Chapter 458: To Cultivate This Art, You Must First…

“i’ll go back and make hotpot and invite ice sword?” purple fate xue enthusiastically suggested.“no…” after thinking it over, qi yuan declined.

resting, at least for now, was not an option.

the threat of the taihuang palace still loomed over him.

“i need to see if any more moles reveal themselves.”

qi yuan intended to continue visiting the other yang gods to root out any potential moles.

little purple fate blinked in curiosity. “blood robe brother, how exactly are you identifying these moles?”

she was still puzzled—how was qi yuan able to figure out who had issues just by asking?

“because… sincerity,” qi yuan thought for a moment before responding. “maybe it’s because i’ve always been an honest person, never telling lies. as a result, the heavens granted me a superpower: i can discern the truth behind anyone’s words.”

“tsk, if you’re going to make something up, at least make it sound believable. we’re cultivators, and you’re talking about superpowers? why not just say you’ve cultivated a divine technique that lets you distinguish between truth and lies?” purple fate xue, ever the contrarian, rolled her eyes, as if she were a reincarnated professional debater.

but then, she paused, scrutinizing qi yuan from head to toe. “ordinary divine techniques wouldn’t have that kind of effect, unless it’s… an ultimate supreme truth, and it can’t be a low-grade one either.”

suspicion crept into her gaze.

if what blood robe said was true, it could only be explained by the power of an ultimate supreme truth.

after all, blood robe had emerged from a place guarded by flame demon heavenly sovereign of the black demon abyss.

the whole thing seemed a bit peculiar.

“this is a superpower, not an ultimate supreme truth,” qi yuan corrected her.

his ultimate supreme truths were absolute adaptability and doing whatever he pleased.

“really?” purple fate xue studied him again, then dismissed her earlier suspicions.

after all, flame demon heavenly sovereign was hideous, and blood robe was elegant and otherworldly. how could they possibly be the same person?

…

within devil’s pass, clouds swirled around.

ice sword stood on an ancient block of ice, eyes half-closed, absorbing the spiritual energy of the immortals.

light intertwined, exuding a mysterious aura.

after about ten breaths, ice sword inhaled a colorful mist into his body.

with a wave of his flowing white robes, he looked every bit the part of an immortal banished from the heavens.

“sister cai lin, what brings you here?” he asked.

a young girl with large tattoos appeared. she seemed shy, yet her eyes were filled with anticipation as she looked at ice sword. “brother ice sword, i heard you have some treasures here… i was hoping to buy something.”

“oh? what is it that you wish to purchase?” ice sword asked curiously.

lately, he had been focused on his cultivation, paying little attention to the outside world.

“ice... eggs!” cai lin said expectantly.

ice sword’s expression froze, and an uneasy feeling crept up on him. “what is that?” s~eaʀᴄh the nôvel_fire.ηet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

cai lin quickly explained, “isn’t this something you produced? recently, blood robe and purple fate xue have been taking ice eggs around as gifts to visit the yang god heavenly sovereigns. i’ve heard these ice eggs are amazing and can even improve one’s skin…”

as she spoke, she sneaked a glance at ice sword’s behind.

several black lines appeared on ice sword’s forehead.

“they’ve been visiting several yang god heavenly sovereigns?”

“dozens! they’ve visited all of them!” cai lin confirmed.

hearing this, ice sword took a deep breath.

patience. he had to be patient.

retaliating now would just make things worse!

otherwise, it wouldn’t be about laying eggs—it would be about something much worse!

at that moment, a clear voice rang out.

“ice sword, are you there? i need to discuss something private with you.”

hearing that voice, ice sword’s expression changed as if he had just encountered the plague.

cai lin’s eyes widened.

was that blood robe brother?

could it be... he came here to ask for more eggs?

are these ice eggs real?

is brother ice sword hiding something just because their relationship was a bit strained and he refused to sell eggs?

“since you have business to attend to, i’ll take my leave,” cai lin said, bowing before disappearing.

on the icy platform, ice sword looked at the newly arrived blood robe, his eyes filled with helplessness. “what can i help you with, brother?”

he was truly exhausted.

