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Duan Li raised his brows in comprehension upon hearing this and nodded. After all, once cultivators stood at the top, most of them would view those below them in indifference.
"They began to neglect the importance that it was not raw strength that made up a formidable cultivator, but their finesse and execution of skills and techniques!"
The Will had that reminiscing air on his corporeal figure right now, as if his indistinct eyes were tracing back to the distant past, the glorious days when he was still but a mortal.
He was a peerlessly talented genius and this was not self-proclaimed either, but proven by the fact that he managed to beat every single opponent on the Nascent Soul realm while still being in the Golden Core realm back then.
Had Duan Li knew what the other party was being so proud of, perhaps he would shook his head and call the other party the frog instead.
You"ve beaten some Nascent Soul realm experts on the Golden Core realm back then?
I"ve beaten one while still on the Foundation Establishment realm you noob!
"When I was but a mortal, I have a knack in a.n.a.lyzing the weakness of the enemy"s techniques and exploiting those flaws." the Will said as it clasped its hands behind its back, its aura exuding the very air of a true expert.
"Almost all Nascent Soul realm experts was too arrogant to even view opponents below their realm a challenge, and this advantage of mine combined with those arrogance of their"s was my path of success time and again."
He then continued, "After I stepped into the Nascent Soul realm, my Soul Sense was far more powerful and developed when compared to others, perhaps because I had dedicated my time in honing my sense of perception from a.n.a.lyzing countless techniques and skills."
"And it was also then that I realized, that Nascent Soul realm isn"t truly the pinnacle of cultivation level like most people believed! The legends and myths of immortals ascending beyond, I knew it was true the moment I used my Soul Sense onto myself!"
Eh? You used Soul Sense onto yourself?
Duan Li was surprised when he heard this.
Soul Sense, an inherent skill obtained when one finally reached the Nascent Soul realm, was only meant to be used externally or outside the body of the cultivator.
In fact, he hadn"t heard of anyone who could use Soul Sense internally, simply because its not part of the function!
To put this into an a.n.a.logy, its similar to how one"s own pair of legs and arms could only bend on one side and not the other way around, or similar to how the eyes could only see the perceived world outside.
Thus, since that was the case, then how did the other party managed to do it?
Sensing Duan Li"s disbelief which was reflected on the latter"s face, the Will chuckled, but a trace of sadness could be seen in his eyes.
"I wish I could still be full of emotions like you.."
Hais!
"I"ve told you before that I am good in a.n.a.lyzing techniques and uncovering their flaws.. so while I could exploit them, that also means that I can improve and modify them!"
The Will then explained to Duan Li that he had made a modified version of the Soul Sense which could visually "see" all the internal parts of the body such as meridians, blood vessels, acupuncture points, bones and more.
The more Duan Li heard this "modified" version of the Soul Sense, the more he raised his brows until both of his eyes were wide opened.
His suspicion of it became true soon enough when the other party called out the name of this new technique.
"I called that new ability, the All-Seeing Eye!" the Will said with a profound look.
Huh?!!
"Wait a moment.."
To be able to see all the internal parts and organs of the body, as well as calling it the All-Seeing Eye..
Isn"t that similar to how my ability, which I have also called the "All-Seeing Eye" works?
Is this a coincidence?
Hmm..
"But, just what exactly did he saw when he casted the All-Seeing Eye ability onto himself other than those things?"
Duan Li knew the capabilities of the All-Seeing Eye personally, because he had use it every time onto himself whenever he cultivated, observing the minute changes that occured inside his body.
However, if there was one thing that he hadn"t been able to see yet with that ability, its the changes that occured after one had reached the Nascent Soul realm.
After all, he hadn"t reached that level yet.
He even tried his best to recall the fading memories of his other future self in that timeline, trying to see if he saw the same thing as well, but he just couldn"t remember seeing anything at all!
Furthermore, in that version of him, he never had such an ability before because the All-Seeing Eye was an ability he gained right after coming into contact with the Golden mysterious pearl!
In fact, it was due to his legendary innate potential, which was tested to be on the Bright Blue rank level, or also called as the "Sky Grade" that has a high probability to grow towards the White rank "Immortal grade", that he was able to release the first shackle and entered the Immortals Wheels of Fate!
As if to answer this lingering thought on Duan Li, the Will of the Grand Immortal spoke, "I saw the real form of my Soul Core.."
"And it is actually the incarnation of us in the soul form!" he said with a grim look in his eyes.
