Primordial Chaos Skill was merely a Houtian technique. Even though it had already reached the upper grade, it clearly still failed to catch Zheng Qian's eye.
Therefore, he chose "No!" without hesitation.
As soon as he made his choice, the text before him immediately began scrolling again.
[After learning the complete Primordial Chaos Skill, you officially began cultivating.]
[At the end of your fifteenth year, after several months of arduous cultivation, you finally succeeded in reaching the entry level of Primordial Chaos Skill. You consequently condensed internal force and opened your own Dantian Sea of Qi.
You completely recovered your early Houtian Realm strength.]
[In your seventeenth year, after more than a year of arduous cultivation, you successfully opened three of the Twelve Meridian Channels, and your strength consequently rose to the peak of the early Houtian Realm.
During this period, you also learned Morning Sun One Qi Sword and Primordial Chaos Palm, both of which were among the Nine Huashan Skills.
In addition, you learned several other upper-grade Houtian-level martial arts unrelated to the Nine Huashan Skills, including the sword technique Great Yue Three Pure Winds, the lightness skill Golden Goose Skill, and the fist technique Jade Breaking Fist.]
As various Houtian-level techniques and martial arts appeared in the text once more, a series of selection windows identical to the previous one for Primordial Chaos Skill popped up before Zheng Qian.
As before, he chose "No" for all of them.
[After your strength recovered to the Houtian Realm, you began heading to Siguo Cliff to search for the cave where the Ten Great Elders of the Demon Cult had been buried.
Heaven rewarded your perseverance. You finally found it a month ago.
However, you did not hurry to tell anyone. Instead, you entered it first and committed the exquisite sword techniques within to memory.]
[While you were memorizing the sword techniques of the Five Great Sword Sects in the cave and the corresponding methods to counter them, an old man with white hair and a youthful face, dressed in Daoist robes, watched your every move from a corner you could not see.]
"An old man? Feng Qingyang? I wonder if there's any way to get him to teach me Dugu Nine Swords..."
Looking at the text that had just appeared before him, Zheng Qian's eyes lit up. Then, he muttered thoughtfully.
[A month later, you successfully memorized all the famous sword techniques of the Five Great Sword Sects and the corresponding methods to counter them.
Afterward, you told your master, Yue Buqun, and your mistress, Ning Zhongze, the secret of the cave without hesitation.]
[Your discovery greatly shocked and delighted your master and mistress.
Three months later, they even made an exception and taught you Purple Cloud Divine Skill, which only the sect master was permitted to cultivate.]
[Ding! You have obtained the mid-grade Xiantian-level technique Purple Cloud Divine Skill. Would you like to use one [Xiantian-level Technique/Martial Art Simplification Opportunity] to simplify Purple Cloud Divine Skill? Yes/No?]
"Hm? A mid-grade Xiantian-level technique? The grade of this Purple Cloud Divine Skill is actually this high?!"
Looking at the words in the selection window before him, Zheng Qian cried out in shock.
As the undisputed greatest divine skill among the Nine Huashan Skills, Zheng Qian had long suspected that Purple Cloud Divine Skill had reached the Xiantian level.
However, he had only thought it would be low-grade Xiantian at most. He had never expected it to give him such a huge surprise.
One had to know that the highest realm a Low Martial World could accommodate was only the Xiantian Realm.
Therefore, whether it was the Sunflower Manual or Dugu Nine Swords, they were both merely Xiantian-level techniques or martial arts, with their grades reaching upper-grade Xiantian at most.
Yet Purple Cloud Divine Skill was actually mid-grade Xiantian. This was absolutely an unexpected delight.
However, as a Daoist technique, Purple Cloud Divine Skill was indeed powerful, but its defining trait was that it was extremely difficult to cultivate.
Yue Buqun had practiced it for decades without even reaching the minor accomplishment stage, let alone the major accomplishment stage.
As for perfection, he did not even dare to imagine it.
Even so, Yue Buqun had relied on it to rank among the first-class experts of the martial world. This showed just how powerful Purple Cloud Divine Skill was.
