Chapter 969: The Way To Advance Without A Golden Lotus
Xiao Yunhe looked at the sky. The sun was already setting in the west. He felt rather regretful that Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai’s master did not appear. He was about to leave when he recalled Yu Shangrong blocking his palm strike earlier. He could not help but say, “Your sword is rather extraordinary…”
Yu Shangrong waved his right hand.
The Longevity Sword unsheathed itself before it circled twice in the air in front of Yu Shangrong before it returned its sheath.
Following that, Yu Shangrong said, “This sword has followed me into countless battles, and I regard it as my life. However, my master had instructed me not to rely too much on weapons…”
“I see…” Xiao Yunhe said, “It’s almost impossible for Ten-leaf cultivators to block my attacks without getting injured at all…”
Yu Zhenghai added, filled with praise, “My junior brother is a lone wolf. He has always been different in regard to cultivation. He’s the first person in the cultivation world to sever his lotus.”
“Sever his lotus?” Xiao Yunhe frowned, puzzled. Although he was experienced and knowledgeable, he had never heard of this cultivation method. His interest was piqued immediately. Five of his Birth Charts had been destroyed; what if there was another cultivation method that could help him?
After a moment, Xiao Yunhe said, “Severing your lotus is no different from digging your own grave. How’s that possible?”
Yu Shangrong did not reply to Xiao Yunhe. Instead, he manifested his avatar.
When the 150-foot appeared, Xiao Yunhe and the other blackguards were shocked by the lack of a golden lotus.
Xiao Yun studied the s.p.a.ce below the feet of the avatar. Indeed, there was no lotus at all. He frowned as he asked, hitting the nail on the head, “Without a lotus, there’s no Birth Palace. How are you going to activate your Birth Chart?”
Upon hearing Xiao Yunhe’s words, the captain of the blackguard chimed in, “That’s right! Without a lotus, you can’t activate your Birth Chart. There’s no need for you to collect life hearts at all.”
Yu Shangrong shook his head indifferently and maintained the smile on his face as he said, “As the saying goes, ‘The boat will naturally right itself when it reaches the harbor’. Previously, no one thought it was possible to sever one’s lotus as well…”
Xiao Yunhe nodded and said, “You’re brave. Indeed, it’s not certain that there’s no way at all to advance after severing your lotus…”
Yu Shangrong was surprised. “You know of a way?” If he could activate his Birth Chart successfully, he would be able to open up a completely different cultivation path.
“No, it’s nothing concrete,” Xiao Yunhe said. “However, I’ve heard of an interesting story that might inspire you.”
Then, Xiao Yunhe looked at Yu Shangrong and continued to say, “Whether it’s in the golden lotus domain or the red lotus domain, there are the Other Tribes. In order to restore my five Birth Charts, I spent 100 years studying the cultivation methods of the Other Tribes.” He paused for a moment before he asked, “Have you thought about how cultivators from the Other Tribes managed to get stronger despite not cultivating methods from the schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism? Moreover, their avatars usually resemble beasts in the forest. When their avatars are damaged, the damage to the cultivators is very low as well.”
Yu Shangrong fell deep into thoughts as he listened to Xiao Yunhe’s words.
Xiao Yunhe continued to say, “Due to all the questions I had, I once spoke to an elderly Other Tribesman. His situation is slightly similar to yours. His avatar was missing a leg, and he only had half a lotus. At that time, everyone thought it was impossible for him to activate his Birth Chart. As you can guess by now, contrary to everyone’s expectations, he succeeded in activating his Birth Chart.”
Yu Zhenghai said, “The difference is still too big. That person has half a lotus, which means he has half a Birth Palace. Although he only has half a Birth Palace, this means he still has a place to embed the life heart. It’s not surprising that he succeeded.”
Xiao Yunhe smiled as he said, “When one places a life heart in the Birth Palace, a vortex will appear to absorb vitality energy. Activating a Birth Chart consumes 1,500 years of life. If a Birth Palace is incomplete, it won’t be able to absorb vitality energy. With that, it’ll only result in a failure to activate the Birth Chart. However, the elderly Other Tribesman managed to solve this problem. He used the animalistic characteristics of the Other Tribe’s avatars and let his avatar eat the life heart instead. After eating the life heart, the avatar digested the life heart and gained the ability of the life heart. As a result, he successfully activated his Birth Chart and formed his astrolabe.”
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai were shocked by these words.
