The double-pupiled woman turned her hand over and produced a translucent jade token. Intricate spatial patterns were engraved across its surface, gleaming silver beneath the sunlight. "This is a teleportation token. If you wish to go out in the future, you can use the teleportation formation in the palace plaza to travel directly to the safe zone."
After finishing her instructions, the double-pupiled woman gave Shi Yi a long, searching look. "The road of cultivation is long. Do not act rashly for a moment's glory." Before her words had faded, her figure dissolved like mist toward her secluded cultivation abode. Shi Yi tightened his grip on the treasures in his hands and watched his master depart, moved by her care and enlightened in ways he had not been before.
After the double-pupiled woman left, Shi Yi stood quietly where he was, his gaze profound as he considered his own path of cultivation. A moment later, he swept his sleeve, and more than ten Primitive Treasure Bones floated before him, each shimmering with a different divine radiance. Every bone held a powerful racial inheritance and radiated an imposing pressure.
Wind-Thunder Leopard Treasure Art-swift as lightning, fierce in attack;
Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art-peerlessly domineering, with thunderous, crushing force;
Thunder Eagle Treasure Art-soaring through the nine heavens, tearing apart the vast sky;
Black Tortoise Treasure Art-indestructible, unrivaled in defense;
Shi Yi swept his gaze over the treasure bones, weighing their advantages and disadvantages.
"For offense, I already have my Double Pupils, the Qilin Precious Technique, and the Supreme Bone. Together with the Primordial Chaos Heaven-Refining Grand Formation, which can continuously replenish my divine power, I have no concerns about prolonged battles," he murmured. "But for defense, aside from my powerful body, I have no dedicated protective ability. If I encounter an enemy, relying on my flesh alone to withstand their attacks would be far too risky."
He reached out and grasped the Black Tortoise Treasure Bone, which gleamed a deep blue, and frowned slightly. "The Black Tortoise Treasure Art's defense is still somewhat lacking. Rather than cultivate it, I might as well strengthen my offense. On the path of cultivation, balancing attack and defense is certainly important, but the best offense is the best defense."
His gaze then settled on the Thunder Flood Dragon treasure bone wreathed in purple lightning, and a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.
"Killing that mid-array formation stage Thunder Flood Dragon took considerable effort. Had my Double Pupils not seen through its weaknesses, victory would have been extremely difficult. But this Treasure Art is undeniably formidable. If I can comprehend it thoroughly, its power will rise to another level!"
After a moment's contemplation, resolve gathered in Shi Yi's eyes.
"The path of cultivation is a journey against heaven itself. Rather than cling to defense, I should defend through offense! The Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art suits me perfectly! Once I fully comprehend it and use my Double Pupils to further deduce its mysteries, perhaps I can take it another step and develop an even stronger lightning-based killing art!"
Over the next half month, Shi Yi followed an exceptionally disciplined cultivation routine, racing against time to strengthen himself at nearly every moment.
Whenever night fell, he sat cross-legged on the Ancient Sacrificial Altar outside the palace, faint wisps of chaos qi swirling around him. Starlight descended overhead while spiritual energy rose from the earth's veins beneath his feet, as though his entire being resonated with heaven and earth. The blood and qi within him surged like mighty rivers, washing through his limbs and bones and making his body ever stronger.
At the first light of dawn, Shi Yi sank into his sea of consciousness and gazed at the mysterious rune suspended in its depths. This rune did not come from any ordinary race; it concerned the supreme mysteries of time and space.
Throughout the heavens and myriad worlds, the laws of time and space are taboo. Those who can master them are few indeed. Shi Yi's heart grew solemn. He knew that only a handful of races in this world possessed power over time and space-the Gu Clan could reverse heaven and earth, the Crimson King Lineage of the Foreign Realm controlled the river of time, and Void King Beasts could traverse the void, making them almost impossible to guard against. Every one of them was a terrifying existence standing at the pinnacle of all races.