"The incarnation of our soul?" Duan Li cupped his chin as he thought for a while and nodded.
That should be about right..
But this isn"t anything new..
After all, there were already many experts who stated and theorized that the Soul Core, contained a cultivator"s real soul in some of the books that he read before even without the All-Seeing Eye ability, and was why it was called the "Soul Core" in the first place.
And even if he had actually "seen" the real form of his soul, what was the big deal then?
Unable to contain his curiosity, Duan Li asked the Will right away.
"What does the soul look like? And how does this provides you an impetus to ascend to immortality back then?"
The Will was silent for a while as it gazed towards the sky before it finally replied, "The exact replica of myself, except that .. it was chained with nine shackles!"
The nine shackles?
Suddenly, Duan Li felt as if mini explosion was happening inside his mind as all the previous information that he got on cultivation had finally pieced itself together perfectly!
It all made sense now!
The mortal wheels of fate that contained the five stages; Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Golden Core and Nascent Soul, was all but preparations towards immortality by firstly conjuring one"s own soul inside the Soul Core!
Noting the look on Duan Li, the Will nodded with a satisfied look.
"It seems that you get it now. That"s right, most people on the Nascent Soul realm could only "feel" that there are levels beyond their current realm, but they just can"t visualize it!"
And if they can"t visualize it, they won"t notice the problem!
The Will then continued on, "At the Nascent Soul realm stage, there would no longer be a breakthrough to one"s cultivation unless one knows how to release the first shackle first!"
Duan Li thought for a moment before making a conjecture, "You mean.. to release the first shackle, one had to leave the Tian continent right?"
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This statement of his was due to the recollection of his memories. The "him" on that future timeline was only able to break into the immortal realm after entering the Eternal Maze and cultivating there!
The Will seemed to be evidently surprised by what Duan Li just said, and a hint of confusion was reflected on its face before replying, "That"s right! One of the nine shackles locking my soul was connected to the earth of the Tian continent, and it thus dawned onto me that, in order to severe that shackle and ascend to become a real immortal, I had to leave the Tian continent!"
"But how did you know of this?" the Will asked Duan Li with some doubts.
He guessed it? Impossible.
This information can"t be come across coincidentally, so there must be someone that has already told him in one way or another before!
"Well.." Duan Li then began to explain his "strange" experience during his second trial back then, where the illusion actually brought him into the future 8 years later!
...
"I see.." the Will said, and a grim look somehow surfaced onto its face even though it was blurry as it went silent for a while.
"How many people know of this future?"
Facing this question and that serious air surrounding the Grand Immortal right now, Duan Li found his own heart to trepedate quite a bit!
"Only a few people, and they are people whom I could trust including my mother.." Duan Li answered.
"What? Your mother knows of her own death?!" the Will suddenly raised its voice which caused the whole mountain to start shaking violently!
CRACK!
"Eh? W-Why is he suddenly becoming so angry?" Duan Li was utterly confused by this unexpected reaction of the other party.
Ah! I think this mountain is about to explode!
The violent shaking was akin to an earthquake prior to a rupture of a volcanic mountain to spew out molten rocks!
"W-Why are you so agitated? Do you know my mother?" Duan Li asked out in panic.
This question threw the Will a pause in its raging emotion before it exhaled out a deep sigh.
"Huu.." after the Will calmed itself down forcefully, only then did the mountain slowly stopped shaking, as if it mirrored the emotions of the Grand Immortal himself!
"It"s nothing.. but the less people know about the future, the better. Or else.. "time" would eradicate everyone!" it warned Duan Li sternly.
The events predetermined by fate should never in the first place be known by others especially the mortal!
If the Lord of Time were to notice, not only would a whole timeline be purged to avoid paradoxical effect, but existences tied towards the fate of that timeline would also be eradicated!
The Sovereigns, or Lords of All-Era in the Upper realm of Heaven, were existences of order. Although they were extremely powerful, they were devoid of conscience, and their actions was the result of the laws in place without the slightest iota of discrimination affecting their judgement!
Therefore, eradicating a whole timeline, which includes countless of worlds, universe and multiverse would never moved them the slightest if it meant to adhere to the laws of Heaven!
This was why even top notch existences like him, the Grand Immortal and the Endless Monarch were wary and had to do the things they did in the utmost secrecy!
After all, athough they do not fear them, but once those Lords were to take action, the resulting ripple effect would affect even the entirety of the Lower and Higher realm of Heavens!
