A Lesson in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction

Wen Tan Research Center. Underground Level Three, Main Laboratory. By now, it was already October 12th. For the past two days, Su Yu and the others had barely stepped outside, spending the time either nursing their injuries or cultivating. Bai Feng's injuries were much improved, but with his divine characters shattered, his combat prowess had indeed plummeted drastically. Bai Feng didn't seem to care all that much. Relaxed and carefree, he would sneak looks at Su Yu's texts of will from time to time. Su Yu had plenty of them anyway, and Bai Feng doubted his disciple even remembered how many he possessed. Of course, Bai Feng was not sneaking peeks at any texts of will today. With a rare moment of free time before he would have to leave this place and head for the All-Heavens Battlefield, he finally remembered that he was still a teacher. "Today, I'll teach you the technique I recently developed for dismantling divine character battle techniques!" Bai Feng spoke to Su Yu. Not far away, Hong Tan had his eyes closed in cultivation... though anyone could see it was a sham. Too embarrassed to sit as a student to his own student, he was pretending to cultivate so he could eavesdrop. Neither Su Yu nor Bai Feng called him out. If this grandmaster of theirs was exposed, he really would beat someone. As Bai Feng spoke, he revealed a small sword. It was tiny! There were only four points of light on it! "Back then, my core battle technique had twelve divine characters. In addition, after advancing to the Tengkong Realm, I outlined another sixteen, making twenty-eight in total! "In my battle with Xia Yuwen earlier, I had to shatter twenty-four divine characters to grievously injure him. That guy does have some ability." Bai Feng praised, "Xia Yuwen is said to be invincible among those in the same realm. That claim holds water. He is very strong—even those weak fifth or sixth stage Lingyun experts in the academy might not be his match. And what does that prove?" Su Yu caught on instantly and chuckled. "It proves that Teacher's combat power is peerless! If it came down to a fight, you could instakill fifth or sixth stage Lingyun!" "Exactly!" Bai Feng nearly gave him a thumbs-up. *Nice. Having a clever disciple is great—he says the parts I left unsaid.* Not far away, Hong Tan cast a suspicious glance at Su Yu. *This kid... doesn't seem like an honest sort anymore!* "Of course, I paid a heavy price. Twenty-four divine characters—honestly, anyone else would have been loath to shatter them." Bai Feng said a few more words before continuing, "Dismantling a divine character battle technique isn't just crudely tearing it apart! If it were that simple, the legions of experts in the Multiple Divine Characters Faction would have figured it out long ago, and it wouldn't have been left for me to discover! "Being able to dismantle divine characters was actually inspired by innate divine characters. If they can merge, naturally they can be taken apart!" Bai Feng adopted a serious tone. "How do you take it apart without causing the divine character battle technique to collapse? How do you take it apart so that the disassembled battle technique retains its power? Even your grandmaster doesn't understand this point, whereas I..." Su Yu looked at him with sympathy. Back when Grandmaster wasn't home, you could say whatever you liked. Now, the man was sitting right beside them. Nearby, Hong Tan kept his eyes closed, as if he hadn't heard a thing. Bai Feng looked a bit sheepish and gave a dry cough. "Never mind that. Let's get straight to the point: how to dismantle it!" Saying that, he brought out his Dragon-Slaying Sword—the Dragon-Slaying Sword that now had only four divine characters left. "Every divine character is different, possessing different traits, different powers, and different strengths..." Bai Feng stopped digressing and began deducing and demonstrating for Su Yu how to dismantle the battle technique without letting it crumble, while ensuring it retained the might of a battle technique afterward. "Even a battle technique formed from a single divine character is stronger than an isolated single divine character. Do you know why?" Su Yu shook his head. Bai Feng smiled. "Logically speaking, a single divine character shouldn't count as a battle technique at all; it can only be called a single character. So why is it stronger than an ordinary divine character? Because the characters of a dismantled battle technique maintain a connection between them—a resonance! "You know that old ghost Zhao Li has a Hundred Swords Casket, right?" Su Yu nodded. "At its strongest, his Hundred Swords Casket can form a formation of