Divine Art

Liu Bai looked over his status panel and was extremely satisfied.

But now was not the time to study how to allocate points. After closing the system, he headed toward the wolf den deep within the valley.

"Whatever could make the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group go to such lengths must be no Mortal Item."

With that thought in mind, Liu Bai strode straight into the wolf den.

A pungent, fishy stench hit him in the face, nearly making this young master faint from the smell.

"Damn, this smell is way too strong. It's burning my eyes..."

Spirit energy surged within him, and a layer of crimson light rose from Liu Bai's body, sealing out the overwhelming stench.

After breaking through to the Spirit Wheel Realm, the spirit energy within Liu Bai's body had increased severalfold and become far more condensed.

If his Sea of Qi had been merely an egg-sized clump of spirit energy back in the Spirit Movement Realm, then now, all that remained within it was a tiny Light Wheel the size of a pigeon egg...

Though this spirit energy Light Wheel was several times smaller than the previous clump of energy, Liu Bai could sense just how vast and powerful the spirit energy contained within it was.

The Light Wheel slowly spun, releasing rings of hazy crimson spiritual radiance that formed a spirit energy barrier around Liu Bai's body.

After casually killing more than a dozen trembling wolf cubs, Liu Bai discovered that he had not gained a single Experience Point. Could it be because these cubs were not even low-level Spirit Beasts yet?

Shaking his head, Liu Bai paid them no further attention. He had discovered that the wolf den was actually a man-made stone chamber...

"Could this be the cave dwelling left behind by some cultivator?" Liu Bai was immediately startled by the thought.

Yet after searching around, he found nothing unusual. It seemed to be an ordinary stone chamber. If there was anything special about it, it was the enormous stone statue in the depths of the chamber. The statue sat cross-legged with its eyes lowered, and whenever one stood before it, one felt as though it were staring directly at them.

Liu Bai frowned. Every time he approached the statue, he sensed that something was off. After thinking for a moment, he closed his eyes and used the Heart Array state to sense the entire statue. At once, he discovered what was unusual about it.

"So that's how it is. No wonder no one ever discovered this place, and it ended up being occupied by a pack of Crimson Flame Wolves."

This stone statue was an array core. If Liu Bai's guess was correct, it belonged to at least a Level 3 concealment array. Naturally, Liu Bai had no idea how to break it. After all, he was only a Level 1 Spirit Array Master, and he had not mastered anything related to concealment arrays. Breaking it was impossible.

But being unable to break the array did not mean he was helpless.

The stone statue before him was the entrance deliberately left behind by the person who had set up the array!

Liu Bai carefully sensed the statue in his Heart Array state. A moment later, his hands formed a profound hand seal. Instantly, the statue blazed with light, and ripples spread across its entire body.

In the next moment, Liu Bai took a step forward and walked directly into the statue.

"Just as I thought, the space inside isn't very large..."

Liu Bai inwardly mused as he looked at the secret chamber before him, which was only a little over twenty square meters.

With a sweep of his gaze, he took in the entire stone chamber. Apart from a skeleton as white as jade, there was nothing else.

"Bones like jade... This senior must have been exceptionally powerful in life. Yet he left behind no inheritance items. That's truly strange..."

As he pondered this, a flash of light suddenly caught Liu Bai's attention.

Only then did Liu Bai notice that a palm-sized piece of white jade coral was growing from the chest of the jade-white skeleton.

"What is this?"

Liu Bai walked over and gently plucked the jade coral. In the next instant...

"Ding! Congratulations, player. You have obtained the heaven-and-earth spiritual item Jade Bone Grass. Consuming it grants the physique 'Spirit Muscle Jade Bone,' reduces the Experience Points required to increase cultivation by 10%, and reduces the requirements for cultivating special body-tempering Cultivation Methods by 50%!"

"Ding! Special body-tempering Divine Art 'Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art' discovered. Would you like to record it?"

"Ding! System notification: The player's physique does not meet the requirements to cultivate 'Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art.' It cannot be upgraded. Please work hard to improve your physique."

"Ding! Array Dao secret art 'Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume' discovered. Would you like to record it?"

The instant his palm touched the jade-white skeleton, system notifications rang continuously beside Liu Bai's ears, leaving him frozen in place.

"This... Could it be that this senior's entire inheritance was actually on his own remains?"

That truly was... a strange hobby!

