Mutated Sea of Bitterness

"If I don't at least try—trying can't hurt—I'd never forgive myself if I just gave up like this!"

Yan Kuan sat in the courtyard, hesitating for a long time before finally making a decision. Carrying the seed of the Empyrean Flame, he knew this cultivation art held boundless potential. Abandoning it now would be a bitter regret. Besides, his suspicion that the Burning Art blazed its own path was just a guess—perhaps it could still be cultivated.

Once resolved, Yan Kuan cast aside further deliberation, emptying his mind of distractions and plunging into cultivation. The information of the Burning Art and its Battle Qi pathways surfaced in his thoughts, flowing as the Battle Qi within his Battle Qi Cyclone began to transform.

According to the inherited memories, a Battle Practitioner on the Battle Qi Continent wouldn't need long for their first Battle Qi conversion. Even the Flame Emperor of old had only taken two hours, and no unusual phenomena had marked his cultivation.

But for Yan Kuan, things seemed different. As strands of Battle Qi stirred, he had barely completed one cycle of the Burning Art when suddenly the Wheel Sea Chapter of the Eight Trigrams Sect's cultivation method surfaced in his mind. Scattered fragments of knowledge merged within his thoughts, as if some special energy was fusing into the Burning Art's Battle Qi.

When he sank into deeper cultivation, the vision of ten thousand blazing rays erupted once more—divine flames arcing like rainbows, a crimson Sea of Fire surging outward. The entire Courtyard House was on the verge of catastrophe.

The Trigram Treasure Box, which had fallen silent earlier, now spun and rose into the air. Lines of light interwove across the courtyard, completely concealing the astonishing vision.

Yan Kuan sat motionless, still as stone, as divine radiance bloomed brilliantly within his Sea of Bitterness. At this moment, flames blazed without end, light flaring, scorching heaven and earth.

The crimson Sea of Fire seemed almost real. Many plants in the courtyard withered and yellowed, an invisible pressure forcing them to the ground.

"Rumble..."

At the heart of the Sea of Fire, Yan Kuan stood like the king of all flames. The astonishing vision left this sealed patch of heaven and earth blazing hot, everywhere filled with dazzling, radiant light.

Yet this tremendous commotion did not disturb Yan Kuan's meditative state. He seemed utterly unaware, silent and still, quietly circulating the mysterious method born from the transformed Burning Art.

His meditation lasted until dusk. Only then did the heaven-shaking flames slowly recede, the noise gradually fading. After another half hour, true stillness returned. Yan Kuan's Sea of Bitterness calmed, its light withdrawn, the flames gone.

Ten minutes later, he awoke. The moment his eyes opened, Fiery Golden Eyes manifested again. As he rose to his feet, his entire being seemed more agile, touched by a faint, ethereal aura of the Immortal Dao.

He appeared more spirited than before. A subtle, jade-like luster gleamed on his delicate features, radiating vitality.

Though dusk approached, he felt his surroundings were clearer than at noon. Yan Kuan smiled faintly, knowing this was a sensory enhancement brought by cultivating the art.

"The Burning Art actually fused some of the mysteries from the Shrouding the Heavens Method's classic scriptures. A pity—the Dao Scripture's Wheel Sea Chapter passed down by the Eight Trigrams Sect is incomplete."

Yan Kuan extended a fair hand. Power surged swiftly within him, and a scorching crimson flame appeared in his palm.

"Transforming Battle Qi into flame—or energy, or divine power into flame—that's something only the most top-tier cultivation arts or secret techniques can achieve on the Battle Qi Continent. And now, with this transformed Burning Art, I've done it. The Burning Art truly has limitless potential!"

Yan Kuan gazed at the flame in his palm, a hint of satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. He hadn't expected cultivating the Burning Art to yield such a pleasant surprise.

While running the Burning Art, he had naturally completed the fusion of this art with the Shrouding the Heavens Method. More precisely, what he now cultivated was a 'Shrouding the Heavens Method' with the Burning Art's characteristics.

He wasn't sure if this was the Burning Art evolving on its own or some other reason. Either way, it was a good thing. The Burning Art retained its trait of devouring strange flames for infinite evolution, meaning he had stepped onto a unique 'path' with infinite possibilities.

With the Burning Art 'Shrouding the Heavens-ized,' he no longer had to worry about the art's exclusivity. He could actively gather more advanced cultivation arts as nourishment to perfect this evolved version.

The Wheel Sea Chapter of the Burning Art he now cultivated had evolved by merging the Wheel Sea cultivation method and knowledge from the Eight Trigrams Sect's inheritance. It still had room for improvement, because the Eight Trigrams Sect's methods were only passable across the entire Shrouding the Heavens universe.

In the Shrouding the Heavens universe, the most top-tier cultivation arts were naturally the Immortal Emperor Scriptures. Great Emperors, who suppressed an entire era, possessed an understanding of the Dao beyond ordinary cultivators' imagination. Cultivating the arts they created could generally push each secret realm to an extremely high level.

Over millions of years of cultivation history in the Shrouding the Heavens universe, countless powerhouses had emerged, and debates over the Five Great Secret Realms never ceased. Yet the universally recognized strongest scripture for the Wheel Sea Secret Realm was the Wheel Sea Chapter of the Dao Scripture.

The Dao Scripture—a scripture recording the Great Dao, a supreme method originating from the Mythological Era. Legend said it was an Immortal Scripture created by the Nine Mythical Heavenly Lords, with only a few ancient scriptures able to stand alongside it, none fully surpassing it.

The complete Dao Scripture had long been scattered, its various chapters naturally spreading out. Among them, the most widely circulated was the Wheel Sea Chapter of the Dao Scripture.

This foundational method, hailed as the strongest in the world, was so accessible that even the lowest sects on the Big Dipper Ancient Star could obtain its opening chapter. The Eight Trigrams Sect, founded by a Great Power, naturally had some of this scripture's content.

Aside from the Dao Scripture fragments, the Eight Trigrams Sect's main Wheel Sea cultivation method came from its Founding Great Power. A Second Heaven of Immortal Platform Great Power's art might not be universe-top-tier, but it could at least cultivate one fully to the Immortal Platform stage. However, Yan Kuan had only obtained the complete Wheel Sea Chapter inheritance.

The Trigram Treasure Box in his hands had many uses. It contained a special space storing the Eight Trigrams Sect's remaining cultivation arts, secret techniques, and other foundations. As for resources—if there were any left, the sect wouldn't have fallen into discontinuity and let him pick up the pieces.

"I'll just pin the cleanup on Old Yan!"

Yan Kuan sorted his thoughts, stored the Golden Book Jade Scroll into the Trigram Treasure Box, then channeled the divine power of his Sea of Bitterness to stow this Great Power's treasure into his own Sea. After surveying the courtyard, thoroughly ravaged, he began plotting how to shift the blame onto his old man.

Returning to his room, he took out a notebook and started writing down his prophetic memories of this world.

The Shrouding the Heavens universe was full of opportunities—many good things could be snatched up. But to successfully claim the benefits, careful planning was essential.