Hidden Cultivation

Before transmigrating, Olivier identified with the Taoist philosophy of "following the natural course of things" and "acting through non-action." He preferred to let things take their natural course, but he knew the Era of Gods would soon arrive. If he spent his days in idle comfort, he would likely meet his end when that time came. Hardship breeds success, while ease leads to ruin. Thus, for the sake of becoming a god and securing a life of true leisure in the future, Olivier abandoned temporary comfort and set out for the Arctic Ice Plain to seek a breakthrough.

The Arctic Ice Plain is located north of the Northern Sea, composed of massive glaciers. Not a single patch of soil is visible, and its area is several times that of the Yulan Continent. Many powerful magical beasts inhabit the ice plain, and it is rarely visited by humans.

After leaving the O'Brien Empire, Olivier traveled north, flying across the vast Northern Sea until he finally laid eyes on the massive ice plain. It was breathtaking; the scenery of the north, with its thousand miles of frozen land and ten thousand miles of drifting snow, was the perfect description for the Arctic Ice Plain.

Olivier stood still for a long time before resolutely flying into the depths of the ice plain.

Olivier carved an ice chamber into a glacier. Originally, he had intended to find someone to challenge, but he felt it was necessary to properly comprehend the profound mysteries of the laws. Combining his knowledge from Coiling Dragon, Olivier's ultimate moves had previously relied only on the fusion of two types of divine power, or the final fusion of profound mysteries from two different laws. Adding these together, he had barely possessed the strength of a Seven-Star Fiend.

However, he possessed almost no techniques derived from the same law. He had relied too heavily on the fusion of different laws and divine powers, neglecting the fusion of mysteries within the same law—even though the latter was far easier to achieve. Had the original Olivier focused on the fusion of mysteries within the same law, he likely would have been even stronger.

Olivier had already grasped a bit of the Profound Mystery of Light Elements, the Profound Mystery of Light Speed, and the Profound Mystery of Dark Elements. Among these three, the Profound Mystery of Light Elements and the Profound Mystery of Dark Elements were low-level mysteries—the most basic ones—and were not particularly outstanding in terms of attack power.

Furthermore, Olivier knew that mages used magic without understanding these profound mysteries, yet they could still produce corresponding effects. This showed that the profound mysteries were hidden within the magic elements themselves; even a mage who did not understand the mysteries could use light elements to heal.

As long as one continuously researched, experimented, and explored the rules and states of the elements, one could comprehend the profound mysteries of the laws. The most basic mysteries were the easiest to grasp from the elements, which would allow him to become a god as quickly as possible.

While the Profound Mystery of Light Speed did not directly increase attack power, a certain master once said: "In all the world's martial arts, only speed cannot be surpassed." If you cannot beat them, you can run. Moreover, when speed reaches a sufficient level, according to the laws of energy, it naturally generates immense attack power.

"Hahahaha!" Olivier was overjoyed. Having understood these fundamental principles, becoming a god was no longer a problem.

From then on, Olivier abandoned the idea of going out to challenge others and focused on comprehending the profound mysteries of the laws within his ice chamber.

The Arctic Ice Plain knows no spring, summer, autumn, or winter; time leaves no trace upon it. Nine years passed in this manner. Relying on his incredibly powerful soul, Olivier constantly experimented to understand the composition rules and states of the elements. He comprehended and sensed the profound mysteries of the laws, becoming utterly obsessed. His understanding of light and dark elements absolutely surpassed that of any Saint-level mage—though, with such a powerful soul, Olivier himself was already a formidable Saint-level mage.

After nine years of cultivation, Olivier's grasp of the Profound Mysteries of Light and Dark Elements was much deeper than it had been nine years ago. If he had only understood the surface back then, he had now reached the very bones.

Furthermore, to Olivier's delight, the Profound Mysteries of Light and Dark Elements he had already grasped had fused. Although the two different law mysteries had not completely merged, their power was astonishing—estimated to be hundreds of times stronger than nine years ago. Even against a peak Saint-level expert, Olivier felt he had no chance of losing.

The reason the Profound Mysteries of Light and Dark Elements could fuse to such an extent was that, once, when Olivier hit a bottleneck he could not break through, he thought of Tai Chi. Tai Chi cultivates the Great Dao of Yin and Yang, which shares a similar underlying principle with light and darkness.

Therefore, Olivier simply stopped worrying about how to break through and instead calmed his mind to practice the Tai Chi he had once spent time learning. To his surprise, as he practiced, he found it exceptionally comfortable. From then on, he practiced it constantly and discovered that after a few sessions, he had a deeper understanding of the light and dark elements. It also proved immensely helpful for the fusion of the profound mysteries, so despite not spending much time on the fusion of these two mysteries, he had made great progress.

Most importantly, after practicing Tai Chi, a shadow resembling a Tai Chi diagram, composed of light and dark elements, faintly formed beneath Olivier's sword-shaped soul. This Tai Chi shadow was profound and mysterious, and Olivier felt that it was slowly strengthening both his soul and his physical body.

Olivier spent most of his time on speed, comprehending the Profound Mystery of Light Speed and constantly increasing his velocity. He firmly believed that "only speed cannot be surpassed," and he loved the feeling of reaching the limit of speed. Thus, he invested a massive amount of time and energy into the Profound Mystery of Light Speed.

