor.
Now he could only head over to the Challenge Main Hall to take a look. The Challenge Main Hall was the only main hall that could be entered and exited freely without costing Contribution Credits.
The Challenge Main Hall was also nine stories high. However, usually only the first four floors were open. As for the the fifth floor and above, only people who were Six stars Executors and above could access them.
Mo Wen walked in from the first floor into the Challenge Main Hall. From outside, the Challenge Main Hall did not look big. In reality, it was a whole other world inside. The Huatian Palace seemed to be able to apply the remarkable power of changing Sumeru Mountain into a mustard seed in any of their spaces.
He had just stepped into the main hall when a huge square entered his view. There were square challenge rings in the square, each an equal distance apart from one another, distributed evenly across the square.
Right now there were many people gathered in the square. Some people were gathered around the challenge rings where people were fighting, spectating the battles in the rings.
Mo Wen glanced across the space. All of them were women, or rather, Vermillion Bird Palace Hall Executors. The Huatian Palace’s Four Great Executor Halls all had their own practice areas. Normally, the Vermillion Bird Palace Hall practice area could only be accessed by the Vermillion Bird Palace Hall Executors.
Although there were many challenge rings in the square, not even one-tenth of them were being used. There were only a few of them where people were battling. However, there were many people watching the battles without participating in them.
Mo Wen’s appearance immediately drew many stares. Many people pointed at him curiously while talking in whispers.
Maybe it was because he had had a long time to get used to it, but Mo Wen seemed to not be as embarrassed as he had been before. Instead, he walked calmly into the midst of the crowd of women watching the battle in the ring.