Chapter 229: Chapter 222: Culinary Skills·Divine Marvel_2
The tall Wutong tree, towering dozens of meters high, turned into a flurry of withered yellow ash in an instant.
In contrast, a drop of rice-sized, crystal-clear water, emitting a dark green glow, appeared in the palm of Qi Xiu’s hand.
I’ve always thought that culinary arts and alchemy are similar, both possessing unique elements in their ingredients or their results. Little did I expect the Divine Marvel effect of this culinary art. It’s actually one of the most domineering among all the Mysterious Abilities.
Gazing at the crystal green water drop in his hand, Qi Xiu flicked his finger, and the water drop instantly transformed into a green streak that shot straight into a patch of flowers on the grass beside him.
In the next instant, the cluster of flowers flourished with a speed visible to the naked eye, as if they had been infused with a hundred times more Life Force. And this was the Divine Marvel of the culinary skill.
All things as food!
The core of this skill could directly capture the essence of a target for one’s own use. Just this aspect alone made it resemble the Devouring Heaven Demon Skill of the Food Demon Sect, even more than the Star Absorption Skill. However, it seemed that the culinary skill could only capture targets without resistance. Even the slightest struggle would lead to failure in the capture.
Watching the thriving patch of flowers, Qi Xiu’s gaze was deep.
The Great Dao Cloud Script of calligraphy.
The void alchemy of creating Pills from nothingness.
The art of bringing paintings to life.
And now, the culinary art of all things as food.
Looking at the Divine Marvel effects, these ordinary abilities transformed into Mysterious Abilities have the potential to be on par with the True Scripture Volumes of the Ancient Sect Nobility. The only downside is that it is too slow to improve proficiency in Mysterious Abilities. It’s hardly one-fifth as fast as that of True Scripture Dharma Gates. Moreover, because True Scripture Dharma Gates are influenced by the Hunyuan Dragon Tiger Scripture Mystery, which governs all techniques, they grow in proficiency more easily. Whereas, as Mysterious Abilities such as calligraphy level up, the speed of proficiency gained continues to decrease. And these Mysterious Abilities, aside from calligraphy, are of little use in combat and fighting. It’s impossible to improve proficiency through actual combat.
Speaking of calligraphy...
Remembering the first ability he mastered after his proficiency and Divine Marvel awoke, Qi Xiu’s gaze shifted to the calligraphy on his panel.
[Calligraphy (Fifth Realm): 81%]
As the elder brother among the four major Mysterious Abilities, the level of calligraphy had always been far ahead. Especially in the early stages when he lacked True Scripture Dharma Gates and had few means of attack at his disposal, it was his main method of combat. But that changed after he joined the Shenxiao Sect. Having been exposed to various Dharma Gates, the frequency of using Cloud Seal Talismans gradually decreased. After all, except for the Suppressing Talisman, both the magic talismans and the Martial Talismans could only exert one-fifth of the original Dharma Gate’s power. They were somewhat handy when dealing with weaker enemies. But ever since he began cultivating, Qi Xiu had almost exclusively faced pinnacle challenges; defeating opponents above his level was practically routine for him. The effectiveness of Cloud Seal Talismans was far from satisfactory.
If only the power of the Cloud Seal Talismans could be further enhanced, it would surely be a formidable technique not inferior to the Shenxiao Thunder Skill and the Gourd Sword Skill. 81%... Maybe calligraphy of the Sixth Realm could help me solve this problem.
Having successfully advanced to the Blood-Stained Realm and become a Blood-Stained Great Cultivator, Qi Xiu had reached a new pinnacle in his lengthy journey of Cultivation. After all, Blood-Stained Great Cultivators were considered a mainstay in the current Cultivation Realm. In some minor sects and common families, the Sect Master or family head’s Cultivation was only at the Blood-Stained Realm.
As for the Dao Body Realm... If the Dao-Entering Realm requires hard work and talent, then one must add a bit of luck and belief on top of these for the Blood-Stained Realm. And to reach the even higher Dao Body Realm, besides all previously mentioned factors, one also needs that invisible Opportunity, coupled with the right time, place, and people, among many others, to have the slightest chance!
Looking at the current situation, Dao Experts are the top-tier combat power actively moving about in the Cultivation Realm. Those Primordial Spirit Bosses either preside over their Sects, meditating and achieving Enlightenment, or they are secluded, with their Primordial Spirits wandering Outside the Domain, with very few moving about in the outside world. Furthermore, those Primordial Spirit Bosses have begun to ponder the Mystical Mechanism of karma. Unless a crisis threatens themselves or their Sect and family, they seldom involve themselves in mundane affairs, lest they become entangled in karma and worsen the power of their tribulations.
