Douluo Dalu Within A Martial World

Over the next two months divided up his time into cultivating the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] 50% of the time, while cultivating his Spirit Essence 25% of the time and spent the remaining 25% of his time researching the [Heavenly Inscription Chronicle].

Xiao An suggested that Bing Xian should start practicing the [Thirteen Shadow Transformations] when he reached the Houtian Stage in order to see a greater yield in results.

He considered trying to practice it with his level 21 Spirit Grandmaster cultivation, but ignored the thought completely after hearing Xiao An's reasoning.

"Little Xian, your Spirit Essence Cultivation is slightly different to True Essence cultivation. Even if you rotated your Spirit Essence exactly like True Essence, it would not prove to the same effect. It would be like trying to power a engine with the wrong type of fuel.... do you understand me?".

He nodded resolutely.

The 1st Stage of the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] was comprised of 7 sub stages. Each sub stage consisted of a specific stage in the Body Transformation Realm. It refined the body, not just with pure true essence, but relied on an innate affinity to darkness laws, in order to purify the body to a higher degree.

Luckily, with both the [Undying Nightmare Ghost Demon] as well as his new left arm Spirit Bone, the two together made up for more than enough affinity towards the darkness attribute.

"Teacher.... is the [True Shadow Seed] within the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] supposed to act as another Revolving Core? It does absorb True Essence and stores it like a Dan, yet it has other abilities. Why is this?".

Xiao An and the silly crane raised an eyebrow when Bing Xian came into his Sea of Consciousness so abruptly. Normally the six year old would only call out to them through their connection with his Spirit Rings, but this time he came in personally.

"They may have the same form, little Xian, but they are completely different in nature. The Revolving Core Realm creates a Core within the body which stores True Essence and allows cultivators to quickly recover their power by absorbing the spiritual essence from the heavens and earth.

The [True Shadow Seed] on the other hand is reliant on only dark attributed true essence. During [Blackening], the [True Shadow Seed] opens its unique true essence and it flows through the meridians and throughout the body. In doing so, the rest of the true essence in the body is diluted by this higher quality true essence and grants a boost in power".

Bing Xian brows furrowed and he asked another question.

"But wouldn't the [True Shadow Seed] only have a great effect in the Realms below Life Destruction? I can understand that the quality of the [True Shadow Seed] will increase as well, but I don't understand how it will be effective at a cultivation higher than the Divine Sea Realm".

Xiao An's brows raised slightly and he sent the silly crane a look before turning back and looking up at his student.

"At a higher stage, the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] has other features than just the [True Shadow Seed] and [Blackening]. In fact, at higher stages it is possible to create an Avatar of a [Divine Shadow] Beast. A Beast that created the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] in addition to being the creator of the Holy Shadow Clan.... not to mention that at the 11th Stage, there is an ability called [Incarnation]. Something that even I don't fully understand....".

"Don't worry about not reaching that stage. Being able to ask questions about advanced concepts, while not possessing the adequate cultivation to practice them is a sign of high talent and comprehension.... don't be afraid to ask questions".

As it turns out, Xiao An's personality was more soft-hearted than the silly bird. Many years in isolation, didn't make the [Holy Shadow] Beast lash out at humanity for locking it up. But rather, he became patient and steadfast. His will tempered in his imprisonment, and now an overflowing amount of gratitude to the person who freed him was now being shown.

Bing Xian's schedule was the same for weeks.

Wake up and make breakfast. Cultivate the [Holy Shadow Blackening Art] until lunch and catch fish and low level wild beasts for lunch.

Until noon, cultivate Spirit Essence and then make dinner. After dinner and until he fell asleep he researched Inscriptions from the [Heavenly Inscription Chronicle] and pondered about them while asking Xiao An about any of his incorrect ȧssumptions.

'The [Archaic Mountain Inscription] is composed of 360 intersecting lines composed of magic runes, cuneiform lettering and ancient writing. It's purpose is to be applied on armor, particularly around the feet. It connects the cultivator to the earth and allows them to power to strengthen their attacks and defenses. It has two active skills called [Mountain Slayer] and [Mountain Driver]. The former is an offensive skill while the latter is....'.

Bing Xian loved researching Inscriptions in the [Heavenly Inscription Chronicle].

There were dozens of Inscriptions on each page, and many had similar effects but every one had their own pros and cons.

There were even arrays shown within the book which comprised of hundreds if not thousands of minor arrays. They could focus all the elemental true essence within several kilometers into a small room or even offensive arrays possessed power that rivaled Life Destruction Martial Artists!

Just by reading and practicing drawing the inscriptions, had the field already fully engrossed Bing Xian. Although he wanted to take some time out of cultivating his Spirit Essence to keep researching, he didn't want to mess up his schedule and reluctantly put away the book after he finished his lunch.

Eventually, the full two months had passed and a small child could be seen running through the forest. His figure flashing before reappearing over dozens of meters away. He had no mask on and only wore a battered shirt and shorts, and a pair of beast hide boots, glowing slightly pale green.

"It works! The [Unfettered Wind Inscription] works! With these, I can run as fast as an Late Stage Pulse Condensation Martial Artist.... and that's without my Spirit Essence!".

He looked out over the horizon in the direction of Green Valley Town and smiled.

'Zhu Clan.... here I come!'.