Divine Character Battle Technique

This was the first time Su Yu learned that Zhao Li had such an illustrious background. The son of the Fourth Head—that status was extraordinary. As if something had just occurred to him, Su Yu asked curiously, "Martial Uncle, Teacher said that the First, Third, and Fifth Heads all belonged to the Multi-Divine Character faction. Was the Fourth Head from the Forging faction?" "No." Chen Yong chuckled. "The Fourth Head was considered part of the Single Divine Character Faction. He also focused on divine characters and possessed immense willpower. However, before reaching the Tengkong Realm, he didn't form a divine character battle technique, so even though he condensed many divine characters later on, he wasn't considered part of our faction. "The Second Head came from the Beast Taming faction. Back in his day, he nurtured a formidable demon beast that surpassed the Shanhai Realm." Chen Yong explained briefly. Su Yu actually had many doubts, and he asked cautiously, "Martial Uncle, our Multi-Divine Character faction was so powerful back then, and three generations of heads came from it. Now... is everyone gone?" Could such a mighty faction really be reduced to just a few small fry like them? Did the upheaval fifty years ago have that great an impact? Chen Yong's expression dimmed slightly, and he murmured, "Some things are more complicated than you think... The Fifth Head, our grandmaster, was the leader of the Multi-Divine Character faction back then. He truly surpassed the Shanhai Realm and walked above it! "While he was alive, our faction reached its peak. Over fifty years ago, the Fifth Head... was about to advance to the Invincible Realm!" Taking a deep breath, Chen Yong remarked with emotion, "Invincible... our Multi-Divine Character faction had no Invincible experts! Among the Invincible experts from centuries ago, none came from our faction either. Although our faction didn't emerge late, its system wasn't well-developed in the beginning, so it couldn't be considered a true fusion faction. "Most of the earlier experts in our faction stopped at the Sun and Moon Realm..." "Sun and Moon?" Su Yu paused in surprise. Chen Yong smiled and said, "That is above the Shanhai Realm—what people commonly refer to as top experts! Above Shanhai, one glimpses the Sun and Moon! Only after Sun and Moon comes Eternity! 'Invincible' is our colloquial term; the official designation is the Eternal Realm. Of course, that doesn't matter much." It was just a realm name meant for conversation. Invincible or Eternal, it was all the same. Chen Yong didn't dwell on it and continued, "Before the Fifth Head, the leaders and experts of our Multi-Divine Character faction generally hit a wall at the Sun and Moon Realm. It wasn't until the Fifth Head rose that our faction finally had the chance to produce an Invincible expert! "Over fifty years ago, the Fifth Head fell while attempting to make that breakthrough... To ensure he could succeed, a large contingent of experts from our faction went to protect his path, including Sun and Moon experts and Shanhai experts..." Chen Yong sighed. "The Fifth Head pursued the Dao of slaughter and was hailed as the strongest Sun and Moon Realm of his era! Once he succeeded, humanity would gain an absolute powerhouse even among Invincible experts! "As it turned out... disaster struck. On that day, the King of Great Xia, King Dazhou, King Daming, King Dashang... multiple Invincible experts were pinned down simultaneously by experts of the myriad races. Rivers of blood flowed across the All-Heavens Battlefield that year. In order to stop the Fifth Head from breaking through, more than three Invincibles fell on the All-Heavens Battlefield fifty-some years ago!" Chen Yong sighed. "Our faction fought fiercely against two Invincibles. At the cost of his own life, the Fifth Head joined forces with the experts of our faction to slay one Invincible, but in the end, they could not reverse the tide, and he died in battle on the All-Heavens Battlefield. The other experts also suffered catastrophic casualties. "By the time the King of Great Xia repelled his foes and rushed over to assist, it was already too late..." Su Yu swallowed hard. "He killed an Invincible?" "Yes!" Chen Yong nodded. "He killed an Invincible!" "If the Fifth Head was that powerful, even if the losses were devastating at the time, why... why did things become so miserable afterward?" Chen Yong smiled bitterly. "Actually, it wasn't so bleak at first. When the Fifth Head fell, our losses were heavy, but we still had some foundation left. But then... the geniuses and successors of that generation all met with misfortune. It's a sorrowful tale to tell... I won't go into detail; there's no point in dredging it up now. "As for the remaining experts of the Multi-Divine Character faction, some do still exist..." Chen Yong explained, "Our