Gazing at the continuously emerging runes within the stone tablet, Ji Yuan’s heart churned like a stormy sea. Even with the Myriad Origin Esoteric Scripture circulating, he found it difficult to fully calm down.
Legend had it that in the distant capital of the Great Yu Dynasty, there was a Grandmaster of Alchemy skilled in the art of water refinement. He was honored by the imperial court as an esteemed guest of the Hundred Herbs Courtyard, bestowed with a fifth-rank official position, and was a sought-after guest by various powers.
This Grandmaster of Alchemy’s water refinement technique, according to tales, was merely a fragmented piece. The true core methods had long been lost to the mists of time.
With just a partial water refinement technique, he could attain such a prominent status and position in the capital of the Great Yu Dynasty, which demonstrated the profound preciousness of this art.
Not to mention that besides being an alchemist, Ji Yuan was naturally attuned to water elements and excelled in water techniques. How could he not be tempted?
At this moment, without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged. He even took out a meditation cushion and a tube of incense, both obtained from the place where he acquired the Myriad Origin Esoteric Scripture, things that could calm the mind and aid in comprehension.
After making the necessary preparations, Ji Yuan, holding the Grand Dao Booklet, began to progressively comprehend the endless runes appearing on the stone tablet.
However, as he continued to study, he soon discovered a problem. The runes within the stone tablet were not confined to alchemy but also contained many different principles of the Dao.
This led to the Grand Dao Booklet in his hand displaying seven or eight Dao principles. Dozens of pages flipped back and forth, emanating a Dao charm that enveloped an area of about five to sixzhang.
“The Art of Water Refinement for Alchemy, Thirty-Six Sword Forms of the Overturning Sea, Detailed Explanation of Seventy-Two Water Techniques, Divine Path of River Water…”
Ji Yuan’s eyes gleamed, and he murmured to himself.
Before this, he had never imagined that a single stone tablet, including the Art of Water Refinement for Alchemy, contained a total of twelve techniques. These included sword techniques, Dao techniques, and even a method detailing how to shed one's flesh and blood to condense a golden body of rivers and ascend to godhood!
The grades of these twelve techniques were unknown. Although not comparable to the Myriad Origin Esoteric Scripture or the Nine Yuan Heavy Water Scripture, some of them were likely not far behind.
The most crucial point was that all twelve techniques were water-elemental. Despite their different natures, they could connect with each other. If one could thoroughly comprehend them all, it would undoubtedly elevate a cultivator’s water techniques to an extremely high level.
After deciphering the names of all twelve techniques, the runes emerging from the stone tablet instantly shifted, forming a general outline and opening section titled ‘Blood Transformation and True Essence Condensation Technique’.
Seeing that there was no further movement for a while, as if it could not be changed without complete comprehension, Ji Yuan could only sigh inwardly and then began to meticulously study it with the help of the Grand Dao Booklet.
This ‘Blood Transformation and True Essence Condensation Technique’ was not profound. On the contrary, its general principles were very easy to understand. Without expending much effort, he could grasp nearly seventy to eighty percent of it.
Even to fully digest it, it should not take much time.
After comprehending it, Ji Yuan discovered that this seemingly simple technique, lacking much mystery, was incredibly useful for any cultivator.
Its core essence, as its name suggested, was to transform stagnant blood and qi within the body, dispersing it throughout the flesh and blood, making it a special technique for healing injuries.
Moreover, during this process, the stagnant blood caused by injuries would become nourishment for the body, making one’s physique stronger.
Even the foreign energies contained within the stagnant blood, such as the mana infused by an opponent, would become part of the nourishment.
However, limited by the technique’s grade, even when cultivated to a very high level, it could only refine injuries that were one minor realm higher than one's own. Furthermore, once one broke through to the third realm, it would lose most of its efficacy.
But regardless, it was still extremely practical for cultivators in the second realm. As long as they were not killed on the spot, they could grow stronger with each battle, continuously improving their physique.
Yet, after Ji Yuan fully comprehended the general outline and opening section of the ‘Blood Transformation and True Essence Condensation Technique’, new runes suddenly emerged from the stone tablet, forming a sentence.
“Should cultivators and spirit beasts coexist as equals?”
He read the runes aloud in a low voice, a sense of familiarity inexplicably rising in his heart.
At the same time, he was somewhat puzzled, not understanding why such a question would appear at the end of comprehending these techniques.
However, despite his many speculations, given his current situation, he had no choice but to take it seriously. He immediately calmed his mind and began to ponder it carefully.
But no matter how much he thought, he could not fathom the profound meaning of this question.
The relationship between cultivators and spirit beasts had changed drastically over the ages. In ancient times, spirit beasts were protectors, deities, and totems worshipped by mortals and cultivators.
As humanity grew stronger, the relationship gradually evolved into one of equality. They signed contracts, made grand oaths, and henceforth shared life and death, never to be parted.
