Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Divine Spirit Gaze
A mocking smile touched the corners of First Prince Zhao Feng’s lips at the mention of the Sixth Prince.
The First Prince was resourceful indeed. He had even managed to investigate the Sixth Prince’s recent setback, and in such detail.
"Your Highness, since this man is connected to the Eighth Prince, I am willing to atone for my mistake and relieve your burden by..."
King’s Dao raised his head and extended his right hand in a sharp, downward chopping motion.
He was so desperate to restore his image in the First Prince’s eyes that he threw caution to the wind.
"There’s no need." Zhao Feng smiled faintly. "We aren’t the ones who want that Ye Xuan dead the most. That would be my dear Sixth Brother. We’ll just wait for the show to begin."
"As for you, since Eighth Brother has already taken first place on the leaderboard, there’s no point in you staying at the academy. Apply for graduation at once and come work under me. However, you can only start as a vice-captain of the Iron Blood Guard and work your way up."
"Thank you for this opportunity, Your Highness."
King’s Dao let out a breath, a weight lifting from his chest.
’It seems that even though I messed up, His Highness the First Prince hasn’t held it against me.’
Of course, Ye Xuan, deep in seclusion, had no idea he was the subject of so much attention. But even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared.
Inside the Cultivation Tower, he was completely immersed in his arduous cultivation.
This cultivation session took him a full three months.
He finally emerged from the Cultivation Tower.
WHOOSH!
After exhaling a long, turbid breath, a radiant light suffused Ye Xuan’s face.
His Profound Qi was as deep as the sea, yet, astonishingly, not the slightest fluctuation could be detected, a truly curious phenomenon.
Over the three months, Ye Xuan had thoroughly consolidated his cultivation base, elevating it to the peak of the Martial Master Third Layer. He had also advanced his Soul Power to the Late-Third Grade.
The instability caused by his previous rapid breakthroughs had been completely purged over the past three months.
He had also studied his Three Lives Martial Soul and formulated a plan for his future cultivation.
’My Profound Qi has reached the Martial Master Peak now. A breakthrough wouldn’t be difficult, but I can’t rush it. The Nine Profound World-Defying Art is different from other Cultivation Techniques; it requires all ten Profound Veins to be perfected. I’m still a ways from achieving that. A rash breakthrough wouldn’t be a good thing.’
For ordinary Martial Artists, every breakthrough is an incredibly difficult and arduous process requiring a long period of accumulation. For Ye Xuan, however, it was simple.
With his mastery of the Alchemy Dao and Soul Dao from his past life, he could likely break through to the Earth Martial Artist realm tomorrow, if he just refined a few Third or Fourth Grade pills specifically for that purpose.
But Ye Xuan would not do that.
The Nine Profound World-Defying Art was an extremely powerful Cultivation Technique. At any given moment, the amount of Profound Qi it absorbed was several times, ten times, or even more than that of ordinary Martial Artists.
As a result, Ye Xuan’s cultivation was virtually free of bottlenecks. For example, after just breaking through to the Martial Master Third Layer, he only needed a few months in seclusion to naturally condense his Profound Qi to the peak of the Third Layer.
This was something most ordinary Martial Artists could not even imagine.
However, the Nine Profound World-Defying Art also had one very strict limitation.
To perfectly break through to the next Great Realm, the Profound Qi within all ten of his Profound Veins had to be filled to the point of absolute completion.
This was a feat several times more difficult than a breakthrough for an ordinary Martial Artist.
Among the ten Profound Veins, even the eighth, the Heart Vein, and the ninth, the Life Vein, weren’t very difficult. Three months of seclusion had allowed Ye Xuan to fill both of these Profound Veins with Profound Qi. But when it came to the tenth vein, the Celestial Vein, he couldn’t make an inch of progress.
Ye Xuan could sense that filling the Celestial Vein could not be achieved through mindless secluded cultivation alone. It required a certain kind of opportunity. Once that opportunity arrived, success would naturally follow.
Of course, Ye Xuan could also choose not to perfect the Celestial Vein and simply break through.
But if he did that, what would be the point of practicing the Nine Profound World-Defying Art? He would be just like any other Martial Artist practicing an ordinary Cultivation Technique—doomed to be mundane.
Having been reborn, Ye Xuan had long ago decided to build his foundation step by step, allowing no room for shortcuts.
Because his goal was different from other Martial Artists who dreamed of becoming the Nine Heavens Martial Emperor. His goal was to shatter the void with martial might and see for himself if the legendary Celestial Realm truly existed.
’A breakthrough in my cultivation realm isn’t urgent. My physical body won’t see significant improvement until I become an Earth Martial Artist. So, if I want to increase my strength, I could practice a Soul Skill Secret Technique.’
The reason Soul Refiners held such a lofty status wasn’t just because they could help Martial Artists condense and improve their martial souls. More importantly, every Soul Refiner was a powerhouse in their own right.
This was because they could cultivate various Soul Skill Secret Techniques, which greatly enhanced their strength.
Take the Sixth Prince’s man, Mosen, for example. His simple trick of using Soul Power to activate an Earth Profound Stone was a major trump card.
Of course, the Soul Skill Secret Technique Ye Xuan intended to cultivate was more than ten times stronger than anything Mosen could use.