faction originally stemmed mainly from the Great Xia Prefecture, but as it was passed down later, practitioners spread everywhere. The primary force was at the Great Xia Civilization Academy, but other academies also have some Multi-Divine Character experts, and there are even some in the military. "However, those in the military generally don't get involved in these matters anymore; they don't care about factional disputes. "As for the experts in other academies, after that incident, the standing of our faction plummeted, and they are barely holding on now. Coupled with the fact that almost all the experts here at the Great Xia Civilization Academy perished, that's why..." Su Yu understood a little, but one question still lingered. After thinking for a moment, Su Yu hesitated and said, "Since we had such glory and proved that the Multi-Divine Character faction is powerful—even holding the promise of producing an Invincible, with the Fifth Head even slaying an Invincible—logically, shouldn't the academy provide massive support? "Why would the academy..." Chen Yong looked slightly awkward. "How should I put this... Fifty years ago, the generation above us really offended everyone else deeply... Back then, a massive crowd walked the Multi-Divine Character path, consuming countless resources. Original texts of the myriad races were countless, and resources like yuanqi liquid and blood essence were used without limit. It genuinely squeezed out the living space of the other factions..." Chen Yong spoke rather fairly as he explained, "Too many resources were consumed, including the vast amounts of the academy's reserves burned through for the Fifth Head's breakthrough attempt. Back then, the academy was almost emptied out. Even so, countless students still wanted to pursue the Multi-Divine Character path... If the Fifth Head had succeeded and Martial Uncle and the others had also broken through, no one would have had anything to say. "However... they all failed!" Chen Yong said regretfully, "It wasn't just one or two failing—every single one of them failed! By that point, the academy could bear it no longer and stood on the brink of collapse. That was when Principal Wan stepped forward, took up the mantle of the Sixth Head, expelled Martial Uncle's group, and reallocated the resources. From then on, the Multi-Divine Character faction declined. "Later, as other factions rose, the academy realized that nurturing a Shanhai Realm expert in another faction took perhaps only a third, or even a fifth, of the resources we needed! During that period, we consumed so much yet failed to bring proportional returns to the academy, so they gradually cut back our resources..." At this point, Bai Feng said coolly, "Those early years were understandable. After all, the academy suffered heavy losses, and the failure of Martial Uncle and the others left everyone shaken. Many geniuses grew timid and didn't dare join the Multi-Divine Character faction anymore. "So Martial Uncle and the others didn't resist back then. They quietly accepted the academy's arrangements because... they truly had created a crisis and caused massive trouble, nearly preventing the academy's legacy from continuing. "But later, once the academy regained its footing, things... took on a different flavor!" Bai Feng sneered. "Once the academy recovered, they realized they had more Shanhai Realm experts—even more than back then. The same resources could train far more Shanhai experts, so why bother cultivating the Multi-Divine Character faction? And so... our situation went from bad to worse!" Chen Yong said softly, "Don't put it like that. It also has a lot to do with ourselves. If we don't produce corresponding benefits while consuming too many resources, we naturally encroach on others' shares." He looked at Su Yu and explained, "Don't harbor excessive hatred toward anyone. In truth, some things are understandable. After all, our faction has few experts and brings few returns to the academy. Much of the academy's resources are brought back from the All-Heavens Battlefield by those elders. If you don't contribute much yet expect more, people will naturally resent it." Bai Feng disagreed. "Right, but in reality, did we ever expect to get too much? The Great Xia Prefecture provides funding, and the Quest Realm provides funding. Does all of that belong exclusively to them? We have a share too, don't we? How much of the resources we use for cultivation actually comes from others in the academy? Didn't we exchange our own merit points for all of it? "Even with Master's Research Center, most of the resources were procured by Master himself, with only a small portion from academy grants. Yet haven't we also provided the academy with invaluable research results?" Unconvinced by Chen Yong's reasoning, Bai Feng continued indignantly, "Besides, the issue now isn't about