"So you're saying a Regalia of the Heavens is?" Yan Zaizen questioned, his mind somewhat feeling dizzy. Before him was Pinaka in her soul form, her eyes filled with slight hints of impatience and annoyance. Earlier, Yan Zaizen had asked her a question regarding the Immortal Herculean Method: "What's a Regalia of the Heavens?"
Despite explaining several times, Yan Zaizen found it hard to comprehend due to the contradiction of the name. However, Pinaka only snorted softly and still proceeded to break down her explanation. "The Regalia of the Heavens is an object with its own concept. It is a part of the heavens, but also separate. They are exceptionally rare and are commonly used or created by those who've reached the peak of their conceptual laws."
"..." Yan Zaizen still found this hard to understand. A part of but separate? It bewildered him to the point his brain hurt. However, Pinaka had already realized that Yan Zaizen mental intelligence was somewhat low. It was due to this that his comprehension of arts was considered the lowest possible but also why his comprehension and development speed of the laws was exceptionally fast.
For those who try to comprehend the heavens, typically their thoughts make constant incorrect conclusions leading to a lack of advancement, but to those who don't have such complicated thoughts, they find it much easier to connect with and progress in their laws. To put it simply, those who had a simple outlook had heightened understanding of the world's simplicity despite its complexity. It was like a child looking at a riddle and figuring out the answer in a second while an adult would contemplate it over and over yet still might get it wrong.
This didn't mean Yan Zaizen was a stupid person, simply that he wasn't educated enough to think in complex manners similar to a child. With proper teaching and time, it's highly likely he could rival Tao and even exceed him in intelligence due to this mentality and dao.
"Think of it as a physical object that was originally a part of the Heavens but separated from it after. Therefore, it is no longer connected to the heavens. It's why they're exceptionally rare and incredibly difficult to obtain. If one reaches the peak of a concept, they can create these Regalia's easily, but if not, they can only dream of obtaining one." Pinaka further explained.
Yan Zaizen finally seemed to have gotten something, but then he felt incredibly frustrated afterward. The Immortal Herculean Method required a Regalia of the Heavens to progress to the 2nd Level: Grand Herculean Physique. One has to refine it to determine the characteristics and attribute of their physique; therefore, no two herculean physiques were the same because all conceptual laws have slight differences.
"You obtained the sub-dimensional ethereal ring from another, right?" Pinaka asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
"Hm? I don't know. It just appeared on my finger after a meteor hit me." Yan Zaizen commented, but thinking about it, it was unlikely that the meteor was a meteor.
After a brief moment of silence, Pinaka responded, "You obtained that method from a book within the ring, so the previous owner should've had intentions to cultivate in it. If my guess is correct, that piece of black wood with the white flame should be a Regalia of the Heavens." She pointed out, entering the Meteor Ring's space and arriving next to the inky black wood with the small white flame atop. One could tell from her words that she wasn't completely sure.
Yan Zaizen followed her inside, arriving next to the inky black wood, and his eyes lit up in realization. The first law he comprehended was the Unyielding Flame of Life and it originated from the white flame atop the black wood.
"Not only that, this compass seems to be a trans-spatial divine compass." She pointed towards the six-arrowed compass with a missing double-sided arrow pointing east to west. It gave off faint traces of silver light yet still seemed ordinary in existence.
"Trans-spatial divine compass?"
"Mhm. It's an object that is exceedingly rare in the myriad realms, but it's also unreliable. If used, you'll be sent to any place beneath the heavens. You could end up dead or worse. If your luck isn't exceptionally good, you'll die in some random remote corner alone." Looking at the compass, she couldn't help but wonder why this thing was here and how it was obtained.
From her knowledge, this object shouldn't exist beneath this particular heaven. Even in the previous Era, this shouldn't exist here. This item wasn't just outlawed by the heavens but more so, it was too heaven-defying. This could be the only object that could travel to any corner of the heavens without restriction, even if the Lord of this Heaven blocked off an area personally, this compass could enter or exit from it.
She didn't bother explaining its background, as it wasn't truly important to know nor was she completely sure.
Picking up the compass, Yan Zaizen inspected it a little and felt that it contained a conceptual law that his Spatial Form of Infinite Stability was happy to see. The moment he touched it with his soul form, he could feel his spatial avatar twitch subtly in excitement as if it wanted to hold it dearly.
"Strange…" However, Yan Zaizen quickly put it down. If it could send someone to any place and they could die, he didn't want to use it. His luck had never been that good, and he had no intentions to gamble with his life.
"So, if I refine this inky black wood, I could progress to the Grand Herculean Physique?" He inquired, picking up the inky black wood and feeling the sensation of death and faint traces of unyielding life. Before, he was scared to even get close, but now, he felt incredibly familiar with it.
"I'm not sure, but if the Immortal Herculean Method you practice truly requires you to refine a Regalia, it must be one exceptional method. If you can refine it, I wonder what will happen." She commented, her mind flashing with interest. A Regalia could only be created by the heavens naturally or by those who've reached the peak of laws. The people who could reach the peak of their conceptual law would typically exceed or rival the heavens in power and status.
How could it be so easy to obtain?
The fact there was one here surprised her, but also made her curious as to who the previous owner of this ring was. From Yan Zaizen's words, the resources were more than enough to build an extraordinary physique, a qi cultivation that exceeds the True Essence Realm, and recover or progress the soul.
Unfortunately, all of those resources were siphoned by the black hole during Yan Zaizen's soul transformation. Pinaka's curiosity held no end. This person was the most likely one who've entered the Heavenly Genesis Realm or exceeded it! If so, this person was an absolute monster in the cultivation world and couldn't be someone who wasn't well-known in the myriad realms.
One must know, even the Xiantu Emperor who ruled over the Xiantu Realm, who possessed a Dao, was only at the initial-stages of the Heavenly Genesis Realm.
Yan Zaizen didn't know about Pinaka's turbulent thoughts. He looked at the inky black wood with anticipation dominating his gaze. The method to develop a Grand Herculean Physique required one to refine a Regalia of the Heavens and finalizing one's physique traits. If one could refine a regalia based off thunder, they would receive a physique based around thunder, similar to fire, space, sword, or blood.
Wouldn't this mean his physique would be based off life and death? Would his physique contain specific characteristics of the Siphoning Shadow of Death and Unyielding Flame of Life? If so, how extraordinary would that be?!
He was excited beyond belief.
However, he was frustrated further after reading the requirements to progress the Grand Herculean Physique after reaching it. It stated that he needed something called Heavenly Law Liquid. When he asked Pinaka, she said it was essentially essence liquid to the highest form possible. There were no low-grade, mid-grade, or high-grade Heavenly Law Liquid, but simply a consistent quality per drop.
It seems the heavens produces it and it was typically found in areas where heavenly tribulations take place. The stronger the heavenly tribulation, the greater the chance of its creation, but it was still fairly unlikely. It contains traces of exceptionally potent heavenly essence and is used by Heavenly Genesis Realm experts. He truly felt frustrated after hearing what Heavenly Genesis Realm was - the realm above True Essence and Crimson Star Realm.
He truly realized that his current cultivation was just the tip of the iceberg, there was still so much further to go!
Regardless, he'll have to deal with that when the time came, for now, it was time to refine this inky black wood and white flame!