Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"Grand Herculean Physique…" Yan Zaizen was seated in a lotus position floating atop a lake's surface. The intended plan was to wait for several months to consolidate his body cultivation and practice his arts before restarting their journey to the Presba Capital.

This was taking into consideration the time it took to refine an Origin Consolidating Pill for Bai Lufeng and Tao's own cultivation goals. Of course, a few months may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it'll definitely be beneficial to perform ascetic cultivation after a breakthrough.

"Your foundation is astounding." Pinaka softly admitted within Yan Zaizen's soul form. Oftentimes, they would communicate via the soul unless Yan Zaizen decided to take the initiative to enter his sea of consciousness in soul form. She continued, "You possess a half-step Perfect Aurora Soul, a physique and vital energy that could rival the True Essence Realm, and a qi-cultivation that's been tempered by four world laws."

If this was given to someone who was tens of thousands of years old, this wouldn't be impressive, but it was on someone who was twenty-two! Xiantu Realm may be weak in the overall scheme of things, but that didn't mean they were truly insignificant. The Xiantu Empire could control an entire realm after all, only those who've taken a step towards rivaling the heavens could accomplish such a feat.

How could anyone who could perform such a feat be considered weak? How could the people they govern be weak? Yet, Yan Zaizen could probably eclipse a majority of the realm's population at twenty-two.

"Uhm...thanks." Yan Zaizen awkwardly said, rubbing his nose with eyes suffused with intense satisfaction. However, Pinaka's next words dumbed cold water on him.

"If it wasn't for the fact you are unbelievably bad at practicing arts, you would be the perfect cultivator!" She mentioned as if praising him, but it felt like rocks pelleting his confidence.

Yan Zaizen wanted to refuse but couldn't.

It was true; Yan Zaizen was terrible at practicing arts. He's made zero headway into the Grand Heavenly Zone and had to change the Violet Way of Spatial Shifting to something else. This wasn't some ingenious move that should be praised, the Violet Way of Spatial Shifting aligned perfectly with Yan Zaizen's Spatial Form of Infinite Stability, but he simply couldn't figure out how to enter the spatial void.

By all means, this was horrible.

It was like someone tried to solve a puzzle to input specific blocks into specific holes, but because they couldn't figure out how, they threw the puzzle away and made their own blocks and holes. Because of this, he could only use the cultivation art as a reference and had to devise this new Infinite Chaotic Immersion Art by himself.

Yan Zaizen had a dark expression on his face, his eyes filled with traces of reluctance and unyieldingness.

Wait.

Yan Zaizen had a miraculous memory pop into his head. "Earlier, you mentioned that if I had a mental cultivation art, I could fix this issue!"

A mental cultivation art trains the psyche in a unique way which brings about a myriad of extraordinary effects, especially towards one's comprehension towards laws, arts, or even the dao, memory, processing of information, heightened physical senses, and far more. It was exceptionally beneficial to armament creators and alchemists.

However, it had its disadvantages. It could result in a split in personality, lack of impulse control, too much impulse control, emotional degradation, and in some cases, shattering of the psyche if cultivated improperly. One could even turn into a completely different individual mentally.

A majority of the myriad realms do not cultivate the mind and it has even been outlawed by some races. Even in the Xiantu Realm, the number of circulated mental arts could be counted on one's hand.

Pinaka couldn't help but be stunned for a second, "Indeed, a mental cultivation art could help you fix this issue of your cognitive comprehension and perception. There is a major issue with that, however. Mental cultivation arts are very changing to your personality and for those who've comprehended a dao, if you cultivate the wrong art, your dao would automatically collapse."

It's not like she wanted to keep things from Yan Zaizen, but she truly didn't have a mental art suitable for him. His tyrannical dao didn't fit the mental cultivation art she knew, which focuses on honing the mind with serenity and patience. Before she met Yan Zaizen, she was reserved and filled with gentle serenity, but Yan Zaizen's dao has already impacted her personality to an extraordinary degree. They were too opposing.

She could barely contain her contempt, her disdain, or her harsh words. She and Yan Zaizen were different by the core, so their reactions to his dao were different, but give that type of dao to someone who's lived for countless years, seen many things, and having to interact with someone with very little knowledge.

It was VERY hard to deal with.

If it wasn't for Yan Zaizen's understanding of her personality shift due to his dao, it's highly likely with Yan Zaizen's dao, he would've lashed out at her long ago. Fortunately, his dao was still in its nascent form which was evolving its characteristics and gained some warmth. Despite this, it didn't affect her enough to abate the distressing personality traits, but it did let her care more than before.

