Chapter 864: When Even Heaven Offers Too Many Good Choices (Patreon)

My gaze returned to the first technique, and its description was revealed to me.

Dragon Capillary Thicket Arts

Grade: Stellar Realm, Superior | Element: Wood, Blood

Submitted by: Elder Duan Hui, Tempering Hall | Price: N/A

Foundation: Heaven and earth are threaded with dragon capillaries, veins too fine for the eye to see, which carry qi, intent and fortune between all things. The cultivator who sinks his spiritual sense into them learns that no space between himself and his enemy is empty.

Movement – Thicket Current Step: The user connects to a capillary, entering it to emerge from whichever point it touches.

Offence – Returning Vein Strike: This attack travels through the capillary to strike within a cultivator’s body.

Defence – Ill Fortune Diversion: Few are fortunate enough to read the flow of fortune. This technique allows the user to push the misfortune of an incoming attack back along its path. Depending on the user’s cultivation level and mastery over the technique, the strike can weaken, swerve, or even return to its sender as a counter.

Support – Sap and Blood Circulation: The user cultivates a thicket of capillaries through his own vessels, when the technique is activated, the blood, qi, and sap are enhanced to close wounds. This technique can be used to clear poison and restore stamina.

Warning: You must never circulate the blood of another through your own veins as the capillaries carry whatever is placed into them.

Reading this technique, I had to admit that my own blood was running faster throughout my body as my heart sped up. This reasoning was simple. If I were to try land the Phantom Strike on an opponent at my level, they would easily dodge it with disdain and probably wonder if I was playing some joke using a Qi Condensation level technique on them. However, this technique that could follow through these mysterious capillaries and strike within their body? That was something that could be fatal for any Stellar Realm cultivator, me included.

“Master,” Azure called out. “This technique is clearly closely related to Blood Cultivation. If you decide to pick it, just know that it could eventually cause Heaven’s Mandate to become interested in you.”

The mention of the secret organisation caused a shudder to run down my spine.

It was well known within the circles of high realm cultivators that the Heaven’s Mandate hunted blood cultivators without mercy. In the past, that never concerned me except the little concern that crept up now and then about having the blood statue of a former Civilisation Realm monster in my soul. Yet now, my inner world had a crimson lake, it had a village of Leech-kin, which were blood beings created by said Civilisation Realm cultivator, and even a throne that pumped blood qi into the air.

So, it probably wasn’t the best idea to be using a technique that moved blood through invisible veins since that could draw the attention of their agents, and if their agents became curious, they would sooner or later sniff up what was hiding in my inner world using whatever overpowered methods they’d develop to hunt blood cultivators down so viciously.

And even if I did want the technique, Elder Duan Hui had not placed down a specific price, which meant I would need to think of something of equal value to exchange with him, and I had no idea what he would want from me because even though he was selling a blood technique, it didn’t mean it was his. Who knows, he could have picked it up from an enemy. I had already created a spectacle by simply being here, I didn’t want it to be known that my inner world was at a level that would make some cultivators eager to accuse me of being demonic.

Holding back a sigh, I reread the second technique.

Myriad Stars Heavenly Endowment Art

Grade: N/A | Element: Celestial

Submitted by: Elder Qiao Feiyan, Hall of Accounts | Price: One favour of equal value, to be recorded

Foundation: To advance through the Stellar Realm, cultivators must increase the celestial bodies within their inner world. This art takes advantage of this principle to allow the cultivator to endow each body with a purpose. It is the nature of the body which will decide how powerful that purpose can become.

Limitation: Be warned that each body can only hold one endowment. If a body is destroyed, the endowment will shatter, and the resulting backlash will appear as a calamity within the cultivator’s inner world.

Reading this description actually made my spine straighten with attention because I already had quite a few celestial bodies within my inner world, and some of them weren’t doing much, or at least not as much as I’d like them to. So, if I could endow each of them with a purpose, I could use them to their full potential, and how overpowered would celestial bodies from other worlds be?

The examples of the endowments only increased my excitement.

If a cultivator wanted to increase his stealth, he could endow a dead celestial body with the concept of Concealment. The more death qi the body holds, the more difficult it would be to sense the cultivator. Also, as the cultivator’s understanding of the concept increased, so would the technique’s effect.

If a cultivator wanted to work with illusions, all he needed to do was find a reflective celestial body, then endow it with the concept of Illusion, and the more light it reflects, the more real the illusions would become.

But the example that I really liked was the one talking about endowing a gaseous celestial body with the concept of Evasion, that would allow the cultivator to phase through attacks. I had to admit I’d always found phasing to be very cool, it had actually been one of my favourite superpowers whenever I had read a comic book. To think that I might actually be able to do it soon, that definitely got me perked up. And what made it even better was that the grade of the technique was unknown, which likely meant that it would be useful even after I leave Stellar Realm.