resources; it's that they won't give us any room to survive! We didn't demand resources we didn't have, did we? We take whatever we can get and cultivate on our own. If we have merit points, we exchange them; if we don't, we make do. Did we steal from anyone? "Furthermore, of everything left in the academy today, how much was handed down by the seniors of our faction? They get to use it, but we can't—what kind of logic is that?" Bai Feng gave a disdainful laugh. "Take this Cangshu Pavilion, for instance. Most of what's inside was left behind by experts of the past, by our faction's seniors. Why can't we use a little bit of it? Why should only they be allowed to use it? Over the years, they've consumed vastly more than we have..." Chen Yong waved a hand to cut him off, frowning slightly. "Let's not speak of this anymore. Tearing off all pretense of civility serves no purpose. The situation is what it is. The Great Xia Civilization Academy is our root. Are you planning to leave? If we truly leave... then don't even think about restoring our former glory!" Bai Feng curled his lip dismissively, but said no more. Leaving this academy for another would be roughly the same. And striking out alone without the academy's secret realms and original texts of the myriad races would make growth astronomically difficult. Relying on just a few people and a single Shanhai Realm expert to hold up the sky was simply too difficult. Staying in the academy provided at least some foundation and hope of rising again. Chen Yong ignored him and turned to Su Yu. "Your top priority isn't any of this! We'll handle these matters! Your task is to cultivate. Before reaching the Tengkong Realm, you don't need to worry about anything or get involved!" Su Yu nodded. Even if he wanted to get involved, he lacked the power to do so. "Come, let's head to the Initial Fusion Pavilion." Chen Yong stood up and spoke as he walked. "This Initial Fusion Pavilion is our faction's private reserve. It houses some exceptionally precious classics tailored specifically for our Multi-Divine Character faction. "Once we reach the Yangxing Realm, we outline divine characters, choose our divine character battle techniques, and determine our path. All of this is generally initiated here in the Initial Fusion Pavilion." ... As Chen Yong spoke, the group went downstairs. The Initial Fusion Pavilion was on the ninth floor. Just as they arrived, Zhou Pingsheng was leading a group of people out. Chen Yong acted as though he hadn't seen them. With a dark expression and without a word of greeting, Zhou Pingsheng led several curious students away in haste. "Clown!" Bai Feng spat under his breath, then looked at Su Yu. "Opening the Initial Fusion Pavilion to them is a waste of time anyway; they wouldn't be able to learn a thing!" Su Yu said nothing; that wasn't something he could easily chime in on. ... A moment later. Su Yu stepped into a large room. It looked rather ordinary, with nothing particularly special about it. A few bookshelves were arranged around the room, holding original texts of the myriad races—some made of bone, some of jade, and others written on beast hide. Seeing Su Yu staring at the original texts, Chen Yong smiled. "These aren't the focus of the Initial Fusion Pavilion—just some miscellaneous books. Zhou Pingsheng and his lot can't even get into the core area." With that, light suddenly flashed before him. Golden divine characters materialized one after another! Su Yu took a rough glance and clicked his tongue in secret awe. There were so many—at least dozens of divine characters! Soon, the characters began to melt... Yes, melt! Dozens of divine characters fused together, transforming in the blink of an eye into something shaped like a key. Clutching the "key," Chen Yong gestured toward the wall. Soon, Su Yu couldn't help blinking and rubbing his eyes. Did the wall... melt? He watched as a section of the wall in the Initial Fusion Pavilion melted directly away! It vanished completely! The next moment, Chen Yong's voice came: "Come over. Step inside!" Dazed, Su Yu followed him forward. Behind the wall lay another room. Looking back... the wall that had just melted away had reappeared, but the Initial Fusion Pavilion behind them was no longer visible. They were now in an entirely different room! Bai Feng chuckled. "Surprised? This is the true Initial Fusion Pavilion! Only our Multi-Divine Character faction can open it. Everything outside was just an illusion." Su Yu nodded, paying no mind to Bai Feng's smugness. He glanced around. It was an enclosed chamber. It wasn't very large, only about thirty to forty square meters. There were several bookshelves here as well, and aside from them, there seemed to be nothing else. Wasn't it about the same as outside? "Look at the walls!" Bai Feng pointed out. "The core of the Initial Fusion Pavilion isn't the books, but the walls! These