After sending the elder away, Aman set aside some of the medicinal liquid from the bottle, then used a trip to the Market District as an excuse to slip out in disguise. He wandered around, looking for a chance to be alone so he could give the bottle of medicinal liquid a legitimate provenance before bringing it back.
He claimed that it had been sealed inside an unusual stone and gone undiscovered, even staging a noisy little performance before putting it back into the bottle. Then he hurried back to the Martial King Manor and went straight to Fourth Grandfather, hoping he would identify its origins and effects.
Quite a few elders of the Martial King Manor were alerted, and they brought out numerous Ancestral Artifacts and enlisted medicine masters to examine it. In the end, they confirmed that it was diluted sacred medicine liquid. Once extracted, the sacred medicine liquid would be worth a fortune. They all began wrangling over giving it to Shi Yi to further strengthen his foundation. But other princes and marquises had also been alerted, and the matter reached the imperial family. Even the Stone Emperor took an interest.
Sacred medicine was hardly as common as cabbages in the lower realm. It was incomparably precious, and its medicinal liquid was enough to draw a venerable's attention. In fact, most of the medicinal potency from the few drops of half-divine medicine liquid Chen Yao had previously used to open his cave heavens was still settled within his body and cave heavens, undergoing refinement.
The bottle he gave Aman had been sublimated from spirit medicine-grade medicinal liquid he had picked up in the Stone Kingdom Imperial Capital.
Aman repeatedly asked whether there was anything wrong with the medicinal liquid, and Fourth Grandfather told him that the Stone Emperor had personally verified it.
For his meritorious contribution, he was rewarded with several stalks of spirit medicine for his cultivation in the Blood Moving and Cave Heaven realms. He was even promised free provision of all the resources he would need through Spirit Transformation, and an elder from this branch wanted to take him as a disciple.
But Aman politely declined for the time being. Remembering the young man's offer to support him, he felt deeply torn.
His instincts told him that, aside from practically begging for a beating and pretending to be mature, the young man bore him no ill will. Casually giving away diluted divine liquid from something close to half-sacred medicine was enough to show how extravagantly wealthy he was-certainly no poorer than the Martial King Manor. He had probably approached Aman because he valued his talent and wanted to recruit him. But the elders of the Martial King Manor also treated Aman very well. Because of Shi Hao, they treated him as one of their direct descendants. Simply walking away would hardly be right; at the very least, he should leave something behind.
"He said he was Wu Gensheng. Is he that new genius who appeared in the Void God Realm?" Having made up his mind, Aman began considering taking the initiative.
"The Void God Realm... Wu Gensheng... Could I meet him if I went inside his Record Stele?"
"Why act all mysterious like some charlatan? He didn't even explain how we were supposed to meet next time," Aman muttered.
Beside Wu Gensheng's newest Record Stele, Aman strolled around and studied it as though he belonged there. Half an hour later, a young man with an unfamiliar face lightly tapped his shoulder, then walked briskly away. Aman immediately followed.
"Well? Have you made up your mind?" Chen Yao found a relatively secluded corner and asked lightly as he watched the noisy crowd in the distance.
"As long as I don't have to hurt those close to me or do anything that harms living beings, I can agree," Aman said.
"Sure. It's a deal." Chen Yao clapped his hands lightly, his face breaking into a smile.
Done. Now I can use Aman to get in touch with Shi Hao, then go meet the Willow Deity. Primitive True Explanation, Kunpeng Method-here I come!
But Aman simply held out his hand without the slightest embarrassment. "So, if you're going to train me to be your hired muscle, shouldn't you give me something as a deposit first? I can't just walk away from the Martial King Manor, can I? And I certainly can't go without heavenly treasures and earthly rarities, right?"
No wonder the Great Demon God had once treated him as his own, taking him as an honorary grandchild despite their lack of blood ties, and he could get along so well with Shi Hao. That personality alone put him ahead of so many others. Chen Yao wondered whether he was a foodie too.
"Let's leave that aside for now. You should have reached the end of the Blood Moving Realm, right? How does it feel? Have you thought about taking another step?" Chen Yao waved a hand and changed the subject.