Additionally, according to the theory from a certain martial arts novel, if one's attack is fast enough to strike several times in an instant at the same point, they stack together as if it were a single strike, yet the effect is that of multiple strikes.

Based on these theories and his efforts, Olivier's speed was several times faster than it had been nine years ago. The power of his Light Shadow Sword had increased dozens of times. Furthermore, after endless daily practice and countless strikes, he was finally able to fuse six strikes into one. It appeared to be a single strike, but it contained the power of six. Olivier named this sword technique "Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin." Currently, it was only at the initial stage; if brought to perfection, it could involve dozens, hundreds... until it reached the true Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin.

Moreover, when Olivier broke through in speed, he maintained his limit speed for long periods, which tempered his body significantly. His physical strength had increased quite a bit. At this point, while his body was not as strong as a divine beast, it was definitely much stronger than the average magical beast.

With a strong body, the fusion of different laws, high speed, and "Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin"—combining these four conditions, Olivier believed he was invincible beneath the god level.

"Nine years have passed without me noticing. I won't be able to break through again in the short term, and my current strength is enough for me to live as I please. It is time to leave," Olivier muttered to himself.

He stepped out of the ice chamber and gazed at the vast, snowy landscape for a long time.

"Since I've come to the Arctic Ice Plain, I might as well go and see those experts in seclusion, and perhaps spar with Rutherford. Heh."

Olivier set out to find the experts on the ice plain.

Flying above the ice plain, he looked down at the silver-clad world, feeling quite awestruck.

Because his cultivation had been successful and he had temporarily set aside his training, Olivier was in a fantastic mood. He hadn't properly enjoyed himself since transmigrating. Although it was an ice plain, the scenery was quite beautiful, possessing a sense of absolute purity.

After flying for two hours, Olivier finally understood what it meant to be sparsely populated. Even though he wasn't flying at full speed, he had covered at least a thousand miles, yet he hadn't spotted a single person. He only occasionally saw magical beasts unique to the Arctic Ice Plain, such as snow ferrets or snow lions, the weakest of which were at the seventh or eighth rank. Upon seeing Olivier fly past, they would flee from afar.

Olivier had never seen these animals before. Every time he saw a new magical beast, he would rush over to observe it carefully. If it tried to run, he would use force to threaten it, but he would let them go after a short while.

From then on, the magical beasts in this area all knew that a certain person was passing through who loved to observe them. For a period of time, whenever the magical beasts met along the path Olivier had traveled, their first words were always:

"Have you encountered that pervert yet?"

Luo Wen was just an ordinary member among the ascetics of the Arctic Ice Plain. He had the appearance of a middle-aged man and cultivated the Profound Mystery of Ice within the Laws of Water Elements. Among the three levels of ascetics, Luo Wen had barely reached the second level, making him quite a bit stronger than Hudson.

One day, while Luo Wen was cultivating, he suddenly sensed a powerful aura rapidly approaching, completely undisguised. On this ice plain, many powerful magical beasts liked to attack humans, so Luo Wen immediately became alert.

Olivier looked at the middle-aged man before him, and Luo Wen looked at the young man in white. The white clothes were so pristine that it was hard to tell where the snow ended and the clothes began.

Olivier hadn't seen a person in years, and the man before him didn't seem particularly strong.

This young man is clearly a peerless genius. I can't even sense his specific strength; it feels like facing Lord Rutherford. I've never heard of such a person—could he be a newcomer? Luo Wen muttered to himself.

"This Humble One is Luo Wen. Who are you, and what is your business?" Luo Wen asked.

"Greetings, I am Olivier. I have just arrived at the Arctic Ice Plain. I would like to find someone to spar with, and I also wanted to ask for directions," Olivier said.

"Why don't we spar first?" Olivier drew his Light Shadow Sword. Without sufficient strength, one could not earn the respect of others. Olivier decided to demonstrate his power first.

After speaking, Olivier charged forward.

"A madman. Fine, let's fight," Luo Wen complained inwardly, but his life was at stake, so he dared not refuse.

Olivier did not use fused laws or soul attacks, nor did he use "Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin." Relying only on half his speed and three-tenths of his strength, he attacked Luo Wen continuously to gain practical combat experience.

Luo Wen felt incredibly stifled, having only the ability to defend and parry. He was shocked inwardly: Such monstrous speed! He was also furious that this person had suddenly appeared and was using him as a target.

"If you have the ability, don't use such speed! Fight me head-on!" Luo Wen shouted in anger.

"Fine, I'll take a few of your moves." Their strength was simply not on the same level; sparring had no real meaning.

Luo Wen knew he was no match for Olivier, so he immediately used his strongest ultimate move, the "Mystic Ice Slash."

Although it was Luo Wen's peak strength, Olivier easily shattered it.

"I'm done. I'm no match for you. I reckon only Lord Rutherford could defeat you," Luo Wen said, sheathing his sword quite decisively.

"Heh. Brother Luo Wen is also quite impressive," Olivier laughed, thinking to himself: Rutherford might not necessarily be my match.

"I know my own limits, so don't mock me." Seeing that Olivier was powerful but seemed easy to get along with, Luo Wen also felt inclined to make his acquaintance.

"Luo Wen, do you know the situation on the Arctic Ice Plain?" Olivier asked.

"I do. However, with your strength, as long as you don't go and provoke Lord Hodan, you'll be fine," Luo Wen laughed.