Comprehending a Second Profound Mystery

Beneath the ground, Barn glanced at Declan, whose expression had turned strange, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Declan's voice held a trace of solemnity. "I sensed a familiar magical beast aura just now. It was probably the Earth Violent Bear that badly wounded you last time."

"Oh? We've already traveled far from that battlefield, yet that fellow still followed us." Barn's heart tightened. He remembered that the Earth Violent Bear had not only been tremendously gifted but had also comprehended the Earth Profound Mystery—the Earth Pulse.

It was precisely this terrifying combat power that had severely damaged the original Barn's soul. By a twist of fate, that was also what had allowed him to cross over into this world.

Barn felt no particular desire for revenge against the "culprit" who had indirectly caused his transmigration. The best outcome would be for them to go their separate ways and leave each other alone.

Declan, however, spoke in a grave tone, his voice tinged with the Dragon race's characteristic arrogance. "If we get the chance, we have to kill that bastard!"

Barn understood. Although Declan had chosen to endure and survive in Gobada's brutal environment, deep down he was still a proud Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon. He would never easily forgive a mortal enemy.

"I've just comprehended the Water Profound Mystery. Once I've strengthened my defenses enough, we'll go get our revenge," Barn replied solemnly.

After they reached a safe place and concealed themselves, Declan returned to his usual goofy self. The spoils from this trip had clearly put him in high spirits.

"Heh, heh, heh! Ever since you woke up, our luck's been on the upswing! That Black-ring Giant Python must have just been through a fierce battle. There was actually half a Lion Suan's corpse in its spatial ring!"

The Lion Suan was a ninth-rank magical beast with the Destruction Attribute. Barn remembered that it was probably a member of a race descended from the third generation of the divine beast Heaven-Swallowing Beast's bloodline.

"Once it reaches Sanctuary, a Lion Suan is nearly as strong as a Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragon, and its attack power is especially terrifying. But in an underground fight, it was countered by the Black-ring Giant Python, which had formidable defenses and excelled at constricting its prey," Barn analyzed.

Declan snorted at once, clearly unconvinced. "A Lion Suan can't hold a candle to us Spine-backed Iron-armored Dragons in defense or speed. If it had been me, that Black-ring Giant Python never would've killed me one-on-one!"

As he spoke, Declan tossed half the Lion Suan's corpse to Barn. "The Black-ring Giant Python and I both have the dark attribute, so let me have this one. I'll make it up to you on our next hunt."

Barn accepted it with a smile, then casually dug out the Sanctuary-level magic crystal with the Destruction Attribute from inside the Lion Suan.

Magical beasts with the Four Great Rules' attributes did not form magic cores before reaching Sanctuary. They fought using only the power remaining in their bloodlines. Their magic crystals only truly formed after they broke through to Sanctuary.

For that reason, magic crystals with the Four Great Rules' attributes were exceedingly rare. Rare as they were, though, they did not fetch a high price on the Yulan Continent. After all, there were just as few humans who cultivated the Four Great Rules.

After putting away the magic crystal, Barn cut off a piece of meat to fill his stomach, then took out his long spear—Mist Hidden.

The spear was pale blue from end to end, over two meters long, and faintly translucent. Other than the seal-script characters of its name, it had no decoration. Its narrow, elongated tip resembled a short sword, and a sea-blue gem was set into its butt.

The battle just now had suddenly reminded Barn of something: Divine Artifacts could record the battles of their previous owners!

The original Barn had only been at the seventh level in spiritual power and had not met the threshold for sensing a Divine Artifact's memories. But now he was a Holy Magus, and his spiritual power was far beyond what it had been. He ought to be able to touch the memories of the Divine Artifact's past.

He sent his spiritual power into Mist Hidden.

The memories within Mist Hidden were not filled with slaughter and bloodshed, as he had imagined. Instead, there was a space wreathed in faint white mist, with a tall, indistinct figure standing proudly at its center.

As Barn's spiritual power delved deeper, scenes shifted into view within the mist. They were fragments of the battles the spear Mist Hidden had witnessed.

This Divine Artifact seemed to have been carefully forged by a God-level powerhouse from the very beginning. The enemies recorded in its mirror-like memories were all God-level powerhouses soaring through the sky, and they shared one trait: every one of them fought with techniques using the Water Law.

One battle after another had bathed and tempered Mist Hidden in Divine Power, making it stronger and stronger.

