Chapter 102: The Peak Level
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Elemental force…...Only spiritual knights, Wu Zong, and other similar level experts can awaken the ability to use this power that of the heavens and earth..."
The carriage was sparkling.
Inside the carriage, Fang Yuan seemed to have closed his eyes to rest, but in fact, he was finding out the secrets behind his elemental force.
"There are roughly two systems of power in this world. One is magic and the other is physique...The path of magic would be arduous at the start because it depends on one's potential. Only spiritual disciples, alchemy disciples, dream disciples or the likes can develop elemental force under the guidance of a master!"
"Physique, on the other hand, is slightly different. I can be described as the supplement of magic. In the 12 Gates of martial arts, one will start from the 3 Prosperous Gates, before moving onto 2 Peaceful Gates and then the 3 Perilous Gates, and lastly the 4 Heavenly Gates in this order. This order helps to build one's foundation for obtaining elemental force. However, the first 8 gates would only help to condition one's body while only the 4 Heavenly Gates would improve one's magical energy gradually. Hence, although one may have reached the peak level of the 12th Gate, one may not have reached one's full potential to become Wu Zong!"
"Of course, I am different from them and I can choose to go by both paths of magic and physique. Martial arts is just a form of self-defence in the early stages, and also a way for me to build up my foundations…...The 12th Gate is the final preparation for me to make a last breakthrough which is completely dependent on my magical energy!"
The trip to the Prefecture City was beneficial for Fang Yuan.
Even though he could only watch the moves of a spiritual knight from afar and feel the spiritual pressure, it made him slightly more optimistic of a breakthrough.
This was not because of his gifts, but rather, his accumulation in experience.
"It looks like when these skills have reached a later stage, they cannot be depended on proficiency points to be improved. Rather they depended on self-realisation and maybe some sort of opportunities….."
Fang Yuan glanced at his stats window and noticed that his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique's proficiency points had reached 99.99% in Grade 11!
Along with this self-realisation, the last percentage of improvement needed was finally fulfilled!
Suddenly, Fang Yuan closed both of his eyes.
"Piak!"
He could feel a soft sound coming from the middle of his forehead.
However, this sound was not real. It was the tremor from his sea of consciousness!
"Hoo….."
Fang Yuan exhaled gently while he held on to his forehead.
From previous breakthroughs, he could feel his inner force surging around his whole body. This time, it was totally different. He could feel a slight dizziness and a swell in his head as if a brick had just been squeezed into his consciousness.
"Such feeling I'm getting…..must be due to my body's inability to adapt to the sudden surge in magical energy….."
He looked at his stats window again and saw the changes.
"Name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 8.0
Spirit: 7.9
Magic: 5.5
Profession: Dream Disciple
Cultivation: [Martial Artist (12th Gate)]
Technique: [Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)], [Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 12)] (Limit reached)
Skill: [Medicine (Level 3)], [Botany (Level 4)]"
Fang Yuan was surprised by the changes. "There are not much increments for my [Essence] and [Spirit], but my [Magic] has improved by 1!"
Such great improvements were way more than what the Questioning Heart Tea could do.
However, there were also side effects from this vast improvement and these side effects were quite scary. Hence, Fang Yuan had to clear his mind to allow his body to get used to the increase in magical energy.
After a while, his energy was at its peak and he became very alert.
He could feel that his thinking speed was much faster than before and he was very satisfied.
"Even though I had the magical energy of an average person from the start, but with the cultivation from my master, my strong foundations, the help of the Questioning Heart Tea and the breakthroughs in martial arts, I am now comparable to the other talents!"
"With my current magical energy, I should be considered gifted among all other normal spiritual disciples!"
His mind was clear and Fang Yuan stretched himself. He then continued to check on other areas.
"[Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique (Grade 12)] -- You have mastered this technique to its peak level and the level is similar to the creator of this technique! However, due to the disadvantage of this technique, this technique cannot be further improved to condense elemental force!"
The system also identified that the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique had reached its peak and there would be no further improvements.
This meant that if Fang Yuan still wished to continue to make a breakthrough in his martial arts, he had to change his cultivation to either the Xuan Yin Heart Technique, the Spirit Returning Heart Manual or other similar high levelled techniques.
"This system is useless….Can't it improve or optimise my techniques?"
Fang Yuan murmured and stroked his chin. "No…..the system's abilities seem to come from my level of comprehension….."
Where did martial arts originate from in this world?
Martial arts were created by man, of course! Since one could create techniques for Wu Zong, Fang Yuan believed that he could similarly do so.
A real expert would probably be able to raise his Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to Grade 13, Grade 14 or even Grade 15!
Of course, with his current level of comprehension and experience, the chances of him going crazy from improving his technique was very high, since he was cultivating without any help.
"Even if I enter the dream world to experiment, with my current level of cultivation as a dream disciple, I'm afraid I'm not even able to simulate inner force properly, let alone elemental force!"
Death in the dream world didn't mean actual death. Therefore, he could simulate many different environments to try out.