"I.. I understand!" Duan Li replied, even though he didn"t exactly know what the Will was thinking.
The Will nodded over Duan Li"s seriousness. "Good. By the way, you would never scale this mountain in a lifetime with your current ability, so allow me to help."
With a flick of its finger, the previous majestic and peakless mountain they were on right now instantaneously retracted and was shrunked until it became the size of a small ball which floated on the palm of the Will of the Grand Immortal.
Shuuu!!
Waves of green energy spreaded out from the Will before coagulating into that miniature mountain, slowly enca.s.sing it within a green sphere!
"That.. that is..!!" Duan Li was shocked when he saw this object, because he was really familiar with it!
Isn"t that.. another one of those mysterious pearls?!
"This one is emerald colored though and its slightly bigger than the previous two!"
On the other hand, the Will seemed to chuckle slightly as it shook its head before making a comment, "Even with my powers, this is the best I could do in compressing it huh.."
It was a weird sight, as the tone it used when it said that was both helplessness and pride at the same time.
"Give me your hand." the Will commanded, and before Duan Li could even think and react, his right hand had already rose on its own!
Shuu!!
The Emerald mysterious pearl shot forward as it entered through Duan Li"s right hand and slipped somewhere into his lower Dantian before disappearing without a trace altogether.
"You have cleared this trial, now go on and face the fourth, which is your final trial. I believe.. it would be the most difficult battle you would ever face. So let me give you a piece of advice.."
"The present is but static, like a frozen pond in the winter. You are the future, so do not be impeded by a mere ice!"
Huh?
The h.e.l.l are you saying?
Before Duan Li could even ask what the latter meant, the Will had already disappeared without a trace!
"d.a.m.n it.. I have a few questions that I want to ask too.." Duan Li sighed.
"That Emerald mysterious pearl.."
Duan Li was not sure what the origin of the Golden and Crimson mysterious pearls were before, but now he was sure that the Grand Immortal knows about it!
The next time he appears, I"ll ask him..
In the next moment, a familiar voice was calling out to him from the distance.
"Heyyy...!!"
It was Xuan Tian, the elderly man that got repulsed away by the red temple gate before, and he was jogging towards Duan Li with a haggard breathing.
"What do you want now?" Duan Li said with an annoyed tone as he scanned his surrounding.
I"ve already cleared the trial, so why is the silver vortex not appearing yet?
"You ungrateful brat! Why do you speak to your elders in such a manner? Hmph! Where is the mountain? Why does it disappeared so suddenly?" the elderly man harrumphed.
Veins popped out of Duan Li"s temple and he had the urge to give this fraudster old man a good kick!
It was out of his good manners that he hadn"t yet done so when this old man had repeatedly answered his questions in a round about way trying to sound poetic and mysterious.
In fact, Duan Li had suspicion that this old man didn"t know any jack sh*t at all!
"I"ve destroyed it with a single punch because it was so annoying climbing it. What? You want to get punched too? Stop asking so many questions! Aren"t you tired with the hundreds of questions you"ve asked me before?"
The elderly man was stumped for a while before replying in anger, "Do you take me for a fool? Hurry up and tell me!"
"That"s right I do! So what can you do about it huh?" Duan Li retorted as he put on a thug face.
"Y-You..!!" the elderly man was clearly taken aback by Duan Li"s brazenness.
He hadn"t encountered such a rude young person before!
"Hmph! In view of my magnanimity, I will turn a blind eye towards your rudeness! Still, if you want to leave this place, you would have to tell me what I want to kno-"
BAMM!!
Duan Li threw a full force punch which missed the old man by a hair"s width.
BOOOMMM!!
A huge chunk of the ground behind the old man was blown into dust by the resulting impact of Duan Li"s fist!
"You think I have time for your game? If you don"t get me out of here right now, do you believe that I won"t pummel you to death?" Duan Li"s voice turned cold at this moment.
I have tolerated your insolence before, but now you dare to threaten me?
"I.. I.. okay.." the elderly man immediately cowered after that showcase of strength and waved his hand.
Wongg!!
A silver vortex appeared and Duan Li threw him a last look before stepping into that vortex.
"I-It was subtle.. but I can feel the powers of the Grand Immortal in that fists of his!" the old man said shortly after Duan Li left and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Shuu...
Slowly, his corporeal form turned physical, and it was now apparent that he was actually someone in disguise!
"Just who in the world is he?"
...