Ten Thousand Threads Flow and Water Drop Domain

"Feng Qiu actually lost?!"

"His Wind Art was so powerful, yet he still lost to Zhao Xing."

"I couldn't even understand it. Feng Qiu charged back and forth through the canyon, then the gale force winds exploded with a bang, and it was over."

"Feng Qiu's Wind Art was indeed formidable, but Zhao Xing's combination of spells was even stranger. I didn't see Zhao Xing himself until the very end. His Cloud Art is way too strong."

"Feng Qiu's winning streak has ended. Feng Qiu, hailed as the strongest in Wind Art, lost to Zhao Xing. Does that mean Zhao Xing's Cloud Art is the strongest among the reserve Ministers of Agriculture?"

"Zhuang Ziqing is said to be unbeatable in Lightning Art, Feng Qiu is said to be unbeatable in Wind Art, and Zhao Xing is unbeatable in Cloud Art!"

"If I rode Feng Qiu, held Zhao Xing in my left hand, and raised Zhuang Ziqing in my right, who in the reserves could possibly be my opponent? Even Shi Yong would die on the spot!"

"I heard Cao Shuang from the Earthly Advantage Institute has an astonishing Profound Earth Escape Art. Why not ride him too? Then no one in heaven or earth could stop you."

"Hahahaha."

On the plaza outside Cloud Gate, Peng Ran, Yu Chunwu, He Yu, and Yang Yang watched intently through their Earth Mirrors. When Feng Qiu lost—

Yang Yang excitedly slapped his thigh. "Zhao Xing won after all! Even someone as strong as Feng Qiu lost to him!"

He Yu sighed. "Only now do I understand. When Zhao Xing fought me before, he hadn't used his full strength at all. He was completely using me for practice. No wonder I felt that every spell of his only beat mine by a little."

Yu Chunwu also sighed with emotion. "When I first met him, he was still sneakily casting Yin Wind. He probably couldn't even beat Li Feng then. Yet just over three months later, he could defeat Feng Qiu."

"Good thing we didn't go looking for trouble with him back then." Peng Ran laughed. "Otherwise, even if the four of us were tied together, we still wouldn't be enough for him to beat up."

"That's true. Li Feng ended up pretty miserably." The other three laughed as well.

After Zhao Xing had pulled that trick on them during registration, the four only later realized that he had been behind it. They had all considered going to give him a beating.

But they never ran into Zhao Xing, since they did not know him at all at the time.

By the time they learned it was Zhao Xing, the academy division assessment had already begun.

Once Swallowing Clouds emerged, none could contend with it. Zhao Xing had already displayed astonishing dominance in Cloud Art back then.

After that, the gap only grew wider, until they completely lost any desire to cause him trouble.

"After this battle, Zhao Xing's combat strength is beyond doubt. I think Shi Yong is the only one who can suppress him. Even Zhuang Ziqing might not manage it."

Zhuang Ziqing had completely lost any trace of sleepiness by then.

When he saw Feng Qiu use that move, Wind Devours the World, he had thought Zhao Xing was certain to lose.

After all, that move was too powerful. It instantly drained all vital essence, pushing the Nine Swords Four Divinities Secret Art beyond its limits, giving it power comparable to a high-tier spell.

Yet unexpectedly, Zhao Xing had still withstood that killing move.

"He understood it." A trace of fighting spirit appeared in Zhuang Ziqing's eyes. "One of his Solar Terms Decrees must have reached the Fourth Turn of the Knowing Realm. That's how he held on."

Recalling the final moment of battle between Feng Qiu and Zhao Xing, a raindrop surfaced in Zhuang Ziqing's mind.

"It was that raindrop. Its power reached at least ten turns, and his breakthrough differed from Feng Qiu's."

"Feng Qiu's Wind Art reached eleven turns in power entirely through his own control over wind-element power. He used more vital essence to sustain that extreme control, constantly absorbing gale force winds. From the moment he entered Wind Thunder Canyon, he had gathered the gale force winds together without releasing them, raising his spell's power to eleven turns."

