Nine Yuan Calming Technique

A deep silence hung over the vast Wenyuan Pavilion; neither of them spoke another word. Not until the spirit puppet woman brought over the Nine Yuan Calming Technique Xu Yuan needed. "Saintess, here is the technique you requested." It was a handwritten manuscript of roughly a dozen pages, the characters across the parchment faintly shimmering with a soft luminescence. Xu Yuan took it, skimmed it briefly, and stored it into his Sumeru ring. At that moment, the Saint's remnant soul chimed in with praise: "What an ingenious secret art. To think it allows someone who has just begun cultivating to remain perpetually in a state of cultivation. Brat, did you come here specifically for this?" Xu Yuan paid no mind to the Saint's probing and instead asked the puppet woman, "May I select a few more cultivation methods?" In Cangyuan, if a player chose to fight their way up and killed this puppet woman, she would randomly drop a cultivation method, and the Nine Yuan Calming Technique was just one of them. The puppet woman bowed and shook her head. "According to the rules, Saintess, you may choose only one technique from this pavilion every ten years." Xu Yuan nodded faintly at her answer, turning around to step toward the teleportation array behind him. He had already accomplished his purpose here. Though there were other treasures in the Vault Palace, seeking them was far too perilous for him in his current state, and there was no need to risk his life for them. Once he used the teleportation array to find Ran Qingmo, he planned to make a run for it. After all, Tianyan was still hot on his heels. Yet the moment he stepped onto the array, the puppet woman appeared before him in a flash, her voice respectful as ever, carrying a subtle, alluring cadence. "Saintess, if you wish to depart, please return the secret art to this humble servant." Xu Yuan's heart sank slightly. The cultivation methods in Wenyuan Pavilion actually had such a restriction? The Saint's remnant soul suddenly spoke up: "I've roughly memorized this technique. I can recite it for you once we're out." Xu Yuan shot him a sidelong glance. The Saint's remnant soul smiled warmly. Xu Yuan snorted softly, sat down cross-legged on the steps of the teleportation dais, and began flipping through the pages to study it himself. He did not trust Old Man Luo. When it came to cultivation methods, a hair's breadth of difference could lead one astray by thousands of li; the consequences of even a single altered character were unimaginable. Seeing that he hadn't managed to fool Xu Yuan, the Saint's remnant soul said no more on the matter, merely cautioning, "Brat, you'd better hurry. Tianyan could show up at any moment." Xu Yuan frowned. Turning the pages, he casually replied, "Tianyan should be at most Rank Two, right?" "Roughly so." After their earlier clash of True Words, the Saint's remnant soul had an estimate of her strength. In a low voice, he said, "I reckon this Tianyan is likely only the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, not the Pavilion Master." Xu Yuan replied offhandedly, "Since she's only Rank Two, do you think she can break through so many spirit puppets in this pavilion?" "That many?" The Saint's remnant soul frowned and glanced at the puppet woman standing in attendance beside Xu Yuan. The Luanyin Formation was active within Wenyuan Pavilion, preventing his intent-soul from reaching far. Fixing his gaze on the manual, Xu Yuan pointed downward offhandedly. "The floors below hold four Rank Twos and eight Rank Threes." The Saint's pupils contracted slightly. He wasn't shocked by the sheer number of spirit puppets below, but by how Xu Yuan could possibly know with such certainty. He was growing increasingly baffled by this young man's background. He seemed like an old monster, yet also like an ordinary mortal. After a pause, the Saint's remnant soul sighed and said in a low voice, "Not necessarily." Xu Yuan frowned and looked up. "What do you mean? Are you saying Tianyan could withstand a siege by that many Origin Realm opponents?" The Saint's remnant soul replied softly, "Spirit puppets aren't living people. A vast difference separates them from true Origin Realm experts. What's more, there are secret arts within the Heaven-Deducing Art that even I don't know." Xu Yuan's brow knitted tightly. Looking away from the manual, he stared directly at him. "Old Man Luo, didn't you cultivate the Heaven-Deducing Art? How could you not know?" The Saint's remnant soul rolled his eyes. "Brat, do you