Mu Lan fell silent.
Of course he recognized what it was.
It was the embryonic form of World Derivation, the hallmark of the fourth level of the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique, which required one to open up a world of vitality within the body.
It served to store a vast amount of vitality, ready to be called upon at any moment in battle.
But what Fang Yi had now condensed was clearly that world of vitality compressed into a seed, stripped of its enormous size.
Only the very core remained.
He was modifying the martial art that protected the Immortal Sacred Whale Clan, right in front of him!
Mu Lan's mouth twitched. In all his years, he had never seen anyone achieve such a thing.
"What is big brother doing?"
Mu Lingshan tilted her little head, her twin pigtails swaying with the movement.
She looked at the Seed of Life growing increasingly solid at Fang Yi's dantian, her little face full of confusion.
Of course she could sense that the form of that power was much like the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique.
But it was also somewhat different, as though it had been broken apart and pieced back together.
"He's modifying our martial art into one suited to human cultivation."
As Mu Lan said this, his tone carried a complexity that even he did not notice.
Mu Lingshan's little face filled with surprise, as though she had heard something unbelievable.
"Modifying our martial art?"
"Mm."
Mu Lan nodded and said no more, merely watching Fang Yi in silence. He wanted to see just how far Fang Yi could take the modifications.
Fang Yi was immersed in deriving the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique.
His mind was completely focused within his body, where the Seed of Life revolved slowly in his dantian.
Each rotation drew the surrounding vitality into it, where it was compressed, refined, and transformed into a purer power.
He had integrated the power of desolation from the Great Desolation Scripture into it. Desolation was not extermination, but the storing of vitality to await the next cycle.
This matched the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique's principle of storing vitality perfectly, though their directions were opposite: one drew inward, while the other released outward.
Fang Yi combined the two, using the power of desolation to draw vitality from the earth.
It was then transformed through the Seed of Life into pure vitality and stored in his dantian.
Once he suffered a fatal attack, the Seed of Life would erupt in an instant and resonate with the vitality of heaven and earth.
As it neutralized the attack, it would release the stored vitality to mend his body.
He worked through the process in his mind again and again, scrutinizing every detail.
Humans did not have the Immortal Sacred Whales' formidable bodies, and their dantians could not withstand such a vast amount of vitality.
Thus, the Seed of Life could not be too large. It had to be sufficiently pure and concentrated.
Three days passed, and Fang Yi remained seated cross-legged where he was. The pale blue light around him had stabilized.
The Seed of Life revolved quietly in his dantian, drawing a thread of Origin Energy from his body into itself with each rotation.
Ying Huanhuan had awakened from her comprehension long ago.
The first thing she did when she opened her eyes was look at Fang Yi. Seeing that he was still seated there, his presence steady and showing no sign of cultivation deviation, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She rose and walked over to Mu Lan. "Is he going to be all right like this?"
"He's fine. He's deriving a martial art, and he's reached the final stage."
Mu Lan shook his head. He had kept watch here for the past few days, so he could naturally tell what state Fang Yi was in.
The Seed of Life had fully formed, though it was still being adjusted, as if searching for the form best suited to human cultivation.
Ying Huanhuan nodded and stayed where she was rather than leaving. Nor did she continue cultivating the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique.
Instead, she sat to one side and watched Fang Yi, occasionally closing her eyes to contemplate the level of Breath Derivation she had cultivated.
But most of the time, she simply stared into space.
Jiang Yinyin woke a day later than Ying Huanhuan. When she opened her eyes, the strange fluctuations around her had yet to completely dissipate.
Mu Lingshan sat beside her, propping up her chin with her little hand as she watched her. When she saw her wake, her eyes lit up.
"Sister Yinyin, did you comprehend it?!"
"Mm."
Jiang Yinyin nodded, but soon looked a little puzzled. "I think something went wrong with my cultivation."
"Huh?"
Mu Lan hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
Nothing could be allowed to happen to the old ancestor!
"It's just that I felt..."
Jiang Yinyin thought for a moment. While cultivating, she had indeed felt a power close by that felt very familiar to her.
That power made her feel very comfortable, so her cultivation had also gone much more smoothly than usual.
"Felt what?"
"I just felt that when little sister LingShan was beside me, I cultivated especially fast."
"Is that so? Could you try it now?"
Jiang Yinyin began circulating the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique. Mu Lan sensed it carefully and discovered that whenever Jiang Yinyin circulated the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique,
the power of the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol within Mu Lingshan would be stirred, then flow back into Jiang Yinyin's body, forming a cycle.
"What's going on?"
Mu Lan was silent for a moment. He had a rough idea.
Jiang Yinyin was the reincarnation of the Lord of Life and Death, while Mu Lingshan had been formed from the union of the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol and the Lord of Life and Death's body.
The two shared the same origin in essence, and the Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique had been created by the Lord of Life and Death.
When Jiang Yinyin cultivated this martial art, the Power of Life and Death within Mu Lingshan naturally resonated with it.
This was a natural complement, purer and more efficient than any dual cultivation martial art.
"Go on cultivating. This will benefit both of you."
Mu Lan offered no further explanation, but his expression relaxed considerably.
He had originally worried that Jiang Yinyin's cultivation at the Dao Sect would slow her progress. Now it seemed that with Mu Lingshan by her side, she would only cultivate faster.
But did that mean that if Jiang Yinyin stayed at the Dao Sect, Mu Lingshan would have to stay here too?
Mu Lan's expression immediately turned ugly. It was bad enough that he could not bring the old ancestor back, but now the little ancestor had to stay here too.
Would my eldest and second brothers really not kill me?
Meanwhile, when Ying Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, her expression was somewhat troubled.
She sat where she was without moving, her hands on her knees, gripping the robe over them tightly.
She pressed her lips together and said nothing.
She had not even mastered the first level.
The level of Breath Derivation required one to comprehend the vitality of heaven and earth and transform one's own Origin Energy into a power imbued with vitality.
By all rights, her talent was not poor. After all, she had comprehended even the Heavenly Emperor Scripture and the Great Desolation Scripture.
Yet no matter how she tried, she could not condense that vitality.
She could feel that the threshold was right there, but she simply could not step over it.
Ying Xiaoxiao fell silent.
She had thought she was used to it, used to Fang Yi's monstrous ability and Ying Huanhuan's talent.
But when everyone else had grasped the basics and she alone remained where she was, the frustration still left her struggling to breathe.
Mu Lan noticed that something was wrong with Ying Xiaoxiao, but he did not say much.
The Immortal Heaven Derivation Technique was never suited to human cultivation.
It was only normal that Ying Xiaoxiao had not grasped the basics.
She could indeed be considered a human genius, but before the reincarnations of the Eight Ancient Masters and Fang Yi, a monster whose like Mu Lan had never even dared imagine,
she really did not amount to much.
Even he felt somewhat suffocated facing Fang Yi as he was now. Fortunately, the Immortal Sacred Whales and the Dao Sect were still on good terms.
It probably would not be long before another invincible figure emerged on this continent.
He would wait until Fang Yi had finished before telling him about this.