"After using that move, his vital essence was completely depleted. But Zhao Xing's raindrop condensed again very quickly, clearly consuming far less vital essence." Zhuang Ziqing quickly saw the difference between them.

"He comprehended a high-tier spell. Its power may not yet have reached eleven turns, but in essence, Zhao Xing's comprehension of the Dao already surpassed Feng Qiu's. That was why he could easily use it a second time."

Having figured out the key, Zhuang Ziqing grew increasingly excited. "To the training grounds! I want to test the power of his raindrop."

Zhuang Ziqing no longer slept. He immediately stepped onto an Auspicious Cloud and flew toward the training grounds.

The Martial Office, the shared activity area of the four major Martial Offices.

Fu Ying was in an utterly miserable state.

The moment he saw the result of the battle, Fu Ying nearly threw out his Earth Mirror.

Feng Qiu, how could you lose?

With your loss, your brother here was going bankrupt!

Of the seventy thousand points, everyone else had pooled together twenty thousand. Since there were many of them, each person's losses were not actually too great.

But he, Fu Ying, was about to lose fifty thousand points!

He had planned to fleece Xia Jing, only to suffer a bloody loss himself.

"Fu Ying."

Xia Jing put away his Earth Mirror and walked smilingly up to Fu Ying. "Don't be so down. You only lost fifty thousand points. To you, that's just a drop in the bucket."

"..."

Fu Ying gritted his teeth in hatred.

Easy for you to say. To earn those fifty thousand points back, he would have to take missions in his spare time and work himself to death for three months.

Still, he could not lose his composure. Though he cursed Feng Qiu, Xia Jing, and Zhao Xing bloody murder in his heart, he kept smiling on the surface. "Of course. It's only fifty thousand points. A bet is a bet, and I accept the loss! I'll transfer them to you now."

Fu Ying elegantly took out his Earth Mirror as though he did not care in the slightest.

Yet Xia Jing saw Fu Ying's hand visibly tremble as he transferred the points. At the very moment of transfer, there was even a breath of reluctance.

Going bankrupt, yet his mouth is still tough... A faint curve appeared at Xia Jing's lips.

"All right." Fu Ying put away his Earth Mirror and looked at Xia Jing. "The points have been transferred to you."

"How generous. I'll thank you on behalf of the brothers." Xia Jing grinned.

"Why do you need to thank him for us? We're right here." Chen Fang came over to drive the knife in deeper. "Thanks, Brother Fu."

"Thank you, Brother Fu. Let's gamble with you again next time." Zhang Jie cheerfully cupped his hands.

"A bet is a bet. Brother Fu is a real man!" Hu Bing gave him a thumbs-up.

"..."

Fu Ying wore a smile on his face, but his heart was bleeding.

These bastards were truly hateful!

Inside Cloud Gate.

Cen Sanji led three students back to his courtyard. As they flew, he patiently answered their questions.

"Once you comprehend the secret canon of the Celestial Timing Faction and reach the Fourth Turn of the Knowing Realm, you will understand the Phenology Art and the Transformation of Seasons Art. What Zhao Xing used at the end was a celestial phenomenon spell. That raindrop was the manifestation of his enlightenment."

"Teacher, just how powerful was that raindrop of his?" a student asked.

"The Phenology Art and Transformation of Seasons Art are both at least high-tier spells." Cen Sanji said, "Zhao Xing's raindrop has already reached the baseline standard of the First Turn of a high-tier spell."

"Teacher, why was Feng Qiu's spell power called the eleventh turn of a mid-tier spell? Wasn't it said to be comparable to a high-tier spell?"

Cen Sanji patiently explained, "Because their realms of Dao differ. Feng Qiu's spell power is comparable to a high-tier spell, but in essence, his comprehension of the Dao remains at the mid-tier level."

"Zhao Xing's comprehension of the Dao, as manifested in that raindrop, has already reached the high-tier level."

"Feng Qiu was unable to fight after casting once because that kind of move consumes an enormous amount of vital essence. This also proves that his comprehension of the Dao has not reached the high-tier level."