He activated his Double Pupils with all his strength, chaos qi flowing through his eyes as he tried to analyze the rune's essence. Yet the Dao of time and space was far too profound. Even his Double Pupils, which could peer into the origins of all things, proved inadequate now. The laws flowing across the rune's surface were like flowers glimpsed through mist, elusive and indistinct.
"My cultivation realm is still too low..." Shi Yi sighed softly, but he did not grow impatient. He understood that such supreme laws could never be comprehended overnight. Like water dripping through stone, understanding required steady effort over countless days. Thus, he spent only four hours each day studying the rune, seeking not immediate mastery but gradually attuning himself to the fluctuations of temporal and spatial power, laying a foundation for the future.
After studying the time-space rune, Shi Yi turned to cultivating the Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art. He took out the Primitive Treasure Bone wreathed in purple lightning. Lightning burst from his palm, and a phantom Flood Dragon circled him, unleashing deafening roars.
"Roar-!"
The Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art was peerlessly domineering, every strike seeming to carry the might of heavenly punishment. Shi Yi used his Double Pupils to deduce its workings, growing ever more adept at wielding lightning. At times, he curled his hands into claws and tore through the void; at others, he manifested the Thunder Flood Dragon's true form, shaping lightning into a dragon that swept through all enemies!
During that half month, Shi Yi made astonishing progress with the Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art. He could already begin to condense a Thunder Flood Dragon phantom, and his offensive power soared.
One day, as the sky began to brighten and the morning mist still lingered, Shi Yi sat cross-legged on the blue-jade cultivation platform in the center of the plaza, surrounded by a mysterious, unfathomable Dao resonance. Anyone probing him with divine sense would have discovered something startling-the space within three feet of him was trembling faintly, like the surface of a tranquil lake disturbed by an invisible force, rippling outward in layers.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Chaos qi churned within his Double Pupils, manifesting celestial phenomena as though heaven and earth were being created anew.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, Shi Yi sprang to his feet and drove his right fist forward, brilliant runes wrapped around it. The punch appeared plain and unadorned, yet the instant he struck, space shook violently. Wherever his fist passed, the air twisted and cracked explosively. Invisible spatial force plowed a savage, thirty-foot-long fissure through the ground, and tiny spatial fractures lingered along its edges, refusing to settle for a long time.
"It worked!" Shi Yi stared at his fist, his eyes flashing brightly. The corners of his mouth lifted as he murmured, "Though I have yet to truly comprehend the great Dao of time and space, I found another path and grasped this 'Space-Shaking Dao.' From now on, this move will be called-'Nether Annihilation'!"
Over the past half month, Shi Yi had not lost heart after his attempts to comprehend the time-space rune met with obstacles. He knew how profound and obscure the Dao of time and space was; even with his Double Pupils, achieving a breakthrough in so short a time would be difficult. Thus, he changed his approach and focused on analyzing the fluctuating properties of the spatial runes. After countless deductions, he finally grasped the secret of spatial vibrations-
"All arts in this world must propagate through space." Shi Yi lightly traced a fingertip through the air, watching the spatial ripples spreading around him with a thoughtful gaze. "If I can control the frequency of spatial vibrations, then in theory, I could even disrupt or dismantle an enemy's Treasure Art."
This bold idea set his heart surging. In a battle between cultivators, directly interfering with an opponent's Treasure Art was tantamount to seizing the initiative that decided victory.
"However..." Shi Yi's gaze sharpened. "It still needs to be tested in actual combat."
Shi Yi stood in the center of the plaza, his robes stirring without wind as he focused his consciousness on the secret realm's map in his mind. Amid shifting light and shadow, his gaze locked onto an area marked with purple lightning-Thunderclap Valley.
"This place is shrouded in heavenly lightning year-round, and most of the Fierce Beasts in the valley have lightning attributes. It is perfect for testing the Thunder Flood Dragon Treasure Art's power," he murmured, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "And the raging lightning will also let me test Nether Annihilation's effectiveness in a chaotic environment."
However, Thunderclap Valley was no benign place. Several scarlet markings on the map
indicated that at least a few venerable realm lightning Fierce Beasts lurked there, and there might even be divine fire realm beings. If he did not proceed carefully, even he could find himself in peril.