“The avatar ate the life heart?”
“That’s right.” Xiao Yunhe nodded. “It sounds simple, but many cultivators have tried and failed. After all, the avatar is just a body of energy, how could it digest the life heart? I’ve attempted this as well. Unfortunately, when the life heart entered my avatar, it could not digest the life heart. Moreover, without the Birth Palace, the absorption speed was only average. After that, I concluded that the method was not very feasible.”
Yu Shangrong recalled that time when his master asked him to absorb the energy from the life heart. He asked, “What about absorbing the energy from the life heart instead?”
Xiao Yunhe shook his head and said, “Just absorbing the energy? I tried this method as well, but it was too slow.”
‘Too slow?’ Yu Shangrong frowned slightly. When he had absorbed the energy from the life heart, the speed was not slow at all. Why was it different?
At this moment, Xiao Yunhe said, “I’ve said all there is to be said. I’m in a rush so I’ll take my leave now…”
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai cupped their fists together at Xiao Yunhe.
Following that, Xiao Yunhe and the blackguards turned around and flew southwest, disappearing into the dark and damp forest up ahead.
When Xiao Yunhe and the others finally disappeared from sight, Yu Zhenghai let out a sigh of relief. Then, he asked, “Second Junior Brother, why do you think master didn’t come out earlier?”
Yu Shangrong shrugged slightly. “Maybe he was just pa.s.sing by or testing us…”
Yu Zhenghai sighed. “I didn’t expect master to care so much about us. Back then, he didn’t care for our lives at all. It seems like in the future, even if there’s nothing important, we have to mention master every once in a while…”
“Huh?”
Yu Zhenghai quickly said, “What I mean is that we have to respect master and honor him.”
Yu Shangrong looked at the stone forest before he looked in the southern and southwestern directions. Then, he said, “Now there’s even the White Lotus Council. I suggest that you activate your Birth Chart now in the Southern Kingdom, Eldest Senior Brother. The increase in your strength might help us…”
Yu Zhenghai shook his head and said, “That won’t do. Master gave us three life hearts in total. Based on Xiao Yunhe’s words, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to activate your Birth Chart as well. Therefore, it’s best to save the life hearts for your use. I can activate my Birth Chart at any time so I’m not in a rush. Moreover, the more stable one’s foundation at the Ten-leaf stage is, the easier it’ll be to activate the Birth Chart.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you activate your Birth Chart now and form the Thousand Realms Whirling avatar? The road ahead is fraught with danger. Eldest Senior Brother, is there a need to be courteous at this time?”
“This…”
Yu Shangrong suddenly bowed and said, “Please listen to me. Eldest Senior Brother, I hope you’ll grant my wish.”
Yu Zhenghai was caught off guard by Yu Shangrong’s vehemence. In the end, he acquiesced to Yu Shangrong’s request. “Alright.”
Following that, Yu Zhenghai threw Liang Qu’s life heart to Yu Shangrong and said, “Liang Qu is agile; its life heart is more suitable for you. I hope you won’t refuse it. I’ll use the other life heart.”
Yu Shangrong did not refuse. After he put the life heart away, he pointed at the heart of the fallen capital, the dilapidated Imperial Palace, and asked, “How about there?”
“Alright.”
The duo flew toward the heart of the fallen capital. Although the palace walls were damaged, they still stood tall. Vines crawled over the walls after years and years of neglect.
The duo came to a stop at a dry corner in the depths of the dilapidated Imperial palace before Yu Zhenghai began to activate his Birth Chart.
…
Back in the eastern pavilion of the Evil Sky Pavilion.
After Lu Zhou launched a palm seal in anger and roared in anger, everyone was stunned.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhou discovered if he used the power of sound and the power of sight at the same time, he could transmit his voice far away at the cost of a large amount of his supreme mystic power.
‘If I have enough supreme mystic power, does it mean I can even kill someone from afar?’ Lu Zhou wondered. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the skull was really terrifying.
“I wonder what else will happen if I use the other powers from the Heavenly Writing with the power of sight?”
Lu Zhou sensed his supreme mystic power and discovered he only had very little left even after he had recovered it with the Purple Glazed Ceramic earlier. It could not be helped; how could he feel at ease when Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai were in danger.
In fact, Lu Zhou still did not feel completely at ease. Therefore, he activated the Purple Glazed Ceramic and meditated on the Heavenly Writing again to recover his supreme mystic power.