At a Loss
He's awake!
"I just don't understand this!"
"His Grain Avoidance Instruction Divine Ability is truly incredible; it has disrupted the normal practice of evasion techniques!"
Zhang Xuezhou staggered and struggled to walk in the brewery, having fallen into a state of intoxication.
Inside the Myriad Longevity Pavilion, the Emperor and Empress gaze at each other.
This is where the Emperor used to relax, and also where he and Ren Anran would gaze at each other from afar.
The emperor is currently unable to relax, and Ren Anran has also disappeared.
But this is still a place the Emperor likes to visit often.
The emperor and empress also accompanied them during the discussions.
During the twelve days that Zhang Xuezhou was unconscious, the Emperor and Empress performed various spells on Zhang Xuezhou and also figured out Zhang Xuezhou true nature.
These details were unclear until they were uncovered, and once they were, they left the Emperor and Empress in a state of profound shock.
Without having undergone a soul search, it's difficult to explain in detail what active techniques Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou, but it's not hard to assess the strength of the passive Technique Method he has.
The proficiency of the nine avoidance techniques —Water Avoidance Instruction, Fire Avoidance Instruction, Lightning Avoidance Instruction, Wind Avoidance Instruction, dust, poison, Incantation Avoidance Formula, Grain Avoidance Instruction, and Halt Warfare Formula— can be determined with only a slight application of the techniques.
As one spell after another was unleashed, Zhang Xuezhou's nine evasion techniques were also continuously demonstrated.
Having lived for a thousand years, the Emperor and Empress had witnessed various evasion techniques practiced by gods, humans, and demons. Zhang Xuezhou's evasion skills were not considered particularly high among these people.
This is related to Zhang Xuezhou's level of cultivation. The opponent's limit is at the Divine Ability Realm. No matter how talented he is, he is still limited by the upper limit. His level of evasion techniques could not possibly reach the limit of 108,000 acupoints.
Among the strongest evasion masters in the past millennium, there were those with over 90,000 apertures, and even some human-gods with nearly 100,000 apertures.
In this comparison, no matter how Zhang Xuezhou cultivates, he is simply repeating the cultivation paths of his predecessors and cannot escape the corresponding framework.
However, the Emperor unexpectedly discovered that Zhang Xuezhou's Grain Avoidance Instruction had changed.
The evasion technique, which should have been familiar, even felt somewhat unfamiliar to the Emperor.
The Emperor must say that he has lived a long enough life, but he has never actually seen anyone promote the Grain Avoidance Instruction transforming it into Divine Ability.
This is at best a survival skill to avoid starvation; even the most Grain Avoidance Instruction, with their myriad secrets, only make one more able to endure hunger.
The reason this avoidance technique was initially derived was simply because some cultivators needed to spend a long time in seclusion and could not afford to waste time on things like eating, drinking, and Grain Avoidance Instruction themselves every day. This led to the prototype of the Bigu Technique. Later, some people went deeper into its research, and when it was combined with other formal Technique Method, it eventually became the Grain Avoidance Instruction.
Of the nine evasion techniques, this is the most useless.
The Emperor never expected that Zhang Xuezhou would turn this Grain Avoidance Instruction into Divine Ability.
It's hard to say who is the strongest among cultivators in the Divine Ability Realm, but Zhang Xuezhou is probably the most capable of enduring hunger.
Even after losing consciousness, Zhang Xuezhou's internal Grain Avoidance Instruction operate on its own to absorb usable external substances, thus preventing his body from weakening.
However, this record of "being able to endure hunger the most in the Divine Ability Realm" seemed to be of little use. Even after the Emperor and Empress discussed it several times, neither of them could figure out the significance of Zhang Xuezhou, guided by "Mr. Ren," transforming this ability into Divine Ability.
Even Jiang Shang, who lived over a thousand years ago, never did anything so outrageous.
This once made the two of them question their existence, and their exploration over the past few days had also fallen into a certain predicament, namely, they were certain that they could no longer define Zhang Xuezhou's evasion technique, and it was difficult to deduce and simulate the Divine Sense Strengthening Incantation.