“Master, because the celestial bodies in your inner world were either grown by the Genesis Seed or bound to it by its roots, we might be able to connect it to your wood cultivation,” Azure said thoughtfully. “That way, the inner world would treat each of them as a fruit of creation hanging from the Seed’s branches.”

“That’s a good idea,” I replied, holding back the grin that wanted to crack my face. “And if one of celestial bodies got cracked or destroyed, as long as they’re connected to my cultivation, the Genesis Seed should be able to grow a new one.”

Even though I had to admit that facing a calamity if one of them were destroyed was a scary thought, at least being able to grow a new one would save me from coughing up blood from the backlash for the next decade.

However, the thought of relying on the Genesis Seed didn’t fill me with confidence, especially when it tried to hide the last fruit that it grew. In no way, shape, or form was I dismissing this technique, but if I chose it, I would need to be very careful.

My gaze landed on the final technique that had drawn my interest.

Primordial Dao Tree Scripture

Grade: N/A | Element: Wood

Submitted by: Elder Gong Ru | Price: N/A

Foundation: It is rumoured that before the creation of the first world, there stood a tree, and that every dao in existence is one of its branches. This technique is built from this premise, but due to the complexity of the dao, it instead focuses on a lesser form, which is the elements.

The Main Tree – Life and Nurturing: The user grows a tree saturated with the wood element. Even though this tree will have its own passive effects such as life, growth, regeneration, and nurturing, this will be the core of the technique that all of the other elements rely on. The more branches it grows, the more elements the cultivator can use. And the more leaves those branches develop, the more techniques the cultivator can deploy.

Elemental Branches: When a branch is born, it has no affinity, it is the choice of the user which element from their inner world they wish to infuse into it. After the infusion process, this awakened branch will allow the cultivator to use techniques of that element without requiring a natural affinity.

Limitation: Keep in mind that each branch can only hold one element.

Technique Leaves: When a branch produces a leaf, this leaf will be inactive, capable of holding one technique of the branch’s element. The user can connect whichever technique they desire to the leaf, after having done so, they will skip the initial learning phase and immediately be able to use the technique in combat. Any technique activated through a leaf requires less energy.

Disclaimer: This manual does not come with any techniques, so the user must find their own techniques they wish to infuse into a leaf. Also, the technique once infused cannot immediately be used at mastery level, that still requires comprehension through practice.

Replacement: If every leaf on a branch is filled, the cultivator must remove a technique to free its leaf or grow more leaves. However, the number of leaves is limited based on cultivation level. Keep in mind that mastery of a removed technique does not pass to its replacement.

Rereading the description of this technique made me catch my breath because this was a legit skill tree that used an actual tree. Honestly, I couldn’t count the number of nights back on Earth that I had spent filling them out in games.

What was more important to my situation was that after my experience in the Elemental Chamber, I had around twenty elements absorbed into my inner world, but because every one of them except wood took twice the effort to summon, I hadn’t been able to make use of them in combat. I had always felt like there was an opportunity there that I was failing to capitalize on, so of course, I’d get excited when I found that my strongest affinity could be the medium to channel my weakest ones.

“Master,” Azure called out, this time sounding more excited than the previous times. “The branches draw their power from your inner world, but what if we altered the technique, so it didn’t just work with elemental energies…?”

I knew immediately what he was getting at.

“You want to try channeling harmonic essence, Xuan Yi, martial qi, and all the other energies we have through it?”

“Yes, Master,” Azure affirmed. “If we could connect the tree to your Cathedral, the thrones could feed the branches, allowing you to use your other energies with Stellar Realm qi powering them.”

Just thinking of all the things that I could do if such a thing worked made my head spin even though I wasn’t sure if that would work since merging energies was never easy. Hell, the Red Sun and Blue Sun still squabbled over space in my inner world every single day.

Then again, each branch held one power, and the Main Tree’s sole duty was to nourish them, so nothing would be forced to mix. I had always wondered what it would be like to use martial qi techniques, but powered by Stellar Realm power, maybe this was the path that would finally let me do it.

But I couldn’t get carried away.

There were three techniques glowing above the table that made me want to drool.

If it were up to me, I would take all three and walk out, but realistically, I could only dedicate my time to one. Not to mention, it would be difficult to succeed in buying one, never mind three, especially when two of them were in the possession of elders that weren’t fond of me, and that was putting it lightly.

However, politics didn’t matter to me, what mattered was which technique should I pick because a decision like this would shape my cultivation journey for the next few cultivation realms at least.

A/N

I was thinking whether I should include Ke Yin's pick in this chap, but tbh I'm struggling between two choices because I can see him practicising either, so I thought I'd ask for your suggestions.

Comment below which one you think Ke Yin should pick between the Myriad Stars Heavenly Endowment Art and Primordial Dao Tree Scripture.

Here's a poll

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