But at some point, spirit beasts became the disadvantaged party, requiring human protection to survive. The equal contracts transformed into a master-servant relationship.
Until now, enslaving spirit beasts had become mainstream. Human cultivators no longer spent great effort and cost to refine the demonic aura, blood fiends, and other extraneous energies from them, making them beings that could be abandoned or sacrificed at any time.
Ji Yuan considered his own talent to be decent and knew he was blessed with great fortune, but he did not believe he had the capability to judge matters of such magnitude concerning both humans and spirit beasts.
Therefore, after pondering for a long time, he acted according to his intuition and wrote four characters with his mana on the stone tablet using runes: ‘Follow the flow of events’.
No unexpected phenomenon appeared. The runes on the stone tablet gradually faded and then completely vanished, as if they had never been there. Within three to four breaths, new runes emerged.
As Ji Yuan had expected, the runes changed again, transforming into the general outline and opening section of the ‘Thirty-Six Sword Forms of the Overturning Sea’.
This was not a sword art but merely an offensive sword technique. It did not even have a Qi circulation route. It primarily focused on sword stances and artistic conception. Once deployed, it could form a relentless momentum that could continuously stack, making each strike stronger than the last.
If cultivated to an extreme depth, it could at least cause rivers to flow backward and sever tens of miles of river surface, let alone overturn the sea!
As he began to comprehend it, this technique immediately made his eyes light up. Although he possessed several magical artifacts and treasures, he indeed lacked powerful offensive means.
Whether it was a strike condensing his entire sword intent or unleashing several magical treasures, they were all simple releases of power. While the might was considerable, they inevitably lacked variation.
Strictly speaking, his attacks belonged to the category of "overpowering with brute force." Against enemies of similar strength, it was manageable. However, if he encountered opponents of higher realms or more refined techniques, they could easily be dodged or even neutralized.
Ji Yuan eagerly began to study it. However, the ‘Thirty-Six Sword Forms of the Overturning Sea’ was clearly several times more profound than the ‘Blood Transformation and True Essence Condensation Technique’. Just its opening section took him over ten days.
Even so, he had only managed to barely comprehend the runes, memorizing the general principles and opening section. He had not truly understood much, not even reaching the introductory level; at most, he had grasped a superficial understanding.
After comprehending the runes for the general principles and opening section of this technique, the stone tablet, as expected, presented a question, roughly asking if there was a possibility for humans and all spirits to coexist harmoniously.
This time, he did not even ponder before immediately replying with runes: “Impossible!”
The so-called all spirits also had another designation: the myriad demon races. While humans could befriend most races, it was difficult to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with demons under normal circumstances.
This was an inherent animosity between the two races. For human cultivators to improve their cultivation, they often had to slay demon races for materials. And for demon races, humans were the most delicious food in the world, consuming them could increase their realm and purify their bloodline.
As the runes gradually receded, a new section of the technique slowly appeared, and this time it was precisely the Art of Water Refinement for Alchemy that Ji Yuan had longed for!
However, similar to the previous two techniques, what appeared on the stone tablet at this moment was only a partial general outline and opening section. Nevertheless, to him, it was already extremely precious.
Unknowingly, time flowed by rapidly. In the blink of an eye, over three months had passed.
If he counted the time spent in the previous stages, Ji Yuan had been in this water mansion for about four months, but he did not feel it deeply.
The world often said that time in the mountains is irrelevant, and years pass in a blink. For cultivators, it is even more so; a single period of seclusion could pass in months.
Legends spoke of great beings who, in one period of seclusion, would experience years or even decades as a mere snap of the fingers.
However, three months was only enough for Ji Yuan to comprehend the opening sections of the twelve techniques and parts of their general principles. The time required for anything further was immeasurable.
If he were to truly comprehend all twelve techniques, it would likely require at least ten times the current time, and to achieve any significant accomplishment, it was impossible to say how much longer it would take.
Fortunately, after comprehending the opening sections of the twelve techniques, no further runes appeared on the stone tablet. The spiritual energy within it rapidly dissipated, and a trace of sentience could be felt vanishing.
In a flash, Ji Yuan found the stone tablet before him had returned to its ordinary state, no longer possessing any divine properties, indistinguishable from a common stone.
He slowly rose from the meditation cushion, collecting everything back into his jade thumb ring, then reached out and gently placed his hand on the stone tablet before him.
With a faint grinding sound, the entire stone tablet quietly turned into fine sand. A scent of ancient times silently flowed away. The stone tablet, having lost its sentience over thousands of years, could no longer withstand the erosion.
As the stone tablet turned into piles of fine sand, a quiet path appeared before Ji Yuan. On both sides were exotic flowers and strange plants, with vibrant green bamboo stalks planted along them.
He pondered for a moment, then stepped onto the quiet path before him, his gaze fixed on a radiant glow tens ofzhang away.