a hundred swords! Resonating and stacking! And divine character battle techniques work the same way!" With that, Bai Feng instantly disassembled his Dragon-Slaying Sword into four miniature swords. The four miniature swords circled around Su Yu, moving in perfect unison! Only their properties differed! One carried a freezing effect, one bore an aura of sharpness, another held the intent of destruction... "This is the difference!" Bai Feng demonstrated as the four miniature swords erupted simultaneously, identical in motion and uniform in power! "They can form a formation!" Su Yu nodded, then thought for a moment before asking, "Teacher, in the Single Divine Character Faction, combinations of divine characters sometimes appear, like 'Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain' and the like. Is it similar to that?" "Pretty much!" Bai Feng nodded. "In truth, they borrowed from the divine character fusion system we developed back in the day. Your grandmaster introduced that system, and afterward, the Single Divine Character Faction began adopting it. Naturally, they developed and researched parts of it on their own, but the core still relies on the divine character trait fusion method your grandmaster unveiled." At this point, Hong Tan chimed in from the side, "The fusion of divine character traits was not created by me. It was from incomplete materials left behind by your great-grandmaster, which I subsequently refined and introduced as a system." Developed from materials left by the Fifth Generation. Su Yu nodded. It made sense; Hong Tan had been so young back then, and creating an entirely new system on his own would have been far too difficult. Still, refining the research left behind by the Fifth Generation was no small feat either. Both his teacher and his grandmaster matched Su Yu's mental image of what a true Civilization Master should be. Before entering the academy, Su Yu had believed that even if Civilization Masters were powerful, they ought to spend most of their time in laboratories conducting research. As it turned out, after arriving at the academy, instructors like that seemed rather rare. Zhao Li was one, usually forging iron in his research institute. Bai Feng certainly counted, almost always cooped up inside without going out. As for other instructors, he didn't know many. Some also liked staying shut in their institutes, but there were plenty who wandered around outside all day. Ignoring his teacher, Bai Feng continued, "The divine character battle technique you outlined has a full eighteen core anchor points..." "Hm?" Nearby, Hong Tan asked in surprise, "How many?" Bai Feng glanced at his teacher, looking somewhat exasperated, and grumbled, "Teacher, weren't you going into secluded cultivation? Weren't you going to break through to the Sun Moon Realm? Go on, then! I'm in the middle of a class!" *I finally get around to teaching my student, and you keep interrupting with questions. Isn't that annoying?! I can't stand irresponsible teachers like you!* Hong Tan held in his temper and glared at him. *Fine, you win! Great, I won't say a word! Eighteen base divine characters! That's as many as Senior Brother!* Su Yu ignored their spat and pretended not to notice. He asked hesitantly, "Teacher, according to what you said, it can be dismantled, and missing pieces can be supplemented later! If so, whether one outlines eighteen or eighty-eight characters, won't it make little difference in the late stages? For instance, if I outline ninety-nine characters right now, dismantle nine to advance to Tengkong, and then outline the remaining ninety after reaching Tengkong, doesn't that mean having ninety-nine base characters in the battle technique doesn't matter much?" "There's still a difference!" Bai Feng explained. "Advancing to Tengkong grants a one-time opportunity to solidify the divine character battle technique. That's why we insisted on outlining it before Tengkong! Solidification is essentially equivalent to strengthening your divine character battle technique once over! For example, say you outline a battle technique of ninety-nine divine characters. If you dismantle it and advance using a battle technique formed of only nine characters, those nine characters will receive the solidification opportunity. Even though the rest can be outlined in Tengkong, they will have missed that chance!" Su Yu nodded. He understood now. "Does that single solidification create a large difference in strength?" "Substantial!" Bai Feng explained once more. "Under normal circumstances, it equates to a tier advancement! Take me, for instance: back when I advanced with twelve divine characters, after solidification, all twelve stepped into Tier 2. Before