walls are different—they are special original texts of the myriad races. Or rather... countless original texts fused together and cast directly into walls!" Beside them, Chen Yong also said slowly, "Su Yu, as I told you before, our Multi-Divine Character Fusion faction is about the fusion of divine characters. Like acupoints linked together to form a battle technique, that is why it's called a fusion faction! "Our multiple divine characters form a cohesive system, rather than a disorganized jumble! "For example, when you opened 108 acupoints, you formed the War God Art technique. Those acupoints were specific, not random. Otherwise, even if you opened 1,800 random acupoints, it would be difficult to form a complete technique capable of actual combat power." ... Under Chen Yong and Bai Feng's explanations, Su Yu finally understood! He also knew the purpose of coming to the Initial Fusion Pavilion! To determine his path! And then, to outline a framework in his sea of will—a rough structure to prepare for filling in divine characters later on. Bai Feng, for instance, showed Su Yu his divine character battle technique. A sword. A very short sword. "I named this sword the Dragon Slaying Sword..." Su Yu was speechless. *What a trash name.* Unfazed, Bai Feng continued explaining, "During the Yangxing stage, I outlined the rough framework and established its core. Then, still in the Yangxing stage, I outlined twelve divine characters and filled them in to stabilize the framework! The Dragon Slaying Sword was officially completed, possessing formidable killing power. "Under normal circumstances, a framework requires at least ten divine characters for support to be successfully forged! Otherwise, if the framework isn't stable, it will collapse upon reaching the Tengkong Realm and cease to exist... "That's why our faction requires outlining at least ten divine characters before reaching the Tengkong Realm!" Bai Feng grinned. "My Dragon Slaying Sword needed twelve divine characters to stabilize. Later, when I reached the Tengkong Realm, I continued outlining six more characters and filled them in, integrating a total of eighteen divine characters. That's why I could crush Hu Wensheng in a single strike." Su Yu understood. During the Yangxing stage, one had to construct a framework, and that framework required anchor points—and those points were divine characters! Only when all the anchor points were completed could one enter the Tengkong Realm and continue filling it in afterward. Otherwise, if one entered the Tengkong Realm without filling all the anchor points, the framework would shatter. Once one reached the Tengkong Realm and willpower manifested, the sea of will lost its malleability, making it impossible to construct such a framework again or form a complete divine character battle technique. ... Chen Yong and Bai Feng explained things to him for quite a while. Finally, Chen Yong looked at Su Yu and said solemnly, "The framework isn't something you can decide on a whim or construct however you please. These walls are actually special, guiding original texts of will! "When you send your willpower into them later, divine character battle techniques suited to you will form in your sea of will. Afterward, you will outline based on that foundation and fill in divine characters to create a complete battle technique!" Bai Feng chimed in, "Different battle techniques have different base anchor points. The fewer ones have ten base points, meaning ten divine characters! The larger ones might have thirteen or fourteen. But remember, more isn't necessarily better!" Bai Feng said seriously, "Act according to your abilities! During the Yangxing stage, willpower is limited. If a divine character battle technique has too many anchor points, you won't be able to finish outlining them during this period. If that happens, you'll be in trouble—stuck in the Yangxing Realm for countless years! "For instance, if you outline a sword that requires fifty anchor points, that means you'll have to outline at least fifty divine characters during the Yangxing stage—and specific divine characters at that, not just any random ones. How many years would that take you? "Even if you finish outlining them, can your sea of will bear the burden? "Even if it can, if you spend thirty years outlining them, you might be invincible in the Tengkong Realm, but others will already be at the Shanhai Realm. How will you compete with them?" At this point, Chen Yong agreed as well. "Your master is right. You must act according to your ability and not blindly chase after higher numbers! All you need is to establish the basic framework. Adding more is simple enough—once you reach the Tengkong Realm, you can develop it slowly and fill in more characters. The difference isn't that great." Su Yu asked curiously, "Martial Uncle, Teacher, do more anchor points bring greater