“i’m here to work with you,” qi yuan said earnestly.

the serious tone made ice sword feel as if the situation were surreal.

considering that the man before him had managed to escape from the hands of yang gods, his strength must be extraordinary. though he might be unreliable at times, he was undoubtedly the second-best prodigy after black sword.

putting aside any lingering grudges, ice sword asked softly, “what kind of collaboration?”

“it’s like this—i’m planning to hunt down some of the prodigies from ghost heaven and would like to borrow your name,” qi yuan said.

“huh?” ice sword was baffled and had no idea what qi yuan was getting at.

“i have a great small plan called ‘disciples surround the yang god’—i’m preparing to hunt down some of the young talents from ghost heaven,” qi yuan explained seriously.

the great plan was to hunt down yang gods.

the great small plan was to kill some disciples.

after killing a yang god, qi yuan knew he would attract the attention of many powerful figures, making it difficult to kill the disciples afterward.

but even mosquito meat was still meat.

the disciples of ghost heaven had grown audacious, brandishing qi yuan’s emperor’s banner as they wandered about, making qi yuan feel like he had been metaphorically cheated on.

thus, he decided to execute the great small plan first, and then the great plan.

“can you explain in more detail?” ice sword asked.

after all, he too was in need of battle merit.

“well, the hottest topic in devil’s pass right now is none other than ice eggs, right?”

“…and then?” ice sword's forehead twitched.

“recently, all sorts of rumors have been spreading—people are saying things like the ice eggs are as valuable as divine treasures, that eating one can expand your divine realm, or that it enhances beauty. the rumors are all over the place.”

qi yuan was telling the truth.

after he had given out the ice eggs to the yang gods, the outside world had gone wild with speculation.

people were saying that the ice eggs had miraculous properties and could do everything from improving looks to boosting cultivation.

“so, i added fuel to the fire and spread a new rumor—that the ice eggs are the best soul servants for the ten thousand souls banners!” qi yuan said, his eyes gleaming.

“but… rumors are just rumors. they’ll eventually be debunked,” ice sword said cautiously.

“haven’t you ever heard the saying in the history of the blue star—if everyone says it, people will believe it? and who said it’s just a rumor? the previous ice eggs might have been ordinary, but the ones i’ve modified… are amazing!”

with so many rumors flying around, qi yuan took the opportunity to spread his own, capitalizing on the chaos.

as he spoke, qi yuan took out a translucent, radiant ice egg.

ice sword looked at the ice egg, and his expression became serious. “this... such powerful soul energy!”

the ice egg seemed to pulse with life, yet also appeared as a blank slate of chaos, suffused with thick soul energy.

this thing really could be the perfect soul servant!

“i’ve specially modified it,” qi yuan said smugly.

to deal with ghost heaven, he had taken a trip back to the gate of truths, where he had observed the supreme truth of the abyss lord of ghost heaven.

the abyss lord’s supreme truth was intimately connected with the ten thousand souls banner.

using the hidden information revealed to him through his keen eyes and his own ultimate supreme truths, qi yuan created an ice egg that was also deeply connected to the ten thousand souls banner.

if this egg were circulated, the disciples of ghost heaven would undoubtedly go mad for it.

“i plan to use these ice eggs as bait to lure in the disciples of ghost heaven and catch them all at once,” qi yuan said, his tone serious.

ice sword swallowed nervously.

the plan was feasible.

but…

“what does this have to do with me? why do you need my involvement?” ice sword asked.

“since i’m using your eggs, it wouldn’t feel right not to collaborate with you.” qi yuan, being a good person, didn’t want to drag anyone innocent into trouble.

of course, he was also aware that his straightforward nature could unintentionally harm others—like how things had gone with the nose-picking fairy.

“these… aren’t my eggs,” ice sword said, struggling to keep calm.

“i’ll give you 90% of the battle merits for killing those ghost heaven disciples!” qi yuan generously offered.

for qi yuan, regular battle merits were of no use.

hearing this, ice sword’s breath quickened.

with blood robe’s strength and this plan, the battle merits would undoubtedly be massive.

on one side was the lure of enormous battle merits, on the other was his pride.

in the end, he took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “these… can be my eggs.”

his pride was already in tatters.

if he didn’t collaborate with blood robe, he’d get nothing and still be humiliated.

better to swallow his pride and make some gains—at least that way, he wouldn’t be losing entirely.

