Secret Techniques

He took an item from his Space Ring: a bottle of blood sealed in a special material. Protected by this material, the blood would never lose its vitality. After all, only genetic material that retained its vitality could give rise to a clone, and the greater the quantity and vitality, the higher the chance of success.

Inside his Internal World, on a vast, empty grassland.

Qin Cang stood on the ground, holding a bottle of Sky Canopy Python blood.

He opened the bottle and took out the blood.

"Innate Secret Technique: Clone—form!" Qin Cang murmured.

As his Innate Secret Technique took effect, a fist-sized crystal of blood slowly floated into the air. World Force surged, and countless red rays of light poured out, rushing toward the blood and gradually enveloping it.

Drip~

Drip~

Drip~

Time passed slowly, and Qin Cang grew more and more nervous.

Although the theoretical limit for a clone's Gene Multiplier was six thousand, theory was ultimately just theory, not fact.

This was a Special Lifeform with a Gene Multiplier of five thousand, extremely close to the limit. It wouldn't be at all surprising if the attempt failed for any number of reasons.

Perhaps it took only a short while, perhaps a whole day. Qin Cang couldn't tell; he only knew the wait felt interminable.

"The life material has been fully analyzed. The gestation has begun!" Qin Cang sensed the message from his Internal World and couldn't help laughing aloud.

"Hahaha, excellent! The Sky Canopy Python will finally be mine. Such an impossibly powerful Special Lifeform will become one of my clones! Hahaha, fantastic!!!"

Hearing Qin Cang's voice, the Chaos City Lord understood that the gestation had begun successfully. Otherwise, Qin Cang wouldn't be so happy.

"Little fellow, it seems you've successfully begun gestating the Sky Canopy Python. This is wonderful news for you and for the Human Race. But your cultivation in Chaos City has only just begun at the World Lord Level. How long will it take for your clone to finish gestating?" the Chaos City Lord asked.

"Reporting to you, City Lord, it should take about two thousand years," Qin Cang replied.

Two thousand years. Yet when he considered what a fearsome Special Lifeform it was, two thousand years seemed fast. Besides, given that his Internal World was six hundred million kilometers in diameter, it made sense.

An ordinary World Lord's Internal World was only a few million kilometers in diameter. Even the most powerful geniuses among the Golden Horned Beasts had Internal Worlds no larger than one hundred million kilometers across. If Qin Cang brought his six-hundred-million-kilometer-wide Internal World to bear against an enemy, the pressure it exerted would be terrifying.

"Not bad. Two thousand years. For now, your top priority is to study the Chaos Stele, comprehend the laws, and cultivate secret techniques.

"I remember you passed the Domain Lord Level Primal Sky Mountain. The points you earned should have been credited by now. Make good use of them to improve yourself—that's what matters. When you leave Chaos City, come here again.

"For now, go cultivate on your own. I'll grant you another twenty chances to study the Chaos Stele. If you run into anything you don't understand, ask your senior brothers and your teacher. At this stage, their guidance is more than enough," the Chaos City Lord said. With a wave of his hand, Qin Cang left the Chaos Ruins and appeared outside the City Lord Mansion.

"As expected of the City Lord. When will I be able to master that kind of power? By then, I'll probably already be famous throughout the universe. For now, I'd better focus on my cultivation." He shook his head, then headed for Blood Blade King's residence.

Qin Cang's days in Chaos City were extremely fulfilling. With three billion points to start with, he spent one billion on the first seven volumes of Space-Time Essays, one of the secret techniques he focused on cultivating.

Space-Time Essays, written by the creator of the Nine Universes Chaos Stele, was ideally suited to practitioners of the Nine Universes school. Its greatest drawback, however, was its price. Even members of the Primal Secret Region received no discount.

Besides Space-Time Essays, Qin Cang also followed the advice of his senior brother Blood Blade King and his teacher Demon Wing Venerable, purchasing hundreds of ordinary secret techniques. Though far inferior to Space-Time Essays—and even to Blood Blade King's Blood Blade Canon—in power and intricacy, their greatest value lay in broadening his horizons. They exposed him to the approaches of practitioners at different levels and showed him how others applied the laws.

In addition to Space-Time Essays and these ordinary secret techniques, Qin Cang also studied Demon Wing Venerable's self-created Demon Wing Canon. It was a distillation of his teacher's life's work, recording his understanding of the laws of space and time as well as the various secret techniques he had created. In a sense, it was the very foundation of Demon Wing Venerable's strength.

Qin Cang's senior brothers were also incredibly generous. They gave him the manuals they had written for their own cultivation without asking for a single point. Whenever Qin Cang needed help, they made time to answer his questions about cultivation. Their kindness moved him deeply.

Blood Blade King spent all his time cultivating in Chaos City, so there was little to say about him. King Xue Yu, on the other hand, roamed the universe. At any given moment, he might be fighting in some dangerous secret realm or on the Outer-Region Battlefield.

Golden Feather Venerable and Venerable Mi Hao were both High Venerables. Ordinary King-level experts rarely even got to see them, let alone ask them for guidance whenever they pleased. Even their personal disciples didn't receive such treatment.

Of course, Demon Wing Venerable had personally given the order. His disciples wouldn't dare disobey him. Besides, they were all very fond of their junior brother, whose talent and luck were off the charts.

With his senior brothers and sisters supporting him, Qin Cang had saved an untold number of points.

The Domain Lord Level Primal Sky Mountain had earned him three billion points. Space-Time Essays had cost one billion, leaving him with a full two billion. In the end, he spent another billion to purchase another Top-tier manual, Black Hole Evolution, as well as an Amplitude Secret Technique, Blazing Flame True Body.

Unlike Space-Time Essays, Black Hole Evolution was a purely combat-focused manual. Once mastered, every move could produce a black hole. Qin Cang had coveted it for a long time; he had only bought Space-Time Essays first because he hadn't had enough points, and that manual focused primarily on comprehending the laws.

Even after purchasing Black Hole Evolution, he still had one billion points left. But he didn't buy any more items or secret techniques. He'd planned from the start to put those points to a particular use—and even one billion might not be enough.

Blazing Flame True Body, however, was a different matter. It was a Divine Body Amplitude secret technique, priced at a staggering ten billion points!

That price was for the entire set. The first three levels alone cost ten million points, or just six million after the Primal Secret Region discount.

Once mastered, it could achieve an eightfold Divine Body Amplitude. Demon Wing Venerable had recommended it as the most suitable Amplitude Secret Technique for Qin Cang at his current stage.

Moreover, Demon Wing Venerable had already promised to apply for the most suitable Divine General Inheritance for him once Qin Cang became an Undying.

At the Undying stage, the best way to increase one's amplitude was through a Divine General Inheritance. But such inheritances opened only once every countless ages, and each time, people had to call in favors or pay to get a place—and even then, success wasn't guaranteed. For Qin Cang, though, a Divine General Inheritance was still a long way off. For now, the best option was to improve his amplitude by cultivating secret techniques.