Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus, Beidou Seven Elements True Skill
By the time Qi Suian arrived for the kill, six of Qin Sheng’s seven masters were already dead.
The last one had sensed something was amiss and tried to flee, but he ran right into Qi Suian the moment he stepped outside.
The outcome was predictable: he too was vaporized by a Dark Energy Beam.
’As expected of those who have lived long lives. While this place can’t compare to the Mantle Sanctuary, it’s still quite extraordinary.’
Feeling the natural coolness for the first time in a long while, Qi Suian felt a sense of profound comfort wash over him.
After a quick search, he made several discoveries. But as for items that were truly useful to him, there were only two.
One was an item recognized by the Doomsday Game. The other was a journal.
The former was SSS-grade, while the latter was an observation log detailing the process from selecting to finalizing their target, who was, of course, Qin Sheng.
[Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus]
[Quality: SSS]
[Trait 1: Seven Elements Relief]
[Trait 2: Beidou Linking Stars]
[Trait 3: Jade Vein Lotus Transformation]
It had only three traits, but Qi Suian could sense that this might be the very origin of the Ancient Martial Technique.
’No wonder the number is seven. So that’s the reason.’
Qi Suian gazed at the Jade Lotus. It was both living and dead, more like some kind of innate, primordial object.
Looking closer, he saw seven strange runes on the lotus.
Six of them were already illuminated.
"Dubhe Palace Greedy Wolf Star Monarch, Merak Palace Jummen Star Monarch, Phecda Palace Lu Cun Star Monarch, Megrez Palace Wenqu Star Monarch, Jade Balance Palace Lianzhen Star Monarch, Kaiyang Palace Wuqu Star Monarch, Shaking Light Palace Pojun Star Monarch."
Qi Suian murmured. The one that was missing was precisely Wuqu and Kaiyang, the roles that Qin Sheng and his leading lady were meant to embody.
Now, they had fallen to Qi Suian, becoming two enhancements for his own protagonist halo.
’Just one more and it will be complete. The quality should be able to increase again.’
’But the question is, why would I give up my own protagonist halo to empower you?’ Qi Suian had a sneaking suspicion that Qin Sheng was nothing more than a nutrient cultivated by these seven old geezers.
The previous six had already fulfilled their fated doom and been absorbed into this Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus.
’If all goes according to plan, the key to my survival lies not with this Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus, but in this book.’ Qi Suian found a box in his Subspace Stable Pocket and temporarily sealed the lotus inside.
These days, seeing an item with such a storied background just gave him a headache.
Once it was properly secured, he tossed it into his Subspace Pocket, then took out the journal and began to read.
’I can’t believe this thing can identify, and even harvest and suppress, specific protagonist halos.’
Six runes had been activated on the Seven-Star Jade Lotus, each one representing a protagonist.
Normally, turning the tables on an enemy is a simple feat for someone with a protagonist halo. But with the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus, they were like Sun Wukong, unable to escape the Five Finger Mountain.
The only possible outcome was to be completely devoured.
’Looks like Qin Sheng wasn’t the first poor bastard these seven old geezers cultivated, but he was the last.’
’It’s just that the journal I’m holding is their record of Qin Sheng.’
’Reading between the lines, they wanted to evolve the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus even further. They hoped it would allow them to ascend to a higher plane, a new state beyond the Land Immortal Realm.’
’As I suspected, the so-called Land Immortal Realm can likely only be reached with the help of this Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus.’
’Without the aid of this treasure, they couldn’t transcend their tribulations to achieve godhood. Their Jin would be stuck at the level of Calamity Jin, unable to become God Jin.’
’That explains why my copy of the Soul-Devouring and Spirit-Eating Evil Skill is so vague about God Jin.’
’The creator knew a higher realm existed, but having never seen it or known its true nature, they could only speculate.’
After reading the journal, Qi Suian could only conclude that those seven old geezers were masters of patience and cunning.
If their intelligence hadn’t been nerfed, Qi Suian would have stood no chance against them.
’The three top-tier Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques I possess must have originated from the enemies of these seven.’
’Perhaps even from a previous protagonist they targeted.’
’That person must have seen through the conspiracy, uncovered some of their secrets, and ultimately created these three Ancient Martial Techniques: Soul-Devouring, Spirit-Eating, and Evil Skill.’
’The seven special types of Jin within them correspond to the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus, but in the end, their creator still wasn’t a match for those seven old geezers.’
As for why they were Evil Dao techniques? Progress was faster that way. When you know there’s a conspiracy afoot, you can’t afford to take your time improving. Did you really think your enemies would give you that luxury?
The Eternal Undying God-Demon Scripture, on the other hand, must have been created by the seven of them and passed down to the previous six "stars."
That was how it became known as the number one orthodox Ancient Martial Technique. The emergence of those six stars was bound to cause a stir.
’It seems all the Jin in every Ancient Martial Technique in the world ultimately originates from this Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus.’
’The six lit stars represent the six types of Jin: Bright Jin, Dark Jin, Transformation Jin, Core Jin, Astral Jin, and Calamity Jin.’
’The Land Immortal Realm, which corresponds to God Jin, was likely something the seven old geezers achieved using the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus. In truth, it’s just a semi-finished product.’
’That’s why the title "Immortal" has the prefix "Land" attached. Only when the seventh star is lit can God Jin truly be born.’
’The seventh special Jin in the Soul-Devouring and Spirit-Eating Evil Skill was created to imitate this process.’
The deeper Qi Suian delved into his analysis, the closer he came to the truth.