that, they were all Tier 1. But for the sixteen characters I outlined after reaching Tengkong, even after spending several years, I still haven't managed to advance all of them to Tier 2." "So it's just a matter of time?" "Nonsense, a divine character battle technique's power is heavily tied to the tiers of its characters. If their tiers are higher, it's naturally stronger!" "So upgrading them later is still possible?" "Yeah, but it requires a massive amount of time and resources." "..." As the two went back and forth with questions and answers, Hong Tan listened quietly from the side, feeling somewhat gratified. It felt like it had been a very long time since the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had seen such a scene of teacher-student dialogue under the watchful eye of a grandmaster. As for Chen Yong's student, Wu Jia... Chen Yong was prone to nagging, while Wu Jia only listened without ever asking questions. Gradually, Su Yu grasped and understood many things. Bai Feng said again, "Right now, you've outlined five divine characters..." "Six!" "..." Bai Feng stared at him, and Su Yu stared back at Bai Feng. *What's wrong? Is there an issue? It really is six!* Bai Feng told himself he could stay calm. It was nothing! Five last time, six this time—completely normal! "Human divine characters?" "Yes!" "Then you can try to see if you can detach these six divine characters from the overall battle technique!" Bai Feng didn't bother making a fuss and continued, "If you detach them, they'll form a miniature saber... By the way, have you named your divine character battle technique? It's best to give it a name. Like mine, the Dragon-Slaying Sword—the moment my sword appears, everyone knows what it is!" "Name it?" Su Yu truly hadn't thought about that. Now that Bai Feng brought it up, Su Yu pondered for a moment before suggesting hesitantly, "How about calling it the Sealing Saber?" "..." What did that mean? Bai Feng looked at him blankly. *This name... makes no sense.* Su Yu whispered, "Whenever I draw my blade, I'll yell, 'Out, Sealing Saber!' The enemy will think I walk the sealing path, but I don't. While they're preparing for me to seal them, I'll just hack them to death with a single strike. Teacher, what do you think?" "..." Bai Feng was speechless. Hong Tan stared up at the ceiling. *I was wrong! Is this granddisciple of mine an honest fellow? I must be blind!* Just from the name of that saber, he knew he was completely blind! "Sealing Saber..." Bai Feng muttered, suddenly feeling a twinge of regret. "That actually makes sense. Why on earth did I name mine Dragon-Slaying Sword? The moment anyone hears it, they know my weapon is purely for slaughter! What a waste!" *It really makes sense! Deceiving the enemy—how brilliant!* "Sealing Saber... works! Very good!" Giving his disciple some praise, Bai Feng nodded. "Don't you also have a cultural weapon? Is it called the Sealing Saber too?" "Yes!" Su Yu nodded. "It goes by that name too. When I become famous one day and the Sealing Saber gains renown, even if people know I follow the path of slaughter, as long as they've never seen me and have only heard the name of my blade, they'll still be somewhat misled." "Not bad!" Bai Feng chuckled, then added, "You can dismantle those six divine characters first to form a miniature Sealing Saber, and then merge it into your cultural weapon! That way, you'll be able to harness the power of the entire battle technique! It will function as a true divine character battle technique and significantly boost your combat strength. While it won't match the complete version, it will definitely be stronger than before! "And doing it this way means that if you want to advance, you can—you could even enter Tengkong, and supplement the rest once you're there!" Su Yu didn't say anything. Stepping into Tengkong was a strengthening opportunity. Advancing with ninety-nine divine characters meant all of them would advance to Tier 2. If he advanced now, the ones outlined later in Tengkong would only be Tier 1, requiring an immense amount of time to nurture afterward. Still, it could serve as a contingency measure. At a critical moment, he could choose to advance. Next, Bai Feng gave a detailed explanation of how to dismantle and how to reassemble them. Finally, he cautioned, "If you detonate a divine character, I don't know whether it can be successfully refilled. Wait until I succeed before you try it, or the power of your divine character battle technique will plummet!" Hong Tan couldn't hold back this time and snapped angrily, "Try what? Try self-detonating divine characters? Are you out of your mind? You're teaching your student to blow up his divine characters?" *What rubbish is this fellow spouting!