While in secluded cultivation, Ye Xuan had already decided. The Soul Skill Secret Technique he would cultivate was a most practical Pupil Technique.
This skill had an extremely heaven-defying name in the Soul Refiner circles of the Celestial Profound Continent: "Divine Spirit Gaze."
Divine Spirit Gaze: with one glance, life; with another, death!
Once cultivated to its peak, the Divine Spirit Gaze could instantly pull an opponent into the user’s Pupil Skill World, imprisoning their spirit and soul. Their life and death would be completely at the caster’s mercy, a state where they could neither beg for life nor plead for death.
Its cultivation difficulty was also extremely high; the minimum requirements were to have Soul Power at the Third Grade and possess heaven-defying aptitude.
In his past life, Ye Xuan had obtained the Divine Spirit Gaze too late for it to have much effect. In this life, however, it was perfectly suited for him at his current stage.
Although the Divine Spirit Gaze wouldn’t be terrifyingly powerful in its initial stages, this type of mental and spiritual Secret Technique was the most difficult to defend against in battle.
’Cultivating the Divine Spirit Gaze requires many materials, including supplementary Pills and Soul Crystals. I just don’t know if I can find such complex materials here in the Liuyun Kingdom.’
A faint worry lingered in Ye Xuan’s heart.
He quickly took action and drew up a list of the required materials.
He couldn’t be bothered to gather the common materials himself; he figured he could just ask Hua Luoxuan for them.
But when he arrived at the Alchemist Association, he heard that Hua Luoxuan had gone to the imperial palace two months ago and had not returned.
With Hua Luoxuan gone, Ye Xuan had to gather the materials himself. Fortunately, he was also an Alchemist registered with the Alchemist Association, so he delegated the task to a service staff member named Xu Jia.
Ever since she had witnessed Elder Hua Luoxuan’s attitude toward Ye Xuan, Xu Jia had become extremely respectful. Upon hearing Ye Xuan’s request, she became excited, took the list without another word, and thumped her chest in assurance.
Later that day, when Ye Xuan came by, Xu Jia presented him with the Storage Ring he had given her.
It was clear that Xu Jia had been very diligent. The Storage Ring was filled with a dense array of materials, each sorted by type. She had also made sure to pick out only Upper Grade items.
Over the next few days, while having Xu Jia purchase the common materials for him, Ye Xuan himself was also searching everywhere for some of the more precious ones.
Three days passed, and he had acquired almost all the materials. Yet there was still one primary ingredient that Ye Xuan couldn’t find, despite searching the entire Royal City.
He had even checked the Soul Master Tower, but still came up with nothing.
Ye Xuan’s heart sank. What he had been worried about had finally happened.
This primary ingredient was called the Heart Gaze Stone. In truth, on the Celestial Profound Continent, the Heart Gaze Stone wasn’t considered a particularly precious material; its rank was only Tier Four.
It could be easily purchased in any of the continent’s empires.
But in a remote backwater like the Liuyun Kingdom, it was a rare commodity—so rare that it was seemingly impossible to find.
Yet, the Heart Gaze Stone was an indispensable material for practicing the Divine Spirit Gaze. Its function was to release a type of mysterious power to protect the eyes during the initial stages of cultivation.
Without the Heart Gaze Stone, rashly attempting to cultivate the Divine Spirit Gaze would, at best, result in damaged eyes and failed cultivation. At worst, one could suffer cultivation deviation and go completely blind.
For a moment, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but give a wry, helpless smile.
With his talent, he didn’t typically encounter the so-called bottlenecks that ordinary people faced in cultivation.
The only thing he lacked was resources.
That was why he had found a way to come to the Royal City of the Liuyun Kingdom.
He just hadn’t expected that the cultivation resources he needed would be so hard to find even in the Royal City of the Liuyun Kingdom.
It just went to show that the Liuyun Kingdom was far too small. It was situated in a back corner of the continent and belonged to the lower echelons of the so-called Thirteen Nations Alliance.
Otherwise, materials like the Crystal of Five Elements and the Heart Gaze Stone would be easily found in any empire or major sect on the continent.
"This Liuyun Kingdom really is just too small!"
Ye Xuan shook his head. If his strength weren’t still insufficient, he would have left on his own long ago to head for the Endless Continent.
But Ye Xuan knew all too well that wandering the continent without sufficient strength was no different from seeking death.
Coming from his high station in a past life, he knew clearly just how treacherous the Celestial Profound Continent was. It was a world that ate people alive, a place where only strength was eternal.
Nevertheless, the Divine Spirit Gaze was something Ye Xuan had to master. Since he couldn’t find what he needed in the Royal City, he prepared to find a way to get it through other channels.
"Young Master Xuan."
Just as Ye Xuan was wracking his brain for a way to find the Heart Gaze Stone, Chen Xing walked in from outside the room, looking a little excited.
He was holding a booklet, his face alight with excitement.
"Young Master Xuan, in a few days, a large-scale auction is being held in the Royal City. Why don’t we go take a look?"
What he held in his hand was the promotional brochure for that auction.
"An auction?" Hearing this, Ye Xuan shook his head. He was currently stressing over the Heart Gaze Stone; how could he have time to attend some auction?
