Splitting the Heave

Looking at the origin dipper in front of him, Shang Xia had no idea what he should do with it. He didn’t know what it was exactly either.

However, from the ability it had to stir up the wind and clouds when it first appeared, to the time when it captured the attention of the Martial Dipper Realm experts in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion, along with the importance Feng Yezi placed on it, Shang Xia was afraid that the origin dipper in his hand was no ordinary treasure. At the very least, it was something of an exceptional grade.

After he used his Abyssal Blade to seal it previously, Shang Xia hadn’t actually seen its true appearance. However, that didn’t seem important now that the treasure actually belonged to him.

Next came the boulder that trapped the Abyssal Blade. The boulder itself took up so much space that it nearly filled up an entire Embroidered Cloud Case alone, and Shang Xia finally took it out to look at it.

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There were countless cracks that filled its surface and there was nothing especially special about its appearance. It looked just like an ordinary rock that was larger than usual, but after hundreds of years of nourishment by the heaven and earth qi around it, it seemed a lot tougher than before. It contained dense heaven and earth qi, but unfortunately, it wasn’t comparable to spiritual jades. 

That might be how it seemed to the outside world, but Shang Xia had a sneaking suspicion that the boulder wasn’t as simple as it looked.

An idea had formed in Shang Xia’s mind some time ago and he had to use the boulder in order to verify his guesses. 

Other than all the treasures that he had laid out earlier, there were still 2 inheritance light balls in his possession. He grabbed them early on in the battle and left soon after. 

With close to 300 inheritance light balls emerging from the Abyssal Secret Region, treasures contained in them were split into different grades. One could only rely on their luck to see if the treasures they retrieved were precious or not.

Shang Xia understood that his chances of getting something good were slim to none, but his heart was bubbling with excitement because of the gambling aspect of things. He wondered if he would be able to obtain another origin dipper from either inheritance light ball in his hand.

Retrieving one of them, a four colored extermination light surrounded the light ball. It shattered the restrictions that were producing the barrier of light and the treasure inside was eventually revealed.

Shang Xia looked at the snowy white pearl that was filled with swirling mist in his hand and felt somewhat disappointed.

After playing around with the pearl in his hand, Shang Xia discovered that it could be used two different ways.

The first way was for him to wear the pearl on him at all times. It could ensure that he wouldn’t lose his way even in thick fog or mists. Not even poison miasma or hallucinogenic mist would cause him to wander off track.

Its use was surprisingly similar to the Misty Palace Lantern Shang Xia obtained after killing the Martial Extermination Realm from the Divine Capital Sect back then. However, the Misty Palace Lantern still seemed slightly more superior. Other than the ability to prevent the user from losing their way, the lantern possessed offensive and defensive capabilities.

The second use of the pearl was to create a sea of fog around the cultivator who used it. The scale of the fog created would depend on the cultivation of its user. Weaker ones would only be able to summon a sea of fog a hundred feet wide. However, it was possible for it to go up to ten miles or larger.

“If I run into stronger opponents, it’s possible for me to use this pearl to get away!” Shang Xia thought to himself. Understanding its uses, he quickly kept it properly.

The cave dwelling he was currently hiding in had no natural defenses. He could use the pearl to create a sea of fog around the region to give it some form of protection, but that would be a little too eye-catching. It would bring about negative results instead. 

It was especially so after the appearance of the Abyssal Secret Region. The sea of clouds around the Cloud Water Gorge was cleared after god knew how many years. If another sea of fog reappeared in the Taihang Mountains, it would immediately rouse everyone’s suspicion.

Now that he had the experience of breaking the restriction around the balls of light, Shang Xia’s second attempt was much smoother than before. 

Looking at how easily his extermination origins had destroyed the restrictions on the ball of light, Shang Xia couldn’t help but think back to how he destroyed the Jingxiu Peak’s protection barrier. There was also the matter of suppressing the Abyssal Blade’s weapon spirit with his extermination origins. Shang Xia could basically confirm that his extermination origins were extremely effective when it came to dealing with restrictions, formations, and stuff that had to do with the spirit.

As the thought flashed through his mind, the second item was quickly revealed in his hand. 

“This… Is this a stick of incense?!” Shang Xia stared at the cylindrical item that was close to a foot long with the thickness of his finger.

Flipping it around in his hand, Shang Xia eventually noticed a shallow carving on its surface. ‘Dao Comprehension Incense’!

“Dao Comprehension Incense? What is this? Sounds… It sounds pretty impressive…” It was Shang Xia’s first time seeing anything like it. However, he could already tell that it was a precious treasure.

He was no stranger to incense that could assist with cultivation. When he broke through to the Martial Intent Realm in the past, he used the help of the Intent Guarding Incense and after becoming a high-level Talisman Master, he would use it from time to time to calm himself down throughout the crafting process. It was also useful in replenishing his mental state.

Following the shallow carvings on the stick of incense, Shang Xia saw an even smaller row of words. “Helpful in the deduction of advancement formulas, martial arts, secret arts, and martial intent.” 

Shang Xia’s eyes lit up the moment he saw what was written. This is good stuff!

However, there was still a trace of doubt in his mind. Can this thing really be so magical?