think the Heaven-Deducing Art is a head of cabbage you can just pick up and cultivate whenever you feel like it?" Xu Yuan looked at him skeptically. With an unabashed shrug, the Saint's remnant soul said, "In truth, your earlier guess was correct. I did steal and secretly learn the Heaven-Deducing Art. But I only managed to steal the Heaven Character True Words chapter. "Tsk, don't look at me like that, brat. There's no reason for me to lie to you about this. Just stealing that one chapter nearly cost me my life inside that 'Heaven Pavilion.' Back then, there were more than a dozen Holy Venerables guarding it." Xu Yuan sighed, deciding not to dwell on the matter, and asked, "Fine. Then why is this Tianyan after me?" The Saint's remnant soul chuckled and explained, "Put simply, although the Heaven-Deducing Art can deduce all things in creation, there are three scenarios it cannot divine. "First, certain unique constitutions. "Second, old monsters powerful enough to conceal their own presence. "Third, when a great catastrophe is about to fall upon the world, the Heaven-Deducing Art sees nothing but pitch darkness." Xu Yuan remained silent for a moment before asking, "So, the Heaven-Deducing Art can't deduce my Innate Dao Body?" "It can deduce the Innate Dao Body." Having said this, the Saint's remnant soul stared intently at Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan kept a straight face, his tone dripping with mock awe: "Whoa. So I, Xu Changtian, am actually the world's great catastrophe." "..." The Saint's remnant soul twitched his lips. This brat was utterly shameless. Acting as if nothing had happened, Xu Yuan smoothly moved past the topic and asked in a low voice, "So what does that have to do with her wanting to follow me?" Given their earlier tacit understanding, the Saint's remnant soul didn't press the matter, though his tone held a hint of uncertainty: "Nothing much. Broadly speaking, she probably just wants to place an anchor point on you." "An anchor point?" Xu Yuan's brow furrowed. The Saint's remnant soul said softly, "I don't know the specific details, but the records of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion say that whenever a variable appears, the Pavilion Master or the contemporary Saint or Saintess will go follow by the variable's side." Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "What happened to the people who were followed in the end?" A playful smile curved the Saint's lips. "Generally speaking, it went one of two ways: "Either they joined the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, or they became corpses." Xu Yuan went quiet for several breaths, then chuckled softly. "That overbearing?" The Saint's remnant soul shrugged, answering bluntly, "Variables are not permitted in the eyes of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. Back then, they had the strength to enforce it, though that might not be the case today." "Heh." Xu Yuan offered a faint smile, setting aside his thoughts for the moment to concentrate on studying the secret art in his hands. Time flew within the quaint, antique Wenyuan Pavilion. Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. By now, Xu Yuan had grasped the basic principles of the Nine Yuan Calming Technique. Once a cultivator entered the Origin Realm, the meridians throughout their body could draw in external Source Qi ceaselessly, like surging ocean tides. An extraordinarily brilliant expert had used this principle to create this secret art, allowing low-tier cultivators to achieve perpetual respiration as well. Of course, its limitations were equally severe. Out of the human body's one hundred and twenty-seven meridians, this technique required one hundred and nine. If even a single one was blocked, the technique could not be practiced. Furthermore, the demands on one's intent-soul were exceptionally high. Yet for Xu Yuan's Innate Dao Body, none of these requirements were an issue. Having understood its inner workings, Xu Yuan began memorizing the circulation pathways word by word. Tianyan was still hot on his trail; he had no time to cultivate here and could only commit it to memory before practicing it later. Another two hours slipped by. Xu Yuan returned the technique to the puppet woman and turned toward the teleportation array to make his escape. Suddenly, the array patterns atop the dais flashed with light. Then, A graceful figure appeared on the platform, and a familiar, serene voice drifted over: "Xu Yuan, I just saw Tianyan fighting some crazy woman outside."