"I have. I've heard that you can keep breaking through in the Blood Moving Realm, but the elders all say not to reach beyond my grasp. I can enter the Cave Heaven Realm first, then come back and recultivate," Aman said in frustration.
"Tch. The prerequisite for coming back to recultivate after advancing is that you already laid a solid foundation in the previous realm. Otherwise, no matter how much you recultivate, you'll still be limited-unless you undergo a complete transformation and rebuild your foundation." Chen Yao scoffed.
"There is an extreme realm within the Blood Moving Realm. If you can exert more than one hundred thousand jin of strength through your physical body alone, without using bone text, you've broken through that extreme realm. Only then is the Blood Moving Realm truly complete. Your future potential will no longer be constrained, and when you recultivate later, an unstable foundation won't hold you back," Chen Yao said.
"One hundred thousand jin of strength..." Aman silently committed it to memory.
"At the same time, breaking through the extreme realm isn't the end. When geniuses who have broken through it and are no longer constrained return to recultivate, they focus more on transcending the extreme realm-breaking free of the limits of the original path and forging a new one. For example, the Blood Moving Realm need not stop at blood and vital energy, and the Cave Heaven Realm need not stop at cave heavens that refine the essence of heaven and earth. You can develop new extensions on the cultivation system's common foundation."
"Transcend the extreme realm, and divine abilities manifest on their own. Anyone who transcends the extreme realm to forge a new path will naturally develop a unique divine ability of their own. You could call it the fruit of transcendence. For example, transforming divine radiance into tangible forms in the Spirit Transformation Realm grants divine abilities akin to divine forms. Uniting ten cave heavens in the Cave Heaven Realm can produce a cave heaven domain that repels all evil and is Unaffected by All Laws. These are all fruits of the Dao borne by new paths beyond the extreme realm. Once you've tempered yourself beyond the extreme realm of Blood Moving, you can consider transcendence." Chen Yao explained this era's philosophy of the Extreme Realm Method.
"So I need to temper my pure blood and vital energy until I gain a body beyond the extreme realm, then consider transcendence and choose my own direction? Is doing this in every realm the best approach?" Aman understood the path he needed to take, but he still had questions.
"The first part is right, but the second is backing yourself into a bull's horn. Everyone follows a different path. Blood Moving, Cave Heaven, Spirit Transformation, Inscription, Array Formation-even transcendence of their extreme realms has its own strengths. After all, transcendence is still built upon these realms. Trying to transcend every realm actually leaves you with an inferior approach. The key is choosing the path that suits you best. If a realm doesn't suit your path, you can simply break through its extreme realm without transcending it, and concentrate your energy on the realm that fits you best. For example, choosing to keep transcending within Cave Heaven won't leave you any worse off than someone who insists on transcending every extreme realm. There is no best path, only the most suitable one." Chen Yao pointed out his mistake and gave him the correct answer.
"What you need to do now is break through the extreme realm and consider your future path. If you have an idea, try transcending. If you don't, advance normally and leave it for the future. If a realm doesn't suit you, wait for the next one. But no matter what, you must break through the extreme realm."
After hearing these explanations, Aman suddenly saw the light. Rather than leaving, he openly stayed there to think.
Before long, he raised his head again and looked at Chen Yao with burning eyes. "You said you'd support me, right?"
"I can give you another bottle of what I gave you before. But let's get this straight: if you don't have a concrete plan, I'm not wasting resources on your wild experiments. I'm only supporting you, not serving as your treasure basin." Chen Yao rolled his eyes.
"What you just said truly resonated with me, young brother. One glance tells me you're a one-in-ten-thousand cultivation prodigy. Similar teachings have been passed down in my family's inheritance, and there is even guidance on the subject. Unfortunately, this old Daoist lacked the talent to succeed. Rather than let my family's inheritance gather dust, I'm willing to part with it at a low price-just one bottle of sacred medicine. Would you and this young immortal be interested?" A white-haired old man abruptly appeared and spoke with a beaming smile.
Holy shit! Lord Crystal Wall! When did he get here? Feng Hou's Mystic Gate didn't react at all! Chen Yao nearly jumped to his feet.
Before you continue