"I didn't expect Purple Cloud Divine Skill to have reached the mid-grade Xiantian level. That means the only things stronger than it are the Sunflower Manual and Dugu Nine Swords."
He could never cultivate a castrating technique like the Sunflower Manual, while obtaining Dugu Nine Swords was simply too difficult.
That old monster Feng Qingyang was definitely an Xiantian expert. Unless Feng Qingyang was willing, it was impossible for him to be taught Dugu Nine Swords.
As for the remaining Yi Jin Jing, Star Absorbing Great Method, Cold Ice True Qi, and the others, they were at most equal in grade to Purple Cloud Divine Skill. There was no need for him to take a longer route when the closer one was already available.
So—
"Yes!"
Zheng Qian used one [Xiantian-level Technique/Martial Art Simplification Opportunity] on Purple Cloud Divine Skill without hesitation.
[Ding! One [Xiantian-level Technique/Martial Art Simplification Opportunity] consumed. Beginning simplification of Purple Cloud Divine Skill.]
[Purple Xia refers to the first wisp of violet qi at sunrise. Absorbing it can strengthen the sinews and bones, prolong life, and condense true qi.
This is the core principle of Purple Cloud Divine Skill!
After simplification, the host's cultivation of Purple Cloud Divine Skill will no longer be restricted to absorbing the first wisp of violet qi at sunrise. As long as there is sunlight, you can cultivate continuously, and both your cultivation speed and ultimate attainment will be equal to those of perfected Purple Cloud Divine Skill.]
"Holy crap! Is this the power of a one-time talent?! It's actually this ridiculously overpowered!"
Looking at the effects of the simplified Purple Cloud Divine Skill, Zheng Qian could not help crying out in shock again.
One had to know that the first wisp of violet qi at sunrise lasted less than a quarter of an hour. Converted, that was only around ten minutes.
In other words, if he cultivated the original version of Purple Cloud Divine Skill, he could only cultivate for ten minutes each day.
This was also why Ren Woxing had looked down on Purple Cloud Divine Skill in the original story. It was simply too slow to cultivate—so slow it was maddening.
But now, as long as there was sunlight, Zheng Qian could cultivate continuously.
Even assuming an average of ten hours of sunlight per day, his cultivation speed would be more than sixty times faster than that of the original Purple Cloud Divine Skill. One day of his cultivation would equal two months of another person's.
Moreover, he would advance his cultivation at the speed of a perfected technique while practicing.
One had to know that the deeper one's comprehension of a technique, the faster one naturally cultivated.
If the cultivation speed at the entry level was 1, then the minor accomplishment stage was 2, the major accomplishment stage was 4, and perfection was 8!
In other words, one day of Zheng Qian's cultivation of the simplified Purple Cloud Divine Skill would be equivalent to 480 days of Yue Buqun's cultivation.
A year of cultivation would be equivalent to 480 years of Yue Buqun's cultivation.
Ten years would be equivalent to 4,800 years...
However, Zheng Qian clearly could not cultivate for that long.
That was because the highest realm achievable through perfected Purple Cloud Divine Skill was only the late Xiantian Realm. After that, there was nowhere further to go.
Of course, this was merely the theoretical cultivation time. Eating, drinking, relieving himself, wind and rain, cultivating other martial arts, returning home to visit relatives, and so on all required time as well. Zheng Qian could not spend every moment cultivating Purple Cloud Divine Skill like a robot.
Even if he could endure it, his body could not.
[In the eleventh month of your seventeenth year, you officially began switching to Purple Cloud Divine Skill.
Primordial Chaos Skill and Purple Cloud Divine Skill shared the same origin, so your Primordial Chaos internal force was easily transformed into Purple Cloud internal force.
After being transformed into Purple Xia internal force, the total amount of your internal force decreased by one-third, but its degree of refinement increased by a full fifty percent.
This was the first time you realized the might of Purple Cloud Divine Skill.]
Before you continue