Three Divine Path Forms

In truth, Zhang Xuan really was afraid the Celestial Master's Ordination would fail to give him an answer.

He knew his own circumstances best. In terms of raw strength, he did not have many cards to play.

He had the "Divine Path—Collected Essentials of Daoist Arts" he had sneaked out of the Celestial Master's Mansion, along with the broken jade pendant engraved with the character "Suppress."

Zhang Xuan had toyed with the pendant, but had yet to discover its secrets. He intended to ask the Celestial Master's Ordination about it when he had the chance.

As for "Divine Path—Collected Essentials of Daoist Arts," the book itself was worth a king's ransom...

Originally, Zhang Xuan had no real sense of this "yellow-covered book's" worth. He had even thought that, since he had taken it out of the Celestial Master's Mansion so easily, it was most likely common stuff everyone knew.

But after meeting the monk, he learned from him that magical arts, especially ones as powerful as "Palm Thunder," could never appear in the martial world.

The monk's remark back then—"I see that your spirit is bright and your aura pure, Daoist priest. You must be a highly accomplished master of the Daoist tradition"—had not been flattery.

It was precisely because the monk had seen Zhang Xuan use the Thunder Method that he had shamelessly insisted on inviting him to travel together. Could anyone capable of such an art be ordinary?

In the martial world, the highest level of cultivation methods consisted of the legendary supreme martial arts. But to cultivators who had already entered the Dao, those so-called supreme martial arts were merely incomplete methods that used clever shortcuts to convert vital essence into scraps of spiritual power. Even so, a single supreme martial art could be bid up to ten thousand taels of gold on the Black Market, with buyers aplenty but no price that could secure one.

After all, when the same martial art was powered by spiritual power rather than vital essence, the difference in its ultimate might was like that between clouds and mud.

Spiritual power was the foundation of every cultivation method, and the impassable gulf between mortals and cultivators!

Methods for cultivating spiritual power were held only by certain aristocratic Lineages with ancient traditions, or by secretive sects. Across the entire Four Kingdoms of the Way of Great Peace, no more than ten factions possessed such inheritances.

Each faction's spiritual-power cultivation methods were the very foundation upon which its sect's rise or fall depended. Most disciples learned only incomplete versions; only true direct disciples were allowed to glimpse the whole picture. These were the foundations that sustained the great factions, and under no circumstances would they be allowed to leave their sects.

The reasoning was the same as why the kingdoms of the Way of Great Peace would not allow commoners to smelt iron and forge blades. Such a calamity could shake a nation's foundations, so the slightest signs had to be stamped out before they grew. Violators would invariably suffer the ultimate punishment!

Looking back over the past several hundred years, spiritual-power arts had left a sect only when that sect was destroyed.

Upon learning this, Zhang Xuan was secretly staggered.

If spiritual-power cultivation methods alone were so precious, then what of the yellow-covered book hidden in his robes? Its opening prologue appeared to be an exceptionally profound qi-refining method. From the second section onward, it contained all manner of wondrous Daoist arts, with thirty-six Daoist arts and twelve talismans in total by the end.

One could say that this "Divine Path" was a complete Mystic Gate inheritance, its value beyond measure! If he put it out into the world, it would probably unleash a rain of blood and a reeking wind across the entire cultivation world!

Yet to him as he was now, these treasures left him exactly like a starving ghost guarding a grand imperial banquet—he could smell the meat, but could not gnaw through the bones.

Every technique in the book, even the talismans, required spiritual power to activate. He was not a cultivator and could not practice the qi-refining method. With no spiritual power of his own, forcing them to activate could only consume his vital essence.

The painful lesson of firing two Palm Thunders in succession last night was still fresh in his mind...

The first blast had turned a strapping young man into a kidney-deficient weakling in an instant; the second had left him as limp as a withered leaf in the autumn wind. Even now, he felt a chill piercing his bones, as though someone had drained his marrow and taken some weight from his three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls along with it.