Even if it could do whatever it said it could, Shang Xia felt that there had to be a limit. It might be possible to deduce stuff of the first and second rank… If he wanted to go a little higher, the limit should be somewhere close to a rank three advancement formula or one’s third martial intent. As for those of the fourth and fifth rank… Hehehe…

If the incense is really that amazing, the number of Martial Dipper Realm experts in the Azure Origin World should be a lot more numerous than it was.

The more he thought about it, the less excited he felt about obtaining the Dao Comprehension Incense.

Should I… Should I just light this up and test its effects right now?

Shang Xia reached out and tapped the tip of the incense as a trace of his Mirroring Sun Extermination Origin ran through his fingers. A spark lit up the incense as a trail of smoke filled the air. The entire cave seemed to enter a strange state of silence.

After ensuring there was no poison in the Dao Comprehension Incense, Shang Xia placed several simple restrictions at the entrance of the cave to prevent the smoke from escaping before silently returning to his cultivation.

Shang Xia didn’t realize that he entered a deep level of focus in just a short amount of time.

Back when he broke through to the Four Constellation Realm, Shang Xia had created a set of secret art that allowed him to produce Four Constellation Qi in his body. He wasn’t great at coming up with names and he simply based them off his advancement medicine, the Four Seasons Samsara Wine. In the end, he named his secret art the Four Seasons Samsara Art. After breaking through, he basically completed the deduction and use of his secret art, and now, he was merely refining it to be better than before.

Originally, Shang Xia felt that he would need to use at least 3 years to fully refine his Four Seasons Samara Art. Only then would he be able to produce Four Constellation Qi with maximum efficiency. 

3 years might seem long, but that wasn’t the case at all! Cultivators at the same level would probably feel their jaws dropping to the ground if they heard that Shang Xia could accomplish such a feat in 3 short years.

The creation and refinement of even the lowest type of secret art in the Azure Origin World would probably require dozens of years! In fact, it would take them dozens of years to come up with the new secret art and dozens more years to refine and polish the method before creating a complete inheritance! 

If they wanted to create higher-leveled secret arts for those in the Martial Intent Realm, Martial Extermination Realm, or even Martial Dipper Realm, dozens of years didn’t even begin to describe the unit of time required for them to create and refine such a secret art. They could even take generations before the inheritance was complete!

The reason Shang Xia was confident he could do it in such a short amount of time was because of the slight understanding he had of the Four Constellation Realm in his previous life. The help of the Crimson Soul Tablet couldn’t be ignored either. It produced a complete advancement formula, saving Shang Xia a lot of precious time.

It allowed Shang Xia to gain an initial direction of development, unlike cultivators who had to feel their way about not knowing whether they were correct or not. 

The only thing Shang Xia had to do was to barge down the path that had been given to him by the Crimson Soul Tablet. He might have to refine his method while barreling down the path, but it was better than nothing. During the process, he could come up with a way such that other people could follow in his footsteps.

After entering a deep state of cultivation, Shang Xia felt his inner qi flowing much smoother than before. Any obstacles he came across were quickly dealt with. The second he discovered his inner qi not flowing as he desired, he would be able to discover the problem.

Circulating his inner qi through his body, there were bound to be forks in the path it could take. Even then, Shang Xia was able to accurately choose the correct path to take.

A miraculous feeling overwhelmed Shang Xia and every single decision he made seemed correct. Reality also proved that he was correct.

When he started cultivating previously, he would take close to 10 hours to fully complete one cycle of inner qi circulation. It eventually went down to 8 hours or so, showing signs of improvement. Every few days or so, he would become a little more familiar with the process, shortening the time taken by half an hour or so.

Now, he barely used 2 hours to complete a third of his inner qi cycle!

At this rate, Shang Xia felt that as long as he had enough Dao Comprehension Incense, he was fully confident of completing one full cycle in 6 short hours! 

It seemed as though his time spent in seclusion was much more effective than all the time he used in the past!

One had to know that the refinement process of one’s secret art would become more difficult near the end. It was even more terrifying if one were to understand that Shang Xia’s speed of comprehension before was a lot faster than it would ordinarily be. Because of his accumulation during the various battles he took part in ever since he stepped into the Taihang Mountains, he managed to refine his secret art at a frightening speed. However, it was even faster after he lit the Dao Comprehension Incense!

Unfortunately, the stick of incense couldn’t burn forever. After 2 hours, the effects disappeared. Shang Xia was forcefully torn out from the miraculous state, and the speed of his inner qi circulation returned to normal.

Even though it was still faster than it had been, the speed of his improvement was no longer as quick as before. When he ran into obstacles when circulating his inner qi, Shang Xia could no longer act like before. He had to carefully scout out the correct path before allowing his inner qi to flow through his body.

When he finally completed the cycle, 7 hours had passed. 

However, Shang Xia didn’t choose to awaken immediately. Instead, he took the chance to deepen his cultivation and he only opened his eyes 3 days later. The moment he did, the world seemed a little clearer than before.

The effects of his seclusion this time could be compared to the past half a month or so!

Not only did he manage to greatly improve his secret art, his injuries also recovered at a frightening rate. He was much better than before and his previous estimate of 3 to 5 months would have to be scrapped! He had been stuck in his cave for slightly more than a month since he first arrived, but more than half his injuries were already gone!