A body-tempering Divine Art and an Array Dao secret art—these were both excellent things. Even if he went to the Northern Azure Spirit Academy, he might not obtain them. Yet he had found them in an unnamed valley on the tiny Northern Spirit Plains. This was truly a pleasant surprise.

"Record both Cultivation Methods!"

"Ding! Congratulations, player. 'Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art' has been recorded. 'Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume' has been recorded."

Liu Bai did not hesitate. He directly chewed up the jade-coral-like Jade Bone Grass and swallowed it.

In the next instant, Liu Bai felt an icy current rapidly spread from within his body to his limbs and bones. An itchy, numb sensation emerged from the gaps between his bones, making him want nothing more than to peel the flesh from his body and scrape his bones viciously with a knife.

The feeling persisted for nearly half an hour before gradually easing. By then, Liu Bai had collapsed onto the ground, utterly drained, lying there and gasping for breath.

"This feeling was truly awful..."

Only after a long while did Liu Bai recover. He could not help rubbing his face, only to feel as though a layer of skin had come off on his hand...

"This..."

Liu Bai hurriedly stood up. Feeling the grimy sensation all over his body, he quickly stripped off his clothes and tossed them into a corner of the secret chamber.

"So this is what changing one's physique feels like?"

Liu Bai looked at his body and found that it had become as smooth and fine as white jade. Without even looking, he knew his appearance must have undergone another extraordinary change.

"So this is the Spirit Muscle Jade Bone physique?"

The improvement to his appearance was merely incidental. At that moment, Liu Bai could clearly sense that the surrounding spiritual energy had become much more active and intimate with him.

As for the various changes in vitality, strength, and the like brought about by this special physique, those naturally came with it and needed no further mention.

More importantly, after obtaining the Spirit Muscle Jade Bone physique, coupled with Jade Bone Grass's special effect of reducing cultivation requirements by 50%, Liu Bai now met the requirements to cultivate the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art!

Liu Bai's status panel was now:

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage

Profession: Spirit Array Master (Level 1 Spirit Array Master)

Spirit Veins: Spirit Vein (12/50)

Physique: Spirit Muscle Jade Bone

Cultivation Methods: Blazing Sun Art (Level 5, 0/2700); Basic Spirit Array Manual (Low-level Heart Array); Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume (Not Initiated, 0/200); Low Grade Body Tempering Divine Art: Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art (Not Initiated, 0/1000)

Skills:

Mortal Grade High Rank Wind Breaking Finger (Great Accomplishment); Mortal Grade High Rank Senluo Death Seal (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Grade Low Rank Star Shattering Fist (Initiation, 0/100); Spirit Grade Low Rank Blazing Step (Great Accomplishment, 0/1500); Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Minor Accomplishment, 0/1200)

Arrays:

Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array (Great Accomplishment)

Experience Points: 2225

Beast Soul Points: 30

"Tsk, tsk. As expected of a Divine Art. It actually requires 1,000 Experience Points just to reach Initiation!"

Even so, Liu Bai did not hesitate to add points to the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art. There was no other reason—it was a Divine Art. To the current Liu Bai, it was an opportunity that could only be encountered by chance.

"Ding! Congratulations, player. 1,000 Experience Points have been consumed. 'Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art' has reached Initiation."

Boom!

Liu Bai felt a thunderous explosion within his body. Then an ancient, majestic, and authoritative voice rang out in his mind.

"Ice muscle, jade bone—the root of the spiritual path. All things and all laws, merge into my body!"

Accompanied by that voice, Liu Bai felt himself enter an endless void, with neither sky above nor earth below. Before him stood a towering giant with ice muscles and jade bones...

The giant stood amid the stars and let out an angry roar. In an instant, countless stars transformed into boundless spiritual radiance and merged into the giant's body. Then a terrifying pressure erupted from within it, causing the entire starry space to tremble violently.

"Haa!"

When he felt himself return to reality, Liu Bai could not help releasing a long breath.

"So this is the terror of a Divine Art..."

Liu Bai murmured to himself. Then he calmed his mind, took a deep breath, and adopted a solemn expression. He lightly pressed his hands together before somewhat awkwardly forming an extremely ancient and strange seal.

As the seal formed, Liu Bai immediately felt the spirit energy around him fluctuate violently before rapidly converging upon him. The aura of spirit energy around his body suddenly surged, directly reaching the level of the late Spirit Wheel Realm...