If it weren’t for an anomaly like Qi Suian and his protagonist halo existing within the Doomsday Game, Qin Sheng’s fate would have been to toil away for the benefit of others.
The true victors would have been those seven old geezers.
"So, here’s the question: does the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus have any effect on me?" The "effect" Qi Suian was referring to wasn’t related to Jin, but to his protagonist halo.
After all, his Celestial Fate: Profound’s +3 and +4 enhancements corresponded to the Kaiyang Palace Wuqu Star Monarch.
Theoretically, since he had devoured Qin Sheng’s protagonist halo, it shouldn’t be effective against him. But theory wasn’t always reality.
Even if it couldn’t affect his Celestial Fate: Profound as a whole, if it could target those two enhancements, Qi Suian would still suffer a significant loss.
"I’ll look at the other things first." After finishing the observation log, Qi Suian tossed it into his Subspace Stable Pocket and resumed his search.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the seven old geezers’ true lair. Their real base was in the Ancient Martial World; they had been dragged into the Polar Day World by the Doomsday Game.
Still, his efforts weren’t fruitless. He found the Eternal Undying God-Demon Scripture.
However, this was not its original name, but a forgery.
Its true name was the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill, and a corresponding section was passed down for each of the respective stars.
It was divided into nine volumes in total. The first seven corresponded to the seven stars, with each star receiving its respective volume.
Take Qin Sheng, for example. What he received as the Eternal Undying God-Demon Scripture was in fact the Kaiyang Martial Department volume, which contained a complete cultivation path from Bright Jin to Calamity Jin.
The remaining two volumes were the Hidden Department, meant to serve as replacements. They were the Celestial Balance Left Minister and the Tian Rui Youbi.
This was the principle of "seven revealed, two hidden," making for nine volumes in total.
The idea was that if something went wrong with one of the main seven stars, one of these two hidden stars could be used as a substitute.
As for the seven men themselves, they naturally practiced the complete Beidou Seven Elements True Skill. They even developed a special mental technique called the Seven Sons United Heart Technique to form a more stable alliance.
’Judging by the ink, this was written recently.’
’It’s probably because of my protagonist halo.’ Qi Suian didn’t believe for a second they were kind enough to leave this behind for posterity.
Without his protagonist halo pulling the strings, he figured he would have fought his way here only to find the Seven-Star Jade Vein Lotus and nothing else.
’The creator of the three Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques—Soul-Devouring, Spirit-Eating, and Evil Skill—must have read the first seven volumes of the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill, but not the final two hidden volumes.’
Qi Suian could see the overlap between the three Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques he possessed and the first seven volumes.
They felt more like a quick-and-dirty, inferior version of the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill.
However, Qi Suian had no intention of switching techniques. Instead, he planned to use his Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques as a foundation to incorporate the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill.
The reason was simple. The Evil Dao Ancient Martial Techniques he practiced were no longer just Soul-Devouring, Spirit-Eating, and Evil Skill; he had already modified them to suit his own needs.
It might look like a lesser school paying homage to a greater one, but in reality, everything would just become fuel for his own advancement.
If he had a choice, Qi Suian would certainly have chosen to cultivate the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill. After all, it was the pinnacle of all Ancient Martial Techniques. Paired with the Seven-Star Jade Lotus Vein, the Ancient Martial Source itself, achieving God Jin would be no problem.
Unfortunately, it came back to the same problem: he was not one of the Ancient Martial Humans. He lacked the necessary aptitude. In fact, because he had created his own form of Jin, he couldn’t even cultivate the most basic Bright Jin.
After memorizing its contents, Qi Suian tossed the technique into his Subspace Stable Pocket as well.
He then continued to rummage around and, surprisingly, found a collection of other books.
’These must be the first-rate Ancient Martial Techniques of the Ancient Martial World.’
After seeing the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill, Qi Suian understood that there was only one technique that could truly be called "top-tier."
The Soul-Devouring and Spirit-Eating Evil Skill was merely a crude imitation, at best considered "semi-top-tier."
Of course, even if this evil skill couldn’t compare to the genuine article, it was still far beyond what any ordinary Ancient Martial Technique could hope to match.
As he skimmed through these other Ancient Martial Techniques, he became even more convinced that the three Evil Dao techniques had been created by a former protagonist, a peerless genius of their time.
It would have required both incredible luck and immense strength.
’Not much reference value here. This confirms that the Beidou Seven Elements True Skill is the undisputed king of Ancient Martial Techniques.’
Qi Suian quickly read through and memorized the remaining Ancient Martial Techniques, but he didn’t throw the physical copies into his Subspace Pocket.
The Subspace Pocket had limited space, so Qi Suian naturally only kept what was useful.
He couldn’t just stuff it with everything he found.
"So, the hint my protagonist halo gave me back then wasn’t that combining orthodox and evil techniques would make me stronger, but a warning to be careful." Qi Suian once again took out the manuals for Spirit Breath Needle and Blood Ghost Claw.
With the perfect example of the Beidou skill before him, Qi Suian finally understood the relationship between these two techniques.
Blood Ghost Claw was the Evil Dao version of Spirit Breath Needle, and conversely, Spirit Breath Needle was the orthodox version of Blood Ghost Claw.
One orthodox, one deviant, both born from the same source. That was why they could be combined.
’I figured it out a bit late, but no matter. It doesn’t change anything.’
’Besides, who could have guessed all this? It’s not like I can predict everything.’
