"Your aura seems rather turbulent," a raspy, aged voice suddenly said from behind.
Across the entire Great Derivation, fewer than ten people were qualified to enter the fifth floor of the Library Pavilion.
And at this moment, besides Li Changâan, the only person who could arrive here so silently was the old man responsible for guarding the Library Pavilion.
The old man, a pipe clenched between his teeth, stared at Li Changâan. "I told you long ago," he said, his voice thick with exasperation. "Itâs not a matter of âthe more Cultivation Techniques Secret Manuals you read, the better.â You refused to believe me. Are you finally tasting the consequences of your greed?"
Hearing his voice, Li Changâan turned and smiled. "For every gain, there is a loss; for every loss, a gain. The line between them is often just a matter of perspective. I have my reasons for being greedy!"
The old man scoffed, clearly disdainful of the explanation. He didnât argue, however, instead changing the subject. "So, whatâs your plan now?"
"If you donât learn to discard some of those Cultivation Techniques, you can forget about advancing your Martial Arts Realm. Youâll be lucky if you can just keep your current strength from deteriorating!"
Li Changâan didnât answer. He simply sat down cross-legged in silence and began to carefully sense the fluctuations of the various Cultivation Techniques and auras circulating within his body.
Having spent five years reading in the Library Pavilion, Li Changâan hadnât focused on his training, but it was impossible for his Realm to have completely stagnated.
In fact, he had completely stabilized his Grandmaster Realm three years ago. By all rights, he should have advanced further by now.
But not only had the Azure Heaven Qi flowing through his meridians failed to become deeper and more condensed, it had instead grown mottled and disorderedâeven more so than when he had first broken through five years ago.
This wasnât because the Energy he gathered was impure, nor was it because his Realm wasnât firmly consolidated. The problem was caused purely by the vast and chaotic array of Cultivation Techniques he had comprehended and practiced.
This was why the old man had urged him to abandon some of his Cultivation Techniques.
Naturally, Li Changâan found this unacceptable.
After all, he had invested so many years and poured immeasurable effort into his path. He certainly hadnât done it all just to prove himself wrong in the end.
And so, after closing his eyes and sinking into deep thought for a long time, Li Changâan finally made a decision. âIf I want to achieve greatness on the path of the Martial Dao, if I want to reach the pinnacle in both the Rebirth World and the real world, then simply learning or comprehending the Laws of others wonât be enough. I need a cultivation path that is mine and mine alone!â
He mulled over the feasibility of this idea again and again in his mind.
Li Changâanâs eyes grew resolute. âMy Heaven-defying Comprehension is my greatest advantage. I must make full use of it, extracting the best parts of countless Cultivation Techniques to create one that is uniquely mineâone suited only for me!â
Across two lifetimes, the number of Cultivation Techniques Li Changâan had either comprehended or thoroughly studied was simply countless.
On the Celestial Yang Continent, he had comprehended Shadowless Step, Ghost Gate Thirteen Blades, Purifying Heart Technique, the Taiping Body Refining Divine Skill, and even created the Taiping Qingyu True Scripture by merging the Purifying Heart Technique and the Taiping Body Refining Divine Skill...
And that was to say nothing of his accomplishments in this new world.
Before he was even a year old, he had comprehended the Star Forging Body Technique. By the time he was two, he had moved into the Royal Scripture Pavilion.
He himself had probably lost count of how many top-tier Cultivation Techniques and Secret Skills he had learned.
Li Changâan still frequently used some of them, but many more had been gradually phased out as his Realm advanced. An even greater number had never been put to use at all, long since relegated to the dusty corners of his memory.
But did all those Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals truly have no redeeming qualities?
Of course not!
They might have been limited by factors like their creatorsâ strength or vision, resulting in various flaws and shortcomings. But that didnât mean the techniques were useless. It was simply that as Li Changâanâs Realm advanced, their individual strengths were no longer enough to influence or alter the outcome of a situation, and so he had discarded them.
Since Li Changâan possessed an epic-level cheat like Heaven-defying Comprehension, he had to draw upon the strengths of countless Cultivation Techniques. He would take their essence, discard their dross, and forge them all into a single, Supreme Divine Skill unique to him!
...
Having found his new purpose, Li Changâan wasted no more time.
He closed his eyes and began to sort through the jumble of Cultivation Techniques Secret Manuals in his mind, meticulously categorizing each one.
The number of Cultivation Techniques he needed to synthesize was so immense that even with his Heaven-defying Comprehension, the process would take an unknown length of time.
One day, two days, three days...
As the old man watched, dumbfounded, Li Changâanâs entire aura seemed to collapse inward. With each passing moment, he became like a seated Black Hole, frantically devouring the Azure Heaven Qi from the world around him!
[You have studied three thousand scrolls of Cultivation Techniques Secret Manuals and countless Daoist classics in the Library Pavilion. In accordance with your needs, you have created a new Cultivation Technique: Heaven and Earth Chaos Technique (Incomplete)!]
The moment the message flashed across his vision,
Li Changâan felt as if his mind had been blown wide open.
With every breath he took, it felt as though all the Energy in the world was endlessly converging around him, ready to be devoured with a single thought.