At some point, the enemies in the scenes began to vary: water, light, fire, darkness...

By then, Mist Hidden had clearly advanced into a true Divine Artifact and gained the bizarre attribute unique to Divine Artifacts.

One God-level powerhouse after another was killed, yet they seemed not to resist fiercely. They simply waited in a daze for Mist Hidden to pierce their heads and destroy their souls.

Barn shuddered and instantly pulled his spiritual power out of Mist Hidden's memories. Clearly, the Divine Artifact had not yet fully accepted its new master.

"Was that some kind of Soul Attack?" Barn wondered uneasily. "Could one of the Water Law's Profound Mysteries possess an extremely powerful Soul Attack?"

On closer thought, it was certainly possible. But he had no idea how to comprehend it.

"I've heard that when the twelve-winged Light Angel descended upon the Yulan Continent, he gifted the Radiant Church one of its nine Divine Artifacts. The Divine Artifact collected by a twelve-winged Light Angel with the strength of a Seven-star Demon surely wouldn't be ordinary. Even if its original owner wasn't a Seven-star Demon, he must have been at least a Six-star Demon."

Barn gently stroked the long spear, whose attributes matched his own, and felt the ancient, powerful force contained within. Then he focused his mind and returned to his cultivation.

The Lion Suan's body was enormous. Even at the ninth rank, it was comparable in size to a Black Dragon or a Silver Dragon. A Sanctuary-level Lion Suan was comparable to a Golden Dragon.

Even half a corpse was far larger than the Ice Snow Lion from before, leaving Barn with enough food to last ten years. Sanctuary powerhouses harnessed the power of heaven and earth, and their bodies functioned as self-contained wholes. They could absorb every bit of nutrition from their food and prevent any unnecessary bodily expenditure, making them far more efficient at using food than ordinary people.

If Barn was willing to endure some hunger every so often, he could make it last even longer.

To a Sanctuary powerhouse, ten years passed in the blink of an eye. And to Gobada, which had existed since time immemorial, it was but a fleeting moment—nothing worth mentioning.

One day, while taking a break from cultivation, Barn struck up a conversation with Declan. "Have you hit a bottleneck in comprehending the Dark Profound Mystery?"

"Yeah." Declan sounded a little dejected. "The Black-ring Giant Python's magic crystal gave me plenty of Dark Magic Power, so I splurged and went into seclusion for a year. But I still haven't found a clue."

As Barn comprehended the Water Profound Mystery and made up for his defensive weakness, his strength had soared. Declan vaguely felt that he was about to be left behind.

"Have you considered trying to comprehend a different Profound Mystery of the dark attribute?" Barn suggested.

"Another Profound Mystery?" Declan paused, then shook his head. "Back on the Yulan Continent, our Dragon race's elders said that at the Sanctuary stage, it was best to focus on cultivating a single Profound Mystery. Once you fully comprehended it, you could break through to Godlevel. If you divided your attention, you'd only slow down your breakthrough, and it wouldn't be worth it."

Barn smiled. "Did any of those Dragon elders break through to Godlevel?"

"No."

"Did any of them come to Gobada?"

"No."

"Then why not give it a try?"

Declan fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "All right. Getting a little stronger is always a good thing. Give me some of those dark magic spells and dark-attribute battle techniques you collected."

As a Sanctuary powerhouse, Declan naturally understood that magic was simply a simplified manifestation of the Laws. If he could grasp its deeper principles, he might be able to comprehend the Laws contained within it.

Battle techniques, meanwhile, had been created by Sanctuary Warriors. In a material plane, a Sanctuary powerhouse was more than capable of founding a family. To benefit their descendants, many Sanctuary Warriors simplified the Profound Mysteries they had comprehended into battle techniques and passed them down.

(In the original, Olivia passed his swordsmanship on to his younger brother. It seems the author had planned to give warriors battle techniques, but Linley advanced too quickly, so this part was cut.)

Warriors who practiced these battle techniques could increase their strength. And if they mastered them deeply enough, they might touch upon a trace of the Laws' true meaning.

Although Declan was a magical beast, magic and battle techniques could still teach him a great deal through drawing parallels.

Barn turned and returned to his cave, when a thought suddenly struck him:

If I could try to comprehend another water-attribute Profound Mystery while my Water Body Technique had only just reached the entry level, then fuse the two together—how wonderful would that be?