"I see...so, no art? Even amongst the books?" Yan Zaizen inquired, unwilling to give up.

"None that wouldn't cause your dao to shatter almost instantly."

Yan Zaizen softly sighed with sadness, but not defeat! If he didn't have one on hand, that didn't mean a mental cultivation art suitable for him didn't exist! One day, he'll find one to properly cultivate his mental cognitive functions and improve his talent in arts.

As for his intelligence, it wasn't horrible, but he was simply inexperienced, like a child. The more he learned, the greater he'd progress. Unfortunately, his childhood wasn't filled with many lessons and scholar studies.

Taking a deep breath, he put his mind elsewhere, recalling the Immortal Herculean Method branded into his soul. "Now that I've reached the Grand Herculean Physique, I can practice the Herculean Avatar Art." He decided.

The Herculean Avatar Art was a manifestation-based martial art that wasn't really a unique art within its category. Pretty much all cultivation methods from qi, body, or soul would have an avatar art with slight variations in form and execution. It's because of this that it didn't have a specific grade or level of successes. The moment you cultivate it, it'll progress alongside the progression of your cultivation.

"Use your vital energies to manifest a Herculean Avatar. Eclipse the world with your palm, crush mountains with your feet, and conquer all with your gaze." He recited the basic synopsis. The Immortal Herculean Method truly had domineering descriptions for everything and he couldn't help but feel excited. Unfortunately, besides this Herculean Avatar Art, the Immortal Herculean Method had no other arts.

"If I can cultivate this, I'll be able to manifest a herculean avatar out of my vital energy and fight with others!"

Pinaka intervened, "You should be careful when you cultivate this art." She calmly reminded with traces of wary in her tone.

Huh?

"What do you mean?"

"Avatar Arts are basic, but this cultivation method is beyond domineering and heaven-defying. You refined a Regalia of the Heavens simply to reach the second level, and there's still three more. There's no way this art is ordinary, and it may elicit odd consequences if you cultivate improperly." She warned, obviously fearing him improperly cultivating the art and causing a cultivation deviation moment that could take his life. Normally, she wouldn't warn anyone of something so basic, but Yan Zaizen had poor art comprehension talent. If something went wrong during cultivation, it's likely he'll suffer miserably.

"..." He understood what she meant. However, how could he just run away with those words? He had to cultivate it regardless!

Four months later, Tao and Bai Lufeng had finished their respective cultivation. They stood beside the lake Yan Zaizen was cultivating above. However, their expressions were filled with extreme fear and backs drenched with cold sweat. As Origin Core Cultivators, they would've never imagined an aura would cause them to feel such a reaction.

It wasn't as intense as before when they were huddled like babies in a corner, but it wasn't that far off. It was like they'd just saw a god before them in its full glory. Both of their mouths felt horrendously dry and their heartbeats were uncontrollably erratic.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Yan Zaizen was laughing at the center of the lake, his eyes filled with an amber-gold luster that felt heaven-defying. His body gave off a strong sensation of vital energy that could put all the True Essence Realm cultivators he'd met thus far deep into the dirt with shame.

"I did it! Hehe!" He was beyond excited. Pinaka, on the other hand, was silent as night within his soul form. Currently, she was hurdled within his soul form absorbing his soul energy like a baby sucking a pacifier. Every now and then, one could see her bow form inside Yan Zaizen's soul quiver slightly.

Yan Zaizen ignored her lack of reaction, clenched his fists and felt like he was drenched in gold. The Herculean Avatar Art truly was domineering and his first true Martial Art that he felt proud to possess. Initially, he had his assumptions about the art, but its true form surprised him.

Normally, Avatar Arts would simply manifest a larger version of oneself, but this art was fundamentally different, just like Pinaka said, but it was spectacular in its difference. This was because of one of its core differences: It was easy to cultivate for Yan Zaizen.

Unlike normal arts which were filled with complexities, this art focused on instinctual feelings for progression, it was very well suited for those with his mentality. Despite this art not having any defined mastery levels, he felt like he reached the very peak in just a few months.

He landed softly beside the uncomfortable Tao and Bai Lufeng. As he was laughing softly, the fear in their eyes lessened unconsciously. After regaining their breaths and composure, they both said, "Congratulations, Young Lord Zai."

"Mhm. We're ready to go?" He inquired. They both nodded in assent. Now that they've finished their respective cultivation, they could depart.