Chapter 15: The Arcane Art

After leaving behind the resources, Zhang Chong departed, his heart filled with shock and joy. Such a prodigy on the Divine Sunrise Island would ensure its glory for a millennium to come. He was eager to share this wonderful news with his senior uncle, hoping to bring him happiness as well.

Inside the room, Li Yao’s heart brightened upon seeing the seven hundred jin of pure energy contained within the jade vial. Initially, he had expected no more than five hundred jin this month, especially since his breakthrough was still unknown to others.

Yet, unexpectedly, there were seven hundred jin!

Clearly, this was not prearranged; it seemed Zhang Chong had added two hundred jin more after witnessing his breakthrough.

“One thousand two hundred sixty jin of energy now… I still need resources for two more months before I can charge the Heavenly Scripture,” Li Yao sighed softly.

He did not continue cultivating immediately. Although he possessed the Scroll of Radiant Light and the Life Spring Volume, they had not been refined and strengthened through calculation; at present, they were only at the Great Sage level.

For others, the divine power cultivated through a Great Sage-level scripture might suffice to command respect across the world. But Li Yao harbored grand ambitions and deeply understood the importance of early-stage cultivation. He was willing to wait a month or two rather than hastily begin practicing the Scroll of Radiant Light.

However, Li Yao was not idle. Though he had reached the Life Spring realm, he lacked protective techniques. Even with his current foundation, he could battle the Divine Bridge unarmed, but that was not his full combat potential. If he could master one or two offensive divine arts, his strength would increase substantially.

There was another matter that must now be addressed: forging a vessel. With his breakthrough, the thirty-six divine runes once hovering over the Bitter Sea had now increased to forty-nine.

In the world of Shadow Heaven, the importance of vessels was undeniable—they were extensions of life, carriers of one’s personal Dao, and the very means of protection.

Especially in the early stages, a weapon greatly boosted combat power and became a companion for countless future years.

Both these tasks demanded time, and owing to external circumstances, Li Yao could utilize this period of cultivation respite to accomplish them.

First, for offensive and defensive divine arts, Li Yao chose two: the defensive “Solar Shield” and the offensive “Solar Radiance.” One for offense, one for defense—sufficient for the early stages.

In truth, Li Yao yearned most to learn the forbidden divine art “Sacred Light Technique” from the Scroll of Radiant Light, a secret technique combining offense and defense that the Radiant Light Prince had once wielded to dominate the world. Such power was immense.

Unfortunately, Li Yao lacked the method to practice this secret art. All disciples learning the Scroll of Radiant Light could only qualify to study the Sacred Light Technique upon reaching the Four Extremes Secret Realm.

But that was inconsequential. For now, the Solar Shield and Solar Radiance greatly enhanced his combat ability.

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Having selected the secret arts, the next step was forging his vessel.

Cultivators could shape “divine runes” into various forms—throwing knives, daggers, and so forth—launching them externally against foes, proving far more effective than runes alone.

Some, unafraid of complexity and profundity, repeatedly refined their runes into vessels like cauldrons, bells, or towers, unleashing numerous mysterious powers.

Legend told that an exceedingly rare few cultivators who forged their vessels from divine runes might, in later stages, witness unforeseen transformations—paths of the Dao weaving within the vessel’s interior, endowing it with unfathomable might.

Li Yao pondered what kind of vessel he should forge. First, it must be a heavy vessel, able to suppress himself and resist external evil invasions. Next, it should possess formidable offensive capabilities, serving both to carry and protect his Dao.

“The Heavens and Earth as furnace, creation as craftsman; Yin and Yang as charcoal, myriad beings as copper.”

“A furnace’s form can reverse and seize the workings of Heaven and Earth, all things enter the furnace, refining an unparalleled golden pill to nourish oneself. I will forge a furnace—both to suppress myself and to wield offensive power,” Li Yao decided.

Ordinarily, the four great realms—Bitter Sea, Life Spring, Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore—each allowed the forging of one type of vessel. Many wandering cultivators forged numerous vessels at every stage.

But those with ambition rarely chose this path.

While crafting multiple vessels early on quickly enhanced power, the most potent vessels resulted from uniting the four realms into a single vessel—not four separate ones.

This was the essence of “great vessels mature late.” Once succeeded, one vessel could shatter myriad techniques, blooming to outshine all others.

Across the vast Eastern Wilderness, only a few ancient scriptures recorded such profound secret methods to forge one vessel through all four realms—a privilege beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.

Even among sanctuaries and ancient clans possessing these scriptures, few disciples dared to take such a risk.

For opportunity and risk always coexist. To gain more, one might pay an unbearable price.

Throughout history, most who attempted to forge a vessel through all four realms failed, wasting years without achievement.

Without a personal vessel, one could not command objects, rendering them little better than a cripple. Hence, disciples of sanctuaries and ancient clans seldom made such a choice.

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Only those with great resolve dared attempt it.

Li Yao had great ambitions; naturally, he chose the path of one vessel to shatter myriad techniques.

Days passed, the sun rose and set. Li Yao did not advance his scripture cultivation but devoted himself entirely to divine arts and vessel forging.

With the golden crow soaring across the sky, he practiced Solar Radiance and Solar Shield atop a cliff. At night, beneath the bright moon, he sat cross-legged indoors forging his vessel.

Cultivation days were tedious. Even the most extraordinary scenery grew tiresome with daily repetition. Li Yao was not innately divine—merely a novice on the path of cultivation. He felt loneliness and solitude.

Yet he endured, knowing precisely what he sought. The Dao’s path was lonely; to reach its end, one must pay the price.

For cultivators, solitude was the prevailing theme.

Li Yao understood this deeply and bore the loneliness. In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

...

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

On a towering thirty-zhang cliff, tremendous sounds echoed, accompanied by blazing light. The entire mountain trembled slightly; rocks scattered wildly, and trees rustled violently, as if a mighty dragon trampled the earth, threatening to overturn the land.

After a long while, the noise subsided, and the mountain calmed.

The summit was now in ruins, pockmarked with pits as large as a zhang across, with rocks strewn about.

The once lush trees were devastated—many broken in half, uprooted entirely, some shattered into wood chips, with scorch marks everywhere.