Chapter 3022 — The Oral Formula of the Universal Heart Method

Refined steel and dark iron? Wei Zhao had none of that—but he did have a rod of refined steel and dark iron. He wondered whether it could be melted down and recast, put to use again. If so, that would solve a considerable problem.

The other materials, though, would not be nearly so easy to find. Pure yellow jade, blue crystal powder, and colored steel were already hard enough to come by; the rest, he suspected, would be even more difficult still.

At that thought, Wei Zhao's spirits sank. "Old Jiao? Isn't this a trap? Where am I supposed to find materials like these?"

"That I couldn't tell you—you'll have to figure it out yourself!" Jiao Yazi was equally ignorant of where such materials might be found, but he added, "It's not as if there's any great hurry. Refine the jade pendant first, then take your time searching. Who knows? Luck may smile on you when you least expect it."

"Luck?" Wei Zhao blinked, then gave a bitter smile. "Seems that's all I can do. Better to set my feet on solid ground and refine the pendant's space first."

After that, Wei Zhao set down the second silk scroll and reached for the third. What would this one be? He felt a measure of anticipation, and a measure of tension too, for he could not begin to guess what the third silk scroll contained.

Last time, he had hoped for a martial technique, and the oral formula for that technique had come into his hands. Now he hoped for... the method of using a heaven-tier divine weapon, surely?

When Wei Zhao opened the silk scroll, a flicker of understanding crossed his face. Just as he thought—this was the heart method for using a heaven-tier divine weapon, the method for wielding the very weapon he had forged earlier.

Yet until he actually forged such a divine weapon, this method was useless to him. Wei Zhao did not even read it carefully; he closed it and put it away. After all, reading it now served no purpose. He had taken Jiao Yazi's words to heart—haste brings no success. Knowing the method in advance was pointless; without the weapon itself, how to use it hardly mattered. One step at a time. Better to spend his limited time practicing the forging fire.

This heart method for wielding a heaven-tier divine weapon had not much surprised Wei Zhao. It was the final silk scroll that truly stumped him—he racked his brains and still could not guess what lay within.

Yet the more unknown a thing was, the more it stirred anticipation, and suddenly Wei Zhao felt nervous.

He drew a deep breath before opening the last silk scroll. But when he saw the four large characters on it—"Heart Method Oral Formula"—his expression turned to bewilderment. Heart method oral formula? What on earth was this? The Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was his heart method already, wasn't it? So why had another heart method oral formula appeared?

His mind steeped in doubt, Wei Zhao steadied himself and began to read the contents closely. What heart method was this? Only those four characters, and then the main text—no subtitle at all to annotate the method. And that was not all. What puzzled him further was that the opening of this oral formula was exactly the same as the opening of the first layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art.

Could it be the same thing? Wei Zhao paused. He wondered whether whoever had placed the boxes had made a mistake, for the contents matched the first layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art exactly. But as he read on, he found something was off. Though the opening was the same, what followed was entirely different.

Different though it was, Wei Zhao felt a sense of familiarity—it seemed like a revised edition of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. The flow of energy in this oral formula ran in what seemed the very same track as the art he cultivated.

Yet despite the striking resemblance, as Wei Zhao studied it closely he found it was not the same at all. This oral formula seemed to be some kind of auxiliary heart method, not one that stood on its own.

The further he read, the stranger it seemed, for in the middle of the oral formula there were blank spaces, and within one blank space was an annotation: Switch heart method.

Wei Zhao did not know what "switch heart method" meant. Reading on, he found more of the auxiliary heart method, and again blank spaces interspersed, again marked: "Switch heart method." And so it went, over and over.

"Old Jiao, what kind of heart method is this? Why are there gaps in the middle? Here it says to switch heart methods—switch to what?" Wei Zhao finally could not hold back his puzzlement.

"Oh, this oral formula—now I remember. Like that martial technique before, it's auxiliary in nature." Jiao Yazi had recovered his memory and was not left stammering.

"An auxiliary heart method? That much I can see. But what do you mean, like the martial technique before?" Wei Zhao asked, perplexed. "That martial technique was a universal martial technique. This heart method... could it be..."

A sudden flash of insight struck Wei Zhao.

"You've got it? It's just as you think." Jiao Yazi nodded.

"The oral formula of the universal heart method?" Wei Zhao blurted out, shaken.

"Exactly—the oral formula of the universal heart method. With this formula, at the points where the gaps fall you switch to whatever other heart method you wish to circulate, and you can run that other method smoothly." Jiao Yazi explained, "For instance, if you want to circulate someone else's heart method, this way lets you do it without trouble."

"So miraculous?" Wei Zhao knew well that for a cultivator, a heart method was essentially unique—one could cultivate only one at a time, and could not change it at will. That was precisely why he had not found heart methods for Gu Mengyao or little Shu; whether a method suited someone was no small question.

Yet a universal heart method existed? That was beyond anything Wei Zhao had expected. But then again—if even martial techniques had a universal version, why not heart methods? And the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was itself a heart method that produced universal true qi, so there was precedent enough.

"It's not so miraculous, really. Your Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art can already generate the energy true qi of all manner of other heart methods; this auxiliary method merely raises the efficiency of the art's circulation." Jiao Yazi said, "To put it plainly, the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art is in essence like a simulator—it can simulate any heart method, yet it remains the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. You can think of it as accomplishing the purposes of other heart methods by means of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art."