Invincible Soul Emperor
Chapter 555 Unnamed Divine Technique
Cheng Lu was also hailed as a genius of formations, but even he couldn’t match Ye Qingchen’s breakthrough speed.
Moreover, the two simply weren’t comparable. When Cheng Lu had made his breakthrough from a First-Rank Array Master to the Third-Rank, it had taken him two years of arduous cultivation.
If one could attribute Ye Qingchen’s advance from First to Second Rank to having amassed a deep foundation, then how could one explain his progression from the Second to the Third Rank?
Cheng Lu couldn’t help but recall the words of his Senior Brother, Qin Chuan, who had said that Ye Qingchen was the most talented Martial Artist he had ever seen.
It turns out this talent isn’t limited to just cultivation.
Cheng Lu remembered that not only was Ye Qingchen the only Martial Artist in the entire Heaven Desolate Continent to master Attribute Energy in the Martial King Realm, but he was also a Sixth-Rank Pill King. And now, in a little over four hours, he had broken through from a First-Rank Array Master to the Third-Rank.
Any one of these achievements would have been enough to astonish the world, yet they were all found in one person: Ye Qingchen.
Eventually, Cheng Lu no longer felt the desire to compare himself with Ye Qingchen and just mechanically continued with the formation lectures.
What Cheng Lu did not know was that although Ye Qingchen started as a First-Rank Array Master, he possessed the Immortal Array Canon, which was constantly broadening his horizons. Coupled with the presence of the Ten Thousand Laws Formation Flag, Ye Qingchen’s comprehension of formations had long surpassed his own realm. Now, after receiving Cheng Lu’s meticulous explanations, his breakthrough came with astonishing speed.
Soon, the day had passed. Cheng Lu handed a secret manual to Ye Qingchen and said, "Junior Brother, never be afraid of hardship. Only through suffering can one become truly distinguished. Practice the Cultivation Technique for a few hours at night before you go to sleep. This Cultivation Technique is quite arcane, so if there’s anything you don’t understand, be sure to contemplate it calmly and don’t rush."
Ye Qingchen nodded. Although he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since this trial began, the continuous increase in his strength had long made him forget his fatigue. Especially with such a powerful Cultivation Technique in front of him, Ye Qingchen was as excited as if he had been injected with adrenaline.
Ye Qingchen took the Cultivation Technique and started to look through it. The technique had no name; Cheng Lu referred to it as the Unnamed Divine Technique. And just as Cheng Lu had said, the text within was esoteric and difficult to understand. Ye Qingchen skimmed through it once and found it utterly incomprehensible.
But Ye Qingchen was not discouraged. After adjusting his mindset, he began to study the technique once again.
As Ye Qingchen was perusing the Unnamed Divine Technique, the Dual Pupil Martial Soul within his sea of consciousness began to slowly emit energy, making his mind exceptionally clear.
Barely ten minutes later, Ye Qingchen entered a state of sudden insight.
All the while, Cheng Lu was observing Ye Qingchen’s every move from the side. When he saw Ye Qingchen enter a state of sudden insight, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sourness in his heart. While he had been mentally prepared for his Junior Brother’s tremendous talent in cultivation, seeing it firsthand was an entirely different feeling.
He remembered how he himself had struggled with this Cultivation Technique for nearly three months before understanding even a hint of it. It was only with Elder Yang’s guidance that he had slowly begun to grasp it. But now, Ye Qingchen had managed to enter a state of sudden insight in such a short time.
A Martial Artist’s sudden insight is an incredibly rare, serendipitous event, yet for Ye Qingchen, it seemed as simple as eating and drinking.
Soon, Cheng Lu shook his head, pushing aside these thoughts. Compared to Ye Qingchen, my title as a ’genius’ is just ironic.
After that, Cheng Lu simply found a corner and fell into a deep sleep.
「The next day」
When Cheng Lu woke up, Ye Qingchen was deeply engrossed in studying formations, preparing to challenge Fourth-Rank formations. Cheng Lu interrupted him and asked about the results of his cultivation from the previous night.
Ye Qingchen scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Third Senior Brother, that Unnamed Divine Technique is indeed abstruse and difficult to comprehend. I spent a whole night on it and only managed to cultivate to the first level."
Cheng Lu pursed his lips. Achieving a breakthrough to the first level during a state of insight was acceptable. Besides, he couldn’t very well comment on Ye Qingchen’s cultivation progress, feeling utterly unqualified to do so.
Thus, Cheng Lu decided to start giving Ye Qingchen some pointers on how to use the meridians within his body to lay out formations. With each level cultivated in the Unnamed Divine Technique, new meridians would form within the body, roughly corresponding to the formation rank. For example, if Ye Qingchen could cultivate the Unnamed Divine Technique to the third level, the newly formed meridians in his body would be sufficient to deploy a Third-Rank Formation for his own use.
But before Cheng Lu could even open his mouth, Ye Qingchen proactively displayed his cultivation achievements from the previous night.
Spiritual Energy began to flow around Ye Qingchen, and a Second-Rank Spirit Gathering Array materialized on his body. Ye Qingchen chose to set up a Spirit Gathering Array to compensate for the energy he had consumed over the past few days, allowing him to dedicate more time to cultivation.
"A Second-Rank Spirit Gathering Array?"
Cheng Lu was utterly astounded.
Never mind how difficult it was to use meridians to arrange formations—he himself had spent half a year just to arrange a First-Rank Formation within his body. But more importantly, hadn’t Ye Qingchen only cultivated the Unnamed Divine Technique to the first level? How could he possibly arrange a Second-Rank Spirit Gathering Array?
What Cheng Lu didn’t know was that Ye Qingchen’s Dual Pupil Martial Soul was capable of improving cultivation techniques. So when Ye Qingchen cultivated the Unnamed Divine Technique to the first level, he had managed to generate twice as many meridians as anyone else would have. That was how Ye Qingchen had enough meridians to arrange the Second-Rank Spirit Gathering Array.
After his shock, Cheng Lu chose to ignore this result. To even try to understand Ye Qingchen from the perspective of an ordinary person was a mistake to begin with. Therefore, Cheng Lu promptly changed the subject and continued guiding Ye Qingchen in arranging formations.
「Half a month later」
Ye Qingchen’s Formation Realm had broken through to that of a Fifth-Rank Array Master. The Unnamed Divine Technique had also reached the third level. Because of his Dual Pupil Martial Soul, Ye Qingchen could now arrange a Fourth-Rank Formation within his own body.
Compared to these two accomplishments, the fact that Ye Qingchen had also advanced his own cultivation to the peak of the Sixth Layer of the Martial King Realm seemed far less exciting. Moreover, this was achieved without him even deliberately cultivating. With a Fourth-Rank Spirit Gathering Array now inside his body, his cultivation progressed faster even when he did nothing than it had before when he trained with focus.
If Ye Qingchen had actually focused on his cultivation, he might have already broken through to the Seventh Layer of the Martial King Realm by now!
During this half-month, Cheng Lu finally understood what it meant to feel completely hopeless. The very things he once prided himself on became utterly insignificant when compared to Ye Qingchen.
So, the moment the training ended, Cheng Lu took Ye Qingchen and returned directly to the Divine Wood Academy.
This Junior Brother of mine... I can’t stand being around him for another moment! It’s too much of a blow to my confidence!