Zhang Xuezhou went from stumbling through the art of evasion to becoming a cultivator at the Divine Ability Realm, and then transformed the art of evasion into Divine Ability, which in turn influenced other evasion techniques. There were too many variables involved, and even the Emperor and Empress, with their vast knowledge, found it difficult to follow along as they groped their way across the river.
"Your only option now is to break the Hongjun restriction on Zhang Xuezhou and see if you can extract all of Hongjun's teachings through soul-searching, so that you can follow him in cultivation!"
A black light emerged from the Emperor's chest, which then transformed into the shape of a hairy monkey.
"How can the Hongjun Restriction be broken so easily? If I could break the Hongjun Restriction, why would I be imprisoned in Kunlun?" the Emperor frowned.
"I think you should try leaving Mount Kunlun. What if your restriction isn't triggered and causes your demise?" the monkey urged.
"You are also part of His Majesty's body, why don't you go out and try?" the Emperor and Empress said.
"I'm not going!"
The monkey tried to persuade the emperor, but refused decisively when asked to leave Mount Kunlun.
As the other side of the Emperor's heart, he could clearly feel the Emperor's fear.
It's not that the Emperor is cowardly, but rather that he was once suppressed by the other party, and the lingering resentment in his heart has not yet been eliminated.
Given the Emperor's current state, everyone could roughly guess the extent of that decisive defeat.
A cultivator's confidence does not entirely stem from their realm of cultivation. It is not that reaching the True Self Realm will make one stand at the top of the Three Realms, but rather it is the success brought about by victories in repeated battles.
As one progresses through different realms, gaining an advantage in each realm, one ascends step by step until reaching the pinnacle of their chosen realm.
This kind of belief—that of being able to defeat opponents all the way to the finish line—is what builds up to be so strong that one is invincible.
If someone reaches the pinnacle of cultivation, only to be easily defeated and unable to even perceive the difference in skill, this situation would undoubtedly lead to despair.
For cultivators at lower levels, there might still be a chance to catch up, and they can learn from their failures. But for top-level cultivators like the Emperor who have made no further progress, this is an insurmountable chasm.
This defeat meant that the Emperor could never rise again.
Even though he enhanced his strength with the help of external formations and treasures, the Emperor had no confidence in challenging him.
Consequently, the emperor indeed dared not attempt to break the seal.
With that step, he was certain there was a 99% chance he would die instantly, while the remaining 1% chance was that he could be rescued and brought back to Kunlun.
Since the outcome was so certain, the Emperor had no need to leave Kunlun.
To gain confidence to leave Kunlun, the Emperor would only take on a challenge if his own strength had significantly improved, and the factor that enabled him to improve his strength stemmed from ten years ago.
That was when he first met Zhang Xuezhou, and heard Zhang Xuezhou explain the Divine Sense Strengthening Incantation, thus learning another cultivation technique.
The subsequent appearance of Ren Anran further propelled the progress of this cultivation technique.
However, the Emperor did not expect that Zhang Xuezhou's progress in cultivation would exceed his expectations in just a few years.
The road ends here.
Despite his many schemes and calculations, fate intervened, leading to his plans coming to nothing and even causing the emperor to develop the peculiar mental disorder.
"The Holy Son must return to the Upper Realm every twelve days to receive Hongjun's teachings. His knowledge is incomplete. Even if we search his soul, we will find it difficult to obtain the complete teachings. Breaking the restrictions is not a good idea," the Empress advised.
"Then what do we do?" the monkey cried. "You don't want to die, I don't want to die, and we certainly don't want to be locked up in this birdcage waiting to die. We want you to transcend, but that's impossible. We wanted you to chase that Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and infiltrate the upper realm, but that failed. This won't work, that won't work, what do we do?"
"Enough talk, let's drink!"
"Even the firewood stick is dead, what are you still drinking for?"
Unable to resolve the problem, the emperor could only drown his sorrows in alcohol.
As the familiar excuses were uttered, a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face when the monkey reminded him again that the Golden Crow Great Emperor had passed away and that the Kunlun Sacred Land could no longer brew the Nine Treasures Wine.