If he was capable enough, he could build another Xia country in the dream world!
With this convenience, high cultivation levelled dream masters often improved their techniques in martial arts beyond the original peak levels. Furthermore, they could also provide services for optimisation of martial arts for other martial artists. Of course, these services would cost a bomb.
With Fang Yuan's current level of cultivation, he would not be able to simulate at such a level yet.
"However…...this is also another type of cultivation. At least it would be much more convenient to reproduce my actual physical body in the dream world, and give it inner force….."
The ability for a martial artist to understand their own body condition would be rather useful.
However, if Fang Yuan had the ability to simulate everything in the dream world and allowed himself to go crazy from improving the Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique to Grade 13 for a few thousand times in the dream world, he would already have made a breakthrough in his cultivation of becoming a dream master, thereby developing dream elemental force.
Hence, the effectiveness of this method to aid his martial arts was still debatable.
"However, if this method was solely for the purpose of the cultivation to become a dream master, it could still be done. I shall remember this!"
He added another to-do item in his checklist silently in his mind and opened the curtains. The sunlight was blinding, causing him to squint his eyes.
"How long have I been meditating? Where are we now?"
Fang Yuan looked at the coachman and asked him.
"Sir!"
The coachman was from the White Cloud Business Council and was one Yu Xinlou's men. As such, he would not be rude to Fang Yuan and answered him politely. "You have meditated for half a day. We are currently in Qinghe County and in two days time, we should be able to reach Qingye City!
"Very good, get Huang Fu Renhe and Yu Xinlou to come over here!"
Fang Yuan got out of the carriage and randomly asked one of the horse riders dressed in green to get off the horse. Fang Yuan then took over, as the horse obediently allowed him to train his riding skills.
"Sir!"
Not long after, Yu Xinlou and Huang Fu Renhe came over. Yu Xinlou's eyebrows were furrowed and his face looked sad.
"Oh? From your facial expression, it looks like you have gotten the news of the current situation in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture City!"
Fang Yuan' eyes then brightened up.
Even though he had decided not to be involved in the happenings in the Prefecture City, he still sent a few men to find out about the current situation, and it was worth it.
"One of the riders from my business council has just returned with news. The current situation in the Prefecture City is quite bad..."
Mentioning this, Yu Xinlou's eyes went red. "It was the misfortune on the day of the birthday banquet. The fire spread through the entire city, costing the lives of many innocent civilians living there. Now, many civilians are trying to escape the city, and my riders have seen a few of their ex-colleagues who were also escaping. The Prefecture City is now a big battlefield!"
"What?"
Fang Yuan was surprised and asked, "Lu Renjia is that powerful?"
"You can't imagine how many connections an alchemy master like Lu Renjia has!"
Huang Fu Renhe gave a wry grin and said, "Of all the 6 counties in the Secluded Mountain Prefecture, 3 of them clearly voiced out their support for Lu Renjia. Even one capital leader from the Secluded Mountain Prefecture was convinced to join Lu Renjia's side and remained undercover. When the time is ripe, the Prefecture Master's side will go down!"
"Even so, I don't believe that the Prefecture Master will lose in his own territory. It doesn't matter if his men were dead. Ultimately, what would be the outcome of the fight between the leaders? And what about the Wu Zongs?"
Fang Yuan frowned and asked.
Of course, he was only interested in Liu Yan and Lu Renjia.
"Such information is rarely disclosed and no one knows the truth. There are only rumours everywhere…."
Yu Xinlou shook his head and said, "I have heard that this Prefecture Master is holding back. Even though his life is coming to an end, he is still holding back, with the intention to capture everyone who opposes him once and for all. However, he did not expect Lu Renjia to come up with an ultimatum….. Furthermore, both parties are recruiting reinforcements from external parties. The final outcome will lead to both sides being severely weakened. However, as long as the leaders of both parties are alive, I'm afraid the war will last!"
As he spoke, his face gave a worried look.
The war in the city had caused much sufferings and chaos. The ones suffering the most was the civilians.
Escaping to Qinghe County did not mean that one would be safe from the heat of the battle.
"Hmm…..The downfall of both sides…..This alchemy master is unexpectedly capable!"
Liu Yan was actually the most highly skilled in the entire Secluded Mountain Prefecture. However, Lu Renjia, who was just an alchemy master, could fight against him to such a stage, shocking Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan then asked, "What about Shi Yutong?"
Yu Xinlou shook his head and said, "Spirit Returning Sect is one of the 3 sects who had rebelled. However, I haven't heard any news about the whereabouts of Shi Yutong. She probably managed to escape successfully!"
Fang Yuan had expected that anyway.
With the cunningness of Shi Yutong, it would be strange if she didn't manage to escape.
"It looks like….this world is going to get even more chaotic!"
He looked at the end of the pathway ahead and sighed. "Pass down the order to tell everyone to move faster! Otherwise, by then, it will be harder for us to return amidst the chaos if the Spirit Returning decides to gather their men to join in the fight."