* Bai Feng was exasperated. *You even have to interfere when I'm teaching a student. Old man, you butt in way too much. Do you have any idea how ruthless this granddisciple of yours is? Forget it, you don't know jack!* Ignoring him, Bai Feng continued, "Also, in the later stages, a divine character battle technique should allow characters to be fused together, just like fusing divine apertures or fusing origin qi apertures. I believe the Dao of Divine Characters must have another crucial supreme art: Character Fusion! One character, one battle technique!" At those words, Hong Tan's body shook slightly, and he refrained from speaking further. Su Yu's eyes lit up. "Teacher, is this how innate divine characters are formed? Innate divine characters differ because the component characters, their quantities, and their traits vary, resulting in a different synthesized character in the end?" "Right!" Bai Feng smiled. "What I'm presenting now is merely theoretical knowledge—a conceptual framework rather than a concrete method! Divine characters should also be fusable. For example, with the Dragon-Slaying Sword, in the end it will probably require fusing twelve divine characters into one, synthesizing a brand-new divine character. At that point, it will likely become my true primary character! Of course, I can look for ways to continue expanding this system and increase the anchor-point divine characters! "This is just like the Shanhai Realm on the warrior path: one aperture, one martial technique; one aperture, one cultivation art. For the Dao of Divine Characters, when that stage is reached, it will be one character, one battle technique; one character, one innate ability!" Oftentimes, a single theory could propel the development of an entire system. Much academic research was deduced and explored starting from a single hypothesis. Su Yu's eyes sparkled. "Teacher, in that case, if human innate divine characters are unique, can an innate divine character also unleash innate martial skills?" Bai Feng laughed. "You've fallen into a misconception. An innate divine character unleashing an innate skill doesn't strictly have to be a physical martial technique—a willpower martial technique is also a martial technique, understand?" Su Yu realized the truth! Of course. Among other races, some innate skills were willpower-based techniques as well. At this moment, Su Yu felt he had gained immensely. After a thought, he added, "Teacher, I've opened a great deal of origin qi apertures, but they don't form a unified system—at most, 108 apertures form one system. On the origin qi side, could I switch cultivation arts to fully harness the power of all my opened apertures?" "How many have you opened now?" "One hundred and eighty-six!" "..." Bai Feng was used to it by now. He chose to act as though he hadn't heard. 186—nothing special. Beside them, Hong Tan was developing a headache. *This is my granddisciple?* *Damn it! Where did he spring from? Could he really be Senior Brother's illegitimate son?* *No, that's not right either. I saw Su Yu's father on the battlefield, and father and son do share a slight resemblance.* While Bai Feng was still pondering, Hong Tan spoke up: "Erupt your apertures and let me see. Let me see which ones make up your 186 opened apertures!" Su Yu didn't hesitate. The shadow divine character concealing his apertures dispersed. The next moment, 186 points of light flared across his entire body! His origin qi was pure! His apertures were dazzling! He had learned the *Yuan-Purifying Art* and opened all its apertures. Now, even without Brightlight Bird blood essence, he could purify his origin qi and apertures on his own. Even the six newly opened apertures shone with brilliant radiance. Hong Tan was truly astonished this time! Having opened many apertures was one thing, but for his origin qi to be so refined, without a trace of impure power in his apertures... If this were in a War Academy, he would be hailed as an unrivaled prodigy! "One hundred and eighty-six..." He examined them, paying special attention to the apertures in Su Yu's legs, and frowned. "This... The legs form a small circulation, and it feels like it's laced with another kind of power... Is this... temporal power?" Frowning, he wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. *No, that can't be right... Is this a martial technique?* Looking at Su Yu and then at Bai Feng, Hong Tan asked, "Is this a Heaven-tier martial technique?" Su Yu exchanged glances with Bai Feng, an inquiring look on his face: *Teacher, should I tell him?