"Isn't this a little too powerful?!"

Liu Bai could not help marveling inwardly once more.

He had never expected the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art to be so terrifying, capable of forcibly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy into his body.

Moreover, according to the information in his mind, this was only the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art's most basic effect. If he could cultivate it to its highest realm, he would be able to fuse all methods. The benefits this would bring to his cultivation were beyond measure.

Next came the Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao. This was precisely what Liu Bai could make use of right now, so he had nothing to hesitate over and directly added points to bring it to Initiation.

"Ding! Congratulations, host. Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume has reached Initiation."

"Ding! The Array Dao secret art Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao can be fused with the Basic Spirit Array Manual. Would the player like to fuse them?"

"Fuse!"

"Ding! Fusion successful. Congratulations, player. Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao has been successfully fused."

The fused Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao remained at the Initiation level, but continuing to upgrade it would require 1,200 Experience Points. Clearly, the system rated the Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao very highly.

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Spirit Wheel Realm Initial Stage

Profession: Spirit Array Master (Level 1 Spirit Array Master)

Spirit Veins: Spirit Vein (12/50)

Physique: Spirit Muscle Jade Bone

Cultivation Methods: Blazing Sun Art (Level 5, 0/2700); Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume (Initiation, Basic Heart Array, 0/1200); Low Grade Body Tempering Divine Art: Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art (Initiation, 0/2000)

Skills:

Mortal Grade High Rank Wind Breaking Finger (Great Accomplishment); Mortal Grade High Rank Senluo Death Seal (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Grade Low Rank Star Shattering Fist (Initiation, 0/100); Spirit Grade Low Rank Blazing Step (Great Accomplishment, 0/1500); Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Minor Accomplishment, 0/1200)

Arrays:

Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array (Great Accomplishment)

Experience Points: 1025

Beast Soul Points: 30

This trip to Crimson Flame Wolf Valley had brought earth-shaking changes to Liu Bai.

The increase in strength was secondary. What truly mattered were the Array Dao Divine Art and the special physique. These gains gave Liu Bai limitless potential for growth.

Seeing that it was already late, Liu Bai naturally could not rest alone in this wilderness. He hurriedly left the valley and headed directly toward the camp on the outskirts of the Northern Spirit Plains.

By the time Liu Bai returned to camp, quite a few students had already returned. Judging from their appearances, their day of cultivation had clearly not gone smoothly, and their gains were likely even harder to describe.

However, Liu Bai's arrival attracted quite a few gazes. Seeing that not a speck of dust stained his robes, everyone maliciously guessed that he had hidden somewhere for the entire day before returning, which was why he looked so composed.

Liu Bai had no interest in what these people thought, because Instructor Xi was already walking toward him.

"Eh, Liu Bai, you... You broke through?"

Instructor Xi sensed the much stronger aura around Liu Bai and immediately widened his eyes as he asked in a low voice.

Liu Bai smiled and nodded. "I was lucky enough to break through..."

Instructor Xi was instantly speechless. Looking at the young man before him, who wore such a humble expression, he truly did not know what to say.

"Good, very good. It seems one of the Five Great Academies' slots will definitely be yours..." Instructor Xi quickly became delighted.

Still, he felt that the youth before him had undergone some unusual change compared to a day ago. Yet he could not put his finger on it. Perhaps it was simply because his cultivation had improved.

With that thought, Instructor Xi stopped dwelling on it. After giving Liu Bai a few more instructions, he went to check on the other students.

Liu Bai did not concern himself with anything else. He simply found a bonfire and sat down cross-legged beside it.

His mind had been flooded with countless pieces of information today, especially the Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao. It was truly all-encompassing. Although it contained no specific array diagrams, it included all manner of secret techniques and methods related to Array Dao.

Liu Bai now planned to sort through this information first and deepen his own understanding.

The night grew late. Most of the students had already entered their tents to rest, though a small number still sat cross-legged beside the bonfires, organizing the results of their day's cultivation.

After sorting through the information in the Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao, Liu Bai did not rest. After pondering for a while, he prepared to condense his second Senluo Death Seal.

The reason he chose to condense it now was that his cultivation had broken through, giving him sufficient conditions to condense a second, or even a third, Senluo Death Seal... He also wanted to test whether, with his Spirit Muscle Jade Bone physique and the Divine Art Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art, he could now surpass Mu Chen at the same realm and condense even more Death Seals!