Moreover, one detail in the book particularly concerned Zhang Xuan—every technique had a corresponding numerical designation. Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder, for instance, was the fourth of the Four Divine Path Forms.

Zhang Xuan suspected that these numbers were related to spiritual-power consumption.

Those listed earlier consumed less. Palm Thunder, for instance, could just barely be used by an ordinary person like him who had yet to enter the Dao. Those listed later naturally consumed enormous amounts.

These aren't magical arts. They're death warrants! he grumbled inwardly. Until he successfully entered the Dao and became a cultivator, he had made up his mind not to touch the later techniques. He did not want to be squeezed dry.

Before Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder were three techniques that he could use in his current state...

First Divine Path form—"Divine Incantation of the Ten Directions, Five Thunders, and Golden Light Protection"

[With golden light as the guide and the five thunders as the driving force, protect the practitioner from the intrusion of evil spirits]

That was the book's description of the "Golden Light Incantation." Summing it up, Zhang Xuan figured it essentially summoned golden light to protect the body. It was a close-combat art combining offense and defense, and something he urgently needed.

Having used Palm Thunder twice in succession yesterday, he was depleted in both vital essence and blood. With his old illness already leaving his life hanging by a thread, he was now riddled with debilitating conditions, his body as fragile as paper.

He planned to find a chance over the next two days to learn this art. Even if he could not kill enemies with it, another means of protecting himself would be welcome.

Second Divine Path form—Gen Mountain Suppresses the Peaks

[Gen is mountain; Gen Mountain towers high. Three mountains suppress the peaks, heaven and earth serve as the furnace, and the body as the cauldron]

Using one's own body as the furnace and cauldron, one manifested three mountains to suppress the enemy.

Judging by the description, it should be a sealing technique. One detail, however, left Zhang Xuan utterly speechless...

Once this thing was used, the enemy could not move, and neither could he. If the caster moved, the technique would unravel on its own.

It restrained him at the same time as it restrained the enemy. He reckoned it would only be useful in certain specific situations.

Third Divine Path form—Chaotic Stars Fall

[The stars are in chaos, their bearings impossible to choose; settle wherever fate takes you. Like scattered stardust, with no fixed course, the caster becomes a streak of light and travels a thousand miles in an instant. Guided by heaven's will alone, the landing point remains unknown]

Upon seeing this technique, Zhang Xuan more or less grasped the pattern behind "Divine Path."

The longer the name, the simpler and more direct the technique. Take the "Divine Incantation of the Ten Directions, Five Thunders, and Golden Light Protection" and "Innate Supreme Unity Divine Thunder"—one defended, the other attacked, complementing each other perfectly.

The shorter the name, meanwhile, the more twists and turns it contained. "Chaotic Stars Fall," for instance, was, simply put, an escape technique. As for where it would take him...

Sorry—"guided by heaven's will alone."

This art was all about "leaving it to fate." If he really used it at a life-or-death moment, fate might well send him straight to the King of Hell.

Although this technique depended rather heavily on luck, Zhang Xuan still intended to learn it. More skills were never a burden, after all.

Having taken stock of everything he possessed, Zhang Xuan gained a clear sense of his current strength...

The Four Divine Path Forms, used in combination, counted as one card.

[Nether Candle Mystic Eyes] could let him anticipate an enemy's moves and assess threats in advance, so they counted as another.

The Monk possessed considerable martial skill and unparalleled brute strength. Now that they were traveling together, he was a dependable companion, worth half a card.

As for the "Celestial Master's Ordination," Zhang Xuan smiled bitterly. It was indeed all-knowing and all-powerful, but it had just as many restrictions. It could not count as raw strength, though he could reluctantly give it half a card!

All told, Zhang Xuan currently had only these three cards in hand. His earlier stumbling success in securing the Two-Faced Buddha Head had mostly been a matter of luck, with little connection to his own strength.

Finally, beneath Zhang Xuan's expectant gaze, the blood moon pulsing like a heart overhead blurred and gave its answer...