* Giving a dry cough, Su Yu answered, "Grandmaster, it is a Heaven-tier martial technique!" "It feels quite formidable!" Hong Tan considered for a moment and said, "This art... this martial technique... Let me think. I might have seen it before." Su Yu coughed lightly again. "Grandmaster, it's a martial technique called *Time*. Shatter Shanhai, Suppress Sun Moon..." "I know!" Hong Tan interrupted, sounding rather surprised. "It's his technique! That fellow... ahem, that lord is quite formidable. How did his martial technique end up with you? When did you meet him?" Curious, Bai Feng asked, "Teacher, who is it?" For Hong Tan to be so polite, the other party was evidently immensely powerful! Hong Tan's expression turned slightly odd. "The Silkworm-Exterminating King!" "..." What kind of name was that? Su Yu didn't recognize it! He had never heard of it! Bai Feng thought about it as well, then shook his head. He didn't know the name either—none of the thirty-six prefectures bore that title. "Ahem, that wasn't his original title. He changed it himself later on!" Hong Tan didn't elaborate. Not many people knew about this; it had been told to them back when the Fifth Generation was around. Ever since a certain someone was swallowed by the Dragon Silkworm King and subsequently excreted, he had harbored an undying hatred for the Dragon Silkworm King and changed his title to the Silkworm-Exterminating King. It was an amusing anecdote among Invincibles; the Fifth Generation knew of it because he had reached that level himself. This tale couldn't be spread around—that lord was notoriously petty and would actually kill over it. Hong Tan stopped discussing him and changed the subject. "Where did you get it? Quite lucky! I've heard of this cultivation art, *Time*. It's extremely strong, no worse than the Xia family's Heaven-Cleaving Saber. Of course, the Heaven-Cleaving Saber has different tiered versions, and I don't know how many strikes King Daxia has published by now." Su Yu kept quiet. Hong Tan looked between master and disciple. *What's the meaning of this? You can't say? I already know whose it is, so what's there to hide!* Bai Feng thought for a moment, shrugged, and looked at Su Yu: *You go ahead and say it; I'm certainly not going to!* Su Yu considered it, then whispered, "Grandmaster, the thing is... this technique came from our research center..." "Bullshit!" Hong Tan scoffed. *Trying to fool me?!* "Really. I found it in a booklet... called... *Post of Seeking the Unfathomable in Mountains and Seas*!" "..." Silence. Dead silence. Su Yu quietly took a step back and hid behind Bai Feng. Bai Feng rolled his eyes: *You unfilial brat!* Hong Tan was very quiet. The *Post of Seeking the Unfathomable in Mountains and Seas*! What a fine booklet! He was especially fond of it! He had wondered before why his booklet was missing. Turns out... dammit, someone had taken it! Taking it was one thing, but someone had actually uncovered a Heaven-tier martial technique from it! After a moment's thought, Hong Tan smiled and said, "Not bad, you actually discovered it! I discovered it decades ago and had always planned to leave it for Bai Feng to uncover on his own, but Bai Feng disappointed me greatly! Ah, what a pity! But now it's fine—you managed to discover it, very good!" As for why he hadn't known the name of the technique... well, that was because he hadn't practiced it! Hong Tan beamed. "I don't walk the physical body path. For a Heaven-tier martial technique, at my stage, opening even one aperture is difficult, and I couldn't be bothered to open more. As for your teacher, he's practically blind; all these years, he never noticed it once. Good, Su Yu, your discerning eye is just like mine!" "..." Neither Bai Feng nor Su Yu uttered a peep. *Right, whatever you say, Old Sir! Tossing a Heaven-tier martial technique aside like trash and not even telling your student it existed—who are you trying to fool?!* Suppressing his urge to beat someone to death, Hong Tan smiled. "Su Yu, how did you find out?" "Um... Grandmaster, the Suanni told me!" Without a shred of hesitation, Su Yu threw the Suanni under the bus. Otherwise, wouldn't it seem like his eyesight was too good? What if Grandmaster grew jealous? What if he suppressed him? His discernment was merely average—he hadn't discovered it himself; the Suanni had told him! Hong Tan nodded, beaming. Bai Feng sent a voice transmission to Su Yu: *Next time you go to the detention area, there might only be five great demons left. Your grandmaster will probably want to dissect the Suanni race for research!* Su Yu understood and silently offered a prayer for the Suanni. *Don't blame me. I pray you survive, poor Suanni.