"Yet Zhao Xing can easily cast it a second and third time. That is because the Dao he comprehended is strong enough, so casting the spell does not consume much vital essence."

The students suddenly understood. So that was the difference between a consistently high-tier spell and an explosively high-tier one.

Someone asked, "Teacher, why did Zhao Xing say Feng Qiu had gone astray?"

Cen Sanji said, "Because Feng Qiu focused on techniques rather than the Dao. In the ancient cultivation system, the ninth rank is called the Essence Gathering Realm, while the eighth rank is the Spirit Bridge Realm. Why is it called Spirit Bridge?"

"It is because the Spirit Bridge Realm mainly involves communicating with heaven and earth, comprehending the Dao within heaven and earth. During the Essence Gathering Realm, one values techniques. The stronger one's vital essence, the greater the spell's power."

"If you use one portion of vital essence to drive a spell, then use two portions, you will find that the latter is somewhat more powerful. But after reaching the eighth rank, this method gradually reaches its limit. One must then construct a spiritual bridge between heaven and earth and continue improving through comprehending heaven and earth."

"After that, the seventh-rank Earthly Fiend and sixth-rank Heavenly Dipper realms all advance along this great path of comprehending heaven and earth."

After a pause, Cen Sanji continued, "Feng Qiu is overly talented in Wind Art. He can easily control wind-element power. Others reach their limit at nine turns and turn to comprehend heaven and earth, but he felt he could continue improving, so he kept researching it."

"When he previously lost in the selection to Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing, experts had already warned him. But Feng Qiu refused to listen and stubbornly developed another move with power reaching eleven turns."

"Now that he has lost to Zhao Xing, I hope he can wake up."

"If he realizes this in time and bravely breaks out of his comfort zone, his road will still be long."

"But if he does not change and continues wasting time... he may miss the best period for cultivation. Once the Three Souls weaken and the Seven Po wither, sixth rank will be the limit of his life."

The outside world buzzed with discussion, but inside Cloud Gate, Zhao Xing quietly sat on the preparation platform.

His battle with Feng Qiu had brought him many gains. Most importantly, the Start of Spring Solar Terms Decree had finally broken through, reaching the Fourth Turn of the Knowing Realm.

"Among the secret canons of the Celestial Timing Faction, Start of Spring and the Rain Water Diagram are what I have visualized the most."

"Now that I have broken through, I have finally comprehended a high-tier spell from the Start of Spring solar term."

A drop of water floated before Zhao Xing.

The new spell he had comprehended belonged to the water-element path. Since it was comprehended from a Solar Terms Decree and involved the heavenly principles of phenological change, it also counted as a Phenology Art.

By continuously adding high-tier spells into the Solar Terms Decree, filling and perfecting its power of heaven and earth, one could reach the second level, Determining Celestial Timing. It could alter heaven and earth over a vast area, allowing one to place heaven and earth into any season with a single thought and produce all kinds of incredible effects.

Used for attack, it became a natural disaster. Used to nurture living beings, it could cause species to transform.

"When I came down from Spirit Mountain, I felt that my cultivation speed in the water-element Dao had greatly increased. My Rain Art had also reached completion early on."

"The easiest spells for me to cultivate have always been water-element spells. Even later, when I became an official and went to the temple to receive spells, the first thing I gained insight into was the Rain Water Diagram, though I was interrupted."

"Still, what belongs to me remains mine." Zhao Xing looked toward the panel.

Water Drop: High-tier

Classification: Water-element spell, Phenology Art

Progress: First-Turn

Effect: Using water-element power to gather the might of heaven and earth, a single drop of water is heaven and earth.

"I wonder whether the Earth Mirror has any applications for the Water Drop Art." Zhao Xing took out his Earth Mirror to investigate.

Upon reaching the high-tier level, the use of spells became far more profound.

Having comprehended the Water Drop Art, he only knew the simplest control method. How should it grow, and how should he continue cultivating it? Naturally, he needed the experience of those before him.

After making a brief search in the Earth Mirror, numerous secret arts related to Water Drop quickly appeared.