benefits?" Chen Yong smiled. "There are some advantages. For example, your master's Dragon Slaying technique has twelve divine characters as its foundation, so its framework is certainly sturdier than a ten-character technique, granting more additional traits! "If you fill in ten characters, you can only add ten traits, but his can add twelve!" Chen Yong explained further, "The anchor divine characters that outline the framework have traits that can fuse into the battle technique to exist as base traits—such as sharpness, concealment, armor-piercing, blood-sucking, baneful aura, explosion, burning... "Offensive battle techniques focus primarily on enhancing attack power!" Bai Feng interjected, "The base traits of my Dragon Slaying technique are all geared toward maximizing destructive power! Sharpness is practically an essential choice for us, followed by strength to grant the technique greater destructive force, and agility to make it strike faster!" ... As Bai Feng explained, Su Yu fully grasped it this time. "Teacher, do you mean that if I integrate my three divine characters, the technique could possess traits like illusion, blood-sucking, thunder, and killing aura?" "Exactly!" Bai Feng nodded. "That's precisely it. Your three divine characters all lean toward the path of slaughter, making them quite suitable. Of course, fusing them doesn't mean they can never be separated. You can still use the characters individually. Divine character battle techniques are generally finishing moves—unleashed for a guaranteed kill, because otherwise the consumption is too great. In normal combat, we usually separate the characters and adopt different battle plans depending on the situation." "Understood!" Su Yu understood completely now. In truth, this wasn't all that different from cultivation methods and martial techniques. The number of acupoints opened determined the depth of one's foundation. A sword with fifteen anchor characters and fifteen fused traits would generally be more powerful than one with ten fused traits. Su Yu looked at the four walls. The left wall was suited for outlining defensive techniques. The right wall was suited for techniques that balanced offense and defense. The front wall was suited for outlining slaughter techniques. These had been crafted by the earlier experts of the Multi-Divine Character faction, specifically tailored to lay a foundation for newcomers like them. "Teacher, Martial Uncle, I'll begin outlining now!" Without further ado, Su Yu stopped in front of the front wall and sent his willpower into it. ... Once Su Yu entered meditation, Bai Feng took a deep breath and transmitted his voice, "Senior Brother, what do you think this kid will outline?" "That depends on him." Chen Yong didn't speculate much, replying softly, "It contains many things. What he sees, what he captures, and what he outlines all depend on his own fortunes and talent. We can't control it." As he spoke, he looked at Bai Feng and smiled. "Back then, when you outlined the framework for the Dragon Slaying technique with twelve divine characters as a foundation, that was already very impressive. The path of slaughter is inherently harder than defense. If Su Yu can outline a battle technique similar to yours, I'll be content." Bai Feng rolled his eyes, then sighed. "I told him repeatedly not to bite off more than he can chew, that more isn't necessarily better. But I'm worried the kid might not listen. If he outlines a framework based on too many characters, that'll be troublesome." Chen Yong asked curiously, "You have that much confidence in him? Normally, even if someone encounters a technique with many base points, they might not succeed in outlining it and would naturally settle for a lesser one..." "You don't understand!" Bai Feng sighed emotionally. *Senior Brother, your experience is too shallow; this kid specializes in slapping people in the face.* *Every time I say 'You can't do it, you won't make it, it's impossible for you to reach this level'... what happens? The kid turns around and slaps me right in the face!* *I've been slapped so many times that I don't even dare jump to conclusions anymore.* "I feel... he might be able to outline a technique founded on fifteen or more divine characters!" Chen Yong gave him a strange look. *He has that much faith in him?* "Back then, Jiajia only outlined a technique with ten divine character cores, and she had top-high talent when entering the academy..." Bai Feng sighed. "It's different, completely different! Even among top-high talent... there are levels!" Chen Yong chuckled. *So full of melancholy?* It seemed his junior brother had suffered quite a few blows! "Then I'd really like to see what he manages to outline." "Let's wait and see!" Bai Feng rubbed his chin. *Fifteen... did I aim too low?* *Sigh. A disciple who doesn't play by the rules really hurts his master's pride.*