How about I set aside five years to fully dedicate myself to advancing calligraphy to the Sixth Realm? After all, my soul has reached the Yin God Phase, and I needn’t worry about my Primordial Essence Cultivation with the Hunyuan Apertures. The only thing holding me back is the tempering of the Heavenly Palace Path Blood.
He rubbed his brow, lost in silent contemplation.
In fact, according to his original plan, after achieving the Blood-Stained Realm, he would have had plenty of time to leisurely cultivate and enhance his various skills and Dharma Gates. But when his Human Path Merit broke through to the third realm, he vaguely sensed a forewarning from the infinite golden light of the Human Dao. Or rather, this intuition was a warning bestowed upon him by the Human Path Merit.
"Within one Jiazi, a great calamity will descend upon Dianchuan Province!"
This vague warning, spanning a duration of sixty years, became a stone hanging in Qi Xiu’s heart, not yet dropped.
Sixty years. A length neither long nor short. The lifespan of a Blood-Stained Great Cultivator is around six hundred years. That is but one-tenth. And the calamity that could provoke a Human Dao warning will likely be even more severe than the current rampages of Demons; all powers within Dianchuan Province may not be able to remain uninvolved. Therefore, before that, he needed to make adequate preparations.
Sixty years... Should be enough time, I suppose, he mused.
Looking up at the bright and resplendent sun in the Sky Dome, Qi Xiu gently touched the strand of golden-red translucent jade beads in his hand. His Flood Dragon Pool Ring had been lost within the Nu River Dragon Palace, likely ending up in the hands of the Corpse Demon Nie Biao. Not having a Magic Artifact for storage was quite inconvenient, so he purchased this string of jade beads from Wanbao Hall.
The beads were called: Golden Cry. There were eighteen golden-red jade beads, each with a space three hundred zhang in length and width inside, available for storage. Furthermore, within this string of Golden Cry Jade Beads, a Divine Marvel Dharma Gate was refined. When activated, the eighteen Golden Cry Jade Beads could transform into eighteen fierce sun divine mirrors, conjuring a Great Formation known as the Ten Directions Fierce Sun Demon Subduing Array. This Great Formation’s might was immense and its presence overwhelming. Once activated, it manifested the descent of the Ancient God Golden Crow and covered an extremely wide area. The only downside was the excessive consumption of true essence. But for Qi Xiu, this was insignificant.
「Six years passed in a flash.」
Like stream water bypassing stones, hurried and relentless. What was just a moment of spring breezes and blooming flowers, in the blink of an eye turned into autumn with yellow leaves drifting.
「Yunti Peak.」
Within a secluded small residence.
Clothed in a deep blue robe, the fair and handsome Qi Xiu held an ink brush in his hand, his strokes fluid and forceful, crafting Cloud Seal Talismans with treasure light flowing and various phenomenal scenes emerging, filled with a Divine Marvel aura.
For five years, every day, aside from meditating and practicing "The Secret of the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Scripture," he spent all his time improving his proficiency in "Calligraphy."
"Six years, one year slower than I had expected," he said as he put down his ink brush and gently massaged his temples.
The six years of proficiency cultivation matched his prediction from six years ago. The higher the level of Mysterious Abilities, the slower the growth of proficiency, especially after reaching 90%. The pace was almost like a turtle hampered by three broken legs, enough to make an impatient person go berserk. Initially, he had estimated that five years would be enough to raise "Calligraphy" to the Sixth Realm, yet when he actually set out to do it, it took an extra year.
In the blink of an eye, I’m already in my early forties, he chuckled as he counted his age. He had entered the Cultivation Realm at the age of twenty. After running around for two or three years, he joined Shenxiao Sect at the age of twenty-three. Now, eighteen years had passed in the twinkling of an eye. He had transformed from a green and clumsy young man of twenty into a forty-something-year-old Blood-Stained Great Cultivator.
Actually, I can’t really consider myself middle-aged yet; considering the six-hundred-year lifespan of the Blood-Stained Realm, I am still quite young.
Just as Qi Xiu was reflecting, Qingyi hurried over and said, "Master, a Daoist boy from Guanlan Cliff has come with a message. The Peak Master has returned!"
"Master has returned?"
Qi Xiu’s expression brightened. He turned into a vermilion Lei Mang dozens of zhang wide and shot up from the ground, racing towards Guanlan Cliff.