NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Heavens Suppression Arts
Feng Fan returned to his room in the White Crow Sect without a shred of concern over the assistance he'd given Meng Liu in adjusting her face.
After all, she was just a menial disciple. Would she really dare to cause trouble for an official disciple like him? And even if she tried, didn't he have Xue Qiang to back him up?
"Abuse of power? Indeed," he mused about the situation, a smug grin spreading across his face. "I quite enjoy it."
As Feng Fan approached his accommodations, several disciples cast him curious, mocking glances. Their expressions seemed to say, 'Why would this weakling waste his qi stones on a pet instead of focusing on cultivation quietly within the sect?'
Sure, the pet might be strong for now, perhaps stronger than he could become in the next few months, but in the cultivation world, everyone knew one unchanging truth: true power could only come from oneself.
External tools were fleeting and unreliable.
Of course, even if Feng Fan knew their thoughts, he wouldn't bother offering them an explanation. In fact, he didn't entirely agree with their philosophy.
Yes, strength was everything in the cultivation world. But what difference did it make if that strength came from his own body, a pet, or even a crazed woman willing to fight on his behalf?
Feng Fan was a shameless man. To him, power was power, no matter its source, and he had no qualms about using every advantage at his disposal.
"Cocoo!"
Feng Fan, seated cross-legged on his futon, looked up to see Black Chicken walking toward him inside the room.
"Hey, big guy. Are you hungry? I just realized I forgot to ask the merchant what you eat," he said aloud, mostly to himself, knowing full well the bird couldn't understand him.
'Hopefully, he can find his own food,' Feng Fan thought as he attempted to mentally command Black Chicken to look for food. To his surprise, the chicken tilted its head and walked out of the room, as if it had understood the order.
"Well, that works out," Feng Fan muttered with a grin, turning his attention to more pressing matters.
His eyes gleamed as he reached for the ring he had obtained from the old immortal soul.
'Time to check out my spoils,' he thought, anticipation building. 'But how the hell do I use it? Do I need spiritual qi?'
Since Feng Fan had yet to break through to the Qi Gathering realm, he couldn't manipulate spiritual qi.
Instead, he focused his consciousness on the ring, and to his surprise, it worked.
He felt a strange pull, as though his awareness was being drawn inside the ring. Moments later, he could see the ring's content.
"What the hell is this? Shouldn't an immortal have immortal stones or at least a stash of rare treasures? How is this guy as broke as me?!" Feng Fan exclaimed, his voice dripping with indignation at the pitiful contents of the ring.
'Hah, so be it. At least there are some techniques and cultivation manuals here,' Feng Fan thought as he sifted through the stack of manuals stored within the ring. 'Hopefully, they're immortal-grade techniques. But seriously, why would that old man act like this space ring was such a treasure? Stingy bastard.'
What Feng Fan didn't realize was that these manuals and techniques were true treasures. Each one was worth enough to buy the entire White Crow Sect—and still leave plenty of change!
His expression shifted dramatically as he continued to browse through the manuals.
To his surprise, the manuals were indeed graded. The lowest among them was immortal-grade! His heart skipped a beat as he read further. 'Divine? Supreme? What are these grades? Could they be levels beyond the immortal grade?'
Excitement quickly gave way to frustration as Feng Fan realized the cruel truth: every manual required Qi Cultivation talent, something he lacked!
'Damn it, this is useless to me! At least… I could give one of these to Xue Qiang or Huang Xue. I'm pretty sure even the sect doesn't have manuals of this caliber. If they grow stronger, it'll work out in my favor too.'
But soon, he stumbled upon a manual that stood out from the rest. It bore a grade he hadn't seen in any of the others: Primordial Chaos.
'Primordial Chaos? What's this? Why is this the only manual with such a grade? Could it be the most powerful one among them all?' Feng Fan's heart raced with curiosity and anticipation.
Curious, Feng Fan began reading the manual titled Heavens Suppression Arts, and to his astonishment, he realized he had already been cultivating it!
'This is the Basic Qi Cultivation Arts! So its true name is Heavens Suppression Arts, but the version I've been using must be incomplete,' he thought, his excitement growing.
As he delved deeper into the manual, the pieces of the puzzle started falling into place.
'The Basic Qi Cultivation Arts was only a fragment of this manual, solely the Qi Cultivation part of it. But Heaven's Suppression Arts is actually both a Qi Cultivation and a Body Cultivation technique!
'If I can fully cultivate it, my body will be completely remodeled, and my poor Qi Cultivation talent will no longer hold me back. Incredible!'
His eyes scanned the text with renewed vigor.
'No wonder the Basic Qi Cultivation Arts messed up the flow of meridians, it's because the body's structure was meant to change during cultivation! This art allows for the opening of 144 meridians, far surpassing the usual 120 meridians found in the human body. What a profound technique!'
Feng Fan's hands trembled slightly as he continued to absorb the manual's insights, his heart burning with ambition.
Common Qi Cultivation manuals could unlock up to 24 meridians, while Profound-grade techniques could open 48. Earthly-grade manuals expanded this to 72 meridians, Heavenly-grade to 96, and the pinnacle of conventional cultivation—Immortal, Divine, and Supreme-grade techniques—could unlock all 120 meridians within the human body.
However, only a cultivation art of the Primordial Chaos grade, like Heaven's Suppression Arts, could surpass these limits, surpassing the limits of the human body to open an astounding 144 meridians!
"I, Feng Fan, will shatter my cultivation talent limitation and ascend to immortality!" he declared, his eyes blazing with unyielding determination.