Countless people had comprehended Solar Terms Diagrams. By now, it was extraordinarily difficult to comprehend an entirely new method. Basically, whatever one comprehended for oneself had already been comprehended by others, who had further developed many variations.

Zhao Xing's gaze landed on the top-ranked secret art, also the highest-rated one in the Earth Mirror—Water Drop Domain.

Water Drop Domain was a set of four high-tier secret arts created on the foundation of the Water Drop Art.

The first secret art, Water Drop Becomes a Line, could be learned when the Water Drop Art was at the first to third turns. It allowed one to control up to nine water droplets to attack an enemy, linking them into a line to trap, attack, or defend with the nine droplets.

The second secret art, Water Drop Hundred Threads Flow, required the Water Drop Art to reach the fourth to sixth turns and allowed one to control one hundred water droplets to attack an enemy.

The third secret art, Water Drop Ten Thousand Threads Flow, required the Water Drop Art to reach the seventh turn. The raindrops would form countless threads, strangling layer upon layer.

The fourth secret art, Water Drop Domain, required the Water Drop Art to reach completion. The raindrops would become endless; wherever they covered became the domain, where one could grant life or take it away.

The four secret arts were profound and difficult to understand. Points were required to purchase them, to pay the creator, Nangong Ye, as well as the production costs of the Preaching Paintings.

The first secret art included one fifth-tier Preaching Painting. Purchase price: fifty thousand points.

The second secret art included two fifth-tier Preaching Paintings. Purchase price: one hundred and fifty thousand points.

The third secret art included four fifth-tier Preaching Paintings. Purchase price: three hundred thousand points.

The fourth secret art included eight fifth-tier Preaching Paintings. Purchase price: one million points.

Note: Grade A geniuses may receive discounts. Upper, middle, and lower grades receive thirty percent, twenty percent, and ten percent off respectively. Once purchased, items cannot be returned or resold. Please choose carefully!

"This is fucking expensive." Zhao Xing could not help complaining. "Even after the discount, the first move still costs thirty-five thousand points."

But it was expensive for a reason.

Water Drop Domain did not merely provide a cultivation path for the Water Drop Art, but also secret-art applications for it.

The same spell produced different effects in different hands.

The Dao was the foundation, the spell was its outward manifestation, and techniques were experience.

Take Feng Qiu, for instance. The Wind Art he cast was more powerful than others' because he had developed several secret techniques from the Wind Arts he learned.

The Liu Tradition Weaving Method taught by Xue Wenzhong for the Straw Man Art was the same. He had obtained it from an expert surnamed Liu. Different weaving methods for straw men naturally produced somewhat different effects.

For another example, the unusual True Self Faction method Zhao Xing wanted, the Profound Yellow Analyze Origin Technique, was likewise fundamentally an Origin Analysis Technique. Yet the Profound Yellow Analyze Origin Technique created by Mi Fu could use certain external materials to let someone obtain Pure Origin Soil in advance!

Of course, something like Mi Fu's could be considered an entirely new method.

What Zhao Xing wanted to buy now was the cultivation direction and secret techniques of the Water Drop Art.

If it seemed too expensive, he could choose not to buy it and comprehend it himself.

But if he bought it, he had to pay the production cost for the Preaching Paintings, as well as royalties to the creator.

If everything were free, the imperial court could not afford it. If creators were required to contribute for free, then no one would be willing to create anything. Everyone would simply wait for others to create.

Looks like I'll need to find ways to earn points in the future, Zhao Xing thought.

Still, he was not in a hurry to buy it now. The power of a high-tier spell was there. Even with the simplest application, only a few people in the reserves could withstand it.

Even a superficial grasp of a high-tier spell was enough for Zhao Xing to look down upon the other geniuses of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"I'll finish these third-tier promotion battles first." Zhao Xing tapped the opponent matching function in his Earth Mirror.

The parts involving the cultivation system's additions have me a little stuck on the writing. Sorry about that. The later chapters may be relatively "early"; everyone can read them after getting up.

If I'm still stuck and it isn't out by two o'clock, I may have to make it up during the day.