* Hong Tan shot Bai Feng a glare, wasted no more words, and let the matter drop. He spoke up: "One hundred and eighty-six origin qi apertures—very impressive! However, cultivation apertures and martial technique apertures are mixed together. Even though you've opened many, they don't match. A cultivation art is a cultivation art, while a martial technique is a martial technique. When you unleash your strength in the end, it falls far short of those Heaven-tier cultivation arts, right?" "Yes!" Hong Tan smiled. "Cultivation arts exist to bring out the power of all your apertures. Currently, the strongest cultivation arts harness the power of 144 apertures. Su Yu, you must understand: with so many supreme experts out there, why haven't they created stronger cultivation arts? Like 156 apertures, or 168 apertures..." Su Yu hesitated before asking, "Is it because of aperture fusion in the Wanshi Realm, and aperture fusion in the Shanhai Realm?" "Correct!" Hong Tan nodded. "That's precisely why! If a cultivation art opened 180 apertures, let me ask you: in the Wanshi Realm, could you fuse all those apertures together? When you reach Shanhai and fuse them into a single aperture, are you certain you could merge 180 apertures into one?" Needless to say, Su Yu knew it would be exceptionally difficult! "Cultivation arts are meant for people to practice, not to hinder their progress!" Hong Tan continued. "That's why, after deducing 144-aperture Heaven-tier cultivation arts, those Invincibles stopped deducing further arts. If you practiced one with more, you might remain stuck in the Qianjun Realm for your entire life!" Su Yu nodded once more. It was a matter of universal applicability. Even if a 180-aperture cultivation art were deduced, if nobody could practice it, there was little point, and developing it would waste a tremendous amount of time and effort. Hong Tan looked at Su Yu again and said, "I know what you're thinking. You want to unleash the power of all your apertures to drastically increase your explosive force! But take your grandmaster's advice: advancing to Wanshi is better! Don't rush right now. When you reach the Shanhai Realm, try fusing them into one aperture. If you find then that you can encompass all your apertures into one, opening so many apertures will become your foundation! "Qianjun, Wanshi, Tengkong, Lingyun—all of them are preparations for fusing into a single aperture in the Shanhai Realm!" He looked at Su Yu with a solemn expression. "Opening many apertures now isn't without its benefits. If you truly have that deep foundation, then once you reach the Shanhai Realm and merge all the apertures throughout your body into one, you will be invincible among Shanhai! By then, cultivation arts won't matter anymore, because you can fuse all your apertures. When others unleash the power of 144 apertures in a single strike, you'll erupt with the power of 186 apertures—could they possibly rival you? "In the Shanhai Realm, having opened many apertures without being able to fuse them into one is actually a waste, because once you're in Shanhai, having the origin qi of an extra aperture or two makes little difference." Su Yu pondered this and asked, "Grandmaster, can I switch to a Heaven-tier cultivation art now?" Even if he couldn't utilize the power of all his apertures, switching to a Heaven-tier cultivation art would still be good. Hong Tan looked at him. "Are you sure? Of course you can switch to a Heaven-tier cultivation art, but you might need to open more apertures, and fusing apertures will be even harder! Put it this way: the stronger the cultivation art, the harder it is to fuse apertures! That holds true in Wanshi, and it holds true in Shanhai!" Su Yu nodded. "I'd like to switch, but I don't have any suitable Heaven-tier cultivation arts on hand right now. Well, it's not that I don't have any at all, but they don't feel sufficient—none of them are peak Heaven-tier..." "You have one?" Now it was Hong Tan and Bai Feng's turn to be astonished. *You have a Heaven-tier cultivation art? How did we not know about this!* Su Yu naturally had them, and more than one at that. The *Body Strengthening Art* was quite powerful. Of course, the *Body Strengthening Art* was mainly for tempering the physical body. Su Yu had even been considering whether to activate the *Body Strengthening Art* as a cultivation art, so he wouldn't have to absorb Mountain-Breaking Ox blood every single day and risk drinking the Mountain-Breaking Oxen into extinction. The main issue was that the *Body Strengthening Art* opened quite a few apertures. Previously, Su Yu hadn't had enough time or blood essence to practice it. Now, he had completed opening the apertures for the *Soul-Devouring Art*, the *War God Art*, the *Thunder Origin Saber*, the *Heaven-Breaking Kill*, the *Yuan-Purifying Art*, and the first layer of *Time*. Practicing