“to make this plan even more convincing, i’ve specially created a modified version of the ancestral blood art just for you. if you cultivate this art, you’ll really be able to lay eggs!” qi yuan said, handing over a jade slip.

the history of the blue star was powerful, but qi yuan’s abilities were nothing to scoff at either—he could turn fiction into fact.

“ancestral blood art?” ice sword was puzzled.

the ancestral blood art was the foundation upon which the black demon abyss stood.

even great supreme truth experts practiced this technique.

no one had ever successfully modified it.

or rather, any modifications made never surpassed the original.

even the abyss lord had once mentioned that the current version of the ancestral blood art was already the best.

so when blood robe claimed to have altered it, ice sword felt a bit skeptical.

still, he accepted the jade slip. “i’ll take a look when i have time.”

“try to read it as soon as possible. this version will not only alter your physique to make it easier for you to lay eggs, but each egg you lay can help you cultivate the ancestral blood art. the more eggs, the stronger you’ll become.”

after leaving those words, qi yuan waved goodbye and disappeared without a trace.

ice sword stood there on the frozen platform, feeling utterly helpless.

“that guy… just like black sword, he’s impossible to figure out,” ice sword sighed.

in the younger generation, black sword and blood robe were the only two people he couldn’t fully comprehend.

but the unpredictability of the two was entirely different.

curious, ice sword decided to take a look at the modified ancestral blood art.

after all, he wanted to gauge just how deep blood robe’s understanding ran through this revised cultivation method.

“to cultivate this art, you must first lay an egg…”

the opening line nearly made ice sword crack.

he continued reading, and the more he read, the more his expression shifted from surprise to solemn concentration.

“this… this… blood robe was telling the truth!”

“if i cultivate this version of the ancestral blood art, my cultivation speed will double!”

“what kind of genius came up with this?!”

“this is unbelievable!”

“this is amazing!”

the more ice sword read, the more astonished he became by the terrifying potential of this technique.

it was utterly extraordinary.

after half an hour of reading, ice sword sat on the ice block, feeling deeply frustrated.

“becoming a ‘genius’ must be the minimum threshold to comprehend this.”

all along, he had known that blood robe was powerful, but he hadn’t fully grasped how much stronger blood robe was compared to himself.

but now, seeing this casually revised version of the ancestral blood art, he could see the terrifying gap between them.

“the stronger you are, the more you realize how insignificant you are,” ice sword muttered. “this technique… i’m going to cultivate it.”

“so what if i have to lay eggs? compared to becoming stronger, what does it matter?”

ice sword didn’t care about the details.

this modified ancestral blood art not only accelerated cultivation speed, but also enhanced one’s bloodline.

if this technique were to spread, even great supreme truth experts would start secretly laying eggs.

so why would he mind laying a few eggs?

“how did things get so strange in the black demon abyss ever since blood robe arrived?”

every major power had its own style.

the black demon abyss had always been dark and profound.

now, though, it felt dreamlike, whimsical, even absurd—things just didn’t make sense anymore.

“it seems that the attention senior purple fate has given blood robe isn’t without reason.

blood robe may be eccentric, but his talent… it might even surpass black sword’s!” ice sword thought to himself.

black sword was incredibly formidable, his greatest strength being his bloodline, with his talent equally unparalleled.

blood robe’s bloodline couldn’t surpass black sword’s, but his talent likely could.

“i wonder if i’ll ever have the chance to witness both of black demon abyss’s great supreme truth masters at once!” ice sword sighed.

suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

“should i offer this technique to the elders?”

after all, the technique was undeniably powerful.

and if the elders cultivated it too, he would feel less awkward about laying eggs himself.

after all, if everyone was laying eggs, it was as if no one was.

“blood robe brother, can i offer this technique to others?” ice sword sent a message via his communication jade slip.

he was a man of responsibility but also had his own selfish interests. if he were going to offer the technique, he wouldn’t do so immediately.

“feel free, but try not to leak it before the great small plan is completed!”