the *Body Strengthening Art* now would actually be quite good; it could continue strengthening his physical body, accelerate aperture opening, and let him run the art directly without needing Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence anymore. "I do have a Heaven-tier cultivation art that I obtained by chance, but it doesn't open that many apertures—only 116 in total—and it's not offensive in nature..." Just as he was about to continue, Hong Tan waved his hand. "If it was obtained through personal serendipity, don't say another word! Cultivation arts aren't something to be shared lightly, unless you're certain the original master is dead, their descendants are dead, and no one will hold you accountable." He didn't pry further, but considered for a moment and asked, "You want an offensive cultivation art that opens 144 apertures, right?" "Yes." Pondering for a moment, Hong Tan mused, "Formidable arts like that exist, and quite a few of them, but they are generally inheritances of Invincibles! Of course, a few aren't, but they carry massive drawbacks. For instance, the famous *Thousand Mountains Art* is an offensive cultivation art that opens 144 apertures and is very powerful! However, once that art reaches the ninth stage of Qianjun, fusing apertures is practically impossible!" He thought it over and added, "In the Great Xia Prefecture, the peak Heaven-tier cultivation art that can truly carry one all the way to Invincible does exist—the *Innumerable Saber Strikes of Heaven Cleaving*! It's the Xia family's supreme art! The Xia family is also willing to pass it down, but usually only in weakened versions, ranging from low Heaven-tier to high Heaven-tier. The peak version is rarely taught, generally reserved only for direct descendants!" Hong Tan glanced at Su Yu. "You practice saber techniques?" "Yes." Su Yu nodded. He did indeed focus on saber techniques. Hong Tan tapped his fingers. After a moment, he said, "How about this: I'll find an opportunity to take you to see Fatty Xia! We'll see if we can get the inheritance of the Heaven-Cleaving Saber from him! But that Fatty Xia is obsessed with money. Even if he's willing to impart it, the price won't be small!" Hong Tan frowned. "My main concern is that if you learn it, you'll probably have to open quite a few more apertures. I wonder if that will delay your advancement..." Su Yu smiled. "It won't, Grandmaster! I've been enrolled for just over two months, and I've already opened nearly 180 apertures..." "Hm?" Hong Tan looked surprised. "When you entered the academy... what realm were you actually at when you enrolled?" "Ninth stage Kaiyuan!" Hong Tan nodded. *Very good!* Bai Feng had previously claimed he was at the seventh stage of Qianjun, and Hong Tan had suspected something was amiss. Now: ninth stage Kaiyuan! In just over two months, he had opened 177 apertures. This granddisciple of his was either an unprecedented genius or blessed with extraordinary fortune. Very good, very good indeed! Glancing at Bai Feng, he made up his mind: once Su Yu left, he would first beat Bai Feng to death, and then go beat the Suanni to death to clean house! He said no more; now was not the time. Su Yu, however, hesitated and asked, "Grandmaster, the Heaven-Cleaving Saber is the Xia family's supreme art. Would the Xia family be willing to pass it on? Teacher grievously injured Xia Yuwen not long ago..." "Fatty Xia and Xia Yuwen aren't even from the same branch!" Hong Tan didn't care about that. "Fatty Xia... aside from being money-grubbing to the bone, isn't so bad otherwise. The Great Xia Prefecture is actually fairly open-minded and eager to see talented powerhouses emerge from Great Xia. As long as you display matching talent and ensure you aren't part of the All-Races Sect or an enemy, the Xia family will generally impart it. As for the price... we'll see!" Su Yu nodded slightly, calculating in his head whether he should seek out Xia Huyou first. He was still withholding the method to open one divine aperture from him! Perhaps he could use that as a bargaining chip? Of course, the Heaven-Cleaving Saber was extremely potent, especially the peak Heaven-tier version that opened 144 apertures. That cultivation art wasn't something just anyone could learn. *If I master the Heaven-Cleaving Saber and can erupt with the power of 144 apertures, then it'll be time to advance to Wanshi!* It wasn't that he insisted on opening an endless number of apertures right now—he could always do that later. It was mainly that the 108-aperture *War God Art* truly left him unsatisfied. He had already felt dissatisfied during his clash with Zhou Hao; otherwise, he should have beaten Zhou Hao to death with raw physical might alone.